Independence Day

BOOM!! BANG!! BANG!! BOOM!!! I went out onto the balcony and looked toward the city, streaks of fire were rising into the night sky and exploding into a fire ring of confetti colors, some times a spark would escape from the ring and explode making it's own ring of fire. Across the valley, over the Old City, was another display of fire in the sky. Two displays at once, how marvelous, it was Independence Day in Jerusalem.

The morning started with us doing police parole at a memorial park called Peace Forest. Peace Forest is one of the many places that memorial ceremonies, remembering the soldiers who died during the War of Independence, were being held. Police and soldiers and Don and I (wearing our official police vests) were mingling in the crowd and checking the surrounding area. I'm sure that everyone felt a lot safer knowing that Don and I were there to protect them! At 11:00 AM horns sounded all over the city, we stood at attention for two minutes listening to the horns and giving remembrance and honor to the fallen soldiers.

In the afternoon Don and I hung around the apartment, I read and Don studied. For dinner we walked to the Old City to a pizza place in the Christian Section (both meat and cheese on the pizza, what a treat!!) then walked up into the "New" City to see the celebrations. The venders were just setting up there tables loading them with cans of Silly String, canned snow, and bonkers (inflated plastic hammers for hitting each other on the head). Already some kids were covered with the white fluff, had florescent rings around there necks, and were chasing each other and laughing as the snow and string flew. We stepped into a little shop and had cheese cake and coffee and watched the activity in the street. The evening had turned cold and windy, Don and I were not dressed for cold, so when we left the sweet shop we headed for home. It had been a good day ending with fire confetti in the sky and then music from the many celebrations around the city sneaking through the doors and windows of our apartment and lulling us to sleep.

Shalom.................Bernice

Travels

Ein Gev was our first destination. We arrived Sunday afternoon and because we were still tired from staying up late celebrating Seder on Saturday evening, we just kicked back. Ein Gev is on the East coast of the Sea of Galilee and we sat on lawn chairs watched the children playing on the beach and read our books. The next day, feeling refreshed, we drove to Haifa, stopping at various archeological sites along the way, then up the Mediterranean coast to Akko and the ruins there. Because we were so close to Lebanon, we continued up the coast to the border but did not cross it. The Mediterranean coast North of Haifa is beautiful, it reminded me of the pacific coast near Santa Barbara.

The Holiday Inn on Mount Carmel was our next stop. What a beautiful view, the city of Haifa and the bay lay before us. A beautiful white cruse ship was leaving Haifa Port getting smaller as it followed the setting sun, then the lights of Haifa began to twinkle on.

The next morning we left Haifa and went East again to the Galilee area stopping, of coarse, at ruins along the way. The next four nights our base was at Bridges for Pease, a Christian study center north of Tiberias, from there we took day trips. We saw the ruins of Bernice's castle where she lived with Philip (Acts:25:13, 23). The area is beautiful, she had good taste......location......location. While exploring in the Golan, the beat of the bumpy road changed, Don pulled over, sure enough, we had a flat tire. It was a windy day and we were down wind of a cattle farm, not too pleasant.

Except for my getting a reaction from the water early in the trip (Montezuma's revenge or maybe Harrods's revenge) and being allergic to some of the spring blooms in the North of Israel it was a good trip. We saw many interesting sites and in spite of my discomfort, I / We are glad we were able to go.

We hope you all had a Happy Easter and a Joyful Passover.

Shalom.................Bernice

Pasach

What am I doing up so early?? Pasach started at 7 PM, we ate, read scripture, ate, drank wine, ate, sang songs, ate, told stories, ate, and followed the customs of the celebration until almost midnight. This was a family time, Don and I were the only ones who were not family. I don't know if others conduct their Passover in a solemn way, but this evening was full of laughter, talking, kids and vigorous singing and clapping. We had a wonderful time. Nurit and Akeva live a 5 min walk from us and we got home at midnight. It was after 2 AM before Don and I had unwound enough to go to sleep. I will never forget this evening, it was very special.

Neither Don nor I have packed for this trip, I should be doing that now but Don is still asleep and I don't want to wake him. Packing will be easy, Jeans, T shirts, casual cloths and a skirt incase we visit a site that requires one. We have until noon to pick up the rental car and a late check in for the night, so there isn't any rush.

Shalom.................Bernice

More Shopping

The souls of my white tennis shoes are worn smooth, many of the stone walks and floors around here are also worn smooth. Smooth walk ways and smooth soles combined with my coordination problems seemed like a dangerous combination. I had seen a shoe store that carries Keds, so after class yesterday, I walked into town, bought a comfortable pair of Keds, and then, since I was in town anyway, did some more shopping. The few jeans I brought from the US are wearing thin and the light colored ones have colorful oil paint spots too. Nurit told me where she buys her jeans (Great fitting and well cut, nice and long in the legs, also only NIS 60, that is only $15 !!) and I hiked up Yafa Street to find the little shop. Near the Shook and on the other side of the street was a small clothing shop, I went in and sure enough this was the place. After buying several pair of jeans and a pair of dressy black sandals from a near by store, I went into a department store. The spring line was in and there was a large section of bathing suites, so I picked out a few and went into the dressing room.......... Sever depression!!..........I can't deal with this now!!..............Why can't they put the bathing suites on sixty year old manikins, so we can see what they REALLY look like?

Don and I wanted to go to one of the Greek Islands for Reading Week (Spring Break) but waited too long and couldn't get a reservation on a plane. Second plan, renting a car and driving up to Galilee, looking around and seeing what there is to see. We plan to leave on Sunday and stay until we decide we've seen enough.

Nurit and Akeva have invited us to their home Saturday evening. We will be celebrating Pesah (Passover) with them and their family. I feel very honored to be invited and am excited about being able to go. If we have time Sunday before we leave for Galilee, I'll tell you about it, otherwise I will when we get back from our trip.

Shalom.............Bernice

Helping Hands

Don and I spent a few days at "Don's dig" helping Eli last week. Because of changes at the dig site, Eli has set up his office in a little stone building in front of the entrance of the Gihon Spring. At the spring there is a large square and all around the square are Arab homes. School let out and a bunch of children came into the square. The boys wanted to help Don, but I only had one little girl to help me, notice the little guys rolling up their sleeves so that they can get there hands into those buckets of water.

Don and I have become a tourist attraction. Tourist groups come down to the spring, and instead of listening to their tour guide give his little talk, they are taking pictures of the two Americans washing pot shards. Our pictures will be in homes all over the world, so if your friends are showing you pictures of their trip to Israel, don't be surprised to see Don and I in some of them. They ask us about what we are doing and how we got to be volunteers, "Can anyone do this?" We tell them "No, you have to have special connections to be allowed to work all day for no pay".

Shalom.............Bernice

Nike

This is a letter that Don's sister sent to us. Yes, Nike is the statue that Don found last summer. I am also adding a picture of Don when he found it

Subject: Tel Dor and Nike

In today's Mercury News there was a small article about the discovery of Nike. There is a picture of Martin Wells holding Nike, the Greek winged victory. The article says the Berkeley team was especially proud of the headless statue of Nike, which members removed from underneath a wall that sat atop her at Tel Dor. The article says the discovery lends credence that Jewish King Alexander Janneaus destroyed all things pagan in the harbor city of Tel Dor, Israel when he came to power around 100 B.C. I recognized the statue immediately as the one that Don discovered last summer. It is now in an Israeli museum. 

Irma

Shalom.............Bernice

My Coin

I was in the Oasis (school store) while one of the staff was replenishing the register. He found a coin and started to throw it into the trash, "Thirty years old and not worth anything anymore". "Can I have it?" I said. It is silver and about the size of a silver dollar, has a boat and a menorah on one side and "10 sheqalim" on the other side. Oh goodie, I'll make a piece of jewelry with it, I thought. After class I did some shopping on the way home. "Oh no! I can't find my worthless coin!" It wasn't in my pocket or purse, I must have spent my worthless coin !!!! That evening I told Don about my worthless coin and how I couldn't find it and must have spent it.......boo hoo.....I wanted it. He reached into his pocket, "Remember you gave me a handful of change before you left for shopping?" We checked the change in his pocket and there it was!! I now have my worthless coin and am deciding how to make a piece of jewelry with it.

Dr. DeWall, (school president) is retiring and there was a reception for him. Don took the camera and among the other pictures, he caught me, at the end of the evening, collapsed on the couch. What is my hand doing up like that? I don't know.........maybe I am already going into a fetal position for my night's sleep. (No, I didn't make the amber and silver jewelry I am wearing, I bought it here soon after we came.) I should have wrenched the camera out of his hands and taken his picture, he has lost weight and was looking real good in his suit. I don't see him in a suit much anymore.

Shalom...............Bernice

Homework

The strike must be over because the dumpsters and trash containers have been emptied, campaign signs have been removed and the streets are clean again. Just thought you would like to know.

Classes have started again. I am auditing a class called "Midrash, Art and the Bible Text" and because Don had a hole in his schedule, he is taking the class with me. The first day we had a home work assignment which involved making a mosaic or sculpture from stuff around the house (recycling), and then writing a paper. Immediately my brain went into high gear and I couldn't wait to get started on my "sculpture", I finished it that day (actually, I made a minor change the next morning). Don took longer to decide what he wanted to do but came up with a great idea. The class's sculptures and mosaics are now on exhibit at the school. I volunteered to be the photographer and will be taking pictures of the display. Fun class!! Great teacher!!

Dr. DeWall the school president, is retiring, he and his wife are going to leave for Portland Oregon in the next week. Dr Wright will be taking Dr. DeWall's place until another president is chosen.

Shalom................Bernice

Trash and Shopping

Trash piled around dumpsters and trash cans, papers and plastic bags bouncing and tumbling in the wind, piles of mushy pulp from papers which have been treaded upon after having been soaked by rain, lay in the street and on the sidewalks. We step on it and around it. Plastic election banners are attached to walls and fences, some ripped off by the wind, or maybe the opposing side, are in soaked heaps or rolling down the street with the wind. The trash men have been on strike and today is election day.

Like Old Mother Hubbard our cupboards are bare, Don and I are going to the big supermarket to get supplies. Every three or four weeks we go to this market and load up on things like laundry soap, TP and soda, in-between we go to the "ditch" store to replenish perishables. On the way we stopped at the bank........woops........the bank is closed on election day. I need Don's help when we do this because although we have the groceries delivered, we must take the frozen and refrigerator things home with us. The heavy cart is hard to drag up the steps of the bus, maneuver down the narrow isle and then lift down the steps when we get off the bus.

Well............I'm glad we got that taken care of.............grocery shopping is not my favorite activity.

Shalom..............Bernice

Stranger Calling

Kitty was busy cleaning (Kitty is an Ethiopian girl who comes every other week...........OK, I will admit it......... I'm spoiled). Because of a headache I had laid down on the couch and then fallen to sleep. The phone rang, Kitty answered it, good I won't have to move off this couch. She spoke briefly to someone and then came in to tell me that it was a man and he was speaking Hebrew. I drug my self off of the couch and sleepily tottered to the phone and said hello and heard a stream of Hebrew. "English? Can you speak English?" I said "Yes" was his reply, and then another stream of Hebrew. "I don't understand you and I don't know who you are!" I said as I let the phone drop heavily on it's base. Kitty gave me a look as if to say, who was that? I replied that I had no Idea. I didn't know who he was but I think I now what he was. The words were unclear but the way they were said was very clear, I believe I had just received an obscene phone call in Hebrew !!!

Shalom................Bernice

Museum

Rain, sometimes very heavy was falling. "Good, we need rain. I'll just curl up on the couch and read my book, maybe play with my silver a little too.........it's a good day to stay in." Don said, "I'm going to the Israel Museum and meet with Eli." (Eli is one of the archeologists in charge at the City of David dig and he is advising Don in regard to his thesis.) " The Museum! I wanna go too, may I go with you?" I love museums and spending a day there sounded wonderful.

We took a bus into town, it was a little walk to the stop for the next bus that would take us to the museum, rain was pouring down, so we hailed a taxi. At the museum lobby we called Eli and while we waited for him we bought ourselves one year memberships. Good! Now I can pop in as much as I want.

Eli took us to his office, it was filled with pieces of pottery, assembled pots, drawings of pottery and boxes of all sizes holding artifacts, many of these were from The City of David dig. Eli showed us around his small office and told us about the pieces, I was fascinated. While Don and Eli conducted their business, I looked around, waiting patiently........well, maybe not so patiently.........for them to finish so we could wonder through the rest of the museum.

After a light lunch in the museum restaurant we went a wondering. Our first stop was some rooms with 15th and 16th century religious paintings, they all depicted stories from the Bible, mostly from the Old Testament but some from the New Testament. I not only enjoyed the paintings from a distance but got up close to each one studying the brush strokes and techniques of the various artists. Because I have begun to use oils, I had a new interest in the way these paintings were done. I feel that I understand more about how to use oils since studying the paintings. We wondered through a room with ancient coins, many had been found stored in clay pots and some had been found in "safes", hollowed out stones from the walls of buildings. On we went through many rooms with interesting displays. Around 4pm we began to feel tired and hungry, let's go home.

In front of the museum, we were accosted by about five taxi drivers. It was still raining pretty hard and a hike across the parking lot to the bus stop wasn't all that inviting. Don reached into his pocket and brought out a hand full of change, 29 NIS, (one NIS is equivalent to 25 cents) with the memberships and lunch and a taxi ride to the museum, that's all Don had in his pocket, we'll take the bus. The taxi guys came to me, maybe I could bring it up to 40 NIS which was the price to take us home. Under my coat, in my purse I had a 100 NIS, but I just pointed to Don and said that he has the money. I knew that they would make a case for using my 100 NIS for the taxi, but I also new that if they thought all we had was 29 NIS, they would find a way to take us some where for that amount. They inquired if Don had some bills in his wallet.......no? I said "We'll just take the bus." "There are no busses that will take you directly to Abu Tor" was the reply. "That's OK" I said, "We'll take the bus into town, have dinner with a credit card and then take a bus home." "We will take you into town for 29 NIS!" They quickly agreed upon which one of them got the privilege to take us to town and we got into the taxi.

These taxi drivers work together, they are all hurting. Because tourism is down since the conflict started, hotels, shops, restaurants, taxis, tour guides and anything to do with tourism is hurting, it's very sad. JUC (Jerusalem University Collage) is also hurting. Some of the short term groups (these are collage students from the US who spend a semester studying here) have canceled, the school has had to cut back staff. It's too bad because CNN makes it sound so dangerous here and it really isn't.

This morning the sky Is clear, it's beautiful out, but I think I'll do what I was going to do yesterday, read and play with silver.

Shalom................Bernice

Silver Class

Meet the members of my silver class from left to right;

Miriam....our teacher and my neighbor, this is her studio. Nurit....friend and neighbor, she told me about the class. It is to her home that I go for the drawing and painting classes. Her husband, Akiva, is the teacher. Noa.... she is a collage student at Hebrew University. Chava....(the Ch is not pronounced as we know it but is a sound that we don't have a letter for, the sound is as if you are trying to get a fish bone out of your throat) and her name means Eve. She showed me where there is a great store for silver working tools and supplies.

Chava took this picture so I could be in one, the picture is a little dark because of a bright light above. How do you like our messy table, there is not a lot of room in this studio, but we do just fine sharing the one torch, one power drill, one power buffer and limited working space.

This silver class and the drawing class are two of my favorite things here in Israel. Nurit and Noa know some English, but Mirium and Chava know very little, I know even less Hebrew. We get along by pointing and swinging our hands around a lot.

More later...........

Shalom..................Bernice

Later that Day

I got some beads made of gray sponge coral, an amethyst stone that I plan to make a ring for, a CD of harp music, and some glass candies (Don thought they were real and was going to eat one). What I didn't get was a black glass sculpture of a women. It was beautiful but fragile and my main reason for not getting it was because I was afraid of breaking it on the way home, not just home to Jerusalem but home to Georgia. The glass artist was working right there in his booth and I was fascinated watching him. Many of the crafts were similar to what you find at our craft shows in the US, I even found a few pieces made with Polymer Clay. The booths were set up on two walking streets that intersected each other and covered about four blocks. There were street artists playing their instrument, a mime and two guys doing acrobatics. We had lunch on outdoor tables along the street. It was a nice day.....

Shalom...............Bernice

Tel Aviv via Bus

Some students and staff from the school decided to go to a craft market in Tel Aviv which is held every Friday. They invited me along and I said, "sure!" We met in town at Mc Donald's at 8:30 AM and walked up to the bus station to catch the bus to Tel Aviv.

We found the Tel Aviv bus station to be huge, it's like a six story mall with busses, or maybe I should say a very dirty airport. With only written instructions to go by, we decided to take a taxi from the bus station to the craft market because five people sharing a taxi would cost about as much as the bus and would also increase the chances that we actually got there. One person sat in front with the driver and the rest of us (four) piled into the back seat. I got to sit on someone's lap. The taxi driver let us out in the middle of town and pointed in the direction we should go to get to the craft market. Checking our instructions we decided that we should really be going in the opposite direction than where he pointed. No that isn't right, let's go that way...........this can't be it, let's go over here......No, no, no it can't be down there. After crossing through a smelly under crossing three times and asking several people where we should go, we came upon the craft market.......Ah ha!...... we found it. We arranged where to meet for lunch, then spread out. Over lunch we did "show and tell" with our purchases and then the old "split the bill and pass money around" thing that women always do in restaurants. (You guys don't seem to understand this ritual)

Because is was Friday and Shabbat starts at sun set, the last bus to Jerusalem would be at 4:00 PM. We caught a city bus back to the bus station and were there in time to catch the 4:00 PM bus to Jerusalem. When we got to Jerusalem, around 5:00 PM, the city busses were not running, it wouldn't have been a bad walk home, but we were all tired so again we shared a taxi.

I'm glad to have gone, now I know how to go to Tel Aviv on a bus. There are a lot of things you can get in Tel Aviv that you just can't find in Jerusalem and the round trip was only 37 NIS (divide that by 4 to get dollars).

End of my story............

Shalom..........Bernice

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!! It's time to take down the tree and decorations, I picked up my little 2 foot tree decorations and all, took off the stand, and put it into a large plastic bag. Then I dropped the stand into the bag with the tree, closed the bag and put the bagged tree into a cupboard. Next I took the little olive wood statue of Mary, Jesus and Joseph and set it into the cupboard next to the bagged tree....... OK, done!! It took me 30 sec to take down our tree and pack away the decorations.........How long is it taking you??

Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Georgia, all had a white Christmas. Ours was not white but wet, I'm jealous!

Hag Sameach for the New Year............

Bernice

Christmas

The best part of Christmas was calling and talking with our children, grandchildren, and family. Over the two days and nights of Christmas Day and Christmas Eve we called family at their dinner gatherings. Because California is 10 hours, Oklahoma and Tennessee are 8 hours and Pennsylvania and Georgia are 7 hours difference, some of our calls were at strange hours of the night and morning. Christmas Eve we went to a reception and midnight service at St. Andrew's Scots Memorial Church. The Church is only blocks away so we walked in spite of pouring down rain and wind. The wind grabbed my umbrella and disassembled it on the way there. On the way back, trying to stay dry with one broken umbrella and the small one we had left was imposable. My new wool coat was heavy with rain and Don's suit was wet and wrinkled. We were a sad sight, but happy because It was 1 am and time to make another Christmas call.

Christmas Day we decided to go out for an early dinner. In town was business as usual, it seemed strange since this was Christmas Day. We were unable to find a restaurant who served turkey and we knew no one would be serving ham, so we settled on a steak dinner. Argentina Steak House is one of the few places in Jerusalem that you can get an American type steak dinner complete with baked potatoes, it was great.

OK every one......... it's your turn..............how was your Christmas?

Shalom..............Bernice

It's Your Fault

You've seen Indian women with a red spot between their eyebrows, Well I have a red spot on the end of my nose. You don't want to here the whole long story, so I'll just say.......... I said, "Ouch you bumped my nose!" Don said, "It's your fault, you were too close." Me, "No it's your fault, you shouldn't have pulled that drawer out so fast." Don, "It's your fault, you are the one who was trying to invent a new way to tumble silver." Me, "It's your fault, you brought me to Israel where I don't have a decent tumbler." Don, "It's your fault, you married me." Me, "It's Sonny and Carol's fault, they arranged the blind date." We both agreed that the sore on the end of my nose was Sonny and Carol's fault............. OK, I used a little artistic license in telling this story...........but as I said before, you don't want to hear the whole long story. Carol and Sonny, where ever you are, it's your fault.

Shalom....................Bernice

Decorations

Here is a picture of our Christmas decorations. The tree is about 2 feet tall and the background is construction paper, purchased to make into a tree, if I couldn't find a "real" one. This tree is even a little crooked like the ones you buy on the lots. I'm happy now

We won't starve, Don said he needed shaving cream and was going by the Ditch Store to pick some up. "Great !!" I said, handing him my list from yesterday, "Since your going anyway, you might as well pick these things up too." Problem solved, decorations and food!!

Shalom................Bernice

A Tree

After visiting the post office, I skipped the Ditch Store and went to the Old City. I wondered around a bit, and was beginning to feel discouraged until I was told where a "Christmas Store" was. To get there I would continue through this tourist section (I've never seen the Old City so empty) and into the busy crowded areas where Arab women shop for clothing, meat, and misc. There it is!! A two foot fake Christmas tree, I found the Christmas store!!!! What was called The Christmas Store was really a little shop with a few Christmas things in it, but it had what I needed.

On my way back, in the tourist section, I found a six pointed olive wood star for the top of the tree and a hand carved olive wood statue of Mary and Baby Jesus on the donkey with Joseph standing next to them. Now it's Christmas, I feel better. Every time I look at our decorations I feel the Christmas spirit.

Bethlehem was where we had planned to spend Christmas Eve but because of the conflict, the Christmas Eve celebration has been called off, and it's not a safe place to be. Big disappointment. Maybe next year it will be safe there.

Shalom..................Bernice

More Rain

The rain was falling most of the night on Tuesday, some times very hard.........good, we need it. Wednesday after our morning class, the rain was still falling. Don wanted to go to the school library to do some research and I decided to go into town to a jewelry tools and supply store, I needed some saw blades. I have an umbrella, I'll just walk, it's not too far. The walk in the rain was nice until I got into town where the sidewalks were crowded and then I made an interesting discovery.................When you are on a crowded sidewalk with an umbrella, and most of the other people on that sidewalk have umbrellas, it can be a tricky business. The spokes of your umbrella tend to lock with the spokes of the umbrellas coming the other way. Lifting your umbrella higher or lower doesn't help because the people coming the other way are doing the same thing. There should be a universal sign you could make to let the person coming the other way know what your intentions are..............actually, that wouldn't work, as crowded as those sidewalks were, my umbrella was locking up with the next umbrella even before I was untangled from the current one.

My silver working class last week was canceled because Miriam's (the teacher's) husband was in the hospital. I don't know what his illness is but it sounds like he may be there for a while. Merriam will call us when the class can start again, in the mean time, I will have to stick with non-solder projects.

The drawing/painting class is coming along great, I learned so much about oils last week and am beginning to feel comfortable with the medium. During the class we stopped for a break and were served roasted chess nuts, warm from the oven. I realized that I had never eaten roasted chess nuts before, nice treat!

More later..........

Shalom...............Bernice