Welcome Home*, Lizzy!

 The angle of this picture really makes me look like the abnormally short sibling. Or maybe that's true...

*For lack of a better term, Home in this context means the address on your college tuition statement.

After all the times I've been to Chicago, I finally made it to the Bean in Millenium Park. We had a day trip to Chicago on Labor Day to pick up my sister and bring her back to Michigan after her summer adventure of living in Israel (In case you're not up to date, my younger sister, Lizzy, spent the last three months working as a nanny in Israel). We planned to meet her and my aunt at the Bean at 12:00 pm. To me, it felt a little bit like a blind date--well, at least the part about meeting at a set time in a public park and making plans to go out for lunch afterwards. Obviously, I knew I would recognize my aunt  and cousins and my tallest little sister, so that part wasn't like a blind date.

We ate at The Cheesecake Factory and there was much hugging and exchanging of gifts and stories. Us siblings are often separated, but we feel right at home when we get back together.

This Chicago day trip went significantly better than our last road trip to Chicago. Isaac, Lizzy, Angel, and I have some history of experiencing car trouble when we're all together, so we were most excited to successfully survive a trip with all car parts intact.

It must be admitted that spending a couple months living in Israel should be among the most exciting travel adventures possible, so I asked Lizzy to let you guys in on a couple of the highlights from her trip:

 At the Sea of Galilee

1. What was the most exciting experience you had?

 I’d have to say that the new baby was the most exciting, but that’s a given, what would be more exciting than a new born baby? Taking a beginner's Hebrew class was also very exciting, as well at getting to and from class on my own. Seeing the sites that I'd read about in the Bible! Sometimes I just had to stop and breathe and try to take in where I was and just how amazing it was to be there. AND! Catching a baby porcupine that at first I thought was a hedgehog. 

 2. What was the scariest experience? 

There was a “bomb scare” on the train I was taking home from Hebrew class. There are guards who walk up and down the trains looking for suspicious things. On that night, they found something and started yelling at all of us to get off the train. So we got off and walked. I was only about a 15 minute walk away from the bus stop I was trying to get to . But that made things feel very real. My friends who I met in Israel all had their stories of forgetting bags on the public transportation only to recover them after they had been shot up by bomb squad robots. 

3. Most culturally shocking? 

Probably when a European guy kissed me on the cheek when saying goodbye. haha! 

4. What will you miss the most? 

I’m going to miss my kids! The family I was staying with and nannying for was awesome. I’m going to miss the food and wearing middle eastern/hippy style clothes and feeling normal.

5. What were you looking forward to when returning to America? 

My siblings!! Yay Rachel and Angel and Isaac! I missed these guys too much. I’m also looking forward to seeing my buddies at my Bible study group. I miss you guys! I am not looking forward to going to college again...haha.