Other Side of the World

Florida coast
Originally uploaded by holylandhipster.

Last night I got back from my vacation in Florida, and now the official count until the big move is 8 days! Less than a week away. Crazy.

The past three days were incredible though. I literally spent the entire trip on the beach, at the pool, or just hanging out with my family and friends. I didn't think about a thing. Not about the fact that I still don't have an apartment, or know what I'm going to do about a bank account, or what my official "status" will be when I'm in Israel. Nothing. I was on vacation and on the beach, and just enjoying my life.

On Saturday night, my friend Jason drove up from South Beach to where I was staying in Palm Beach and we went to see Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. The movie was absolutely hysterical! We were in pain half of the time from howling with laughter.

But yesterday was really an interesting day. I started the early morning in Florida with a walk on the beach, and I ended the day sitting on the boardwalk with my friend Assaf here in Atlantic Beach (NY). Leaving Florida was sad as my cousins aren't really supportive of my move to Israel. I think it would be easier on them if the country wasn't currently at war. I know they have my best interest at heart, and they didn't spend the weekend trying to convince me to stay, which was really nice of them. At least they respect my decision to move.

The flight back wasn't as relaxing as I had hoped. First of all, actress Michelle Rodriguez from ABC's Lost was on my flight back from Fort Lauderdale. She was most recently arrested for drunk driving and was later killed off on the show (rumor had it that producers weren't happy with her). I was hoping she wouldn't start any trouble on the flight, I needed to get back to LGA quickly and really wasn't up for a diversion to North Carolina. Regardless, she behaved and all was well as I sat at my window seat and caught up on Fox News Channel.

At one point during the flight, I glanced out the window and saw a plane literally coming staight towards us. Now, I'm okay with sharing the friendly skies with other aircrafts. What I'm NOT okay with is, while in mid-air, being able to make out the name of the second plane flying seemingly straight towards us NOR being able to make out other people flying in that plane. My heart skipped a beat as I watched this plane come really, really close and thought about the irony of the moment. Michelle Rodriguez played a character on the hit show about survivors of an airplane crash. I hoped she wasn't that much of a method actor.

Thank g-d, we landed safe and sound and I was able to hustle it back to Queens in time to do my laundry, make some phone calls, catch up on all of my Israel-move related e-mails, before hopping into my car to run some errands for Dad. Around 5 p.m., Assaf decided last night was the only night we could get together before I moved and so he promised to take the subway out to Queens to hang out. Unfortunately for me, he wasn't able to get out here until after 10 p.m. I picked him up at the subway station in Forest Hills and took him to my absolute favorite spot in all of New York City. The boardwalk at Atlantic Beach.

I have some wonderful and painful memories on that boardwalk. My friend Shulamit and I celebrated our friend Debra's 21st birthday with a picnic at that beach and a really nasty bottle of sparkling peach champagne (only kosher champagne we could find in all of Kew Gardens Hills), my ex and I spent a relaxing summer afternoon there early on in our relationship which turned into a wonderful courtship, another ex broke up with me while we were on the boardwalk during Thanksgiving weekend, and then last night Assaf and I sat and watched the storms roll in with the waves, the lightning acting as a backdrop for a beautiful full moon, and the green light from the Great Gatsby beckoning us from the distance.

The whole evening was wonderful and sad at the same time. Wonderful because I was just happy to be in the moment. Assaf really opened up to me, which I found slightly unusual for the hard-core Israeli I've gotten to know over the past year. Rather than spending the time talking about the logistics of my move, he initially helped me navigate the Orange website earlier in the day, we talked about faith, religion, the meaning of life, our purpose in this world, etc. It was one of those conversations, engulfed in a setting that could have catapulted two people down a whole different pathway in their relationship. It was a moment that would have brought two different people closer together. One of those situations that Hollywood movies depict that rarely happen to people in real life, but on screen lead the main actors to realize that they are madly in love and can't spend any time apart. The precursor to a Garden State ending when Zach Braff's character gets off the plane to stay in New Jersey to be with Natalie Portman's character.

And that's why it was also really sad. Because there is no future for us. There won't be any Garden State moments. I won't be getting off of the plane next Wednesday night to stay in NYC to be with Assaf. And he won't be crying and waiting for me at the airport.

While I was really content in the moment, and I'm still so happy that we spent that time together last night, I keep hoping that somewhere in Israel resides my soulmate. He's just waiting for me to get there.

Tonight is the first of my three-night bon voyage celebratory dinners. My Upper West Side friends are taking me to dinner so I can say goodbye. I just hope I don't get too weepy.

Songs of the day include: Heartbeats by Jose Gonzalez, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol and Other Side of the World by KT Tunstall.