I can't believe our trip is almost over. We're flying back to Israel, P"G, this weekend and it's surreal at how fast time flies. The first week we were here, we had to adjust to the time change, the jet lag, and the Pesach preparations. We spent days just helping my Mom get the house ready for Pesach, and we ran errands and cooked and baked and did what we could to help usher in the holiday.
Pesach itself went by pretty quickly, which was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because Pidgeon and I both really need our bread. A curse because the time we spent with my family just flew past. It was wonderful seeing my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew and fortunately, my other sister is heading to town with her brood this weekend. We were able to catch a movie and dinner with Cousin Neil on the Upper West Side, which was our Chol Hamoed highlight, and we got to see one of my good friends who was visiting her family from Boston.
But, in 4 days, it will all be over and we'll be heading back to our life and realities in Israel. It will be very hard for me to leave, this has been such a wonderful vacation. It's great to just be in my parents house again, to be able to just raid the fridge or wait up for my Mom to get home from work so we can chat, to go to my old bedroom and look through my photo albums or my yearbooks and show Pidgeon a glimpse into my childhood. It's so nice to just get into my car here and drive to Main Street for some Shimon's pizza, or to take a ride out to the Island to see my friends and shop on Central Avenue. We hit Austin Street in Forest Hills twice this trip, and we did some decent retail therapy at some of the our favorite stores (Sephora for me and the comic book store for Pidgeon). Today, we're going to head over to Starbucks for some hazelnut hot chocolates which will be great and soothing on this grey, cold and rainy day. I'm going to miss the Spring rains of New York City a lot, and I'm really going to miss our Starbucks.
That being said, it will be nice to get back to our apartment in Jerusalem. To the new beds we ordered before we left, to my favorite Green Grocer on Derech Beit Lechem (hey, it's almost lychee season and I LOVE lychee fruit), to our Dr.'s at the medical center, our movie theatre in Talpiot, to my thesis and writing, and to Pidgeon's family who are anxious for us to return home.
The more time I spend at home, with my family, the more I realize how difficult my marriage situation is. As wonderful as it is to live in Israel sometimes, it's really difficult not to be near any of my family. Yes, they all plan to come and visit and yes, we all now have webcams so we're able to see each other and chat online, but it's just not the same. I have a number of friends who are in similar situations, who live in a different States than their families because they chose to live near their husbands family. It's hard for them too. The amount of distance doesn't matter, it's just the distance alone which makes things harder. Perhaps this is the way we have to be so that I can appreciate my family more. I just keep hoping that one day, P"G soon, the rest of my family will pick up and move closer to us in Israel. But, until that day happens, I'm going to try my best to be happy in Jerusalem and maybe - day by day - I'll miss everyone and everything about New York just a little bit less.
Well, I'm off to pick up some Starbucks and then Pidgeon and I will probably just lay low, rent a movie, and get ready for our busy night. We're meeting with our wedding photographer to look at our album prints and then we're off to visit some of Pidgeon's NY family on the Island.
Yom Tov from Gotham City!
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