I went to the state hospital last week for a dentist appointment. The dentist was all business, and super direct about the things he felt I could do better to care for my teeth, in a way that was off-putting at first, but also strangely familiar. The dentist was clearly not of Equatoguinean decent, and… Read More Homesick for Jerusalem. Finally.
It’s easy to bleed money when we’re traveling. It’s also easy to bleed money living in a city like Jerusalem. Lucky us, there are lots of free things to do in Jerusalem with kids. Explore the Old City The Old City in Jerusalem is beautiful and full of history. Whether you’re exploring the Church of… Read More Free Things to do in Jerusalem with Kids
Saturday morning, we drove to the Mount of Olives and picked olives as Jerusalemites have been doing for thousands of years. The technique of harvesting olives is simple. Wait until the olives begin to ripen, then rake the lives out of a tree. In our case, at the Lutheran World Federation, the caretakers had spread… Read More Olive Picking on the Mount of Olives
Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. On this “Sabbath of Sabbaths,” the entire country shuts down. As non-Jewish visitors to Jerusalem, we don’t always get to observe the religious side of holidays (and are conscious of appropriation as well); however, that doesn’t stop us from appreciating the secular benefits of a Jerusalem without… Read More Yom Kippur in Jerusalem
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the privilege of seeing several Israeli and Palestinian interpretations and explorations of the conflict (what a terrible and passionless word) through their art. None of the artists pretend to present any solutions, but it’s been eye-opening to me to see how each of them sees the pain, the peace… Read More Exploring the Peace Process (or lack thereof) through Art
Ramle is famous for its Wednesday market. Although we’d visited the small town before to visit a friend, we wanted to return to visit the market and Ramle’s 1300 year old underground cistern. I’d heard that the cistern was large enough to row a boat in, and wanted to see it for myself. Our friend… Read More Ramle – Visiting the Pool of Arches and the White Tour
One of the most amazing things about living in Jerusalem is living within spitting distance of thousands of years of history. Caesarea (pronounced Keh-sar-ee-ya) is an old Roman town on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. It’s about an hour North of Tel Aviv, and about 90 minutes from Jerusalem. On the first official day of my… Read More Caesarea — Exploring Israel with Kids
Traveling alone is a surprisingly communal experience. After years of relying on Bertrand’s charm and ability to make instant friends, I found is startlingly easy to find good company and conversation while exploring Northern Israel on my own. When Bertrand abruptly left for Benin with the girls after his father passed away, I found myself… Read More Visiting the Bahá’í Gardens in Haifa, Israel
Saturday afternoon, we’d finished puttering around the house, and didn’t really want to waste a beautiful afternoon indoors. It was also late enough that we knew the kids wouldn’t last long, and we didn’t want to commit to a long expensive excursion if a breakdown were eminent. With small children, it’s easy to get caught… Read More Ein Karem – a Tiny Oasis in West Jerusalem
I am working on taking my lunch to work every day, but I needed an easy way to make an entire week’s worth of lunches in advance. I actually do a great job of cooking a week’s worth of food at once on Sundays, but never seem to find time in the mornings to pack my… Read More Mason Jar Broccoli and Pomegranate Salad