The window guy didn't show up today. He was supposed to be here at 12, and no-one answered the work or cell phone when I tried at 12:30, 1:00 and 2:00. Israel (especially, Jerusalem) shuts down early on Friday in anticipation of Shabbat, and if no-one answered at 2, there's no reason to try again until Sunday. I'm a bit bummed because I wanted to get that taken care of. I'll follow up on Sunday morning.
When I dropped the boys off at school today, they both seemed to be doing well. The CK wasn't unhappy at all, and even requested that I let them walk home alone without us (to which I agreed). He was angry at me before we left the house because he didn't have a Biology book that he thought he needed, and, actually, the WK was angry, too, because he wants to have all of his school books. As you may recall, when Pentheus and I spoke with the teachers before school started, everyone agreed that it would be a waste of money for us to buy the boys' school books when they can't understand them now and because we're leaving at the end of December. I spoke to the teachers again this morning, and we decided to get a few of the books for each boy. Maybe the kids will be able to follow some of the texts, and at least they will feel like they are participating to a greater extent in class. While I am sure the boys are picking up more Hebrew than they (or we) realize, I am looking forward to the time when they can speak Hebrew and feel comfortable with it. We're very much hoping that will happen before we leave.
After the boys were at school, I took the "agahlah" (the backpack on wheels) to a nearby shopping area. Before I did any shopping, I ordered a cup of "natool" with warm milk at Cafe Doovshahnit (Little Honeycake Cafe), a well-known cafe. I sat at one of the outdoor tables and while I sipped my decaf, I listened the conversations at the tables around me. Most of the conversations were in Hebrew although there were a few in English, too. There was a table of 6 men, all wearing biking clothes, and I guess they met there after their ride. It was interesting how easily they spoke to each other, while switching from English to Hebrew almost mid-sentence.
I then went to the prepared food place to get our Shabbat meal. Whereas we only had chicken as the main dish the first 3 Shabbatot (plural of Shabbat), I ventured out and also bought some beef with carrots and onions, plus some "chareef" (spicy) carrot salad, rice pilaf-stuffed red peppers, and some other foods. My next stop was Angel Bakery, which has the very best challah in Jerusalem, according to some. I got a plain challah loaf for the boys and a whole wheat sesame challah for Pentheus and me. While I was bringing them to the register so that I could pay, I took a small piece of cinnamon ruggelach (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ruggelach) to eat as well. The woman at the register asked what I was buying, and I told her the two challot and the piece of ruggelach. She said, "l'breeyoot" (to your health) about the ruggelach (i.e., she didn't charge me), and she said it was 5.80 shekel for the challot. I thought I misunderstood her because 5.80 shekels is only about $1.45, so I asked again how much the challot were. Again, I heard 5.80. Not wanting to embarrass myself by not giving her enough money, I gave her a 50 shekel bill and was planning on counting the change carefully, so that I could figure out how much the two challot actually cost. The woman gave me 44.20 shekels in change. Still not sure how they could be that inexpensive, but we'll see how they taste at dinner! By the way, the cinnamon ruggelach was amazing, probably the best piece I have ever had, and it was all I could do not to go buy more.
Then I went to the Coop Shop grocery store and bought a few things we needed. I've taken to buying an English newspaper each Friday with the plan of reading it over Shabbat. I have been buying a different one each week to see which we enjoy the most. I bought the International Herald Tribute (the international version of the NYT) which also has an English version of Ha'aretz, an Israeli newspaper. The newspaper was 17 shekels ($4+ dollars), which makes it even harder to believe the two challot were only 5.80 shekels.
We don't have big plans for this Shabbat. Tonight we are going to Friday night services at Shir Chadash, the synagogue the boys liked very much the first Saturday morning we were here. (It's the place that had the great food after services.) Tomorrow morning we are going to what we think is an egalitarian service (i.e., both men and women participate, although there is a mecheetzah) held at the community center in Baaka (where my Hebrew class meets). Then we're going to friends of Pentheus's for Shabbat lunch at noon. We had lunch with them when we were in Israel on vacation 2 years ago, and it will be lovely to see them again.
Shabbat shalom.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Taking care of things
When I last saw the CK this morning at school, he had just stopped crying. Pentheus and I had walked both boys to school today, and while I was working with the WK's teacher on his health form (nothing bad, more on that below), Pentheus brought the CK to his class. About 20 minutes later, when I stopped by to see the CK's teacher, she told me that the CK had started crying a few minutes earlier and wouldn't tell her why. I asked the CK to come out in the hallway with me. I sat in a chair, the CK crawled into my lap, and he gave me a big hug. I tried to figure out what was wrong - I asked if he were angry at someone, and I asked if some of his mosquito bites were bothering him. I said I knew all of this (being in Israel, starting school, etc.) was really hard. Then the CK then told me the reason he was sad was because I hadn't said goodbye to him this morning. While I am sure he was upset about a combination of everything, including the lack of goodbye from me, felt terrible and apologized. That being said, in a weird way, I think it's kind of good that the CK was upset and crying; it's healthy to get all that emotion out.
Yesterday, the WK brought home a form from school and told us we needed to fill it out. Pentheus and I spent a lot of time figuring out what (we thought) the form said. It's hard to explain, but written Hebrew and spoken Hebrew are not exactly the same. Although the alphabet, words and letters are the same, spoken Hebrew is less formal, more conversational, and written Hebrew uses more formal words "meelot gevohah'ot" (literally, higher words), and complicated (at least for us) grammatical constructions.
At any rate, although Pentheus and I were fairly sure what the form was asking, we decided to work with someone at the school before we signed the form. I sat with the WK's teacher for about 15 minutes. The form asked typical questions (e.g., are there any limitations on physical activity, any regular medications, etc.). It also informed us that there were mandatory vaccinations ("cheesoneem") given to all kids in certain grades. Although there are none given in 5th grade (where the WK is), there are some vaccinations given in 2nd grade (where the CK is). The reason I even stopped by the CK's classroom was to make sure that she understood that we did not want the CK to receive any vaccinations, as he's already current with what he received in the States. I'm very glad I went to tell the CK's teacher, especially because I didn't know the CK was unhappy.
Speaking of learning Hebrew, I am attending an "Ulpahn" (Hebrew class) starting next week. The class is Monday and Wednesday mornings, 9-11 am, at the "mahtnahs" (community center) in Baaka, a neighborhood next to Katamon. I did a dry run of the walk to the mahtnahs, and it's about 15+ minutes from the dira. (I also inquired about the availability of kids' books in the English library there, and it looks like I have a library to which to take the boys!) My understanding about the Ulpan is that the focus will be on conversational Hebrew, but we'll need to see who the other people in the class are and at what level their Hebrew is. The class is 120 shekels (around $30) a month, so it's certainly not going to break the bank. Hebrew classes are typically subsidized by the government in order to encourage people to learn Hebrew. I had thought I wanted to take a class that met for more hours in the week, but now I think I am glad about this one. I will have some "formal" learning 4 hours a week, and will still be able to be with the kids in the afternoons and hopefully volunteer for a few hours every week as well.
The last few days have been filled with a lot of errands and taking care of things. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I walked to Talpiyot (between 20-35 minutes, depending on where) each day and then took a cab back to the dira with my purchases. I bought some new pans for the kitchen, a blow dryer, groceries, and additional school supplies, plus I looked for shoes for Pentheus and slippers for the boys. I also spent an inordinate amount of time at 5-6 different hardware/window/ specialty/industrial shops and stores looking for a metal piece for a window latch to replace one of ours that broke. I bought and returned one potential replacement option that Pentheus and I were sure wouldn't work, and then bought another option yesterday. The various trips to stores involved a lot of walking in very hot temperatures and conversations with people in the store were in Hebrew (and suffice it to say that I don't know the name of any of the window latch parts in English, never mind Hebrew), so it was frustrating that we're still without a working latch. Tomorrow afternoon, the guy from the window shop is coming to the house to install (we hope) one that will work.
After the conversation with our neighbor and talking with Pentheus, I talked to the WK's teacher yesterday about having Rafael be his "buddy" at school and she thought it was a good idea. Rafael was over for a playdate yesterday afternoon, and he's a very sweet kid. Actually, almost all of the kids from the school have been nice kids, and I see them talking to the WK and CK when we drop them off in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. Many of the kids have come up to me to tell me in English (halting as it is) that they are glad the boys are in their classes. When I went to the park yesterday with the boys and Rafael, there were at least half a dozen other boys at the park, too. They all hung out - some playing soccer, others chatting on the basketball court, etc. It seemed and felt a bit "normal," like something that could happen in Cambridge.
Except that there was a difference. When I took the boys to the park and saw all the other boys there, too, I looked around and realized that I was the only parent in sight! The other kids had come to the park after school to play with their friends. Some of them were walking home to dinner and others(including Rafael) were taking city buses home without any supervision. I figured that I didn't need to be there, so I left. I told the boys to be home by 6:15 and they were with no problems. And, today, much to the WK's great joy, we let him walk to and stay at the park for a couple hours alone. Here's to increased independence.
Yesterday, the WK brought home a form from school and told us we needed to fill it out. Pentheus and I spent a lot of time figuring out what (we thought) the form said. It's hard to explain, but written Hebrew and spoken Hebrew are not exactly the same. Although the alphabet, words and letters are the same, spoken Hebrew is less formal, more conversational, and written Hebrew uses more formal words "meelot gevohah'ot" (literally, higher words), and complicated (at least for us) grammatical constructions.
At any rate, although Pentheus and I were fairly sure what the form was asking, we decided to work with someone at the school before we signed the form. I sat with the WK's teacher for about 15 minutes. The form asked typical questions (e.g., are there any limitations on physical activity, any regular medications, etc.). It also informed us that there were mandatory vaccinations ("cheesoneem") given to all kids in certain grades. Although there are none given in 5th grade (where the WK is), there are some vaccinations given in 2nd grade (where the CK is). The reason I even stopped by the CK's classroom was to make sure that she understood that we did not want the CK to receive any vaccinations, as he's already current with what he received in the States. I'm very glad I went to tell the CK's teacher, especially because I didn't know the CK was unhappy.
Speaking of learning Hebrew, I am attending an "Ulpahn" (Hebrew class) starting next week. The class is Monday and Wednesday mornings, 9-11 am, at the "mahtnahs" (community center) in Baaka, a neighborhood next to Katamon. I did a dry run of the walk to the mahtnahs, and it's about 15+ minutes from the dira. (I also inquired about the availability of kids' books in the English library there, and it looks like I have a library to which to take the boys!) My understanding about the Ulpan is that the focus will be on conversational Hebrew, but we'll need to see who the other people in the class are and at what level their Hebrew is. The class is 120 shekels (around $30) a month, so it's certainly not going to break the bank. Hebrew classes are typically subsidized by the government in order to encourage people to learn Hebrew. I had thought I wanted to take a class that met for more hours in the week, but now I think I am glad about this one. I will have some "formal" learning 4 hours a week, and will still be able to be with the kids in the afternoons and hopefully volunteer for a few hours every week as well.
The last few days have been filled with a lot of errands and taking care of things. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I walked to Talpiyot (between 20-35 minutes, depending on where) each day and then took a cab back to the dira with my purchases. I bought some new pans for the kitchen, a blow dryer, groceries, and additional school supplies, plus I looked for shoes for Pentheus and slippers for the boys. I also spent an inordinate amount of time at 5-6 different hardware/window/ specialty/industrial shops and stores looking for a metal piece for a window latch to replace one of ours that broke. I bought and returned one potential replacement option that Pentheus and I were sure wouldn't work, and then bought another option yesterday. The various trips to stores involved a lot of walking in very hot temperatures and conversations with people in the store were in Hebrew (and suffice it to say that I don't know the name of any of the window latch parts in English, never mind Hebrew), so it was frustrating that we're still without a working latch. Tomorrow afternoon, the guy from the window shop is coming to the house to install (we hope) one that will work.
After the conversation with our neighbor and talking with Pentheus, I talked to the WK's teacher yesterday about having Rafael be his "buddy" at school and she thought it was a good idea. Rafael was over for a playdate yesterday afternoon, and he's a very sweet kid. Actually, almost all of the kids from the school have been nice kids, and I see them talking to the WK and CK when we drop them off in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. Many of the kids have come up to me to tell me in English (halting as it is) that they are glad the boys are in their classes. When I went to the park yesterday with the boys and Rafael, there were at least half a dozen other boys at the park, too. They all hung out - some playing soccer, others chatting on the basketball court, etc. It seemed and felt a bit "normal," like something that could happen in Cambridge.
Except that there was a difference. When I took the boys to the park and saw all the other boys there, too, I looked around and realized that I was the only parent in sight! The other kids had come to the park after school to play with their friends. Some of them were walking home to dinner and others(including Rafael) were taking city buses home without any supervision. I figured that I didn't need to be there, so I left. I told the boys to be home by 6:15 and they were with no problems. And, today, much to the WK's great joy, we let him walk to and stay at the park for a couple hours alone. Here's to increased independence.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Day Two of School
Pentheus and I walked the boys to school and dropped them off with little fanfare. We still haven't seen the CK's teacher, but will make sure to wait until she arrives before leaving him tomorrow morning. Neither boy has complained, cried or indicated that he is unhappy so far, and when I have tried subtly to elicit what they are thinking, everything seems to be ok. As I noted earlier, Pentheus and I have tried to be extra patient with them, and we'll have to see how it goes.
As I think I wrote last week, our next door neighbor has suggested that the WK meet two boys from his class. The WK has had several playdates with Uri already. We've tried to arrange something with the other boy, Rafael, but haven't been successful. Our neighbor thinks Rafael would be a great match for the WK, especially in terms of being interested in sports. Also, Rafael is more outgoing than Uri. Although Rafael's English is very good (for a 5th grader), Rafael's parents don't speak a word of English, which has made it harder for us to connect. I spoke to Rafael's mother this evening, and the plan is for me to pick all three boys (WK, CK and Rafael) up from school tomorrow for a playdate in the park and "arteekeem" (popsicles, in case you have forgotten).
Our neighbor dropped by earlier this evening to say that her daughter (who is also in the same class as WK) came home today and said that Zohar (the boy with whom the WK's teacher has matched the WK) is not a good fit at all. Zohar is a big class clown, and his English is not very good. Her daughter didn't want to get involved and didn't want us to use her name if we talk to the teacher, but she doesn't think Zohar is a good match. Our neighbor thinks we should talk to the WK's teacher and suggest that she pair the WK with Rafael. It's interesting because, again, here's another example of an Israeli (even if our neighbor speaks English) not pulling punches and not being afraid to speak her mind. I'm not convinced that most of us would take the time to get as involved (and stay as involved) as our neighbor has been. I recognize that it's both good and bad.
While I was out this afternoon, I called Pentheus from our cell phone. (Oh, just realized I didn't post anything about our finally getting a cell phone! When we were in Talpiyot last week (when we rented the car), we saw that Rami Levy (the big supermarket store to which we drove the clerk at the car rental place) had a cell phone kiosk. We were still unable to purchase an "unlimited" plan without an Israeli credit card or bank account, but we were able to buy a pre-paid SIM for much less money than the other places were charging. We pay as we go for calls and texts (and it's much more expensive to call/text the US), but we're glad to have one as a way for Pentheus and me to keep in touch when one of us is out of the dira.)
Anyway, while I was out this afternoon, I called Pentheus. It must have been about 1:30 or so. Pentheus answered the phone and said, "Honey, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that the boys know how to walk home from school by themselves. The bad news is that we were misinformed about what time school closed today." Apparently, school let out at 12:40, and neither Pentheus nor I was there to meet the boys, so they walked back to the dira together. When we apologized to the boys, neither one seemed upset about it, and, in fact, the WK wants to use this as an example for why we should let him go to the park by himself (i.e., without the CK or us). The jury is still out on that.
When Pentheus and I talked about coming to Israel, we hoped that the experience would be good for the boys, help make them more independent and mature, and allow them to grow in ways we can't even imagine yet.The fact that the boys walked home from school alone today (with nary a complaint or angry comment) gives some credence to our decision.
By the way, there's a video here: http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/551/2561839 about Netanyahu's visit to the boys' school yesterday. In the IMRA link here: <http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=58037>, there's a transcription of what Netanyahu said at Szold (as well as at another school in Efrat). The second part of the video is where Jerusalem mayor Nir Barakat surprises Netanyahu by locating his report card from 6th grade at Szold.
As I think I wrote last week, our next door neighbor has suggested that the WK meet two boys from his class. The WK has had several playdates with Uri already. We've tried to arrange something with the other boy, Rafael, but haven't been successful. Our neighbor thinks Rafael would be a great match for the WK, especially in terms of being interested in sports. Also, Rafael is more outgoing than Uri. Although Rafael's English is very good (for a 5th grader), Rafael's parents don't speak a word of English, which has made it harder for us to connect. I spoke to Rafael's mother this evening, and the plan is for me to pick all three boys (WK, CK and Rafael) up from school tomorrow for a playdate in the park and "arteekeem" (popsicles, in case you have forgotten).
Our neighbor dropped by earlier this evening to say that her daughter (who is also in the same class as WK) came home today and said that Zohar (the boy with whom the WK's teacher has matched the WK) is not a good fit at all. Zohar is a big class clown, and his English is not very good. Her daughter didn't want to get involved and didn't want us to use her name if we talk to the teacher, but she doesn't think Zohar is a good match. Our neighbor thinks we should talk to the WK's teacher and suggest that she pair the WK with Rafael. It's interesting because, again, here's another example of an Israeli (even if our neighbor speaks English) not pulling punches and not being afraid to speak her mind. I'm not convinced that most of us would take the time to get as involved (and stay as involved) as our neighbor has been. I recognize that it's both good and bad.
While I was out this afternoon, I called Pentheus from our cell phone. (Oh, just realized I didn't post anything about our finally getting a cell phone! When we were in Talpiyot last week (when we rented the car), we saw that Rami Levy (the big supermarket store to which we drove the clerk at the car rental place) had a cell phone kiosk. We were still unable to purchase an "unlimited" plan without an Israeli credit card or bank account, but we were able to buy a pre-paid SIM for much less money than the other places were charging. We pay as we go for calls and texts (and it's much more expensive to call/text the US), but we're glad to have one as a way for Pentheus and me to keep in touch when one of us is out of the dira.)
Anyway, while I was out this afternoon, I called Pentheus. It must have been about 1:30 or so. Pentheus answered the phone and said, "Honey, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that the boys know how to walk home from school by themselves. The bad news is that we were misinformed about what time school closed today." Apparently, school let out at 12:40, and neither Pentheus nor I was there to meet the boys, so they walked back to the dira together. When we apologized to the boys, neither one seemed upset about it, and, in fact, the WK wants to use this as an example for why we should let him go to the park by himself (i.e., without the CK or us). The jury is still out on that.
When Pentheus and I talked about coming to Israel, we hoped that the experience would be good for the boys, help make them more independent and mature, and allow them to grow in ways we can't even imagine yet.The fact that the boys walked home from school alone today (with nary a complaint or angry comment) gives some credence to our decision.
By the way, there's a video here: http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/551/2561839 about Netanyahu's visit to the boys' school yesterday. In the IMRA link here: <http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=58037>, there's a transcription of what Netanyahu said at Szold (as well as at another school in Efrat). The second part of the video is where Jerusalem mayor Nir Barakat surprises Netanyahu by locating his report card from 6th grade at Szold.
Monday, August 27, 2012
"Fun but a little bit scary"
The boys (plus Pentheus and I) made it through the first day of school! Actually, from all accounts. the day went fairly well. The CK said it was "fun but a little bit scary" and the WK said it went "pretty good." (Considering he's in 5th grade in a foreign country, I ignored my inclination to correct him that the day went "pretty well.")
I left the dira around 11:25 am to pick the boys up from school. When I passed the high school (where this morning I had heard the band and the singing), the students were singing "Hatikvah" (The Hope), the Israeli national anthem. I have to admit that the moment made me pause, and I was very moved. My eyes immediately filled with tears as I took it in - here I was in ISRAEL listening to Israeli kids singing Hatikvah while I walked to the school where MY kids were enrolled. I calmed down enough to call Pentheus and clean myself up a bit before I got the boys' school. (I knew the WK would not be happy with me if I were crying when I picked him up, even if they weren't sad tears.)
When I walked down the steps outside the school, where the boys and I had planned to meet, I asked one of the security guards how it had gone today. Her response was "Bseder gamoor. Meah chooz." (Totally fine, 100%.), which I was glad to hear. The WK came out of the building first and the CK followed within a minute or two. Both quickly informed me that they did NOT need to have worn long pants and that they were really hot!
Turns out only the 1st and 6th graders needed to wear long pants because they were the only kids who met with Netanyahu and performed a song for him. None of the kids from the other grades even saw him and wouldn't have known he had been there if it weren't for all of the fuss. Although I must admit I was a bit disappointed that the boys didn't get to see him, it was probably just as well. I've attached below the link to the article about Netanyahu's visit.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4273442,00.html
From what we could glean from the CK, overall, his day was okay, primarily because it involved his getting a lollipop. Although the kids in his class spoke almost no English, somehow the CK and two other boys were able to negotiate a switch in lollipops due to flavor preferences. I am pretty sure the CK ended up with "doovdoovahneem" (cherry) instead of his original "shoko" (chocolate) and that he was pleased about it. The CK said he couldn't remember any of the names of his classmates, but that he had written a book with pictures about his "cheetah" (cheetah!) with colored pencils. The CK asked that we come to his class tomorrow morning to check out the book. We'll also check in with his teacher about what we can do to make it easier, etc.
The WK said the class had done an exercise in which each of them had to complete the Hebrew sentences "B'shahnah haba'ah, ahnee rotzeh _____." (This year, I want to ________.) and "B'shahnah haba'ah, ahnee mekahveh." (This year, I hope to ________.) The Hebrew sentences were written on the board with the blanks following. The WK told us he had completed the sentences in Hebrew with "ledahbear eevreet" (speak Hebrew) and "lesahchek kadoor bahsees" (play baseball). Good for him!
Per the WK, we had put all the wrong school supplies in his backpack and we should have sent a water bottle. Tonight Pentheus and I repacked the WK's backpack and will see if it meets his approval in the morning. I was pleased that he complained about us because that was exactly what he would have done in Cambridge!
The CK was clearly charged up about starting school. He wanted to go buy a Hebrew-English dictionary and then used the Hebrew-English translation app on my phone. The CK would look up a word in English, figure out how to translate into Hebrew, and then meticulously copy the Hebrew word into a journal that he pleaded we buy for him. It was very sweet.
I'm not sure I have mentioned yet, but we have had two lovely house guests, the daughters of friends of ours in Cambridge, for a couple of days. One daughter is in Israel for the next 10 months on a program, and her sister is returning from vacationing in Israel to the States tonight to get ready for her junior year of high school. It's been a lot of fun to spend time with them, and we have all enjoyed it. I'm working on convincing the one who is staying in Israel to come back to Jerusalem before her program starts, so that I can have some girl time. While I love my boys, it's nice to be with girls sometimes, too. I'm hoping there is a trip to the Naot store in my future! (http://www.naot.com/)
I left the dira around 11:25 am to pick the boys up from school. When I passed the high school (where this morning I had heard the band and the singing), the students were singing "Hatikvah" (The Hope), the Israeli national anthem. I have to admit that the moment made me pause, and I was very moved. My eyes immediately filled with tears as I took it in - here I was in ISRAEL listening to Israeli kids singing Hatikvah while I walked to the school where MY kids were enrolled. I calmed down enough to call Pentheus and clean myself up a bit before I got the boys' school. (I knew the WK would not be happy with me if I were crying when I picked him up, even if they weren't sad tears.)
When I walked down the steps outside the school, where the boys and I had planned to meet, I asked one of the security guards how it had gone today. Her response was "Bseder gamoor. Meah chooz." (Totally fine, 100%.), which I was glad to hear. The WK came out of the building first and the CK followed within a minute or two. Both quickly informed me that they did NOT need to have worn long pants and that they were really hot!
Turns out only the 1st and 6th graders needed to wear long pants because they were the only kids who met with Netanyahu and performed a song for him. None of the kids from the other grades even saw him and wouldn't have known he had been there if it weren't for all of the fuss. Although I must admit I was a bit disappointed that the boys didn't get to see him, it was probably just as well. I've attached below the link to the article about Netanyahu's visit.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4273442,00.html
From what we could glean from the CK, overall, his day was okay, primarily because it involved his getting a lollipop. Although the kids in his class spoke almost no English, somehow the CK and two other boys were able to negotiate a switch in lollipops due to flavor preferences. I am pretty sure the CK ended up with "doovdoovahneem" (cherry) instead of his original "shoko" (chocolate) and that he was pleased about it. The CK said he couldn't remember any of the names of his classmates, but that he had written a book with pictures about his "cheetah" (cheetah!) with colored pencils. The CK asked that we come to his class tomorrow morning to check out the book. We'll also check in with his teacher about what we can do to make it easier, etc.
The WK said the class had done an exercise in which each of them had to complete the Hebrew sentences "B'shahnah haba'ah, ahnee rotzeh _____." (This year, I want to ________.) and "B'shahnah haba'ah, ahnee mekahveh." (This year, I hope to ________.) The Hebrew sentences were written on the board with the blanks following. The WK told us he had completed the sentences in Hebrew with "ledahbear eevreet" (speak Hebrew) and "lesahchek kadoor bahsees" (play baseball). Good for him!
Per the WK, we had put all the wrong school supplies in his backpack and we should have sent a water bottle. Tonight Pentheus and I repacked the WK's backpack and will see if it meets his approval in the morning. I was pleased that he complained about us because that was exactly what he would have done in Cambridge!
The CK was clearly charged up about starting school. He wanted to go buy a Hebrew-English dictionary and then used the Hebrew-English translation app on my phone. The CK would look up a word in English, figure out how to translate into Hebrew, and then meticulously copy the Hebrew word into a journal that he pleaded we buy for him. It was very sweet.
I'm not sure I have mentioned yet, but we have had two lovely house guests, the daughters of friends of ours in Cambridge, for a couple of days. One daughter is in Israel for the next 10 months on a program, and her sister is returning from vacationing in Israel to the States tonight to get ready for her junior year of high school. It's been a lot of fun to spend time with them, and we have all enjoyed it. I'm working on convincing the one who is staying in Israel to come back to Jerusalem before her program starts, so that I can have some girl time. While I love my boys, it's nice to be with girls sometimes, too. I'm hoping there is a trip to the Naot store in my future! (http://www.naot.com/)
First day of school
In another hour, we will know how it went! We woke them up early and they were in pretty good moods. Today they had to wear the white shirt with the school decal and long pants. We're not exactly sure why the long pants, but it's probably so that they kids look better for the media pics.
Pentheus gave the boys some cereal for breakfast while I made their "snack" for today. On a typical school day, they have two breaks for food. The first break is at 10 am and the kids eat "aroochaht eser" (literally, 10:00 meal) and then they have "aroochaht tzoharayeem" (lunch) around 12:00 (I think). When we asked other parents and kids which types of food to send, everyone said sandwiches, pita bread, fruit and maybe a yogurt. Last week we tried to buy lunchboxes for the boys, but it seems school kids (at least the ones in Jerusalem) don't use lunch boxes. We specifically asked at stores, and they just don't have them. No one seems to use "kahrchoneem" (ice-packs) either.
At any rate, we took a few pictures before we left the house today. We told the boys that we were very proud of them for doing this and that we know it won't be easy. At that point, the CK demanded (I am using his words) a "family hug" and the WK said he was proud of Pentheus and me for taking our family to Israel for 5 months. It was a sweet moment. I will attach a few pics later.
As we walked the boys to school, there were many other families out and about. We really could feel the excitement and anticipation as all of the families walked their kids to school, too. The Szold School is about a half block away from one of the high schools, and the high school had a band playing, balloons decorating the entrance, and the high school kids were singing a traditional Israeli song "Haveinu Shalom Alaichem" (literally, May Our Coming Be in Peace - guess it flows better in Hebrew).
As we had been told, there was a lot of security near the Szold School. There were many police officers, as well as Army personnel. The school had set up two entrances for today (with all the others locked), one for those who would actually be close to Netanyahu and another for the others. We were definitely in the line for the "others." Although it was clear that the security personnel looked each of us up and down as we walked through the door, I was very surprised that we did not need to go through security and/or x-ray machines.
The WK wanted to walk into his class by himself, so Pentheus and I took the CK to the library. First and second grade classrooms are in a different building, but today the youngest grades met in the library for security reasons. We didn't see the CK's teacher or anyone we knew, so we helped the CK find a desk and he sat down in the chair. His backpack was slung over the back of the chair and he just sat there facing forward. The CK asked for a hug from me and Pentheus kissed his head, and we left. After we checked to make sure the WK had made it to his room, we tip-toed past the library again to see how the CK was doing. He was still just sitting there in the chair, facing forward. It was a bit sad, I have to admit.
When we went to check on the WK, he was doing ok. His teacher, Yael, told us she had "assigned" another 5th grade boy, Zohar*, to pair with the WK to show him the ropes. Yael also indicated that we should bring a Tanach (the Hebrew Bible) in English for the WK to use, a Math book (which hopefully we can get from his teacher in Cambridge) and some English books for him to read during the day. He did not want us to make a fuss or even to talk to him, so we waved goodbye and left.
I will be leaving the dira in about 10 minutes to pick the boys up. Hope they had a good day.
*not his real name
Pentheus gave the boys some cereal for breakfast while I made their "snack" for today. On a typical school day, they have two breaks for food. The first break is at 10 am and the kids eat "aroochaht eser" (literally, 10:00 meal) and then they have "aroochaht tzoharayeem" (lunch) around 12:00 (I think). When we asked other parents and kids which types of food to send, everyone said sandwiches, pita bread, fruit and maybe a yogurt. Last week we tried to buy lunchboxes for the boys, but it seems school kids (at least the ones in Jerusalem) don't use lunch boxes. We specifically asked at stores, and they just don't have them. No one seems to use "kahrchoneem" (ice-packs) either.
At any rate, we took a few pictures before we left the house today. We told the boys that we were very proud of them for doing this and that we know it won't be easy. At that point, the CK demanded (I am using his words) a "family hug" and the WK said he was proud of Pentheus and me for taking our family to Israel for 5 months. It was a sweet moment. I will attach a few pics later.
As we walked the boys to school, there were many other families out and about. We really could feel the excitement and anticipation as all of the families walked their kids to school, too. The Szold School is about a half block away from one of the high schools, and the high school had a band playing, balloons decorating the entrance, and the high school kids were singing a traditional Israeli song "Haveinu Shalom Alaichem" (literally, May Our Coming Be in Peace - guess it flows better in Hebrew).
As we had been told, there was a lot of security near the Szold School. There were many police officers, as well as Army personnel. The school had set up two entrances for today (with all the others locked), one for those who would actually be close to Netanyahu and another for the others. We were definitely in the line for the "others." Although it was clear that the security personnel looked each of us up and down as we walked through the door, I was very surprised that we did not need to go through security and/or x-ray machines.
The WK wanted to walk into his class by himself, so Pentheus and I took the CK to the library. First and second grade classrooms are in a different building, but today the youngest grades met in the library for security reasons. We didn't see the CK's teacher or anyone we knew, so we helped the CK find a desk and he sat down in the chair. His backpack was slung over the back of the chair and he just sat there facing forward. The CK asked for a hug from me and Pentheus kissed his head, and we left. After we checked to make sure the WK had made it to his room, we tip-toed past the library again to see how the CK was doing. He was still just sitting there in the chair, facing forward. It was a bit sad, I have to admit.
When we went to check on the WK, he was doing ok. His teacher, Yael, told us she had "assigned" another 5th grade boy, Zohar*, to pair with the WK to show him the ropes. Yael also indicated that we should bring a Tanach (the Hebrew Bible) in English for the WK to use, a Math book (which hopefully we can get from his teacher in Cambridge) and some English books for him to read during the day. He did not want us to make a fuss or even to talk to him, so we waved goodbye and left.
I will be leaving the dira in about 10 minutes to pick the boys up. Hope they had a good day.
*not his real name
Sunday, August 26, 2012
One more day, one more day
I know that in my previous post, I wrote how I think I will miss the boys when they begin school tomorrow. While that is likely true, I also am looking forward to it! The boys were difficult and cranky this morning, and we had a hard time motivating to get out of the dira so that Pentheus could work. The CK was in a bad mood and complained a lot, which wasn't much fun. I wish I could say his mood improved radically as the day went on, but it didn't. Kids in Israel begin learning English in schools in the 4th grade, and I think it's just very hard, especially for the CK who knows that the kids in his class won't speak any English. Also, I think we're all nervous on the first day of school. I tried to be extra patient, but am not sure I succeeded.
Uri, the boy from the WK's class with whom we played last week, called to see if we wanted to go to a park, so we walked to his house to get him. We actually went to 2 different parks with Uri. At the first one, "Gan Hachatool Shemen" (The Fat Cat Park - so named because there is a statue of a fat cat) Uri and the WK played ping pong with real paddles this time (see earlier post about using Frisbees as paddles), but without a ping pong table. They sort of hit the ball back and forth and tried not to have the ball touch the ground. The boys also played Frisbee. The CK had brought his cheetah stuffie, and played with it a bit. I had brought "lachmahniyot eem shoko" (rolls with chocolate spread), "necktareenot" (nectarines - sometimes the words are more English than Hebrew) and "mayeem kahreem" (cold water) for us to eat/drink because it was very hot - 97 F. After a bit, we went to Gan Tsfeera (the Park on Tsfeera Street) because it had a lot of playground things to do. I learned the words for the spinning thing (I don't know it's called in English, but you get on it and turn the middle circle to go fast in circles), slide, ladder, and swing sets (actually, I already knew that one). At around 1:45, we called it a day and walked Uri home. Then we went back to the dira to meet Pentheus for lunch and some downtime.
Many of the major holidays in Judaism (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah) occur in the Fall, and we are trying to find a synagogue we like so that we can "join" a place for the holidays and find a community. We tried out two synagogues on this Shabbat. Friday night we went to Eretz Chemda, a fairly orthodox synagogue very close to the house. There were very few people, especially women, there for the Friday night service. The "mecheetzah" (barrier that separates men and women during prayer) was horizontal which meant that the men were in the front of the room, and the women were at the back of the room behind white panels (as opposed to vertical where the men are on one side and the women next to them on the other). I was the only woman there for the first 20 minutes of the service, and I wasn't getting much out of the experience. At least when the mecheetzah is vertical, the women can typically see what is happening at the front of the room; I couldn't see anything except the white barrier. Eventually, a few other women joined me. I had thought it was going to be more progressive but I was wrong.
Saturday morning we went back to Kol Haneshema, the reform synagogue where we had gone the first Friday night in Israel (where I ran into friends from years ago). We went back there because we wanted to see what a Saturday morning service is like. The people were again very friendly although there was a much older crowd than we expected. Apparently, because this is the last weekend before school starts, many people are on vacation. At any rate, the boys were asked again to open and close the ark where the Torah is kept. The sermon about this week's Torah reading was in Hebrew, and Pentheus and I were pleased that we could sort of follow it. We didn't get a lot of the words but certainly got the gist of it. Pentheus remarked that if we joined a shul where the sermons were in Hebrew, our language skill might increase!
Saturday afternoon, we had lunch with Amos and Channa, our neighbors across the street. It was lovely to be invited over. Their youngest son, a junior in high school, and their "uncle" joined us. (While Shlomo was introduced as an "uncle" we got the feeling he was a longtime family friend and not a "real" uncle.) Channa had prepared lunch, and, clearly, she didn't know much about our tastes. Poor Channa served quite possibly our least liked foods - mushroom crepes, hot tuna casserole, and mushroom/rice stuffed eggplant. I felt badly for the boys - even I wanted to make a face at the selections. Amos was very kind when he saw the boys weren't eating and said quickly in Hebrew that "no-one needed to eat anything that he didn't like." Our family had a lot of salad and challah at the meal, although Pentheus really liked the tuna casserole. Amos and Channa have a new kitten who has been living with them for 3 days. The kitten (as of yet unnamed) had a blast with the CK and WK, as they pulled strings and played games with her. (By the way, the dog Tsiyon that the CK likes so much turns out to be Amos's daughter's dog. At the end of our lunch, Tsiyon came over to meet unnamed kitten. We're not sure yet how it went.)
What was very interesting to me was that at one point, Amos asked Pentheus and me why we were taking this 5 month adventure. We don't really have a great answer to that except that we had the opportunity and wanted to do something. Then Amos asked us why we chose Israel as the place to go. We had to stop to think for a minute. Honestly, we never considered or discussed going any place other than Israel. We both feel connected to Israel and our Judaism, we speak Hebrew, and we wanted our family to live here for a while. We don't have a better answer than that.
Tomorrow I'll write about my birthday and other stuff going on, if I get a chance, but I want to close now to get some sleep. We're all getting up early tomorrow morning for the first day of school and for the boys to see Prime Minister Netanyahu! One very funny brother-in-law suggested that in order to make the first day easier, that we should teach each boy one sentence in Hebrew; that way, the boys could have something to say. I thought it was a great idea. My brother-in-law then suggested that the WK's Hebrew sentence should be "Stop the settlements!" and the CK's sentence, "End the occupation!" He further suggested that the boys shout their Hebrew sentences when Netanyahu is around. That would make for a memorable first day!
Oh, the box of books I sent on 30 July arrived today. We now have 28 books for the boys and a few for Pentheus and me. We feel like we need to ration them, as the CK wanted to read all of them today!
Wish everyone luck tomorrow!
Uri, the boy from the WK's class with whom we played last week, called to see if we wanted to go to a park, so we walked to his house to get him. We actually went to 2 different parks with Uri. At the first one, "Gan Hachatool Shemen" (The Fat Cat Park - so named because there is a statue of a fat cat) Uri and the WK played ping pong with real paddles this time (see earlier post about using Frisbees as paddles), but without a ping pong table. They sort of hit the ball back and forth and tried not to have the ball touch the ground. The boys also played Frisbee. The CK had brought his cheetah stuffie, and played with it a bit. I had brought "lachmahniyot eem shoko" (rolls with chocolate spread), "necktareenot" (nectarines - sometimes the words are more English than Hebrew) and "mayeem kahreem" (cold water) for us to eat/drink because it was very hot - 97 F. After a bit, we went to Gan Tsfeera (the Park on Tsfeera Street) because it had a lot of playground things to do. I learned the words for the spinning thing (I don't know it's called in English, but you get on it and turn the middle circle to go fast in circles), slide, ladder, and swing sets (actually, I already knew that one). At around 1:45, we called it a day and walked Uri home. Then we went back to the dira to meet Pentheus for lunch and some downtime.
Many of the major holidays in Judaism (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah) occur in the Fall, and we are trying to find a synagogue we like so that we can "join" a place for the holidays and find a community. We tried out two synagogues on this Shabbat. Friday night we went to Eretz Chemda, a fairly orthodox synagogue very close to the house. There were very few people, especially women, there for the Friday night service. The "mecheetzah" (barrier that separates men and women during prayer) was horizontal which meant that the men were in the front of the room, and the women were at the back of the room behind white panels (as opposed to vertical where the men are on one side and the women next to them on the other). I was the only woman there for the first 20 minutes of the service, and I wasn't getting much out of the experience. At least when the mecheetzah is vertical, the women can typically see what is happening at the front of the room; I couldn't see anything except the white barrier. Eventually, a few other women joined me. I had thought it was going to be more progressive but I was wrong.
Saturday morning we went back to Kol Haneshema, the reform synagogue where we had gone the first Friday night in Israel (where I ran into friends from years ago). We went back there because we wanted to see what a Saturday morning service is like. The people were again very friendly although there was a much older crowd than we expected. Apparently, because this is the last weekend before school starts, many people are on vacation. At any rate, the boys were asked again to open and close the ark where the Torah is kept. The sermon about this week's Torah reading was in Hebrew, and Pentheus and I were pleased that we could sort of follow it. We didn't get a lot of the words but certainly got the gist of it. Pentheus remarked that if we joined a shul where the sermons were in Hebrew, our language skill might increase!
Saturday afternoon, we had lunch with Amos and Channa, our neighbors across the street. It was lovely to be invited over. Their youngest son, a junior in high school, and their "uncle" joined us. (While Shlomo was introduced as an "uncle" we got the feeling he was a longtime family friend and not a "real" uncle.) Channa had prepared lunch, and, clearly, she didn't know much about our tastes. Poor Channa served quite possibly our least liked foods - mushroom crepes, hot tuna casserole, and mushroom/rice stuffed eggplant. I felt badly for the boys - even I wanted to make a face at the selections. Amos was very kind when he saw the boys weren't eating and said quickly in Hebrew that "no-one needed to eat anything that he didn't like." Our family had a lot of salad and challah at the meal, although Pentheus really liked the tuna casserole. Amos and Channa have a new kitten who has been living with them for 3 days. The kitten (as of yet unnamed) had a blast with the CK and WK, as they pulled strings and played games with her. (By the way, the dog Tsiyon that the CK likes so much turns out to be Amos's daughter's dog. At the end of our lunch, Tsiyon came over to meet unnamed kitten. We're not sure yet how it went.)
What was very interesting to me was that at one point, Amos asked Pentheus and me why we were taking this 5 month adventure. We don't really have a great answer to that except that we had the opportunity and wanted to do something. Then Amos asked us why we chose Israel as the place to go. We had to stop to think for a minute. Honestly, we never considered or discussed going any place other than Israel. We both feel connected to Israel and our Judaism, we speak Hebrew, and we wanted our family to live here for a while. We don't have a better answer than that.
Tomorrow I'll write about my birthday and other stuff going on, if I get a chance, but I want to close now to get some sleep. We're all getting up early tomorrow morning for the first day of school and for the boys to see Prime Minister Netanyahu! One very funny brother-in-law suggested that in order to make the first day easier, that we should teach each boy one sentence in Hebrew; that way, the boys could have something to say. I thought it was a great idea. My brother-in-law then suggested that the WK's Hebrew sentence should be "Stop the settlements!" and the CK's sentence, "End the occupation!" He further suggested that the boys shout their Hebrew sentences when Netanyahu is around. That would make for a memorable first day!
Oh, the box of books I sent on 30 July arrived today. We now have 28 books for the boys and a few for Pentheus and me. We feel like we need to ration them, as the CK wanted to read all of them today!
Wish everyone luck tomorrow!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Our time with wheels
I haven't posted since Monday night (our time) and want to catch up a bit. The past few days have been busy and fun. On Tuesday morning, I took the boys to one of the nearby parks. We call it the "Moshava Park" because it is across the street from the "Moshava" an apartment building complex about a 10 minute walk from the dira. Pentheus had purchased a soccer ball for the boys, and they played soccer on the asphalt court for a while. It has been very hot in Jerusalem - 92-97 F each day, and we took lots of water breaks. (It's supposed to be 100+ this weekend - glad the dira has a/c!) The Moshava Park also has a ping pong table with a concrete net (no balls get stuck in there!), so we played a bunch of games of table tennis.
Later that afternoon, the boys, Pentheus and I walked 20 minutes to "Canyon Hadar" (the Hadar Mall) to do some shopping. The Canyon is technically in Talpiyot, another neighborhood in Jerusalem. The Szold School had given us a list of school supplies for the boys and suggested we go to Chanan (name of the store) in that mall and ask one of clerks for help. Both boys needed "machberot" (notebooks) and "machberot chesbonim" (notebooks for Math). Because the Hebrew language goes from right to left (as opposed to English which goes left to right), it was strange to see the notebooks open from the "wrong" side. Both boys also needed pencils, binders, scissors, rulers, etc. The CW was happy because his list included oil pastels, as well as colored pencils, and the WK was psyched to hear his list included a flash drive. It was funny because as we went through the items on the list, the clerk kept saying to me in Hebrew things like, "Really, you don't have any pencils in the house?" and "Surely, you don't need paper - you must already have some at home." Alas, we had almost nothing in the house except the few markers and crayons that we brought from Cambridge. We bought a LOT of supplies, so many, in fact, that when we paid, the owner of the store threw in a complete art set for the boys to use as a bonus.
Since we arrived in Israel, we've been in search of a good Frisbee. We've purchased a few crappy ones, including one that cracked the moment we took it out of the plastic bag it came in. (I guess we shouldn't have expected much; it was 10 shekels or about $2.50.) Some Cambridge friends who were in Israel on vacation for a few weeks brought the boys' baseball gloves, so we've also been looking for baseballs. Pentheus had been to numerous sports shops but hadn't found anything, so while we were at the Canyon, we checked out other stores with no success. Once we left the Canyon, we saw numerous signs for "Beit Tsatsuiyee" (House of Toys) but despite walking up and down hills and in and out of shopping plazas, we never found the store, and we ran out of time to look further.
We then took a taxi to the Thrifty Rental Car place in Talpiyot to pick up a car for us to drive to Zichron Yaakov on Wednesday. (More on that below.) Arranging for the rental car and picking it up was relatively easy. While we were signing the contract, the female clerk helping us asked where we would be going, how many kilometers we would drive, etc. We told her we were driving to Zichron Yaakov on Wednesday but that night (Tuesday night) we were going to take advantage of having the car to go grocery shopping at one of the big supermarkets in Talpiyot. (So far, we've had to walk to and from the smaller grocery stores in our neighborhood, and then either pull the "agallah" (kind of a backpack on wheels) or arrange for the groceries to be delivered.) At that point, the female clerk sitting next to the clerk who was helping us, asked if we were going to Rami Levy, and if we were, could she get a ride there as she had some shopping to do. I thought she was joking and said, "sure." A few minutes later, she logged out of her computer, went to get her purse and said in Hebrew, "OK, I am ready." So, we took her to Rami Levy with us! I told the boys that I don't think something like that would happen in Cambridge, no matter how nice people are! "Rahk b'yisrael" (Only in Israel)!
We also went to "Big Shop" (that's what it is called in Hebrew, too) to get the boys' uniforms for school. To be fair, the uniform is simply a solid color shirt with an iron-on decal with the school's logo and name. On the first day of school, plus holidays, special days, etc. the boys need to wear white shirts with Szold's decal. Twice a week, the boys have P.E., for which they need to wear light blue shirts with the decal. The other 3 days, the boys can wear any color shirt as long as it has the decal. We ended up buying 14 shirts (7 for each boy) and then standing in a long line for the decals to be ironed on. Even if we had an iron in the dira, everyone has them done at "stations" in the stores. Luckily the shirts are relatively inexpensive - 15.99 shekels/each which is around $4.00 a shirt. Plus, for each 100 shekels you spend, you get one t-shirt for 1.99 shekels or around $0.50.
In Jerusalem (and I think in most other cities, too), public schools are usually 6 days a week - Sunday through Friday with Saturday off for the Jewish Sabbath. The Szold School is Sunday through Friday from 8:05 am - 2:20 pm, with early release at 12:40 pm every Tuesday and Friday. As I wrote earlier, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to the boys' school for the first day. The kids have to be there by 7:20 am because at 7:30 the doors are locked for security purposes. Parents are not allowed to be there.
I had kind of hoped I could stay for Netanyahu's visit, but I understand why they don't want any parents there. While I am sure the boys will be okay, I also kind of wanted to be around at least for the early part of the day in case they "needed" me. It sounds a bit silly now that I write it out, but we want to do what we can to make the transition to school easier for the boys. To be honest, I'd be very, very nervous going to any new school on the first day, never mind when I don't speak the language! Pentheus and I figure that there will be some acting out in the dira, and we're preparing to be extra patient with the WK and the CK. We know the transitions are hard on all of us.
Yesterday, the family drove to Zicharon Yaakov to visit with some friends with whom Pentheus worked when he lived in Jerusalem and worked for Digital in 1990-1991. The ride took a little more than an hour and a half. Israeli drivers are crazy -- I mean way, way more than Boston-crazy. Cars wove in an out of lanes on the highway while going 160+ km/hour (100+ mph); one driver honked his horn relentlessly to let the car next to his know he was unhappy with his driving skills; people invented lanes that weren't there and tailgated so closely. I have not yet summoned my courage to drive in Israel - le'at, le'at...
The day was a lot of fun. There were five families, with a total of 13 kids, who met at Pentheus's friend's house in Dor, a small town near Zichron Yaakov. Dor is so small that there are only 4 streets, no house numbers, and the town gate closes at 8 pm. We hung out, had tea and lemon squares, and then went to the beach. The beach (actually on the grounds of Kibbutz Nachsholim) was beautiful - soft (although wicked hot) sand with the gorgeous blue/green, temperate Mediterranean Sea water. We were at the beach for a couple of hours. The boys had a great time body-surfing in the water and exploring the nearby fort with all the fathers and other kids.
The plan had been for 4 of the families to have a late lunch together at an Italian restaurant in "downtown" Zichron. The reservation was for 14 people at 2 pm. We didn't even get to the beach until after 12:15, so I knew we wouldn't make it on time. Pentheus's friend had twice changed the reservation, first to 2:30 and then to 3:00. We arrived at the restaurant just after 4 pm, but it didn't seem to be a big deal. His friend had told everyone in advance about the Groupon available for the restaurant, and we used it to get a pretty good deal - 164 shekels for 4 entrees (no kids' meals available at the restaurant anyway), 2 big salads, and lots of "limonana" a lemonade with mint kind of slushie. That's about $10 a person; I don't know how the restaurant makes any money. After dinner, the families wandered around the "midrachov" with shops, restaurants, galleries and parks. The midrachov is essentially a pedestrian mall where no cars are allowed. Of course, we got "gleeda" (ice-cream) which was delicious, and then ended up at a playground.
We drove (okay, actually, Pentheus drove) back to the dira and arrived just after 10 pm. Both boys had fallen asleep in the car. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a parking space close to the dira, and had to wake the boys up to walk a couple of blocks. We were all exhausted after a day in the sun and went to sleep. While we had hoped to sleep late this morning, at around 7:45 am, there was incessant honking outside our open windows. Apparently, the garbage truck had blocked the street, and the cars behind it were determined to keep on the horn until the truck moved. I am not exaggerating to say that the horn lasted for over 3 minutes. So much for sleeping late...
We're a few days into the Hebrew month of Elul. Because Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur come in the next month, Tishrei, it's traditional to blow the shofar (ram's horn) each day to begin preparing spiritually for the big holidays. In Cambridge, if the boys behaved in the morning, they would get to blow our shofar in the morning before camp or school, but we did not bring the shofar to Israel with us. This morning, after all the car honking, WK said we got to hear the "sho-car" instead of the shofar.
Pentheus worked all day today, while the boys and I kept busy. The boys had a shower and bath, which they needed desperately, and we watched a little TV ("The Weakest Link" on the BBC channel). Then we packed sandwiches, pretzels and cold water, and headed to the Moshava park for soccer, table tennis and hanging out. Although we will be glad when the boys have school, I think I will miss being with them as much as I have been in Israel. It's been fun to go to the park, downtown and some of the Jerusalem sites and just to spend time with them.
Late afternoon, Pentheus returned the rental car and then met us on the Emek for dinner. We went back to the Pizza Italie place (where the woman wasn't so nice) because the boys loved the pasta. Afterwards, the boys and Pentheus got more "gleeda" and I had a "natool" (decaf coffee). I've only had decaf coffee a couple of times since we arrived in Jerusalem, and I enjoyed the cup tonight! Most Israelis don't drink decaf, and I miss being able to swing by Dunkin' Donuts for a cup.
I am a huge breakfast fan, and in Cambridge, we often have breakfast food for lunch and dinner. There really aren't any restaurants or diners in Jerusalem where we can go for that type of food at any time of the day. When the WK asked if there were any all-day breakfast restaurants, I explained that even if there were restaurants that served breakfast food, the Israeli breakfast is not the croissant french toast or blueberry pancakes that we have in the States. An Israeli breakfast typically includes diced fresh vegetables (the most delicious cucumbers, red peppers, tomatoes and some parsley) in a salad, different cheeses, maybe a hard-boiled egg, and some yogurts. Yesterday when we were with friends in Dor, one of the Israeli guys commented that in Hebrew, there is no word for "cereal" - I know, the horror! Instead, Israelis call all cereals "Corn Flakes" and then narrow down from there to Cheerios, Frosties (like Frosted Flakes) and not many other options. Cereal is also not cheap - our Frosties were over 22 shekels - close to $6.
We're preparing for another Shabbat already. We'll probably have some type of chicken, rice and vegetables for dinner tomorrow night. Saturday is my birthday, and I've been told we are having a special dessert after tomorrow night's dinner. We've been invited to Shabbat lunch on Saturday by the older couple across the street (who have a beautiful dog Tsiyon, whom the CK adores), which I am sure will be lovely. And, I've arranged for a babysitter (the 11th grade girl next door) for Saturday night after Shabbat ends, so that Pentheus and I can go out to dinner together! I am very much looking forward, as we have had very little time just the two of us since even before we arrived in Israel.
Later that afternoon, the boys, Pentheus and I walked 20 minutes to "Canyon Hadar" (the Hadar Mall) to do some shopping. The Canyon is technically in Talpiyot, another neighborhood in Jerusalem. The Szold School had given us a list of school supplies for the boys and suggested we go to Chanan (name of the store) in that mall and ask one of clerks for help. Both boys needed "machberot" (notebooks) and "machberot chesbonim" (notebooks for Math). Because the Hebrew language goes from right to left (as opposed to English which goes left to right), it was strange to see the notebooks open from the "wrong" side. Both boys also needed pencils, binders, scissors, rulers, etc. The CW was happy because his list included oil pastels, as well as colored pencils, and the WK was psyched to hear his list included a flash drive. It was funny because as we went through the items on the list, the clerk kept saying to me in Hebrew things like, "Really, you don't have any pencils in the house?" and "Surely, you don't need paper - you must already have some at home." Alas, we had almost nothing in the house except the few markers and crayons that we brought from Cambridge. We bought a LOT of supplies, so many, in fact, that when we paid, the owner of the store threw in a complete art set for the boys to use as a bonus.
Since we arrived in Israel, we've been in search of a good Frisbee. We've purchased a few crappy ones, including one that cracked the moment we took it out of the plastic bag it came in. (I guess we shouldn't have expected much; it was 10 shekels or about $2.50.) Some Cambridge friends who were in Israel on vacation for a few weeks brought the boys' baseball gloves, so we've also been looking for baseballs. Pentheus had been to numerous sports shops but hadn't found anything, so while we were at the Canyon, we checked out other stores with no success. Once we left the Canyon, we saw numerous signs for "Beit Tsatsuiyee" (House of Toys) but despite walking up and down hills and in and out of shopping plazas, we never found the store, and we ran out of time to look further.
We then took a taxi to the Thrifty Rental Car place in Talpiyot to pick up a car for us to drive to Zichron Yaakov on Wednesday. (More on that below.) Arranging for the rental car and picking it up was relatively easy. While we were signing the contract, the female clerk helping us asked where we would be going, how many kilometers we would drive, etc. We told her we were driving to Zichron Yaakov on Wednesday but that night (Tuesday night) we were going to take advantage of having the car to go grocery shopping at one of the big supermarkets in Talpiyot. (So far, we've had to walk to and from the smaller grocery stores in our neighborhood, and then either pull the "agallah" (kind of a backpack on wheels) or arrange for the groceries to be delivered.) At that point, the female clerk sitting next to the clerk who was helping us, asked if we were going to Rami Levy, and if we were, could she get a ride there as she had some shopping to do. I thought she was joking and said, "sure." A few minutes later, she logged out of her computer, went to get her purse and said in Hebrew, "OK, I am ready." So, we took her to Rami Levy with us! I told the boys that I don't think something like that would happen in Cambridge, no matter how nice people are! "Rahk b'yisrael" (Only in Israel)!
We also went to "Big Shop" (that's what it is called in Hebrew, too) to get the boys' uniforms for school. To be fair, the uniform is simply a solid color shirt with an iron-on decal with the school's logo and name. On the first day of school, plus holidays, special days, etc. the boys need to wear white shirts with Szold's decal. Twice a week, the boys have P.E., for which they need to wear light blue shirts with the decal. The other 3 days, the boys can wear any color shirt as long as it has the decal. We ended up buying 14 shirts (7 for each boy) and then standing in a long line for the decals to be ironed on. Even if we had an iron in the dira, everyone has them done at "stations" in the stores. Luckily the shirts are relatively inexpensive - 15.99 shekels/each which is around $4.00 a shirt. Plus, for each 100 shekels you spend, you get one t-shirt for 1.99 shekels or around $0.50.
In Jerusalem (and I think in most other cities, too), public schools are usually 6 days a week - Sunday through Friday with Saturday off for the Jewish Sabbath. The Szold School is Sunday through Friday from 8:05 am - 2:20 pm, with early release at 12:40 pm every Tuesday and Friday. As I wrote earlier, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to the boys' school for the first day. The kids have to be there by 7:20 am because at 7:30 the doors are locked for security purposes. Parents are not allowed to be there.
I had kind of hoped I could stay for Netanyahu's visit, but I understand why they don't want any parents there. While I am sure the boys will be okay, I also kind of wanted to be around at least for the early part of the day in case they "needed" me. It sounds a bit silly now that I write it out, but we want to do what we can to make the transition to school easier for the boys. To be honest, I'd be very, very nervous going to any new school on the first day, never mind when I don't speak the language! Pentheus and I figure that there will be some acting out in the dira, and we're preparing to be extra patient with the WK and the CK. We know the transitions are hard on all of us.
Yesterday, the family drove to Zicharon Yaakov to visit with some friends with whom Pentheus worked when he lived in Jerusalem and worked for Digital in 1990-1991. The ride took a little more than an hour and a half. Israeli drivers are crazy -- I mean way, way more than Boston-crazy. Cars wove in an out of lanes on the highway while going 160+ km/hour (100+ mph); one driver honked his horn relentlessly to let the car next to his know he was unhappy with his driving skills; people invented lanes that weren't there and tailgated so closely. I have not yet summoned my courage to drive in Israel - le'at, le'at...
The day was a lot of fun. There were five families, with a total of 13 kids, who met at Pentheus's friend's house in Dor, a small town near Zichron Yaakov. Dor is so small that there are only 4 streets, no house numbers, and the town gate closes at 8 pm. We hung out, had tea and lemon squares, and then went to the beach. The beach (actually on the grounds of Kibbutz Nachsholim) was beautiful - soft (although wicked hot) sand with the gorgeous blue/green, temperate Mediterranean Sea water. We were at the beach for a couple of hours. The boys had a great time body-surfing in the water and exploring the nearby fort with all the fathers and other kids.
The plan had been for 4 of the families to have a late lunch together at an Italian restaurant in "downtown" Zichron. The reservation was for 14 people at 2 pm. We didn't even get to the beach until after 12:15, so I knew we wouldn't make it on time. Pentheus's friend had twice changed the reservation, first to 2:30 and then to 3:00. We arrived at the restaurant just after 4 pm, but it didn't seem to be a big deal. His friend had told everyone in advance about the Groupon available for the restaurant, and we used it to get a pretty good deal - 164 shekels for 4 entrees (no kids' meals available at the restaurant anyway), 2 big salads, and lots of "limonana" a lemonade with mint kind of slushie. That's about $10 a person; I don't know how the restaurant makes any money. After dinner, the families wandered around the "midrachov" with shops, restaurants, galleries and parks. The midrachov is essentially a pedestrian mall where no cars are allowed. Of course, we got "gleeda" (ice-cream) which was delicious, and then ended up at a playground.
We drove (okay, actually, Pentheus drove) back to the dira and arrived just after 10 pm. Both boys had fallen asleep in the car. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a parking space close to the dira, and had to wake the boys up to walk a couple of blocks. We were all exhausted after a day in the sun and went to sleep. While we had hoped to sleep late this morning, at around 7:45 am, there was incessant honking outside our open windows. Apparently, the garbage truck had blocked the street, and the cars behind it were determined to keep on the horn until the truck moved. I am not exaggerating to say that the horn lasted for over 3 minutes. So much for sleeping late...
We're a few days into the Hebrew month of Elul. Because Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur come in the next month, Tishrei, it's traditional to blow the shofar (ram's horn) each day to begin preparing spiritually for the big holidays. In Cambridge, if the boys behaved in the morning, they would get to blow our shofar in the morning before camp or school, but we did not bring the shofar to Israel with us. This morning, after all the car honking, WK said we got to hear the "sho-car" instead of the shofar.
Pentheus worked all day today, while the boys and I kept busy. The boys had a shower and bath, which they needed desperately, and we watched a little TV ("The Weakest Link" on the BBC channel). Then we packed sandwiches, pretzels and cold water, and headed to the Moshava park for soccer, table tennis and hanging out. Although we will be glad when the boys have school, I think I will miss being with them as much as I have been in Israel. It's been fun to go to the park, downtown and some of the Jerusalem sites and just to spend time with them.
Late afternoon, Pentheus returned the rental car and then met us on the Emek for dinner. We went back to the Pizza Italie place (where the woman wasn't so nice) because the boys loved the pasta. Afterwards, the boys and Pentheus got more "gleeda" and I had a "natool" (decaf coffee). I've only had decaf coffee a couple of times since we arrived in Jerusalem, and I enjoyed the cup tonight! Most Israelis don't drink decaf, and I miss being able to swing by Dunkin' Donuts for a cup.
I am a huge breakfast fan, and in Cambridge, we often have breakfast food for lunch and dinner. There really aren't any restaurants or diners in Jerusalem where we can go for that type of food at any time of the day. When the WK asked if there were any all-day breakfast restaurants, I explained that even if there were restaurants that served breakfast food, the Israeli breakfast is not the croissant french toast or blueberry pancakes that we have in the States. An Israeli breakfast typically includes diced fresh vegetables (the most delicious cucumbers, red peppers, tomatoes and some parsley) in a salad, different cheeses, maybe a hard-boiled egg, and some yogurts. Yesterday when we were with friends in Dor, one of the Israeli guys commented that in Hebrew, there is no word for "cereal" - I know, the horror! Instead, Israelis call all cereals "Corn Flakes" and then narrow down from there to Cheerios, Frosties (like Frosted Flakes) and not many other options. Cereal is also not cheap - our Frosties were over 22 shekels - close to $6.
We're preparing for another Shabbat already. We'll probably have some type of chicken, rice and vegetables for dinner tomorrow night. Saturday is my birthday, and I've been told we are having a special dessert after tomorrow night's dinner. We've been invited to Shabbat lunch on Saturday by the older couple across the street (who have a beautiful dog Tsiyon, whom the CK adores), which I am sure will be lovely. And, I've arranged for a babysitter (the 11th grade girl next door) for Saturday night after Shabbat ends, so that Pentheus and I can go out to dinner together! I am very much looking forward, as we have had very little time just the two of us since even before we arrived in Israel.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Aizeh Kef Haya Lanu! (What Fun We Had!)
We had a lot of fun tonight! We went to a neighborhood community center in Gonenim (about 15 minute walk from the dira), where they had games for kids, music, and then showed a movie. To be honest, we hadn't realized what the event was when we saw it online; we were pretty sure there would be a movie but pretty unsure of anything else. We saw the event online, packed some sandwiches, snacks and water from the dira, and headed over to the park/community center. The event was handled by the Israeli Tsofim (kind of like the Boy and Girl Scouts in the States), about 15-20 high-school age kids. When the CK needed help walking in a circle on a rope with other kids holding the rope 18 inches above the ground, an 11th grade Tsofa (Girl Scout) helped him while speaking to him in English. When I commented to her in Hebrew that her English was very good, she responded in English, "My Mom would be happy to hear that."
After the WK and CK moved to the "ropes course" where they had to climb through a net of ropes without using their hands, one of the Tsofim asked if the boys would be going to school in Israel. When we said they were going to the Szold School, it turned out that there were about 10-15 Israeli kids at the event who were also going to Szold! We said that the WK was entering 5th grade, and one of the Tsofim said that the younger sister of another Tsofa there was also entering 5th grade. Turns out that the Tsofa who had helped the CK with the rope walk is the oldest daughter of our neighbor who had recommended the Szold School in the first place! No wonder her English is so good - her Mom runs the English program at the school. :-)Small world. Not only was she lovely and kind, but she's interested in babysitting. (For those of you who are wondering, apparently the going rate for babysitters in Jerusalem is 30 shekalim/hour, approximately $7.50.) Even though we didn't meet anyone who would be in the CK's class, I think he still felt a bit better when he knew there were other kids who would be at school with him. I was also happy to see other Szold parents because we needed to know where to buy the school "uniforms" for the boys. The uniform is simply shirts with the name of the school ironed on in the upper left corner, but we had no idea where to get them. Apparently, all of the Szold kids have to wear white shirts with the school name on the first day for Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit and then light blue shirts with the school name the rest of the time.
The movie shown was "Flushed Away" dubbed in Hebrew, with no English subtitles. Both the WK and CK have seen the movie a couple of times (and it's quite possible we have the English DVD in the dira now), so it wasn't too difficult for them to follow, even if they didn't "understand" it. The WK kept whispering the good lines in English before they were said in Hebrew. Maybe this counts as a Hebrew lesson? At one point, the CK leaned over and said, "Ahnee rotzeh mayeem" ("I want water"). Kind of cool that he said it in Hebrew.
Earlier today, the boys and I took the #13 bus downtown and then walked to Machaneh Yehudah, a big outdoor market. I was pleased that I knew which bus to take (although to be fair, Pentheus told me which bus to take, but I didn't need any help figuring out where the correct bus station was - small victories) and that we walked to the market. Someone had told us about Mousseline store, which supposedly has some of the best ice-cream in Jerusalem. Mousseline had been marked on a Macheneh Yehudah map I had, but the store had moved from that location. I was determined to find Mousseline, and after conferring with 5 or 6 different shop keepers, the boys and I enjoyed delicious ice-cream! It's been so long since I have had regular ice-cream, as opposed to the tangy frozen yogurt places in Cambridge, but Mousseline's was great. The Macheneh Yehudah map also has the supposedly best challah place in Jerusalem marked, but we'll have to test that out another day.
Pentheus and I opened a bottle of wine after the boys went to sleep tonight, and we've been checking email on the computers and talking about some of the tasks we need to do. I'm about to pay a bunch of bills online, which is amazing if you think about it. Here I am, sitting in Jerusalem, paying bills on my Netbook, and I just called my sister, using our Cambridge home phone number. Technology indeed.
After the WK and CK moved to the "ropes course" where they had to climb through a net of ropes without using their hands, one of the Tsofim asked if the boys would be going to school in Israel. When we said they were going to the Szold School, it turned out that there were about 10-15 Israeli kids at the event who were also going to Szold! We said that the WK was entering 5th grade, and one of the Tsofim said that the younger sister of another Tsofa there was also entering 5th grade. Turns out that the Tsofa who had helped the CK with the rope walk is the oldest daughter of our neighbor who had recommended the Szold School in the first place! No wonder her English is so good - her Mom runs the English program at the school. :-)Small world. Not only was she lovely and kind, but she's interested in babysitting. (For those of you who are wondering, apparently the going rate for babysitters in Jerusalem is 30 shekalim/hour, approximately $7.50.) Even though we didn't meet anyone who would be in the CK's class, I think he still felt a bit better when he knew there were other kids who would be at school with him. I was also happy to see other Szold parents because we needed to know where to buy the school "uniforms" for the boys. The uniform is simply shirts with the name of the school ironed on in the upper left corner, but we had no idea where to get them. Apparently, all of the Szold kids have to wear white shirts with the school name on the first day for Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit and then light blue shirts with the school name the rest of the time.
The movie shown was "Flushed Away" dubbed in Hebrew, with no English subtitles. Both the WK and CK have seen the movie a couple of times (and it's quite possible we have the English DVD in the dira now), so it wasn't too difficult for them to follow, even if they didn't "understand" it. The WK kept whispering the good lines in English before they were said in Hebrew. Maybe this counts as a Hebrew lesson? At one point, the CK leaned over and said, "Ahnee rotzeh mayeem" ("I want water"). Kind of cool that he said it in Hebrew.
Earlier today, the boys and I took the #13 bus downtown and then walked to Machaneh Yehudah, a big outdoor market. I was pleased that I knew which bus to take (although to be fair, Pentheus told me which bus to take, but I didn't need any help figuring out where the correct bus station was - small victories) and that we walked to the market. Someone had told us about Mousseline store, which supposedly has some of the best ice-cream in Jerusalem. Mousseline had been marked on a Macheneh Yehudah map I had, but the store had moved from that location. I was determined to find Mousseline, and after conferring with 5 or 6 different shop keepers, the boys and I enjoyed delicious ice-cream! It's been so long since I have had regular ice-cream, as opposed to the tangy frozen yogurt places in Cambridge, but Mousseline's was great. The Macheneh Yehudah map also has the supposedly best challah place in Jerusalem marked, but we'll have to test that out another day.
Pentheus and I opened a bottle of wine after the boys went to sleep tonight, and we've been checking email on the computers and talking about some of the tasks we need to do. I'm about to pay a bunch of bills online, which is amazing if you think about it. Here I am, sitting in Jerusalem, paying bills on my Netbook, and I just called my sister, using our Cambridge home phone number. Technology indeed.
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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