Hag Sameach

Happy Passover from Arad, Israel! It's Mike writing tonight (there are already complaints of my slow typing). We just finished our seder at cousin Marc & Ita's house with all the cousins and in-laws. Please don't ask me to tell you everyone's name, I'll leave that to Jody. I'm really full, but we had a great time tonight.

We started the day in Tel Aviv with the Warshawsky's. Sleeping late, we got a delayed start on our morning in Jaffa. Despite the 95+ degree weather, we managed to walk around the city without melting (I wish I could say the same for Jody's granola bar). After a lunch of pita and the best hummus I have ever had, we said good bye to Amy, David, and their lovely girls. We spent another couple of hours walking around, eating ice cream, shopping for shoes, and buying gifts.

I'm holding up the tree myself!

After Jaffa, we started our 90 minute trek through the desert to Arad. Driving through bedouin villages, we saw many sheep, goats, mules, and to Jody's excitement: camels. The girls reserved excitement for the first camel sitings and had to occasionally be told to get their noses out of their books for the others. We arrived around 5:00 and the desert in Arad couldn't be more beautiful. It was too hazy to see Masada and the Dead Sea from the house, but tomorrow should be more clear.

The girls are getting sleepy. Big hike in the desert tomorrow with a dip in the Dead Sea. Having a great time!