first kibbutz days, 2010

Foraging for food in Tiberias on Wednesday was a very hot endeavor. We are all ridiculously jetlagged and had to tire out the troops somehow, so we went to Tiberias and got a falafel and shopped at the shuk (open-air market) and in a supermarket. Here I'm attempting to blend in in my large drab hat (they all know I'm American; I wonder how?) while selecting produce.

The peppers were so cheap! 2 shekels a kilo, which is about 50 cents a kilo which means like 20 cents a pound or so if my math is correct. I bought a lot of red ones and hope to roast them tomorrow.

Honestly, the Tiberias shuk is very unpleasant. It's small, which is good, but it's hot, stinky, full of people yelling, lots of sticky substances on the floor, etc. But the food is so cheap. We loaded up on produce, rolls and cookies, then headed back to the car to drive to a supermarket. Need proof of how hot and humid it is here? Here's Vivi's head after the air conditioned car ride to the supermarket:

Supermarket was cool and a bit more tame, but not by much. Vivi dropped a bottle of "Hawaii" shampoo on the floor, breaking it and getting shampoo all over my and M's sandals, and dropped a 4-pack of AA batteries, breaking open the packaging. I then proceeded to the beverage aisle and picked up a bottle of our favorite cheap wine. Here is the refrigerated section, full of yum ...

Up close in the hummus section. Hooray!

Harvest season begins

It's only lettuce and strawberries (and tons of parsley) at the moment, but at least it's beginning. I'm not sure we'll get anything else except for mulberries and cherries before we leave in about 10 days. L is thrilled to go outside every day and find the latest strawberries.

V loves to pick whatever. Mostly she's been pulling leaves off strawberries and pulling whole basil plants out of the garden, but sometimes I can distract her next to some lettuce and she'll pick. Then she throws everything in the bowl up in the air and it scatters. The arugula is delightful this year, not too spicy.

Only a few strawberries have actually made it inside the house; the rest are gobbled up outside. Yum.

good to know

that hummus is #112 on the list of "stuff white people like." It explains a lot.

return of sir hasirim

We've had an exciting couple of days as our apparently advanced daughter has chosen to use the sir. I'll spare you the photos! She's had two number 1 "hits" yesterday and today and one number 2 "near miss" yesterday. It's great to have this old friend back in the living room awaiting cries of "pee-pee" at random moments.

Eric vs. the Arkeologists

I am so glad that Eric jumped all over this. He was on Good Morning America yesterday and Fox News today. He did well both times, but I really liked his approach today on Fox.

Miraculously, no student sent me a link to this story, which was all over the internet. Does this mean that, after at least a year with us, our students are THINKING CRITICALLY? If so, it's pretty cool!

when mama's away

I've gone out of town for the last two weekends. Weekend before last I went to St Louis for a conference for a day (not overnight) and this was the result. I know it's sort of painful to watch, but there's a fair amount of crocodile tears and drama on L's part. This past weekend I went to MI for one night, my first night away from A. She cried, was a barnacle, etc., but L was great. I feel so needed.

5

It was L's fifth birthday recently, and we cracked and held her party at ACROS Gymnastics. Here is a funny group shot post-play and pre-cupcakes.


A good time was had by all . There was lots of bouncing around, jumping, running, hanging from ropes, etc.

Few slept through the whole thing, although L and A were wiped afterwards.

After playing we retreated to the party area upstairs for snacks.


L and I made cupcakes - we spelled out her name in jellybeans (those went first).

L insisted on changing into a fancy hand-me-down (thanks M!) party dress midway through.

L had a terrific time, and was very smiley and sweet. This doesn't mean that we'll necessarily do this again next year!