Shabbat

Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, is something taken very serious here. It starts Friday evening with a loud blow of the horn heard throughout the city. The Jewish people rush home to enjoy an evening of good food and family time. If you make your way through the streets, they are not only deserted but you can hear the families singing & enjoying each others company from their homes. It does make it tricky for us travelers to find food, taxi's and other needed things, so during Shabbat, which lasts until Saturday evening, we find ourselves hanging out in the Muslim quarter of the city. (The picture shows the deserted streets on a Shabbat which is so opposite to the bustling streets every other day).

I think this concept of Shabbat is somewhat unique. It's not unique in its notion; it is something we are all familiar with and something some try to keep. What makes it unique is that it works. Shabbat isn’t like our Christmas or Thanksgiving break which only happens once a year. Shabbat is something the Jewish people do week after week, month after month, year after year. And still life gets done. Their to-do lists still get checked off, businesses are still profitable, houses are still cleaned and friends are still visited. But it's all done with this Shabbat in mind. They take one full day to rest and spend time together without any shopping or major work being done. And it has been a good reminder for us that this notion isn't something altruistic for us. It isn't merely a rule to be followed but it provides a great rhythm to life which we hope to incorporate more as we return.

PS - as we write this (10:45 PM) a ton of loud firework sounds are going off. We really hope they are indeed fireworks!

PG-13

Coming here we feel like we have taken a step back in time. Most people in the Old City dress quite traditionally and conservatively. Well the other day we felt like we took 10 steps back in time. We visited a neighborhood just outside the Old city called Mea She'arim. This neighborhood was developed by ultra orthodox European Jews who modeled there Jerusalem home like the ones they remembered back in Poland, Germany & Hungary. Despite the advancement with time & technology these residents maintain the customs, habits & dress of the 18th century. Even in this crazy heat it is customary for them to wear thick padded coats & fur hats! Families are typically large so this is one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in Jerusalem. Upon entering the area we were greeted not with welcome signs, but ones begging visitors to respect their ways, including dress.

We know that there are many locations in Israel where modest dress is required, men must wear pants & women must have their knees & shoulders covered. So we ventured to Mea Sheárim, dressed appropriately (or so we thought) ready to respectfully observe another culture. We were quietly walking around when Michelle, the loose women that she is, got severely reprimanded by an elderly lady because her sexy elbows weren’t covered. Nobody told us that!!!! Jeff thinks she was just jealous. Michelle had to spend the rest of our time there squeezed into Reese’s sweater. It made for a hot, but funny visit. Despite the scolding it was neat to see people who are so committed to their culture & values.

(Needless to say, the minute we walked out of their neighborhood Michelle let loose and danced with her naked elbows for all to see!)

On There and Back Again

4 days ago Jeff’s class left for a four day trip north to the Galilee area. While it was going to be a fun time away, it was another 4 days that the family was going to be split up. We talked to the teacher and Michelle had a choice: either stay in the Old City on her own or rent a car and meet us in Galilee, and stay with us in kibutz’ right on the Sea of Galilee. After much prayer and deliberation (about 10 seconds) she found a great deal on a car, packed up a few things, and her and kids were on their way! Driving through Israel on her own was very different – going through checkpoints (all very safe), people using their horns every 2 seconds for no reason at all), and looking out and seeing a herd of camels right beside the road as you drive by…pretty crazy, but so much fun. Michelle navigated her way up and we found our home away from home away from home. It’s kind of funny because Reese has a name for all of our ‘homes’ these days (“Mommy, when we get back to our Jerusalem home”…”Can we see our Langley home from this big hill?” and so forth).

The sea itself is pretty cool. Every evening we would go wading/swimming to cool off. Carter’s big thing was to throw rocks and clamshells. He had so much fun doing that we’re sure that if we went home now he’d be fulfilled. Reese kept trying to hold on to her beach ball, which proved fruitless as the wind was so strong.



As part of the Jeff’s class (with Michelle and the kids joining us to much of it) they went to a number of amazing places, including Nazareth, Caesarea (pictured) (Herod built a massive port there which could hold up to 200 ships at once), Bananias (where there was a huge alter to a freaky goat-man playing a flute named Pan – honestly – who sat around in those days and came up with some of these things?), and also Bet She’an (pictured), (a large city of 45 000 people in Roman days that also had a huge hill right in the center of it which had about 25 layers of city upon city built on each other from 5000 years ago – a little more history than we have in Canada!). Some other really cool highlights were stopping at the Jordan River about where Jesus would have been baptized (and Jeff got to baptize one of his new friends from class there!), taking a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee in the very boat Jesus sailed in (just kidding, but we did take the boat ride!) and visiting Capernaum where Jesus did a lot of his teaching and miracles. All of this was surreal to take in and allowed us to see where and how some important events took place. For sure the kids’ favourite stop was at Ganha’shlosha. This is three natural springs with cool water that provided some much-needed relief to 39 degree weather. They even built a wading pool there for kids and our kids took full advantage of it!

One quick funny thing happened there…while Michelle was on the edge of one pool feeling the temperature of another Jeff thought it would be funny to push Michelle in. Reese laughed, but not Carter. He stared screaming, shaking, and crying as if Michelle was in real danger. Even though she popped out and we showed him it was funny, he never really recovered after that. He grabbed Michelle’s neck and wouldn’t let go from that point on and when Jeff tried to get close to him or Michelle, he would just push Jeff away. Talk about being a momma’s boy! Luckily he forgot all about it soon after... kind of.

Saddam Lives!

Contrary to popular reports, we think Saddam lives on and that he is living in cognito in Israel of all places...

The staff at the Gloria hotel are SO friendly & helpful to us! I think it is because they are not used to having children here and they somewhat feel sorry for Michelle. Anyway they are really nice. Everyday we have a buffet breakfast & supper in a large dinning room and everyday we are served by a very friendly Suddam Hussein look-a-like. Whenever he comes and talks to us we can't look at each other for fear of laughing at how similiar he looks. When he is across the dining room Jeff likes to put aggressive words into his mouth which Michelle can't stop laughing at. Again it is so funny because he is such a nice man who we have really appreciated.

School Days

It’s hard to believe we’ve been here for two weeks already. Class has been going on for 10 days and in that time I’ve learned a)how hard it is to be a student again, and b)the more I learn the less I really know. There are about 45 students in the class, and being the only Canadian I’m hearing all the jokes so far. Comments like “I’m sure you have never seen weather like this in Canada”, “Do you miss your pet seal?”, and my personal favourite, “you must know what the Israelites were like, trying to catch your own food all the time!” abound all the time (ahhh, they are so funny). But it is fun and I’ve made some great friends in class. We spend time both in class with lectures learning about the layout of the land, soils (I know that sounds like a snoozer but it’s actually cool) and also history through the years. But most of our time has been out in the field, taking a bus from place to place learning about different cultures and how they lived and most importantly why.

In our last 10 days we have done things from toured the Old City, walked around the Temple area, walked part of the Via Dolorosa, gone to places like Masada, Bethlehem, En Gedi, Qumran, and many others. It has been amazing looking out into civilizations as far back as 5000 years, to also see places that Solomon would have built (although probably with some help), and to see places where they are certain Jesus would have walked. You are constantly looking back into history while at the same time living in the present. It’s pretty amazing.

Some of the highlights? Wow, so many. One of them was yesterday morning, when some of us got up at 4:30 to hike up Masada. Through a lot of blood, sweat and tears (minus the blood) I made it up the 2 km, 1000ft-vertical hike up and got there in time for the sunrise. It was unbelievable. We later toured the area and learned about the place itself. It was built by Herod (who spared no expense in its extravagance), but later taken over by zealots during the Jewish revolt against the Romans in 70 AD. As the revolt was being crushed, Masada was really the last Jewish fortress to stand. The Romans came after them, and it took 3 years for them to build siege ramps up the mountain. When they finally broke through, they found that the zealots had committed suicide – all 960 of them - and destroyed everything because they believed that death in freedom was better than a lifetime in slavery. Pretty crazy stuff.

Another highlight was our time at Qumran. This was a place where a community of eccentric priests lived who dedicated a big portion of their lives to copying Scripture onto tablets. They later hid these in caves to keep them out of the hands of the Romans, in about 30 AD. The Romans did end up finding many of them and damaged them, then left them in the caves. These documents were not found again until 1947. The earliest copy of the Bible before this was about 1000 AD. It was pretty cool to be there, see the caves, and go into one where these scrolls were found.
We’ve got a 4-day trip up to the Northern Region starting tomorrow, and 4 more days packed with more teaching and touring. I can fill you in on more of what I’m learning

An international incident

The other day we were at the Wailing Wall and we were involved in an international incident. Carter was just minding his own business running innocently around the site when a cute little Jewish boy, about the same age as Carter, with his Yamaka and a bottle in his mouth came over to say hi (or so we thought). We as parents stood back with anticipation to watch Carter as he was about to interact with another culture. Then out of nowhere this little kid clocked Carter across the head! Not just once but twice & his mother didn't do anything! By the time the UN (Michelle) got over there the aggressor had Carter by the cheek and was yanking! Well... you don't mess with my child! So I pulled the brat off, swung him around and...ok, I didn't really do anything - we acted all Canadian! And we thought the Arabs were the aggressors...

Needless to say Carter is a little leary of foreign kids these days...

PS - You may wonder why we have this all on film... Jeff was across the courtyard with our telephoto lens not totally aware of the situation until it was too late.

israel through reese's eyes

(Editors Note:…Today’s Blog (or Log as Reese calls it) is going to be as seen through the eyes of a 3 ¾ year old. Besides a Chucky Cheese worker, Reese wants to be a photographer just like her Uncle Darin so all the pictures will be taken with a pink Fisherprice (1 megapixel) camera held dear to Reese. So don’t mind the random nature of this post but enjoy the simplicity of a little girl that sees things the same no matter what side of the ocean she is on.)

there are lots of cats in israel. they are not people’s pets. mom & dad say that i am not allowed to touch them. they live all over the ground. as we walk i like to look for them. we also see lots of birds in cages – big & little.

the moms and girls in israel wear lots of pants (editors note – they actually wear dresses or skirts – not sure why she said that). the daddies and boys wear pants and hats.

we eat a lot of eggs, watermelon, and we even eat little hotdogs for breakfast. and mostly everyday we get to have a popcycle on days mommy says it is OK

it is always sunny, windy & hot

there are lots of strangers here – they are nice. mommy makes me be friendly when i am shy. sometimes they even kiss my cheek. i have an emergency whistle to blow when there is an emergency & mommy or daddy isn’t there. one stranger gave me a camel – just a pretend one.

there is a special wall where people pray - we can pray anywhere we want not just at the wall. carter and me chased some birds there

on our last day I get to buy some treats. i want to buy some bracelets and some special containers (editor's note - have no idea what that is!)

for fathers day i bought daddy some candy and a shirt. daddy shared the candy with me. me and carter even drew a picture for him. mine had lots of sheep with coulorfuls.

the weirdest thing i saw was a big piece of meat that looked like a turkey, but it was just meat (editors note- sheep actually)

i miss my other littlest pet shops. i was only allowed to bring a few. i miss lewis and my big dora. i would like to live in canada but visit israel lots. see you soon!

Uphill Both Ways

Ah, the Old City. It is where our hotel is located here and it is where Michelle spends a lot of her time while Jeff is in class. It’s also our place just to hang out after supper in the evening. With so much time spent here, we wanted to help you get to know it a bit more…

The Old City Jerusalem is divided into four quarters - the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter and the Armenian Quarter. These are named according to the ethnic affiliation of most of the people who live in them as well as the religious sights found in each location. Michelle & the kids have spent the last two days touring the Jewish Quarter. It is there we walked around the Cardo - the main street of Jerusalem in Jesus' time, dating back to the 6th century. It is there we also got to witness a parade of people celebrating with drums, singing, and banners as they heading to the wailing wall with a 13 year old boy for his Bar Mitzvah. It was quite a sight!

We wish you all could be here to understand what the old city is really like. It is set ontop of two valleys so there is LOTS of walking and it alwasy seems to be uphill. We are not sure if words can accurately describe the chaos and beauty of it all happening at the same time. The streets are about 8 feet wide (not a lot of room at the best of times, nevermind trying to maneuver a double stroller through it all), packed to the brim with people all yelling back and forth sounding somewhat angry, (but it is just the passion that Middle Eastern people use to talk about anything – we have seen a few minor fist fights though!). Off in the distance you can hear the Muslim call to prayer being piped through the city. At the same time some stereo somewhere is blaring some Middle Eastern music and every shop owner is trying to get Michelle’s attention saying ‘’Hey pretty lady – a really good price for you (one person even said today that his prices were comparable to Wal Mart).” And the smells – you get every smell imaginable, from palatable spices to strong incense to stinky garbage and diesel exhaust as tractors make their way through the streets picking it up.

When we say every street is packed to the brim we are not exaggerating – people are everywhere, from hordes of people on a mission trying to weave there way through to little ladies sitting on the side selling spices or some sort of green leaves out of garbage bags (or those leaves legal?), to raw meat hanging on hooks, to police and army guys with machine guns resting on their sides. There is absolutely NO sense of order, and yet everything runs so smoothly and has for many, many years. The kids are really enjoying it as well, as Reese has made it her mission in life to find every cat in the Old City and Carter has even played a bit of ball throwing with a young boy.

Well, as we sit and finish this before bed the noises are beginning to tail off as the Old City sees another day come to an end. But as it does, another day of chaos and beauty is about to begin. And we are loving every minute of it.

The Mad Hatter

Still we are in awe of this whole experience. The last few days have continued to be full. June 9th marked Shavuot for the Jewish people; a holiday to celebrate God giving the Torah to the Jewish people through Moses on Mount Sinai. It was awesome to witness. There were people everywhere & the Wailing Wall was abuzz with activity that lasted all through the night, until the sun rose the next morning. There was spontaneous Jewish dancing happening, along with singing, hugging and just having a great time celebrating together.

We toured the King David Museum, which filled us in on a lot of Jerusalem history. We climbed up one of Herod’s remaining towers of his palace & had an amazing view of the city. We’re not sure if the kids fully grasped the history and the richness of the experience or appreciated what they were seeing, but at least they had fun playing peek-a-boo and tag around Herod’s Tower.

Yesterday Jeff began his schooling. He has remarked numerous times that his brain is already so full of new information….. He is enjoying every minute of it! They spent their first day touring the Old City seeing the sights from the ramparts (been there, done that!) and walked a bit of the Via Dolorosa. Today after spending 4 hours in class he walked more of the Old City from an Old Testament perspective, saw excavated city walls that were built over 2800 years ago (the walls now are a mere 450 years old), and toured the city of David. He had the opportunity to hike through Hezekiah’s tunnels again which made Reese super jealous! He ended the day at the Pool of Shiloam, at the exact place they believe that Jesus would have healed a number of people – pretty surreal.

Our kids were happy that we were able to find a park close to our hotel – we’re sure Michelle & the kids will be spending tons of time there while Jeff is in class. Carter is the hit around here - everyone seems to be fascinated with his blonde curly hair. All kinds of Arab men keep touching it! They do think he is a girl though! At least 10 people so far have asked if he’s a boy or girl or if him and Reese are twins. I know his hair is long, but for real… a girl???

There are so many different things for the kids to look at as we walk through the city. There are so many different smells and sights. With so many different cultures colliding in the Old City, so many types of foods, languages, sounds, and clothing abound. Among them are Hasidic Jews with various types of hats. It is a tad embarrassing when we pass them because Carter points and yells out 'Hat, Hat, Hat, Hat, Hat!' until you acknowledge him. He hasn't quite learned cultural sensitivity yet. Reese brings a lot of smiles to our faces as well. The Jewish currency is called Shekels & Reese always asks how many Chuckles something costs. Silly her…

Anyway everything is well, we all healthy & enjoying life as we settle into a somewhat regular routine. It’s hard to believe a week has passed since our adventure began – in one sense it has gone by so fast but we also feel like we’ve been here a long time already. Hopefully the weather at home has finally turned warm & you are able to enjoy it!

"To See Where God Lives"

Reese has been really excited to come here for some time (though we thought in her mind she really had no idea what she was talking about). Well, on her last day of preschool Reese went up to her teacher and told her, "I'm going to Israel to see where God lives." We never told her that, it's really cool to see how her brain works.

It has been a full two days since our last post. With Jeff's class not starting until Tuesday morning we've had some time to adjust here with the family and also see a bunch of sites on our own time and agenda. Yesterday started with a walk around the ramparts - the top of the Old City walls. It was amazing to have a higher view of the Old and New City. It was about a kilometer walk and we all did great. Reese deteriorated going from happily saying ‘’This is such a fun adventure’ to grumpily blurting out ‘’My sunglasses stink & I think we should throw them in the garbage!” It was kind of funny to watch actually.

We then walked a bit of the Via Dolorosa and found ourselves in a couple of places - first the garden where Jesus was beaten by the soldiers, given the crown of thorns, and had the cross placed on him to carry. It was surreal to be there, and you weren't really sure what to feel. On one hand it was very cool, but you also felt a sense of sorrow and awe. We then headed to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the place where Jesus was crucified, taken down from the cross, and placed in the tomb. Once again a wide range of emotions were felt, the biggest probably was a sense of somber reflection. We capped the day off with a Dora popcycle enjoying the sights and sounds of the Old City.

Today was a day of adventure! We woke up & headed to Hezekiah’s tunnel. For those who are unfamiliar with this Israeli wonder it is .5 km long tunnel carved 701 BC during the reign of King Hezekiah. It was designed to bring water into the city from a spring located outside the walls, as an impending siege was coming from the brutal Assyrians who intended to cut off their food & water supply. The tunnel is no more than shoulder width and sometimes as low as 4 ½ feet. Armed with headlamps we descended into complete darkness for a 40 minute trek through the stone. We were a little nervous about bringing the kids into the tunnel but were surprised at how well they both did. Reese lead us with her headlamp walking in knee deep water. She loved it!! Besides bonking his head a couple times, Carter seemed indifferent to the whole excursion. While in the middle of the tunnel, with chisel marks all around, it felt very Indiana Jones-ish. It was a very cool moment as a family. Reese wants to go back tomorrow! (we’d show pictures but we forgot our camera – dang!).

A funny incident took place on the way back to the hotel…we were looking for a taxi to take us back up the big hill. We asked a person who showed us a public bus to take, so on we went. Well it so happened to be an Arab bus, filled with Arab people and Arab Hezbollah propaganda. This bus so happened to take us to the Arab side of the Old City. Then our bus driver so happened to get into a minor fender bender, tried to flee, and so happened to get into a fight with the driver of the other vehicle. This was our cue to get off the bus (don’t worry, mom, it was all safe – we promise!). We ended our day walking through Ben Yahuda street (the Robson st. of Jerusalem), retreating to the familiar sign of the Golden Arches for dinner which the kids loved.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Celebrating 10 Years!

Well we are here!! With no real issues, except lack of sleep, we arrived in Israel at 5:20 AM June 6 local time (our 10th year anniversary!). Even though we just left home a few hours ago we already feel like we have made so many memories. Our flight from Vancouver to London wasn’t quite as relaxing as we hoped (Reese was still partying at midnight). We had a nine hour lay over in London which allowed us some quick sightseeing. Reese was very excited to see where a real live queen lived. While we were at Buckingham palace some police arrived and were guarding one of the entrances. A couple police-escorted vehicles arrived and Michelle saw the Queen! Jeff was a tad annoyed because the Queen drove by at the exact time Michelle was bossily making him get the camera out and he missed her! Sorry Jeff.

Since arriving in Israel we set up our homebase (Gloria hotel) and set out to explore the Old City , in 37 degree weather no less. In a very short time we saw tons of stuff, highlighted by the Western Wall, view of the Mount of Olives, and weaving through the VERY crowded markets.

To celebrate our anniversary we planned on eating out at a nice restaurant but because of Shabbat (Jewish day of rest) we found ourselves out of luck. So, equally as memorable but less fancy, the Renauds enjoyed some corn on the cob at Jaffa Gate on the sidewalk!

It’s 9:37pm and the kids have been sleeping for 2 full hours…let’s hope that turns into 12 hours.

Hope all is well with all of you!