Another Bus (Mis)Adventure

Well, taking the bus home from school continues to be a source of adventure (and trauma) for the kids and panic for the parents.

Toby and Gabriella have been taking the bus home from school without incident for the past few days. But today we got a call from Toby that he had left his cell phone at a bus stop, so he and Gabriella had gotten off at the next stop so he could go back and retrieve it. He went back to get it and then could not find Gabriella!! (Gabriella had stayed at the bus stop where they got off, with the back packs, so Toby could run back to get the phone.)

Needless to say this really freaked us out.  So we drove to where Toby was, picked him up and started looking for Gabriella.  It turned out that after finding the cell phone, Toby tried to retrace his steps to where Gabriella was waiting but had run right past her without seeing her and ran another quarter mile or so looking for her. Of course he could not find her because he could not find the stop where they had gotten off the bus.  So we retraced his steps in the car and finally found Gabriella.  But it was 30 minutes or so that she was alone and waiting and she was pretty traumatized and broke down when we finally found her. (But she held it together up to that point).

(At least) two lessons learned from this experience.  One is to always stay together; the other is to make note of your surroundings so you can find places again (especially because you inherited a lousy sense of direction from your parents).  Yes, whatever happens the blame is always laid at our feet :)

All's well that ends well and Gabriella got a great night's sleep after her traumatic experience. And Baruch Hashem that Israel is a very safe country - we have no worries about the kids being in danger if they are lost, we just worry about finding them!!

Milestones

As I have mentioned in previous posts, the kids are getting more independent all the time. Can't believe they are getting so old - today  Gabriella turns 10 and Toby turns 12!!  That is the big milestone.  The small one is yesterday they took the bus home from school by themselves.  Definitely differentiating themselves from their parents - I told Toby this was his job for the next few years, but it is still bittersweet - great to see them growing so well, sad that it is going so fast.  Before we know it, they will be out of the house...

And yesterday I lectured at the Israeli Ministry of the Environment on emergency response and preparedness.  Went pretty well, they want me to come back next week and do it again (they are training a new group of responders).

Climbing Tel Bet She'an

The Birders

Galilee Weekend

Bet She'an

Spent a great 3 days in the Galilee.  Left Thursday and made a beeline for Bet She'an National Park, a 400 acre archaeological site that includes the ancient city of Bet She'an-Scythopolis and the Tel Bet She'an.  Incredibly well preserved Roman ruins, the best we gave seen so far. Then we spent a few hours swimming at the Sachne pools, some natural springs near the modern city of Bet She'an. Ended the day at a small lake in the Hula Valley that is on the flyway and saw the most astonishing collection of migrating birds - thousands and thousands headed south to Africa.  The cacophony of bird honking and hooting and the sight of so many birds was really something to behold.

Hula Valley Sunset

Hula Valley Birds

We stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast in a small farming community, Yavne'el, just west of the Kinneret.

The Cocolate Makers

On Day 2 we started with a tour of a chocolate factory in the Golan Heights which included making our own chocolate truffles and bars.  A chocolate lover's dream come true.  Total fun and we got to take our product with us.  Ended up at Mt. Bentel, site of one of the key battles in the Yom Kippur war. Only 60 kms to Damascus from this point. Great views of the Syrian border and the Valley of Tears.

60 kms to Damascus...

Day 3 started with a bit of a bust. We took a canoe down the Jordan but it was a pretty industrialized part of the river (a lot of pumping for agriculture) so it was a bit on the funky side. (But we did see people being baptized in the river and some huge catfish :) Then we went to a beautiful 12th century Crusader era fort (Belvoir Castle) at Kokhav Hayarden National Park. (Gabriela's comment - 'I've seen enough Crusader castles...') Also saw a gorgeous 6th century mosaic floor at the Beit Alpha Synagogue and ended the day with a great meal at a very atmospheric Arab restaurant in Nein.

Jordan River

Live and Learn

Mistakes teach us more.

Toby has been much more independent of late, wanting to spend time with his friends as opposed to his parents and sister.  He has been asking to take the bus home from school like his friends do, instead of being picked up.  (His older brother Josh was about the same age when he started taking the 31 Balboa to SF Day School - a straight shot from our house but at the time his friends' parents thought I was either abusive or incredibly lax. You know how these divorced Dads can be...)

So yesterday I said, sure give it a shot. We had talked about it, looked at the map and i assumed he knew the direction home from school. Toby had a cell phone in case he needed to contact us.  Away he went.  About 30 minutes later as Gabriella and I are pulling up to the house I get a call from Toby saying he got on the bus as we discussed and it went to the end of the line and he has no idea where he is.  (And guess what, neither did I.)

After a moment of panic and pure adrenaline (on my part, Toby was ok), Michelle and I got in the car and headed to the neighborhood that he ended up in.  But we could not find the intersection where he was on our GPS and his phone was running out of minutes, so we were in danger of losing contact with him!  That would have been a major problem because we really had no idea where he was.  It turned out that he had gotten on the bus going in the wrong direction from school and ended up in this very orthodox neighborhood called Bayit Va-Gan.  We finally found him by following the bus to the end of the line - there he was!!  (It was lucky we found him because otherwise he might have been adopted by some black hat family and turned into a Haredi.  The next time we saw him he would be sporting peyis and wrapping tfillin.)

But it was a good lesson for all of us, on a number of levels, and now Toby knows for sure the direction home from school.  I have to say, he remained remarkably calm during the incident, in contrast to his father.  And never again shall he leave the house without a fully charged cell phone with minutes to spare and money for a taxi :)

The Kids are All Right

Toby and Gabriella have really grown on this trip.  From the start they have been willing to try new things, foods, experiences without the histrionics that I recall from years (even months) past. This past weekend for example, Toby went with a school friend on the Israeli equivalent of an overnight Outward Bound. He had half a day to decide whether to go and went for it.  He did not know anyone other than his buddy. Gets on a bus with 50 other kids, building fires, cooking food, sleeping under the stars on the beach at Ein Gedi, hiking 8 miles round trip up the wadi to the oasis. And he took it totally in stride and had a great time.

Then today he went to a small group jazz band workshop at the conservatory where he is taking clarinet lessons.  Again, he walked into the room not knowing anybody, with a sax player, drummer and bass player and the teacher on keyboard and fit right in and had a lot of fun. They are playing blues and jazz and learning to improvise.  I was totally impressed with him.

As for Ms Gabriella, she is starting to speak some Hebrew and is taking piano with a Russian teacher who speaks no English at all.  (Those are interesting lessons :) )  But her playing sounds great.

Crusader Church, Abu Gosh

Of course now that I post this, I am sure we will  observe a partial regression to the goofball/kucklehead behavior we all know and love :)

Crusader Church Interior, Abu Gosh

As for us, we get to do more pedestrian things, like visit Abu Gosh, a small Arab village outside of Jerusalem that is famous for its humus restaurants but also has a well preserved 12th century Crusader Church. We heard some great Baroque music on old instruments in the church crypt.

The Oud

I found the oud to be a beast, (as an instrument that is).  I had this idea that I would study the oud here and expose myself to a brand new musical language.  That was the plan.

I found myself a teacher after a number of false starts, a young guy named Thaer Bader. A really great guy and a good player.  He even had an oud that he was selling (he has three or four instruments) and that I would be able to use.  But as I found out, the oud is a beast - 11 strings, tuned to 6 notes on a C octave.  The low C is a single bass string and the other five are doubled. Just tuning the instrument was a major undertaking for me. And that was just the start.

The oud is picked like a mandolin or guitar and has a fretless fingerboard like a violin.  In my hubris, I thought - I can play guitar, so my right hand should be ok with the picking and I can play violin, so getting good intonation without frets should not be too challenging...was I ever wrong!!

Thaer Bader - a great guy and a great player

I had difficulty grasping the non Western scales that Arab classical music uses - 24 tones, half flats etc.  It became clear to me after only a few lessons that I would have to devote a significant amount of time and effort to learn this instrument and the musical culture that goes along with it - more than I was willing to spend.  And the notion of playing western style music on the oud was not very practical.

The other thing I found was that the music just did not resonate with me (is it genetics?)  In contrast, the klezmer violin I am studying strikes an immediate and primal chord in my soul.

So Thaer and I came to the mutual decision that my quest to study oud just did not make sense. I will stick with the klezmer fiddle for my time in Israel (and maybe I will take up mandolin if I need another instrument to play :)

Musrara Neighborhood

Hanging Out in a favorite cafe

We are living the tough life here :).  Jerusalem is full of cafes and sometimes we just hang out after Michelle finishes Ulpan and the kids are still in school.  Other times we walk neighborhoods as we did today (10/12) in the Musrara neighborhood, just northwest of the Old City's Christian Quarter.  This was an organized walking tour by a group of artists that want to encourage peace and dialogue. Given the multiple flash points here - Arab/Jew, ultra orthodox/secular, municipal authority/neighborhood activist, right wing/left wing Israelis, the artists certainly have their work cut out for them.

Musrara Alley

The artists, who live in the Musrara neighborhood, formed a collective of sorts to promote street art in public spaces. We walked the neighborhood and looked at examples of the art.  The neighborhood, a warren of alleys, pedestrian streets and small squares, is beautiful.  (The street art is highly variable, to put it mildly.) But all in all, a thoroughly enjoyable two hours that ended in an east Jerusalem restaurant that reportedly has the best humus in town.  The restaurant was full when we got there, so we can't vouch for the humus, but we will be back.

Musrara Street Art

Footloose

Today's walk started in an old neighborhood near the town center, Nahalat Shiv'a.  Originally home to Orthodox families that left the Old City to branch out (sort of like the Jerusalem version of pioneers in a Calistoga wagon), it is now home to hipster cafes, bookstores, galleries and restaurants.  We all know the drill - Valencia Street redux.

Nahalat Shiv'a Alley

Round Ethiopian Church

Wondered through the Russian Compound, stopping at the Palestine Central Prison, now a museum called the Shrine of Heroism.  The British held captured members of Jewish resistance groups there - they have preserved the gallows at the prison (although executions took place in Acre)- kinda spooky.

Ended up in Me'a She'arim via Ethiopia Street, a street with beautiful homes, great ambiance and the circular Ethiopian Church.  Me'a She'arim is endlessly fascinating to me because of how cut off it is from the rest of the city - deliberately so, with small synagogues, cheders and yeshivas scattered throughout and woven into the fabric of daily life.  Pretty much everything revolves around study and observance.  But coupled with obvious poverty and hardship, especially for the children.

Me'a She'arim warning about modest dress for women

Luckily I wasn't around in the late afternoon because 500,000 people took to the streets to lament the death of the Chief Sephardic Rabbi, Obadia Yosef - he died around 4 pm.  Absolute chaos where the van carrying the body was moving through the streets.

Lamenting Obadia Yosef's death

Masada

Finally to Masada.  We have been putting it off, waiting for cooler weather.  The weather turned, so we made the drive on Shabbat - thought there would be less traffic and tourists but the place was a veritable zoo of tour buses - Saw groups from Spain, Brazil, Germany, Russia, and the U.S., just to name a few.

Base of Snake Path

But it's quite a place - this guy Herod just couldn't stop building himself five star country palaces. We blasted up the Snake Path, Gabriella leading the way. Excellent cardio workout!!  The setting, vistas and architecture/engineering are pretty amazing, given the location and elevation.  Herod certainly knew how to abuse his slaves...

Headed back to Jerusalem for dinner with the parents of a very good friend, Josh Graff Zivin.  This must be the week of the grandparents because on Sunday Michelle and Susan had lunch with the mother of another of our good friends, (Art Eidelhoch) who is visiting Israel.

Byzantine Church Mosaic at Masada

 

Mrs Eidelhoch visits

Cool Jerusalem Neighborhood

Taking a break in Ohel Moshe

Ohel Moshe Common Area

Jerusalem is a great walking city and some of the nicest neighborhoods have no automobile traffic. Today Michelle and I took a walk around one of these, Ohel Moshe, just south of the famous Jerusalem
shuk.  It is among one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem outside of the Old City.  Narrow streets, quiet with no traffic, beautiful common areas and a great combination of orthodox and hippy residents.  And just a two minute walk from the Shuk where you can buy virtually any kind of food plus clothing, hardware, kitchenware, etc.

Israel is rightly famous for its olives so we went olive picking a few days ago in a public park, Ya'Ar Ha-Shalom, about a 5 minute drive from our house.  We are now in the soaking phase (pre-pickling) - we will let you know how they come out.

Olive Picking

And lest you think that it is all fun and games here, we still have a house to clean - the term is 'sponga' for the cogniscenti of cleaning a floor in Israel. (Of course this duty falls to the man of the house, although Toby has been pretty good about doing his room).

The tools of the sponga trade