Shalom Habibi

We are here in Israel (Jerusalem actually) and having a great time. The weather has been gorgeous and it's been wonderful to just walk around and explore. The city has changed so much, as well as Israel in general. It's been 20 years this summer since I was here last. So hard to believe - when you leave some place that you knew so well and never return nor had any real contact afterwards, all your memories are suspended in time. It's been a little difficult to observe how things have changed as well as getting reoriented. Streets and neighborhoods have literally changed and when you stop to ask someone, especially if they are young, they have no clue or very little memory of how it was or where something may have been. I have no problem adapting to the changes, but I need my memories to help guide me and re-orient myself to my surroundings. I am very good at navigating and so it has been throwing me off by not recognizing the landmarks I bookmarked in my memory.

But it's not stopping us from just allowing us to "get lost" and to explore the old and new Jerusalem (old = 1980's). I've also discovered old neighborhoods that I never knew existed, who architecture is just so charming and beautiful despite the neighborhood's appearance. The kids are loving it here, though all the walking has taken some adjustment on their part, but ever since we knew we were coming, we've been trying to prepare them for all the walking and hiking they would be doing here. Noah is picking up the language very quickly and wants to impress anyone he meets with his new vocabulary. And Natalie has been so adorable, stepping in as our translator. Anytime we encountered only Hebrew, she will ask us if we want her to translate. The kids have also learned the word Feral, as in Feral Cats. Both of them, but especially Natalie just can't seem to get enough of all the cats. It doesn't matter if they are wild or not, they think each cat or kitten they see is adorable, and if they could have their way,they would be stopping to pet every each one of them, which unfortunately, are far too many.

The kids also have gotten to meet family members they never knew before and to re-establish relationships with those they only had minimal contact. When we arrived in Israel, we stayed in Modiin with our cousins. Their little girl and Noah instantly hit it off. Our aunt and uncle also live there (they made Aliyah in December to be closer to both of the children and families.) Natalie was so thrilled to be able to spend time with her Aunt. We also went to visit David's other cousins and Aunt who are on his mother's side of the family and live on Givat Brenner, one the oldest and largest kibbutzes in Israel. Both kids loved the Kibbutz and their cousins (who are probably in the 60's & 70's). Unfortunately their great, great Aunt, who is almost 97 years old, was not very alert when we saw her. But we are so happy that all of us got to finally meet her, even if she didn't consciously seem to be aware we were there. She made aliyah to Israel in 1932 and her son and his wife also live on the kibbutz. They have this great history museum, in which their cousin is the groundskeeper for it, so we were able to take a peek inside. It was wonderful to walk through all that history. I was especially curious about the children's house. All of David's cousins who were raised on the Kibbutz grew up that way, including the most recent generations. They said, they stopped the children's house about 25 years. Though landwise, this kibbutz is one of the largest still remaining in Israel, it's not doing very well. Almost all its industries are gone and the land around the kibbutz is very developed, so it doesn't have a rural feel to it. But they are resourceful and the day we were there, they were celebrating their 80th anniversary. We can't wait to return.

Today we were suppose to head to Masada/Dead Sea/Ein Gedi, but what is a vacation, without David hurting himself. Yep, somehow (hmm, perhaps playing soccer up until our trip - though hubby is in denial) he sprained his knee. It started to flare up a week or so before we left, but with all the walking and with ALL the stairs (and believe me there are a lot of them) it really has become inflamed and very painful for him, He's been a trooper though and hasn't allow the pain to interfere with our sightseeing. He went to the emergency room yesterday to find out how serious it was, and the doctor told him to take Motrin and to stay off t for the next week. So Masada is out and instead we are driving up North to the Jezreel & Bet Shean Valleys to explore Roman and other ancient ruins. We will hopefully also get to take the kids to a biblical village in which the kids can pretend to live the way they did back then, including riding donkeys, making olive oil and pita, and other fun activities. I truly hope the weather stays cooperative and the area's reputation of being scorchingly hot and humid is not actualized. We have truly been so spoiled with this beautiful weather and cool nights here in the Judean desert (and even visiting the Kibbutz which is along the coast, quite near to Tel Aviv, the weather was perfect.)

I will be posting pictures & videos soon but for now, it's time to get the kiddies out of bed, pack up our mini-van (which btw, is so awesome that we found a family to swap cars with) and get on the road.

Yalla, lehitraot.