I have been trying to post photos for two days, but I can't seem to get them on Flckr or up on the blog. I will try again next week.
The children are settling back into their school year. Maira switched schools to the local public religious school this year, and seems to fit in very well. Shailee continues at the
Keshet Democratic School, which this year is in a new building and a slew of new teachers, which hopefully will be a boon. And Namir continues to be miserable at the same school with Maira. Seems to be his lot in life. I will have to post another time about the intricacies of the Israeli school system. That post will be a long tirade!
My toe is totally better. Two weeks ago on Shabbat, I woke up to find it oozing AGAIN. I hate to keep going on about this, but one month of varied states of infection through two courses of antibiotics, all the while I was unable to exercise, was really getting to me. I panicked and went to see a doctor/friend I know to see whether I should go immediately to get IV antibiotics. He was much more calm than I, and suggested a battery of tests. As I was leaving, envisioning the following day of standing in lines at various outposts of socialized medicine, he mentioned: "or you could just soak it in the Dead Sea."
Just so you can understand how fed up I was with the whole issue, next morning I left for the Dead Sea. It is about a three hour drive from here. Maira stayed with a friend, and I took Shailee and Namir. We stayed overnight at
Kibbutz Ein Gedi. My agenda was to soak my toe as much as possible, which meant long hours in the sun for the three of us. It was lovely, and yes it BURNED!
But, now, completely recovered! One month and two courses of antibiotics couldn't heal what a little dip in the sea could. I hope the people of Israel and Jordan realize soon what a treasure this Sea is and save it from
shrinking into the past!!
Earlier this week, the children and I had the honor to be invited to my friend's sister's wedding in a nearby Arab village. We went Saturday night to the bride's
Henna Party and Sunday night to the wedding. The parties were very joyous and festive, the music and dancing were great, and we were welcomed as part of the family, even seated at the head table with the family. What fun!
In the summer I met Hanna Levy, a lovely woman and musician, in the Pilates studio where I train. She lives part of the year in NY and part of the year in a nearby artist village named
Ein Hod with her artist husband Victor Halvani. We exchanged numbers and I forgot about it.
But she did not. I received a call inviting me to her home. I came with Namir to their beautiful home filled with art. We were having a nice chat and drinking tea, when her husband said, "tonight we are going to the home of my friend the Egyptian ambassador,
Muhhamad Ibrahim, would you like to come? "
Well, of course! I flew home, changed, made arrangements for the children, and before too long found myself seated at an intimate dinner of nine friends at the Egyptian Embassy, with the ambassador and his wife who was in town visiting from her post as ambassador in Switzerland. There was a lot of joking and teasing, not so much politics. Though he mentioned that he sees his role as connecting Egypt and Israel and not as negotiating between Palestinians and Israel, and he has no idea where Shalit is nor when he will be returned. They are both warm and lovely people. How cool is that?
Anyway, that's all the news updates for now.
