Busy with family

I've had a nice couple of days. On Wednesday I took the bus to visit my nephews and their families along with my ex sister-in-law's ex-husband (how's that for screwed up?). The bus trip took about an hour and was very easy to find. When I got off the bus I had a little lunch at a local hummus bar which was delicious. I then decided that I was going to walk to their homes. A little about where they live. All 3 brothers (my nephews) live on a moshav (sp?) which is a farming community. They don't farm their land but they do have fruit bearing trees. There is a main house which their father lives in and then there are 3 smaller homes on the property and each son has their own home. They all live, literally, feet from each other but they make it work.

So, I got off the bus, had lunch, and proceeded down the road, stopping people along the way for directions. I got there in no time and was rather proud of myself! I also have added the words for straight ahead, left and right to my vocabulary. My plan was to plant myself at the moshav and visit with whomever happened to come by and it worked out very well. I first spent some time with Shai, the oldest of the 3 brothers, catching up on life. His son then came by with Shai's mother (my ex sister-in-law) and I got to see them. They wandered off and then Tal's twin 10 year old daughters came home from school. They speak about as much English as I speak Hebrew, but we managed. They seemed to think that since I could not speak Hebrew, I must be able to read it (which is entirely false) so it was pretty funny. Soon after the girls got home, their father Tal (the middle of the 3 brothers) came home and we visited. Tal's wife Natalie then arrived with their 4 year old son and we all sat around talking and looking at family photos. Yaacov (the father) stopped by and joined us and then I went over to his house and visited for a while. It was soon supper time and Dan (the youngest of the 3 came over). He was the nephew that got married in June. Unfortunately I could not see his wife, as she was away overnight with her office. In the end, all 8 of us sat down to Chinese food for dinner. I don't know what the Chinese are like in Israel but I can tell you that they don't cook as well as the Chinese in America. But, it was really nice being with the whole family. Incidently, it was ironic that I was spending the day being embraced by this family because it is actually the family of my ex-husband and it would have been my 31st wedding anniversary that day. It made me feel great on a day that could have been bad.

The next morning I said my goodbyes and headed back to Jerusalem. I had to be at work at 3:00. I spoke to Adam, Donna and Josh because it was Thanksgiving and it was a little sad that I could not be with the family, but G-d willing, I will be there next year. They are all well and happy.

Today, my ex sister-in-law (and the mother of the 3 brothers) picked me up and took me out for the day in Jerusalem. We had such a nice day! We first went to a restaurant for a typical Israeli breakfast (ie: we stuffed ourselves silly). The restaurant had a beautiful courtyard and the weather was perfact so we sat and talked for a long time. She then took me to the Jerusalem art museum, where the dead sea scrolls are housed. We spent several hours wandering through the museum. They recently added to the museum. They imported several synagogue sanctuaries from around the world which had fallen into disuse. There was a sanctuary from Italy, India and South America. They were beautiful and would have otherwise been demolished so it was really nice to see.

From there we had an interesting "slice of life" experience. I told Brinda that since she had a car, I wanted to pick up some bottled water. They sell 6 packs of 2 liter bottles of water. The first time I schlepped one back to the house, I thought I might have a heart attack- they are heavy! So we went into a grocery store to pick up a couple of things in the hours before Shabbat. What a zoo! The express line, was anything but. The completely frazzled cashier was dealing with a guy who refused to speak and was trying to buy something without a barcode on it. Then some kid spilled something and I thought she would cry. Anyway, we got through the line and I am now set with water for a while.

We ended our day at sunset in En Karem, a little shopping/dining area near my home, sitting outside and eating ice cream. It was perfect!

I am now home. It is Friday night and I will spend a quiet evening here and work tomorrow. It is interesting to see Shabbat begin in Jerusalem. It is like a blanket falls over the city. Everything gets very quiet and life seems to stop. Tomorrow night there will be an awakening.

Life is good and I am well. I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving.