Come on in!

Holly had her host family in Israel and they were rich. They lived in a brand new house. The house didn't have any doors. There wasn't stealing or rain in Israel so the need for doors was useless. They didn't even have windows or screens. There were shades that you could pull down when it got too sunny. The house was a nice big brick one with their own banana tree in the back and a live chicken as a pet.

The bathroom in that house had a toilet, sink and a shower. The shower was just a shower head coming from the wall and a drain. No curtain and no tub. You just took your shower and squeegied the floor. The water would dry up in minutes because it was so hot there. You weren't allowed to take baths or have ice because those were considered a waste of water.

Holly's mom (host family mom) used to iron Holly's underwear and socks. I got stuck with the poor people and used to stay at Holly's host family as much as I could.

Her family would make breakfast in the morning and we would all eat outside in the back where they had a nice patio set and great breakfast. Fresh fruits, homemade orange juice, muffins and great jellies.

After we were done having breakfast we were all sitting in the living room and a donkey walked in. This was nothing to them. They didn't even look at it. They just kept on talking. If there is a fly in my house we all go crazy and try to kill it. A donkey is another story. Hard to kill a donkey with a fly swatter or shoo him away.

The donkey smelled around. Walked around and left. The kids playing in the street jumped on the donkey and was riding him up and down the block. This was normal to them.

So, chickens as a pet, camels walking around and a donkey roaming the streets is nothing new to the Israelis. I find this strange.