Seepur al Mishpacha Israeli Sheli

A Story about my Israeli Family:
Almost two weeks ago, my coordinator called me about a possible host family situation for me. You may remember that in the other cities all the volunteers have them, but we do not here in Tel Aviv. Apparently, he became in contact with a woman interested in helping out...and for reasons I'm not entirely sure, I've become the only Tel Aviv participant with the option. Tomer, like many Israeli men, is quite blunt and to the point. (Yes, this is the same man who told me I should start liking sports, as I'm looking bigger than when I arrived here.) When I immediately exclaimed that I'd love a host family, seeing as I have no family or family-friends here, he paused a bit...
"Well...it's a unique situation....I'm not sure if you'll be interested..."
Okay.
"I think that she was raised on a kibbutz..."
So...
Spit it out.
"Well....it's two women...and they have a child..."
I'm from L.A., Tomer! No problem!
That Friday I met Orly, my new host mom. After she picked me up and took me to a great vegetarian restaurant, I got the low down on the whole fam package. Turns out Orly and her partner split up about a year ago but they still share custody of their 15 (wannabe 16) year old son, Guy, live houses away from each other, and run their software business together. Orly even has a NEW girlfriend, but it's quite complicated because she comes from a Persian Jew religious home, and isn't sure she wants to come out as gay to her family because they will not support it. THEN I find out that their son is also quite interesting, as he has some sort of "sleeping issue" where he cannot wake up early enough to go to school...I call that Teenager Syndrome, but she has an agreement with the school that says it's medical. While I still haven't met Guy, Orly and her ex-partner, Gilla, told me he's extremely passionate about becoming an actor. The last member of the immediate family, Tzuki, is the dog...who looks like a bigger, fatter, dirtier version of Ollie in desperate need of more attention! On my first outting with Orly, I met two of her friends (both lesbians). Freida owns a Yemenite restaurant near my house, and told me she'd love to have some of my friends come to volunteer at her restaurant....but she'd prefer a woman. Hmm. Haddas, who runs the grooming place where we took Tzuki, has a tattoo on her shoulder blade, which Orly told me is a pretty good indicator that an Israeli woman is gay. Orly is very sweet, but not as warm as you'd expect from a mother. She told me she struggles with parenthood as a result of her childhood on the kibbutz (Ma'ayan Tzvi) where all the children live together and don't have the normal family structure. To me, the fact that her son calls her for rides and food is typical, but to her...it's very strange for children to depend on their parents.
Yesterday, Orly invited me to attend a 30th birthday party for her cousin in the Lower Galilee. Her aunt and uncle live in Zikhron Ya'akov, a moshav near the kibbutz Orly grew up on, where her mother still resides. A moshav is a type of cooperative agricultural community similar to a kibbutz, but each family has their own property. After about an hour and a half drive to northern Israel, we arrived at Irith's (Orly's aunt) home. Very different than Tel Aviv, or LA/OC for that matter, the house and neighborhood is lovely. They have a huge yard next to the agricultural fields, a big house, and their neighbors are definitely cow farmers! I got to meet Orly's mother (no english), sister (kitzat english), nephew, and a bunch of her cousins. Yair, the youngest of Irith's four children was the birthday boy, there with his adorable wife. Those two spent time living in Canada, so their english was pretty good, and made them the only people I could hold a conversation with at the party. Other than that, everyone kept feeding me the entire day....salads, chicken, brisket, rice, veggies....homemade ice cream cake, tahina (sesame) cookies, lemonade, coffee....Wow! After struggling to understand an entire day of Hebrew speaking only, my brain was hurting!! It's such hard work...I felt bad that I was so quiet, but I just concentrated on my comprehension. Before we left, Orly's uncle gave me a jar of strawberry jam (which he makes himself) and welcomed me to the family! Passed out on the car ride home out of exhaustion....and the fact that I ALWAYS sleep in cars, and woke to find us stuck in serious traffic! ...Ahh I thought I'd escaped that kind of life!
Even though it's not a very "traditional" family, it's really nice to know I have Orly if I need her. I even have Tzuki for when I'm really missing Ollie or need to take her for a walk to get some exercise! Don't worry REAL family...you can NEVER be replaced! But, I'm sure there will be more adventures; my next meeting with Orly is for the Gay Pride Parade here in Tel Aviv!

Hebrew phrases for today's post:
Hareem: mountains
Perach: flower
Bayit: house
Ben dod: cousin (male)
Mishpacha shel Orly garim al-yad ha kinneret: Orly's family lives near the Kinneret (big water source in Israel)
Eem ani rotzah leerot hareem, ani tzreecha leensoah la galil: If I want to see mountains, I need to travel to the Galil (northern Israel)