In no particular order:
Eurovision
Okay, so I had vaguely heard of the Eurovision, years ago when Israel won in the late 90's (I think) But honestly, as an American, we don't know about the Eurovision (or as it is pronounced in Hebrew, Uroveezeeon). My kids had been playing the song of the Israeli competitor to this year's competition. And while I found the song really annoying it was also super catchy and fun. And I decided to watch the competition because, Israel. We have to support Israel. And well, Israel won! I couldn't believe it because the song is so odd, but then again, Eurovision has a lot of odd songs. But in the days after the competition, suddenly everyone starting posting interviews with the Israeli winner, and wow! She seems like a really amazing person with a great message. Basically, be yourself and don't let anyone tell you that you can't do or be what you love or what you are. So, you go Netta! You go with your interesting song! So watch her interviews, and if you need some fun, scroll through the Eurovision competitors through the years. It was quite eye opening.
Menachem Begin Competition
Here is another super Israeli event that just happened. A few weeks ago I got a message from my youngest child's teacher that the class is going on a trip to Jerusalem. Okay, not so odd. Schools here do a lot of awesome trips (included in school fees!) Then as it got closer I asked him about the trip. It turns out that his class was going to Jerusalem to cheer on their classmate who was a finalist in the Begin competition. What might that be, you ask? Well, it seems to be a trivia competition that focuses only on the life of Menachem Begin. Hello, super specific Israeli trivia. But guess what? His classmate came in 2nd place in Israel! And hopefully my kid has learned a bit about Menachem Begin. I will take some credit for making him sit through a documentary a few years back.
Vacation
The opportunity came in my schedule and hubby's schedule to sneak away for a quick vacation. So we did. We spent two glorious days in Netanya, Israel. I love living in a warm climate which means almost guaranteed beach weather in May, and I love that we are so close to so many beautiful places. Of course, it isn't a bad thing that we no longer have to worry about kosher food. Because most hotels are kosher and you are never far from a kosher restaurant or supermarket. If anyone is planning a vacation to Netanya, call me. I have some good recommendations. Also, take me with you.
Highlights
First time ever seeing an infinity pool, let alone being in one.
First hotel massage (discount for hotel guests)
First time in a pub
Turns out, I can manage four lattes in one breakfast (skills!!!)
Netanya's downtown looks exactly the way I remember it from 1997 (not sure if that's good or bad)
Now, I guess it is time to plan my next vacation?
Sing Along
If we are Facebook friends then you probably saw my post about a school wide sing along at the girls' school. They sent an email inviting all mothers. I was not working, so I went. And as I was leaving my house to head over, I received texts from my girls asking me not to come. I said, too late, I put on lipstick. So I went and it was so much fun. Apparently I am embarrassing. I don't see how, considering there were like 400 girls, teachers and a handful of moms all doing the same dance and song. But oh well. Such is the life of teenagers to be embarrassed by their parents. In other news, the teachers sent out a photo of the whole school singing together. And guess who is right in the middle?? Yours truly!
Shavuot
The suffering was real. Shabbat ran right into Shavuot and, we too had to celebrate two days in a row. But hey, had we still been in NJ we would be celebrating an extra day. I DO NOT MISS three day holidays. Nope, no thanks. I am good with my new schedule here. My refrigerator is not made for a three day holiday. Probably says somewhere that two days are its limit.
And by suffering, I mean, we celebrated with a big neighborhood meal in one neighbor's back yard (we learned that full capacity is 54 people, plus food) Then the next day, we celebrated with other friends in their air conditioned apartment. Full capacity there seems never ending because they have a fabulous backyard as well. And if you buy enough ice pops the kids will even spend a lot of time outside.
And I was able to discover just how much can be baked in my toaster oven which is dairy. I was pretty impressed.
Shopping in Israel
Well, I am not a big fan of clothing shopping in general. But suddenly, one of my teen girls has turned into a teenager and is always telling me she needs clothing. So, I decided that the day after shavuot, we would go shopping together. I had walked by a cute little boutique-looking store a few weeks ago so I decided we should start there. Usually our adventures are not very successful. But, along with the magic of Israel, we had a great time. The store was mostly empty and I must have looked overwhelmed enough for one saleswoman to come over immediately and ask if I needed help. I said, ummm, yeah I do. I mean, I don't even understand Israeli sizes.
She proceeds to look at my daughter and tell her that even tunics will work because they will be a dress on her. She was mildly offended but I'm like, we are short, own it!! More dress choices. In the end, we didn't need to go that route. Between myself and the saleswoman, we managed to find like 15 dresses that my girl agreed to try on. And every single one looked fabulous. I have learned that my job is to sit in the chair and just wait until she says she likes something. I do not give my opinion first because that leads to her buying dresses that I like but she doesn't and then she will not wear them.
In the end, we walked out with two beautiful dresses (from the sale rack of course because that is how we roll) and everyone was in a good mood. When I mentioned to the saleswoman that it is a hard age for shopping, she responded with, oh, your daughter is great. Some of the teenagers are really hard. Lol.
We then went to a few other stores to look for more casual clothes and while we had mild success the first store was really the winner. But then, as we were about to leave the shopping center, I said, hey look, a housewares outlet. Lets go and browse. I have a thing for cake plates and bundt pans and I figured, I am never in this shopping center so why not. Well, we walked in and I immediately spotted two fabulous cake plates. Its possible that I bought them for myself as a birthday present. Hubby, I even had them wrapped,, so you can just give them to me.
And then while the saleswoman was wrapping them (okay, originally they were a gift for someone else) I found something even better. I found this set of bowls, measuring cups and spoons, etc... that all nest into each other. It is perfect for the small Israeli kitchens that most of us have. The price was blacked out, so I went and asked her how much it cost. She rings it up and here is where comes the Israeli-ness of this whole adventure.
She sees the price and literally screeches out (in Hebrew) oh wow, thank goodness, finally, this is a normal price. How lucky that you came in and asked what the price is. Oh my gosh, I cant believe it,. Finally. And she kept going on and on. My daughter and I were glancing at each other and laughing. It was exactly like a scene from SNL (see link below). Needless to say, I bought it as a gift for someone, and I am keeping the cake plates. Maybe.
SNL clip
Camps
Okay, so summer is coming up and I need to figure out what my kids are doing. My kids are all teens and tweens so camps start to get a bit tricky. But the alternative is sitting home staring at their phones all day. So anyway, camps. Eldest wants a job so he is sorting that out himself. Plus scout camp of course. Other kids will all be at scout camp for less than a week. One girl is on the junior Maccabi team for Netball (go Netball, even though I don't understand you) so she will be competing for a few days up north and will have a bunch of practice. One girls is signed up for keyboard lessons and one girl is doing two weeks of surfing camp (because, you can). But what to do for the rest.
Promo for Junior Maccabi games
So we heard about this super cool camp and yesterday two of my kids had interviews for it. It's a science type of camp and they want to make sure its the right fit for everyone. Anyway, getting to my point. On the application (which the kids had to fill out by themselves) for the camp, they asked this one question. The answer to the question is only known if you've seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Which, okay, I have seen when I was in college because my hubby showed it to me. But he has apparently taken the liberty to show some questionable things to my kids. Anyway, my youngest knew the answer because of the movie, so he wrote it down. And yesterday at the interview, they asked him about it, wondering if his parents told him the answer or if he just knew it. And apparently he replied, "I knew it. My father showed it to me. And my mother said that if they have more children, she will get to be in charge of what they watch." Out of the mouths of babes...
Anyway, they both were accepted into the camp.
No comments:
Post a Comment