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Hi everyone,
It
doesn't seem that long since the last update, but almost a month
has passed. Amazingly, we have been in Israel now for almost
nine months. It seems like a lot longer. I am continuing to
adjust to my new work environment. It is going slowly, but I'm
sure that sooner or later I will adjust. The thrill of taking
the train every day has worn off, and the 1 1/2 hour
commute each way is starting to annoy me. On the plus side, in
a few months I will be changing my work schedule to Monday
through Friday for at least a few months, so I am looking
forward to that. Caryn is taking a hiatus from Ulpan for a
little while. She has also been sick the last three weeks, but
is on antibiotics now and hopefully will be better soon. I
forgot to mention in my last update that we got our permanent
car, which is a 7 seater Citroen. It takes some getting used
to, but it's a nice car or Minivan or SUV. Not really sure what
it is. In any case, we can all drive together now, so that is
nice.
Caryn and I met with Ilan's teachers last week and got a good
report. While he was initially very resistant to learning
Hebrew, he is a lot more motivated now, and making good
progress. He is starting to read in Hebrew and doing pretty
well. He has also entered into a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
Phase, so our lives have been revolving around that. Gali has
followed Ilan, and is also enjoying the Turtles, and even Tiki
sings the theme song continually, which I have to admit is
catchy. Besides that, Gali is also doing well, although we
never hear her speak Hebrew, but she has a few friends who only
speak Hebrew, and she can communicate just fine. Tiki is very
cute and very engaging, which can be a lot of fun and also be
very tiring, as she is like the Energizer Bunny. She is also
generally the last of our children to fall asleep and often pays
us several visits in the middle of the night (unless I am too
tired, then she just pays us one visit and ends up staying).
Eitan had Strep throat a few weeks ago, and after having a runny
nose for two months, was like a new baby after taking
antibiotics for a couple of days. He stopped being clingy, and
was happy and playful most of the time. He also continues to be
a good eater, eating everything in sight. We think he might
have been a dog in a previous life, as he likes to fetch, eat
food off of the floor, and chew on socks. Unfortunately, he is
not housebroken.
Caryn and I spent the last Shabbat in April in Modiin. We had a
really nice time, and we davened in a small minyan, that was
housed inside a school. It was a very kid friendly environment,
which we really liked. On the down side, it is not financially
feasible for us to buy anything in Modiin at this time, so it
does not appear we will be moving there this summer. Ilan has
also expressed some reservations about moving out of Beit
Shemesh, so we will likely stay in Beit Shemesh, although we may
decide to move within Beit Shemesh.
On
Saturday night, May 1st, we celebrated our first Lag Ba'omer in
Israel. This was quite an experience, as this does not really
exist as a holiday for the most part in the states. I still had
to work on Sunday, but the kids were off from school, so it
definitely was not a holiday for Caryn. Anyway, from the second
night of Passover, we count every night for seven weeks, until
the holiday of Shavuot. On the 33rd day, there is a mini
holiday, as our tradition recalls that a plague that had killed
24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva ended on that day. I won't get
into the historical aspects of this, but suffice it to say,
there is more to the story than that. In any case, this holiday
is the pyromaniac's dream. Everywhere throughout the country,
people are lighting bonfires. Some of them are actually quite
large, and they are all over the place. In a mile radius from
our house, I would say we saw about 40-50 separate bonfires.
The whole city smelled like smoke. I'm not really sure why we
light bonfires, and I would not let my kids participate, only
watch, as it seems really dangerous, as some of these fires are
10 feet or more high. From nearby by Ramat Beit Shemesh, where
the Charedim (Ultra-Orthodox) live, you could see an orange glow
emanating from the area. While it was cool to see, it was also
a little disturbing as the smell of the air reminded me of NY
after 9/11.
Besides that, we celebrated our niece, Amalya's birthday.
Actually, her family celebrated and we crashed the party, but
they didn't seem to mind. Since we missed so many of our
nieces' and nephews' birthdays over the years, we try to wish
them happy birthday in person. Amalya was effusive with her
praise for every present, and I remarked how she was the anti
Uncle David (family joke). Amalya's birthday coincided with Yom
Yerushalayim, were we celebrate the liberation and reunification
of Jerusalem that occurred in 1967. I have to say that the
country seems very confused over the day, with most of the
non-religious outside of Jerusalem not celebrating. Apparently
in 1998, the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) made it a national
holiday, yet if that's the case, I can't really figure out why I
had to go to work, along with everyone else. To me it's not
really a holiday if you have to work. Overall, I was a little
disappointed with it, as the day passed very quietly. I will
definitely need to take off one year and be in Jerusalem for the
holiday. Speaking of holidays, Shavuot starts in 5 hours, so I
need to wrap this up. I got to work half a day today, which is
still exciting, and tomorrow I am off. I hope every one is
well, and have a Chag Sameach.
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