Hello from Jerusalem! The WK and I arrived yesterday afternoon after an uneventful, if tiring, trip from Boston. We are flying Lufthansa for this trip, and I have no complaints so far. The WK was psyched because on the flight from Boston to Frankfurt, each seat had its own entertainment screen. The WK watched three movies - Mr. Peabody and Sherman; Muppets Most Wanted, and Planes. For some reason they didn't have a kids meal for him, so instead they gave him the grown up meal and FIVE small bags of candy. You can imagine how devastated the WK was... I watched Divergent and read some magazines and a book on my Kindle. We had a 4 hour layover in Frankfurt, and we were exhausted. We fell asleep on some chairs that looked like lawnchairs (but padded with pillows - pretty comfy, actually), but I was very nervous we would sleep too long. I set an alarm but ended up waking up every 20 minutes anyway. We boarded our connecting flight around 9:30 am Frankfurt time and landed in Tel Aviv around 3:15 Israel time. We both slept almost the entire second flight until just before we landed. We were sitting next to a man who is spending the next 2-3 years in Madison with his wife and children, and it was interesting to get his take on what's happening in Israel right now, especially because he has been hearing about it primarily via non-Israeli media.
After landing, we went through Passport Control with no problems. We got our luggage and headed to catch a ride to Jerusalem. We took a sheiroot - a large, shared taxi with room for 10 passengers. It's 64 shekels (a little more than $18/person). We only had 9 passengers for a long time, and we ended up each paying an extra 6 shekels, so that the driver would go already. We got a nice tour of Jerusalem in the sheirut. We were dropped off last, so we saw a lot of the city along the way. The WK and I were glad about that though; we kind of remembered places as we drove around. We arrived at the hotel (Little House in the Colony on Lloyd George Street) around 6-ish, checked in, and went to get some dinner along Emek Refaim, the main drag in the German Colony, where our hotel is.
I set the alarm to wake us up at 7:10, so we could get up, eat breakfast, and go to our synagogue we joined when we were here in 2012 for an 8:15 am service. We both woke up when the alarm went off, and I asked the WK if we should sleep a bit longer or start our day. The WK suggested we sleep a bit more (I knew there was a reason I brought him on the trip!!), and the next thing we knew it was after 10 am! We hopped on the 77A bus and went downtown to look around, do errands (like figure out the cell phone), and buy some presents. It was so much fun just to walk around downtown Jerusalem again! We did a lot of reminiscing of when we were here last, and probably bought too many things.
We did accomplish our main task of the day, which was to buy t'fillin for the WK to use when he becomes a Bar-Mitzvah at age 13. http://www.myjewishlearning.com/practices/Ritual/Prayer/Ritual_Garb/Tefillin_Phylacteries_.shtml It was a neat experience. We went to a store called Sofer (which means "scribe" in Hebrew) where everyone told us to go. The man wrapped the leather appropriately and measured using the WK's head to make sure it was long enough. I had also brought my great-great-grandfather's t'fillin from Cambridge to have it checked to see if it is still "kosher" - if all the letters in the parchment are still readable and accurate and if the leather boxes that "house' the parchment are intact. Unfortunately (and as I had expected), the old t'fillin is not usable. The WK can still use the velvet bag that Grandpa Harry's t'fillin was in, and that will be special.
Tonight we dined with good friends from Cambridge who are also in Israel for vacation. It was great to see them and eat with them in Jerusalem! Very special. While we were sitting on a bench and waiting for them to arrive at the restaurant, a man came up to me and said my name. Turns out it was a friend from 14 years ago in Boston! He is now married with a family, and they are here for a couple of weeks vacation as well. It was so fun to catch up with him, and, of course, so funny to run into him here in Jerusalem. And, while I was catching up with him, another woman who had been in my ulpan (intensive Hebrew class) 2 years ago came up to me as well. I am not sure whether the WK was impressed or embarrassed (probably both) that I saw 2 people I knew within about 5 minutes! Dinner was good. We walked with the other family to buy an artik (the generic name for an Israeli popsicle/ice-cream bar) for each kid and some water for all of us. (It's very hot here - upper 80s to 90 today.)
Just so it's clear, the WK and I are, of course, bummed that Pentheus and the CK aren't with us on this trip. We tried to figure out a way for them to be here, too, but schedules just didn't work out. The CK was very unhappy that he's not going with us, but I know 11 days with Pentheus will be a lot of fun for him. I am told there will be bowling, frozen yogurt, Made by Me (ceramic painting), and Little League World Series on ESPN.
I'll end for now, even though I know this wasn't a very exciting entry. We're hoping to go to sleep soon and then wake up around 7 am - take two for the breakfast-synagogue plan!
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