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.

Go Pioneers!

My brother Hudy is on an IFL team here, the Tel Aviv Pioneers. The team is a huge for him- during the season I think the team has two practices and a game each week. It's a joke in our family that Hudy is always wearing some kind of Pioneer clothing, a hat, a t shirt, something.

Last Friday the Pioneers played the Jerusalem team, and it was here, at Kraft field in Gan Sacher. So we went! It was the closest thing to a real Sunday we've had in a while. We went to the game, had hot dogs and beers, and a fun old afternoon. Except for the Jerusalem team like, killed them, but it was all in good fun. Oh, and Eitan kept running off onto the field, that was hard to control. But they let the kids run all over at halftime, so that was fun for everyone.

A few observations:

• It's awesome to be able to be at a game and just go up and get whatever you want to eat!

• The field was 60 yards long, instead of 100, so the best seat in the house was on the 30 yard line. As you can see, we had some great seats.

• The Jerusalem team mascot was a lion, in a full on lion costume, but not the paws- her high heels were just on, and she would randomly just take off the face part for a few minutes at a time. 

 

Recent Shuk Adventures

So we went months without mentioning Machane Yehuda, and now two posts in a month. Craziness. But there have been some notable recent purchases and adventures, so let's go with it!

Two Sundays ago, I bought everything pictured here for 10 Shekels and 50 Agurot. It was on the "sale" side of one of the kiosks, items that were aboooout to go bad. So I consider the reach achievement that I used it all!

And a couple days ago purchases included:

Three Shekels worth of potatoes. Get it, it's a  3?

One and a half kilo of these babies for 10 Shekels. That's 3.3 pounds!

And 3 Shekels worth of carrots

And reveling in our deals of the day, we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner/snack/meal at the famous Azoura restaurant in the Iraqui Shuk. I don't know anything about the Iraqui Shuk, only that it's right next to the "regular" Shuk, but people have been telling us to get ourselves to Azoura forever.  And wow. They are right. We had Kubeh Soup, and an order of "Hummus Basar", Hummus and Meat.

Kubeh Soup. Check out the pickle on the left. Pickle in soup? Delicious. 

Tasting...

Trying to feed Eitan, Eitan trying to feed me his hand.  The soup was better...

A bite of Hummus Basar on Pita. With real kavanah.

I've never heard of either of these before we got here. Kubeh soup is amazing. It's a soup base with these balls, that are like almost matza balls with meat inside. This Kubeh soup is a little bit pickly/sour, and a little bit spicy, and so so good. And the Hummus Basar, well that's really exactly what it is, a plate of Hummus, with some ground meat on top. Both incredible. We each at half and switched. Eitan stuck with the pickles and pita. Go. Don't wait months like we did. Just go. And know they'll be a line. There was a 2:30pm on a random Tuesday. And there's a guy at the door that takes down your name and calls out to you when something opens. And the reciept is a  plain piece of paper with what your ordered and how much it costs, no address, no phone number, no "form" and probably no credit cards (I came prepared for once!).

The Ball Pit

I take Eitan to a gymboree nearby a couple times a week. It's basically a huge room with a ton of toys and kids playing, perfect for wintry days where the park isn't an option, and I'm sure hot hot summer days as well. And there are couches, and other moms to hang out with while we half pay attention to the kiddos. 

Eitan spends a LOT of time in the ball pit. He loves it! Last week he figured out how to get in and out on his own, and I was so proud of him! First I freaked out because I didn't see him for a second, but then, there he was just swimming in plastic balls. 

I tried to record him in and out, but was not successful. I think he knew I was trying to get it on camera...

Having Fun

Having Even More Fun!

Throwing Balls out of the Pit

Bored

Escape!

Shopping!

As a lone solider (a status in the Army that Nina gets because our parents are in America and Nina is serving here) Nina gets a whole bunch of special benefits that regular Israelis don't. These include extra time off, opportunities for special programs, and gifts around the holidays. For Chanuka the army gifted Nina a 400 Shekel gift card which can be redeemed at many different stores, including groceries. Of course, typical Israeli style, she was given it only last week and it, of course, has the same expiration date as if she had received it in December.

So a shopping trip was in the cards for us last Friday. I usually stay away from malls or anything really potentially busy on Friday because everyone's off and out, it's generally really a hassle, and since I have the luxury of doing pretty much what I want most days, it's so much better to go say, on a Wednesday.

But Nina doesn't, so off we went to Malcha mall, the largest shopping mall in Jerusalem. I was thinking about leaving Eitan at home with Ami, but Nina, not so into that plan, so he came too. And it's a good thing, because strollers make great racks for hanging clothes, and the basket underneath was a nice thing to have too.

Now, I haven't bought much since we've gotten here. So going out to a mall was, wow. We had a great time at H and M- oh how I felt SO at home and have missed it! We checked out a few other stores as well, but the clock was ticking and the mall closes for Shabbat at 2pm and buses stop running soon after. Which is annoying if you a) are not shomer shabbat and b) are just super organized and know that you want to go out on Friday so do all of your shabbat prep on Thursday night, but you know. Them's the breaks.

Eitan was a champ. He kept himself busy by eating bamba and taking in all of the colors and sounds, and while we were trying things on by crouching on the floor out below the stall into the hallway of dressing rooms making friends. 

My mom and aunt went shopping and all I got was a stupid bureka

What's cool about malls here on Fridays (as opposed to everything that's annoying), is that they turn into Shabbat stores. What I mean is, in all open spaces stalls are set up that sell things for Shabbat- challahs, cakes, prepared meal foods, Judaica. It's pretty cool that I came out of the mall with a fresh challah.

Another thing that I noticed was that in the food court the entire right side was filled with dairy places, and the left meat. And when you're walking around and someone has samples of ice cream that they're giving out, it's a perfectly acceptable answer to refuse because you're "meat". Just a little cool thing about being here that I will remind myself when I'm waiting in line places forever, being pushed, yelled at or watch the garbage piling up on our street because of a strike

Last but definitely not least in our excursion, was on our (two second) walk from the mall to the bus stop, a woman told me that she thought Eitan was cold. Obviously, as he was only wearing a sweater and swaddled in his fleece "bundle me" and it was 55 degrees, I know, I'm a terrible mother letting him freeze. So, you know, my first line of defense was "hu beseder", he's fine. But she then told me (in Hebrew)  it was very windy out (like I didn't know already) and I answered, "hu gavohah" which means, he's tall. Now, what I meant to say was "hu gibor", he's strong, but I guess I just flubbed up words and out that went. As we continued to walk Nina looks at me and says, what does being tall have to do with being cold. And I said nothing. And she said, well why did you tell that lady he was tall...So first haha on me, and second, it got rid of her real fast, so maybe I'll use it again.

So, all in all, good day, lots of people, lots of Shabbat prep.



Double Trouble

Eitan has a best friend here! His name is Shlomo and he's one day older then Eitan. It took some work, us mom forcing them to hang out, but this week it seems they finally agreed that they're pals.

One morning a week I have both boys at our house, and another morning Eitan's over there at Casa Shlomo. This way both mommys get a bit of free time and it's great for the boys to learn about playing together and sharing.

So as I mentioned, at first they mostly ignored each other, or tried to pull toys out of each other's hands. More recently though, they've been babbling at each other (for sure talking smack about us) and playing together ish- running around after each other, playing with the fridge magnets, and most importantly having snack time together.

See below for some shots of these two dudes.

And, a video! Shlomo's upstairs neighbors are getting new floors put in adding some real noise to their house, particularly messing up naptime. We tried to put both boys for their afternoon nap together. At first, they were both crying. And then we started to hear some babbles. So I opened the door as little as possible and stuck my arm in, camera recording.

Here's what I got:




As you can see, Eitan eventually caught me (when the camera abruptly pans to the floor) ending the game and begin the crying again. We then decided to be responsible and stop giggling and put those boys to (separate) naps.