Memorial Day and Independence Day

Well its been a busy few days and now the weekend, or rather a long weekend here in Israel, on Tuesday night till Wednesday Evening it was Yom Hazikaron a day to remember those soldiers who have given their life for the protection of Israel and the civilians who also died during the years. It starts with the siren going at 8pm and lasting a minute, sees everything just stop, even cars, come to a halt and the drivers get out to observe the minute and there is a second silence at 11am the following day and the same happens. From someone who has never been in the country around now, its quite an amazing sight to see, that for just a few minutes there is silence. From the night fall of the day of Yom Hazikaron, its quite different as Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day) begins here in Israel and its time to party, for me and my room-mate we attended 2 local parties, with music and stalls of food and kids having fun and fireworks going off and the parties going on long into the night. Yesterday on Yom Ha'atzmaut Day, I was invited to two Barbecue's, one here in Rishon after getting in contact with some fellow English Speakers, so that was fun to go to and I made some contacts as well, so that may help me down the road as I settle in here in Rishon. Then it was off with my roomie to a BBQ in Tel Aviv, both for Independence Day and for a birthday as well. One thing I noticed, wherever I walked and there was a park or somewhere nice to sit, there were people, enjoying the weather, the day and having their own barbecue's. From someone who has never seen this before, it was amazing to see and I hope that this is the first of many times I get to see this.