By the way, I sent a box of books via USPS "M bag" 3 weeks ago. I am hoping to receive it soon!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Tzedakah fish
The WK took Pentheus's priority mail box (which, by the way, delivered his priority mail in a mere 16 days) and turned it into a fish tzedakah box (into which one can put money to be used to help others). Because the Hebrew word for "fish" is "daag" Pentheus thought the title to this post should be "tzedaagah box"! :-D
By the way, I sent a box of books via USPS "M bag" 3 weeks ago. I am hoping to receive it soon!
By the way, I sent a box of books via USPS "M bag" 3 weeks ago. I am hoping to receive it soon!
Sunday, August 19, 2012
The Emek
It's been a few days since I've updated this blog. I don't want to get too far behind or else it will be hard for me to catch up. On Friday morning, the whole family went to Emek Refaim ("the Emek" as many call it) Street to do some errands, shopping and eating.
Our main task on Friday was to get cell phones to use in Israel. Unfortunately, we did not succeed. We bought a new phone in the States and were going to buy a SIM card. It turns out not to be so easy in that we need to have an Israeli bank account/credit card in order to buy a non-contract phone, but we can't open a bank account or get a card unless we are in Israel for at least a year. Others offer us pre-paid plans that come with a phone (not a cheap phone, I might add), but they are very expensive. We don't need "unlimited" calls and data within Israel. We might end up buying pre-paid minutes on a "dumb phone" and using data on the computers (iPad, Netbook and MacBook Air) and with the WiFi at the dira. That's a big bummer for me - you have no idea how much I could benefit from GPS on a phone...
We ate lunch at 2 different restaurants on the Emek because heaven forbid we find one place where both boys will eat! At Pizza Italia we had our first experience in which someone has not been nice as we try to navigate in Hebrew. I spoke to the man behind the counter and ordered plain spaghetti with red sauce and shredded cheese on the side for the CK. After I paid, a different person was preparing the order. I saw her saute garlic in a pan and knew that if she put the spaghetti in there, too, that the CK wouldn't like it. I said very politely in Hebrew that I wanted to check there wouldn't be garlic in the spaghetti because my son had wanted it plain. (By the way, "shoom" is garlic in Hebrew.) She answered in Hebrew, "Does it look like there is spaghetti in the pan? I don't see any spaghetti, do you?" Not a big deal, but I was a bit surprised. Maybe she would have been nicer had I spoken only in English?
We had decided as a family not to go to synagogue Friday night. We had purchased two kinds of prepared chicken, rice and roasted cauliflower on Thursday night, and heated them up to have for dinner on Friday. Shabbat meals typically include challah (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challah), so I asked the man at the prepared food place who made the best challah in Jerusalem. His reply? "Eeshti" ("my wife"). Unfortunately, his wife didn't have any extra challot so we bought 2 loaves at Tomer Bakery. The challah was only ok - if anyone has suggestions for challah places in Jerusalem (preferably within walking distance!) please let us know.
Shabbat morning we went to a Reform synagogue called M'vakshei Derech ("Seekers of the Way") about 12 minutes from the dira. The average congregant age must have been at least 72 - and that was only because there were a few 60+ year olds in the group to keep the number in the low 70's. The congregants were very nice, kind of like grandparents. We were told that it had been founded as a Reconstructionist shul (http://judaism.about.com/od/reconstructionistjudaism/Reconstructionist_Judaism.htm) but later affiliated with the Reform movement. The service, including the Torah portion, was entirely in Hebrew in a very thin book with very small typed words. Our family was asked to participate in the service by taking out and putting away the Torah. The boys didn't love the synagogue primarily because there were no other children (actually there was a teenager and a two-week old, but no one with whom the boys could play), and secondarily because there were only pretzels and small pieces of chocolate cake available at the end of the service. I may have it backwards as to the primary and secondary reasons... At Shir Hadash on the previous Shabbat, there had been lots of kids, plus cake, cookies, grape juice and popsicles after the service.
M'vakshei Derech kind of reminded me of my family's Havurah congregation in Kentucky. The service was lay-led (i.e., there was no rabbi) and participatory. One of the Torah scrolls had a beautiful needlepoint cover on it that reminded me of the gorgeous needlepoint cover my Mom and other members of the Havurah had made several years ago. It was nice to think of Mom, though I am sure her yartzheit (anniversary of her death) next month will be difficult for me.
Pentheus took the boys to a nearby park Shabbat afternoon while I read my book (The Dovekeepers, by Alice Hoffman). There were about 20 other kids at the park but they wouldn't let the WK or CK play soccer or frisbee with them, even when Pentheus taught the boys how to ask politely in Hebrew. The other kids kept saying that the WK and CK could join in a few minutes, but didn't choose them when dividing into teams. (I know, brings back bad middle school flashbacks for all of us.) The WK and CK ended up playing by themselves and having a good time anyway. We talked to them about how sometimes it's hard to make new friends and that perhaps once their Hebrew is better, they could join in more easily. We also assured them that they will meet other kids at school.
This morning, the family went to the Szold School to get signed up, meet the teachers and receive book lists. The faculty seems very nice, as were some of the kids we met via our neighbor who told us about the school. Szold includes the elementary grades (1st-6th), with the younger grades in a second building behind the other. The teachers were great, and it was clear they were trying to make the boys feel more at ease. We all agreed that it didn't make sense to buy the books on the book list, especially because the boys can read very little Hebrew. The WK's 5th grade teacher (Yael) and I are going to work together on some sort of curriculum for the WK. Yael doesn't want the WK to sit in class and daydream, but she also recognizes that he will need to do something. The CK's teacher (Hadas) felt the same way. The teachers were happy to have the boys in their classes, as it will be a challenge for them as well. School starts on 8/27, so we will see soon enough how it goes.
As an addition to my previous post about the boys' "book learning" goals, I wanted to add that we are in touch with the WK and CK's teachers in Cambridge. Pentheus and I will have the boys' actual Math and Science curricula and probably other subjects as well, so that the boys can do "homework" here such that they don't fall too far behind and can catch up when we return to Cambridge at the end of the December.
Our neighbor had promised us that she would introduce the WK to a couple of boys who will be in his 5th grade class. Today we met Uri, a very nice boy who lives 2 doors down from the Szold School. We had a playdate at Uri's house, where Uri, the WK and the CK played "Monopol Eem Bank Electroni" (yes, Monopoly with an electronic bank) for over an hour. Then the boys fashioned a table tennis game, using the kitchen table and frisbees as paddles. The score ("nikudot") was kept in Hebrew - WK and CK know their numbers, that's for sure.
We do feel like we are settling in a bit more. I think we all want some structure to our days. Although it's been neat to be in Jerusalem, this doesn't feel like vacation so much. We're waiting for a routine to set it, but know that even after school starts next Monday, it will take a while. We have planned some fun things to do this week, like go to the outdoor market Machaneh Yehudah, see a movie outside in a nearby park, and visit with some of Pentheus's friends in Zichron Ya'akov, near Caesaria, about 2 hours from Jerusalem.
(By the way, Uri's Mom told us that the "petting zoo" I mentioned in my last post is part of the therapy used at another school that deals specifically with children with special needs.)
Our main task on Friday was to get cell phones to use in Israel. Unfortunately, we did not succeed. We bought a new phone in the States and were going to buy a SIM card. It turns out not to be so easy in that we need to have an Israeli bank account/credit card in order to buy a non-contract phone, but we can't open a bank account or get a card unless we are in Israel for at least a year. Others offer us pre-paid plans that come with a phone (not a cheap phone, I might add), but they are very expensive. We don't need "unlimited" calls and data within Israel. We might end up buying pre-paid minutes on a "dumb phone" and using data on the computers (iPad, Netbook and MacBook Air) and with the WiFi at the dira. That's a big bummer for me - you have no idea how much I could benefit from GPS on a phone...
We ate lunch at 2 different restaurants on the Emek because heaven forbid we find one place where both boys will eat! At Pizza Italia we had our first experience in which someone has not been nice as we try to navigate in Hebrew. I spoke to the man behind the counter and ordered plain spaghetti with red sauce and shredded cheese on the side for the CK. After I paid, a different person was preparing the order. I saw her saute garlic in a pan and knew that if she put the spaghetti in there, too, that the CK wouldn't like it. I said very politely in Hebrew that I wanted to check there wouldn't be garlic in the spaghetti because my son had wanted it plain. (By the way, "shoom" is garlic in Hebrew.) She answered in Hebrew, "Does it look like there is spaghetti in the pan? I don't see any spaghetti, do you?" Not a big deal, but I was a bit surprised. Maybe she would have been nicer had I spoken only in English?
We had decided as a family not to go to synagogue Friday night. We had purchased two kinds of prepared chicken, rice and roasted cauliflower on Thursday night, and heated them up to have for dinner on Friday. Shabbat meals typically include challah (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challah), so I asked the man at the prepared food place who made the best challah in Jerusalem. His reply? "Eeshti" ("my wife"). Unfortunately, his wife didn't have any extra challot so we bought 2 loaves at Tomer Bakery. The challah was only ok - if anyone has suggestions for challah places in Jerusalem (preferably within walking distance!) please let us know.
Shabbat morning we went to a Reform synagogue called M'vakshei Derech ("Seekers of the Way") about 12 minutes from the dira. The average congregant age must have been at least 72 - and that was only because there were a few 60+ year olds in the group to keep the number in the low 70's. The congregants were very nice, kind of like grandparents. We were told that it had been founded as a Reconstructionist shul (http://judaism.about.com/od/reconstructionistjudaism/Reconstructionist_Judaism.htm) but later affiliated with the Reform movement. The service, including the Torah portion, was entirely in Hebrew in a very thin book with very small typed words. Our family was asked to participate in the service by taking out and putting away the Torah. The boys didn't love the synagogue primarily because there were no other children (actually there was a teenager and a two-week old, but no one with whom the boys could play), and secondarily because there were only pretzels and small pieces of chocolate cake available at the end of the service. I may have it backwards as to the primary and secondary reasons... At Shir Hadash on the previous Shabbat, there had been lots of kids, plus cake, cookies, grape juice and popsicles after the service.
M'vakshei Derech kind of reminded me of my family's Havurah congregation in Kentucky. The service was lay-led (i.e., there was no rabbi) and participatory. One of the Torah scrolls had a beautiful needlepoint cover on it that reminded me of the gorgeous needlepoint cover my Mom and other members of the Havurah had made several years ago. It was nice to think of Mom, though I am sure her yartzheit (anniversary of her death) next month will be difficult for me.
Pentheus took the boys to a nearby park Shabbat afternoon while I read my book (The Dovekeepers, by Alice Hoffman). There were about 20 other kids at the park but they wouldn't let the WK or CK play soccer or frisbee with them, even when Pentheus taught the boys how to ask politely in Hebrew. The other kids kept saying that the WK and CK could join in a few minutes, but didn't choose them when dividing into teams. (I know, brings back bad middle school flashbacks for all of us.) The WK and CK ended up playing by themselves and having a good time anyway. We talked to them about how sometimes it's hard to make new friends and that perhaps once their Hebrew is better, they could join in more easily. We also assured them that they will meet other kids at school.
This morning, the family went to the Szold School to get signed up, meet the teachers and receive book lists. The faculty seems very nice, as were some of the kids we met via our neighbor who told us about the school. Szold includes the elementary grades (1st-6th), with the younger grades in a second building behind the other. The teachers were great, and it was clear they were trying to make the boys feel more at ease. We all agreed that it didn't make sense to buy the books on the book list, especially because the boys can read very little Hebrew. The WK's 5th grade teacher (Yael) and I are going to work together on some sort of curriculum for the WK. Yael doesn't want the WK to sit in class and daydream, but she also recognizes that he will need to do something. The CK's teacher (Hadas) felt the same way. The teachers were happy to have the boys in their classes, as it will be a challenge for them as well. School starts on 8/27, so we will see soon enough how it goes.
As an addition to my previous post about the boys' "book learning" goals, I wanted to add that we are in touch with the WK and CK's teachers in Cambridge. Pentheus and I will have the boys' actual Math and Science curricula and probably other subjects as well, so that the boys can do "homework" here such that they don't fall too far behind and can catch up when we return to Cambridge at the end of the December.
Our neighbor had promised us that she would introduce the WK to a couple of boys who will be in his 5th grade class. Today we met Uri, a very nice boy who lives 2 doors down from the Szold School. We had a playdate at Uri's house, where Uri, the WK and the CK played "Monopol Eem Bank Electroni" (yes, Monopoly with an electronic bank) for over an hour. Then the boys fashioned a table tennis game, using the kitchen table and frisbees as paddles. The score ("nikudot") was kept in Hebrew - WK and CK know their numbers, that's for sure.
We do feel like we are settling in a bit more. I think we all want some structure to our days. Although it's been neat to be in Jerusalem, this doesn't feel like vacation so much. We're waiting for a routine to set it, but know that even after school starts next Monday, it will take a while. We have planned some fun things to do this week, like go to the outdoor market Machaneh Yehudah, see a movie outside in a nearby park, and visit with some of Pentheus's friends in Zichron Ya'akov, near Caesaria, about 2 hours from Jerusalem.
(By the way, Uri's Mom told us that the "petting zoo" I mentioned in my last post is part of the therapy used at another school that deals specifically with children with special needs.)
What's in a name?
A few people have asked about how the pseudonyms were chosen. The reasons why aren't that interesting, and if you don't care to know, feel free to skip this post. I am "Katamom" with an "m" at the end because the neighborhood in which we live is called "Katamon" with an "n" - I thought "Katamom" was clever, seeing as I am a "Mom" writing from "Katamon." I had originally thought "Katamom" would be the name of the blog but Pentheus thought no-one would understand it (which is funny because I don't think Divrei Wek is that easy to understand either). My husband is "Pentheus" because that was the name of a character in a play we saw on our second date. Just for the record, we went to the play because his upstairs neighbor had supervised the choreography, and Pentheus thought going to the play would be good for neighborly relations. The boys are the Worm King and the Cheetah King because both of them named themselves that way several years ago when playing a game. In fact, for a while the boys made us watch and listen to a performance of "The Worm Jig" song/dance on a regular basis. The CK's favorite stuffed animal is a cheetah so that's where CK originated. Oh yeah, I almost forgot -- "Wek" is part of my last name.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Sold on Henrietta Szold Elementary School
Yesterday, the boys and I walked to the school (Henrietta Szold Elementary) to see if we could meet with the principal. The walk was about 9 minutes with the entrance around the corner up a big hill. When we entered the school, there were a bunch of volunteers painting murals with flowers, butterflies and ladybugs on the wall near the playground, and I figured that was a good sign. (There was also some sort of petting zoo with goats and ducks across the street. I don't know the scoop on that yet.)
After finding the principal's office, she said to me (in Hebrew), "Are you my 1:30?" When I explained that I was the person from the email that my neighbor had sent to her, the principal invited us in. We spoke with her and the head English teacher for about 20 minutes, and I was pleased with what they had to say. While there aren't many (to be honest, I don't know yet if there are any) American families in the school, there is support for the English speakers, and there is even a small English book library. While the boys speak very little Hebrew and read and write even less, we're not super concerned about the boys' "book learning" in Israel. We have a few goals for the boys in school: 1) to have a good experience, 2) to learn Hebrew, and 3) to be engaged and interested in learning when we return to the States. It's our hope that this school can help us with those.
As an aside, it turns out that Benyamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, will be at the boys' school on the first day! I guess it's some sort of kick-off of the new Israeli school year. (Hmm, maybe that explains the butterfly and ladybug mural being painted.) Our neighbor was complaining about there being extra security and talking about not sending her daughter to school the first day because they are not big Netanyahu fans anyway, but we'll walk the boys to school and see if we can't hang out to watch the pomp and circumstance.
I went to the Misrad Chinuch this morning and switched the boys' school registration. The clerk who helped me on Tuesday assisted me again today and did in fact say "I told you so" in Hebrew when I asked her to make the change. She didn't say it in a mean way; rather, she honestly likes the Szold school and thought it would easier for the boys to go there. I think Israelis have fewer inhibitions and just say it like it is. I told her she had been right and thanked her for the push.
While I waited in line at Misrad Chinuch, Sammy the tutor took the boys to the Old City to see HaKotel (the Western Wall), the only remaining part of the two Jewish temples destroyed 2000+ years ago. (The first temple was destroyed in 586 B.C.E. and the second temple was destroyed in 70 C.E. For more, here's the Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Wall.) After the school switch was completed, I met them there. There was a Bar-Mitzvah celebration occurring with people singing and dancing the Bar-Mitzvah boy from the Zion Gate into the heart of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. It's hard to describe the feeling every single time I walk down that ramp in the Jewish Quarter and see the Western Wall. There's a rush of emotions when I realize each time the physical and spiritual magnitude of the Wall, the history and politics behind it (and still ahead of it).
Sammy is an official tour guide for the Western Wall Heritage Foundation (http://english.thekotel.org/) and gave us a quick tour of the tunnels underneath the Western Wall. I had never seen them and it was fascinating to see the underground part of the Western Wall, the cisterns where water was collected, and the paths that had been traveled for thousands of years. One day next month, we'll arrange with Sammy for a complete tour of the tunnels, so that Pentheus can join us as well.
Last night we walked down to Emek Refaim (or "the Emek" as many know it), a main street in a neighborhood near our dira. The boys bought chocolate eclairs and mousse at a patisserie, and I purchased my first "Natool" (decaf coffee) since we arrived. We are all very pleased with our selections!
Friday night starts another Shabbat here. We'll likely go to synagogue tomorrow night and Saturday morning, as we continue to investigate the many shuls (Yiddish for synagogue) in the area. We'll have family dinner tomorrow night and Saturday lunch, unless we manage to invite ourselves, I mean, get invited to someone's home.
We've been in Israel now for just more than a week. We've accomplished a lot in terms of things we need do in the house, register for school (twice!), get insurance, etc. There's still plenty more to do. The Israeli version of the expression "one day at a time" is "le'at, le'at" (literally, "slowly, slowly") While we certainly feel more settled than we did last Shabbat, I hope to continue to make progress every day. Le'at, le'at.
After finding the principal's office, she said to me (in Hebrew), "Are you my 1:30?" When I explained that I was the person from the email that my neighbor had sent to her, the principal invited us in. We spoke with her and the head English teacher for about 20 minutes, and I was pleased with what they had to say. While there aren't many (to be honest, I don't know yet if there are any) American families in the school, there is support for the English speakers, and there is even a small English book library. While the boys speak very little Hebrew and read and write even less, we're not super concerned about the boys' "book learning" in Israel. We have a few goals for the boys in school: 1) to have a good experience, 2) to learn Hebrew, and 3) to be engaged and interested in learning when we return to the States. It's our hope that this school can help us with those.
As an aside, it turns out that Benyamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, will be at the boys' school on the first day! I guess it's some sort of kick-off of the new Israeli school year. (Hmm, maybe that explains the butterfly and ladybug mural being painted.) Our neighbor was complaining about there being extra security and talking about not sending her daughter to school the first day because they are not big Netanyahu fans anyway, but we'll walk the boys to school and see if we can't hang out to watch the pomp and circumstance.
I went to the Misrad Chinuch this morning and switched the boys' school registration. The clerk who helped me on Tuesday assisted me again today and did in fact say "I told you so" in Hebrew when I asked her to make the change. She didn't say it in a mean way; rather, she honestly likes the Szold school and thought it would easier for the boys to go there. I think Israelis have fewer inhibitions and just say it like it is. I told her she had been right and thanked her for the push.
While I waited in line at Misrad Chinuch, Sammy the tutor took the boys to the Old City to see HaKotel (the Western Wall), the only remaining part of the two Jewish temples destroyed 2000+ years ago. (The first temple was destroyed in 586 B.C.E. and the second temple was destroyed in 70 C.E. For more, here's the Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Wall.) After the school switch was completed, I met them there. There was a Bar-Mitzvah celebration occurring with people singing and dancing the Bar-Mitzvah boy from the Zion Gate into the heart of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. It's hard to describe the feeling every single time I walk down that ramp in the Jewish Quarter and see the Western Wall. There's a rush of emotions when I realize each time the physical and spiritual magnitude of the Wall, the history and politics behind it (and still ahead of it).
Sammy is an official tour guide for the Western Wall Heritage Foundation (http://english.thekotel.org/) and gave us a quick tour of the tunnels underneath the Western Wall. I had never seen them and it was fascinating to see the underground part of the Western Wall, the cisterns where water was collected, and the paths that had been traveled for thousands of years. One day next month, we'll arrange with Sammy for a complete tour of the tunnels, so that Pentheus can join us as well.
Last night we walked down to Emek Refaim (or "the Emek" as many know it), a main street in a neighborhood near our dira. The boys bought chocolate eclairs and mousse at a patisserie, and I purchased my first "Natool" (decaf coffee) since we arrived. We are all very pleased with our selections!
Friday night starts another Shabbat here. We'll likely go to synagogue tomorrow night and Saturday morning, as we continue to investigate the many shuls (Yiddish for synagogue) in the area. We'll have family dinner tomorrow night and Saturday lunch, unless we manage to invite ourselves, I mean, get invited to someone's home.
We've been in Israel now for just more than a week. We've accomplished a lot in terms of things we need do in the house, register for school (twice!), get insurance, etc. There's still plenty more to do. The Israeli version of the expression "one day at a time" is "le'at, le'at" (literally, "slowly, slowly") While we certainly feel more settled than we did last Shabbat, I hope to continue to make progress every day. Le'at, le'at.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
School choice.
Erev tov, od pa'am (Good evening, again)! Today was both productive and constructive. We went to the Misrad Chinuch (Education Ministry) in downtown Jerusalem to register the boys for school. When I indicated which school I wanted them to attend, the clerk kept asking me (in Hebrew) whether I was sure that was the school I wanted them to attend. After all. she indicated, there are 2 great schools right in the neighborhood, much closer than the other school, wouldn't the boys complain about walking farther in the rain and cold, and how they are "hachi tov" (the best) in the area. We had researched many schools before we left the States, but not the two the clerk mentioned.
I went ahead, registered the boys, and decided I wanted to talk to Pentheus tonight about it. Then when I met one of our neighbors around dinnertime and said something to her about my conversation with the clerk, our neighbor indicated that her kids have gone to one of these neighborhood schools and, in fact, WK would be in her daughter's class. The school has an English-speaking program (of which our neighbor is the head) and our neighbor thinks there are some nice families at the school. Our neighbor emailed the principal of the school, and hopefully I will be meeting with her tomorrow to check it out further. I have no idea whether we will switch schools, but it seems to make sense to check out the school if it's closer, we know there is some English language support, and we know one family (at least as much as we can know them after one conversation over tea, cucumbers and mango slices). I just know that if I go back to Misrad Chinuch to switch schools, that the clerk will remember me and say the equivalent of "I told you so" in Hebrew! We'll see. We also managed to take care of our health insurance coverage today (a short walk from Misrad Chinuch) and get bus passes after a short bus ride to the central bus station.
While walking to/from the bus and wandering around downtown, the tutor Sammy was constantly teaching the boys. When we first left the dira, he said to the boys that after they learned a new word, they should say it aloud every time they saw one. The first word was "etz" (tree) and the CK went up and down the street pointing and shrieking "etz, etz, etz." The WK's first word of the day was "shelet" (sign), and he hollered "shelet, shelet, shelet" all the way. From there it was only moments before they pointed out the colors of every car and truck. Sammy is very good with them and was a huge help when I needed assistance with Hebrew. (Unfortunately, I totally understood the man at the bus station's Hebrew when he asked me if the boys were my children or grandchildren!!!) Another potential bonus from Sammy - his fiance's sister, Naomi, is interested and available for babysitting! We'll set a time to meet her to see if that might work out.
I feel I need to write again about how excited Israelis are that we are here and how much they want us to move to Israel permanently. When we were buying the bus passes, we had to show our passports as proof of id. When the clerk asked how long we were in Israel (i.e., long enough to need to purchase bus passes) and I replied "5 months," her response in Hebrew was, "oh, 5 months, that's the first step to moving here."
I can tell already that my Hebrew is getting better. It's not just the addition of vocabulary words, but I am more comfortable speaking and not worrying that everything I say is incorrect. I think it's fair to say that Israelis aren't typically known for their patience, but most have been very helpful and kind about Hebrew. Everyone is quick to be a teacher and correct me, but that's ok with me. While my accent will likely never be Israeli, I can already hear myself speaking more Israeli in terms of speech patterns. The WK has decided that if he says "ze" (this, in Hebrew) and then pauses before saying anything else, then he sounds more Israeli. Although he's not entirely wrong, it still cracks me up. Tonight the CK hit a milestone in his Hebrew learning. While walking to Burgers Bar (for GREAT hamburgers) for dinner, the CK and I played "esreem shealot" (20 questions) completely in Hebrew! The answer in one of the rounds was "Hatoast Hachevrati" (the Friendly Toast restaurant - I am sure that is not totally accurate in Hebrew), one of our favorite restaurants in Cambridge. "Kacha lomdim" - that's how we learn.
I went ahead, registered the boys, and decided I wanted to talk to Pentheus tonight about it. Then when I met one of our neighbors around dinnertime and said something to her about my conversation with the clerk, our neighbor indicated that her kids have gone to one of these neighborhood schools and, in fact, WK would be in her daughter's class. The school has an English-speaking program (of which our neighbor is the head) and our neighbor thinks there are some nice families at the school. Our neighbor emailed the principal of the school, and hopefully I will be meeting with her tomorrow to check it out further. I have no idea whether we will switch schools, but it seems to make sense to check out the school if it's closer, we know there is some English language support, and we know one family (at least as much as we can know them after one conversation over tea, cucumbers and mango slices). I just know that if I go back to Misrad Chinuch to switch schools, that the clerk will remember me and say the equivalent of "I told you so" in Hebrew! We'll see. We also managed to take care of our health insurance coverage today (a short walk from Misrad Chinuch) and get bus passes after a short bus ride to the central bus station.
While walking to/from the bus and wandering around downtown, the tutor Sammy was constantly teaching the boys. When we first left the dira, he said to the boys that after they learned a new word, they should say it aloud every time they saw one. The first word was "etz" (tree) and the CK went up and down the street pointing and shrieking "etz, etz, etz." The WK's first word of the day was "shelet" (sign), and he hollered "shelet, shelet, shelet" all the way. From there it was only moments before they pointed out the colors of every car and truck. Sammy is very good with them and was a huge help when I needed assistance with Hebrew. (Unfortunately, I totally understood the man at the bus station's Hebrew when he asked me if the boys were my children or grandchildren!!!) Another potential bonus from Sammy - his fiance's sister, Naomi, is interested and available for babysitting! We'll set a time to meet her to see if that might work out.
I feel I need to write again about how excited Israelis are that we are here and how much they want us to move to Israel permanently. When we were buying the bus passes, we had to show our passports as proof of id. When the clerk asked how long we were in Israel (i.e., long enough to need to purchase bus passes) and I replied "5 months," her response in Hebrew was, "oh, 5 months, that's the first step to moving here."
I can tell already that my Hebrew is getting better. It's not just the addition of vocabulary words, but I am more comfortable speaking and not worrying that everything I say is incorrect. I think it's fair to say that Israelis aren't typically known for their patience, but most have been very helpful and kind about Hebrew. Everyone is quick to be a teacher and correct me, but that's ok with me. While my accent will likely never be Israeli, I can already hear myself speaking more Israeli in terms of speech patterns. The WK has decided that if he says "ze" (this, in Hebrew) and then pauses before saying anything else, then he sounds more Israeli. Although he's not entirely wrong, it still cracks me up. Tonight the CK hit a milestone in his Hebrew learning. While walking to Burgers Bar (for GREAT hamburgers) for dinner, the CK and I played "esreem shealot" (20 questions) completely in Hebrew! The answer in one of the rounds was "Hatoast Hachevrati" (the Friendly Toast restaurant - I am sure that is not totally accurate in Hebrew), one of our favorite restaurants in Cambridge. "Kacha lomdim" - that's how we learn.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Settling in the 'hood
Erev tov! (Good evening!) Our frst Shabbat in Jerusalem was nice. We walked for 15 minutes to a Reform synagogue Kol Haneshema in the neighborhood next to ours. The service was totally in Hebrew although there were many people there who spoke English. Our first "small world" occurred when I knew two families there for the combined Bar and Bat Mitzvah of cousins. I knew the families from Young Judaea, the youth group in which I was involved before college. It was great to see familiar faces, even if we hadn't seen each other in over 20 years!
Saturday morning we went to an Anglo-oriented modern Orthodox synagogue (Shir Hadash) where there needs to be both 10 men and 10 women present (as opposed to just 10 men) in order to begin prayers. While the service was in Hebrew, most of the people there had moved to Israel from English-speaking countries and there was a lot of English conversation, including the Rabbi's sermon. This synagogue had a "mechitzah" which separates the men from the women during prayer. We were hosted for lunch by a retired couple, who had moved to Israel from Binghampton, NY, about 6 years ago. They hosted another couple and a single man, as well. The kids enjoyed lunch because the chicken was similar to Pentheus's famous panko chicken, but they were less excited about the sesame crackers for dessert. They were hoping for chocolate babka from the Butcherie.
It's amazing how much of Jerusalem shuts down for the Sabbath. Although not everyone is religious, most of the stores are closed and there are very few cars in the streets. We were only in our neighborhood and those surrounding ours, but some other Shabbat, we'll take a family walk into the Old City and other neighborhoods to see what it's like there as well.
On Sunday, we met "Sammy" the boys' tutor. Sammy was recommended to us via two different avenues, so he comes with good references. The kids immediately took to him, and when I left the room, I heard the CK singing, "Scooby Dooby Doo, Aifo Atah?"! (Do I really need to translate for you?) Sammy came to Israel from Brooklyn right after high school, and after a year of study, decided to stay.
Those of you who know me even a little bit likely know that while I have many skills, a good sense of direction is not one of them. It's been hard for me to orient myself to the streets and the stores, but with a map, a few deep breaths, and often the WK, I have ventured out to do grocery shopping. WK has his father's sense of direction and can get anywhere already, and even knows some short-cuts.
Right now the plan for tomorrow is for Sammy to go to the Education Administration with the boys and me to help register the kids for school. Although I had planned to do that yesterday, the office is only open Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday from 10 am- 12 pm. Supposedly, registration shouldn't be difficult, so I hope it goes smoothly.
I must admit that the adventure so far has been more challenging than I had expected. As excited as we are about it, this is hard. We're still trying to settle in to the apartment, the neighborhood, the language, the lifestyle, etc. For example, although my Hebrew is ok, navigating grocery stores is exhausting, and it took many minutes and entries in the "Hebrew to English translation" app on the iPad in order for Pentheus to make the chicken for dinner. The CK has been devoured by mosquitoes ("yetushim") and has been very uncomfortable, which has made getting out of the dira, not to mention his mood, difficult. Luckily, the boys have been interested in going out each night for "artics" (popsicles) from one of the many neighborhood stores.
Pentheus has been trying to get some work done. He's purchased a monitor and a keyboard, and is setting up shop. He has been able to establish the networks he needs and has had some phone calls with his colleagues in the States. It will take a while for a work schedule to settle in for him. Once the boys start school on the 27th, we should all hopefully have a more set routine.
Vonage, our phone system, is awesome! Simply call our Cambridge home phone number, and our phone rings in Jerusalem. The connection is very clear, and calls to and from the States are free once we have paid a set monthly fee. It's been great to connect with our families and get support from them and our friends.
If you are interested, I think you can become a "member" of this blog and receive notifications when I post new entries. I'm interested in your comments or questions if you have any, and I will try to get some pictures up here, too. More soon.
Saturday morning we went to an Anglo-oriented modern Orthodox synagogue (Shir Hadash) where there needs to be both 10 men and 10 women present (as opposed to just 10 men) in order to begin prayers. While the service was in Hebrew, most of the people there had moved to Israel from English-speaking countries and there was a lot of English conversation, including the Rabbi's sermon. This synagogue had a "mechitzah" which separates the men from the women during prayer. We were hosted for lunch by a retired couple, who had moved to Israel from Binghampton, NY, about 6 years ago. They hosted another couple and a single man, as well. The kids enjoyed lunch because the chicken was similar to Pentheus's famous panko chicken, but they were less excited about the sesame crackers for dessert. They were hoping for chocolate babka from the Butcherie.
It's amazing how much of Jerusalem shuts down for the Sabbath. Although not everyone is religious, most of the stores are closed and there are very few cars in the streets. We were only in our neighborhood and those surrounding ours, but some other Shabbat, we'll take a family walk into the Old City and other neighborhoods to see what it's like there as well.
On Sunday, we met "Sammy" the boys' tutor. Sammy was recommended to us via two different avenues, so he comes with good references. The kids immediately took to him, and when I left the room, I heard the CK singing, "Scooby Dooby Doo, Aifo Atah?"! (Do I really need to translate for you?) Sammy came to Israel from Brooklyn right after high school, and after a year of study, decided to stay.
Those of you who know me even a little bit likely know that while I have many skills, a good sense of direction is not one of them. It's been hard for me to orient myself to the streets and the stores, but with a map, a few deep breaths, and often the WK, I have ventured out to do grocery shopping. WK has his father's sense of direction and can get anywhere already, and even knows some short-cuts.
Right now the plan for tomorrow is for Sammy to go to the Education Administration with the boys and me to help register the kids for school. Although I had planned to do that yesterday, the office is only open Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday from 10 am- 12 pm. Supposedly, registration shouldn't be difficult, so I hope it goes smoothly.
I must admit that the adventure so far has been more challenging than I had expected. As excited as we are about it, this is hard. We're still trying to settle in to the apartment, the neighborhood, the language, the lifestyle, etc. For example, although my Hebrew is ok, navigating grocery stores is exhausting, and it took many minutes and entries in the "Hebrew to English translation" app on the iPad in order for Pentheus to make the chicken for dinner. The CK has been devoured by mosquitoes ("yetushim") and has been very uncomfortable, which has made getting out of the dira, not to mention his mood, difficult. Luckily, the boys have been interested in going out each night for "artics" (popsicles) from one of the many neighborhood stores.
Pentheus has been trying to get some work done. He's purchased a monitor and a keyboard, and is setting up shop. He has been able to establish the networks he needs and has had some phone calls with his colleagues in the States. It will take a while for a work schedule to settle in for him. Once the boys start school on the 27th, we should all hopefully have a more set routine.
Vonage, our phone system, is awesome! Simply call our Cambridge home phone number, and our phone rings in Jerusalem. The connection is very clear, and calls to and from the States are free once we have paid a set monthly fee. It's been great to connect with our families and get support from them and our friends.
If you are interested, I think you can become a "member" of this blog and receive notifications when I post new entries. I'm interested in your comments or questions if you have any, and I will try to get some pictures up here, too. More soon.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Welcome to Jerusalem
We made it! We flew Delta and Turkish Air (BOS-JFK, JFK-IST, and IST-TLV), with a total travel time of 21+ hours. Flights were largely uneventful, and Turkish Air gets bigtime bonus points for providing unlimited free movies, TV, music and other entertainment on the flight. Until the boys got those headphones, it was touch and go there for a while.
We arrived in Israel just after 8 pm, Israeli time, Wednesday evening. We had arranged with someone to pick us up at the airport. Instead of wearing a red carnation in his lapel, Pentheus wore his Bruins hat to help the car service recognize him and our family. While we were in route from the airport to Jerusalem, I overheard the driver's wife say to her husband in Hebrew that she couldn't initially understand why I included a link to the Boston Bruins logo in the email I used to arrange the pick-up, but when she saw Pentheus in his hat, she knew immediately that we were the right people!
As we opened the front door and entered the living room in our dira (/deerah/, "flat" in Hebrew), the Cheetah King exclaimed, "Oh, this place is beautiful," and it is. The living/family room is big and bright, with lots of windows and high ceilings. The dira is about 1400 s.f., and has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a laundry room. We haven't quite figured out which bedrooms we will use for sleeping and home office. Since we arrived, the CK has wanted to be near me, so we have been sharing a twin bed. Needless to say, we're all pretty tired. We'll finalize bedrooms today and unpack our stuff. I will hopefully post some pics of the dira later.
There were lots of "signs" we believe indicated that this mini-sabbatical was a good idea: we found the dira with little trouble (thanks, RSG!); our house in Cambridge is being well taken care of; we've been told by the principal of the school we want the boys to attend that they will be able to enroll; etc. The only "sign" that was anything less than positive was that when I left the dira for the first time yesterday morning, the first person I saw was wearing a Michigan State, "Go Spartans" t-shirt. I'm going to ignore that "sign" and go with the others...
Some of you have asked about our initial thoughts and impressions: My first thought is that this is hard, really hard, harder than I think I thought it would be. It continues to take a lot of work to settle in the apartment. We want to feel at home, and not like we're on a long vacation. It was a 20 minute walk to the store in 93+ degree temps in the bright sun with tired and cranky kids (and husband). Because my spoken Hebrew is much better than my reading Hebrew, examining the labels at the store uses a lot of energy. We haven't always gotten it right, e.g., the mango sorbet that we bought for the boys ended up being mango concentrate for juice. After lifting the lids on the multiple hand soap options to check the scent, we ended up buying "green tea aroma" because it was the least offensive. (I have totally taken for granted the option of unscented products.) Because we don't have a car here, we had to arrange for the bags of groceries to be delivered to the dira and, of course, when asked what our phone number was for the delivery, we didn't have it with us. As I re-read what I wrote, it sounds kind of silly but it's difficult to do these things, especially when Hebrew is not our first language and we're so overtired.
That being said, I've been astonished by how excited Israelis seem to be that we are here. At Passport Control at the airport in Tel Aviv, the inspector became animated when he heard our answer to the "how long will we be in Israel" question. When I ordered lunch in Hebrew yesterday at the restaurant and then started talking to the WK in English, the cashier asked if I had come from the States. When I told him that we had arrived the previous night for 5-months, the cashier's eyes lit up as he kept saying "baruchim haba'im" ("welcome") over and over. It turns out the cashier lives in the same neighborhood we do (another sign?); he says it's a good place to live.
Other initial thoughts: There are very few soldiers; I have only seen 1 so far. When I've been in Israel previously, I saw soldiers all the time - at stores, walking around, etc. That being said, it is clear that there is extra security everywhere, as compared to the States. To go into any store or public place (like the grocery store), we have to walk through a metal detector and my purse is inspected each time. Most Israeli dirot (the Hebrew plural for dira) have mini Israeli flags strung up like streamers across porches (even more than the plethora of porch flags we typically see in Pentheus's small home town in Maryland).
We've made arrangements for the boys to have a Hebrew tutor for the couple of weeks before school starts on 8/27. The tutor will not so much teach the boys in the typical manner, as hang out with them. The plan is to take them to the park to "learn the lingo" and on walks where they can speak Hebrew and learn vocabulary words. Every time I say something to the boys in English, I repeat it in Hebrew, so at least they are hearing Hebrew.
Tonight starts our first Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) in Israel. Pentheus and the WK left a few minutes ago to buy supplies for tonight's dinner, and tomorrow morning we'll likely go to one of the many small synagogues near our dira. We're hoping that tomorrow will truly be a "day of rest" for all of us. Starting Sunday, Pentheus will be working from home full-time, and I'll have lots to do with opening a bank account, registering the boys for school, arranging for local cell phones for Pentheus and me, and starting our daily lives here. We can't wait!
We arrived in Israel just after 8 pm, Israeli time, Wednesday evening. We had arranged with someone to pick us up at the airport. Instead of wearing a red carnation in his lapel, Pentheus wore his Bruins hat to help the car service recognize him and our family. While we were in route from the airport to Jerusalem, I overheard the driver's wife say to her husband in Hebrew that she couldn't initially understand why I included a link to the Boston Bruins logo in the email I used to arrange the pick-up, but when she saw Pentheus in his hat, she knew immediately that we were the right people!
As we opened the front door and entered the living room in our dira (/deerah/, "flat" in Hebrew), the Cheetah King exclaimed, "Oh, this place is beautiful," and it is. The living/family room is big and bright, with lots of windows and high ceilings. The dira is about 1400 s.f., and has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a laundry room. We haven't quite figured out which bedrooms we will use for sleeping and home office. Since we arrived, the CK has wanted to be near me, so we have been sharing a twin bed. Needless to say, we're all pretty tired. We'll finalize bedrooms today and unpack our stuff. I will hopefully post some pics of the dira later.
There were lots of "signs" we believe indicated that this mini-sabbatical was a good idea: we found the dira with little trouble (thanks, RSG!); our house in Cambridge is being well taken care of; we've been told by the principal of the school we want the boys to attend that they will be able to enroll; etc. The only "sign" that was anything less than positive was that when I left the dira for the first time yesterday morning, the first person I saw was wearing a Michigan State, "Go Spartans" t-shirt. I'm going to ignore that "sign" and go with the others...
Some of you have asked about our initial thoughts and impressions: My first thought is that this is hard, really hard, harder than I think I thought it would be. It continues to take a lot of work to settle in the apartment. We want to feel at home, and not like we're on a long vacation. It was a 20 minute walk to the store in 93+ degree temps in the bright sun with tired and cranky kids (and husband). Because my spoken Hebrew is much better than my reading Hebrew, examining the labels at the store uses a lot of energy. We haven't always gotten it right, e.g., the mango sorbet that we bought for the boys ended up being mango concentrate for juice. After lifting the lids on the multiple hand soap options to check the scent, we ended up buying "green tea aroma" because it was the least offensive. (I have totally taken for granted the option of unscented products.) Because we don't have a car here, we had to arrange for the bags of groceries to be delivered to the dira and, of course, when asked what our phone number was for the delivery, we didn't have it with us. As I re-read what I wrote, it sounds kind of silly but it's difficult to do these things, especially when Hebrew is not our first language and we're so overtired.
That being said, I've been astonished by how excited Israelis seem to be that we are here. At Passport Control at the airport in Tel Aviv, the inspector became animated when he heard our answer to the "how long will we be in Israel" question. When I ordered lunch in Hebrew yesterday at the restaurant and then started talking to the WK in English, the cashier asked if I had come from the States. When I told him that we had arrived the previous night for 5-months, the cashier's eyes lit up as he kept saying "baruchim haba'im" ("welcome") over and over. It turns out the cashier lives in the same neighborhood we do (another sign?); he says it's a good place to live.
Other initial thoughts: There are very few soldiers; I have only seen 1 so far. When I've been in Israel previously, I saw soldiers all the time - at stores, walking around, etc. That being said, it is clear that there is extra security everywhere, as compared to the States. To go into any store or public place (like the grocery store), we have to walk through a metal detector and my purse is inspected each time. Most Israeli dirot (the Hebrew plural for dira) have mini Israeli flags strung up like streamers across porches (even more than the plethora of porch flags we typically see in Pentheus's small home town in Maryland).
We've made arrangements for the boys to have a Hebrew tutor for the couple of weeks before school starts on 8/27. The tutor will not so much teach the boys in the typical manner, as hang out with them. The plan is to take them to the park to "learn the lingo" and on walks where they can speak Hebrew and learn vocabulary words. Every time I say something to the boys in English, I repeat it in Hebrew, so at least they are hearing Hebrew.
Tonight starts our first Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) in Israel. Pentheus and the WK left a few minutes ago to buy supplies for tonight's dinner, and tomorrow morning we'll likely go to one of the many small synagogues near our dira. We're hoping that tomorrow will truly be a "day of rest" for all of us. Starting Sunday, Pentheus will be working from home full-time, and I'll have lots to do with opening a bank account, registering the boys for school, arranging for local cell phones for Pentheus and me, and starting our daily lives here. We can't wait!
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