Nancy Coax Malacarne reports on the trip she and her husband made to Israel in July:  Dick and I finally made it back to Indiana yesterday (Sunday, July 25, 2005)--just one day later than expected! It took us 36 hours (with 3 hours of sleep) to travel from Tel Aviv to Indiana. We discovered that international air travel is very chaotic and unpredictable! We had many horrible experiences going over and coming back! We also heard many sad stories from other travelers in the various airports about their travel horrors as we stood in countless long lines in all the airports we traveled through.

Knowing only English is a handicap when trying to communicate with people who are supposed to be helping you at the airports because, in most cases, their English is really not all that great. And, my Hebrew is much worse than their English! I am not complaining about this--just stating a fact. And, because of security, Stav couldn't be with us in the Tel Aviv airport; so we had to manage on our own. (When traveling throughout Israel, we had Stav with us to interpret for us--which was wonderful!)

We even had trouble communicating with most people in the Newark airport because so many airport workers are from other countries. I understand that they need people who speak many languages to help the foreign visitors; but we needed people fluent in English to help us!

Aside from the air travel, the trip was the best vacation I have ever had! Israel (and we saw most of it) is a beautiful, diverse country--we traveled through forests, deserts and oases, rolling hills, beautiful beaches, and level farming lands. The Christian sites we visited were awesome; I never thought I would ever see any of those places during my lifetime. The food in Israel is really exceptional! I could happily eat a Middle Eastern diet for the rest of my life!

In addition to traveling all over Israel seeing many historic places, I rode a camel, swam in the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea, and floated in the Dead Sea! I must admit that I did a little shopping, too.

We went to Israel to celebrate the May 30 Boston marriage of my niece Emma to her Israeli husband Stav Gil. Emma is my brother's youngest daughter. (Warren and Betsy White Coax graduated from KHS in 1962.) Stav's family hosted a lovely wedding celebration for Emma and Stav in Israel on July 22. We had previously met all the Gils in Boston.

Stav's family lives in a lovely, tranquil place. It is a small farming community called Moshav Almagor. Stav's father raises bananas, mangos, and beef on the banks of the Sea of Galilee. Only 60 families live in their small village. If I lived in Israel, this is where I would want to live. They have a lovely home there. You can see the Sea of Galilee from many windows in their home. However, it is too close to the borders of Syria and Lebanon for me!

Stav and Emma are leaving Israel today (Monday, July 26) for their honeymoon; they are spending the next two weeks in Thailand! Stav is a world traveler; but this will be his first trip to Thailand. Emma is excited to be traveling to all parts of the world with Stav. The two of them look to be very much in love and very happy. I am excited that they will be living in Pittsburgh for the next 2 1/2 years!