Where people applaud when the ‘plane lands safely on terra firma in Ben Gurion Airport.
Where taxi drivers tell you you have to make aliyah, then tell you everything that’s wrong with the country.
Where cab drivers show you pictures of their grandchildren and ask if you have a shidduch for their unmarried son.
Where people take phone calls on their cellphones in the midst of a speech that they are giving.
Where chummus is served as a side dish with every meal and on the ‘plane with breakfast.
Where the bus driver worries that you are not sure where to get off and makes sure you know where you are going, and the little old lady sitting next to you offers you some “mayim karim” (cold water) as it’s so hot out there.
Where a watermelon rolls all the way down the aisle of the bus when the driver brakes suddenly, and splatters against the front door, and everyone laughs and helps the owner clean up the mess.
Where you use more languages that you ever thought possible – Hebrew, English and French.
Where store owners flatter you so much you feel it’s necessary to make a large purchase. Then they talk you out of buying something that they don’t feel looks right on you.
Where the store owner plays Jewish Geography with you and you exchange business cards because he just might be able to help your son when he makes aliyah and wants to prepare for the army.
Where the roads have improved, but the driving, not so much!
Where you cannot figure out how to order just a regular plain coffee….and where a café Hafuch is not a cappuccino.
Israel – where my soul feels at home.
What would you add to this list?
In the Pink 
Where little old ladies (and men) stop you on the street to tell you that your baby really should be wearing a sweater, or a sunhat, or a pair of socks.
… While it’s 100 degrees outside!
Where someone you’ve never met says “welcome home”.
Where negotiation and haggling is a way of life.
Where Israelis will assume that you know their second cousin from LA even though you live in NY b/c you both live in America!!
Where there are strictly kosher shomer Shabbat sports bars, in which you can order a kosher meat meal, like HaGov, the Lion’s Den!
right!?
where thousands of people go out and fight for the tiniest piece of land.
where you need a babysitter to get through security on ben gurion airport
So you bought clothes here, Hadassa? 🙂 Can’t wait for the pics.
nothing major – a LOT of mitpachot and an Israeli-style denim skirt. I wanted to bring back some michnesai Aladdin, but they might have revoked my green card if I wore them here 😉
When you are of a certain age: No matter how full the bus is, you are never going to have to stand.
where you are on your way to the kotel with your son and bar mitzvah party and you bump into a family you know from your neighborhood in nyc who come along to help celebrate and make the simcha all the more amazing.
glad you had a great time there Hadassah!
where the sky is bluer than anywhere else.
where every step is a mitzvah.
where even the non-religious cab driver can school me in TaNaKh.
where I would rather be living right now.