Torah Yoga and a lovely Shabbat lunch

Last Wednesday I was very fortunate to be able to attend a Torah Yoga class with Diane Bloomfield (Torah Yoga) here in Jerusalem.  It was inspiring, strengthening, and a fabulous stretch as well.
Then on Shabbat she hosted our family for lunch after services at Mizmor L'David (see Mark's blog Rabbi Mark Bloom's Blog for more info on that). Diane and Jonathan were wonderful hosts, we enjoyed the company of another family with three children, and they had recently found a baby kitten that they were nursing which dominated our attention even more than the children!  :-)  There was delicious food, of course, plus some really engaging intellectual discussion among the adults.  Torah at the table. I can find no better word to describe it all than wonderful.

Just because it's been a while

Well, life continues on here at 8 Dor Dor V'Dorshav in Yerushalayim, near Emek Refaim in the German Colony.  Micah and Jonah made up a cute song to the tefilah tune "L'Dor VaDor" that explains where we live here.

We've completed two weeks of ulpan and continue to learn. I'm working hard on my studies and have learned a lot and keep trying to speak as much Hebrew as possible.  It's still pretty funny, though!

I don't know why but Jonah is doing this dance and song for me "antidisestablishmentarianism" over and over again ending with "word."  It's hilarious.

Today we cracked open the largest container of humus I've ever bought. I have a photo so share.

Also, here is the "milk in a bag, placed in the pitcher."  Yes, milk is sold in plastic bags here instead of bottles or cartons.  There are also bottles and cartons but you pay extra for the container.  :-)

Today Jonah had a private Hebrew lesson and got to be on the radio, (Rusty Mike Radio) the only English radio station in Israel, which is broadcast out of the AACI (AACI) offices where Mark and I are taking our ulpan classes with Ulpan L'Inyan (Ulpan).  So much fun!

After Ulpan we got a vanilla and chocolate danish from Cafe Hillel, went shopping at a discount housewares store where I got tissues and rubber gloves, and then went to two playgrounds with spinny things.  Jonah and Micah both love those spinny things.  We walked home and had lunch.  A little later Micah came home and throughout the afternoon we all did games and work on our computers, did some math workbooks, worked on Anim Zmirot (Micah is being bribed to learn it.), and had leftovers for dinner.  Tonight we Skyped with some friends - Micah got to talk to Charlie and Avshi, Jonah talked to Luka, and Mark and I got to talk to Abby and Stuart.  :-)  It was a lot of fun.

School and Ulpan and Life in Jerusalem

Well, I haven't updated in a while because there really wasn't much to say.  But now the boys have had a few days of school (they call it school-pan, a play on the word ulpan), and I've had two days of ulpan.  So here's the news on that front:
Micah is in a class of beginning Hebrew middle schoolers so his placement is just right.  He is learning to become fluent in reading and writing in Hebrew cursive and has already made great strides.  His Hebrew handwriting is MUCH neater than his English print and cursive. 
Jonah is in a class of second graders who have been in the ulpan since September so he really doesn't know much about what is going on in class.  Luckily, it is a very small class and the teacher gives him some private attention when she can.  He has learned the cursive Hebrew letters already (before English cursive!) and is also making progress on the reading and writing front.  Luckily, he has a friend, Benjamin Greyber, from Camp Ramah, in his class who translates for him regularly.
Unfortunately, neither Micah's nor Jonah's classes work on conversational Hebrew.  So their "ulpan" is more of a school transition HSL (Hebrew as a Second Language - I made this up, I would think their acronym has Hebrew letters instead of English ones!) class with limited conversation.  As opposed to Mark's and my classes at Ulpan L'Inyan.
You can see what we are learning at www.ulpan.com.  The creator Ami, has made a fantastic program and if we practice we should learn a lot.  With having had only two days so far, I still feel like I can't do much, but I have learned some new words, can follow some really basic conversations (would you like something to eat or drink?), and can conjugate regular present tense verbs.  We do quite a bit of conversation, as well as a little reading at the end of class.  Our homework includes the writing.  I feel very grateful for the excellent Hebrew School education I received at Congregation M'kor Shalom in Cherry Hill, NJ back in the 70s and 80s.  I am most grateful for one of my teachers, Cara Albom, who I had in 5th and 6th or 6th and 7th grades and who taught me a ton of Hebrew (reading, writing, and conversational) and presented Hebrew plays with her students.  We did Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and then Kazablan.  It was really fun.
I still find Spanish popping into my head first when I try to think of a word or phrase in Hebrew, but I'm trying to remember it and not replace it with Hebrew the way Spanish replaced my Hebrew when I was a teenager.  I know a lot of people who speak (or know) more than two languages, so why can't I?  :-)
Anyway, life here is complicated but we are getting used to things.  I keep saying "if we lived here" followed by how things would be different.  Here are some examples.
- we would have an oven whose broiler worked
- we would be able to throw away anything that smells like smoke
- we would have at least a washer if not both a washer and dryer
- I would hope we would have a dishwasher
- I would feel free to purchase clothes
- we would have nicer bedding and pillows and towels and other household items
- we would have doctors and dentists that we would go to
- we'd have a blender and a coffee maker (for company - you know I don't drink coffee)
- we'd have better kitchen supplies for meat
- we'd have better knives
...and the list goes on and on and on.
I have to really just appreciate what we DO have, try to live a bit more simply, and keep in mind that is' only for just over three more months really.  I am doing my best to enjoy myself, learn, study, connect with others, and appreciate that we have this long break from volunteer and paid work of any kind.  I have done a lot of sudoku, reading, crossword puzzles, etc.  The boys have played a lot of computer games.  LOL
One last thing:  Jonah dared me to finish reading War and Peace by the time we leave here. I started two days ago on my Kindle and I am 10% finished.  :-)

Shabbat, then Pesach, Shabbat again

I loved my first Shabbat in Jerusalem. It really is so beautiful to see the streets empty, people walking, and to hear singing and praying coming from every neighborhood.  I also finally felt a warm welcome from our friends the Greybers who invited us over to their home for Seudah Shlishit, or the third meal, basically Saturday dinner.  We were there from 4:30 pm until after Havdallah.  Jen Greyber, especially, has helped me so much by sharing her knowledge and experiences with me.  She even invited me to the supermarket with her and she helped me with different names of things and such.  It was really amazing.  It helps so much to have such a nice person so willing to go out of her way to help me.  It really made a huge difference.
Our Pesach was also wonderful.  Rabbi Gail Diamond from the Conservative Yeshiva connected us with Charlie and Alexis and their three children who hosted us.  Also in attendence were friends of theirs, Jodi and Yaakov and their two kids.  We had a wonderful child-friendly, but still lengthy, seder with delicious food and wonderful people who made us feel very welcome.
The next night we were invited to dinner at the home Tali and Yaron Lipshitz. Yaron's parents, Linda and Stanley, were also there.  They have a three year old son Yonatan who just ADORES Micah.  It's so cute.  And they have a younger son Daniel who is also adorable.  The dinner was amazing; Stanley is in the food/restaurant business and did a lot of the cooking, AND Yaron actuallhy told us his secret to creating the fluffiest matzah balls I've ever had.  :-)  Plus, Tali and Yaron offered us the use of their clothes washer and dryer, any time, for our whole four month stay!  What amazing generosity!! We are so lucky!  So, yesterday, we went there for several hours and washed and dried two loads of laundry.  And then today, we ran into Linda right on our main drag, Emek Refaim Street.  So fun to see people we "know" that we've met here!  :-)
The smell in the apartment is almost all better.  The boys room still smells a little but we continue to work on it with wood cleaners, diffusers, Glade air fresheners, dryer sheets, auto air fresheners, and baking soda.  My mom is going to send us some Febreeze which we cannot seem to find here.
I'm not enjoying how much cleaning we need to do. It is very dusty and dry here so the good news is that things air dry quickly. The bad news is I've been constantly wiping, sweeping, etc.
Now it is still Pesach and Shabbat is tonight.  We are lucky to be having guests, the Kafin family: Alicia, Peter, Toby, and Ben.  But I need to prepare by doing a bit more cleaning and getting started on the cooking.
Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom!

Israel

Well, this is interesting.  Our travel days have ended and now we get to live here. Here are some pluses and minuses so far...

- I don't understand any Hebrew.  It was really frustrating yesterday shopping in Talpiot.  In our neighborhood, the German Colony, everyone speaks English, but elsewhere there are many who do not.

+ Our apartment is a large two bedroom with ample storage space in the kitchen.  The manager lives across the hall and was very helpful.  The location is great, we can walk everywhere we need to go, and we are very close to Emek Rafaim.

- Our apartment smells like smoke.  Most of the towels and linens do too.  We do not have in building laundry so it is not easy for us to clean them.  We are placing most of them in high cabinet storage in the boys' room, will take a few to the local laundry, and purchased some new ones yesterday.

- There was a ton of open food and dirty plates, flatware, and pots left in the kitchen.  The apartment has lots of stuff in it that we don't need or want, plus it doesn't have lots of things we do need and want, like paper, tape, hand soap, tissues, paper towels, napkins.  We purchased a lot of these items yesterday and will get more things from our list today.

+ This is Israel.  Jerusalem to be more specific.  Crowded and a bit hot.  But everyone and everything surrounding us is Jewish.  I love hearing Hebrew spoken and can't wait to learn more.  Shabbat and Pesach are coming up and then we'll really get into our daily routines including ulpan.  I am really looking forward to that.

+ We ran into some Americans walking down the street on our first night here and guess where they were visiting from?  San Francisco!  That was pretty cool.  And dinner at Burgers Bar (http://www.restaurants-in-israel.co.il/restaurant.aspx?id=9649 ) was delicious.

Here we go, life in Israel.  Shabbat Shalom!!!  Tonight, services and dinner, just the four of us.  :-)

China

It's been a while since my last post because blogspot is blocked in China.  So are Facebook and Twitter, btw.  Mark and Micah have already posted about the week in China. I'll be helping Jonah post as soon as we can.
We are really enjoying some amazing hospitality in Dubai with Mark's friend Justin, his family, and their household staff.  Our laundry was washed, dried, ironed, and folded for us the first day.  So amazing!
Anyway, we really had some amazing experiences in China.  The first two days we were in Shanghai, then two days in Kaifeng, then three days in Beijing.  The Bessler Baum family were with us the whole way and Joni really took good care of us throughout China.  She set us up in a very wonderful boutique hotel just a block and a half from their home in Shanghai, http://www.bestchinahotel.com/hotels-in-shanghai/shanghai-b-la-vii-house-shanghai.html.  Then we were at a 5 star hotel in Kaifeng (who'd of thought?), http://www.sinohotel.com/english/hotelinfo/New_Century_Grand_Hotel_Kaifeng.html.  Finally, in Beijing, we were at a lovely courtyard style hotel very close to all the tourist attractions, http://bbgh.com.cn/index.html.  All wonderful.  The history, culture, traditions, etc. are so strong and beautiful in China.  And the people just adore our children.  And it is so safe.  No worries about crime.  But of course, no real true freedom either.  Judaism is not one of the five state-approved religions, so Jews meet at people's homes and are not really permitted to "practice" our religion.  However, the attitude is such a strong one of live and let live that if you are not breaking the law, you can basically do whatever you want.  So, services and such still happen and communities still form.
Our two days in Dubai have been pretty relaxing.  Yesterday, all we did was visit the Mall of the Emirates, http://www.malloftheemirates.com/moe/Default.aspx, where we had some delicious snacks and played at the indoor arcade/amusement park called Magic Planet.  Today we went back there for a movie and some browsing at Borders.  Then we went to the heart of the city of Dubai where we took an abra across the "creek" and browsed in the Gold Souk and the Spice Souk.
I will add pictures another time.

Hamilton Island

Hamilton Island did not live up to expectations for only one reason. It rained for two days!

The first day we arrived, we knew the forecast, so we took a hike to a private beach.  It was a tough hike and there was some complaining from Micah, but in the end we were all proud of our accomplishment of having hiked up and down hills for almost 3 hours.

The food on the Island is quite expensive, even the groceries, so we did a combination of restaurant visits and cooking in our rather large one bedroom apartment with two sofa beds.

On our second day in the Whitsunday Islands, we took a day at Reef World to visit the Great Barrier Reef where the snorkeling was as amazing as we remembered from 13 years ago. Unfortunately, the trip to and from the reef included some very choppy waters and the entire boat of passengers got extremely seasick. Luckily, none of the Blooms threw up, but we were not feeling great!  Some ice chips helped Micah on the way there, and on the way home, three of us took seasickness medicines called travel calm that they were selling at the bar.  :-)  It helped me immensely, I didn't feel it at all on the way back.

On our third and final day, we swam in the rain.  Can't stop Micah from swimming!  It was warm enough, but not as much fun as I thought it would be.  We also let the boys play a bunch of video games.  Not your typical tropical island vacation!  :-)

This morning we returned our buggy (also known as a golf cart) that had been our method of transportation for the past few days.  We got wet walking the tarmac to our plane which was NOT fun, and now we are in Sydney catching up on email and internet since we were not connected for the past few days.

Our next stop is China.  See you back in the Northern Hemisphere!