From Ancient times to... shrimp...

Although Israel is relatively a new state (1948), the land itself is as old as time. There are many sites including Qisaryya that shows this land's history. Qisaryya also spelled Caesarea, pronounced kee-sar-ya by Israelis and pronounced ke-sa-ri-ya by tourists was built in 25-13 BCE. Wait... what's BCE? I know BC and AD. It turns out, BCE is Before Common Era, a non-religious, neutral form of BC. Which makes sense since most Israelis are non-christians. BC or BCE, it is from a long, long time ago. 

With its close proximity to our home and its ancient ruins and history, Qisaryya makes it the perfect place for our first trip in our first week. Here are some photos. I'm only showing to save some surprise for our future guests. 

Ancient mosaic

Besides the ruins, Qisaryya is also a lovely town with nice restaurants. Below is a picture of the seafood dish I devoured. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but I know exactly where it is. Best shrimp and calamari EVER!

House to home...

For a mother, a house is just not good enough. It has to, it needs to be a home. So when a family moves into a house, in this case an apartment, the mother must take charge and turn a house into a home. Take a look at the results.

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen/Dining 

Kitchen/Dining

Dining/Living

Dining/Living

Balcony

Balcony

Balcony, best feature of the home.

 We would like to thank the many trips to Ikea, Office Depot, Ace Hardware, Tavor Flowers and old belongings for which contributed to the transition of this apartment into our home.

Below are more pictures. 

Front Hallway

Boys' Rooms

4th bedroom looking for guests

sea view from the living room

City and Sea views from the master bedroom

front hallway

front door

elevators... takes 45 seconds to go thru 19 floors... 

leaving on a jet plane... heading home...

On the way to PHX airport

Hi ho... hi ho... to Israel we go... July 13, Friday AM

On the way to PHX to PHL Flight (almost 5 hours)

By now the boys are experts in commercial flights... I've lost count on how many times each of them have flown... which is interesting since my first ever flight was not until I was 13... lucky kids indeed... 

goodies from a friend

We had two hours of layover at Philly. We ate some  yummy home made goodies from a friend and had lunch/dinner at Chickie's and Pete's. We ate Philly cheesesteaks of course and their famous crabfries. 

goodbye USA

And then it was time to go... here's the last pic taken before boarding our flight to TLV

PHL to TLV flight nearly 10 hours!

Time to get comfy boys... we will be in this plane for 10 straight hours... dun..dun..dun...

The plane ride is as comfortable as you expected. We all tried to sleep. "Tried" being the key word. There's an inverse relationship between your age and the amount of sleep acquired in a flight seated in economy. Case in point, Caden probably slept for 5.5 hours, Gavin 5 hours and me a measly 2 hours and Jason probably an hour and a half. Of course this does not apply to first class. Fortunately there were movies available to entertain us. 

After many thoughts of:

"are we there yet?", 

"what it's only been ten minutes since I checked my watch!",

 "close your eyes and sleep", 

"if I can just slightly move my arm to get more comfortable not to wake up Caden. Ugh, that didn't work. He's awake and I'm less comfortable",

and

"what we're not even halfway there",

"stop thinking and just close your eyes",

"am I going make it?"

"ahhh!!! I am going to die.."

Ok so I exaggerated toward the end but that was a very long flight. But alas! the plane landed (insert imaginary clapping sounds here). 

 Time to disembark.

Pick up luggage.

Haul luggage.

Stand in line.

 Go thru passport. Denied.

 "you must follow her".

Followed personnel.

Waited for a few minutes.

Phew, visa checked and extended.

Walked thru customs. Nothing to declare. 

Look for guy with McDaniel sign.

Found him.

Hi. Hello.

Load luggage.

6 check ins, 2 carry ons, 3 backpacks, 1 purse

We're on the move.

40 minutes drive to apartment from airport.

Lots to see. 

Fast forward.

In Apartment.

  After almost 21 hours of travel time, we made it to our new apartment.

Big inhale! How surreal! We are now physically on the other side of the world, in a different country, different language and different culture and yet this is the place that we'll be calling HOME.

Home sweet home.

We made it! the only pic we had on the day of our arrival.

bittersweet...

There's no turning back now. The entire house is packed. Some items, 1,000lbs worth, is off to Israel while the rest goes to storage. I can't complain with packing the house since Jason's work company has hired to do all the packing and hauling. And can't help but enjoy the red carpet treatment. 

We have packed 6 suitcases. These will go with us in our flights and are the only possession we'll live with for a few weeks. That's an adventure on its own. 

This move is ...  bittersweet. We will certainly miss family and friends but also looking forward to new adventures and challenges in Israel. Yes I did say challenges because I know there will be. It will be naive to say there won't be. But with a positive attitude and eagerness to learn, these challenges will help me and my family grow. Let's go. =)

 “There are no negatives in life, only challenges to overcome that will make you stronger.” 

― Eric Bates

The beginning...

Here we go again... a move to a different part of the world. The top picture is from 2005 to Ireland and the bottom is from July of this year for Israel. As in Ireland, we are excited in this new venture. Of course family and friends can't help but ask "are you sure?", "Is it safe?" After all, Israel is in area of many conflicts. But as you see, read and learn from upcoming posts, life here in Israel is more than what you see in the news. It is not so different from any other country. We are all here to cherish and enjoy what life has to offer. 

A friend told me once "you bloom where you're planted." I think it's the only way to have a joyous experience and quicker adaptation to a whole new world. 

Join us in our adventure.