JET LAG - Day 2

Not sure how to combat the jet lag that has really set in.  I let the kids sleep today - the bulk of the day - especially since it seems as if they may be coming down with colds. Maybe it's the plane ride, the new atmosphere or the fatigue - in any case, I did not make it to Tati's memorial and that made me sad but I didn't quite know how to manage it along with sick kids and being in a not too familiar place.

Between the morning and afternoon naps, I did at least make it to my grandmother, Meme's house.

There she treated me with a delicacy - "fazwelos."  Fazwelos is a dough based confection  - it is thin strips of light flakey dough -  wrapped onto themselves, fried and then dusted with sugar.

Fazwelos - sorry Papa  - please don't be jealous! 

In my naivete, I asked for the recipe and was told to take 1/2 cup of oil and 1/2 a cup of water, add one egg, a pinch of sugar, a pinch of baking soda and powder  - mix up all these ingredients in a bowl and then add in a quantity of flour equal to but not greater than to whatever the liquid ingredients are willing to take and that by touch one can tell if the dough will be ready and light/fluffy OR dense/thick!  Then roll the whole thing out, cut, fry, cool and dust with powdered sugar.  I'm sure if I attemted this it would be one hot mess - and besides the secret ingredient would be missing - the touch of Meme's magical hands. I could have come armed with measuing cups and spoons and many hours on my hands to witness the making of the whole thing.  Maybe I will venture out tomorrow and see what I can find.....

In any case without a map or GPS I made it through the city center and out to the burbs - a right turn at the 3rd drive past the old post office and a jump of the curb and voila I had arrived.... The kids had a hard time believeing that there was once a time when my grandmother's house had no driveway or sidewalk.  That the space in front was a rich red sandy dirt where ant farms were easy to spot.  And at the end of the street, where stood a beautiful European style 2 story villa, there once was a pasture where sheep and chickens roamed freely and in the distance, the horizon was filled with orange grove after orange grove.  They couldn't imagine how the lawn in the backyard, now manicured and the envy of every neighbor, could once have been covered with brush where lived many a creature - including that porcupine I once found or that scorpian that made it's way into the house.

But it's all true - it was all there and while I can recall some stages of development and growth in my hometown of Los Angeles, it doesn't compare to what I have seen and witnessed during my trips to Israel.

In any case, today was a day of family, rest and jet lag!  Maybe tomorrow will be a day at the beach or some other adventure!

My aunt Leah, her grand-daughter Shira, and my cousin Oshrat.

Shira....