Hannukah, the Odyssey

Hannukah is vacation time for many here in Israel, and who are we if not to take advantage of such an opportunity? On Sunday, we joined our friend Hillary and her children for a trip to Latrun, the museum and memorial of the armored corp of the IDF as well as a very significant location in Israeli history. The place evokes an interesting mix of emotions and experiences--sadness at the memorial, pride at the independence, and a weird theme park sort of feel when everyone gets to climbing on the tanks.You'll notice Sidney's expression in this picture. She was really sad after hearing the tour guide talk about the soldiers who were killed in this type of tank while saving 30 or more civilians during the most recent war in Lebanon.

The next day we took a trip up north for a few lighter experiences. We drove north to the area of Tiberias. We stayed two nights in a field school run by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. We arrived late--just in time to head into the city for dinner at Pagoda, a really good and not too expensive Chinese/Thai/Sushi restaurant. Josh and I were excited for the Chinese and Thai while Sidney got her fix of salmon sashimi.

The next morning started with a typical Israeli breakfast: fresh rolls, scrambled eggs, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers, an assortment of cheeses, tunafish, oh, and how could I

forget, chocolate spread. We then headed out for our day. We took a short walk along the

shores of the Kinneret, but it was cold and dreary, so we headed inside for the rest of the day. We spent the morning at Kibbutz Ein Gev, the oldest kibbutz on the Eastern side of the Kinneret. There they have a woodshop in which kids can build their own wooden toys. Sidney chose to make a doll bed. She got to paint the decorations and then built the whole thing herself (with the help of one of the professionals). She got to drill holes, hammer nails,

and screw in the screws.

She is really proud of the product and is thrilled to have a place for Laura and Angeline to sleep.

In the afternoon, we visited the "Chocolate Farm" on Kibbutz Degania Bet. They produce high quality chocolates as well as providing workshops for children and adults to make their own chocolate creations. Sidney was the only one who really participated in the workshop, but let's just say that her parents helped out, especially with the sampling:>. She made chocolate dreidels and filled and decorated her own chocolate sufganiyot. Pretty yummy.

That night we headed to Afula for a dinner of shwarma, grilled chicken, a million fresh salads, humus, and pita. Slept well.

After our big Israeli breakfast the next morning, we headed out for a hike led by one of the people who worked at the field school. We hiked through the Keshet hills (so named for their resemblance to a keshet--rainbow) near the foot of Mount Tavor. The area was lush and green being well-fertilized by all of the cows that we encountered on the trail.

Headed back to Modiin after the hike a little tired but a lot happy.

On Thursday, we ran some errands in Jerusalem. In the afternoon, Sidney really wanted to visit the Kotel so we went to the old city. Josh couldn't find a parking space, so Sidney and I went it alone. We happened to be at the wall when the chief rabbi of Israel came to light the menorah for the 7th candle, so that was pretty cool.

Meanwhile, Josh was having a very Israeli experience of his own. He found himself in one of the tiny and unlikely parking lots outside of the Old City. There was a police officer writing tickets for anyone who was parked illegally or had not paid. In his best super-polite Hebrew, Josh told the man that his pregnant wife and little girl had just gone inside for a few minutes. Would it be OK if he just idled in the parking lot, he wouldn't park? The policeman told him where to go and said that it was OK. So Josh pulled into the indicated spot and got out his phone to play some games. After a few minutes, he heard a knock on the window. It was the policeman; he was sure he was going to get a ticket. The policeman told Josh to open the door, then he got in and sat down. Josh asked if everything was OK. The policeman replied that it was cold and rainy outside and proceeded to warm his hands on the air vents for a few minutes before exiting the car. OK.

That night we were lucky to spend a lovely evening and dinner with the Kahn family (Rob, Camille, Avinoam, Dalia, and Elle). Such a good time. Sidney was so excited to win the candle contest--

an honor she shared with Avinoam.

Hannukah prep

So it seemed that preparation for Hannukah began here the day Sukkot ended:>. An amazing variety of sufganiyot appeared in every bakery and grocery, but we waited.The week before Hannukah, Sidney's class had a Hannukah party in the evening. The children got to make four projects (a hannukiah, a candle, a dreidel, and a vessel for oil). They performed several songs that that they had prepared and received a gift from Judah the Maccabee who somehow knew all of their names. They were even treated to sufganiyot.

We spent the next few days getting ready for the holiday. On Thursday, Sidney and Josh went to the mall to get sufganiyot for the holiday. Normally I would translate the word to mean jelly doughnuts, but that would be an understatement. They went to two of the best bakeries and bought one of each variety for a sampling. The pictures say everything.

There was of course the classic jelly filled, but there were also banana chocolate, chocolate, chocolate chocolate, halva, mochaccino, melon vodka...Sidney preferred the one with sprinkles which it turned out were actually poprocks.

No, we didn't eat all of those doughnuts alone. We were glad to share our celebratory dinner with Hillary and her kids (Avi, Penina, and Yael) as well as friends Mark, Amy, and their kids (Adina and Kobi). It was a fun dinner. Josh made latkes (72 total), and the sufganiyot rounded out the meal of fried foods.

Catching up

So it's been a while since our last installment, but a few highlights...

Sidney started taking ballet. Her class meets in a room decorated with hearts and ribbons. The bathroom mirror is framed with a pink feather boa and the toilet seat is gold glitter. Really I should have a picture of the place and her dynamic teacher, Sharone Kisharone. Here is a great picture of the ballerina:

Then Sidney was chosen as the Eemah shel Shabbat (the Shabbat mother) for her class. Every Friday her class prepares for Shabbat by reenacting a family Friday night dinner and one girl and one boy get to be the eemah and abba. Sidney was so excited to get a turn to be the eemah. You would have thought that she won the lottery. She did get a crown which she keeps on hand in the house for special occasions:

Of course that was followed by a turn as the malka (queen) of her afternoon class--a reward for good behavior. She got to bring a special toy and the other kids had to guess what she had brought.

In the meantime, Sidney's Hebrew is developing immensely. She understands everything being said but is still reluctant to speak--except with me and Josh. She carries on full conversations with the two of us. It's pretty amazing.

The winter rains have started. For here, it's winter, but Sidney still insists on wearing short sleeves and skirts everyday. The teachers and parents think that she's crazy, but it does make it into the 60s everyday, so...When I ask her if she wants to wear her winter clothes everyday, she says, "Not until it's winter--not until there is snow." We've tried to explain... That doesn't stop the old ladies on the street from telling us what bad parents we are--oh well, if she's cold, she'll put on the sweater that I carry around for her everywhere we go:>.