More Random Reflection

We celebrated our first Rosh HaShanah here as citizens. It came and went sort of seamlessly as a continuation of normal life. It was really nice. We were invited to several homes for meals throughout the holiday. All of the little girls in our community got new white dresses for the new year. We missed a beat on that one, but Sidney was none the wiser and we'll know for next year. In truth, she probably would have refused to wear it anyway. On Thursday before the holiday they had a party at school. All of the kids were supposed to wear white t-shirts. Sidney didn't have one so Josh took her to the store the night before to get one. She asked where they were going, and Josh told her that they were going to buy her a new white shirt. She said, "Abba, I know what kind of white shirt I want...a pink white shirt."

On Friday, we saw a large number of soldiers heading home. I asked Sidney if she knew why there were so many soldiers traveling. She answered that it was because they were going home to be with their families for the holiday. Then she asked, "Are all of the soldiers kids?" We answered yes, that everyone is someone's kid. She said, "No. I mean, are all of the soldiers just big kids?" Oh...

Josh and I are enjoying our respective ulpan classes. Every morning we walk through the Mahane Yehuda market to get to our school. This morning we were there early, before many of the stalls opened. Just walking that one block, it was amazing to hear the variety of languages spoken: Hebrew, Russian, Amharic, French, Arabic, and Spanish.

Ulpan is this really interesting cultural phenomenon--state sponsored language acquisition course. Today two more students joined my class: one studying here for the year from Australia, the other a new immigrant from Iran. Also, today is the second day of the three-day Muslim holiday Eid ul-Fitr, marking the conclusion of the month of Ramadan. The Muslim students at ulpan brought food to make a party including traditional sweets served in their homes. It was really a wonderful instance of cultural sharing...I have been told that this kind of openness is rare outside of the ulpan setting. It was really cool, and the date filled cookies were especially good!

We are just about settled in terms of the apartment. Most of the pictures are up on the walls. We have even done a few loads of laundry. Unlike most Israeli households, we do not yet own a television. Not sure where we would put it if we did (and right now we have no plans to buy one). In fact, we haven't really had a TV since leaving Brockton. Kind of liberating. But Josh misses Sportscenter. At least we have high speed internet.