Headlines

So...although you'd never know it walking the streets of Jerusalem, this country's been in an escalation with Gaza since Friday. I'm certainly not the most politically involved person here, even in this house (yes, Eitan is way more into the news then I am. I kid. But Ami is.), but going about routine in this city feels a bit off considering what's going on a couple hours south of here.

Long story short, with links to articles I've been reading; on Friday, Israel completed a targeted assassination of a bad guy who was not only involved with Gilad Shalit's capture, but also currently planning future attacks on Israel. As a retaliation, more bad guys in Gaza have been shooting rockets into Israel. Hundreds of them. Primarily these rockets have been headed towards Beer Sheva and Ashkelon. The good news is there's new technology called the Iron Dome which intercepts rockets, but it's not 100% effective.

School's been cancelled in those regions, which means parents have to stay home with their kids and life pretty much has got to suck big time there. Sirens warn 45 seconds before a rocket hits, leaving a few moments for people to get to shelter, that's a good start but 45 seconds? 45 seconds. It's nothing. Especially if you would need to grab a baby and get there. Or two babies. What do you do? There's a bomb shelter in the basement of our building, which is good if I wouldn't plan to go anywhere more then 45 seconds away from home. Which would suck big time because today we ran out of both milk and diapers.

There was a ceasefire brokered by Egypt, which seems to be a bit tenuous now. 

Okay, so that's a wrap up of what's going on. What's odd, really really strange, is it seems I am the only one around here somewhat consumed by it. People are going about their business as usual, and while I'm certainly not fluent in Hebrew, I haven't overheard one conversation in my daily outings about it.

I might be a bit more sensitive then the average Israeli who has been raised with rockets as a reality, but, I still can't grasp the normalcy of it all.

My sister travels to her army base through Beer Sheva, and I worried the whole Sunday morning until she texted that she was on her base. I'm not worried about her on the base, it's the to and fro that make me nervous. I'll probably go through the same stomachache on Thursday when she comes back here for Shabbat, even if everything is quiet until then.She told me about a girl that was supposed to join her team in the infirmary this week, nothing out of the ordinary, just someone new to the team, who lives in Ashkelon, and was too scared to leave her house to travel to the base and is official AWOL from the army despite everyone knows exactly where she is and why she's not on base and she's been in touch.  My brother lives in Tel Aviv, just a half hour drive from Ashkelon where rockets have been hitting as recently as this morning. Heck, I stayed in Ashkelon just a few weeks ago while on Birthright. This stuff freaks me out!

And then, I guess at the same time, I live my normal life here as well, but clouded with a bit of Jewish mom worry. I still am out and about (enjoying the beautiful spring weather), taking buses, sitting outside at sidewalk cafes, because, thankfully, nothing really feels different here in Jerusalem.  And since we got here, always walk by various memorials marking different bombings on our street and around town a bit anxiously, both thankful that we're able to walk on the street safely now, and proud of us for actually coming here this year to do it, but at the same time both aware and worried that this carefree-freedom can end.

So, one day at a time. Right? For now, trying to both embrace the Israeli spirit of continuing on, and not getting bogged down by what is really a reality, and at the same time, trying to keep myself here- checking the news sites to be informed, and to really really appreciate the people who are living in the middle of this all.

Spring is Here!

And not a minute too soon. It's almost like Purim came and said to the weather, hey, what's the deal? It's March, get with the program. And it's beautiful.

Mornings and evenings are still a bit chilly but the days are filled with lots of warm sunshine. It's delightful. Sure, it will probably rain a few more times (yay for rain, remember?), but the spring is for sure here and making its mark all over the city.

Including our front window.

Friday, March 2nd:

 Sunday, March 11th:

 

Wild, right?

And it's the same all over the city. In random traffic circles, corners and parks, flowers are in bloom and the grass is SO green (thanks to all that rain, I'd imagine!)

Here we saw a flower bomb in a traffic circle on our way home from the playground yesterday, I decided to pull over and let Eitan check it out for a few minutes.

 

 Spring, we are happy to have you! Please stick around for as long as you like!

Purim in Pictures

Because each is worth 1,000 words, right? Or maybe because I'm a little lazy tonight. You can decide...


Wednesday: Breaking the fast on homemade hamentaschen (even though it wasn't Jerusalem Purim yet)

Appreciation!

Tasting...

Loving!

Thursday: Purim in non-walled cities! Seudah at the Horn/Lawrences in Neve Daniel

Their grandparents also had Seudah together just a few thousand miles away.

Eitan refuses the defining elements of his costume. His costume was a  Texas Tuxedo, Daddy as a  sheriff.

Friday: Purim in walled cities! Seudah at the Maller's in Nachlaot.

Eitan gets conned into wearing his whole costume for 5 seconds! Sheriff and Cowgirl!

Only picture of the three of us. And no one's drunk here...believe it or not.  Poor Eitan. These are your parents...

Hamentaschen Hunting

Even likes the icky Israeli Hamentashen

As I mentioned in my last post, here in Israel hamentaschen are called auznei haman. It's weird. They're also not good. And I have done extensive research. Yesterday I went on a hunt for some good hamentaschen.

On Rosh Chodesh a couple of weeks ago I went to a bakery on our street to get some, and was surprised with the flavor options they had: hazelnut, date and poppy, weird, right? Where's the strawberry, apricot? Huh? So I got the hazelnut. They were eh. The cookie was hard and the inside also was like a triangle of this nut paste, not what we are used to. So I figured that was just a weird place- or that as Purim got closer, more options would emerge (it was like that with Sufganiot and Chanuka).

A week after that I stopped into Neeman (the chain, not the Emek Refaim one for those keeping track) and saw a couple more flavors; chocolate (getting better) and halvah which was a chocolate flavored cookie with halvah filling. Better, but still with hard cookies, and left me really wanting some fruit filling.

So yesterday I was optimistic. I went to the other Neeman, Marzipan and peeked around in other neighborhood shops. Not a fruit filling to be found. At Marzipan, the guy was actually shocked when I told him we get fruit fillings at home. It's like I was telling him we have pizza for dinner at the Seder.

 Here's the breakdown:

• Chain Neeman: Eh
• Bakery on the street that starts with a T that I can pronounce: Eh
• Emek Refaim: Okay, softer cookie, soft filling
• Marzipan: Delicious cookie, soft (!), more interesting fillings (still no fruit) but still not like home

  

Rosemary Hazelnut and Chocolate from Emek Neeman

Marshmallow Chocolate Chip from Marzipan

I was left with no choice, but to save Purim for our family and buck up and make my own.

I am not a baker really, and here, all the more so, with all of these delicious bakeries all over with tons of kosher dessert treats. And I don't have my kitchen stuff, no mixer, no rolling pin, no cookie sheet, and an oven that goes from "1-10" instead of displaying actual temperatures. Really. 

But I needed to provide for my family, and shoot man, I did. Ami's favorite hamentashen are cherry. I looked far and wide for cherry pie filling, and got some!  This is a particularly large challenge because Ami's mom makes the absolute best hamentashen- they're soft, perfectly shaped, just enough filling, and there's no way mine will be half as good in the best of circumstances. I mean, she's named after this holiday's heroine! Of course hers are the best. Given what I'm working with here, I'll take an A for effort. 

Here are some shots of how it all went down. We'll be chowing down on them at the end of the fast tonight.

Number 1 Assistant!

Rolling Pin Substitute

Batch Number 1

CLOSE UP! Cherry Goodness!

Purim Prep

Purim Madness has hit. It's really not at all as crazy as the week before Chanuka, but it's here nonetheless. Bakeries are filled with "auznei haman", haman's ears, such a weird name for a cookie- they're really hamentashen! Many stores have pre made mishloach manot for sale, and there are tons of pop up costume shops all over. Really, every store has turned into a costume shop.





Oh and the Shekel store! Well that place was an absolute madhouse last night- people were buying little bags for their mishloach manot, small candies and treats to fill them, and random stuff to make costumes out of. It was really mayhem! Like Target on black Friday. Don't worry, I got what I needed.


Stay tuned for updates on this crazy week of Purim outside Jerusalem (Thursday), Purim inside Jerusalem (Friday) and all of the costumes and fun that goes along with that.

Here's a preview of some of the sights around the neighborhood.

Purim Greetings out front of a local bakery

Even the Burger shop is in on it with a play on words

After I gave him a taste! This baby is too much!

Snow in Jerusalem!

For the first time in seven years it snowed in Jerusalem last Friday morning. The snow came down for about forty five minutes, and certainly didn't stick despite news reports that the city was "blanketed in snow".

Eitan was transfixed. He just stood by the window and watched. And repeated after us, snow, or nooooow. We watched the snow from inside, by the time we might have decided to actually get dressed and go outside, it was over.

Here are some shots from our second floor window. And for those keeping track, yes, it's another post with Eitan in pajamas. We get dressed only to leave the house. And with the recent rain, well that hasn't been very much.

And when the snow stopped and turned into a sleeting rain with hail thrown in for fun, Eitan got busy walking around in circles. Really.

 According to weather.com however, after today there is NO rain in the 10 day forecast, so we're looking forward to a SUNNY Purim this Thursday/Friday!

On Top of the YMCA

A few Fridays ago it was one of those perfect Jerusalem days. Sunny, warm, but not too warm and it felt like spring was somehow around the corner. We had brunch in the outdoor section of  one of the cafes at Mamilla mall overlooking the Old City walls. It was magical.

And, considering the weather this week, feels like ages ago. I am SURE it hasn't rained every day in the last week, but it really feels that way. And yes, rain is fabulous for the country, as I've mentioned before, but when we thought about coming here to the DESERT, I certainly wasn't expecting this. 

So after a few (very) long, rainy days, and looking at a forecast with rain through Sunday, it's always good to remember the magical days. Also good to remind myself that I've only worn my winter coat a handful of times since we arrived in November, and it's not even my hard core sleeping bag in a coat, but a wool jacket. And last Monday, well, was gloriously sunny and warm. Okay, feeling better already.

But back to that magical Friday. Ami read somewhere that one of the best views of Jerusalem is from the top of the tower at our local YMCA, and as we walked from Mamilla home, we decided to have a mini adventure and get up top. For 5 Shekels a person, you can take the stairs up there, and for 10, the elevator. Don't think too long about how we ascended...

And the view was phenomenal. Since it's a tower there are views all 360 degrees around (duh) and they're all amazing- of the Old City, the hills, downtown, even as far as the desert.

So these photos don't do the view justice, but it's proof we were there! The tight space was hard to get a shot, and that little boy was happy just to run around in those narrow slices of the outside even though the view was of stone.

After a not-so-fun last couple days of being stuck indoors, Eitan getting some random allergic reaction and waking up with red blotches all over his body (he's fine now...and we have a lovely (American) pediatrician who squeezed us in same day) and other bits of drama, it's good to remember the sunshine.

So here's to remembering the nice days!


PS- Does the title of this post remind you of both the song that grade school kids "on top of spaghetti"? Because it's in my head now, big time, and for some reason, not the YMCA song.