9/27 | Tel Aviv, Givatayim, Ramat Gan, and Family

On Tuesday morning, Esther and I left Jerusalem for Tel Aviv to celebrate the Rosh HaShanah holiday with our families.  Esther's uncles live in Givatayim; my relatives--my mom's cousin and her husband--live in neighboring Ramat Gan.  Both are suburbs of Tel Aviv, so we took an Egged bus to the Tel Aviv Savidor Central Train Station on the outskirts of the city.  This area is adjacent to the Diamond Exchange District of Ramat Gan, where Israel's tallest skyscaper, called both the Moshe Aviv Tower and City Gate, is located.  It is also the location of the Leonardo City Tower Hotel, which is the third tallest building in Israel.  Tel Aviv is markedly different from Jerusalem, where there are no high-rises and everything is centered on the Old City.  Tel Aviv is a modern metropolis right on the beach; Jerusalem is an ancient city high in the hills.  The two are worlds apart, yet they make up the heart and soul of Israel (with Haifa as the muscle).

The route we took from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv/Givatayim/Ramat Gan.

The Leonardo City Tower Hotel is to the left and the Moshe Aviv Tower/City Gate is to the right.

Givatayim means two hills in English, which explains the shape of the entrance sign.

Givatayim could easily pass for Florida.

We arrived around 1:30 in the afternoon and went straight to the apartment of Esther's uncles to drop off our stuff.  Because we had nothing to do, we decided to check out the Givatayim mall down the street.  This was a very fancy mall, with four floors of upscale stores--chanooyoht--and restaurants--meesahdoht--to explore.  After a few hours here, we decided to head back to Esther's uncles' apartment so that I could get ready to meet up with my own family.

The Givatayim mall.

 A copy of a Hebrew language Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at a Steimatzky bookstore.

A Sanrio store dedicated to everything Hello Kitty.

It was great to see my family again.  I met them for the first time last July, so it still excites me to think about having newly found relatives so far from home.  Zahava is my mother's cousin and Israel is her husband.  They have two children, Yaeli and Yuval.  My mom has another cousin named Mira, too.  My grandmother's sister is Chana.  Chana is staying with Zahava now because Mira, Yaeli, and Yuval are all on vacation in the Netherlands.

Last summer: Me, Zahava, my mother Linda, Chana, Mira, and my sister Julia.

That night, after getting settled, I went with Israel to run errands.  This involved picking up all the food and drink necessary for our Rosh HaShanah dinner.  It was interesting to do shopping here because there were no signs in English.  In Jerusalem, where there are many tourists, almost everything is translated in to English.  In the suburbs of Tel Aviv, however, there are no native English-speakers and only Hebrew can be found.  This kind of total immersion is great for learning the language because it forces you to either recall what you have learned or infer based on what you see.  Fortunately for me, my ulpan professors did a good job teaching food words so grocery shopping was not too difficult.

When we returned, Zahava made a quick dinner of chicken and potatoes.  Delicious!  Then Chana was brought down and I reintroduced myself.  She speaks many languages--Yiddish, Polish, German, Russian--but not any English.  So, as if this was the moment I had been waiting for, I summoned up all of my Hebrew, from Rivka at AU to Chaya and Yochi at HU, to carry out a full conversation with Chana.  It was slow and not always easy, but I managed!  We talked about my studies at Hebrew University and my family at home, as well as the Hebrew language in general.  She said exactly what I have always said: Zoht safah yafah, aval gahm kasheh, It's a beautiful language, but also hard.  I told her that everyone at home sends their love and she told me to tell them to have a shanah tovah v'metookah, a good and sweet new year.  My favorite part of the evening was when she spoke about Batya (my grandma Betty) and said, in English, "my sister."  A true night to remember!

Chana and I.

Chana and Betty: see the resemblance?