So I made it safely to the USA and had an excellent holiday with my parents, sister, and nephews. So far I'm not experiencing any culture shock (though the jetlag is pretty bad), possibly because I've hardly left my parents' house. But I'm sort of worried about what will happen when I go to New York. Will I be overwhelmed by the New York-ness of it all? Will I love it and be sorry I ever left? Or will I just get sick of answering the same questions over and over again? (Yes, I'm happy in Israel. Yes, I live in Jerusalem. Yes, I'm still working in journalism. No, I'm back to freelancing. Yes, I have my own apartment. Yes, I'm making friends. etc etc)

Like Allison of allisonkaplansommer.blogmosis.com (what's up with the linking option at Blogger??? Where'd it go?), I felt weird about not being in Israel when I heard about the terrorist attack in Egypt. Then again, as I was just saying to my friend Yael before we both left Israel for Sukkot vacations: What are we gonna do, never leave Israel because we feel a responsibility to be there any time there's a terrorist attack? Our being there wouldn't prevent it from happening, and besides, we're the ones who have made aliyah and are usually, in fact, there. The sad fact is that it's pretty safe to say that there's no need to worry, there will probably be plenty more terrorist attacks after we get back.

Despite the above paragraph, in the last 3 days I've learned that I'm a sentimental mushball. First, as soon as I left the terminal at Logan airport I breathed in the crisp New England air and wanted to sing "I love the air! This is my HOME air! No hamsin! No hot hot sun! No brain-frying, terrorist-laden heat or tension! Just wonderful New England chilly oxygenated home Boston slightly polluted home AIR!!!!" And later, while walking to synagogue, when I spied the yellow and red and orange leaves slowly spinning down to the sidewalks, I just wanted to cry, partly because I missed the foliage so much and partly because my parents are moving and I don't know when I'll ever see the foliage again.

Which brings me to the fact that my sister and I have been going through my parents' stuff telling them what we absolutely do NOT want them to throw away. And it turns out that of all of us, I'm in the worst shape about my parents' moving. My sister, though somewhat sentimental about leaving the home she grew up in since 1976, is mostly (compared to me) like "well, hey, the new house is bigger and has more bathrooms and bedrooms so when we all visit we won't be so on top of each other like we are here. Psyche!" Meanwhile, I'm like "waaaaaah! We're leaving our hoooouuuussssse! ::sob sob hiccup:: I'll miss our sukkah! You can't sell my old French provincial furniture! I need to visit my public library one more time! And my elementary school! And the T! I'll miss Booooooooossstonnnnn. I'll miss the foooooliaaaaage! I'll miss my rooooom. waaaaaaah!" It's pretty embarrassing, actually.

But the really embarrassing moment was when my sister gave me her entire collection of Return of the Jedi trading cards. More about that tomorrow when I'm not too jetlagged to write anymore.