Michelle's Inauguration Post

Gil Troy, for whom I used to work, put a post on his blog Center Field two weeks ago entitled "Thank you, George W. Bush". For those who aren't inclined to click on the link and actually read the post, the gist was that the Jewish community should show its appreciation for President Bush's strong and steadfast support for Israel now that he's out of office, in a way that we failed to do when he was in office. If anyone is as moved by Professor Troy's words as I was, consider visiting the George W. Bush Foundation and donating to his presidential library.

Last Vacation Post

I was waiting for Adam to post about the rest of our vacation, but he's been very busy lately, so I guess it's up to me.

After the Laura Ingalls Wilder fun, we went to the Badlands, which Adam really liked (that's him on that rock formation):

Mount Rushmore:

Custer State Park, where we saw bison:

Wind Cave, where we did the "Natural Entrance Cave Tour," walking through the middle level and seeing the boxwork (a rare cave formation):

And, finally, the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. The Corn Palace tradition started in 1892, when early settlers displayed the fruits of their harvest on the building exterior in order to prove the fertility of South Dakota soil. Today, it's basically just a sports arena.

After finishing our trip out West, we spent a week with my Dad and family in Wisconsin. For some reason, we didn't take any pictures, but we did finally get a chance to relax and unwind at the cabin in Northern Wisconsin. And we learned to play ladder ball. That game rocks!

The Happiest Place on Earth

After the cruise, Adam, Adam's sister Melanie, Melanie's fiance Adam Login (henceforth to be known on this blog as Login) and I rented a car and drove to Orlando for a four-day Disney vacation. I had thought this would be a cheap add-on to the cruise vacation, which it wasn't (Disney is expensive!), and a good opportunity to hang out with my sister-in-law and soon-to-be-brother-in-law, which it was.

I had never been to Disney World (although I went to Disney Land once in seventh grade), and I expected to love it. I'm a total sucker for fairy tales, happy endings and classic Americana. To my surprise, though, I felt lukewarm about Disney World. I loved the nostalgia element, but I wish there had been more there for adults, like Six Flags-type rides and behind-the-scenes looks at the history of Disney. I also found the endless cheer and cleanliness kind of creepy, in a Stepford Wives sort of way.

Anyway, here we are in front of Cinderella's Castle at the Magic Kingdom:

And I took this great picture as we were spinning (very quickly!) in a teacup at the Mad Tea Party:

Coming soon: our road trip through Minnesota and South Dakota!

The First Few Days

It's been just over two weeks since we arrived in the United States, but tonight has been my first opportunity to blog. Things have been crazy and emotionally intense. In my next few posts, I'll try to re-cap the adventures of the past two weeks.

Here is the last picture we took before boarding the plane at Ben Gurion Airport (I'm on the far right):


Sadly, my kosher McDonald's-inspired smile didn't last very long. I was asleep when the plane took off in Tel Aviv, but I cried all through the landing in Boston, and when we walked out of the airport, and many more times in the ensuing days, most recently on Shabbat morning when Adam's family's synagogue sang Hatikvah during morning services. I hadn't expected to feel so homesick so soon, and it's tough, but I'm trying to focus on enjoying my friends and family.

Luckily, I've had plenty of opportunities to enjoy them. We arrived in Boston two weeks ago (on a Tuesday) and flew to Florida the next day. We were supposed to land in Palm Beach at 9:30pm and get a good night's sleep at Adam's Nana's house in West Palm Beach before driving to Miami the next morning for the family cruise to the Western Caribbean. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed by bad weather, and we didn't make it to Nana's until after 4:00am the next day. My specially-prepared kosher meals were supposed to arrive at the dock a few hours later, at 10:30am, but they were delayed by the same bad weather and didn't show up until 4:30pm -- and that only because of our many frantic phone calls to FedEx.

The picture below was taken just after the meals finally arrived, as the ship was leaving Miami. Things got much better after this point!

Happy 4th!

This year, Adam and I were too busy to attend the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel's 4th of July/Canada Day event, as we've done in past years. And my American flags (yes, I have American flags, and Israeli ones, too) are already back in Boston, sitting in boxes in my in-laws' living room. However, I did manage to find the time to bake an apple pie for Shabbat dinner, and Adam bought red, white and blue(-ish purple) flowers to grace the table.

In an ironic twist of fate, all of our dinner guests on this 4th of July will be British.