August 6th

Hope everyone is having a good summer!  OK, here's the update on ours:

Summer trips:  We just took a one night beach camping trip to Palmachim Beach near Rishon LeTziyon.  As you may have heard, it has been hot, even for the Middle East, round these parts.  I am not a fan of sweltering weather which is one reason we chose Neve Daniel in the first place.  At 1000 meters above sea level, most of the year it's pleasant and breezy.  Not this week.  Weather reports said that the beach was 10 degrees cooler and we have been meaning to check it out anyway, so away we went.  Here's something I learned about myself yesterday:  If I am going to like beach camping, it cannot be on the sandy part of the beach.  Being able to listen to the waves was lovely and having the kids in the water before 8:00 am will never happen in our family unless we sleep there, so there were definitely upsides.  However, we are newbies at camping in Israel and I was kind of expecting California State Park amenities.  You know, water spigots at each site, a path to the restrooms, enforced quiet hours between 11:00 and 7:00.  That sort of thing.  We are planning another one night camping trip next week in Ashkelon, so I now have to make sure that there are spots that are far from sand, etc.  We will get this right!
It was interesting to see beach life here, a cross section of Israeli society I do not usually see, living here in our Gush Etzion bubble.  On the very crowded swimming side of the beach I counted three hookah circles and on our camping side, one poike pot and an unfortunate amount of litter.  I had never heard of poike pots before we got here, but they are quite popular.  They look like they could serve as props for the opening scene of Macbeth and people put their potatoes, onions, etc. in them and sit them in the fire.  Then as the fire dies down, you pull them out and eat your now-cooked food.

Last week we went "glamping" with Rozens, Farkas' and Greenbaums at Ella Valley Farm near Bet Shemesh.  They provide tents (these big teepee looking structures with a light bulb and outlet in each one), mattresses, sheets and blankets.  Rabbi Rozen was the BBQ master and the kids had a great time.  We had one escaped goat wander down to the picnic table area but Adami escorted him back to his pen.  The kids enjoyed the little above ground pool and the animals (chickens, goats, rabbits).  Only problem was that the roosters whose coop was right near our tents woke up at 1:00 and crowed to each other for the remainder of the night and morning.  I am generally a gentle person but I had some violent ideas about those birds at around 4:30 am...  Since we were getting home on Friday we set Shabbos up in advance and split lunch with the Farkas'.  We had Josh Zak with us for Shabbos which was a great treat :)

School for next year:  Tiferet has been officially moved back to her original grade after a meeting and several emails and phone calls.  The girls in 6th grade last year were truly lovely and welcoming but she just never felt that she fit in and had been friendly with the girls from the current seventh grade from our summer visits here.  After lots of uncertainty about what the school would support and which class she would be placed in, she is now set to be in the grade and class that she wanted and is spending lots of time on Khan Academy catching up on the 7th grade math and science curricula.
Hillel starts Gan on Sept 1st and though I am nervous about leaving him and his being upset about those morning transitions (I hate making him sad...), I think it is the best program for him and super convenient as it is right across the street and up about 4 houses.  They're having a parent meeting this Sunday night, and I hope to be able to organize some playdates for him with future classmates (other than Ariel Farkas whom he already knows) to help ease the newness of it all.  He's still not talking much, though he is very engaging and skilled at communicating, so I hope that he'll be okay.

More summer activities:  Aharon Akiva spent about a week in a computer programming "camp" and enjoyed that (he has been teaching himself programming through Khan Academy too.  Love that site!).  Shoshana finished her camp and is now enjoying down time, having sleepovers with friends and making slushies in the blender.  We also got a second hand treadmill and she likes using that while watching her favorite shows on YouTube :)  Hodayah also finished her camp and has little on her to-do list but was hired by a local camp (same guy who taught the programming camp) to assist in reading word problems and help kids with their math.  It's a good fit for her and, I think, a good experience to see what it's like to go to work even when you don't always feel like it!

Shoshana learned how to make colorful challah at her camp.  Now the food coloring comes out every Friday when I bake, which I just recently started doing again.  

I have been working on finding out more about the academic programs here and the researchers who are interested in similar fields as I am and trying to figure out what programs already exist, how they are developed and decided upon, how the results are tracked, etc.  I have been a little surprised at how challenging it has been to find this information, but I did find a very helpful man in the Department of Social Services who is originally from S. Africa but has been in Israel since 1983 and he spoke with me for about a half hour and offered to forward my questions to his colleagues who may know more.  So, I crafted an email in Hebrew with my questions and sent it off.  This Sunday morning I have a meeting with the dean of the PhD program in Social Work at Hebrew University and Wed. morning with a professor at Bar Ilan University whose interests have a lot in common with mine.  I sent out a lot of introduction emails, and of the people who wrote back, only a few indicated that they might be available.  But -- I only need one!  The Cowans are still a possible source of an introduction but are in the midst of a busy summer and we'll likely be back in touch in the fall.

House:  I called and called and left oodles of messages for Mustafa, out regular contractor (he also built my SIL's house) and he must be very busy or having phone trouble or something because I haven't heard back from him for weeks.  So I called someone else, a roofer named Judah who was recommended by my friend down the street and they started work this week.  It looks really great and I am really pleased that this project is moving along.  More and larger windows placed more sensibly and soundly on the third floor, bigger dormers that give the rooms more space, and we're putting in the insulation and tar paper that was supposed to be put in originally when the house was built but wasn't, so we'll be better protected against moisture and weather.  I know there are many opportunities for unpleasant surprises when doing construction, so I am holding my breath a little bit, but it seems to be going well.  Our guard, a chatty Ethiopian man from Kiryat Arba who says he has experience with construction, says that they're doing a very careful job and that this is a good improvement for the house.  He also has ideas about how I could help get the kids to help organize their stuff better, but that's just Israelis having helpful opinions about everything :)

Misc:  We had a mourning dove lay eggs in our bedroom windowsill and it was exciting for the kids to be here when they hatched and watch the baby birds grow.  They have now flown off and left what I knew would be a mess (I had pigeons lay eggs in my window box when I was in middle school) but it was worth it.

I went to a prayer gathering/ rally at the big intersection down the road earlier this week for the Dawabshe family and, as always, felt a mixture of despair, hope and frustration.  Despair because there were not more people there (though there were an estimated 300) and because, for reasons I really do understand, there were almost no Palestinians aside from the speakers.  And because I know that we were a small group and not the ones who were ever committing acts of violence or incitement.   Frustration because I know that, aside from the above-mentioned sadness, nobody in the rest of the world seems to care about these kinds of events, they just like writing and talking about the folks who do the bad stuff and then paint the rest of the country as the same, or at least condoning it by silence.  Not true!  There are such fierce debates and protests and rallies and conversations and I find most people I interact with to be very engaged in thinking about the problems that we face (and the critics don't, by the way.  I'd love to see them go through this as a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book and see how well they do.)  One person commented on a particularly virulent and absurd NYT Op-Ed that he doesn't know if he should attribute the writing to malice or tremendous ignorance.  Sigh.  I ran into another former JCHS student there, Nathan Wexler, who was here on a program through UC Berkeley and staying in Bethlehem for the week.  It was great to see him and I hope he sends me anything he ends up writing about his trip!

Aharon Akiva got his orthodontic appliance and has gotten used to wearing it and Shoshana got her braces, so we are finally on our way through the orthodontia journey!  I waited because I knew that, as Shiri Twito said, "What it costs here (in the US) in dollars, it costs there in shekels."  Yep -- treatment plans are a fraction of the cost and we have a great orthodontist from England who is skilled and funny and looks like Patrick Stewart.  Tiferet starts later this month (she was on a class trip when we had our initial appointments so she's on a delayed schedule...

Shoshana braces selfie :)

I am sure I will remember more later but need to get back to preparing for Shabbos.  

June 4th

Ok, wow, it has been a while, sorry about that.  Where were we?  Pesach.  It was a great relief to get back into a routine after what felt like a very long time of being off from school and various travel adventures.  At least for me!

Aharon Akiva finally got his cast off on May 11th and then broke his arm again on the 15th.  Actually, a classmate broke it while storming through Aharon Akiva's defenses in a game of Capture the Flag.  This was a very frustrating setback, and since the force of the blow knocked the angle of the bone further off we got to learn all about the Emergency Room services at Shaarei Zedek hospital.  I actually found the experience interesting, since the ER there has such a diverse group of doctors and patients: both religious and secular Jews, Arabs and the occasional tourist.  Also, I know that the Shock and Trauma unit where AA was treated is usually the first place to receive terror victims for treatment and that they are very good at what they do.  The lobby of the hospital has a picture and memorial tribute for Dr. David Applebaum who was the Chief of ER/ Trauma at Shaarei Zedek.  I did not point it out to AA.  We waited for a while but were finally seen by a middle aged doctor from Teaneck whose brother was in my sister-in-law's class in high school.  Small world :)  More self advocacy was required than in our ER experience in the US, but everyone was nice to us.  When we were cleared to go, I needed to approach nurses in the hallway to find someone who would remove AA's hep-lock.  The second or third nurse agreed and I think we finally got home around 1:30 am.  He continues to handle the situation with great maturity and grace.

We had a run of very full Shabbatot with lots of guests, including a record breaking week with 15 sleepover guests and 27 people at lunch (including the Whitten-Viles which was really, really great and my MIL who was here for three weeks).  We are now in a quieter time; Judah and AA are going to Tzfat with the Yeshiva this Thursday-Shabbat for their final trip of the year and the younger ones and I have planned a quiet Shabbat with playdates/ sleepovers Friday night and a woman and her triplets for Shabbat lunch.  Next week my brother and sister will come with their families and then Judah, Tiferet and Shoshana will be in the US for three weeks, so another quiet set.

We spent Shavuot with the Yeshiva.  The Old City was VERY full over the two day Yom Tov and as we walked out to the parking lot (no cars or parking in the residential part of the city) it felt like a mass exodus of religious families with all their luggage and all the children.  In the parking lot while we waited for Judah to go get the car (aside: we arrived later than we had planned and the lots were packed.  So Judah dropped us off and we started walking with the luggage and bedding while he went to find parking.  He had parked on the sidewalk with a red curb along with three other cars since there was nowhere else to park and there was no ticket on Sunday night.  The police know it's Shabbat and Yom Tov and that parking is tight so they didn't give out tickets :).  In the parking lot there was a big white van with Rebbe Nachman graffiti/decoration blasting Breslov music as they loaded up their mattresses.  A few people in the parking lot started dancing in a small circle with their kids (look on the left side of the screen early in the clip), it was like a party.

I responded to an email post from a woman who lives in Neve Daniel who said she was looking for someone to help with academic paper editing in English on two papers she had written as part of her PhD program but that were sent back to her for revision.   This turned out to be a much more involved and lengthy process than I had anticipated and the amount of time it took was kind of frustrating.  However:  it got me excited again about academic writing, reminding me how much I like it and that I really can do it and can find the time when I am under a deadline.  And, now I know all about implicit learning on the Artificial Grammar Learning task :)

A few mundane details I have been enjoying:  I can hang my laundry here.  I grew up hanging laundry when it was sunny out when we lived in Jerusalem and when we visited my grandmother in Southern California.  I was schooled in hanging shirts upside down and ensuring that socks were matched and that their heels pointed in the same direction.  I felt guilty for years putting my wet laundry in the dryer when it was sunny and warm outside.  But in the US houses are not usually built for easy laundry hanging; our machines were in the basement and there was no setup for a line.  Here, however, for a combination of economic and cultural reasons, having a small porch off of the laundry porch is standard and I have a few quiet minutes outdoors feeling good about saving the dryer for wet weather and being more green :)  Plus, since my laundry porch faces the street, it can be a good people watching (listening? I put up a bamboo mat for privacy) spot, depending on the time of day.  I can wave to the kids as they come in from the school bus or say hello to the neighbors.  While there, I also hear the mourning doves and remember that sound from my years here.  It's a lovely sound and I don't recall hearing it in CA, though I am sure they are around.  As the weather gets warmer, I also remember the smell of summer here, especially early in the morning and in the evening.  It's a clean smell, fresh from local flora, and I enjoy its sweetness and familiarity.

The local non-violence co-existence group has begun organizing local interfaith meetings but they are off to a frustratingly slow start.  The first one had 6-7 Israelis and only one Palestinian came and he was about an hour late.  Someone's father was in the hospital and they were all in the same van so they all had to go visit the man's father in the hospital.  So, we talked with the one who came, an assistant professor of business at a university in Bet Lehem.  The next meeting was supposed to be in Jerusalem and I was almost at the promenade meeting spot when I saw an email that it had been cancelled because of an attack that day and they were not comfortable coming in to Jerusalem.  Frustrating but I understand, and I visited my mother and sister instead since I was already there.

Hodayah has started a business:  She goes to homes of people in the yishuv and reads to their children or teaches them to read.  Here is the ad we posted on our local email group:

Hodayah may only be turning eight but she is a strong, expressive reader in English and would be delighted to come to your house and read to your child (or you, if you like).  She is happy to read your books or bring a selection of her favorites.  She adds that not only can she read to your child but she can also help teach your child to read (she is hoping to be a teacher when she finishes college).  She offers a free fifteen minute trial slot and is charging 1.50 shekel for a fifteen minute slot for further sessions.  She is generally home from school by around 2:30 and needs to be home for dinner by 6:30.   She can be reached at hodayah.dardik@gmail.com.

She now has five clients, Monday through Friday (she says she likes having Sundays off) and is having a great time.  She can walk herself to and from all her jobs and I get great feedback from the moms.  Sometimes she stays to play after she finishes working :)  

One mom sent me a picture:  

She also had a significant role in her class' Yom Ha'Atzmaut play.  Apparently, some of the other teachers were skeptical about her ability to pull it off, since her lines were in Hebrew and she isnot yet fluent, but her teacher said that they don't know Hodayah and she can do it and she performed her part flawlessly.  I unfortunately did not think to video her lines but here is a still shot and if her teacher uploads the video I will share a clip of her reciting her lines. 

 There are nine second grade classes in her school, this video shows the crowd of them on the stage as  they start HaTikvah."  Hodayah is in there somewhere but I can't find her.  

I inadvertantly neglected to get our car registered.  I had received an official looking document in the mail that said "Vehicle Registration" so I naively thought I was done.  There was some fine print I noticed a few weeks ago that I had missed at the bottom of the page that explained that there were two steps I needed to take before the registration was actually valid.  Ah.  I finally finished taking care of that last week.  I was able to pay the fee at a kiosk/ ATM like machine at the back of a pharmacy at the mall which was pretty cool.  The "test" was like an assembly line of people shouting orders, "Move forward!  Turn the wheels to the right!  Put it in neutral!  Engage the parking break!" while their machines ran various tests.  I was greatly relieved when it was over (we passed :) and I love my nice 2015 sticker on my windshield.  

I also finally got all my documents in at the equivalent of the Department of Social Services so I can be registered in their registry of social workers which is like the equivalent of getting licensed.  I can also get certified by diferent organizations, like the Association for Family Therapy, etc. but this step (when it's done) will make it legal for me to work as a social worker.  The (very nice) lady stamping copies of my diploma etc. warned me that it could take several monthsfor the process to be complete since the committee needs to approve my program but it's taken my nine months to even get myself to her office so I am just enjoying having that ball out of my court.  Apparently I am their first applicant with an MSW from UCB.  Someone else already got the BSW program on their approved list, but not the MSW program.  I told her I was not worried and that it was okay...

Tonight we had dinner with Hedy and Yumi at Kibbutz Tzova and it was a real pleasure to see them.  Sam Daffner ran into Yumi at the Kotel on the Friday night before Shavuot and they made the Oakland/ Dardik connection.  A few days later they emailed us to arrange a dinner time and we had a delightful evening.  B"H, they are doing very well and are running their second workshop this month here starting tomorrow with 38 couples!  Perhaps we can join them next year.   

Our banister is finally up!  Well, most of it.  The final piece is not in yet and I don't think they would have put it in at all if I hadn't pointed out that it looks unfinished.  So, some day this month, our carpenter will probably surprise me by showing up with the final piece and put it in.  I could also call him but he often doesn't answer and I notice that I avoid calling him or the contractor.  I would like to get the windows on the third floor taken care of while Aharon Akiva can move into Shoshana's room while she's away, so I really have to get my ducks in a row on the planning of that project and call more often to nudge that along.  Having the banister instead of a wall is a big improvement and I am happy with it.  I am including the picture of what I had showed him that I wanted and a picture of what he put in.  Initially I was very unsure about the carving on the pieces but taking it out and replacing it would be a real pain so I am working on learning to love it and am making progress.  

Purim, Pesach etc.

We are loving our busy Pesach, and delighted to see so many of our Oakland friends.  My phone is running out of memory so between that and tracking the kids I have taken no pictures and will have to borrow from fellow travelers.  But here are the long overdue kitchen pictures!  It took a while to get them because I wanted to put up pictures of a clean kitchen.  Well, that can happen once a week if I am lucky. A neighbor has a fridge magnet that says, "You should have come last week, the house was clean then" and that sums it up for us much of the time.  

 

 

Hillel makes a cameo appearance...                

I just liked that the matchboxes at the supermarket say "Shabbat Shalom" because what else would you be using matches for than to light your Shabbat candles?  

  As you can see, it's much more open now (there used to be walls enclosing the whole kitchen with a pass through between the kitchen and dining room and a door around where the trash cans) which I love and realize that I need to figure out how to keep it clean and welcoming since it is one of the first sights that greets someone upon entry.

 Since these were taken we unpacked some more in the dining room and one of the kids commented that it's starting to look like a real house!  

This is the first time in thirteen years that I have not hosted seder and I am really okay with that.  Looking forward to hosting at our house next year (hope you can come!) but this was good for now.  Being at the hotel and traveling with a group has been fun for the kids and me and today we are having a relaxed day at home which is just perfect.  Judah and Aharon Akiva went in to Jerusalem to join the group today and the kids are slowly waking up and coming downstairs to eat matza and cream cheese and plan their days.   

Small country anecdotes of the week:  As we were finishing breakfast at the hotel on Monday morning, my brother and his family walk in!  I had no idea they were even going to be in Haifa let alone at the same hotel at the same time.  They live in Modiin so we see them every now and again but not super often.  We got a bit of morning time at the pool with them before we needed to check out, so that was a fun treat for the kids.  In underground city of old Acco, we ran into our neighbors from across the street who have kids in Aharon Akiva and Tiferet's grades.  Then, we saw Dawn Margolin as we were outside Yitz's apartment in Baka and got to chat a bit.  Her son Avi and wife Yael live in Sdeh Boaz, an outpost (suburb?) of Neve Daniel and she is in Israel for Pesach.

Purim:  Man, the whole week of Purim is taken up with related activities.  The kids effectively only had two days of school, Sunday and Monday, because Tuesday was their costume-carnival-early dismissal day, Wednesday was Taanit Esther and there was no school (apparently because of a clerical error at the Ministry of education but what's done is done...), Thursday was Purim and Friday was Shushan Purim so that was that.  Fun, and exhausting.  They had a parade with a donkey (easier to fins than horses) and floats right here in Neve Daniel, it seemed like the whole town was dressed up and all morning people were delivering mishloach Manot, lots of megillah readings so you can pick your favorite style and location.  Sephardi readings, fast readings, women's readings, kid friendly readings, no grogger readings, early, late, etc.  Very convenient.  Seudah at Shimona and Erez's house was perfect.  The Rozens came from Beit Shemesh and we had another family from down the street.  Pot luck, so not too much for any one family, and lots of fun.  I am pretty sure someone did a dramatic rendition of "Let it Go" from Frozen but I won't say who ;)  

Here are pictures from the bus stop Tuesday morning:  

Hodayah has a very cute ladybug dress which is mostly obscured by her coat.  Oh well.  

Elections:  Serious, very serious.  I was interested by some of the campaign approaches and differences between how campaigns are managed here vs. the US.  For example, televised debates and publicized platforms are a major feature of US elections which makes a great deal of sense to me.  Here, not so much.  I learned the word for "political platform" (it sounds like how you would say "political mattress," but I figured it out...) and many small parties have a relatively narrow focus, kind of like the Green Party in the US might have (at least in popular perception).  The big parties have official ideas about more than national security and how to address the Israeli-Palestinian problem, but they are not much of a focus because people's focus is on security questions.   The radio ads also feature musical jingles instead of deep voiced, ominous warnings and promises.  Netanyahu's main campaign slogan was "It's us or the Right" except in our neighborhood he had a variation, "It's us or them," presumably letting you use your imagination to fill in that blank.  I can't see that happening in the US; people are more sensitive to demonizing the other and would get turned off.  But here people are really scared, so it worked.  Much like I have felt in the US in some elections, it felt that there was no really good choice.  I was having anxiety dreams before the election and felt like I needed to choose between evil and existentially irresponsible.  Now, of course that's not true, even the politicians here for whom I don't care much aren't actually evil, and I may disagree with an approach but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's irresponsible, but it was really stressful for me.  I am glad it's over and that it wasn't a close call.   The town published election results for our community and we had a great turnout rate, in the mid eighties and it was interesting to see the breakdown.  Mostly predictable, but not entirely and that was encouraging.  

Random family news:  Judah is bringing Shoshana and Tiferet with him to Oakland when he comes in June for the BJC Man's Cup and they are both very excited to get to see their friends (Shoshana wants to surprise some of her friends, so don't mention it yet), visit  OHDS and other favorite spots and eat some of the foods that we don't have here.  

Aharon Akiva broke his arm on a school trip and had to miss the second two days, but he has been a very good sport about it.  Luckily, the head of Orthopedics at Shaarei Tzedek lives in Efrat and has office hours on Monday afternoons (he broke it on Sunday and was returned home Sunday night) and has been taking very good care of him.  Plus, he happens to have a son in Aharon Akiva's grade who was on the same trip and told Aharon Akiva that rumor has it that Sunday was the best day, so he doesn't have to feel too bad.   

The Safrans stayed with us for a few days before Pesach and it was such a treat to see them!  Their girls shadowed ours at school on Thursday, then Friday was Eliel's Bat Mitzvah where we saw more Oakland friends and spent an absolutely lovely Shabbat with them.  Friday night we went to Shimona and Erez's and after dinner the neighbors from across the street came over to hang out (I had mentioned it to then because I thought they would really hit it off) and then the Farkas' came for lunch.  Sunday we went with them to Einot Tzukim and Nachal David and the kids enjoyed playing in the waterfalls and seeing the dozens of hyraxes that live in the area including some moms with litters which were especially fun to see.   

Man made pools fed by a natural spring and river at Einot Tzukim near the Dead Sea. 

Ice cream, because it was very hot.  

Hillel loved picking up pebbles from the water and tossing them.  kept him occupied for a good while!

The brave stood under the waterfall 

Scenery.  Photo credit:  Tiferet

Play "spot the hyrax"

Tomorrow morning we head back to Yerushalayim for Old City tours (Kotel Tunnels and Ir David) and we'll be sleeping at my mother's apartment which is about a five minute walk from Yitz's apartment.  Some meals with the group, some with my mom and Hannah and Netzach -- very nice to see everyone.  As an aside bit of trivia, we have had a total of five Naomis as part of this trip!  Here are two of us:

 Naomi Kaye Honova and me in Old Acco.   Photo credit:  probably Honza :) 

  

Chag sameach!

February 27th

All week I have been collecting sentences and thoughts to share with you this week, sure that I would have time before Shabbos to write them down.  And here I am, 12:45 am, about to go upstairs because the food is finally put away, the soup is up and I realize that the chances of my having time to write tomorrow afternoon are comically slim.   So I thought maybe best to jot down some highlights and then maybe expand on them later but at least have something:

Storm from last week:  It was great fun.  We did lose power a bit on Friday night and I feared for my mushroom barley soup in the crockpot with a beautiful #6 (that's how they classify meat cuts here -- by number!  There are several kind seasoned immigrants who have compiled a list of the numbers and what they mean in American...) but by morning it was back on.  Our Shabbat guests came on Thursday afternoon, they had a spirited snowball fight on Friday afternoon and the kids built snowmen.  Two days off school and very reluctant return on Sunday morning.

Our front walkway on Friday morning 

Shoshana took this one on Sunday morning.  Can you believe they still had to go to school!?  Just because the roads were clear.  Apparently kids were throwing snow into the street hoping to render them too unsafe to drive on... No such luck.  I will find and post the snowman pictures too, they're pretty cute.  

Sunday on Wednesday:  Twenty of the students in the Yeshiva where Judah teaches are on a trip to Poland run by the March of the Living people but as a result, the remaining students have day trips and Judah was granted Tuesday and Wednesday off.  Wednesday we kept the kids out of school and took a family trip to a hill near Beit Shemesh known for its beautiful wildflower bloom, and this is the season.  After that we went to a local mall that has a sushi place and the kids got pizza, sushi and ice cream.  Otherwise we hardly ever get days to do anything as a family because Sunday is a regular day and Fridays, when Judah is off work, are short days and generally consumed by Shabbos prep.

Hillel among the lupines.  I actually have loads of great pictures but this is the only one I emailed myself so far so I will have to post the others another time.  

Next year plans:  Aharon Akiva received his acceptances this week from the two schools he had applied to, so that was a happy relief.   He will go to Horev in Jerusalem next year, and needs to be at his bus stop at 6:30 am...

This week we have four Midreshet Moriah students staying with us for Shabbos and then the Rozens are joining us at Shimona's house along with one other family for Purim Seudah.  That is going to be lots of fun and we are looking forward!

OK, stopping now.  Shabbat Shalom :)

Catch up (sorry!)

I know, it's been a very long time.  I was just about to write and then the community (BJC) suffered a sudden and terrible loss and I decided to wait a bit.  We were also so shocked here, and felt helpless and kind of alone -- nobody here except the Farkas' knew David.  Judah has been in touch with people in Oakland and elsewhere and I know the community was amazing and supportive in every way and that there are just no words that capture the enormity of the sadness and void that his absence leaves.  We miss him.

We are gearing up for another set of snow days.  I look out the window now and see the trees in the park next door, surrounded by fog and back-lit by the streetlamps blowing in our legendary wind.  I can hear the wind too, and am so grateful we have a solid home.  Even if they did build them with no insulation (grumbling about the construction mistakes and shortcuts for the houses on our side of the street is something of a pastime.  Everyone has the same house, more or less, and dealt with the same construction company.  Their architectural professionalism and thoroughness leaves what to be desired...)

Loads of emails and text messages abut the decision not to hold school tomorrow and the list of schools that will be closed (in our area, all of them).  Except the boys' school will be open for a couple hours in the morning so the boys can come get their tefillin in case they left them in school.  I loved that.

We have five or six boys from Judah's yeshiva coming for Shabbos and they will come tomorrow since the road from Jerusalem is expected to be closed starting at some point tomorrow and anyone traveling for Shabbat has been advised to be in place from Thursday. I am glad that the bakery is walking distance from our house :)  They announced that the parking lot will be closed to cars and I'll call tomorrow to see if they really plan to open on Friday or if I should get everything I need by tomorrow.

I avoided the supermarket today, I understood from friends that it was a madhouse.  Last storm everyone planned in advance, the Supermarket was packed and quite unpleasant and the day of the actual snow the place was empty but open and accessible until the snow actually started falling later in the day.  So I plan to go early tomorrow and hope that they will be almost empty and have bread, milk and chicken for Shabbos.

I asked each of the girls today if they had the choice to move back to Oakland and have everything be the way it was before, would they do it?  And I was relieved to hear that each one said no, while recognizing that there were "Up sides and down sides" to each place.  One wanted to now if she would be able to come back and visit here, one said maybe in a few weeks but not now, but all of them thought about it.  I hope that it helps them to realize that they have gotten to a place where they would no longer jump to leave given the option.  It's a big change, and I was starting to feel like they would never get used to it and be happy, even though I knew intellectually that it probably would.  They're still not delighted, but a shift is starting.

We are still waiting to hear back from one of the high schools that Aharon Akiva applied to and will be relieved when he is just signed up and registered.  Hillel, though, is all signed up for Gan for next year :)  We joked that it was his test scores and APs that got him in.  Actually it was his birthday, but we can pretend.  It's a very sweet program right across the street with two lovely teachers.  He will have Maayan Farkas in his class :)  He is learning and understanding lots of words but not talking much yet.  He has a few signs (more, eat, come, bye, where) and a few words (Ema, Abba, Uh-oh, Wow) and I did my research and concluded that there is no cause for alarm.  He is just moving at his own pace.  Apparently his father spoke late too and he is not lacking in communication skills!

I have not been able to attend my Coexistence meetings in Beit Hanina for the last few weeks because my sister has not been feeling well and can't watch Hillel anymore.  It was just too hard for him to be away from me for that many hours, too much of a break from our routine.  There is a possibility of a local dialogue group starting soon which would allow me to leave him with the older kids for a shorter period of time which may be a better match at this point in our lives.  I will let you know how that unfolds.

Kitchen cabinets are in and Caesarstone countertops have been ordered, so we are making real progress.  I recognize that part of the reason that it's been so slow is because I have not been more assertive in encouraging the work to happen faster.  On some level, it's easier for me if they don't come on any given day, because if there is a worker here I have to be home, I can't go nap with Hillel, sometimes it's noisy, etc.  So it's slow.  And that's okay.  But I do want it to get finished already so I can have my gas range and outlets where they need to be etc.  Soon.

I have been thinking more about working and am finally gathering the documentation I need to get licensed and registered here.  It's not hard, just needs doing.  Letters attesting to numbers of field work hours and meetings with officials to authenticate my transcripts and diploma, etc.  And often by the time offices open in CA, I am busy with bedtime and then tired enough that waiting until tomorrow to call them seems like a great idea.  So here we are :)

Thank you to those of you who let me know that you read this by commenting or emailing because even though I remember that the whole point of this format is availability and access without pressure, it is good to know that I am writing to somebody :)

Shabbat Shalom!

Birds, Kids, Freezer, Fuel

I loved the birds in California.  The hummingbirds in our backyard, the different species of Jays that, thanks to the diligent efforts of Mrs. Gilford, all of my kindergarten graduates could identify.  Here, I had been a tiny bit disappointed not to see many birds other than sparrows, pigeons and ravens or crows.  So yesterday, as I was getting back to my car after a banking errand, I was excited to spot this fellow in a tree!  I took many pictures and most of them turned out looking like fuzzy tree branches.  I am including the best of mine and a nice crisp picture from the web of what we figured out was a Eurasian Jay.  Shout out to my SIL Shimona and BIL Joey for helping identify it!

I also saw what I later identified as a Palestine Sunbird on our porch.  Apparently the males are quite colorful but what I saw looked more like this lady.  So, there's hope yet :)

In an effort to protect the children's privacy I am not sharing what each of them say about their adjustment to living here, but I will say that I have been impressed with the level of flexibility, understanding and self reflection that some have demonstrated.  It really does feel like two steps forward and one step back, but that is expected.   Hopefully by this time next year each one can say with honesty that they are pretty happy and are satisfied with their friend-making progress if not with their social situation altogether.

Aharon Akiva has settled on a first choice for high school for next year and his parents concur that it would be a good choice for him, from what we have gathered, so we hope that he will be accepted and happy there.

Yesterday I bought a medium sized storage freezer that lives in the Mamad/den.  There was quite the sordid saga of an extra fridge that I bought from the local equivalent of Craigslist that was advertised as "like new" and most decidedly was not.  I went to great lengths to resolve that situation and was very irritated by it but yesterday someone finally came and took the old monstrosity away and we have achieved resolution on the freezer question.  I don't expect this is interesting to anyone but me and possibly other people who have bought used appliances that were not as advertised, but you can know that I am personally pleased that it's all over, I have a clear view out my kitchen window again (the big old fridge was on our front porch blocking part of my view out the kitchen window) and most importantly, it's GONE.   Thank you for listening (reading?).

I am now trying to find white gas and nobody seems to have it.  One person even told me (somewhat irately) that there is no such thing in Israel and why am I making people crazy, but other people told us what it's called and where to find it.  Except that those places I have called so far don't have it.  It's for our camping stove, so we can cook in case we lose power in the storm, so I hope we find it somewhere :)

I look forward to sharing snow pictures!

Show and Snow

The girls and I just got back from a performance titled "Count the Stars."  A musical by a local all-women's theater group called "Raise Your Spirits," which dramatized the  life of Avraham and Sarah in a musical.  Tiferet and Shoshana both had friends in the show and they added three extra shows because it was so popular (good for me because the date tonight was better for us...).  It was very well done and a little over half way through, Shoshana leaned over to me and whispered, "Is this a musical?"  I whispered back, "Yes" and she said, "Oh, that explains all the songs..."

The audience was also all women and girls, some of whom had beautiful voices and they also included many humorous bits, so it was really fun.  The only part I got really emotional was in the Lech Lecha scene, thinking mostly about how the kids had left everything they had known (almost), friends, school, familiarity, comfort, etc. and gone to "the land that I will show you," kind of like Avraham.   (Someone held up a sign with the little Waze icon, wearing a head dress :) Thankfully the play ended with the weaning of Yitzchak so they didn't have to deal with some of the more difficult bits that follow!   After it was over everyone sang HaTikvah and Ani Maamin and it was moving for me.  The show had laid out the foundations of why we're here and then I look around the audience and see the descendants that Avraham and Sarah hoped for.  And then of course I wondered what it would have been like for Avraham's other children to be in the audience.

Snow is predicted for Wednesday and Thursday and most people seem a combination of excited and nervous.  Chatter on the Facebook and email groups about where to buy propane, kerosene, coats and boots and plastic sleds.  Strategizing about how to get home if it starts while family is at work or school.  Contingency plans for meetings, etc.  The idea of having a quiet vacation day with the beauty of snow sounds really appealing to everyone!  Last year Neve Daniel (about 1000 meters over sea level, higher even than Jerusalem) got a major snow storm and was effectively shut down for almost a week.  * Addendum:  I got the shopping done yesterday but was in line for over half an hour.  The place was packed.  They had not yet run out of food, so I have plenty of milk, eggs, bread, etc, but I was so relieved to get home...

I let the kids (and myself) sleep late since we got back late from the play but now I need to get everyone to school and go to the supermarket to stock up for the storm :)