A Shout-Out to Benjamin

Alexander, as the mobile and talkative older brother, seems to get a lot more attention on this blog I'm keeping about our time in Israel. So today I thought it might be time for me to put the focus on Benjamin, who was, in my book, the hero of the day today.

I've spent a lot of time on this blog talking about the days during which we tour around Jerusalem and Israel, sightseeing and taking in this wonderful country. But of course, like everyone else, we have to spend our share of days taking care of work and domestic duties and appointments. Today was a good example: this morning we all had a bit of an epic journey to a place called Tipat Chalav (A Drop of Milk), which is, essentially, the place you go for well visits for babies. We had to go there to get Benjamin's six-month immunization shots -- never a fun experience. I'm sure many parents out there feel, as I do, at least a little ambivalence about immunizations -- sure, the shots are generally miraculous and life-saving, but the discussions around the risks of these shots can be scary, overwhelming, and at times confusing. So for me, every time we go for another round of shots, the experience is unsettling. Add to that stress the difficulty of navigating a different health system over the past few weeks simply to get to this appointment and -- in short, it was a day I was a bit apprehensive about.

In the end, things turned out just fine. With the help of a play room in Tipat Chalav, and a bagel shop up the street, Alexander made it through the two-hour experience just fine (there were the usual doctor's office delays, lots of paperwork, etc.). Benjamin survived, too, only crying a bit after his shots. At just over six months, Benjamin's a healthy 19 pounds and 27.5 inches! And as if it wasn't a big enough day for him already, this afternoon I discovered his first tooth poking through his bottom gum!

Sometimes, excitement comes from seeing ancient architecture and sublime natural scenes; other times it comes from seeing the little nubs of a baby's first tooth making its slow way into the world. So here's to Benjamin, who, after his appointment, enjoyed a nice ride on the swing before taking a bit of a nap this afternoon (and I do mean a "bit"; he was only out for about 20 minutes, unfortunately for his parents!). He deserves all the fun and rest he can come by!

Views from the Ramparts of the Old City

Today we decided to live on the edge a bit; we went to the Old City without the stroller to do the Ramparts Walk. This walk runs along the ramparts of the Old City Walls. The walls were originally built in the 16th-century by the Ottoman ruler Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. For 400 years, Turkish sentries patrolled the ramparts. The British (who conquered the Turks) kept the ramparts intact and later, the Jordanians (who took possession of the Old City after the 1948 War with Israel), actively used the ramparts. After the 1967 War, when Israel gained control of Jerusalem, the ramparts were refurbished as part of the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park. There are two sections of the Ramparts Walk: the northern route goes along the perimeter of the Christian and Muslim quarters of the Old City, and the southern route takes you past the Armenian and Jewish quarters. We took the southern route because we walked the northern route the last time we were in the city, and the southern route is shorter (once you start the walk, you can't leave the ramparts until the end). This walk is not recommended for young children, but we're selfish and wanted to see the cool views, so we dragged the boys along with us anyway. We got lucky; they handled the walk beautifully!

 



 

This basic map shows the four quarters of the Old City. We started our walk near the Jaffa Gate (on the left), and ended near the Dung Gate.

 



 

Here are Eric and Alexander near the start of the Ramparts Walk. The Tower of David is in the background. I'm not sure if you can see Alexander's face, but he's not too happy. He thought the backpack was cool for approximately 10 minutes. Then he wanted out!

 

In this picture, the "new city" is to the right of the wall (though of course the "new city" is around the wall on all sides). There are some lovely neighborhoods in that particular direction, including the German Colony.

 

There's a lot to see from up on the Ramparts. Alexander was quick to notice the busses, trucks, and cars passing on the busy roads outside the Old City.

 

Just like a sentry making his rounds...

 

 

Eric and Alexander with the Church of the Dormition and Dormition Abbey in the background. This church was built on the site where some believe the Virgin Mary died.

 

 

I love the cyprus and pine trees that you see all over this city. Here they are growing in the courtyard of the Dormition Abbey.

 

 

In this photo, notice the satellite dishes, solar panels, water tanks, and lines of laundry on the roof of the building in the foreground. You see these things on nearly every roof in this city. Solar water heaters, in particular, are actually mandated by the government. The Dome of the Rock is visible to the left. In the distance is Mt. Scopus.

The Mount of Olives. Because it is so close to the sacred Temple Mount, this site has been used as a Jewish cemetery for over 3,000 years. It holds over 150,000 graves.

This walk involves lots of stairs...

 

Taking a break. It was hot out there! Notice Benjamin trying to steal Alexander's granola bar.

 

It was a tight squeeze on the way out of the Ramparts Walk, but we made it! Then we continued down to the Western Wall for a quick visit before heading home for a falafel lunch!

30 Poems in 30 Days

Well, I did it: I wrote thirty poems (or at least, drafts of poems) in thirty days! I'm pretty psyched. While I wrote a lot of junk, I'm hoping that I have a few keepers in the bunch. Now my task is to keep up the momentum. I mostly wrote during the evenings after we put the kids to bed, and my goal is to continue doing that in the coming months. 

 

I decided to post here one of the poems I wrote, which is in a form called a "triolet." This poem, like several others I wrote this month, was inspired by a prompt from the website napowrimo.net (napowrimo stands for National Poetry Writing Month). I had never heard of a triolet before, so I decided to give it a shot. Though the poem is short, it's a bit tricky to write because it has several formal requirements. There are 8 lines, all of which have 4 beats and roughly 8 syllables. Lines 1, 4, and 7 are the same, and lines 2 and 8 are the same (at first this seem to make things easy, but it's actually quite challenging to maintain the flow when you have to repeat the exact same line three times!). And then, of course, there is a rhyme scheme: ABaAabAB. So, with that explanation, here's my triolet:

 

Babywearing

 

In a sling, your heart is closer

to my heart. With you I’m wrapped.

 

I’m the walker; you’re the dozer.

In a sling your heart is closer,

beating time, my small composer.

 

I’d like to keep you always strapped

in a sling. Your heart is closer

to my heart. With you I’m rapt.

 

Though this poem is in a traditional form, most of my poems are not so structured; many, in fact, are rambling and at this point, quite messy. Still, that gives you a taste of what I've been up to these past 30 nights (that's what happens when you don't have TV or a babysitter!). But in all honesty, I enjoyed writing every night, and I do hope to continue the practice.

 

In other news, all the roses in our garden are blooming this week. It smells wonderful out there. Here are a few photos of the flowers. Yay for spring!



 

Road Trip

I've taken a lot of road trips, and I have great memories of pretty much all of them. There really is something liberating about getting into the car and taking off on a long drive, with good company, good music, some tasty snacks, and a sweet destination at the end of the drive. I've come home from many road trips with great memories and photos; it's easy to look back at them and remember the fun parts of each trip. But if I'm honest with myself, I have to admit that almost every road trip I've been on has also had some rough moments. Anyone who's been on a decent road trip has gone through some of the nightmare scenarios that can come up when you're living out of your car for a few hours -- or a few days. Having car trouble, getting lost, arriving at a long-awaited destination that turns out to be lame -- there are many ways that a road trip can quickly turn sour. And of course, road tripping with babies adds a whole different set of challenges. So even though in general I get excited to get out of town and have a change of pace, I'll admit I was a little apprehensive about packing up and taking off on our recent road trip down to the Tel Aviv and Herzliya area.

Now that we're back in Jerusalem, I can say that I learned on this trip what I should have remembered from previous journeys: for a road trip to be a success, you pretty much have to go with the flow and be flexible with your expectations of how the trip is going to unfold (believe me, this wisdom came with time; it was not with me when both kids were screaming in the car on Saturday afternoon). But it's true. We left for this last trip on Thursday, and came back today (Sunday). Because we've had a heck of a time getting going on our last two trips out of town (due to issues with renting a car and simply getting two kids out the door in a timely manner), we figured Thursday would be a rough day of adjusting and getting settled, and that Saturday, which was wide open, would be the highlight of the trip. As it turned out, everything worked like clockwork on Thursday, and we got going early enough to eat lunch out in the Judean Hills and visit some cool stalactite caves before heading to Herzliya. On the other hand, by Saturday, we were all overtired from Friday's trip to Tel Aviv and a late (but wonderful) Shabbat dinner at Ruthie's, so even though we fit a lot into the day, we probably pushed ourselves too much and ended up having some frustrating moments before the day was done.

All in all, we had a great couple of days out of town. Eric had some productive meetings with teachers in Tel Aviv and Kfar Saba, we had that wonderful trip through the Judean Hills, and we loved being close to the ocean again. But like most road trips, this one wasn't only about great scenery and food. It was also about working on that perennial task: figuring out how to have a reasonable plan and expectations, then knowing when to take a deep breath and to go with the flow during moments of unexpected excitement or frustration. I'm still working on that last task. Meanwhile, here are some highlights of our last few days on the road.

Soreq Cave
This striking stalactite cave was discovered by stone miners in the 60s. It's been preserved ever since. Scroll down past the photos of the stalactites and you'll see a couple of shots taken on the hike down to the cave. In the last one, you can see that just outside the nature reserve, the mining operation continues. I've noticed this in many of my travels throughout the U.S., also; just outside preserved areas, it seems mining and logging and other resource extraction are at their worst. I'm sure the mining looks more dramatic because of the striking visual contrast of a gutted mountain next to a preserved one. When Alexander finished oohing and ahhing over the stalactites, he came outside and caught a glimpse of a huge pickup truck carting stone through the mine below. His response was, of course, "Wow!" Exactly.

 

The Mazda 5
We rented the Mazda 5 to test drive it; this was our first trip in a minivan, and I have to admit, it made things a lot easier. So what do you think; should we get one?? (Speaking of resource extraction...)

Ein Hod
Ein Hod is an artist's colony in Israel. Located mid-way between Tel Aviv and Haifa, in the Carmel Mountains, Ein Hod is home to about 150 artists and their families. Since we visited Ein Hod on Shabbat, it was very quiet and most of the galleries and studios were closed, but we still enjoyed the architecture and beautiful views of the mountains and the Mediterranean.

 

Zichron Yaakov
Zichron Yaakov has been called the "Provence of Israel." Also in the Carmel Mountains, this mountain town is in the heart of Israeli wine country. While we weren't really up for wine tasting with the babies (next time!!), we did enjoy the town's playground (check out the giant banyan trees growing there), ice cream, and main street. The last photos is of "Benjamin's Pool," which was one of Israel's first pipe-fed water fountains.

Caesarea
Caesarea is a coastal town that was originally built by King Herod in 25-13 B.C. Since it was an administrative hub of the Roman empire, there are some impressive ruins in Caesarea, including a Roman theatre, palaces and administrative buildings, and an aquaduct (pictured below). There are also some decent beaches. Caesarea is a beautiful place, but right before we got there, we were having multiple meltdowns -- the boys were hungry and tired, and we were all stressed out. It was nice to be able to stop, get out of the car, and put my feet in the water!

Benedict's
Our new favorite restaurant is Benedict's. They serve 24-hour breakfast, and I don't mean diner food; this breakfast is fast, cheap, but high-quality! They serve nutella with their dinner rolls and champagne cocktails with an order of eggs benedict. It doesn't get much better than that, right? We ate at Benedict's two our of our three nights in Herzliya. Here are Alexander and Eric playing as we wait for the check; notice the super-clean plates! Not a bit of egg or pancake left!

Park Kfar Saba
The boys and I hung out in Park Kfar Saba for a couple of hours today while Eric went to a meeting at a local school for art teachers. It was close to 90 degrees in Kfar Saba today, but luckily, the impressive playground in the park was covered with awnings, so we had a great time there.

Coming Home
It's always good to walk in the front door after a road trip and feel glad that you're back. We had a good trip, but it's nice to be back in Jerusalem again!

Jerusalem Botanical Gardens

We spent part of this morning at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens. (Unfortunately,we didn't realize until mid-way through our visit that the camera settings weren't adjusted correctly, so the photos we took of the boys didn't come out very well.) Still, here is a sampling of the beautiful flowers we saw. This is definitely a great place to come for a walk or a picnic. And only about a 15-minute walk from our house! I'll keep this entry short, and let the photos speak for themselves.