Shavuot - the cheese one

Yes, this blog entry is about yet another Jewish holiday.  I kid you not, before we moved here I knew about bar/bat mitzvahs and hannukah.... and that was it.  But let me tell you: Jews have some holidays! Lately, not a week goes by without a celebration or remembrance of something or other.  It's no wonder the kids go to school 6 days a week.  They need to just to make up for all the holidays off!  

This particular holiday is a happy one full of thanksgiving.  Shavuot is the celebration of the harvest - thanking God for the first fruits of the year: fruits, grains, and milk.  It also commemorates Moses receiving the tablets/ 10 commandments.  It is celebrated 50 days from Passover (and happens to be what the disciples were celebrating at Pentecost).  But, if you ask anyone about Shavuot today, they'll say, "Oh, that's the cheese one," because now somehow it has morphed into a dairy/ cheese/ cheesecake fest.  Yummo!

The kids get to dress up in all white and take baskets full of flowers, fruit, veggies, and yogurts to school in celebration of the holiday.  Lydia's school also had a little production where her class performed 2 dances that they have been practicing for months.  They were actually quite good, and Will graciously knocked out Lydia's other front tooth the night before in preparation for the big day.  Check out this cute toothless smile.

 Lydia's school, a sea of dark curly hair.  The kids were all supposed to wear the traditional flower hair wreaths, but since we don't know about these things, and it wasn't included in the 3 page email provided the night prior to the ceremony....Lydia didn't have one.  Just as luck would have it  though, she wore a white headband, which kind of blended in to the crowd.  Kind of.

 I love the unashamed Mary Katherine Gallagherness of Lydia in this shot.  Superstar!

Will's day was much more low key.  Here he is with his bounty.  Handsome little sucker.

This is our typical walk to school every morning.  Down this promenade, cross a busy street, hop a stone wall.....and you're there.

Shlo, Will's most amazing teacher, was bragging about how the ceremonies at her son's school were some of the best in the city, with traditional dancing and tons of great food.  She invited us to join her and her family for more shavuot fun, and we just couldn't say no.  Once we were there, it was more of the same, and as usual: pure Israeli chaos. When we arrived, there were rows of white plastic chairs neatly arranged.  Within 5 minutes of the ceremony starting, it was all a total balagan (mess).  Chairs were moved wherever people wanted them.  Adults were milling around like it was a social gathering, and kids were running and playing.  Meanwhile, students on stage tried their best to perform their dances to a less than engaged audience.  At one point, the principal took the stage and the mic and announced very firmly, "Children: sit on your hands. Adults: shut up.  It isn't nice."  Imagine that an American elementary school gathering.  Shlo was very apologetic and assured us that it was not usually like this.  Sure, Shlo...

The food afterwards was also something of an adventure.  There were probably 20 tables staged all over a basketball court.  Each was full of random assortments of fresh fruit, veggies, bourekas (a pastry similar to a croissant), sandwiches, chocolate cake, and the occasional cheesecake.  The gates to the food opened after the ceremony, and a virtual stampede ensued.  Swarms of children and parents ravenously descended on the tables. Now here's the really funny thing.  At least funny to me, but no one else seemed to notice.  Plates, cutlery, and napkins were mysteriously missing from the scene.  Just a free for all with your hands.  I couldn't stop chuckling to myself as I pictured the Southern Living version of a potluck complete with it's heirloom family recipes and beautiful serving dishes versus what was unfolding before me.

Martha Stewart would never survive Israel.  

Afterwards Shlo (laden with guilt ; ) ) took us on an impromptu stroll to the main square featuring the Israeli Theatre and National Orchestra buildings. It is a favorite spot of hers, and it was truly a beautiful and orderly sight.  The kids had a blast playing in the garden/giant sandbox in the middle. No doubt that whatever Israelis lack in pot-luck etiquette they make up for in the arts.

Shalom Y'all!
Happy Memorial Day and Happy Shavuot!

Lag B'omer

This is the Israeli pyromaniac's holiday of choice.  We heard lots of variations as to what exactly this holiday is all about, and to be honest we still have no idea.  All we know is it involves bonfires and potatoes.

Both Lydia's and Will's school classes celebrated this holiday.  For Lydia's class, we met in a lot just beside the local fire and police departments.  Genius planning, if I do say so.  

In other news, between the Lag B'omer celebrations, Will accidentally knocked out Lydia's front tooth while they were wrestling on the couch. Admittedly, the tooth has been hanging by a thread for some time now, but he was still pretty proud of himself anyway.

Lydia's bonfire was Tuesday night, and Will's was scheduled for the following night.  For these kinds of events everyone gets assigned different potluck items to bring ranging from canned olives and pickles to hummus and pita to chocolate cake.  This time we were on cake detail, and Will requested a "candy cake."  His request gave me this idea - let's build a bonfire made out of candy on top the cake.  Won't that be fun?  We had a great time building it.  Oh, and all Israelis make their cakes in tins and leave them like that.  No popping them out of molds, elaborate decorations, or 3-tiered anything.  No daring icing tricks. In fact, powdered sugar is kind of scarce around here and comes in itty bitty bags. So, this is as inspired as I'm going to get, folks.

Will's location was a bit more dodgy than the fire station location.  Okay, more than just a bit.  When we asked for directions to the beach where the bonfire was to be held, everyone kept saying, "Oh, you know.... the one where all the prostitutes go."  No, we weren't familiar with that particular beach.  When we arrived at Will's party, things were much like the night before.  The food was out, kids were running and playing. The fire was prepped but not lit.  Will's gan (preschool) had hired entertainment, and they had a few craft stations set up and lots of drums to bang on.  But of course, boys prefer to play with sticks, dirt and ants, and Will kept drifting away from the pack and off to the dirt and ant piles.  When we went to retrieve him, we noticed something very alarming amidst the dirt and ants.  Lots and lots and lots of evidence that this was in fact where the prostitutes & their callers hung out.  I don't want to say exactly what, but you are welcome to look for yourselves.  We quickly redirected Will back to the group and warned him to stay away from the periphery, but every time we took our eyes off of him for a second he was right back to the sticks and the ants and the muck and the mire.  

Shlo & Yuppi, we're going to have to talk about this. 

After we called Uncle on the fire-festivities, we decided to take Yolanda-the-Honda for a carwash, since it decided to rain mud in Tel Aviv a few weeks days back. It was a sand storm that ended in a quick rain shower.  Definitely one of the stranger things I've seen - raining mud.

Lucky for us, the kids go nuts over the car-wash. They just love it. It's our newest family tradition.

So that's that...weird holidays, giant fires, candy-cakes, lost teeth, and one beater-Honda only slightly less dirty than the filth in which our kids were caught playing.  

I'm looking forward to a down week this week.

Shalom Ya'll,

E

Krakow

Krakow is a beautiful city.  Even in the rain.

 Can anyone spot the upright bass in this picture?

 Aunt Katie is picture-perfect, as usual.

We had one full day to enjoy the city center and play tourists in Krakow, but unfortunately it was raining and cold.  We knew that walking in the rain with the kids all morning was not in anyone's best interest, so we splurged on one of these nifty covered tour cars.  After a week of hotel hopping, nap skipping, and late bedtimes our kids were feeling it.  It's interesting how everyone handles stress differently.  True to his personality, Will decided to make the most of the car tour and fell asleep before we even pulled away from the curb. Typical...

 Lydia is a little different.  She was cold.  She was wet.  She was tired.  "Diva Lydia" came out, and a ginormous meltdown ensued.  She wailed cried loudly for the entirety of our hour + tour.  "My feet are cold! My feet are cold!" Let me just be blunt: It was not fun.  We wanted to pay everyone we came in contact with for the inconvenience, but that's life with kids. Eventually, we all warmed up over a hearty, hot lunch and all was right with the world (movie reference, anyone?). 

Did I mention that the menu was chock full of pork products?  Pork is not my favorite meat, but when you haven't had any in 9 months, it's pretty darn exciting.  They had a bacon and lard spread for the bread that I think under other circumstances I might find a little revolting.  But....it was crazy good.  BACON!!! Real bacon.

Below are a few pictures from Krakow's Jewish quarter, just south of the main center-city area. We found some signs in Hebrew, and even several synagogues, but the area is conspicuously devoid of Jews. This was another chilling reminder of what happened to numerous Jewish communities in Poland, Hungary, and elsewhere during the brutal years of WWII, after residents were sent to the ghettos and beyond. Not far from this neighborhood was Oscar Schindler's factory, where he saved some 1,200 Jews from death in concentration camps (later to be made famous by the movie "Schindler's List,"much of which was filmed on location in Krakow).

  

All-in-all, we loved our visit. Krakow is an amazingly beautiful little city that is well-worth seeing, especially with great Olmsted friends who live there to show you the ropes (Thanks Tom & Jill for all your tips and guidance--you guys rock!). And especially thank you to them for watching Will and Lydia so that we could do the all day tour to Auschwitz.  I can't imagine missing that experience.  We'll be sure to return the favor when you come to Israel. It was also especially meaningful to get to be there with dear Aunt Katie, and to visit some of the places that Kent was visited of during his travels.

& That's that for Europe. Time to get back to Tel Aviv...
Below are a few pictures that Kent took back in 2004 when he visited Krakow. We felt they were beautiful, and worth sharing. Enjoy:

Shalom Ya'll-

EJ & Stew