Christmas can't be cancelled!

What? I recieved a call on Wednesday morning saying Christmas was cancelled. I think the message that was trying to be conveyed was that it's too dangerous for everyone to travel across town in the snow and arrive for Christmas Dinner.... but it came out as Christmas is cancelled. The very thought of it! I can't even imagine. Christmas canNOT be cancelled! In all my years I don't remember such a white Christmas. I remember wishing and praying for a white Christmas... but now that I've had one and seen how it can keep us from getting together I don't think I will be wishing for another one for quite some time. Don't get me wrong. I've enjoyed the snow... it's so pretty! But it does seem to have interfered with a few plans we have had. Regardless of the phone call we recieved that morning, we felt that we would brave the roads and at least try to make it to my parents house on Christmas Eve. The freeways were totally fine. It was the side streets that were a little bit of an issue but we made it. When we arrived, we had a wonderful Chicken Nugget and Mac'NCheese Dinner :-) Not your typical Christmas Eve special, but it was good and so nice to be with family. The snow was piled high in their neighborhood - 16inches (not sure if that was an official measurement or not, but there was a lot!) so we spent the night and enjoyed a quiet morning with my parents as well. Dad made breakfast for us... bacon, eggs and mom made the chocolate chip pancakes. Yum. I love being home in the USA!

Christms Day we headed up to Vancouver to be with half of Ken's family (the other half was stuck in Seattle). The temperatures were above freezing and the snow seemed to be melting. We were surprised on our drive to Vancouver to run into another snow storm. These flakes were huge! The biggest I've ever seen. The freeway drive seemed to be alright headed Northward, but we got stuck on the side streets heading into their neighborhood. We drove in the ruts just long enough to get high centered in our little Honda Civic. Thankfully we were only 3 blocks away and Reuben could come and pick us up. Christmas was crazy with 7 kids and 3 dogs running around. Ken got his exercise playing tag.... and 3 kids threw up from running around just after eating. Guess we have a few lessons to learn about parenting before Nathaniel comes. The food was excellent and we enjoyed the day. In the evening Ken set out to check on the car and see if the snow melted enough to get out. I'm not sure how they did it, but they did get the car out to the main street and we were able to drive home (I thought for sure we were spending the night!). It was a very busy day.

Bob-Max the Snowman

We finally decided to build a snowman. It didn't roll very well so we have more of a Michellen Tire snowman. The neighbor kids came out and helped us. We asked them what we should name him and they suggested "Bob" and then "Max". So there you have it. We also did a baby Nathaniel in front of Bob-Max. And of course the afternoon was wrapped up with Hot Cocoa! Mmmmmmm.

SNOW

Can you believe it? When is the last time it snowed before Christmas in Portland???? And actually stuck to the ground? I had heard brief news reports that it might snow, but being a native Oregonian completely dismissed the idea as a remote possibility. Sure enough Sunday morning it started to snow... surely it won't stick though. A few hours later we had a light blanket covering our yard. Well this is going to ruin my plans I thought! I had been so looking forward to the baby shower that was scheduled for that afternoon. I could hardly wait to see friends and family and I know that my friends had worked very hard to organize everything. Ken and I drove over to the shower a few minutes early. I figured it might just be the four of us (the hostess and her husband and Ken and I). I was delighted when there was a knock on the door... 4 people were able to make it! They were all non-oregonians and used to driving in snowy conditions. We had a fun time even with a small crowd.

The snow has continued for 3 days now! I feel like I've been a bit home bound. Maybe that's a good thing though. We have lots of "projects" to do around the house. The sun came out today for a bit and the roads were completely melted so I ventured out to run a few errands. On my way home it was starting to feel like it was freezing again.

It's nice to be home, but I'll admit I have thought much about our friends in Israel. What time is it there? What are they up to? When I was shopping for produce today I thought about the market in Haifa and the wonderful tomatoes I would get for 3 shekels or the mouthwatering fruit we could get there. We have some terrific memories of the last 6 months. We both agree it was a good experience and glad we had the opportunity to learn so much about a different culture and about ourselves.

It's cold here!

Well we have made it home to Portland safe and sound. The last 24-36 hours have been long... come to think of it when did I sleep last? I think we are trying to stay up for another 3 hours to adjust to the NW timezone.

Monday was a busy day... filled with more goodbyes :-( We headed to Ben Gurion Airport around 6:30ish which gave us plenty of time to drop off our luggage, return the rental car, check in, and get through security. We were grateful for the light crowds at the airport. Ken had three seats to himself on the plane, and I had two (which worked great for me). I think Ken was able to sleep quite a bit, but I was preoccupied with ensuring I got up to move around every hour so I didn't sleep at all on the 13 and half hour flight to Atlanta. I chatted with the flight attendants in the galley and watched a few movies to keep myself busy (too dark to read a book). I usually hate using the bathrooms on airplanes, but there was no avoiding it. I think I hold a record for 9 visits in one trans-Atlantic flight! After about 10 hours I started to think I was going to go stir crazy. I moved back to Ken's row and sat with him for the duration of the flight. We were very excited when we landed in Atlanta.... US soil.... we are home! Customs was not an issue and we had a very short layover before beginging the final leg of the flight, 5 hours to PDX. Ken's frequent flyer status got us one upgrade to first class which I was able to take advantage of. It's nice up there with real silverware and hot breakfast! Again I tried to keep myself entertained by reading and watching movies.

My mom and little brother (can I call him that at 27?) were there to meet us off the airplane. It was so nice to see them. It's a bit cold here, but you could see the sun barely peaking through the clouds. It's nice that it wasn't pouring down rain! We were only able to find 5 of our 6 bags at the luggage carrousel... why is this always happening to us? There was another bag that looked very similar to our, but wasn't. We decided to pull it off and call the contact number on the bag, perhaps they took ours instead of theirs? Sure enough they were already 15 minutes down the road to their home in Salem, but agreed to come back to the airport when I told them one of their bags was still at the airport. I'm glad we reached them, after 24 hours of traveling chasing down luggage is not the first thing we wanted to be doing.

Hoping to catch up with each of you soon. We are in the process of getting phones setup so send us an email in the meantime.

Last trip to Jerusalem

Yesterday Ken and I took one last trip to the old city. My agenda was to just get a few things in the market and maybe find a museum to pass the day. It took us over 3 hours to get to the old city!!!! By the time we parked, we were wishing we had arrived at the airport and could just head home. The traffic was crazy (more than usual). Between the honking and all the semi trucks cutting us off and trying to find a parking spot we needed a nap to lower our blood pressure. In the old city Ken got some great deals for us on a few mementos and then we headed to the Western Wall. It was not crowded at all which was really nice. I had been reading about the Temple Mount and wondered if we could get in to see it (it's closed on certain days, and in all the times I've been to Jerusalem it hasn't been on our route). We were excited to find out it was open to visitors... now we can find out what is behind the Wall???? I was amazed to see a big open courtyard. I don't know why. Just not what I expected. I guess I thought the wall was part of a building. Anyway, we walked around a bit and were able to go right up to the Dome of the Rock. We were surprised at how beautiful it was. So far we had only seen the golden top, but the mosaic patterns on the building were amazing.



To finish off the afternoon, we left the old city and drove around looking for Yad Vesham, the Holocaust Museum. Much to our surprise as we left the parking structure the computer said we didn't have to pay. Strange. We thought it was too good to be true and braced ourselves for all the honking and lines backing up behind us once we reached the final exit where the gate might not open. Not much has been free here or cheap for that matter. So we were pleasantly surprised when the gate opened. Must be a holiday or something. We found the museum with very little trouble at all. It was a somber place, but worth the visit. It was amazing to listen to the survivor stories and the atrocities they recounted. I've met a few people over the last few months that have talked about their experiences in Holocaust. All of this, all at once was overwhelming. About 3/4 through the museum I couldn't stomach much more and walked much quicker past each of the exhibits. Again, I'm glad we were able to visit the museum but it was very sad.

Saying Goodbye

Today we had a wonderful day at Alexander National park with our expat family. We walked to the beach and were amazed by all the seashells. The girls had so much fun picking some of their favorites. After that we went for a little walk and had a fun picnic at the park. The girls found sticks to go fishing with and even got Ken to play a game of hide and seek with them.

It was a lot of fun. We will miss these guys so much. I'm glad they live in Hillsboro and we will see them in a few months.

We also had a goodbye dinner with our neighbors. We went out to dinner with them to a nice restaurant in Haifa (after driving all over a nearby town and finding out the druze villages were all closed down for a holiday). After that we went to the Bears house for dessert and a little video game entertainment :-) We will also miss these guys as they have made our stay here so much easier.

Swimming in December

One last jump into the Mediterranean! I told Ken we could drive to the Oregon coast once we get back, but he thought it would be a little warmer here than there.


Our friend Laura accompanied him. I was happy to stand on the shore and take pictures. I've gotten enough swimming in at the pool... and even then it's been a little cold on occasion (guess I wasn't moving fast enough).

Windy

It is so windy here this week. I really thought something (tree branch or shrub) might fly through the window last night. I fully expected to see puddles everywhere when we woke up and was surprised to see the sun shining. All of the plants on the porch were tipped over. I put them upright, only to have them fall over 10 seconds later. Oh well. I tried. We went for a short walk last night. Ken actually wore a coat. I guess this weather will help ease us back into the Northwest climate. Departure date: 3 more days...

Final Israeli Dr. Visit

I went to the Doctor one last time today. Ken had to work late so my friend Wendi was able to join me. The Doctor said Nathaniel is gowing well and healthy. I saw his little toes, legs, hands, head and ears. HE IS SOOOO CUTE! He was moving around quite a bit. He also said his brain looks good... he will be very smart, just like his dad :-) So all looks well. We will have another appointment the week after we get back to the US with a new Doctor. Hopefully they will be okay with reading my charts in Hebrew (I can translate if needed :-). Seriously, the Doctor here assured me that the important information is universally understandable to all Doctors (even if it looks cryptic to me). I was hoping to get a good picture but didn't. Bummer. I'll try and insert a video from on of our appointments this summer. Thanks to our friend Bob who spliced the 45 min video into this smaller clip for you.

It's December!!!!

I can't believe it's December. We are only 1 week away from being home :-) I'm already dreaming of a ham dinner at my parents house (Ken's thinking about a cheeseburger from McDonalds). I pulled the suitcases out today. Time to start packing the house. Hopefully it will all fit back into our 6 suitcases.... you never know how much stuff you accumulate over an extended period of time. We are racking our brains trying to think if there is any place we haven't seen yet here in Israel or places we want to go back to.

Ken's co-workers had a farwell lunch for him today. It was nice of them to invite me to join them. We had a nice steak lunch and a yummy chocolate dessert :-) I'm stuffed now.... at least I won't need to make dinner.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We are sad we aren't able to be with you in Portland. I think Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It's a great reminder to stop and think of what we are thankful for. I have a lot to be thankful for (making it through this crazy adventure in the Middle East for one!) but most of all I think of family and friends and the Lord who has provided for us so graciously. We are very blessed.

Today we are having the expat community over for a Thanksgiving feast. Getting ready is surprisingly not as chaotic as I thought it was going to be with Steph and Matt just leaving. Maybe that's because I'm not in charge of the turkey :-) I'm making mom's homemade rolls (mmmmm), potatoes, and green beans.

A few hours later.... Everybody has gone home now. We had quite the group. The food was fabulous and it was fun to be among friends. There were 5 children under the age of 5 running around. They took a special fancy to Ken and when they weren't jumping on him, they wanted him to play hide and seek. We did have one "incident" with the keys in the doors. As the families were arriving Ken came to me and said, do you think we should take the keys out of the doors. I had completely forgot there were keys there but maybe the kids would find them and think it would be fun to turn them and accidentally lock themselves in. Well just after dinner we started to hear crying from the office. Sure enough there were two kids locked inside. Thankfully Ken had locked the one door shut earlier and had the key so after a few minutes we were able to get them out (those old keys are actually kind of hard to work with!). The little girl (3 yrs old) saw Ken as he opened the door wiped her alligator tears and came running towards him like he was her new best friend. Earlier she had been quite shy and not sure about Ken. It was cute. The 5 year old who was also locked in was just sitting on the couch relaxing. Interesting personality differences.


Anyway, we had a fun day... it's a little sad to think that this might be the last get-together we have with everybody before we leave. But we are ready to start packing up and heading home.

Hope you all got up early to catch those super saver deals the day after Thanksgiving :-)

Matt & Steph - Day 6

Today was a bit more leisurely than the rest of the week. We went to Caesarea where Matt and Steph enjoyed more ancient Roman ruins for a couple of hours. We also made sure they went in the Mediterranean Sea so they can say they've been in "the Red, the Dead and the Med" on their trip to Israel. By noon we were on our way towards Abu Gosh close to where Matt spent a semester studying here in Israel about 6 years ago. He took us around the "moshav" and we saw an authentic olive press, wine press, and threshing floor. It was pretty interesting. For lunch we stopped at the "Elvis Inn". It looked like a 50's diner with a million pictures of Elvis everywhere. The food was actually not bad, and we got to listen to Elvis music while we ate. Our final destination today was Jerusalem. I drove them in and made sure they had a place to stay for tonight... now they are on their own. I'm sure they will be just fine. It was so fun to have them visit (even if it was a busy week).

Matt & Steph - Day 5

Another trip towards the Sea of Galilee and then on to the Golan Heights area. Matt actually sat down last night and worked up a plan of attack. I was a little overwhelmed with everything on his list, but it turned out to be more than manageable. We drove out to the Sea of Galilee and stopped at a place called the Horns of Hittim, it was basically a nice view of the Sea through these two cliffs. I enjoyed the view and it was something new to see. Then on to the Mt. of Beatitudes which commemorates the spot where Jesus may have preached the Sermon on the Mount. Steph loved this place with all the flowers around the church. From here we headed North to Tel Hazor which was the biggest city (40,000 people) in Israel to be conquered when they entered the land. Next stop was the Banias Waterfalls. This is supposed to be one of the most beautiful spots in the Golan Heights. There were a few school field trips taking place so it was a little crazy, but the waterfalls were beautiful. We had our picnic lunch over by the Greek temple of Pan (built by Herod's son Philip) which was later known as the Biblical site of Caesarea Philipi. Then on to Nimrod's Fortress. Matt and Steph enjoyed this site for about an hour and a half while I rested in the car and enjoyed the beautiful fall day. On the way back home we stopped at Tel Dan which had ancient mud brick gates that date back to the time of Abraham. They had just closed so we were only able to see through the fence, but this was one of Matt's favorite spots. Maybe Ken and I will go back for a visit. It looked like there were some great hiking trails there. Tonight we are resting up for one more busy day... then Steph and Matt will be on there own in Jerusalem before heading back to the states.

Matt & Steph - Day 4

Monday we dropped Ken off at work and took a road trip towards the Sea of Galilee. Beit Shean was our first stop one of the most impressive archeological sites in Israel.


Over 20 layers of settlements have been found there, mostly Roman and Byzantine ruins. The Roman theater is still largely in tact and used for occasional shows. I'm proud to say I made it up the hill, it looked more daunting than it actually was and the breeze was so refreshing at the top. We spent the afternoon stopping at biblical sites around the Sea of Galilee (Kursi- where the pigs jumped off the cliff into the Sea; Bethsaida- an unbelieving town; Jordan River- very small, but a nice picnic spot; Capernaum- Peter's hometown and remains of an ancient synagogue; and the Church of the Bread and Fish- possible spot where Jesus fed the crowd of 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.) Another busy day!

Matt & Steph - Day 3

We had left things open on where to stay on Saturday night and after finding some dinner decided traveling up to the Masada Guest House/Hostel was our best plan. With 3 hours of driving ahead of us we piled back in the car and headed North. About 10pm we were wondering whose crazy idea this was? When we arrived in Masada and there was a closed gate I began to get a little nervous. Is there anyone here? Are we going to have to sleep in the car? Fortunately there was someone who let us in and there were rooms available. We really had very little choice as far as cleanliness or price for the room, but were pleasantly surprised with both. We hit the pillows just before midnight. Steph and Matt woke up by 5am and hiked up the hill to Masada to see the sunrise. Although the sunrise view was tempting, Ken and I have both seen Masada more than twice and valued a good nights rest so we decided to just meet them at breakfast around 8:30am. After checking out, we continued North to Ein Gedi where they hike to David's waterfall and then took a swim in the Dead Sea.



We spent the afternoon at Qumran and then headed for home. (Side note about Qumran.... a girl (maybe 20?) and her mom came up to me and said I think I know you, where are you from? I said Portland, OR and we spent the next 10 minutes trying to track down where she thought she knew me from. Turns out I was her summer camp counselor at Eagle Fern when she was 13. How random!). Anyway, the drive home was long and we all decided to zone out in front of the TV and watch a movie for the evening.

Matt & Steph - Day 2

Saturday the guys woke up bright and early and went snorkeling (the gear had to be returned by 8am). They took Matt's underwater camera and looks like they got a few really great pictures. After their adventure, they came back, ate breakfast and we were off to Petra. If only we knew what we were in for. In September Sara and I had gone with a tour group but didn't have that of an great experience with the tour company. Matt and Steph seemed to think it would be pretty easy to just catch a taxi on the Jordanian border and do Petra on our own, so that was our game plan. We were able to "exit Israel" and obtain Jordanian visas with no problems. Once in the parking lot on the Jordanian side there were 5 taxi drivers available, but I'm pretty sure they were all from the same company. The head guy indicated it would be $180 USD for the 4 of us to go to Petra and return. Matt was our "negotiator" who had in mind $100-$120 USD. So the negotiations began... we finally ended up at $140 and were on our way. As we were driving away the cab driver said something about switching drivers in a bit. We didn't quite understand what he was talking about but within 5 minutes we were stopping and getting out of his taxi on the side of the road. Hmmmm something seems fishy here.

Anyway, another taxi was nearby and he motioned for us to get in... So do we need to renegotiate our price? I'm going to let Matt take care of this one. Soon we were on our way... at least headed in the right direction. Then the taxi stops at a gas station??? Okay it's already 10:30 and we are burning precious daylight with a 2 hour ride in front of us. The driver comes back a few minutes later with some juice and nuts for us. Snacks...that's kind of nice of him. And we are off again.... or so we thought. About 10 minutes down the road a "random" police stop pulls us over. The driver can't find the appropriate papers and he is asked to get out of the car. We are all sitting there thinking... Great another delay, are we ever going to get to Petra. Soon another cop car shows up with more officers. One of the original officers comes over to us and says... You speak English? Unfortunately your driver is a criminal and you will need a new one for your trip. Did he just say CRIMINAL? What exactly is he wanted for? How could this have happened to us? Perhaps the organized tour might have been the best route to go after all. The officer was kind enough to offer to call another taxi for us. Thanks, but are we going to have to re-negotiate rates again? Is this a scam? Glad there is 4 of us. After about half an hour the original taxi guy shows up with another driver and says this new driver can take us the rest of the way. And once again we were off towards Petra. This driver did make a couple of smoke break stops along the way but we did reach Petra without any further traffic stops just after 1pm (over 3 hours from when we started at the border!). Turns out that making it to Petra without any additional police stops was a very good thing because when we got to Petra our driver got out, ran to another vehicle, and ran back to ours with some paperwork. Apparently all of his documents were in Petra and had we been pulled over a second time we would have had more issues! Can you believe it???? And this was just getting to Petra, what are the chances of us getting back to the border?

Our taxi driver was helpful and assisted us in getting our tickets into the park. We arranged to meet him at 4:30pm exactly where he dropped us off. This would give us plenty of buffer time to get back to the border before it closed at 8pm. Finally at Petra... we started on our hike. We had a wonderful time and the sites were spectacular even for the second time. It was a bit chilly though, which I hadn't anticipated at all. Matt was the only one with pants and long sleeves, the rest of us were in shorts and short sleeves and wishing we had brought our sweatshirts. Strange. I was just here in mid September and thought I was going to die of heat exhaustion. Winter has arrived I guess. At 4:30 we were back at the designated spot, but there was no taxi driver. Hmmm. A little concerning, maybe his watch is slow? We waited and waited. Well, the border closes at 8pm, how long are we willing to wait? At 4:55 we started to get up and look for another option and then we see our taxi driver come running up. Apparently he was waiting in a different spot for us. We jumped in the taxi and headed back to the border at 140kph. We were flying down those roads...I was fearful for my life on multiple occasions. I think we made it in record time, under 1.5 hours. We made it back through customs and were happy to be back at our car on the Israeli side.

Matt & Steph - Day 1

Another busy week for us :-) Steph and Matt arrived safe and sound on Thursday night. We got this great idea to try a different way to the airport and ended up about an hour late. Bummer. Good news is they got detained in customs for a bit and then had some ice cream while they waited for us. They were all smiles when I arrived. After catching up on their European travels, we asked what they had in mind for their trip to Israel. Only three things were on their list... Petra (in Jordan), the Dead Sea area (Masada), and the Galilee area. Since it was the beginning of our weekend we thought if they really wanted to get to Petra we better leave tomorrow! So Friday we drove to Eilat, the southern tip of Israel, through the Negev stopping at Ber Sheva on the way.

In Eilat we didn't really have reservations but the Guest House/Hostel that I've stayed at multiple times seems to always have availability. Since it cost about $200 a night when we went with my parents a few weeks ago, we thought we would try a couple other hotels in the area and see if we could get nicer accommodations for the same price. After looking around the guys did find a place for $150 a night and we brought our stuff in. Steph and I weren't as impressed with the cleanliness of the place but quickly put our swimsuits on and we were off to go snorkeling with our last hour of daylight. Not a lot of fish out at 5pm :-( Maybe tomorrow morning would be better? We came back to the hotel and upon closer inspection of the room became wary of our choice of hotels. The fire escape was all boarded up, there was mold in the bathtub/shower, the light switch didn't work, and there was a strong odor of smoke. We thought maybe we should go over to the Guest House/Hostel... at least there it's clean and we know what we are getting. Long story short, the guys went and determined there was availability at the other place and informed the front desk of the current hotel that we were unsatisfied with the room and would be moving out unless they had another room that would meet basic health code standards. Wish I could have been a fly on that wall. The manager was not happy with our decision, but we ended up leaving anyway. What a day, I was ready for bed!

More visitors!

My good friend from college (Steph) and her husband (Matt) have been traveling around Europe for the last 2 weeks and are stopping in for a visit in Israel! I can't wait to see them. It will be fun to hear about their European adventures and figure out what they want to see in Israel. I'm not sure how long they will stay, maybe a week. We pick them up today from TLV! Hooray!

Nathaniel Miles

A formal announcement... I'm sure the "secret" is out especially if you look at some of my blog pictures... but I thought I would post a specific announcement. Throughout our time in Israel, we have had the joy of experiencing our first pregnancy! It has been quite an adventure, one we weren't planning to embark on in a foreign land. Since Israelis are on government paid health plans, finding a Doctor that would treat an American was the biggest challenge. We couldn't have found one without the help of our neighbors. They have been such a blessing to us. The pregnancy has gone well, although I felt like throwing up every day for the first 4 months. Doctor visits have gone well too. They are usually very direct and to the point which aligns with the typical Israeli style we've experienced here. When I talked with a Doctor in the US on our home leave I was pleasantly surprised to have a personal conversation with the nurse. She asked how I was feeling and listened to my general questions. It was a completely different experience. Anyway, we found out in August that we were having a boy and decided on the name Nathaniel Aaron Miles (unless anything changes :-). We are very excited and can't wait to see him. Currently he is kicking me in my ribs which is a bit uncomfortable. My belly has grown quite a bit in the last 6 weeks. I'm feeling huge, and have been told I waddle. They weigh me in kilos here which actually makes me feel rather light when the number is under 100 :-) Anyway, we are very excited about our little one and are trying to mentally prepare for yet another adventure begining the end of January.

One last adventure - Egypt

Are we crazy??? Maybe. None-the-less, Egypt was still on our to-do list while we are in this part of the world so we decided to take a weekend trip to Cairo/Giza. Our goal was to see the Nile, Pyramids and the Sphinx... anything else could get to would be a bonus. Our friends went there in October and gave us the name of the tour guide they used. We flew on Air Sinai on Friday morning and arrived in Cairo by noon. We were surprised that they fed us since it was only an hour flight. We were happy to eat though, believing that would be our last "meal" for the next day and a half. We've heard lots of stories about needing Pepto Bismol in Egypt and when you get back... Not something either of us feel like dealing with. So we bought some bottled water in the airport and packed a ton of snacks for the weekend. We took two back packs... one with clothes, the other with the camera and food - everything from crackers, to carrot sticks, salami, cookies, dried plums, and granola bars.

Once we arrived, we came into the Cairo terminal wondering where to get our Egyptian Visas (they said we could get them there for $15/pp). I looked up and a representative from the Marriott had a sign with Ken's name on it. Wow. Fancy treatment! He assisted us with getting the Visas and took us through border control. Piece of cake! He walked us through the airport and to the shuttle headed to the hotel. This was our first glimpse of Cairo. Our first observation was the crazy driving... we thought Israelis were all over the road. In Egypt they don't even have lanes! The road was about 3 or 4 car widths wide and people were just weaving in and out as they pleased. Our hotel was about 20 minutes away so we had enough time to adjust to the driving. Egypt looked pretty dirty, there were no stop signs or traffic signals, and we were going at least 100mph on the freeway as we dodged other cars. What are we in for?

We arrived at the hotel and were more than surprised at the level of service and accommodations we reserved. It seemed really nice from the website, but we were skeptical that it would actually be like the pictures. Apparently we stayed at a 5 star Golf resort. We were traveling in jeans and sweatshirts and felt a little sheepish when we checked in. The room was fabulous. I started wishing we could have made reservations for longer, but our rewards points were all used up. After getting situated we went for a walk out by the golf course and ended up at "the beach and wave pool area". It looked like a lot of fun so we ran back to our room to grab our swimsuits. It took us about 20 minutes to wind our way back through the hotel, past the indoor pools, beauty spa, shops, restaurants, etc. By the time we arrived back at the wave pool it had been shut off :-( Bummer. We talked to the life guard and he said something about turning it on in 30 minutes. So we just laid out on the "beach" for a while. The beach was a medium sized area with sand brought in... we weren't anywhere near a sea or river. The sun was out and it was a nice 80 degrees. After half an hour Ken started to get in the water... brrr it felt like the Pacific Ocean! However, we had just asked the lifeguard to turn on the waves so we were committed to getting in at least for a bit. Ken didn't stay in for long but we got some pictures. I went in for a bit too, but didn't last long either. We had to be out in the lobby for our Nile dinner cruise by 4:30 so we didn't have a lot of time.

We signed up for a dinner cruise through the hotel concierge. We had the expectation that it would be something similar to what we did in Turkey on that river cruise (which was really casual). We were a little embarrassed when we showed up on a really fancy boat in jeans and sweatshirts. Oops. The drive through the city was very eye-opening... as in keep your eyes open because the driver couldn't possibly see everything that is going on and he might need a couple back seat drivers. Downtown Cairo... wow... glad I wasn't at the wheel. Anyway, back to the cruise, there was a salad bar with 12 different kinds of salad, and we could order one of three entrees: beef, chicken or salmon. Since we were a little wary of stomach issues we went pretty light on dinner. We had hoped to be able to walk around the boat and enjoy cruising the Nile, but I think the intent was for us to stay in the dining area for the majority of the cruise. They had a dancing Dervish (twirling man with a skirt - he made me dizzy!), a belly dancer, and a couple of musicians and vocalists. It was all interesting and somewhat entertaining. Towards the middle of the cruise we did go outside and try to enjoy the view. The Nile has huge buildings on either side for as far as the eye could see. There were 20 other "cruise boats" on the river with us. I think it would have been nicer if the sun set about an hour later and we could have had a better view of the Nile (although it did seem quite brown the next day). Overall it was a fun time but we were exhausted and ready to get back to the hotel.

Saturday we had reserved a personal tour guide and couldn't have had a better day. He picked us up in the lobby at 9am and we headed towards the Egyptian Museum. Mohammed (our guide) is an Egyptologist, so we was very knowledgeable and knew exactly what to highlight in the museum. I think we could have stayed there for another hour our so. The museum highlighted everything found in King Tut's tomb (I think he said this was the only Egyptian King's tomb that was found fully in tact and hadn't been raided). We also went into the mummy museum... which is kind of gross. These people have been dead for 4,000 years, preserved and now on display. I don't think they thought people would be walking by and gawking at them long after they were gone. You could see their fingernails and teeth, as well as the general bone structure which was still wrapped up. One of the mummy's was believed to be the Egyptian King who was drowned in the Red Sea after chasing the Israelites during the Exodus. The process of mummification sounded disgusting. I'm okay with cremation. Anyway, there was much to see in the museum and we thoroughly enjoyed it. After the museum we went to a Papyrus making shop where they showed us how they used to make paper. Interesting demonstration and of course there is always the option to buy something :-)




On to the pyramids. Wow what a sight! 3 million stones in one pyramid. They said it took 100,000 people to build them (our guide thought it was more like 20,000 - either way it was a lot). Apparently they only built the pyramids during the flood season (Jun-Aug) when they were able to float the stones down the Nile from the quarry. Each of the 3 pyramids was dedicated to one of 3 kings and intended as a burial place for that king. We spent a good two hours here as well and got a lot of great pictures. Then on to the Sphinx. Another amazing site. Right outside the Sphinx was the Mummification Temple (after a King would die they would be brought to the temple near the pyramid to mummify him).

The rest of the afternoon was spent at a perfumery and carpet making school. At the perfumery we observed a demonstration on how they blow the glass bottles for the perfume and smelled different scents. It was interesting. We did find a scent we liked but with only backpacks we were not willing to risk not being able to get it through customs at the airport. The carpet making school was really fascinating to me, I could have watched them work much longer than we did. For some of the poorer children in Cairo this is their chance to learn a skill, make a little money and get an education. The owner of the school teaches them how to weave carpets in the morning and pays for them to go to a local primary school in the afternoon. It was very interesting.

In the evening we went back to the pyramids to watch the sound and light show. It reminded me of Star Trek with that booming narrative voice (must have been created in the 70's). The pyramids were spectacular at night. It was amazing to sit there and think about what we were looking at - one of the 7 wonders of the world. Amazing. It was a full day, and we were definitely ready for bed when we arrived back at the hotel around 9pm last night.

We had a fabulous trip. I really can't believe how smoothly everything went, from the time we arrived to the time we got back to TLV. It was a whirlwind weekend, but definitely worth it. Glad we were able to make it there.

Average week

This week has been pretty low key for us. My friend Wendy and I took her daughter to the "Gesher at Nesher". The small hike to these two suspension bridges was very peaceful - which was surprising since we were so close to the city. Running back and forth across the bridges was a lot of fun too (Laura did most of the running).





Tuesday, I was invited to visit the "prehistoric caves" just south of Haifa with a couple of friends. When we arrived, it looked like we were going to be the only 3 there (tourist season over?) but two large buses of kids (maybe 4th or 5th graders?) showed up while we were gathering our things, so we hurried up to get in before them. The caves were interesting. They had a video of what life might have been like long long ago. Life seemed to be much more simple then, no worries of parking tickets or what outfit to wear. After seeing the caves we went for a nice walk down a rocky dirt road, not really sure where it would lead. After half an hour or so, we turned around and headed back to the car. It was still a nice walk even if it wasn't to a "destination". We finished our outing with a picnic lunch and then parted ways.

Other than that, I've been keeping busy with house stuff, swimming, and hanging out with friends. Ken has a bit of a cold :-( but he seems to be pulling through. It's always tough to be sick away from home. Our neighbors offered Ken some cake last night. He took a huge bite before I had time to let him know it was poppy seed cake, not fudge. By the looks you could have easily suspected it was chocolate... poppy seed was a big disappointment. We don't anticipate having to take a drug test anytime soon :-) I've never experienced that much poppy seed in one bite. I'm never quite sure how to react either because you don't want to offend anybody especially after they just said this was their absolute favorite cake. Oh well, by now the neighbors are used to my "hmmm, that's interesting" responses.

30 days and counting....

We should be in Portland 30 days from now! It seems like the last 3 months have flown by... and it's weird to think that we are almost done with our assignment here. I'm sure there are things I will miss but as of now, we can't wait to be home and see all of you in Portland! Yesterday we were cherishing the idea of being home soon after a trip to the grocery store... almost every car had parked in two spots and it seemed impossible to find a place to park, earlier I tried to pull money out of the ATM and recieved nothing (at least I got my card back! Hoping it wasn't deducted from our bank account), and our TV is not working again (we invited the cable guy to our house for the 6th time in 6 months, it now works but the remote doesn't). The simple things here seem so complicated. On the bright side, the weather is fabulous now... sunny, 70 degrees with a slight breeze. See you soon.

An American Party!

One of our expat friends here came up with a terrific idea of having an American Party yesterday. She worked very hard on putting together a delicious American menu. It included Bacon Cheeseburgers, Chili and cornbread, Hotdogs, chips, PB&J sandwiches, Fruit, Veggies, Apple Pie and Chocolate Cake. It was all Non-Kosher and very tasty!!!3 other families (all from Oregon!) also came to the party. It was so much fun. We ended up staying until the wee hours of the morning playing one of our favorite board games (Settlers of Catan). I think of all the things we will miss from Israel, it will probably be the friendships we have made. We will look forward to catching up with them early next summer when their expat assignment is complete.

Showing up counts!

This week I made it to the gym every day (Sun-Thurs). I don't know why it's always a struggle to get there, because you always feel good once you've done your workout. Getting there.... it's a mental battle. Sunday was the first time I'd been there since September! I wondered if anybody had noticed I was gone (you know, all my friends over the age of 65). Some of them seem to squint at me as if I looked sort of familiar but they weren't quite sure (I think my new swimsuit and belly through them off). I said Boker Tov and they smiled back with a Hello, how are you? We did not know where you went! It was nice to be missed. The water aerobics class is a bit smaller than it was in the summertime, so you don't have to fight for space in the pool. Anyway, when I worked out in Portland one of my good friends constantly reminded me that showing up counts... just get to the gym and establish the routine, later you can work on getting results. Other than working out in the morning my week has been pretty low-key... just running errands and spending time with friends. It's been relaxing :-) One of my college friends and her husband are coming to visit in two weeks! Hooray! And after that it will be almost time to pack up and come home. It's amazing how fast time has gone by these last 2 months.

Feels like September

The weather is perfect here now. Warm sun all day with a slight breeze is what we've experienced for the last 3 or 4 days. Yesterday I picked Ken up from work and we headed to the beach for a walk on the promenade. It was perfect! We even splurged on our favorite ice cream bars - Nestle crunch chocolate bars, surrounded by chocolate icecream, with a chocolate shell. mmmmmm.

Happy Halloween

I can't believe it's the end of October already! It went by sooo fast! We hadn't really anticipated celebrating Halloween this year but our neighbors invited us to a party so we decided to go. I guess they enjoyed the festivities so much when they were in the US 7 years ago that they have continued the tradition here in Israel with 4 other families who were also in the US around the same time. I was amazed at all the Halloween decorations they had strewn about the house (although no one was in a costume). They even had a motion sensor at the front door that announced "happy halloween" when you walked in. There were about 10 kids (ages 7-15) that were carving white pumpkins outside on the table. Yes, white pumpkins. I'm not sure why they don't have orange ones here, and they didn't get them at the grocery stores like you can in the US.

Everyone brought a side dish and there was plenty to eat. We had something similar to spice cider, 4 different kinds of salads, 2 soups (one was a pumpkin/spice flavor), hot dogs/sausages, something similar to a beef wellington, and lots of hummus and bread. I brought the potato salad and it seemed to be a hit :-) The one thing that was missing was all the chocolate candy that you usually have at Halloween... Snickers, Butterfinger, Milky Way, anything.... they had some hard candy in a dish which they seemed content with :-( I guess it was good for our waistlines but how can you have a party without chocolate? Maybe I should have made a dessert instead. They did have a couple desserts: an apple torte and tapioca pudding. Overall I'm glad we went, but it made me miss our annual pumpkin carving party with our friends back home.

Nothing

Today I did nothing. That was intentional. I took Ken to work, then came home and hung out till it was time to pick him up from work. I rested, journaled, and did a little cleaning... but mostly I did nothing :-)

Rain, Lightning, Thunder

Weatherwise, the last two weeks have been completely different than anything we have experienced here. Prior to our home leave I wore tank tops/shorts everyday. The first night we arrived back in Israel there was a big rain storm... but all was clear by morning. Throughout the two weeks it rained off and on, mostly at night. There was some spectacular lightning and thunder along with it too. For the most part the weather didn't affect our tour of Israel, the cooler temperatures actually made the sites easier to visit. However, I am so disappointed that the rain ruined my Tuesday. I had a great finale planned for my parents taking them to the Tel Aviv Safari/Zoo. It was still pretty rainy by the time we arrived and while they offered a slight discount they did warn us that all the animals were doing their best to hide from the rain and that should be factored into our decision on whether we went in or not. Bummer. I tried to negotiate a free entrance but that didn't pan out, so we turned around and continued with our day. Today I woke up with beautiful blue skies, hasn't rained at all. If only I could have traded today's weather for yesterday's.

Ein Gedi, Masada, Dead Sea

3-D video and Hezekiah's Tunnel

Finished Touring Israel

Sunday we decided to head back out to the Sea of Galilee to see a few places that were closed when we were there last week. It was raining most of the drive there, but were able to see the Jordan River, Capernaum and St.Peter's church in between showers. Back in town we took a trip to the grocery store which was fascinating for Mom and Dad. Dad and Ken spent most of the time next door in the “home store” finding all sorts of cool plugs and tools that they use here in Israel.

Monday we took another trip to Jerusalem. There is so much to see there. We left our house by 5:30am to participate in the tour that took you under the temple mount through the tunnels. It was fascinating!!! They had a great model showing what the temple area (Mt. Moriah) used to look like before all the buildings were constructed and shared some great history about the walls. After this tour we went through the Dung Gate and out to the City of David which also had a tour that was just starting so we quickly joined up with them. They showed us a short 3-D video and then we walked around the ruins of David's palace. We finished this tour with a walk through a pitch black cave, maybe a mile long which King David's men dug when they overtook the Jebusites living in the city. Later King Hezekiah expanded the tunnel to create a water source inside the city. Some people brought flashlights and Mom had her camera flash to light the way. The water in this tunnel went up past my knees in some places! It was a very cool tour.

Yesterday we had planned to go to the Tel Aviv Safari/Zoo. Ken and I had such a great time there earlier this summer. Unfortunately it looked like Portland weather here in Israel. It rained almost all day. By the time we got to the Safari/Zoo they told us all the animals are inside hiding from the rain and it probably wouldn't be worth it and that the park closed in 2 hours. It was disappointing that we didn't end up going. We drove to Jaffa where the prophet Jonah fled to Tarsish instead of going to Ninevah before heading to the airport. I dropped my parents off at the airport and then headed back home. It's so sad to see them go :-( We've had a fun/busy week.

Almost finished touring Israel

We have been going nonstop. My parents are telling me we need to slow down. There is just so much to see! We went to Jerusalem on Thursday after dropping Ken off at work. We made pretty good time and found a good parking spot. Dad was my navigator. Although this was my 4th visit, it's always helpful to have someone looking for the street signs which are not always visible. On our way to the old city we walked through an outdoor mall. Dad noticed some construction going on and became very curious. We spent the next 30 minutes looking at wiring (most of you know my Dad is an Electrician). He was fascinated. Right then I had to readjust my agenda for the day and let Mom and Dad see what they wanted to see.... even if it wasn't the typical tourist spots.

We entered the old city through the Jaffa Gate and walked through the Armenian Quarter which seems to be the quickest and least populated way to the Western Wall that I have found. At the wall there was quite a bit of commotion. I didn't realize that Thursday were also "Bar mitzvah" days. There were thousands of people there all singing, clapping, dancing around their sons as they carried the Torah. It's really quite a sight. We didn't get anywhere near the wall, I thought maybe we would come back later in the afternoon but we didn't make it. I'm sure we will see it on Monday when we go back.

We left through the Dung Gate and walked up to the top of Mt. Olives. We stopped at the Tomb of the Virgin Mary at the base of the hill. The Garden of Gethsemane had just closed for a 2 hour period so we went further up the hill to Sanctuary of Dominus Flevit. This place had also just closed but the guard felt compassion on us and told us we could take 2 minutes. He then proceeded to give us a 15 minute guided tour of this church which commemorates where Jesus wept for the city of Jerusalem. Further up the hill we came to the stunning view of the old city and all of the tombs on the hillside. Mom took lots of pictures. There was a camel there too waiting to give rides around the parking lot. The owner said he charged 20 shekels so Dad tried his hand at bartering down to 15 shekels. After a little bit of haggling he seemed to agree to Dad's discounted price. So Mom got on the camel and rode around the parking lot and we took a few pictures of course. When the ride was over, the owner said it would be another 15 shekels to let Mom off the camel. So Dad called his bluff and said okay...leave her on there! It was really funny. Don't worry we got Mom back safe and sound.

We headed down the hill and started thinking a ride would really be helpful. A taxi came by and Dad flagged them down. The man said it would cost 20 shekels for a ride to the bottom of the hill. I thought 20 shekels! Walking down hill is the easy part! So I said no thanks and kept walking. Dad kept talking to him though and somehow got us a FREE ride down the hill and up to the Lion's Gate of the old city (it wasn't quite a mile). At the end of the ride Dad did try and pay him something, but he wouldn't take any money. I was surprised. From the Lion's Gate we walked the Via Dolorosa. Mom thought it was hard to find the "stations" but I've walked it enough and seen other people at each station to find them. Half way through we took a side tour down one of the main streets which leads to our favorite shwarma stand. On the way, Dad found some interesting candy shops and mom found a few souvenirs. Mom got lots of pictures of the market streets. The shwarma was good. I put too many onions on it for Dad, but he ate a few bites that we deemed "safe".

Further into the Muslim Quarter we exited the old city through the Damascus gate and went to the Garden Tomb just outside the city wall. This is my favorite tourist spot. After enjoying this quiet, peaceful place, we headed back into the old city and back tracked to finish the tour of the Via Dolorosa which ends at the church of the Holy Sepulcher. Walking back through the streets we came to another construction site and tried to find someone who could answer Dad's questions. He's having a lot of fun looking at how they do wiring here. After that we were pretty much done with Jerusalem and headed back to the car. Driving home took over 3 hours. Uggh! We made it just in time to join our friends for dinner. We had a great time visiting and slept hard that night. It was a long day. Friday we decided to take it easy. Other than a few errands we just stayed around the house.

Today we went North to Akko. Ken and I had visited Akko the very first weekend we moved here. There had been some riots there over the holidays so we decided to wait a few days before we visited. It seemed pretty empty today. We enjoyed a really cool museum and a walk through the market out to the port wall. We went to the place we had lunch at back in June and ordered 2 Kebab with 8 different types of side salads (this time it came without the bugs in the salad :-). Both Mom and Dad seemed to like it pretty well. After walking on the port sea wall for a bit we concluded our tour and headed to Haifa for a little get together with friends. Fun and easy day.

Still Touring Israel

My parents have been here for a week now. We have not only seen but driven through most of the country. On Saturday we visited the Northeastern corner of the country (the Golan Heights). We drove to Banyas Spring and then on to Nimrod's Fortress at the base of Mt. Hermon. It was quite interesting seeing the landscape change. The Golan is beautiful. We drove South down the Syrian border and then back home. On our way home we were stopped by a heard of sheep walking through the street. Interesting. It was a long day.

Sunday we decided to do something light and went to Caesarea. Due to the holidays there was much more activity here than in my past visits. Mom and Dad had a wonderful time talking to the lady in the dreydel shop about Israeli culture (I could hardly pull them away! The poor lady was not able to help her other paying customers.) She was very nice and had a lot of interesting things to share. We went out to see the "ruins" and noticed the Hippodrome was filled with people. They had some horses that were racing around the oval as they enacted Roman life years ago in this port city. After the races they had other horses that jumped over an obstacle course they set up. It was pretty entertaining. We moved from there to the amphitheater just in time to join another group there. They said someone was coming to speak to them so we stuck around. While they were waiting and passing the time someone suggested they sing a song...so I told them it was Mom's birthday (and it will be soon...). So the group of 100+ people had mom stand in the stadium and sang to her. She loved it :-) It was actually fun to be with the group. They had been touring for about a week and shared some of their experiences. I guess it was the conclusion of their tour before heading back to Europe and the person who came to talk to them was their tour guide (not about anything specific to the Caesarean Amphitheater... oh well). We really enjoyed joining the group for a short time. On our way out, we bought some fresh squeezed pomegranate juice. YUM! At $5 a cup we decided to share, but man oh man was it yummy!

Tonight we just returned to day from a 48 hour trip through the Dead Sea region, down to the southernmost tip of the country (Eilat), and diagonally Northward to the Gaza border and then home again. Lots of driving!!!!

Dead Sea Region: First stop was Qumran where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. My parents kept commenting on how hot it was...we were thinking how much it's cooled off since we were there in June! Second stop was Ein Gedi Nature Reserve for a hike to David's waterfall. Sara and I did this a month ago and it was her favorite spot so I wanted to make sure Mom and Dad got the chance to enjoy it also. The hike is really only 20 minutes up to the top, but there are a couple of small pools to stop along the way. MOM ACTUALLY GOT IN THE WATER!!!! She really doesn't like water, but it was once in a lifetime opportunity... plus we told her we would take a picture! She was brave enough to go right under the waterfall. We used her camera for the pictures so if I can grab it before they go I'll post it :-) We had a great time there. We left there around 2pm and headed to Masada. I had thought they were open until 5pm, but we found out that due to the holiday early closure, we could just barely make it by taking the last tram to the top. The returning final tram would be in 1 hour. It would have been nice to have at least another half hour up there, but we did get to see the majority of it. Our final stop in the Dead Sea Region was floating in the Dead Sea. I told Mom the water was really warm, even warmer than bath water. Well apparently at 5pm, things have cooled off a bit or maybe it was due to the weather change. She did get in the water though and totally enjoyed the experience. Dad's like a fish so he had no problems at all. He kept trying to push his legs down and thought it was weird that they kept floating towards the surface. It's really a crazy experience.

Eilat: Seemed like a perfect warm summer evening here. I called around looking for a hotel that morning and couldn't find anything available (I forgot about the holiday) so I resorted to the place Sara and I stayed a month ago. After getting situated in the "dorm room" at the Eilat Guest House we set out to find something to eat. There was an open market (which reminded me of a carnival atmosphere) where we found something suitable. Dad thought he ordered a chicken patty but ended up with some sort of cornmeal with chunks of corn in it. I was surprised when he said he liked it. Mom thought she ordered fish and got the chicken patty. I ordered chicken on a skewer and got what I expected. Ken had a burger, which was not as good as he had hoped. Nonetheless, we hadn't really eaten anything all day (other than the snacks we packed) so we were all happy to have something to eat. Afterwards we sat on the beach and enjoyed the moonlight over the Red Sea. This morning we woke up and went West a bit, almost to the Egyptian border and went snorkeling. We thought we could rent snorkel gear on the beach but couldn't find anything. I asked someone where they rented theirs and they said, why don't you borrow ours for a little bit. So we quickly went out and Dad got to snorkel for the first time ever. Sounds like he enjoyed it. I actually had Mom wade in and use the mask too. There weren't as many fish that close to shore, but I'm so proud of her for putting her face in the water! She saw a few fish and then we returned the mask. As I came out of the water someone was trying to take our beach chairs so I immediately said.... "lo, lo, lo, ani, ani, ani!" and they went away. See I've learned the important phrases. "No, no, no, mine, mine, mine!"

Driving Home: We drove through the Negev... basically straight across the country through the desolate desert. I'm glad we did it, but not sure I would choose to do it again. We kept wondering what would happen if the car broke down in the middle of nowhere... We finished our trek across the country and thought it might be interesting to see the Gaza border ("the wall"). So we drove South just a bit and sure enough there was a 20 foot wall with lots of security fences/wire all around. It seemed pretty quiet there maybe due to the holiday? We decided not to stay too long. Interesting to find out in the news tonight that Gaza sent a missile out today from the strip into Jerusalem. I’m glad I didn’t know that when we were there. We finished the day with our favorite Burger place on the way home. Now we need a day just to relax.

Touring Israel

We've had a few days to get acquainted with Israel again. We spent one day out in Galilee. I felt like I was a poor tour guide but they were thrilled with the sites they did see. We drove through an Arab town (which was fascinating to them) and then up to Elijah's monastery. Unfortunately it had just closed for the afternoon and would re-open in a couple hours. So we didn't get to see the amazing view from the top of the monastery but we did get a couple of nice view points to the North. From there we drove to Nazareth. By the time we got there we decided we should really spend the time we had in Galilee so we just drove through the city... also interesting to see. My parents commented on the Arabic and Hebrew signs everywhere and felt like foreigners. In Galilee we walked through the market (which I haven't done yet) and Dad actually tried Shwarma and Falafel. We split a Shwarma (turkey) baguette which had hummus, salad and meat. It wasn't near as good as what we've had in Haifa but we were hungry. The lady also gave us a falafel ball which we all took a small bite of. It wasn't the best either... so we will have to give Dad another chance. He saw some french fries which looked good to him, so we got those too as a side dish. They were cold though and we were a bit reluctant to eat them all. Chalk it up as an experience :-) We walked through the food market and tried something that looked like a grapefruit but was green instead. Interesting.

We drove North towards some of the tourist spots, but got sidetracked by a sign outside a museum that said "2,000 year old boat". So far I haven't stopped by to see it, so we thought we would take a look. 20 years ago a few brothers were out walking near the shore and uncovered some nails which led to closer inspection and found a fishing boat. It was actually pretty interesting. By now it was about 4pm so we hurried to make it to the Mt of Beatitudes and then on to Capernaum. We missed visiting Capernaum by 5 minutes, they were only letting people out. Bummer. On to the Church of St. Peter which was also closed. Here's where I was starting to feel like a failure... but my parents were thrilled with just the site of the sea and glad we were able to be there. We made it back home just in time to pick up Ken from work.

Yesterday was pretty low key. We visited Haifa and went to the market. I showed them the Grand Canyon mall which feels very similar to a US mall minus the Hebrew writing everywhere. Dad sat in the front seat with the map and helped me navigate to the market (why is it always a challenge finding it?). It rained on us just a little bit and then warmed up again. In the evening we heard there was a festival so we set out to find it. Traffic was terrible, but we did end up finding a parking spot. There is a beautiful look out over the city which we enjoyed for a long time. One of the parks had a movie playing so we stopped and watched for 30 minutes until it ended. It seemed like an old movie... mom and dad recognized all the songs from the 60's. We finished the night by finding a little sweet shop and got a chocolate crepe to share. It's fun to watch them make them right in front of you and make sure they squirt lots of chocolate inside... mmmmmmmmm. I think we will be back in the next week or so.

Today we drove to the Northern border of Israel and visited Rosh Hanikra. Mom and Dad got the best seat in the gondola as it dropped straight down the cliff to the grotto. Glad they aren't afraid of heights or get motion sick ;-) The sea caves were fun to walk through and Mom got a lot of great pictures. We stopped at the beach on the way back to dip our toes in the Mediterranean. It was another relaxing day. Shabbat Shalom.

Back at our home away from home

We've arrived safe and sound with no issues to report along the way. My mom and dad did really well on the flight. They slept for most of the 12 hour flight from Atlanta to Tel Aviv. Every time I went to check on them they were sleeping. They had the seat in between them free so they were able to stretch out a bit. Ken and I had exit rows with tons of leg room so it worked out well for us. They served pizza on the flight which dad didn't care for. Oh is he in for a big surprise in Israel :-) Actually I already have some ideas of things we can eat that he will enjoy. He says he is okay with going on a diet for the next few weeks.

It was quite muggy when we arrived. Getting the little rental car was fairly painless. I can't believe we fit 6 bags + 4 carry-ons in there with us. We thought we might have Ken and Dad take the train but it wasn't running yet due to the holiday and we would have had to wait for 2 hours. So I sat scrunched in the front seat with a couple pieces at my feet and I couldn't see my parents at all behind the luggage next to them.

We went to bed around 9pm here and were wide awake at 2:30. I asked my parents if they wanted to go for a walk and they said no so Ken and I just ate a few snacks and then went back to sleep. It thundered and poured rain all night but there is blue sky now and temps seem to be in the high 70s. Now its about time to take Ken to work.

Headed back to Israel

Well this week went by way too quickly :-( It was great to see you guys in the Portland area, although we feel like we missed quite a few of you. Sorry. The week has been absolutely packed and we will now have a chance to rest on that 5 hour and then 12 hour flight back to TLV. We expect to be greeted by the sunshine and warm 80 degree temps there, we've had enough rain for a few weeks.

My parents are joining us on our trip back to Israel. We are looking forward to showing them the country and all of the places that have become familiar to us over the last few months. They will be with us for 2 weeks so we won't have to sprint like I did when Sara came to visit in September.

Mid December will be here before we know it. See you then.

I love HOME!

I have really enjoyed being at home in Portland. We have been able to sleep in our own bed and get really hot water for our showers :-) I have been running around like crazy trying to see friends and family while Ken is busy working. Not to worry, he will get a few days off too. It's amazing how wide the streets are here, and everyone stays in their own lane while driving. I went to Winco the other day and my grocery cart went straight forward (not at an angle like they do at SuperSal) and everyone was parked between the lines in thier own parking spot. My mom made a huge pot roast dinner for us on Sunday. It made me think this is the closest I'll get to Thanksgiving dinner this year. It was terrific. Everything is so familiar here... I'm thinking I will just stay here while Ken finishes out his assignment. Actually I can't do that for two reasons. One my neighbors specifically told Ken if I didn't come back with him they would come get me and secondly, my parents are going to travel back with us on Monday! We will be able to show them all of our favorite places and allow them to experience the culture too.

We're in the US

We made it to America!!! Hooray! It was crazy in the TLV airport the weekend before a holiday. It's their New Years Celebration. It was stressful trying to get through the lines and having people pushing from behind. One middle eastern looking young man actually wore a belt with a "hand gun belt buckle". It held up the line for quite a long time. Finally they detained him while they let others go through. Not sure what he was thinking wearing something like that... especially through the Israeli airport. The flight was long (13 hours) but we were able to sleep quite a bit. And the TVs worked at each of our seats so we could pass the time watching movies. On the leg from Atlanta to Orlando we (Ken) got a first class free upgrade (due to his frequent flyer status) which I got to take advantage of. Pretty cool. Customs was a breeze at 5:30am and our luggage made it to the US as well!!! That's a recipe for a good vacation. The car rental and hotel check in went smoothly. We were given an upgrade to the business floor which included free breakfast M-F and appetizers in the evening :-)

After check in (at 10am) we went to Kennedy Space Center. We were hoping to stay up for most of the day and get onto Eastern Time Zone. The KSC was very cool (hot outside, but lots of amazing things to see). On our way there we figured out the toll roads. We only had 2 quarters on hand which held us till the next toll booth which had an operator to make change for us. It was so fun to see restaurant chains we were used to and a few new ones too. We stopped for lunch at the WhataBurger. YUM. Ken had a fabulous Bacon Cheeseburger. At the Space Center we took the tour to see the shuttle launch pads and went to International Space station Museum. We stayed for the whole day. On the way back we stopped by an Alligator park. It was closed but we did see them up close through a wire fence. They were about 12 feet long and made a hissing noise at us. Yikes, glad the fence was there. We were able to stay up till 9pm before hitting the pillows hard for the night.

Saturday we drove to Tampa to visit the Busch Gardens. We didn't actually realize how far away the park was from Orlando, but we enjoyed it quite a bit. There were lots of fun rides and it was quite warm/muggy (not as hot as Haifa though). We saw all sorts of animals and enjoyed an entertaining show as we ate our lunch. We stayed until when the park closed, which may have been a mistake. We sat in traffic forever. It took us over an hour to get out of the park :-( I knew I should have used the restroom before we left.

On the way out from the park we got the crazy idea to go to a gulf coast beach. Ken thought he saw a sign indicating it was only 6 miles out. Well an hour later the sun was setting and we were still looking for the coast. We finally found Reddington Beach and were able to dip our toes in the gulf coast just before the sunset. We didn't stay long, but it was worth it. The drive home was long (over 2 hours) on unfamiliar roads but we made it safe and sound.

Sunday we used the other half of our Busch Gardens ticket to get into Sea World. We went to a couple of shows and were very impressed with the dolphins and the killer whales. Shamu, Shamu, Shamu everyone chanted. I was a little disappointed to find that there is more than one Shamu. We hung around to try and touch the dolphins but were unsuccessful. We may have had better luck if we had stood in a mile long line to get into the special feeding area. Oh well.

Monday we went to Disney's Epcot. We decided to tackle the "Future World" attractions in the morning. Most of the rides were pretty relaxing- sit in a chair and float through the exhibit. I liked Soarin the best, where they simulated a hand gliding adventure with a big screen out in front of you. It was fun. We left around 2pm and had lunch back near our hotel and took a short nap while Ken had a short meeting for work. By 6pm we were back at Epcot and toured the "World Showcase" which features exhibits and food from all over the world. The firework show at the end of the evening was very cool.

Tuesday we went to Disney's Magic Kingdom. I woke up not feeling great, but we went anyway. It was a bit overcast and the weather man indicated a light sprinkle was coming our way. He wasn't kidding. This was the first raindrops I had seen since June 2nd. It was very light and hardly counted as rain. The park was all decorated for Halloween/Fall. How fun. The castle was fun to see. We enjoyed each of the six regions of the park. I think Frontierland with Splash Mountain was Ken's favorite. Some of the shows were very interactive and funny. The Main street parade was fun too. It was so cute to see all the little girls dressed up in their princess outfits. We unfortunately came on a day when they closed at 7pm instead of 9pm so we missed the evening firework show that's held every other night. Guess I should have planned better. It was a full day and I was exhausted.

Wednesday (today) we decided to go to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Universal Studios was interesting. I think the Mummy ride got the best review. There were a couple of short 3-D movies we watched that were cool too. The second half of the park was more thrill rides (which Ken likes more than I). The Incredible Hulk ride and the Dueling Dragons were a favorite here.

It's been a whirlwind vacation but a lot of fun. Tomorrow we plan to have a relaxing morning and leave FL around 1pm. Can't wait to see home! Looking forward to seeing you all in Portland soon!

Packed and ready to go...

So I've been packed since 11am today (Wednesday), now I just need for Thursday midnight to roll around. (Just a little anxious to come home?) I miss you all too much. We are actually taking a stop over in Orlando to stop by Sea World and the Kennedy Space Station but we will be home before I know it! Might as well take a little vacation along the way right? I can't wait to be surrounded by signs I can read (without any effort) and where English is the first language. I wonder if I will be able to drive with all you civilized people who stay in your own lanes? When Sara was here last week there were several times she was fearing for her life :-) Keep the sun out for another week or two, okay? I love fall.

See you soon!

Computer is up and running !!!!

Hooray! My laptop which died in June shortly after we got here has been resurrected :-) Ken was able to get some software last week and update the system. It's still extremely slow... but now I can at least connect and read email. Hooray!

Day 7- Friday

I slept like a rock in my bed. There’s something about being in a familiar place. Around 10:30 or so we went for a walk down the hill to the bakery. She loved the apple filled pastries coated in powdered sugar. Unfortunately we didn’t buy an extra for her to take home with her (they probably wouldn’t last anyway). The hike back up the hill is always a fun one. You feel like you need a huge glass of water and then a shower when you finally make it to our house. But it’s worth the workout for the pastries. Sara packed her suitcases and I got things ready to go back to Portland:-( How sad. I’ve had such a fun week with her. It feels like she got here just yesterday. I had planned to hit Caesarea, the Haifa market, and take a swim in the Mediterranean Sea in the afternoon before heading to the airport today. However, we ran out of time and didn’t make it to the market. Oh well. I took Sara to the airport around 8pm. It was a full week. Ken comes home tomorrow!

Day 6- Thursday

We slept in till about 8:30 and then had breakfast in the cafeteria. We debated on snorkeling in the Red Sea or getting a start heading toward home. We finally concluded we should at least check out the Red Sea while we were here and drove West about 15 minutes almost to the Egyptian border to a the "good" snorkel spot. We walked out on the dock and were amazed at how clear the water was. You could see tons and tons of colorful fish swimming around. I ran back to the car to get my camera. Back at the dock there were a few tourists throwing bread crumbs to the fish. Instantly there were hundreds of fish fighting for their breakfast. There was a staircase from the dock going down into the water. I sat on the bottom stair to try and get a few pictures. I wondered if they would nibble at my feet? The tourist (with the bread) saw what I was trying to do and through a few crumbs my direction. I snapped at least 100 pictures. I haven’t looked to see if any of them turned out yet. They were literally jumping out of the water to get the bread. Very cool. After 20 minutes we decided we couldn’t leave without at least getting in the water. So we put our camera/towels on the beach and joined the fish. I loved the blue/white striped fish, but the black with orange tails were cool too.

Knowing we had a full day drive ahead of us we didn’t stay too long. Our next stop would be at the Dead Sea a good 3 hours away. Sara loved the Dead Sea and how effortless it was to float. I went to a different beach then we went to in June. This place had a longer shallow end and the water seemed a bit warmer. It had a nicer beach too. It was about time for lunch but we decided a picnic back at Ein Gedi nature reserve would be a better spot so we packed up and headed North again. We thought it would be fun to hike back to the water falls again but after looking at the clock we decided not to.

We headed back through the West Bank to Jerusalem and on to Tel Aviv. We really didn’t have an issues at the check points. It must have been obvious that we were tourists. Just past Tel Aviv we stopped for dinner at my favorite burger place in Herzliyya. They just installed flat panel screens at each table (booth) so that you could play games like memory or connect four while you wait for your food. I think the waiter had more fun watching us play they we did. Sara and I are both fairly competitive :-) The drive home from there should have been about 40 minutes but it took over 2.5 hours with traffic. Uggh. What a long day. I was so tired of driving. The frustrating thing about Israeli traffic is that there is usually not explanation for it. When it starts moving again you don’t pass by a policeman who has someone pulled over or a car with a flat tire. It just all of a sudden clears up. Anyway, when we got home we had enough energy to bring the bags in from the car and fall asleep.

Day 5- Wednesday

Today we are going to Petra! Hooray! We met the lady in the lobby and she took us to the Israel/Jordan border. There were 18 people in our group. Once our visas were processed we started the tour with a walk through “no man’s land” to officially cross into Jordan. There we met up with a tour guide and boarded a minibus for a two hour ride to Petra. The tour started off with a drive through the city of Aquba with careful mention of all the resorts and hotels that will be available in the next year or two. Hint, hint, "come back and stay at our resorts" was what I heard. tow hours later we finally arrived in Petra. We armed ourselves with our camera and water bottles and set off down the dusty path soon winding through the red rock canyons. Each turn in the path was simple amazing. Some designs carved into the rock could still be seen. Every spot was a great picture opportunity. It was amazing to think about the formation of the rocks, the vivid colors and amazing twists and turns in the canyon. Finally reaching the end of the path we found ourselves standing in front of an amazing palace façade cared in to the rock (know as the Treasury).The view was quite spectacular. How did they carve this beautiful building right into the rock? After 20 minutes or so, we followed our guide to the right taking us on another path towards the ancient Nabatean city. The next two hours were filled with more amazing carvings. Some of them were buildings you could actually walk through.

It was definitely worth the hike (although, I was getting extremely hungry and hot by now). Lunch was supposed to be at the bottom of the trail. It was about 2pm and we still weren’t there yet. We were told specifically not to bring any snacks with us into Jordan. Hindsight, I wished I had tested that rule out. Sara and I were both so hungry. I guess we got used to snacking on a regular basis over the last few days. We did finally make it to the restaurant and there was a huge spread of food… salads, rice, chicken, beans, pita, hummus, watermelon, and much more. After lunch our guide met with us and said we should meet him at the top of the trail in an hour and a half. Guess I haven’t said much about our tour guide yet… probably because his English was so poor no one could understand what little he did have to say about the site. I think he said it was his first month on the job. So we unfortunately didn’t learm much about Petra- other than what was in the brochure up at the visitor center.

Anyway, the walk down took us at least 3 hours down so when we heard we only had 1.5 hours to be up at the top we decided we should at least head that direction. With the heat we weren’t sure how long it would take us. We made it back just in time. I thought I might fall over from heat exhaustion on the last ¼ mile in the blazing sun. We rewarded ourselves with ice cream at the visitor center before getting on the bus. I had a good nap on the way back to the border. Processing us through the border took a long time but we eventually made it back to Israel and to our hostel in Eilat. We should sleep good tonight… regardless of the planes flying over head.

Day 4- Tuesday

After a rough nights sleep I finally decided it was okay to get out of bed (6am) and start the day. Between the traffic noise, car alarms, cats fighting and occasional loud bang (was that a bomb?) all night long there was very little sleep to be had that night. We felt safe though… inside a stone church with our car parked inside the gate. We had a nice Israeli buffet style breakfast before we headed off on our next adventure. We drove inside the old city to pick up a couple of hats we had seen the day before. It ended up being a costly adventure but we got what we needed. The next step was to find the freeway towards the Dead Sea. We were amazed at how quickly the scenery changes from Jerusalem to the Negev. Near the Dead Seas we stopped at the Ein Gedi nature Reserve for a hike to David’s waterfall. It was a terrific hike. Probably only about 45 minutes long, but beautiful. It was mostly up hill but we stopped at the lower and middle falls for a quick break. The middle falls was perfect for swimming in the pool below. We got a few pictures of us in the waterfall itself. It was really nice. I felt like I could have stayed there all afternoon if it wasn’t for the tour bus of people that came and interrupted the serenity of this amazing place. Sara and I reluctantly put our shoes back on and kept hiking up the trail. We saw a few fuzzy creatures along the way and some ibex too. Knowing we had a few hours of driving ahead of us, we ate a quick picnic lunch and moved on to Masada. Even though this was my second time visiting Masada it was still quite impressive. This time I remembered to take our water bottles wit us to the top. I saw much more of the Northern Palace this time which I prioritized after racing so quickly through it last time. I think Sara liked it too. At the bottom we indulged in a n ice cream treat before driving to Eilat. We weren’t sure how long it would take and hoped to get there before dark. The drive ended up only being about 2.5 hours. The challenge then became finding the Eilat Guest House which is where I made reservations. I didn’t have a chance to get directions and thought the address and map would be sufficient. Ooops. We drove around for about 45 minutes before we found someone who could help us. No one seemed to recognize anything on our map or the address we had. Finally we called the phone number I had written down and soon we were checking in. After much needed showers we set out to find dinner. We went to the mall across the street and had shwarma. I know this was not too adventurous, but we were exhausted from a long day and even though it was 9pm it felt like 100 degrees outside. Air conditioning relief was a guarantee at the mall:-) Totally wiped out we decided to go to bed early….especially with a 6:30am pickup from the Petra tour group. Just as I was turning out the lights we heard a sequence of loud bangs outside the window. Seeing a bunch of military personnel (with their guns) at the youth hostel, my first thought was they were starting target practice at 10pm and our room must be close to the shooting gallery. After looking out the window I discovered there was a firework show across the street which marked the beginning of an outdoor concert (which would last for another two hours). I felt like I was doing okay drowning out the music until the planes started flying in over the hostel. I guess we are right next to the airport:-) I think I finally fell asleep around 5am.