I'm sure part of my crankiness has to do with the CK and his "adjustment" to school. Every morning (except for today), the CK has either cried or screamed (and a couple of time times both) about how he refuses to go to school and how we can't make him. By the time Pentheus or I are ready to leave him at school, the CK has usually calmed down. At the end of every day, when we ask the CK how the day went, his answer is always "Awesome." Hopefully it's just a matter of his getting used to this. The CK is definitely happier in 1st grade than in 2nd, so we'll take it. I must admit, though, that I fear the CK will backslide over the next few weeks. Because of Rosh Hashanah, today (Friday) is the last day of school until next Wednesday. Then the boys are off again from Erev Yom Kippur until after the holidays of Sukkot and Simchat Torah (from Tuesday 9/25-Wednesday 10/10). We are worried he'll get used to being out of school and with us, especially because my Dad and sister will be visiting. We'll have to take it slowly - le'at, le'at.
On Tuesday afternoon, I took the boys to the Museum for Islamic Art. The museum was almost empty except for a few other people. We had a great time. That night at dinner, we went "around the table" and each said 2 things that we liked about the museum. My favorite part was the movie, "An Introduction to Islam." The WK had requested I bring drawing paper and pencils, and he sketched freehand a fish axe head from the weapons exhibit.
The museum security guard was very surprised to see the WK pull out paper and pencil to start the sketch. He stood over the WK while he drew and made suggestions (in Hebrew) to the CK about corrections he should make.
Not to be outdone, of course, the CK decided he had to draw something, too, so the CK sketched one of the earrings from the jewelry exhibit and then a whole bunch of 3D shapes.
At school yesterday, all of the classes went to the "chorshah" (orchard or grove) a couple of blocks away. I assumed they were going to the chorshah because of Rosh Hashana, maybe something about apple picking or whatever. Who knows? Apparently, though, it was "International Clean-Up Day" and the entire school went to the chorshah to pick up garbage. (An email about it went out to all of the parents, but I guess we weren't on the email list. I gave Cheli both Pentheus's and my email address this morning, so hopefully we'll get things from now on.) The CK was excited about going to the chorshah (even if it were to pick up trash) because the 1st graders were buddied up with the 6th graders, and that was a lot of fun.
Unfortunately, while the WK was at the chorshah with his class, he was stung or bitten by a bug ("it was black and flew away" is what we were told), and he now has a swollen lower calf. (**Note I stopped writing at this point on Friday. It's now Saturday night and I am picking up where I left off.) When it looked worse on Friday morning, we decided to take the WK to the doctor. While we were sure that it would be OK, we didn't want Shabbat and then Rosh Hashana to start without having someone look at it. The doctor examined the WK and determined he may have some sort of secondary infection from the bite/sting. She prescribed an antibiotic and 2 anti-histamines. The clinic experience was great, I have to say. From the time the WK and I called a cab, went to the clinic, were seen by the doctor, got the prescription filled at the pharmacy and took a taxi back to the dira, it was about an hour and a half. By mid-day today, his leg was clearly much better. The WK will stay on the prescription for another 4 days.
For those of you who are interested in the health care aspect of this, we used the health insurance that we purchased for the family while we are here. The insurance was $1.40/day per person with a total of around $900 total. We paid nothing for the clinic appointment and about $22 for the medicines (including the prescription).
Yesterday we paid the semester "fee" for the boys' English program at school. Technically it's not a "fee" because you aren't required to pay it. However, it is assumed that everyone who can afford it makes a "contribution" of 875 shekels twice a year per child. That's a total of about $220 a semester (from Aug-Jan and Feb-June). The money pays for the salary of the English teacher (Judith) who works especially with those kids who are registered with her. I think it's 2-3 hours a week of additional time, but I'm not totally sure because the CK spends more time with her (actually learning some Hebrew, too) than the WK does. It's well worth the contribution as far as we are concerned. Not only are the boys happy that they have time with the English teacher and access to English books, but it really is a boost for them to feel like there is something at which they are excelling at school. I know I've written it before, but I can't imagine how hard it is for the boys to be at school 6 days a week, basically all in Hebrew. Talk about out of their comfort zone!
While on the topic of the boys, I was talking on the phone to a girlfriend from the States and was telling her that it's hard to parent the boys in this type of environment. I mean, the typical stuff like not hitting each other and going to bed on time is the same as in Cambridge. However, with respect to being in Israel and recognizing how difficult it must be for the boys, I can't tell whether we are being too lenient or too strict. Maybe it's a bit of both. Sometimes when the boys are acting out, I'm either too patient with them and let them get away with things or I blow up because they are being so difficult. I guess I need to remind myself that even if we do get into routines and things settle down, the reality is that we are not in Cambridge and it's going to be different here. I wish though that I could act more in moderation than I feel like I have been. It's also been verfy difficultg for Pentheus to get work done here because he doesn't have much solitary time to concentrate. We're hoping things feel easier for all of us.
A quick funny story: I was at the grocery store buying cold cuts for us to have for Shabbat lunch today. There must be 40 different types of cold cuts - each with different names in Hebrew and different packaging, and none that are clearly labeled (at least not in English!) as to what they are. I know what the boys like of what we have had before, but the grocery was out of those meats. When I can't figure something out, I end up resorting to the Hebrew-English translator on my phone. I typed in what the meat said in Hebrew and pushed the "Translate" button and there appeared the translation: "Repayment bathroom"! I still don't know what meat it was, but I bought something else...
For Shabbat dinner last night, we had been invited to the house of a family who had made aliyah 3 years ago. They had been members of our synagogue in Cambridge before they moved to Israel. They live in Baaka about a 15 minute walk from our dira. The WK said he wanted to go, but we walked more slowly because of his ankle. The family has a new small dog named Sheleg ("snow" in Hebrew), and the CK was psyched to spend time with Sheleg. (Truth be told, he was much more interested in meeting Sheleg than spending time with people whom he didn't remember from Cambridge anyway.) While we had a lovely time at their house, we had to leave fairly early and quite abruptly as the CK had some sort of allergic reaction to the dog. He had been playing with Sheleg and started sneezing. Then he started sneezing some more and his nose was running. Although the CK was pretty unhappy, he was hanging in there until his eyes started itching, hurting and watering up. We were hoping we could at least make it through dessert, but when the CK started having red blotches on his face, we made our exit. It was a bummer, of course, that the CK felt so terribly, but we were also bummed that we had to leave a lovely evening. It was clearly an allergic reaction because by the time we walked home, he was feeling a bit better and was 100% by this morning.
We went to Shir Chadash synagogue this morning. Services go much more quickly here than in the States. The service starts at 9 am, and by 11:15 am, they are done, and that includes the sermon. The boys were very excited because today there was a sponsored kiddush recognizing the yarhzeit (anniversary) of the death of one of the member's father. The fact that kiddush was sponsored meant great food! They had cake and cookies, plus grape and mango juice, as well as some other treats.
Mid-afternoon, my friend, Jessie, came over to the dira with her husband and 2 of her 3 kids. When I was in Israel on Young Judaea Year Course in 1985-1986, Jessie was one of my roommates. We have stayed in touch over the years and we saw her in Jerusalem when we were here on vacation in 2010. Her 9-year old twins played with the CK and WK and had a great time! They had a full blown "milchemet kahreet" (pillow fight!) and it was good to see the boys laughing and having fun. To be honest, it was also nice for me to spend time with a long-time friend; I definitely miss my friends and social circle in the States!
Jessie is the Executive Director of B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (http://www.btselem.org/). When people in Israel ask me if I have any friends or family here, I answer that I have no family in Israel, but that I have a few friends, most originally from Young Judaea, who have made aliyah. It's interesting because when I tell people about Jessie and her role at B'Tselem, there's often a negative response. One mid-20's man (who made aliyah from NY) whom we know stated that Jessie would probably label him a "war criminal" because of his role in the Israeli Army as a counter-intelligence officer in the territories. Others have accused B'Tselem of being anti-semitic and anti-Zionist. Pretty strong reactions. Now I am more careful to "know my audience" before I say more than just that I have a few friends here.
At around 4 pm this afternoon, someone knocked on our door. It was Gideon, the boy that the WK had met at the park (at whose family's house we had Shabbat lunch last week), who wanted to know if the boys could go to the park. The boys were happy that Gideon had come by and the three of them went to the park for a couple of hours. While they were gone, Pentheus and I took Shabbat naps - yay!
Then tonight after Shabbat ended, the CK's teacher in Cambridge called. She and Pentheus spoke for about 45 minutes to set a plan for the CK while in Israel to make sure that he doesn't fall behind. The teacher and the CK spoke for 10 minutes or so, and the CK was excited to answer all of his teacher's questions about how things are going. His teacher is going to give his Math book, some worksheets from other classes and his curricula to my Dad to bring to Israel next month. I need to get my act in gear to work with the WK's teacher in the same way.
Tomorrow night starts Rosh Hashana, so tomorrow will likely be busy preparing for that. We've invited our friends' daughter who is in Israel on the Nativ Program to dinner Monday night, but aside from that, it will just be the 4 of us for all of the holiday meals. I must admit that it's lonely being away from our family and friends for the holiday. As I wrote in my last blog positing, the holidays feel different in Israel, and while we're very excited to be here for them, we feel far away from those we love most.
For those of you who celebrate the Jewish holidays, we wish you "l'shana tova umetookah" (a good and sweet year)!
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