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.