Highlights of Morgan and Christine’s trip to Israel with FFOZ:

  • Spending quality time with two people we admire immensely, Boaz Michael and Daniel Lancaster; discovering that under their professional, serious exteriors both have an excellent sense of humor; hearing memorable stories about various FFOZ experiences over the years…
  • Christine: flying for the first time! After six takeoffs (and six subsequent landings) she already sounds like a seasoned traveler: scoffing at “30-year-old planes” without individual screens, despising airline food, understanding travel necessities (iPod, gum, crossword book)… :P
  • Standing at the Kotel (the western wall), praying en masse with hundreds of Israelis, touching the stones which remain from the second temple; feeling that emotional connection to the land, the people, and the G-d of Israel…
  • Appreciating the many different aerial views of Israel as we climbed pretty much every mountain in the vicinity, being so far above sea level that the air actually seems thinner, identifying miniscule dots on the horizon as important landmarks…
  • Filling out the customs form on our flight home, realizing with shock how much money we spent…
  • Combining our Italian heritage with our love for Israel by eating gelato on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem; making Godfather jokes with Daniel Lancaster; trying to overcome Steven Lancaster’s unreasonable antipathy toward Italy…
  • Making new friends!!! As Boaz Michael would say, we enjoyed getting to know most of our traveling companions. ;) We look forward to keeping in touch with many of the families from this trip…
  • Living on hummus, olives, and halvah for 2 weeks, going through chocolate withdrawal, managing to stay almost entirely wheat-free…
  • Savoring those “one-time-is-enough” experiences: swimming in the Dead Sea; preparing to dine on an entire fish as it calmly stares back at you; taking the cable car out to Masada (picture the movie Where Eagles Dare… that was us, sliding across a huge chasm)…
  • And of course, returning home to the brightness of our family, finding that there are no secrets where the Israel trip is concerned (thanks to Julianna!), reading all the thoughtful notes left for us, feeling the love of our friends…

The bottom line is, we were excited to go, excited to be there, and excited to return… as is the case with all truly great trips.