Magical Mitzpe Ramon

After months of longing, we finally piled ourselves into a rental car and headed out for the weekend to go camping! We headed southeast an hour and a half from Be'er Sheba to a magnificent hole in the ground called Mitzpe Ramon. Camping in a foreign country brings up all sorts of issues one takes for granted when you are in a familiar place. For example, we didn't know where to buy firewood. Trees not being in abundance here in the middle of the desert, we headed to the local Bedouin market and almost got the car towed in the process. Needless to say, we left empty handed. The desert contiued on with its standard fare of sand, a bit of green as its spring here these days, and rolling hills. And then, all of a sudden, you come around a corner, and here it is: Mitzpe Ramon Canyon.















Contiuing out of town, undettered and commited to reach a campsite by sundown. Arriving in the park, we passed the government issue campground advertising an authentic "Bedouin Experience" with covered campsites, full plumbing, hot showers, and a vending station. We wanted to rough it, so on we drove. We continued a ways, pulled over, and set up camp. Here we are enjoying ourselves, in the process of gathering firewood from the dead shrubs in the area.















Much to our surprise, around sunset a camp ranger showed up to tell us about all of the rules we were breaking: dog not on a leash, disturbing the shrubs, fire without a permit, and on it goes. He was nice enough not to give us a ticket which at that point would have totalled several hundred dollars. Sadly, we packed up our wilderness camp and headed back to the government issue camp site. Foiled again! So we passed a night under a blanket of stars so full its hard to imagine there is room for them all. Awoke early to make some tea, and head out into the wilderness.

We hiked, camped, and enjoyed a hot summer day in March. Lovely. On the way home we happened by a secret lake and enjoyed a brilliant spring sunshine, while Jed took his first full dip and swim in the water. He was running around with such joy, everyone in the park was at full attention watching Jed enjoy his time at the lake. We caught an inspirational spring sunset, seen here, with trees and flowers blooming all around.















I am also including here a photo or two from a sculpture garden just outside of Be'er Sheba where we took Jed to wander around yesterday. The land around town is green and serene. Soon, it will be a big dust bowl again, but for now, its lovely.





























Its amazing how much ground one can cover with a car. Donations are currently being accpeted for Sera and Adam's "Buy a Car" fund...send your checks today! For those of you planning a visit while we are here, this is a great time of year. We will keep the tea pot on for you, hope to see you soon...

A day at the beach

Israel has beautiful, publically accessible beaches that run the entire length of the country. Buses are the primary mode of transport for us these days, and a train every once in a while, but we were lucky enough to rent a car compliments of Ma and Pa Rosenbloom a few weeks back and headed to the beach!








The city you see off in the distance there is Ashkelon. This beach was about thirty minutes from Be'er Sheba, and we were so so so sosososososososoos happy to see it!










This was Jed's first glimpse of the biggest puddle he's ever seen, and he loved it. He loves the water, and as you can see here, his mama loves him.










Hello? Hello, is there anybody in there? He's a digger.













The boys, lounging on the beach. Those shapely legs behind Adam belong to our roomie, Colin.













Havilah sleeping, Jed keeping an eye on everything. Too cute, eh?

Our house, in the middle of our street

Adam worked hard to find a house that Sera would feel "at-home" with and succeeded on all counts. The house is an 8 minute walk from Adam's school, a ten minute walk to the train station, and conveniently located close to the gym, a produce stand, and the dog park. All by chance, but isn't that just Adam's luck? Here are some photos of our lovely home:





Here is the front of our house, the gate, and two clementine trees. We live in the tallest house on the block, and the only one with a blue gate. Third house on the left after the garbage heap. If you saw it, you'd know exactly what we mean.









Here is the kitchen. Funny enough, we did not paint the hippie flowers on the cabinets. Clearly, this house was meant for us.










This picture shows the upstairs loft, the front door underneath, and the hallway going back to the bedrooms, yoga room, and bathrooms. The man you see there is Stephen, Adam's dad, and that lady squating there is me, Sera.












The back porch, we spend lots of time out here with temperatures averaging well above 80 degrees nine months out of the year. We eat most of our meals out here, and with the wonders of wireless internet we can even do crossword puzzles and post blogs outside.

Daily rituals

We thought you might like to see some pictures of some of the what, who, and the where filling our days here. Hopefully this will help you get a sense of what our daily lives look like here, until you come to see it yourselves, of course!

This is the dog park where Jed plays, splashes in toxic puddles, and chases little Ethiopian kids. This dog park is only about five minutes from our house, so Jed is a regular there. Lots of folks have dogs here in Be'er Sheba, and there are also plenty of strays to be found roaming about. We spend a good amount of time here, at least twice a day, feeling super lucky it is so close and has grass instead of dust for him to roll around in.







This produce stand is about two minutes from our house. Most of the produce is grown here in Israel due to impressive systems of tapping underground aquifers and the draining of the Red Sea. Luckily, produce is incredibly cheap here and we are eating lots and lots of it. We are here once a day, usually, and are now such reliable customers we get to shop on credit.







Our local coffee house, owned and operated by a couple consisting of a white Israeli, a black Israeli, and a newly arrived gorgoues baby. Thus the name "Black and White". Its like coffee shops in the US in the sense that we get mochas and lattes, its full of students hard at work until late into the night, and they play pop music. Its unlike the coffee shops in the US in that they let Jed come in and roam around, and these fancy beverages cost us about a buck a pop, cheap cheap, as they say.








A typical night at our house, dining on our table and cushions we shipped from 'nam. We like to have people over for dinner, and do so a few times a week. In this photo are Adam, Colin (our rommate from Whitefish, Montana), Havilah (from a family of 8 home-schooled kids hailing from backwoods Oregon), and Heather (from Cochrane, Alberta). We were dining on homecooked grilled salmon, miso rice, local Israeli red wine, and one of Colin's famous salads.





Adam hard at work, studying on our back patio being kept company by his faithful sidekick, our young Jedi. Contrary to popular belief, he does study quite regularly. Here he is pondering the complexities of something that most of us don't care at all about as long as it stays far away from us. Thanks Adam, for learning about this so that the rest of us don't have to.

Home for the holidays

Again, please forgive the time lapse. It is february and I am posting this stuff now, so I am going to indulge in some time travel...won't you join me?

Adam and I boarded the same plane early in the am on December 22 to travel to Vermont to spend some time with our families. We never get to travel together, so this was a real treat for us. We tarried longer than desired due to "weather" in NYC, which was mostly ok with us as it allowed for several rounds of tacos and burittos. We arrived in Vermont, where it was raining! In December! No snow to be seen anywhere....strange.

The next day my sister and mother arrived, and so there we were, the first offical gathering of both of our families. We spend a few fun filled, action packed days together planning, planning, and planning some more for the upcoming summer wedding. It went mostly very well, and I only cried once, which I hear is pretty good as far as wedding planning goes. Really though, Adam and I are thrilled that our families enjoy one another so much. And amazed at their generosity in throwing this party for us. Hope you can all make it, its going to be something!



The ladies of both families, plus Adam, then traveled to Boston where Connie, Sera's mom, flew back to Austin, and the rest of us met my Rabbi, Lev Baesh, for my formal conversion on december 26th. What an incredible experience, from beginning to...I'd say end, but I feel it was just another beginning. I've been working with Lev for well over a year now on my conversion. He agreed to lead me through this experience via email, as he lives in New Hampshire, and I wasn't having any luck finding a Rabbi in Communist Vietnam (taste the sarcasm??). The process was rich, and full of adventure for both Adam and I as we led a Passover Seder in Hanoi, honored Shabbat with all kinds of different folks around, and did our best to honor the holidays in the midst of that crazy Communist coutry, lacking much of anything in the way of God. So, Lev arranged for my mikveh to take place at this phenonmenal place in Newton, MA, called Mayyim Hayyim. A mikveh designed with water, women, and the sacred in mind, to be sure. The ceremony was truly a milestone in my life I will never forget, and always remeber with a deep appreciation for the moments that Adam, Judaism, and Lev came into my life. Blessed, on all counts. So, now I am formally a member of the tribe, and am looking forward to walking my path as a Jew with a hightened sense of compassion, community, and history, than before.

We then headed back to Vermont, Adam went skiing, I read books, made soup, and we all relaxed. Adam and I drove up to Monreal for New Year's where we enjoyed a night with friends, sushi, and were in bed at 12:07. Here we are, all dressed up, at the tasty sushi place toating the new year!



Then it was back to Vermont, wrapped up the remaing wedding stuff, and back to Be'er Sheba. On seperate planes, of course!

Hanukah

A bit belated, as its February and I am just posting this now, but....we had a Chanukah party and it was great! We lit candles, had a smashing of a success of a white elephant party, and ate lots of latkas...wish you all could've been there with us. Here are some pics of us and the party...

Happy Hannukah, and may there always be miracles!!!!

Valentine's Day weekend

We are constantly pinching ourselves, Adam and I, that is...I don't know if Jed does this, to be mindful of how lucky we are. Well, the last weekend was just another luxurious example of this. We were treated to a heavenly weekend of feasting and fun in Jerusalem by our parents, thank you parents! It was wonderful in every way, and I am feeling a bit "hung-over" about it as I sit here in our office at home posting this now....sigh.

As weekends start here on Thursday, Adam met me after his courses ended on Thursday night. I went up early in the AM on Thursday as I had a meeting in East Jerusalem where I hope to be spending much more time working with Palestinian and Israeli midwives. We went out for a glorious and indulgent dinner of sushi (what a treat!), and while we were at the cafe we ran into some friends of the Rosenbbooms, Yael and Ron, and their kids. Adam's mom worked with Yael at the Israeli Consul General in Houston, and they were celebrating their daughter's 18th birthday. Made us feel like we really live here, now that we are bumping into people we know.



We spent the night in a lovely hostel right in the center of things off of Jaffa Street in Jerusalem, and got up early to go wedding ring shopping with an old friend of Adam's, Tamar, who lives in Jerusalem. We think we've probably found what we are looking for, but won't ruin the surprise! We then mozied on over to the swanky Inbal Hotel where we were hosted by the Houston Jewish Federation for the weekend. WOWOWOWOW, wined and dined like we were somebody special! Felt grrrrrrrrrrrrreat! We had Shabbat dinner in a formal dinning room where all the students had to go around the room and introduce themselves to the 260-thick Houstonian delegation. Adam intoduced me as his fiancee, and we got a big round of applause and "mozel tov". It makes me smile just thinking about it. Jonas, Adam's brother who lives in Jerusalem, joined us there for the weekend, as well. Its great to see them together, they enjoy one another so much.



Saturday we rose somewhat early, ate a tasty breakfast, and strolled out into the brilliant sunshine to enjoy a day at the Israel Museum. Full of all things old and Jewish. Also a few exhibitions of random modern and classic art thrown in for good measure. The dead sea scrolls are on display in this strange building that is designed to feel like a clay jar. I felt like I was in "I Dream of Jeanie". A great day, to be sure. Then we headed back, checked out, got on the bus, and headed back to Be'er Sheba.



One more treat was in store for us, though: we passed Condi's motorcade as she was arriving from the airport. Straight from Iraq. Times like this make me breathe deeply in appreciation for this place we are calling home these days. Lucky, lucky, lucky.

More to come, stay tuned....