Gaya Avidor Week 13 - Covid in Israel (through my eyes)

    As some of you may know, I visited Israel over winter break. I left early December with just about a week and a half left of the first semester. Going to Israel has always been a natural part of my yearly routine, but since my summer plans got cancelled, we waited for the right time to go and visit our family. As the months went on, the situation there got worse and we realized that there might not be a ‘right time’. So, my parents decided to surprise us and book flight tickets to Israel. To say that this trip was different than ever is quite an understatement. 

    From the second we arrived at the airport in Miami, our masks were practically attached to our face until we got into the rental car in Tel Aviv. The actual flight experience was pretty much the same (with the exception of the masks of course). When arriving in Tel Aviv, the airport was completely empty other than the three flights that had just arrived. No one is allowed into the arrival hall to greet their family, which is something we’re very not used to. 

    We had to drive straight home and begin our quarantine. This part was probably the most annoying because I just wanted to be able to get out of the house and go see my family. But, they all came to visit us, at separate times, and we kept the social distance rule with masks on since we had just gotten off a flight. All restaurants are only open for takeout or delivery, so we had a constant flow of delivery drivers coming to our house lol. We had to take all of our midterms while we were there as well, and that was terrible because of the time change. Once we got out of quarantine, we were able to finally go drive to see our family and be with them normally. I was also so happy that I even got to spend New Years with my cousins! I would’ve definitely stayed longer if Israel didn’t go back into a lockdown. But, I hope I’ll be back there soon.