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.