ben and lev
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
Golden boys in the golden light. Maybe one golden boy, and one goofy boy.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
new umbrellas
new umbrellas
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
Here are the boys with their new umbrellas. And it was actually cold today! There was supposed to be a street fair, and it was cancelled because of the rain. But we will go to the Galilee this weekend and the weather in the day should be around 25, still warm enough (maybe) for swimming. Everyone is very conscious of the water crisis here and is piously appreciative of the rain (not me though).
industrial talpiot
industrial talpiot
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
It was cold today and I decided to take the boys into Industrial Talpiot to buy umbrellas. It's wild there - half middle-eastern bazaar, half tokyo - developed and chaotic and strange.
Monday, October 27, 2008
lev and scimitar
lev and scimitar
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
This picture was taken last week, but I know most of you check this page mostly for the boys...Lev made this scimitar at the museum of islamic arts. There was a whole room of wonderful crafts - name plates, clocks, fake stained glass, mobiles, puppets, drums - and he went straight for the swords. Later we went back and he made a double-headed ax.In case the crusaders come back, or something.
church of holy cross
IMG_6456
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
The church of the holy cross was almost empty, except for a group of Russian pilgrims.
museum at church of the holy cross
IMG_6450
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
The museum of the holy cross was odd and smelled like urine. There were no signs or explanations, just a motley collection of pots and wooden statues and mannequins dressed up in costume.
birds of the holy cross
IMG_6459
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
I went with Jeremy to the bird sanctuary today. He's written about it in his blog - it's this funny scruffy piece of land right by the knesset which is practically the only protected wildlife sanctuary in the city. About 750,000 birds pass through here a year, and at the sanctuary they tag them and chart them and give them a place to eat, drink and rest. Today was mostly robins and sparrows with one bulbul keeping watch. The sanctuary is also beside the kever (grave) of the Rahak, which is visited by ultra-orthodox jews. I kept imagining someone coming to the kever to pray (people go and pray for health, or fertility etc.) and slowly getting fascinated by the birds. I walked home through sacher park and then the valley of the cross and decided to go into the museum at the church. I walked into the courtyard of the building and it was full of birdsong. There were three large bird cages built into corners in the monastery walls and full of exotic and tropical birds. I thought perhaps the birds were somehow connected (to the cross? or Helen, who was said to have built the church? or somehow some connection to St. Francis?) but the man who ran the shop said they were only there "because they are nice".
lev
lev
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
Here is Lev in his blue sweater. It's sweater weather here -everybody talks about how cold it is and bundles up in scarves and jackets, even though when the sun is out it's warm enough for t-shirts. Today Lev looked at the leaves and said, "Some of god's creation is dying!" In his daycare they are learning about a white flower that blooms only in the Fall, and next week they will go olive picking.
Monday, October 20, 2008
sarah leah's bat mitzvah
sarah leah's bat mitzvah
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
Sarah Leah had her bat-mitzvah yesterday at Robinson's arch, in front on the Western Wall. She did a beautiful job reading the Torah and praying, but I kept remembering another, long-ago accomplishment. When she was quite small her neighbor came upstairs irate because Sarah Leah had scratched his van with a key. Louise, the loyal mother that she is, refused to believe it until she came downstairs and saw the evidence: Sarah Leah had inscribed her name, letter by letter, on the side of the van. "And she spelled it exactly right!" Louise said when she told me the story years ago, with unmistakable pride. They had a lot of reasons to be proud yesterday. Mazal Tov, Sarah Leah.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
ben and lev on the bus
ben and lev on the bus
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
We took the bus back to Jerusalem on Friday afternoon. There were no seats left so we sat on the floor for most of the way, until some guy took pity on us and I put both the boys on my lap in a single seat. Something went wrong with this picture but I really like how it turned out.
ben
ben
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
The water is still warmer here than it ever gets in Vancouver. Benjamin spent a lot of time running back and forth.
ben and lev
ben and lev
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
Here are the boys, sweet and sun-spotted, after ice cream at Aldo (bubblegum for Lev, mango for Ben, Ferrero Roche for me since we are, after all, on vacation, and chocolate rum for Jeremy).
ben Jer lev
ben Jer lev
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
I realize I never post pictures of anyone except the boys so here is Jeremy (and the boys of course) I also never realized their names all easily contract into three letters, two consonants that bracket an "e". Both the boys have funny expressions here. I like especially how Lev's eyes slant to the face Ben is making.
tel aviv port
tel aviv port
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
And here is a photograph of the port. Tel Aviv feels so different than Jerusalem - it's an enormous cliche, but so striking. You don't even feel like you're in the same country, and the two cities are less than an hour apart. It feels like some decadent cross of Vancouver and Miami, except Hebrew speaking and falafel flavored.
watching theatre at the port
watching theatre at the port
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
We went down to the port where two acrobats held a large crowd pretty riveted - except for one guy on his cell phone. This wouldn't have been a problem, but he had been recruited to hold one corner of the trapeze they'd set up.
deco tel aviv
deco tel aviv
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
Tel Aviv is full of these beautiful buildings. Some are rotting and decrepit but others have been recently renovated, especially since it was declared a world heritage site in 2003. It's famous as the white city for the concentration of Bauhaus architecture, but there is also a lot of deco and ottoman style and general orientalist fantasy. Note the laundry on the balcony.
holy bagel batman
holy bagel batman
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
Sukkoth are springing up all over the city. This makes the already crowded sidewalks impassable, but still has a certain charm. Many of the restaurants have their own sukkoth, hung with Christmas tinsel. Our building has a shared sukkah, and it's made the last week really social and communal - we bump into the neighbors and share food, tea, conversation. But I really took this picture because the sign said Holy Bagel!
Friday, October 17, 2008
beach
beach
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
We went to the beach near Herzliya on Thursday. Also to Tel Aviv, where Bauhaus was our house. The beach makes the boys feral; they were hopping around in the sand like frogs, and digging like dogs. More pictures to follow after shabbat.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
noa and ben
noa and ben
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
We visited out friends David and Ronnie in Pardes Chana and had a wonderful time. Here are Benjamin and Noa watching some incredibly cheesy Israeli video with costumed Britney Spears look-a-likes singing "I need a hero" in Hebrew translation.
lev ocean
lev ocean
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
Lev looking very blonde and the sea looking very blue. We went swimming later that day.
indiana ben
indiana ben
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
This is Benjamin in his new sun hat looking thoughtful. But mostly he was adventurous and exploratory - he jumped from the rocks and announced "I always land on my feet like a cat."
lev in caesarea ruins
lev in caesarea ruins
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
The boys loved the ruins in Caesarea - I was Lev's horse in the hippodrome.
drive from jerusalem
drive from jerusalem
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
On the way out of Jerusalem - cliffs and hills and big sky.
sukka monsters
sukka monsters
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
The neighbors started putting up their sukkah in the communal courtyard Thursday night - an occasion for the boys to run around like madmen in the dark and make monstrous shadow puppets against the sukkah walls.
play
play
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
We went over to the Eisenbergs on Wednesday and the kids put on a play in the newly mounted sukkah. The plot was a little fuzzy but the props were awesome.
ben and his book
ben and his book
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
Benjamin has recently become interested in writing. He used to dictate the words to Jeremy as he drew the pictures; now he's trying to write the words himself. This book is called EEEK! Mifletzet (monster) and it's in Hebrew and English (he's started to write English backwards because Hebrew is right to left, which adds an additional frisson to trying to read his writing). In the story, a boy goes to school and on his first day while the teacher is reading a scary story he pretends he's seen a monster. All the other children get scared but when they realize he's teasing them they chase him. The end.
Monday, October 6, 2008
ben makes art
ben makes art
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
The boys both love to draw - Lev is following Benjamin's example. In the morning they'll sit at the table before even eating breakfast or getting dressed and will draw pictures.
boys in market
boys in market
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
I thought these boys playing in the market with toy guns were striking, especially since guns are everywhere here, and the soldiers carrying them not all that much older than these children.
market old fountain
market old fountain
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
The old city is full of beautiful old fountains, none operational. Some of the troughs are made of old crusader coffins, repurposed by the ottomans into public drinking fountains.
man and mannequin
man and mannequin
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
I was going to call this man and dummy, but he was very nice to let me take his photo and I didn't think it fair.
neon jesus
neon jesus
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
I'm going to have to go back and see this at night all lit up.
path of via dolorosa
path of via dolorosa
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
Near the beginning of the stations of the cross.
girl reading
girl reading
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
This girl was utterly engrossed in her homework while walking along the very crowded and uneven market streets.
kaffiyeh
kaffiyeh
Originally uploaded by nostalgist
Isn't she lovely? I went to the old city today on a three hour tour but not Gilligan style...Took lots of pictures. Here is a particularly fetching mannequin from the market.
Friday, October 3, 2008
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