Ant farm

I have always wondered where the desire to own an ant farm would come from.  I mean, ants?

Well, my home has recently turned into one huge ant farm, and my kids love it.  Luckily, they are teeny tiny ants, because if they were big, I would be even less okay with it than I already am.

 

I don't think I've ever seen ant hills inside a home before.

When you've got this kind of entertainment, who needs TV? 

Who are we and what are we doing here?

Occasionally I get questions from people wondering why on earth we are living in the Middle East, what Tom is studying, where we are going next, and what Tom is planning on doing when he "grows up" (which I'm pretty sure is code for, "What the crap are you doing over there? Are you crazy?").  When I write on this blog I assume that people who are reading it know our situation.  But I've realized there are a number of readers who I've never met, and even those who I do know personally may not know the details of why we're doing all this.  So for those of you who are curious to know the extended version of our story, read on....

Tom knew from the time he was on his mission that he wanted to study the Bible, possibly along with some languages.  So when he started back up at BYU after returning home, he started taking both Modern and Biblical Hebrew classes.  He was hoping to major in Ancient Near Eastern Studies, but BYU was taking way too long making it an official major.  So feeling the pressure to declare a major, he finally decided to major in Classics, eventually finishing both the Greek emphasis and the Latin.  He was also working hard on two minors, Hebrew and Arabic.  Finally, BYU officially brought back the Ancient Near Eastern Studies major, so he convinced his adviser to let him have a double major.  I have to admit, as Tom kept adding more and more layers to his undergraduate degree, I was not always the happiest wife in the world.  I felt like we were going to be in Provo for FOR-E-VER (6 years total, but he always went full-time in the summer, so it was really like 9 years. Seriously people, that's a long time).  But each time he felt the Spirit tell him to add another layer (and I would consequently throw a fit), he would tell me to pray about it.  Each time I did, I usually knew the answer before I was done praying - which sometimes just added to my anger.  Is that bad?  

He eventually added on more languages - Ugaritic, Akkadian, Sumerian, and German.  And yes, I fought him on each one.  But despite my overwhelming desire to throw a tantrum, the Lord was guiding him and I couldn't deny that.

Finally, he had to wave the white flag because BYU sent him a letter saying he had a holy boat load of credits, and he needed to finish things up.  So as his graduation approached he started applying to grad schools.  A few months later, he started getting rejection letters.  It was pretty heartbreaking and stressful. We didn't understand why, and neither did his advisers and professors.  They all thought he would get in.  In the middle of all of that, I started having a very strong feeling that it was happening for a reason and it was because we were supposed to go to Israel.  So he sent in the application and we waited.  I KNEW we were going, but I don't think he was so sure.  Finally, the letter came, he received a partial scholarship, and we started making plans to move overseas!

Here at the Hebrew University of Jersualem his major is Bible in the Ancient Near East.  He will receive his master's this June, which seems so strange to me that you can get a degree in two years.  His first one took FOR-E-VER, remember?  I really thought I would die an old lady there.  But not this time - two years and we're outta here.

He is currently applying to PhD programs, which has been a frustrating task from overseas.  Our parents have helped us get fees in, and forms sent.  We have absolutely no idea where we'll be this fall.  I kind of feel like we're characters in the Roadrunner cartoon running straight off a cliff.  But we have faith (well, most days) that we will land wherever it is we're supposed to be.

As far as what Tom wants to do long-term, he plans on being a professor.  He loves languages... although that doesn't seem to state it strongly enough.  HE REEEEALLY LOVES LANGUAGES - especially those of the ancient variety.  He gets excited about ancient cuneiform the way a child gets excited for ice cream.  He gets giddy, and drools, and jumps up and down squealing like a little girl.

 

Okay, maybe not, but pretty close.  He has so much info bouncing around that brain of his, I'm not sure how he keeps it all straight.  Maybe I shouldn't get on his case so much when he continually leaves the pita bag open.  I suppose he has other things on his mind.

I'm grateful to be married to a man who is passionate about what he does.  I'm proud that he has the courage to go out on a limb and conquer the unknown.  I'm also very grateful that he works very hard to keep his faith alive.  This field of study can be really hard on believers at times.  But he sticks close to the Lord and asks Him where to go next every step of the way.  

So I guess we'll just wait and see where He takes us next!  Maybe we need some prayers?  Yeah, I'm pretty sure we do.

Grocery Shopping

For months now I've been meaning to write a post about what it's like to grocery shop in Israel.  Much like big cities in the United States, a lot of people here don't own cars, so small regular trips to the local grocery store are a part of daily life.  Here I will list some unique things about my experiences shopping at Israeli stores....

• Most store entrances are guarded by a security guard.  You have to allow him to rummage through your bag before entering.
  
• Bigger grocery stores have shopping carts, but you usually have to put a 5 shekel piece in them.  The worst part about them is they roll very easily to the side.  So if you try to take it outside, it will start rolling away sideways.  So you either have to use every muscle in your body to keep your heavy cart from rolling away, or you have to run.  Or both, depending on the incline.
  
• Some grocery stores do not allow you to take your cart to your car.  Think about that one for a minute. 
• Having children with you can work to your advantage at checkout.  Once the cashiers get to know you and your children, they'll actually smile at you.  It's awesome.
• Often a store's sale items will be there at the checkout next to the cashier.  They will ALWAYS ask you if you want the items that are displayed.  A couple of times the cashier has literally refused to take no for an answer.  Either in broken English, or 100% Hebrew that I don't understand, they will do everything they can to convince me that I must buy that item.  One time when I was buying a small treat for something, it turned out that if you bought four of them it was a slamming deal.  So naturally the cashier kept trying to talk me into buying the other three.  But I didn't want that many, even if it was a better deal.  Towards the end of her ringing out my items, she finally just grabbed three more treats and rang them through.  I was so annoyed, and Tom heard about it the rest of the day.
• This idea can also be a good thing.  I often miss sales because I can't read the signs, and if the sale item isn't one of the ones near checkout, the cashier will tell me to go back into the store and get them.  She will wait as long as she needs to, and will not show an ounce of annoyance (which is unusual in and of itself).  She'll actually be glad that you're doing it so you get the best deal... or maybe she's just happy to sit and do nothing for a couple of minutes.
  
• But a HUGE drawback to that, is that it is extremely common for people to get in line, or even start to check out, and then they will leave to finish their shopping!  They may even come back two or three times with their hands full of things.  You can easily stand there for a good ten minutes while the person in the middle of checkout is casually walking around the store collecting more items.  There's an awesome story of my friend hunting down a person doing just that, just to give him a piece of her mind.  But that's for another day. 
• People in front of you like to put their carts in the middle of the walkway so you can't get by.  You can yell, "Slicha!" (excuse me) over and over before they'll move.  But if you are even slightly in someone else's way, they'll physically shove you out of the way with their grocery cart.  I can't quite bring myself to do the same thing.  Maybe one of these days.
• In the Jerusalem area, virtually all Israeli stores close on Fridays sometime between noon and 2:30 in preparation for the Sabbath.  They also stay closed all day Saturday.
• Most things come in much smaller containers.  Take powdered sugar, for instance.  It comes in little envelopes that hold not quite one cup, verses the US where you can buy them in 4 pound bags.
• If you see an item that you love and it's something that's not usually there, stock up!  You may never see it again.
• You usually have to bag your own stuff, and you'll probably run out of sacks.  When you ask for more, don't be surprised if they show outright annoyance at your request.
• Grocery stores are called a "Super", pronounced soo-pair.  
• Their produce is FAN-TASTIC when it's in season.  It's also cheaper than most other foods.
• There are two types of food that are still a mystery to me after all this time: canned tomatoes and dairy/cheese products.  I feel like there is some secret code I need to crack that nobody is telling me about.  They just don't make sense!  I can't tell you how many times I *think* I'm coming home with tomato sauce, only to find out when I get home that I have purchased diced tomatoes with huge chunks of garlic.  Or I'll buy what I think is cream cheese, only to find out when I get home that it's sour cream.
• In the states, the "customer is always right."  But here that is not the case.  The clerk/owner/manager is the boss, and they can be as rude to you as they like.
• If you're brave enough to go shopping on a Friday, they will often offer you free items at checkout - typically bread, cake, newspaper, or alcohol.  If they're out of bread, I'll take cake.  If they're out of both, they reeeeally want me to take the newspaper or alcohol.  I don't read Hebrew, so the paper is no good to me.  And as much as I'd like to unwind at the end of the day with a glass of cheap wine, I'm about as Mormon as they come and I've never had a drink in my life.  But it's hard to convey all that to a persistent cashier who doesn't understand a word I'm saying.

Resolutions

A conversation I had with Joni today:

Joni:  Mom, what are you making?

Me:  Banana muffins.

Joni:  Are they the really super healthy ones?  Because if they are, I don't want any.  I don't want to eat any of the protein or anything like that anymore.

Now that's my kind of resolution! :)

If Jackson could set resolutions they would be:

1) Eat food

2) Play with cars

3) Flirt with girls

CHRISTMAS

Hoping everyone had a very Merry Christmas.

 Singing Christmas carols at Shepherd's Field.

Overlooking Bethlehem. :)

Separation wall and the Aida Refugee Camp

As they did last year, the holidays feel quite a bit different to me again this year. There is something so magical about singing Christmas hymns in church while overlooking views like this of the city of Jerusalem. Those kinds of memories will stay with me forever.

But there are also other memories about this place that will most likely haunt me - and I hope they do, because I never want to forget. On a recent trip to Bethlehem, I was able to learn more about the recent history of the sacred city. Most of the world imagines a small town 2,000 years ago that was the birthplace of Christ. I can only wish that its history would remain so simple and angelic. The separation wall that runs through Israel/Palestine has greatly divided the city of Bethlehem. It is now only 20% the size it used to be. As you can imagine, this unthinkable decrease in size has led to many homes lost and many jobs disappearing.

The wall as you enter Bethlehem from Jerusalem.

One of the many long, confusing walkways of the checkpoint.

Part of the wall from inside the West Bank. There is a lot of graffiti/art all over the wall. Often it is a chance for people imprisoned by this wall to have a voice. Some of the images can just break your heart.

Others make you laugh. :)

This is a home surrounded by the wall on THREE SIDES!

Can you imagine your neighborhood being whittled down to nothing and your house becoming surrounded by cement and barbed wire? When I try to imagine my childhood home this way, I literally feel like my heart will burst at the heartache these people have been through. The woman who owns this place fought the courts all the way to the highest court in order to keep her house. It was supposed to be one of the MANY lost to the Israeli side, but she won. Can you imagine this scene being evidence of your hard fought victory?

Near Bethlehem there is one of the many refugee camps in the West Bank. We visited Aida Refugee Camp, and it was an eye opening experience. Just miles away from where I currently live, this camp was developed after the war in 1948. Originally the homes would have been mere tents, but have since been replaced by homes made of mud and concrete. There are so many people that they have to keep building higher, becoming suffocatingly crowded.

Now pay attention. There are roughly 6,000 people living on about 6 acres, the majority being children. Again, I think of my childhood home. We were a family of 9 living on an acre. Compare that to 1,000 refugees living on each acre, and well, you can begin to imagine how these people live.

The entry to the camp.

The key symbolizes all the keys that these families had (and many still have) that belong to all the homes they lost. The arrow on top points to the words "Not for sale" as shown in the picture below. The lower arrow points to the area where the Palestinian people built a stage where the Pope was supposed to speak from on his recent visit to the area. The Palestinians had planned an elaborate program that included the children giving him gifts. It was an opportunity for the world to see the reality of the refugee camps, with the wall and watch tower leering in the background. But at the last minute, the Israeli government pulled the cord on those plans. They can't have everybody seeing what's actually going on, right?

A quote from Pope Benedict says it better than I ever could: "We cannot be silent when faced with images of immigration camps in numerous places in the world, of people forced into terrible situations in order to avoid even more terrible circumstances, leaving them in need of everything. Aren't those our brothers and sisters? Haven't their children come into the world like others, with a legitimate claim to happiness?"

Children swarmed the car, anxious for the opportunity to get their picture taken. They had been running around, playing on the trash filled streets with the wall in the background. :(

The following are pictures I took of the camp as we drove around. Keep in mind these are not back ally-ways. These are their streets - the only thing they can call a yard. The one school in the camp is run by UNICEF, and they keep their schoolyard open after hours because it is the only place where the kids can run and play without being in the streets.....

This picture makes me think of my sweet Jackson every time I look at it. It breaks my heart that he has no shoes on. :(

In 1948, the United Nations Resolution stated the refugees' right to return. But I can't imagine that ever happening. Meanwhile, the already high unemployment rate has only plummeted even further since the building of the separation wall. Many people have had to completely close down their shops, while others have lost employment that they used to have in Jerusalem, but they can no longer get there.

I understand some of the mentality of Israel building the wall. The Palestinians were acting out in violence, and the wall is supposedly deterring it. But there are a few holes in that approach. For one, they started building a separation fence around Gaza long before any of the terrorist attacks on Israel. Also, there are a lot of Palestinians on the Israeli side, and there are a lot of Israelis on the Palestinian side. So if someone wanted to act out in violence against Israelis, there's really nothing stopping them. I just can't help but think that the wall goes way beyond "protecting" people. I think it's PART of it, but it's not the whole of it.

Anyway, Middle East politics aside, we all obviously have so much to be grateful for. I know times are tough in the states right now. I know many people have lost their jobs and even their homes, but there is STILL so much to be grateful for. Our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ have given us so much more than we deserve. I know that Christ lived and died for us, and he rose on the third day. The tomb is empty! I know that He lives and loves us. He gives us all that we have. Let us all show Him our gratitude this Christmas for His willingness to come to earth, be born in the most humble of circumstances, and suffer for our weaknesses. He is the Comforter, the Prince of Peace, the very reason for the season we are celebrating.

Merry Christmas everybody.

Bethlehem Videos

I had the opportunity to go to Bethlehem again this past Sunday. I know these are not the greatest quality videos (they seem to be even worse once I upload them to blogger), but I figure it gives you a better idea of something than just a still photo.

This first one is inside the Church of the Nativity which is a church built up on top of the stable/cave where Christ is thought to have been born...

This second one is of a Mosque across the plaza from Manger Square (the bldg straight ahead with the tower). They were playing the call to prayer, so I quickly turned on my video so you could hear what it's like...

More to come from my visit there.

(my apologies to Brooke who was an innocent bystander in the making of these videos)