The second week...ah, internet is down at the kibbutz so Charlie can't post the photos or give you his update. I'll tell you that he is loving his course and learning a lot while trying to figure out why he hasn't been able to hear out of one of his ears ever since we've arrived. Our doctor friend Jason, who is taking the class and rooming with Charlie, thinks that Charlie has a growth in his ear that he only noticed after having shoved an earplug in there for the plane flight, thus packing a bunch of earwax around the growth. Yes, I know, try not to think about it too much--poor Jason, he committed himself to helping Charlie find ear drops for wax removal and ended up digging around in there with a flashlight and crab pick. We are not eating crabs again for a while and are looking for an ENT specialist. We'd appreciate your prayers.
The kids and I have wandered off the beach and out of the pool this week to explore the city a little. At Shalom Tower we enjoyed two gorgeous huge mosaics, one celebrating life in Tel Aviv and the other the history of the city, and learned about the architectural history of Tel Aviv through old photographs, a model of the city, and a documentary subtitled in English (Paul: "I can't read that fast.") The documentary had a lot of old grainy footage from the twenties and thirties. This led to comments like, "Is that lightning?" "Is it raining?" from Thomas and "Why are people walking so fast?" from Elise. We've also been to two parks and found an open air market close by. There are lots of stray cats.
Tuesdays and Thursdays the market also hosts an arts and crafts fair, so today we saw plenty of pottery, jewelry, toys, and other creative and cheerful handcrafts including ostrich egg luminaries and sculptures made from flatware. As much as we were loving the artists' tables, especially watching the blown glass and wire sculpture taking shape before our eyes, the day was hot and humid and all of us were teetering on the brink of dehydration and heat-induced fatigue. I plopped the kids down in the first restaurant that had English on its sign, thankful that it said "pizza," which one of the kids had been rooting for, and took MasterCard, as we had spent all our cash at the market. I was surprised to hear the owner speaking Spanish as she waited on one of the other tables. When she seated us we thanked her in Spanish and proceeded to speak in Spanish with her and her husband. They are from Argentina and used some different words with a different accent, but mostly we understood each other. Madeleine and Elise were delighted to speak Spanish again and listen to the Spanish songs that were in the background. I have been studying Spanish a little bit, and have known that we all miss Peru, but I surprised myself by totally choking up with feelings of longing and sadness as I attempted to order my pizza! The only way I kept the tears back was by realizing that the next table was watching and listening to my bad accent while the owner was straining to understand me. Also, I didn't want to unnerve or embarrass the children, but I could have really wept, especially when Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up" came on. (The tears dried when Joan Osborne's "One of Us" came on and one of the kids asked if it might be a Christian praise song.) Is this homesickness? I don't feel scared or uncomfortable about being in Israel, but having Spanish on my tongue just brought on a rush of the good, comforting, and familiar. I certainly don't have a home in Peru, but then I don't have a home anywhere right now.
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So this is what happens when Charlie can't write his own post--you get to hear about his ear wax. I'm sure he would also have wanted you to know about all the interesting folks in his program, who, just to clarify, are not Jewish. It's just everyone else in the kibbutz who is Jewish. There's no ham in the cafeteria.
did you read my post "why am i here"
-rob
Hey Rae, it's Tom; tell Charlie we're praying for his waxy ear - yikes! We've got expreience with that in our house, but I won't mention names! ;)
BTW, no matter where you all are, you've always got a home with us in Norfolk. Isn't that how it should be with family... no matter how long you're gone or where you've moved, you can always go back and find a room? Same with us I say.
Tell the kids we say hello, and will try to video Skype you once we figure out the time difference!
I so agree with Tom! And I'd like to add my own bit to it. Home is where you hang your toothbrush! I'll have to sit down and write down a list of everywhere that's been over the years. But anyway, how was the pizza? Did you have an egg in the middle?
K@
Rae,
I was thinking about you while eating lunch and this is what I think you are suffering from: reverse culture shock while having regular culture shock at the same time! You are grieving leaving one culture, but at the same time you are experiencing a new one without having had time in your own culture to do this one at a time! NO WONDER YOU WANT TO CRY!!! You are going to be fine, but jumbled up for a while once you get to St. Louis!
K@
It's Tom with the ear-wax problem, in case anyone is wondering! Good to read your voice. Enjoyed the pictures from the cook-out. Love you guys.
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This is what you need
Rae - Oh yes you do have a home in Peru!!!!! And don't you ever forget it!
We miss you so much and pray that the Lord will bring you back if it is His will for you. I am so glad He is providing opprotunities to speak Spanish - even if it's just to say, Yo quiero pizza. :)
Love ya tons and tons!
hola hermanos gibsons. había querido a encontrar su página web, pero acabo de encontrarlo por medio del blog de los fergusons.
espero que tengan un buen tiempo en israel. todo está bien acá; estoy trabajando con los profesores peruanos y los uiversitarios. ¡estoy muy ocupado y cansado!
los internos han regresado a los estados unidos, y la mayor parte de los internos nuevos han viajado éste fin de semana; algnos fueron a moyobamba, y otras a macchu pichu. me quedé acá en trujillo para enseñar y descansar.
yo necesito su correo. creo que lo tengo en algun lugar,pero no lo he encontrado.
hasta luego.
You have a lot of homes in Norfolk! I'm sorry to hear about Charlie's ear...I just downloaded coffee break spanish on my ipod to learn some spanish. We can practice on the phone when you get back.
We love you!
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