My Parents First Trip to Israel (February 29, 2008 - March 8, 2008)

     My parents came to visit (their first trip to Israel) my second to last week at Michve Alon, on February 29th.  I got off from the army that morning and went to Tel Aviv to go and meet them at the airport.  They landed around 5:15 PM and I met them at the gate, but it was downhill from there.  

     After the hugs and kisses the three of us went to go and pick up the car (or perhaps more aptly - passenger van) that they had rented.  The interior lights in the van didn't work, but we were in a hurry to get to Haifa in time for Shabbat dinner so we told them we would make do with the flashlight we had rather than switch cars...a mistake that would later come back to haunt us.  As we preceded out of the airport and towards Haifa my dad thought he heard a noise coming from the outside of the car, he got out to check the tire, but it seemed intact.  After 5 more minutes there was another loud noise and my dad informed us that he saw our tire rolling down the middle of the highway in his rearview mirror.  "Welcome to Israel."  

     We then proceeded to sit on the side of the highway, which had no shoulder, for about 2 and half hours (for those of you unfamiliar with the geography of Israel:  in that time we could have probably driven to Haifa and back) arguing with various people about getting a new car.  Eventually we switched our bags to the new car and continued to Haifa.  Needless to say we missed Shabbat dinner and instead ate in the first falafel restaurant that we came to in Haifa, where the power promptly went out.  Fortunately, the trip improved from that point on (granted it had no where to go but up).

     I took my parents to meet my adopted kibbutz family on Saturday, and the next day they took me back to the army.  Normally I would have been given time off to be with my family, except that it just so happened that my try-out for the paratroopers was that upcoming Monday and Tuesday.  

     After the try-out my parents came to pick me up and I was given the rest of the week off.  We traveled around Jerusalem for two days and I was able to show them some of the places where I had spent my first month in the Holy Land.  We drove back to Haifa on Friday so that my parents would be able to participate in at least one Shabbat dinner, and on the next day they flew back home.