Hustle And Bustle

Hello everybody!  I've taken another trip, even before Eilat that I haven't told you about.  I took loads of pics on that adventure!  The place we went to isn't that far from our house.  We didn't walk, that would've taken hours, but we did ride the bus.  The place is called Machaneh Yehuda.  It's this huge market, where you can get everything from fresh fruits and vegetables, to jewlery and rugs.  It was a place full of smells and different people.  Jonah and I shared a small bag of sucariot, or candies.  (sucar is sugar so I bet you can make the connection)  We walked through a lot of it and boy was it packed!!!  I could barely keep a firm grip on my mom's hand.  It was very overwhelming.  Here are some pictures so you get the idea.

See what I mean?  It was so amazing, yet so overwhelming.  When I finally got a taste of fresh air, it felt pretty good  even though the smell of the shops was still on us.  More to come!

Desert Fun, Under a Hot Sun

Hi!  I'm REALLY ecxited to tell you about this next trip.  Do you remember, I was going to split this week trip into two.  So, here's the second half.  After our one night in Jerusalem, we packed up again and drove a three hour drive down to a Kibbutz called Kibbutz Lotan.  A Kibbutz is a hamlet sort of thing.  There are small buildings and each building has two rooms and one family shares a room.  There is a pool and a dining hall.  Just like a regular town, except about two times smaller.  So, the day we arrived at Lotan, we swam in the pool and had dinner there.  The next day, we got into our car and drove down to........................... EILAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I was so excited!  We'd been in the desert before, but there was no desert that I'd ever been to that was that hot!  Luckily, we had lots of water and could get more if we wanted.  So, we made our way into the Dolphin Reef and looked around.  There was a beach, restaurants, and souvenir shops.  There were also changing rooms for people who were to go scuba diving.  Near the beach there was a pier.  It was out in the water.  You walked on it and sat down, and, if you wanted to, put your feet in.  There were dolphins everywhere!  Sometimes they would hop out of the water and splash down.  Sometimes only their back fins showed, and they looked like sharks.  Let me show you!

It was amazing.  Sometimes, a dolphin would swim right under my feet!  But it wouldn't touch them.  Experts, who work there of course, fed the dolphins and I got to see it up close!  Here, they look amazing!

Aren't they beautiful?  I stayed on the pier for most of the time we were there.  I also went swimming for a moment.  Here comes some big news...my mom, my mom, went scuba diving!!!!!!!!!  MY mom!  It was so exciting.  She got into this heavy suit and tank, oh, I can't bring myself to explain, you'll just have to look!

When you go scuba diving in Eilat, you're not allowed to touch the dolphins.  You're only allowed to if they come up to you at the pier.  The dolphins will only come up to you in scuba diving if they have a relationship with the guide.  Unfortunately, I was not allowed to go scuba diving.  See, I have asthma, and you're not supposed to go scuba diving if you have asthma.  The moment my mom said that I had a very small amount of asthma, they said asoor,  or not allowed.  I could have gone snorkling, but I didn't.  After lunch, I ventured out of the beach and watched the peacocks and roosters.  Then I saw him.  I saw a male peacock with its feathers stretched out wide.  It was absolutely beautiful!  I watched it until it put its feathers down.  I have to apologize, I didn't have my dad's iphone with me so I didn't get a picture.  I had an amazing time in Eilat!  I want to show you some more pictures before we part.

Wow!  I almost forgot!  Here are some pics of Lotan!

Home Sweet Home?

Hello again!  I figured, since you've never known, (unless you've skyped with me or been here yourself) you would like to get to know my apartment.  It has four bedrooms, mine, Jonah's, my mom and dad's, and a guest room.  My room is probably one of the smallest in the house.  It has one bed, a closet/dresser, a night stand, and small shelves along the wall.  All the bedrooms are similar to that.  Then we have the kitchen, sitting room and dining room.  Like in Needham, all of those things are one room.  Lets see what you think.

 Mom and Dad's room

 dining room and sitting room

kitchen

guest room

my room

Jonah's room

It's been fun in this house.  We've had company here some of the time on Sabbatical.  It's been fun.  It'll be hard to leave.

Underground Water Caves

It's me again, wanting to share with you more about what I've been doing.  So, this is about my trip to a place called Rosh Hanikra.  It's a place where you can go into an underground sort of cave and see the water of the Mediteranean sea.  It was amazing to see it.  The water came crashing down, hard, and that's what made the caves possible.  Over time, the waves crashed onto the rock and formed a cave inside the mountain.  You take a cable car down and walk inside the cave.  There were a lot of different places to see the water.  The water was so wild, they had the place closed during a storm.  There was one place where you could stand and the water came and splashed against the rock and could have sprayed you!  It was a pretty cool adventure.  Let's put a little detail into it, shall we?

Another thing:  My dad and Jonah made up this funny thing.  It was a rhyme!  We had gone to the Dead, (meaning the Dead Sea) the Med, (meaning the Mediteranean Sea) and we were on our way to the Red. (meaning the Red Sea in Eilat)  The Dead, the Med, and the Red are now good friends of ours and now, as I speak, we've been to all three.

Haifa and Tel Aviv Beaches

So, I'm splitting our last big trip into two posts.  We have a lot of things to talk about, so let's get going!  Firstly, most of our trips have lasted about one week each.  Ex:  Passover vacation.  All the things I did in that week, our Passover seder, reading Harry Potter with a girl that only speaks Hebrew, going to the cat litter-smelling house, and so and so all took one week!  So this trip, that I'm splitting in two, begins like this:  We're in a new rental car, and driving to Haifa, a city that is almost at the top of Israel.  Our friends from Boston just happen to be on Sabbatical also.  We stayed at their house a night and the next day had an amazing adventure!  We drove to a beach.  Boy, did that water feel good on my feet!  Sea water!  That water was the Mediteranean sea water!  I hadn't had that happen to me since I don't know when.

  Well, we started to build a sand castle.  It turned out to become a giant sand city!  By the way, our friends names are: Andy, Martha, Raizi, and Halleli.  Raizi and Halleli are the two kids.  Raizi is the oldest.  Let me show you our sand city!

We made walls around the city so the water wouldn't come and destroy our city.  Unfortunately, each time we had finished the walls, a huge wave came and filled our moat with water and nearly drowned our whole city!  We had to make the walls and Andy's special stairs all over again!  It was a lot of work, but when it was time to leave, we had rebuilt the wall over five times, just like some of the ancient cities in Israel.  It looked good and was all right for a while, but I wonder now, as I write this for your pleasure, are there any more small pieces of the city that still remain?  Anywho, it's time to move on through our trip.  We go back to our friends' house and sleep over another night.  The next morning, we set off for another city.  A real city, not a sand one!  That place is called Hertzelia.  In Hertzelia, we stay over at my mom's cousin's cousin's wife's parents' house.  The next day, we travel to another place called Tel Aviv.  Tel Aviv is like the NYC of Israel, if you catch my drift!  So, we walk and walk and walk and find ourselves at a beach.  This beach also has the water of the Mediteranean.  There are a lot of shops and play structures there.  We get ice cream and go to Rabin Square.  Yitzchak Rabin was his full name.  Rabin Square was the place where Rabin was murdered.  That's why its called Rabin Square.  So we walk up there and we meet Micha, my super cousin.  He is with Matar, my super, super cousin.  She's the one I mentioned in Holding Rain.  We look at a monument, mere inches from where Rabin was murdered.  It is of rocks that are shaken as though in an earthquake.  Rabin was one of the best Prime Ministers Israel has ever seen.  He was working hard on peace between the countries that surrounded Israel.  We walked in a mall and Jonah and I got a picture with a statue of Rabin.  After, we walked to Micha's house, where we met Naama, his wife.  Here are some pictures.

Then, that very day, we drove home.  Home to Jerusalem.  Next up, our trip down.

The People Behind the Craft: Yad L'Kashish

Hi!  I know its been a long time since I've last posted anything and I think it's time that you find out what I've been doing all these long weeks!  Well, let me start you off with a tour.  For the second time since I've been here, I went to Yad L'Kashish, or, lifeline for the elderly.  This time, I went on a tour.  We got to see the elderly working away at their arts and crafts.  There are about eight workshops where different people do and make different things.  I saw people painting challa (the special food for the Sabbath) covers and jewelry.  I learned that 70 percent of the people that work there are Russian.  Cool.  I loved to see the elderly hard at work.  Yad L'Kashish helps the elderly that work there earn money, as well as gives them something to do during the day.  So, I have very few pictures for this post since my dad didn't want to be rude and take pictures without the people's permission.  So, here they are!

That last picture is of me, standing in front of a sign that says on the bottom:  Do not forsake me when I grow old, when my strength fails, do not abandon me.  I thought it was beautiful and you may too.  Yad L'Kashish is a must-do if you ever have the chance to come to Israel.