Iron like a Lion in Zion

Iron like a Lion in Zion

Rehovot, Israel -- AAAAAAH! Ok, we made it to the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem 20 minutes before the bus to Rehovot was supposed to leave--enough time to buy tickets and flowers and call Daniel before we head to the Lowengrubs, right? No, the bus left more than 10 minutes early and we barely were able to get tickets in time. Ugh! That’s Egged (Israel’s bus system) for you.

Anyway, this marks the end of our stay in Jerusalem, and we must admit that it was everything we wanted/needed. This being the second time we were here since 2007, we took it a bit easy and didn’t try to overdo the site-seeing. We did do all of the usual stuff though like go to the Kotel  (Western Wall) for Friday night services and eat lots of shwarma- mmmm! I think we really know the city well and Betsy says that it almost feels like a home away from home now.

On Wednesday, it was off to Machaneh Yehuda , Jerusalem’s famous outdoor market. I think that it is Betsy’s favorite part of all of Israel. The strong smell of spices, the bright colors of produce, vendors shouting TOOTIM, BANANA, BANANA! (strawberries and banana) and the hoards of people clawing their way through the crowds, and of course the lemonana (mint lemonade). Then we took a nice stroll along the Ramparts Walk en route to the Kotel. The views were amazing as we could see all of the Old City.

Thursday, we went shopping for Shabbat and bought challah, lots of deli, grape leaves, salads, wine, and a poppyseed babka (Betsy thought it was chocolate inside and enjoyed it until she found out that it was really poppyseed). We also bought Betsy a siddur (prayer book) with both English and Hebrew. Then it was Burgers Bar for lunch (I got the chicken sandwich) and off we went to draw the Chords Bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava. It is pretty controversial here because it clearly does not fit in with the Jerusalem stone that wraps every other building in the city.  I liked the structure, but I can’t decide if it belongs here or not. Betsy thought that it was great except for the huge, pointy mast that was just awkward.

Friday, it rained. It seems like everywhere we go, the bad weather follows. Lets just say that it doesn’t rain in Israel too often and we were lucky enough to be here while it did. During a break in the weather, we headed to the Montefiore Windmill and wound our way through the interesting neighborhood and developments near there, Yemin Moshe and K’far David. It really is a beautifully serene place just opposite Mamila Mall and the Old City. That evening, we went to a relatively empty Kotel (because of the wet weather) for services. I joined a Minyan singing Lecha Dodi and stayed with them for the remainder of services. Betsy got right up to the wall and said some prayers with her new siddur and then joined in some singing at the end. All-in-all, it was a much better, more meaningful experience for both of us than previous times. We happily strolled back through the Jewish Quarter, awaiting the deli we had back at the hotel.

After a relaxing Shabbat, we headed out to Emek Refaim again to find a place for drinks until we regained our appetites for a late night shawarma . We found a nice looking bar/restaurant, but when we started to get served we realized that it was a restaurant and not a bar. The service was very slow, but we made the best of it.

Today, (after one more shawarma) we made it to the Lowengrubs in Rehovot! And that means Passover is coming and there is much to do before Monday night. We are very excited and are happy to be with “family.” And we are also looking forward to the great food and the Seders. Chag Kosher V’Sameach—To those of you celebrating, have a wonderful holiday!

International Birthday

Jerusalem, Israel--- Hello all! Before I go any further, I want to thank everyone for your kind birthday messages! I had a birthday to remember: two foreign countries, two passport stamps, six desserts, and, with the time difference, 29 hours of birthday wishes, haha.

It has been a busy few days. We spent our last full day in the Cote d'Azur by taking a day trip to Nice, about an hour's train ride from the farm in La Roquette. We were surprised to find that Nice is huge, and actually thought it somewhat disjointed. We started in a more ritzy area, where we went to the Musee Matisse (a little disappointing) and the Musee Chagall (the highlight of the day), before moving to Vieux Nice  the oldest neighborhood. It's narrow, cobblestone streets crammed with shops and restaurants had a completely different feel. Later, we ran back to the train station through sprawling, modern streets not unlike downtown Chicago or New York City.

In Ben's words, "Nice is a massive mushkebubble of cultures and architectural styles piled together with no perceivable order. It is huge. There are mountains, a beach (which was very rocky when we were there, perhaps to keep the sand in place?), a medieval section, a post-modern square, Italian Renaissance planning, and even ancient Roman ruins. Its streets ranged from tiny, tangled alleys in Vieux Nice to grand boulevards. Many buildings are massive--too massive to be understood from nearby streets or plazas. Squares are often larger than parks and are bisected by train tracks and streets for cars. Many parts are dirty and smelly. Minorities seem to be the majority here, with more Asians than anywhere else we have seen. Kebab places outnumber bistros. There is trash in the streets and dog poop everywhere. For such a city to have so many grandiose squares, boulevards, museums, etc., how could it be so dirty? The whole city was baffling, and perhaps that so much was closed when we were there (a Sunday), and that the weather was very grey only exacerbated Nice's eeriness/weirdness. It reminded me a bit of Naples (maybe Nice has some pirates, too!)."

The next day we packed up our belongings and said our final goodbyes and thank yous to Gaby and Ton. We boarded a regional train to Cannes and then transfered to a train bound for Paris. It was not a TGV train, however, and it took us a total of 5.5 hours to get to Paris. But we did have a great lunch on the train. Man, the stereotype of the French gourmand certainly seems to be true! Yum. We made it through Paris without much trouble, and got to spend the night of March 22nd there. Our (not so nice) hostel was close to the Bastille and we even got to peek in at Place des Voges, which was awesome. Then it was birthday dinner at a modern French fusion restaurant. The next morning we left the hostel at 7:15. The manager said it was a 30-40 minute train ride to Charles de Gaulle, so we thought we'd have plenty of time to make our 10:15 flight. Wrong! It took well over an hour to get to the airport and even longer to find the right terminal and security gate for Israel. We had a couple of frantic moments but ultimately made it with time enough to get a pain au chocolat for birthday breakfast. Ben and I were not seated together on the flight, but we made it to Tel Aviv, found some bourekas, and made our way to a shared taxi to a Jerusalem, where we will spend the next five nights.

Our time here has been great so far. It is warm but not hot and we are enjoying all of the great food and traditional sights. After two pretty full days of travel, it is nice to slow our pace and relax a little.

Schweir Arbeit (Hard Work)

La Roquette --- Oy, my aching back! They are working us like dogs here. We have been joined by a Polish contractor named Yustin, and have been building the entry steps/walkway out front. I (Ben) got to do the design for it- which is pretty awesome. So, since Sunday, we have been working from about 8:30 to 6:00ish every day this week. And now my back hurts. The work includes digging away the earth, mixing and pouring concrete, tiling with large stones and cutting re-bars. It is very hard work and every day, I feel it in my muscles. It is very satisfying. It’s the instant gratification that you get while working with your hands that I have missed so much in architecture, a field where it takes months or even years to realize a project. We finished pouring the concrete today! 

Gaby has found a lot of work for me (Betsy), though not as physically demanding as Ben's, thank goodness. I have been weeding, chipping wood, aerating soil with a giant pitchfork, cooking, cleaning, and occasionally helping the men (mostly by digging or carrying things). My muscles are starting to appear too... sort of! But right now I am sore so it feels like they are, haha. We are working 9-10 hour days, much longer than in the WWOOF description, but they want to take advantage of Yustin while he is here, and it feels satisfying to be so productive. We are accomplishing a ton, and this is exactly what I had in mind when we began planning over a year ago: something totally different from the classroom! Every time I want to complain I think, "This is soooo much better than homework!"

They shaved Charlie for the summer and he looks ridiculous. I also saw a newborn sheep on  a walk through the woods, as I passed by a farm.  

Here is a what facebook calls  a "public link" to an online album of our many Cote d'Azur photos. It's the same as Ben's facebook album:

www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2522250&id=5726231&l=5911a3941d 

We are new to this whole thing so please let us know if you cannot get the link to work or if you know a better way for us to share pics (we tried flickr, but the uploads are too slow).