Allyce_CP4

Memorial Day weekend I decided to take an Israeli friend of mine home with me so he could experience the BBQ, beer and beach! He was really excited to visit and was looking forward to “this wonderful American holiday!” I’ve known him for a little less than a year now and we often talk about his views of the U.S. and his home back in Israel where his fiancé still lives. He speaks English pretty well but there is still a lot of stuff he doesn’t know. I have to be careful about using slang around him otherwise he will have no idea what I am talking about.

            The drive to Destin is about 2 hours and I was a little nervous about keeping the conversation flowing the entire time. I didn’t know if he was a big fan of Britney Spears or Madonna (I did play Girls Gone Wild and he said it made him feel awkward!) so I decided to keep my Ipod turned off. I shouldn’t have worried about a thing! He was so full of questions and his enthusiasm and curiosity really rubbed off on me. I never think about Memorial day as anything more than a day off from school and work but he wanted to know everything about it.

           

            He thought it was odd that Americans are so joyous during this holiday. “Back in Israel we view Memorial Day as very serious and visit the cemetery.” Some people do that here to I think…I said as much but told him that we typically celebrated outside with family and food. He said that most people wear dark clothing, the women cry and remember the death of their sons and daughters, the entire image was sobering. Of course we KNOW that the Memorial Day is supposed to honor the troops but like most American holidays we tend to forget or not care…unfortunate really, an American characteristic that Arad quickly pointed out.

           

            Overall the car trip was a good precursor to kick off the weekend. It really set the tone for the entire trip and got me excited to see everyone. Also, his comment about Americans forgetting the true meaning of holidays was an insightful point, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t forget the real meaning of the weekend celebrations, a tribute to those men and women who sacrificed their lives for our country.