Well, we’ve been home for a while and I thought it might be time to catch up on the return trip update. We flew out of Israel on Friday, the 1st of July. Our flight was at 5pm, so we had the morning to finish packing and check out with the landlady. Then, we loaded the car (shocked that we were able to pack a Subaru Impreza with 5 stuffed duffle bags, a stroller, three carry-on bags, two adults and a toddler in car seat), and drove to Bowden’s for a farewell lunch. We went from there to the airport, leaving at 12:30. The drive is about an hour and after dropping off the rental car and going through all the check-in and security, we made it to our plane just in time to board.
The airport in Israel is pretty tough on security. You first go through a preliminary bag-screening/passport check line where you wait and wait and eventually someone comes and takes your passports and looks at you suspiciously. Kip had a special letter from Intel informing the airport that he was there from Intel and supposed to leave that day. They took it away, as well as all our passports and made me worry for a little while. Then, they came back and asked the traditional questions about who packed our luggage and if strangers gave us things. We answered those satisfactorily and were allowed to send our bags through the x-ray machines. One was flagged for manual search (I think they do that to everyone), so that was the next stop. The ladies looked through the bag pretty lightly. Some of them were totally emptying people’s bags and searching everything inside, so I was relieved that they just opened ours and pointed to a few things and then let us go.
Next, we got in the British Air check-in line. It was a long line and I’d been standing too long already, so William and I went to a vacant check-in spot and I sat on the luggage scale while William ran back and forth between a big ceiling-supporting column and me. He would hit the column and laugh and run back to me, only running into people every now and then. When Kip got up to the front, William and I joined him and checked in. After finishing, we started to walk away, but our checker girl ran after us and asked me how far along I was. I told her 35 weeks and she looked concerned. So, I pulled out the note I’d gotten from my doctor the day before saying I was fine to travel. She took it to her supervisor who shook her head “no, no, no” and Kip and I started to look concerned. It turned out they just weren’t aware of the travel-while-pregnant policy and had to look it up, but we spent a few minutes really worrying that we would have to stay in Israel another 2-3 months and have a baby there and I REALLY wanted to go home. Finally, they brought back over the note, having made a copy for their file, and sent us on our way.
The flight from Israel to London was fairly uneventful for us. There was another woman who went into some sort of medical trauma and the flight attendants asked people not to use the rear restrooms, but I was fine. William got a little stir crazy and the woman in front of us gave me significantly dirty looks several times. I thought she ought to be happy that she wasn’t sitting in front of an Israeli family because the prevailing child-rearing attitude there seems to be one of non-intervention. About 2 hours into the flight, I decided that Kip had been inspired to give us a lay-over night in London because the thought of getting on another plane that evening made me sick. All I wanted to was stretch out on a soft bed and not have anyone glaring at me or pushing their knees into my back.
The night in London was great. We rode the bus to our hotel, not far from the airport, and snuggled into our beds. In the morning, I took advantage of the large bathtub while Kip and William explored the bus and subway system around the airport. They had a blast. When they got back we all took a nap and then headed to the airport for our long long flight.
Check-in this time was easy. We already had our boarding passes and only had one back to check, so we got to go through a short line and then on into the airport. We got a nice lunch and then went to our plane.
William did great on the flight. We bought him a model double-decker bus at the airport and pulled it out about an hour into the flight. He spent the next two hours driving it all around in our set of seats. It was the best toy purchase I think I’ve ever made. Then, he fell asleep and slept about 6 of the 9 hours we were on that flight. Kip and I got to watch a lot of the movies. I chose two light-hearted love-comedies (I can’t handle anything intense when pregnant and especially not when pregnant and uncomfortable on an airplane seat) and Kip watched some action/drama shows. Then, when I couldn’t handle any more movies/TV, I read my book and slept a little bit. And, of course, I made frequent trips to the bathrooms or just stood up and stretched my legs. I was really impressed with the fact that my ankles never really swelled up and I can still wear my wedding ring. With William, I had to take it off long before this point in the pregnancy.
Anyway, we landed in Denver at 6:30 and had 2 hours to get through customs and out to the domestic terminal to catch our next flight. We nearly didn’t make it. Customs went just fine, but we were at the end of the line and it didn’t move very fast. Unlike in London, where they let us through an alternate passport check line (the one for locals instead of foreigners), in Denver they made no exceptions for the largely-pregnant and obviously-uncomfortable. Everything has to be fair in this country. It kind of bothered me. So, we waited and waited and finally got our passports looked at and sent on to collect our bags. That part went pretty fast. We found all our bags, rolled them to the right spot, loaded them on another conveyer and sent them away. Then, the girl at the conveyer counter pointed us in the direction to our connecting flight. We went up and through security again. This time, they made us all take off our shoes. I had forgotten about that part of flying. They didn’t ask us to do it in London or even in Israel. Why would Denver have to be so picky? Especially with a pregnant lady who can hardly reach her feet. It made me mad at the American flight system yet again. But maybe I was only so hard on them because I’d already been traveling too long. So, we made it through the security check and onto the subway to the other terminals and rushed out to our gate only to have the doors closed right as we got there. They had just given our seats to some standby travelers. We weren’t happy. So, they called back the people they had just put on the flight and let us get one instead.
Three hours later, we were in Portland. Our neighbor gave us a ride home and, at 11pm, we were finally there. It was wonderful to be back. William was wide awake, having slept the majority of both flights from London, so we went to Winco and bought food to restock our empty kitchen. We got some funny looks for being there with a toddler at midnight, but I was a little too out of it to care much. It was just good to be home.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Monday, June 27, 2005
Our Final Weeks
So, the end is drawing near. We head back to the States on Friday. I am excited to head home, though I know there are many things I will miss. This is really a beautiful place—if only it weren’t so hot or I weren’t so pregnant.
We’ve spent the weeks since our trip to Jerusalem doing pretty normal things. We’ve done laundry, played at the parks, gone to the beach one morning after dropping Kip off at work. The beach at 8am is absolutely perfect. The breeze is cool and the sun is not yet too hot. William loved playing in the waves as they rushed up the sand. He didn’t throw rocks the majority of the time we were there that morning, having too much fun splashing in the water. The only problem was that I got worn out pretty quickly. I’m not used to standing up following him around for a full hour. If I turned my back on him, though, he ran off straight into the oncoming waves and I had to run after him. So, there was no chance to just sit back and enjoy the waves and the weather. I’d like to go back with Kip, but we’ve run out of time.
Kip went biking for his last Friday here. He had a great time and I feel bad about taking him back to Oregon where there really aren’t any good mountain-biking trails nearby and no mountain-biking friends to go with either. I know he’ll miss his rides, although we’ll go through fewer bandages and first aid supplies. When he got home Friday, we headed off for a final time to the Carmel Center Park and dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Habank. (Yeah, the name is pretty lame, but the food is good.) It was super hot even though it was getting late. I’ll enjoy getting back to Oregon, at least until the heat hits there. The weather here now is probably comparable to the hottest weather Oregon gets and we’ll get back to Oregon just as that weather gets going. But at least we won’t be here for it to get hotter than it already is.
It was sad to say goodbye to our little branch. They got us a going-away gift and were very sad to see us go. I’ve got a lot of respect for the members here. They have incredibly strong testimonies and are generally very intelligent and interesting people. I will miss them.
But it will be nice to be back home!
We’ve spent the weeks since our trip to Jerusalem doing pretty normal things. We’ve done laundry, played at the parks, gone to the beach one morning after dropping Kip off at work. The beach at 8am is absolutely perfect. The breeze is cool and the sun is not yet too hot. William loved playing in the waves as they rushed up the sand. He didn’t throw rocks the majority of the time we were there that morning, having too much fun splashing in the water. The only problem was that I got worn out pretty quickly. I’m not used to standing up following him around for a full hour. If I turned my back on him, though, he ran off straight into the oncoming waves and I had to run after him. So, there was no chance to just sit back and enjoy the waves and the weather. I’d like to go back with Kip, but we’ve run out of time.
Kip went biking for his last Friday here. He had a great time and I feel bad about taking him back to Oregon where there really aren’t any good mountain-biking trails nearby and no mountain-biking friends to go with either. I know he’ll miss his rides, although we’ll go through fewer bandages and first aid supplies. When he got home Friday, we headed off for a final time to the Carmel Center Park and dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Habank. (Yeah, the name is pretty lame, but the food is good.) It was super hot even though it was getting late. I’ll enjoy getting back to Oregon, at least until the heat hits there. The weather here now is probably comparable to the hottest weather Oregon gets and we’ll get back to Oregon just as that weather gets going. But at least we won’t be here for it to get hotter than it already is.
It was sad to say goodbye to our little branch. They got us a going-away gift and were very sad to see us go. I’ve got a lot of respect for the members here. They have incredibly strong testimonies and are generally very intelligent and interesting people. I will miss them.
But it will be nice to be back home!
Friday, June 17, 2005
Jerusalem
Kip took the day off work on Thursday (and on Monday) so that we could take his mom to Jerusalem. The drive is roughly 2 hours and we arrived there a little after noon. We stayed at a hotel right by the old city and yet amazingly affordable compared to other hotels in the area. It was built in the 1800’s as a French Catholic pilgrim’s center. The center of the building is a cathedral and both sides flanking it are full of simple rentable rooms. It was not very crowded at all, which meant that William got a lot of attention from the adoring staff and the group of brown-robed priests that seemed to live there. It was really very pleasant and even had an inexpensive café with very good food. We ate there at least once every day.
The day we got there we rushed to the Dome of the Rock. Friday is the Muslim holy day, so we had to see it Thursday if we wanted Kip’s mom to get the chance. A nice Jerusalem resident approached us as we entered the Old City and asked if we were headed to the Dome. We said yes and he proceeded to guide us there – for a fee, of course. He told us that we wouldn’t have to pay him and then, when he got us there and we offered him $10 he laughed and said that was way too little. He wanted $40. We settled on $15.
After looking around the Dome of the Rock for a while and turning down countless pesky postcard-selling children and tour-guides, we headed to the BYU Jerusalem center. The atmosphere there was completely opposite that of the Dome. It was quite and peacefull and (my personal favorite) air-conditioned! It was lovely. We watched a little video about students there and the facilities and then Brother Squires (the resident organist) played us a short concert. It was very nice. But we had to rush back to the old city and the Wester (wailing) wall to do a tunnel tour. I had a migraine from the heat and sun and trying to navigate the crazy streets (which is absolutely impossible) and wasn’t very eager to do the tour. Luckly, though, this is a tour underground. The Jews have dug under the buildings along the western wall of the Temple Mount and found the Herodian roots of the wall and things like a moat and bridges that used to lead into the Temple Mount during the time of Christ before the Muslims took over the city and built up the area so their homes could be closer to their holy site. Our guide was a Jewish student who had some obvious contention with the Muslims. The tunnel itself was very interesting and quite spacious in some areas. And it was cool and dark. The only problem was that there was usually no place to sit when the guide stopped to tell long-winded stories about what might have taken place along certain spots in the excavation during the ancient times. There was an area where they had found the paving stones of a roadway the went along the Western Wall during the time of Christ. It was neat to see and imagine the Savior walking there (and throwing out the money-changers and animal-sellers). And it was so nice and cool and dark that my headache actually went away during the tour. The Muslims aren’t very happy about the tunnel being there and especially not about the end of the tunnel opening into their Quarter of Jerusalem, so the Jews usally post an armed guard at the exit to escourt their patrons from the site back to the Jewish Quarter, but there wasn’t one there for us when we got out, so our guide decided to take us. I don’t know that it really is necessary. The only Muslims we saw on our walk were the shop-keepers and they were certainly not interested in driving us away. If you even looked at something in their direction they tried to get you in their shops.
On Friday we hired a tour guide (in advance) to take us through the Old City. He announced when he arrived at our hotel to get us that he had decided to drive us to some sites outside the Old City without charging us extra (we learned later that it’s usually 2X more expensive to do a driving tour). We all loaded into his minivan and drove up to the Mt of Olives to get some panaramic views of the city and some colorfully bizarre explanations of what was really going through Christ’s mind when he was there and about to be crucified. But what can you expect from a non-Christian. He took us to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations and then back to the hotel to park and walk into the Old City. I was physically tired mentally sick of siteseeing, so I offered to skip the rest of the tour and play with William in the hotel. We watched some videos on Kip’s computer and then took a 3-hour nap in the cool dark hotel room. That was nice. Meanwhile, Kip and his mom had a lovely tour of all the important Christian sites in the Old City. They followed the Via Dolorosa, the path Christ may have taken from his trial to his crucifixion and saw the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Catholic site built over where they believe Golgotha and the tomb were located. They shopped a little (only at Jewish stores because the guide claimed they were better). And they went to the Garden Tomb site outside the old city (the Presbyterian site not covered by a dark cold cathedral).
On Saturday Kip drove his mom to the airport and William and I took a taxi to the BYU center for church. Kip met us there only a few minutes after church started. It was a nice meeting.
On Sunday we took things pretty easy. I stayed in again (having overfilled my sightseeing limits and feeling pregnant and tired) and Kip and William did the Ramparts Walk, climbing up and walking along the walls of the Old City. William especially loved the part overlooking some construction vehicles that were his favorite color (yellow). I loved the part where they were directly across the street from the hotel and called to have me look out the window and wave at them from our 3rd floor room. That afternoon we did some shopping (I can handle spending money and buying souvenirs, I’m just tired of looking at ruins) and ate a yummy dinner at an “oriental restaurant.” (That’s where you get things like hummus and skewers of chicken and plates of french fries.)
Monday we drove home.
So, that’s our trip to Jerusalem. It was a lot of fun but Kip and I are both now burned out of touristy activities and ready to get back to living the boring life. This weekend we just went out souvenir shopping again and next weekend (our last here in Israel) Kip’s going mountain biking and we may not see any tourist sites at all!
The day we got there we rushed to the Dome of the Rock. Friday is the Muslim holy day, so we had to see it Thursday if we wanted Kip’s mom to get the chance. A nice Jerusalem resident approached us as we entered the Old City and asked if we were headed to the Dome. We said yes and he proceeded to guide us there – for a fee, of course. He told us that we wouldn’t have to pay him and then, when he got us there and we offered him $10 he laughed and said that was way too little. He wanted $40. We settled on $15.
After looking around the Dome of the Rock for a while and turning down countless pesky postcard-selling children and tour-guides, we headed to the BYU Jerusalem center. The atmosphere there was completely opposite that of the Dome. It was quite and peacefull and (my personal favorite) air-conditioned! It was lovely. We watched a little video about students there and the facilities and then Brother Squires (the resident organist) played us a short concert. It was very nice. But we had to rush back to the old city and the Wester (wailing) wall to do a tunnel tour. I had a migraine from the heat and sun and trying to navigate the crazy streets (which is absolutely impossible) and wasn’t very eager to do the tour. Luckly, though, this is a tour underground. The Jews have dug under the buildings along the western wall of the Temple Mount and found the Herodian roots of the wall and things like a moat and bridges that used to lead into the Temple Mount during the time of Christ before the Muslims took over the city and built up the area so their homes could be closer to their holy site. Our guide was a Jewish student who had some obvious contention with the Muslims. The tunnel itself was very interesting and quite spacious in some areas. And it was cool and dark. The only problem was that there was usually no place to sit when the guide stopped to tell long-winded stories about what might have taken place along certain spots in the excavation during the ancient times. There was an area where they had found the paving stones of a roadway the went along the Western Wall during the time of Christ. It was neat to see and imagine the Savior walking there (and throwing out the money-changers and animal-sellers). And it was so nice and cool and dark that my headache actually went away during the tour. The Muslims aren’t very happy about the tunnel being there and especially not about the end of the tunnel opening into their Quarter of Jerusalem, so the Jews usally post an armed guard at the exit to escourt their patrons from the site back to the Jewish Quarter, but there wasn’t one there for us when we got out, so our guide decided to take us. I don’t know that it really is necessary. The only Muslims we saw on our walk were the shop-keepers and they were certainly not interested in driving us away. If you even looked at something in their direction they tried to get you in their shops.
On Friday we hired a tour guide (in advance) to take us through the Old City. He announced when he arrived at our hotel to get us that he had decided to drive us to some sites outside the Old City without charging us extra (we learned later that it’s usually 2X more expensive to do a driving tour). We all loaded into his minivan and drove up to the Mt of Olives to get some panaramic views of the city and some colorfully bizarre explanations of what was really going through Christ’s mind when he was there and about to be crucified. But what can you expect from a non-Christian. He took us to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations and then back to the hotel to park and walk into the Old City. I was physically tired mentally sick of siteseeing, so I offered to skip the rest of the tour and play with William in the hotel. We watched some videos on Kip’s computer and then took a 3-hour nap in the cool dark hotel room. That was nice. Meanwhile, Kip and his mom had a lovely tour of all the important Christian sites in the Old City. They followed the Via Dolorosa, the path Christ may have taken from his trial to his crucifixion and saw the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Catholic site built over where they believe Golgotha and the tomb were located. They shopped a little (only at Jewish stores because the guide claimed they were better). And they went to the Garden Tomb site outside the old city (the Presbyterian site not covered by a dark cold cathedral).
On Saturday Kip drove his mom to the airport and William and I took a taxi to the BYU center for church. Kip met us there only a few minutes after church started. It was a nice meeting.
On Sunday we took things pretty easy. I stayed in again (having overfilled my sightseeing limits and feeling pregnant and tired) and Kip and William did the Ramparts Walk, climbing up and walking along the walls of the Old City. William especially loved the part overlooking some construction vehicles that were his favorite color (yellow). I loved the part where they were directly across the street from the hotel and called to have me look out the window and wave at them from our 3rd floor room. That afternoon we did some shopping (I can handle spending money and buying souvenirs, I’m just tired of looking at ruins) and ate a yummy dinner at an “oriental restaurant.” (That’s where you get things like hummus and skewers of chicken and plates of french fries.)
Monday we drove home.
So, that’s our trip to Jerusalem. It was a lot of fun but Kip and I are both now burned out of touristy activities and ready to get back to living the boring life. This weekend we just went out souvenir shopping again and next weekend (our last here in Israel) Kip’s going mountain biking and we may not see any tourist sites at all!
Grandma's Visit
I’ve sent William and Kip off to the park – the one up 11 flights of stairs on the street above us – so now I can try to catch up on this silly blog. Two weeks of not writing means there’s a lot to write about and not a lot of desire to do it. So, we’ll hit the hightlights.
Kip’s Mom came to visit! It was a ton of fun to have another family member around to show things to and especially to show William off to. She arrived on Friday, the 3rd of June. We picked her up at the airport outside of Tel Aviv after only getting slightly lost and being slightly (30 minutes-ish) late. William did his traditional ignoring act for the first part of the drive. He puts his head down and just doesn’t respond to the person sitting next to him. But it only took about 30 minutes before Grandma broke him down and he was laughing and smiling at her. I’m sure it helped that she actually spoke English to him instead of Russian like our regular back-seat occupants.
On Saturday we took Grandma with us to church. We packed sandwiches for lunch and after the meetings took Kip’s poor jet-lagged mom off to see some of the sites around the sea of Galilee. We saw the St Peter’s Primacy (where Christ told Peter to feed his sheep—supposedly) and then went to Capernum. Capernum was cursed by the Savior and is now just a bunch of ruins. All that remains now is the dark stone foundations of buildings that once were houses and synagogues. Part of one synagogue is still in pretty decent shape, with some of the walls standing a good ten feet and some nice columns. It looks very Roman. After wandering around there in the hot sun, I was ready to crash. But we couldn’t let Grandma miss the Mt. of Beatitudes. We took her there and let her enjoy the beautiful view of the sea and then headed home.
On Sunday I took her and William to the Zoo. It was a lot less crowded than my last time there because this time it wasn’t free admission. I liked it a lot better. Plus, it helped to have Grandma there to push the stroller (and carry the backpack full of diapers and water bottles). I’m afraid I really abused her during this trip.
On Monday we (the women and William again since Kip had to work) went to Ceaseria. This was a lot like Capernum in places, but in other places there was a lot more left of the old buildings. That’s because the Crusaders came in and built over the older ruins and then future inhabitants built on top of Crusader stuff. (I don’t have the best grasp of the history of this land yet. It just turned over from one nation to another way too frequently!) So, we walked around a little and ended up out on the old harbor. William threw rocks down from a walkway onto the beach for a long time while Grandma and I sat and enjoyed the breeze. William had a terrible two melt-down at the end of lunch when we tried to get him to leave the waterside and head back to the car. We ended up having to drag him. Thank goodness Grandma was there because I couldn’t have done it alone!
Tuesday we took the morning easy and headed out in the afternoon to see Akko, or Acre as the Crusaders called it. This was the last Crusader stronghold and currently a functioning Arab community. We wandered through the streets of the old city and it was amazing to see people living in buildings that were literally a thousand years old. Unfortunately, it was rather dirty and run-down and the best things to see as a tourist were closed by the time we got there. There is a beautiful Crusader Citadel still in good condition and only open for touring, but we’ll have to visit it another time if we want to go inside.
On Wednesday, Sister Powell, here with her husband on a mission, offered to take us around Galilee to see the best sites. She’s been here a year and really devoted time to studying where biblical events occurred, so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I drove us out to the church in Tiberius and she met us there. She took us to see the famed Ancient Boat, a wooden boat frame found in the mud of the Sea of Galilee and discovered to be about 2000 years old. It was very interesting. Then, we saw Tabgha, which is where the feeding of the 5000 most likely occurred. She pointed out how small the area inhabited by Jews was by the Sea of Galilee. That’s why it was possible for the Savior to walk from place to place. (Although it still took a lot of walking in hot sun on dusty roads to get around.) We saw where the legion of devils was cast out of the man and drove a herd of swine into the sea (not in Jewish Galilee because they would not have had swine). And we saw a couple of sites where Jewish zealots were slaughtered by Roman invaders or committed suicide to avoid slaughter by Roman invaders. We’ve decided that every inch of this land has a story or legend associated with it and that half of them involve one group of people being slaughtered by another and the other half involve religious events in Jewish, Christian or Muslim history. And there are several different places that lay claim to the same religious events. This makes for a lot of places to visit as a tourist.
Kip’s Mom came to visit! It was a ton of fun to have another family member around to show things to and especially to show William off to. She arrived on Friday, the 3rd of June. We picked her up at the airport outside of Tel Aviv after only getting slightly lost and being slightly (30 minutes-ish) late. William did his traditional ignoring act for the first part of the drive. He puts his head down and just doesn’t respond to the person sitting next to him. But it only took about 30 minutes before Grandma broke him down and he was laughing and smiling at her. I’m sure it helped that she actually spoke English to him instead of Russian like our regular back-seat occupants.
On Saturday we took Grandma with us to church. We packed sandwiches for lunch and after the meetings took Kip’s poor jet-lagged mom off to see some of the sites around the sea of Galilee. We saw the St Peter’s Primacy (where Christ told Peter to feed his sheep—supposedly) and then went to Capernum. Capernum was cursed by the Savior and is now just a bunch of ruins. All that remains now is the dark stone foundations of buildings that once were houses and synagogues. Part of one synagogue is still in pretty decent shape, with some of the walls standing a good ten feet and some nice columns. It looks very Roman. After wandering around there in the hot sun, I was ready to crash. But we couldn’t let Grandma miss the Mt. of Beatitudes. We took her there and let her enjoy the beautiful view of the sea and then headed home.
On Sunday I took her and William to the Zoo. It was a lot less crowded than my last time there because this time it wasn’t free admission. I liked it a lot better. Plus, it helped to have Grandma there to push the stroller (and carry the backpack full of diapers and water bottles). I’m afraid I really abused her during this trip.
On Monday we (the women and William again since Kip had to work) went to Ceaseria. This was a lot like Capernum in places, but in other places there was a lot more left of the old buildings. That’s because the Crusaders came in and built over the older ruins and then future inhabitants built on top of Crusader stuff. (I don’t have the best grasp of the history of this land yet. It just turned over from one nation to another way too frequently!) So, we walked around a little and ended up out on the old harbor. William threw rocks down from a walkway onto the beach for a long time while Grandma and I sat and enjoyed the breeze. William had a terrible two melt-down at the end of lunch when we tried to get him to leave the waterside and head back to the car. We ended up having to drag him. Thank goodness Grandma was there because I couldn’t have done it alone!
Tuesday we took the morning easy and headed out in the afternoon to see Akko, or Acre as the Crusaders called it. This was the last Crusader stronghold and currently a functioning Arab community. We wandered through the streets of the old city and it was amazing to see people living in buildings that were literally a thousand years old. Unfortunately, it was rather dirty and run-down and the best things to see as a tourist were closed by the time we got there. There is a beautiful Crusader Citadel still in good condition and only open for touring, but we’ll have to visit it another time if we want to go inside.
On Wednesday, Sister Powell, here with her husband on a mission, offered to take us around Galilee to see the best sites. She’s been here a year and really devoted time to studying where biblical events occurred, so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I drove us out to the church in Tiberius and she met us there. She took us to see the famed Ancient Boat, a wooden boat frame found in the mud of the Sea of Galilee and discovered to be about 2000 years old. It was very interesting. Then, we saw Tabgha, which is where the feeding of the 5000 most likely occurred. She pointed out how small the area inhabited by Jews was by the Sea of Galilee. That’s why it was possible for the Savior to walk from place to place. (Although it still took a lot of walking in hot sun on dusty roads to get around.) We saw where the legion of devils was cast out of the man and drove a herd of swine into the sea (not in Jewish Galilee because they would not have had swine). And we saw a couple of sites where Jewish zealots were slaughtered by Roman invaders or committed suicide to avoid slaughter by Roman invaders. We’ve decided that every inch of this land has a story or legend associated with it and that half of them involve one group of people being slaughtered by another and the other half involve religious events in Jewish, Christian or Muslim history. And there are several different places that lay claim to the same religious events. This makes for a lot of places to visit as a tourist.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
William Update
William has made incredible strides in his communication skills since we’ve been in Israel. I wonder if it’s because he is so often confronted by people he can’t understand. The other children at the park try to tell him things and it’s in Hebrew. When we drive people to church, they speak to each other and to him in Russian. I wonder if he’ll be a good language learner when he’s older as a result.
So, he learned to say yellow (yeh-yoh). Then, anything he really liked became “yeh-yoh.” His favorite blanket, the blue doggie one, is his “yeh-yoh.” A bottle of milk is the “yeh-yoh.” And he uses complete sentences to talk about these things. “I want de yeh-yoh.” This means either the blanket or a bottle of milk. Luckily, he still signs milk a lot to help us distinguish between the two. When he signs milk without specifying yellow, I sometimes bring him a bottle of water. He doesn’t like that and will often sign milk while saying “no water—I want de yeh-yoh.” I can’t refuse him after that! It’s just too cute.
Another thing he says a lot is “I see ____.” He’ll put in whatever he sees. Rock and water are his most frequent ones. All busses are “yeh-yoh bus,” no matter their real color (most of them here are green). And he likes to put locations on the end of his statements. “I see water down.” “Beep beep up” means he sees a car up the hill or going up.
He likes to watch TV and asks for permission by saying “I want to watch.” I always ask him to specify, but he generally means Thomas the Train. Eventually he’ll say “I want to watch the choo-choo.” Then, I generally give in.
He has also expanded his vocabulary for answering questions. He not only says “ya,” but he also sometimes says a strong “yes.” And if he has to think about it he says “uh ya.” And he is better at saying no when he means no instead of just ignoring the question.
Oh, and he turned 2 on Sunday. Hooray! We had the Bowden’s over for pizza, brownies and ice cream. I burned the brownies. We don’t have any sort of timer and the oven temperatures are Celsius, so I just kind of guess where the dial should be when I bake things. I checked them when they were still soft and jiggly, but then forgot to go back until the edges were black and crisp. Luckily the middle was just a little overcooked (meaning no longer gooey). They were fine with ice cream.
William got a new train set on a wooden track (a small one we can easily take back home). I think that’s the only thing I bought him. The rest of the things we gave him were from the gift back Rachel and Allison put together for our flights. He slept so much on the airplanes, we didn’t have to have gifts to amuse him. So, he got crayons and a coloring book. He got a board book and a toy car. The Bowden’s gave him a playmobile car and driver. He loves it and won’t let it out of his sight. We measured him that afternoon and found him to be about 3 feet 2 ½ inches. So, he’s going to be tall!
So, he learned to say yellow (yeh-yoh). Then, anything he really liked became “yeh-yoh.” His favorite blanket, the blue doggie one, is his “yeh-yoh.” A bottle of milk is the “yeh-yoh.” And he uses complete sentences to talk about these things. “I want de yeh-yoh.” This means either the blanket or a bottle of milk. Luckily, he still signs milk a lot to help us distinguish between the two. When he signs milk without specifying yellow, I sometimes bring him a bottle of water. He doesn’t like that and will often sign milk while saying “no water—I want de yeh-yoh.” I can’t refuse him after that! It’s just too cute.
Another thing he says a lot is “I see ____.” He’ll put in whatever he sees. Rock and water are his most frequent ones. All busses are “yeh-yoh bus,” no matter their real color (most of them here are green). And he likes to put locations on the end of his statements. “I see water down.” “Beep beep up” means he sees a car up the hill or going up.
He likes to watch TV and asks for permission by saying “I want to watch.” I always ask him to specify, but he generally means Thomas the Train. Eventually he’ll say “I want to watch the choo-choo.” Then, I generally give in.
He has also expanded his vocabulary for answering questions. He not only says “ya,” but he also sometimes says a strong “yes.” And if he has to think about it he says “uh ya.” And he is better at saying no when he means no instead of just ignoring the question.
Oh, and he turned 2 on Sunday. Hooray! We had the Bowden’s over for pizza, brownies and ice cream. I burned the brownies. We don’t have any sort of timer and the oven temperatures are Celsius, so I just kind of guess where the dial should be when I bake things. I checked them when they were still soft and jiggly, but then forgot to go back until the edges were black and crisp. Luckily the middle was just a little overcooked (meaning no longer gooey). They were fine with ice cream.
William got a new train set on a wooden track (a small one we can easily take back home). I think that’s the only thing I bought him. The rest of the things we gave him were from the gift back Rachel and Allison put together for our flights. He slept so much on the airplanes, we didn’t have to have gifts to amuse him. So, he got crayons and a coloring book. He got a board book and a toy car. The Bowden’s gave him a playmobile car and driver. He loves it and won’t let it out of his sight. We measured him that afternoon and found him to be about 3 feet 2 ½ inches. So, he’s going to be tall!
Lag B'Omer
This weekend was another Jewish holiday. It is called Lag B’Omer. Here’s an explanation of why the Jews celebrate it:
According to the Torah (Lev. 23:15), we are obligated to count the days from the second night of Passover to the day before Shavu’ot (in June), seven full weeks. This period is known as the Counting of the Omer. An omer is a unit of measure. On the second day of Passover, in the days of the Temple, an omer of barley was cut down and brought to the Temple as an offering.
Every night, from the second night of Passover to the night before Shavu'ot, we recite a blessing and state the count of the omer in both weeks and days. So on the 16th day, you would say "Today is sixteen days, which is two weeks and two days of the Omer."
The counting is intended to remind us of the link between Passover, which commemorates the Exodus, and Shavu'ot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah. It reminds us that the redemption from slavery was not complete until we received the Torah.
This period is a time of partial mourning, during which weddings, parties, and dinners with dancing are not conducted, in memory of a plague during the lifetime of Rabbi Akiba. Haircuts during this time are also forbidden. The 33rd day of the Omer (the eighteenth of Iyar) is a minor holiday commemorating a break in the plague. The holiday is known as Lag b'Omer. The mourning practices of the omer period are lifted on that date. The word "Lag" is not really a word; it is the number 33 in Hebrew, as if you were to call the Fourth of July "Iv July" (IV being 4 in Roman numerals).
People celebrate this day of joy in the middle of seven weeks of sorrow by having bonfires. Families gather wood, some of them all year long, and take it to a park or hillside or the beach. There, they build fires that can sometimes be really large. In the fire they cook potatoes wrapped in tin foil. I’m not sure what the significance is of this, but Tiffany says it’s the tradition. While the potatoes cook and the fire burns, they have picnics. We joined one of Kip’s coworkers and some of his friends to celebrate and went to a hillside not far from our apartment. The hill was dotted with fires and children were everywhere, dragging wood to their particular locations and playing in the bushes and rocks. William had no interest in stopping our climb where Kip’s group had set up. He charged on up the hill searching for rocks and following whatever other kids he saw. Eventually, he settled on the play area, with a couple of swings, a springy-rooster, and a teeter totter, as his location of choice. Kip and I took turns following him around.
Kip’s coworker and friends set up the fire and then started a couple of mini grills with hotdogs and hamburgers. These were eaten in pita with hummus. That is a really tasty way to eat hotdogs. They had juices and salad, too. We ate well between trips to the play area with William. Eventually, most of the kids in our group and several of their parents ended up on the play area with William. They all loved the teeter totter and William probably spent an hour on it during the course of the evening. It was a fun night.
Friday was another biking day for Kip. After his accident the last time they went out, I was a little nervous to have him go out again. But this time he did just fine. William and I spent the morning playing and watching Thomas (of course). Then, we headed to the gas station to spend our weekly $50 on a tank of gas. From there we went to the grocery store for a big shopping trip. Kip met us there after his bike ride since I had the only key to our apartment with me. (I guess most of the people who rent this place are here on vacation and don’t need separate keys.) We went home, unloaded the groceries, ate lunch and put William down for a nap.
That evening we went to the park with the big play structure by our old hotel. William had a great time running around. He likes to be outside. Then, we headed to a restaurant for dinner. The first place we tried was closed. Shabbat starts at sundown on Friday, so businesses tend to close down early Friday afternoon. Supermarkets and local stores close around 4:00, so if you realize you need something Friday, you have to go get it early or wait until Sunday. The mentality is very different from the States, where even religious people consider Saturday night party time and often stay out way too late being crazy. Maybe the Jews really do have a better understanding of keeping the Sabbath than we do. I mean, if you’re out all night Saturday (or Friday in Israel), you spend half the Sabbath recovering. How righteous is that? But I must admit that I’m not ready to give up that much of my weekend. I really enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of Saturday night in the States. The restaurant that we ate at that night was really very good. And, as usual, they were in no hurry to get rid of us. We could have sat and talked all night. This seems to be the case in most European eating establishments and I think I finally understand why. Unlike in the United States, the wait staff at a European restaurant is under no obligation to refill glasses or act pleasantly toward customers in any way. Also, they are paid more than American wait staffs and generally not tipped as much. This means they don't feel a strong desire to get rid of you and get back to their regular lives. And the restaurants here, even on Sabbath eve when half of them are closed, are never crowded. So why kick out someone who may order more food?
Meanwhile, it’s starting to get hot. It’s in the low 80s regularly and sometimes up closer to 90. It’s a little much for me. I like it cooler than that and our apartment takes a lot of time to cool down at night. Well, it gets cool enough for Kip and William, but my fat belly makes it so I stay uncomfortable a lot longer than they do. At least we come home before the real heat hits!
According to the Torah (Lev. 23:15), we are obligated to count the days from the second night of Passover to the day before Shavu’ot (in June), seven full weeks. This period is known as the Counting of the Omer. An omer is a unit of measure. On the second day of Passover, in the days of the Temple, an omer of barley was cut down and brought to the Temple as an offering.
Every night, from the second night of Passover to the night before Shavu'ot, we recite a blessing and state the count of the omer in both weeks and days. So on the 16th day, you would say "Today is sixteen days, which is two weeks and two days of the Omer."
The counting is intended to remind us of the link between Passover, which commemorates the Exodus, and Shavu'ot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah. It reminds us that the redemption from slavery was not complete until we received the Torah.
This period is a time of partial mourning, during which weddings, parties, and dinners with dancing are not conducted, in memory of a plague during the lifetime of Rabbi Akiba. Haircuts during this time are also forbidden. The 33rd day of the Omer (the eighteenth of Iyar) is a minor holiday commemorating a break in the plague. The holiday is known as Lag b'Omer. The mourning practices of the omer period are lifted on that date. The word "Lag" is not really a word; it is the number 33 in Hebrew, as if you were to call the Fourth of July "Iv July" (IV being 4 in Roman numerals).
People celebrate this day of joy in the middle of seven weeks of sorrow by having bonfires. Families gather wood, some of them all year long, and take it to a park or hillside or the beach. There, they build fires that can sometimes be really large. In the fire they cook potatoes wrapped in tin foil. I’m not sure what the significance is of this, but Tiffany says it’s the tradition. While the potatoes cook and the fire burns, they have picnics. We joined one of Kip’s coworkers and some of his friends to celebrate and went to a hillside not far from our apartment. The hill was dotted with fires and children were everywhere, dragging wood to their particular locations and playing in the bushes and rocks. William had no interest in stopping our climb where Kip’s group had set up. He charged on up the hill searching for rocks and following whatever other kids he saw. Eventually, he settled on the play area, with a couple of swings, a springy-rooster, and a teeter totter, as his location of choice. Kip and I took turns following him around.
Kip’s coworker and friends set up the fire and then started a couple of mini grills with hotdogs and hamburgers. These were eaten in pita with hummus. That is a really tasty way to eat hotdogs. They had juices and salad, too. We ate well between trips to the play area with William. Eventually, most of the kids in our group and several of their parents ended up on the play area with William. They all loved the teeter totter and William probably spent an hour on it during the course of the evening. It was a fun night.
Friday was another biking day for Kip. After his accident the last time they went out, I was a little nervous to have him go out again. But this time he did just fine. William and I spent the morning playing and watching Thomas (of course). Then, we headed to the gas station to spend our weekly $50 on a tank of gas. From there we went to the grocery store for a big shopping trip. Kip met us there after his bike ride since I had the only key to our apartment with me. (I guess most of the people who rent this place are here on vacation and don’t need separate keys.) We went home, unloaded the groceries, ate lunch and put William down for a nap.
That evening we went to the park with the big play structure by our old hotel. William had a great time running around. He likes to be outside. Then, we headed to a restaurant for dinner. The first place we tried was closed. Shabbat starts at sundown on Friday, so businesses tend to close down early Friday afternoon. Supermarkets and local stores close around 4:00, so if you realize you need something Friday, you have to go get it early or wait until Sunday. The mentality is very different from the States, where even religious people consider Saturday night party time and often stay out way too late being crazy. Maybe the Jews really do have a better understanding of keeping the Sabbath than we do. I mean, if you’re out all night Saturday (or Friday in Israel), you spend half the Sabbath recovering. How righteous is that? But I must admit that I’m not ready to give up that much of my weekend. I really enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of Saturday night in the States. The restaurant that we ate at that night was really very good. And, as usual, they were in no hurry to get rid of us. We could have sat and talked all night. This seems to be the case in most European eating establishments and I think I finally understand why. Unlike in the United States, the wait staff at a European restaurant is under no obligation to refill glasses or act pleasantly toward customers in any way. Also, they are paid more than American wait staffs and generally not tipped as much. This means they don't feel a strong desire to get rid of you and get back to their regular lives. And the restaurants here, even on Sabbath eve when half of them are closed, are never crowded. So why kick out someone who may order more food?
Meanwhile, it’s starting to get hot. It’s in the low 80s regularly and sometimes up closer to 90. It’s a little much for me. I like it cooler than that and our apartment takes a lot of time to cool down at night. Well, it gets cool enough for Kip and William, but my fat belly makes it so I stay uncomfortable a lot longer than they do. At least we come home before the real heat hits!
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
A Weekend to Remember
This was a wonderful weekend. Except for the heat, it couldn’t have been much more fun.
On Friday, Kip, William and I went to the Monkey Forest, about halfway between Haifa and the Sea of Galilee. Kip’s coworker had told us to take fruit and feed the monkeys, so Kip chopped apples and peeled oranges and took the banana William didn’t finish at breakfast. The Monkey Forest has a lot more than just Monkeys. In fact, the first thing a visitor notices upon entering the park is the large amount of roosters crowing noisily to one another and wandering freely around the paths. There are also freely wandering ducks, pelicans (though they stay near their pool), peacocks and hens, and assorted “wild animals.” We saw deer and rabbits and lamas roaming around. The walkways were cut through the forest and fairly well shaded by the trees, which was lucky because it was incredibly hot, even at 10:00 in the morning when we got there. The first animals we fed were the Ganon and Macaque Monkeys. They have a tunnel going through their enclosure where you can walk through and have them walking around above you. There’s a layer of wire mesh for the tunnel and another layer for their enclosure, so they’re pretty well separated from visitors. I don’t know if we were supposed to feed them, the rules were very vague about feeding which animals and what. I pushed a chunk of apple up through the bottom layer of wire and a monkey above me reached down and caught it with its fingers and worked the apple up through the second layer and ate it. Then, we had a lot more monkeys looking for food. We found a place where we could toss the monkeys pieces of fruit over the fence and they were very happy. And we didn’t feed them very much.
We wandered around for a few hours showing William the animals. He learned to say “I see a baboon” and repeated it for several minutes before going back to his favorite thing—rocks. He would stoop down periodically as we walked along the pathways and touch a rock and say “daht?” Kip and I would either say “rock” or ask him what he thought it was. Then, he would say rock. He would try to pick them up, especially the big ones, and then try to carry them with us until he saw a better one or dropped the one he had because it was too big. Finally, we found the enclosure people come to the park to see. It was the Squirrel monkey enclosure. This one has a door so visitors can go right in with the monkeys and give them food. We took our apples and oranges in their and Kip filmed me feeding the monkeys. As soon as they realized that I had food, they were all over me. They sat on my shoulders or clung to my pregnant belly – conveniently close to the food container. Their little feet were cool on my skin in spite of the hot weather, which made me think at first that I was getting peed on. It was really fun to have them on me, but a little unnerving. After they finished off our fruit, Kip went and got their official food from the coffee shop – a cup of little worms. I filmed him feeding the monkeys those. For some reason, they didn’t like sitting on Kip as much. They would climb on him and snatch the worms, but they did it one at a time instead of in a group and immediately jumped back off. He thinks it’s because I’m easier to cling to with my fat belly, but most of them were on my shoulders (and one even took off my bandana). Kip held the worm spoon on William’s shoulders and got a monkey on him, but it kind of scared him, so we didn’t force it. William spent the majority of our time in the monkey cage looking at rocks and ignoring his crazy parents and their monkeys.
After finishing our worms, the monkeys had no further use for us and disappeared into their trees. We were hot and tired, so I insisted on getting ice cream treats from the food stand (where you can buy ice cream, cool drinks, or worms depending on your preferences). I got a Nestle Nok Out bar which was super rich and delicious and Kip got a Magnum which didn’t seem as good for costing the same. We got William a Popsicle but he wasn’t interested, so I ate it too. He watched us eat for a while. So did the roosters, gathering under our table and snatching at chocolate bits that fell down there. Then, William went wandering. I sent Kip after him. We spent the next half hour going back and forth on a wooden bridge over a murky pond with ducks swimming in it. William was fascinated with looking at the water through the bridge and kept saying “water down.” He would go over one way, get to the end and turn around and go back. It took some persuading to get him to go back to the car.
William took his nap on the drive home, so when we finally got home and all Kip and I wanted to do was sleep, all he wanted to do was play. Kip kindly took him off to the store and I tried to sleep and failed because it was just too hot. We do have an air conditioner, but the cool air doesn’t seem to penetrate the bedroom. It builds up in the front entry room and doesn’t do much for the rest of the house. So, after Kip and William got back and we all sat around a little longer, we decided to head to the beach.
We got to the beach at around 5:00, when most people were headed home and the sun was getting low over the water. We chose a spot on the sand and settled our stuff down and then William and Kip went up to play in the waves. William took a while to get into it, but then he realized how fun it was to throw rocks into the water as the waves came toward him. He loved it. And the beach is full of small rocks perfect for tossing into water. The sand is nice, fine and soft, not at all like at the Dead Sea. There are just a lot of small, smooth, beach rocks in it. And a ton of perfectly shaped sea shells. They’re all the same type of shell, the ones that are kind of a ridged third of a circle. But it amazes me to find so many perfect ones after not seeing any at all in Oregon and not many in Mexico.
William and Kip played for quite a while in the cool water. The sun got low and the breeze got cold. They eventually moved on to the big, fish-shaped play structure where William fell face first off the end of a slide and got sand all over himself. Later, he went down another slide before the little girl at the bottom had moved (she was just standing there forever and her parents didn’t even ask her to move even though they could see William wanted to come down) and he knocked her over and made her cry. I told them we were sorry (in English) and they said it was OK, but that was the limit of their English. Then, we dragged William home and forced him into a bath and to bed.
Saturday was district visit day at church. We had several people from the District center (Jerusalem) come out. It was nice to have so many people at church, especially so many English-speakers. We had some good talks and a good Sunday School lesson. Then, it was pot-luck time. I had brought my Mediterranean Pasta Salad (a cold version of a recipe I got from Real Simple before leaving) and it was a hit. There were several other salads, although most contained Kip’s least favorite food – tuna. And there were fruits and deserts. It was a nice meal. I got a lot of comments on how big I’d grown in the two weeks since we’d been at church (we missed church when we went to the Dead Sea). I guess I am getting big. I think that’s how it’s supposed to work.
When we got home from church, I took a nap. This time I succeeded in sleeping, in spite of the heat. I slept a good three hours and poor Kip had to keep William entertained all by himself. I think they only watched the Thomas video once, so he was successful in finding other things for William to do. And it was VERY nice to sleep.
So, it was a great weekend. The monkeys were a lot of fun. The beach was great and I intend to spend more time there. Church was nice and I enjoyed being fed afterward. And sleep is always great. I hope to have more weekends like that.
On Friday, Kip, William and I went to the Monkey Forest, about halfway between Haifa and the Sea of Galilee. Kip’s coworker had told us to take fruit and feed the monkeys, so Kip chopped apples and peeled oranges and took the banana William didn’t finish at breakfast. The Monkey Forest has a lot more than just Monkeys. In fact, the first thing a visitor notices upon entering the park is the large amount of roosters crowing noisily to one another and wandering freely around the paths. There are also freely wandering ducks, pelicans (though they stay near their pool), peacocks and hens, and assorted “wild animals.” We saw deer and rabbits and lamas roaming around. The walkways were cut through the forest and fairly well shaded by the trees, which was lucky because it was incredibly hot, even at 10:00 in the morning when we got there. The first animals we fed were the Ganon and Macaque Monkeys. They have a tunnel going through their enclosure where you can walk through and have them walking around above you. There’s a layer of wire mesh for the tunnel and another layer for their enclosure, so they’re pretty well separated from visitors. I don’t know if we were supposed to feed them, the rules were very vague about feeding which animals and what. I pushed a chunk of apple up through the bottom layer of wire and a monkey above me reached down and caught it with its fingers and worked the apple up through the second layer and ate it. Then, we had a lot more monkeys looking for food. We found a place where we could toss the monkeys pieces of fruit over the fence and they were very happy. And we didn’t feed them very much.
We wandered around for a few hours showing William the animals. He learned to say “I see a baboon” and repeated it for several minutes before going back to his favorite thing—rocks. He would stoop down periodically as we walked along the pathways and touch a rock and say “daht?” Kip and I would either say “rock” or ask him what he thought it was. Then, he would say rock. He would try to pick them up, especially the big ones, and then try to carry them with us until he saw a better one or dropped the one he had because it was too big. Finally, we found the enclosure people come to the park to see. It was the Squirrel monkey enclosure. This one has a door so visitors can go right in with the monkeys and give them food. We took our apples and oranges in their and Kip filmed me feeding the monkeys. As soon as they realized that I had food, they were all over me. They sat on my shoulders or clung to my pregnant belly – conveniently close to the food container. Their little feet were cool on my skin in spite of the hot weather, which made me think at first that I was getting peed on. It was really fun to have them on me, but a little unnerving. After they finished off our fruit, Kip went and got their official food from the coffee shop – a cup of little worms. I filmed him feeding the monkeys those. For some reason, they didn’t like sitting on Kip as much. They would climb on him and snatch the worms, but they did it one at a time instead of in a group and immediately jumped back off. He thinks it’s because I’m easier to cling to with my fat belly, but most of them were on my shoulders (and one even took off my bandana). Kip held the worm spoon on William’s shoulders and got a monkey on him, but it kind of scared him, so we didn’t force it. William spent the majority of our time in the monkey cage looking at rocks and ignoring his crazy parents and their monkeys.
After finishing our worms, the monkeys had no further use for us and disappeared into their trees. We were hot and tired, so I insisted on getting ice cream treats from the food stand (where you can buy ice cream, cool drinks, or worms depending on your preferences). I got a Nestle Nok Out bar which was super rich and delicious and Kip got a Magnum which didn’t seem as good for costing the same. We got William a Popsicle but he wasn’t interested, so I ate it too. He watched us eat for a while. So did the roosters, gathering under our table and snatching at chocolate bits that fell down there. Then, William went wandering. I sent Kip after him. We spent the next half hour going back and forth on a wooden bridge over a murky pond with ducks swimming in it. William was fascinated with looking at the water through the bridge and kept saying “water down.” He would go over one way, get to the end and turn around and go back. It took some persuading to get him to go back to the car.
William took his nap on the drive home, so when we finally got home and all Kip and I wanted to do was sleep, all he wanted to do was play. Kip kindly took him off to the store and I tried to sleep and failed because it was just too hot. We do have an air conditioner, but the cool air doesn’t seem to penetrate the bedroom. It builds up in the front entry room and doesn’t do much for the rest of the house. So, after Kip and William got back and we all sat around a little longer, we decided to head to the beach.
We got to the beach at around 5:00, when most people were headed home and the sun was getting low over the water. We chose a spot on the sand and settled our stuff down and then William and Kip went up to play in the waves. William took a while to get into it, but then he realized how fun it was to throw rocks into the water as the waves came toward him. He loved it. And the beach is full of small rocks perfect for tossing into water. The sand is nice, fine and soft, not at all like at the Dead Sea. There are just a lot of small, smooth, beach rocks in it. And a ton of perfectly shaped sea shells. They’re all the same type of shell, the ones that are kind of a ridged third of a circle. But it amazes me to find so many perfect ones after not seeing any at all in Oregon and not many in Mexico.
William and Kip played for quite a while in the cool water. The sun got low and the breeze got cold. They eventually moved on to the big, fish-shaped play structure where William fell face first off the end of a slide and got sand all over himself. Later, he went down another slide before the little girl at the bottom had moved (she was just standing there forever and her parents didn’t even ask her to move even though they could see William wanted to come down) and he knocked her over and made her cry. I told them we were sorry (in English) and they said it was OK, but that was the limit of their English. Then, we dragged William home and forced him into a bath and to bed.
Saturday was district visit day at church. We had several people from the District center (Jerusalem) come out. It was nice to have so many people at church, especially so many English-speakers. We had some good talks and a good Sunday School lesson. Then, it was pot-luck time. I had brought my Mediterranean Pasta Salad (a cold version of a recipe I got from Real Simple before leaving) and it was a hit. There were several other salads, although most contained Kip’s least favorite food – tuna. And there were fruits and deserts. It was a nice meal. I got a lot of comments on how big I’d grown in the two weeks since we’d been at church (we missed church when we went to the Dead Sea). I guess I am getting big. I think that’s how it’s supposed to work.
When we got home from church, I took a nap. This time I succeeded in sleeping, in spite of the heat. I slept a good three hours and poor Kip had to keep William entertained all by himself. I think they only watched the Thomas video once, so he was successful in finding other things for William to do. And it was VERY nice to sleep.
So, it was a great weekend. The monkeys were a lot of fun. The beach was great and I intend to spend more time there. Church was nice and I enjoyed being fed afterward. And sleep is always great. I hope to have more weekends like that.
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