oscar blues

Hello my dear friends,I miss you all, think of you often and send oodles of love your way!Summer here in Israel has been hot, sticky, and full of humid wet air. Our towels don't really dry in the bathroom. I imagine it is hard after you taking your 4Th shower of the day. Sometimes I even get up in the middle of the night for a little rinse. I hope that we are over the heat hump. Today we spent at the beach surfing and boogie boarding. Yep, good life. Summer has been wonderfully uneventful, no war and loads of ice cream. We did have to stay away from the beach for the month of July because it is month of invasion of the burning stinging jellyfish.Our last few days have been incredibly fun and adventure full. We hiked through a canyon, down a river and waterfalls, jumped off a 25 foot cliff into a deep pool and went repelling off a 45 foot cliff. That was really exciting! I now realize how addicting the adrenaline rush can be. Then yesterday to top it off I finally tried indoor rock climbing. It rocks! Josh and Zach love it, too. We had to schlep 40 min in the car to get there but was great. Go figure. We leave Rock climbing capital of the world, never tried it in Boulder but get into it here. It is really funny. The guys who run the rock gym look at us like we are crazy. Well, we know that already. What is new? I am now keeping an eye out for the next adrenaline opportunity. Any recommendations?So, summer for Josh and the title of this letter, 'Oscar Blues'. My dear dear Josh. He came to us late spring announcing and requesting that he wanted to go to sleep away camp. Why we wondered? He had never slept away more than 2 consecutive nights but this is supposed to be for 3 weeks! Despite several attempts to get it clear from Josh that this is what he wants. He goes off to camp. He 'really wanted to'. Okay, day one passed. No word. I am thinking whoa, maybe this is gonna really happen. Day two, no word. Day three.... a phone call from Josh: 'Yep, it is great, yep friends, the whole schpiel'. I share with Zach that Josh is really doing all right at camp. He responds: "Well, Josh called me yesterday saying he hated it and wanted to come home but was afraid to tell us cause we would get mad". Next day...camp director calls: Problems galore, ya know the drill, swearing, fighting, and of course the wonderful..'we have to make a contract'. OK, he stays two more days and then drama time. He is sick, has to go to the emergency room, can't stop throwing up. The camp tried to start an IV (without notifying us, of course) to no avail. OK, comes home for 5 days. Goes back and finishes it off with a final rating of 5/10. But here is the kicker. He is so pleased and truly joyous because the last night of camp was Oscar night. Josh won an Oscar. He was so proud of it. I am thinking: 'what type of Oscar could he have won?' Lo and behold he won an Oscar for being the 'SICKEST KID'. Oh my god, I am thinking and laughing. He gets mad at me for laughing and stomps off to his bedroom. So, just in case you all thought that things might be different. Ya know. New country and all. Well, not a chance. Josh is josh.Zach broke up with girlfriend though we still hang out with her parents.... We love to discuss Kabala with them. They are big learners and fans of the ancient texts.Our bigger summer deal was that we re-buried my father's remains in the mount of Olives in Jerusalem. We brought him from LA and did the ceremony 1 month ago. Tomorrow is the unveiling. It was very heavy and intense. I am pleased that he is in his right resting place but I am ready to move on.One a more bizarre note: We had lunch over at the Christian German's Mennonite like- Amish people's house. That too was quite a cultural experience. These German Christians call themselves Zionist Christians. I would call it more like a cult but they were so excited to have us over. Boy, their house was immaculate.My practice is growing slowly but surely. G-d has gifted me graciously with a few 'miraculous' healings so the word is slowly getting out. The rest is the mundane...'do your exercises and you will feel better'. I don't like to brag but this was funny, at least to me. I really credit the creator because this one event was so totally not my doing but his/her alone. A gentlemen came in with pain that had been plaguing him for 6 months, could barely walk, etc. I thought to myself 'geez this guy has like some mega big problems, dude'. So, I threw some spit on my hands and did a little rub a dub dub. He called 5 days later emoting that after he left he did not feel the pain again. I have been working with him now for 5 weeks and still no return. Believe me, I take no credit on this deal. So, those of you who are not believers....please send an explanation. Oh, maybe it is the holy land thing. I forget where I am!We have a new dog, Dude. Kids named him. He is a rescue dog from the streets. Weird looking. Middle eastern mix. I would have preferred the golden retriever deal but not happening. He is 8 months old. He has some strange characteristics which are totally like the dogs around here. He chases cars. Can't control it. Also, is aggressive with any dog on the road. Come on, Dude! Be cool.So we are here. Memories of Boulder life are getting more and more faint. Although most people say that where we live now, Zichron Yaakov, is like a bubble. That is what was always said about Boulder. Still get frustrated easily over bureaucratic things. Like I went to get a passport (hint hint) and was number 200, They were on number 110. Ugh. I am sure those things happen in the states but thank god I did not have to do much bureaucratic stuff there.We are looking forward to school starting hopefully without a strike to delay things. School is to start in September for two weeks, then a four week break for the Jewish high holidays. The way things worked for the last three months in spring was that there was a big strike so the kids had no tests, no grades and no final report card. It was lovely. See how relaxed I am getting?Sometimes pangs of fear and uncertainty bolt in. I can't do this. I am not supposed to be here. Sometimes I feel like life is so temporary I am not sure I am supposed to be anywhere specifically. We dream about new adventures. I make things much more complicated than they need to be. That's me. You all know that.Miss you all lots. Have a lemon drip martini at the "Kitchen" for me. Also a Rio Marg would be good. Thanks for spending these few minutes with me.Blessings and hugs,Adele

pasach time

Hello Everyone,
We have just passed the 9 month mark! Feels like I have been incubating something! Maybe my life! I know it is a whopper!
Life continues to be full, exciting and wonderful here. Things have definitely slowed down a bit and I am calming down a great deal. Daily small shockers occur less frequently and occur farther apart.
We are now gearing up for passover. It is a 3 week holiday break for the kids. This Monday night is the Seder and after wards it feels as if the whole country jumps in their cars and begins to travel, camping, visiting friends, and day hikes. Staying at hotels is a big one because getting your kitchen and house koshered for passover is a big ta do! So, many opt to just leave for the 8 days and hang out a a hotel. Not a bad idea I would say.
I am so happy to know that I am finally living out one of my dreams which was to come to Israel for a whole year and experience a year cycle of Jewish holidays. Passover is one of the biggest. I can't tell you all how great it feels to go into each and every grocery store and find that the shelves are being stocked with passover goods and there will be no bread available. The pizza stores sell matzo pizza! I can't wait to explore it all. Too fun!
THE KIDS:
Over this last period the kids are also doing great. As long as I don't think about the upcoming tests (Bagrut) for Zach I stay pretty relaxed. They are growing and learning and experiencing so many new things. I am really happy about most of it. We had a new experience for Drew and I which occurred last week. I am sure it is a ritual for most parents but we were fairly shocked. Last week we went for an interview for Josh to get into Zach's current school for next year. It is an advanced science and math focus emphasis. Longer hours, more intensive and higher level sciences. I know you may be thinking...what? is that good for Josh? Well, we are not exactly sure but the other choice is a school that has 450 7Th graders in 9 classes of 40 kids. He would be completely lost. This school has only 2 classes for 30 kids. So, we figure we can give it a try. And, Josh says he wants to be a doctor although Drew is still convinced that he really only wants to play one on TV! So, here we go. We are on our way prepping Josh for the interview..."Josh if they ask, say you like to do homework, say you like to stay for longer hours, say you like sciences and math." Like as if! OK, so we are ready to go. We get into the interview room with two stern teachers asking us questions. Pretty serious scene as there are a lot of kids that want to get into this program. Well, the minute we walk in the room the first thing that the interviewer says to us (who happens to be the advanced Math teacher of Zach's): " Well, where was Zach today? we missed him. Is he ill?" Gulp! I look at Drew, he looks at me, we call Zach on the spot and hear "yep,,,,mom, I ditched school today". Right there and then. I was livid. The funny part was that the teachers immediately took Zach's side and told me not to punish him, and how they have set 2 days a year that their kids can ditch school etc. Don't ask! So, overall the interview went fine. Josh did his best bullshitting and we are scheduled to go for a week testing in the summer. I will keep you posted. Zach is turning into a mountain biking maniac and is on a small team. Both have 'girlfriends' so I guess we are still in the honey moon phase of things.
DREW:
Drew is in heaven in his bubble of a job at the German, Christian, Gas mask factory/kibbutz. He is busy learning everything he can: Hebrew, German, cultural stuff and some computerized machinery which is taught to him in Hebrew and the computerized stuff is in German. Ugh! He is doing great and I am more than proud of him. He mountain bikes 4-5 days a week after work and he is in great shape! He loves it here and is so happy.
ADELE:
I have settled down a lot! I feel more grounded and calm. It has been a doozy of a time these past 9 months. I never imagined really that it would be such a growing experience but we are doing fine, even great! I am really happy here. There definitely are times when I think that the behavior here is ridiculous and it irritates me but in the next minute something wonderful and loving can happen and it changes the whole color of things. A few more hours were added to my part time job at the army so that was great.l I Love it there and I am growing and learning and introducing new things etc. I work for a total of 20 hours a week give or take and that allows us to have a little extra spending money. I have not been motivated to advertise myself locally and my home business is teeny tiny. I may see 1-4 patients a week. I try not to get stressed and just relax. I will give myself some time with it all. I am excited to be taking another course next month! In English! From an Australian! My next little dream is to go to Australia for a month and study manual therapy there with some big kahuna. Nothing is planned but it is in the aura phase. Ha! the aura phase, I like that.
Life here is really full. It is really what I was hoping for. It is stimulating, challenging and deeply warming and loving. The people I encounter are so special. Mostly!
Things I miss most are my Friends, and patients of course, the mountains edge gym and maybe a garbage disposal? OH year, two cars are a real luxury. Cody. Peppermint patties and MARGARITAS!!! Besides that all is well.
It was great to connect with all this last half hour. I miss you and am so grateful for all the times and memories we shared together. Write back and share with me how you are all doing.
Love to you. Have a wonderful spring and summer. May it be filled with renewal of life, health and joy and wildflowers!!!! Everything is in bloom here and the wildflowers are amazing. God surely had a blast creating all those flowers and colors and combinations for us to enjoy.
Blessings
Adele

greetings from me

Hello Everyone,Wow! 8 months - almost anyhow. Time time time. First,we are all well and healthy. We are blessed! Lifecontinues to be full and exploding out through theseams. Full and alive. We are really living our dreamand things are falling into place. We had a new first yesterday. Josh asked me (out ofthe blue) if I could please drive him to hisgirlfriend's house to hang out with her a little bit.Girlfriend's house? 'Mom, I really wnat you to meether. She is so nice!' So, he says to her: "HI Kleel,how was your day?" Too funny and too sweet. Where to start? Drew and I are still sleeping onthe floor and hopefully today we will go to Ikea andbuy a bed for us. Nothing fits our King size bed so wehave to buy two twins and bolt them together. FYI.don't move across the world with American king sizenothin'! It is winter here. Much different than Boulder,days of 65-70 degrees have popped up. Much more rainbut the most interesting and challenging thing is thearchitecture of the houses. The houses are fullydesigned for sweltering hot summers and not forwinter. We do not have central heat. We have two airconditioner/heater units in living room and our room.All other rooms are wet-cold. Electricity is a premiumprice around here so as much as possible it issweaters and warm booties. In the morning my bedroomcan be a cool 50 degrees! Lovely! one has to have asense of humor about it all. Very moist around here aswell so every couple of months we need to wipe themold that grows on the walls off. Kind of weird. Atleast my hands don't look like lizard skin like theydid in Boulder. Drew got a job! yeah! He works at the local (5minute walk from the house) German Christian ToxicFiltration System producing factory. Go figure! Heworks in the carpenter area building stuff. I justfind the whole concept hysterical. They are also themain manufacturers of gas masks here in Israel. Canyou believe it? Our town has the German gas maskmaking factory. It is run and owned by a group offundamentalist Amish-like Christians. They came in the70's to make Israel great for the Jews to return to sothat the Messiah could come and have it work out forthe Christians so that they can move into their nextdeal. Kind of like chess don't ya think? Maybe we areall god's big chess game? hee hee. Anyhow, no Englishspoken there for him. Only German and Hebrew. Drewspeaks Hebrew all day long which is the main bonus. Anyhow. I am doing a first today and hence theletter writing at 5 am. I am teaching my first course.It is in lumbar spinal mechanics. It is to a smallgroup of physical therapists. It is for 4 hours a weekfor 4 weeks. Kind of nervous but got to try it. See ifteaching is in the stars for me. My army work is a ton of fun. Cutest boys (oops -men) you have ever seen. They are wonderful andmotivated beyond belief. A therapists dream. I still commute to Jerusalem 1 x week for asmattering of patients there. My home practice isinching along. slow slow slow. I imagine it would pickup if I did some advertising but just don't have theUMPH for it right now. It will come. Everything is a bit easier. I can read the bills,I can even pay them on-line. Getting gas out the gasdispenser with a credit card still is a 50-50 chanceit works. Don't ask! So, it is still usually fullservice for me. One of the best perks about Israel is surely thefood. the best best best. Great middle easternrestaurants. Competitive humus places everywherealthough the Arabs are surely the best. I drive intoan Arab town on the way home from Jerusalem and buyoodles of humus for Drew and the boys. Zach and Josh are plugging along. Both 'hookedup' right now so you would think the complaining wouldstop. I guess it is the blue print for life. No matterif you are 'attached' the complaining goes on. Bothare conversationally good in Hebrew. Actually all ofus are. Drew is amazing. Overall our life here is good and even great attimes - at least this very second it is. There are ofcourse the continuous ups and downs but we are makinga good go of it. The funny thing is that I don'treally think of the states much and pine for thingsthere. I am not really that kind of person that thinksof what was. I do mostly miss friends and hanging outand laughing with my girlfriends and patients. Beinglight. Letting my shoulders drop a couple of inches.Just feeling like there are no cares in the world. Iguess that is why God put The Rio on the map! - haha. No margarita joints around here. No body I knowdrinks alcohol really. It seems to be that Isreali'shang out with friends, spend time with their children,shop and go out to eat for their relaxation. More holidays are coming next month. WE justpassed through the holiday of celebrating the birth ofTrees. Everyone goes out, hikes, plants trees and eatsdried and fresh fruits of every sort. We are thankfulfor all the variety and blessings that we have. I wenton the cutest hike with the army base--all 800 ofthem. We went to a forest for a little ike. When wearrive at the destination, we got off bus and then hadbreakfast, then walked another 10 minutes and atedried fruit and cakes. Walked another 20 minutesthrough this beautiful forest and planted some trees,listened to a short speech and ate some more. We thenhiked back to the buses and ate lunch of sandwiches,cream puffs and grape juice. It was so cute and sweet.Just imagine the logistics of 4 meals for 800 with in3-4 hours. I love the new adventures. I am learning for sureabout a lot of things. I start a language school nextweek which meets 2 hours a week. I wish all of you agood weekend and shabbas. Send me angels of luck formy new teaching experience today. 4 hours in front ofa group of people? What the heck will I say? I guess Ican always revert to travel stories. Those are myfavorites as you all know I am sure. ha! love love loveAdele

half a year in the middle east

Hello Everyone,Shalom Shalom!I hope that this letter finds you all well and feelinggood in this less light laden time of year. We havebeen here now 6 months. This continues to be the mostincredible journey that we could imagined. We have now come to the hour of the CAR! Our focusover these next few weeks is to get a car. Before wecan buy a car we need to have an Israeli driver'slicense which involves about 6 main steps. 1. Drive 30Min away to get some paperwork to apply for a license.2. Get a medical exam. 3.Get an eye exam. 4 and 5.Take at least two private 1 hour driving lessons witha driving instructor. 6. Go to take the test in thecity of your choice. Then all we need to do is find acar. Sounds simple? NOT. Think about what yourstrategies would be to find a used car that you haveno idea about. There is no consumer reports, hard toread and check out much of anything in newspapers orInternet. So we drive around and look at cars that wethink would be good. Ugh. We are looking into a carthat is half car - half truck called a CitroenBerlinger or a Renault Kangoo. Go figure. Check themout on the Internet and see if you can see a pictureof one. I think that they are so funny looking. Drewcalls it a 'guppy-mobile' in that is looks like agoldfish. Anyhow, cars here are double the value thanthey are in the states. So figure that a car thatcosts 10 grand in the US is a full 20 grand here. Carscost a lot here.Kids are still have growing pains all over the place. Both can speak hebrew enogh to get their basic needsmet. Josh jsut told me that his key needs are: Whereis the bathroon?, I need ice ceram and Where is thetelevision? Zach's stresses are greatest in that heneeds to get up to speed really fast so that he canstart getting ready for the matriculation exams. They are now off for a week of Hanukkah break. Yep, nox-mas break here. The only x-mas stuff we have seenwere some chocolate Santa's we saw last week atNazareth. Also, no x-mas music except for theChristmas carols we sang last night at shabbat dinnerat my sister's house. It was fun. Kids are now doing Tae qwon do and basketball isfinished with. NO presents or shopping here for Hanukkah. As I haveshared with many of you before Hanukkah is not a timefor presents. It is more a time for Jelly do-nutscalled 'Suvganiot" and 'Latkes' which are potatopancakes. It is a Holiday to celebrate the miracle oflight and oil. So we eat oily foods...hence the donutsand friend foods. NO 'presents' pressure is divine.The weather continues to amaze me and I am delightedevery day I wake to sunny skies. Today it was 68degrees and in the sun it was really quite hot. yeahbaby. It is heavenly. I know everyone here is Jone'snfor rain but I am more than happy with sunny skies dayafter day.Work has been amazing. I am getting more and morepatients. Last week I had 20 private patients plus the8 hours at the army. I have been asked to teach acourse for 4 weeks on the pelvis and sacrum to aSmall group of PTs. So cool. Also, I went and spoketo the PT department at Haifa University to see ifteaching is in the stars for me. Not sure. There areso many cool and new opportunities here and I amtrying to check them out.Drew is getting jobs slowly but surely. He is makingfriends and we are growing roots here in this verycute town called Zichron.Israel and my experiences here continue to amaze me. Iam surprised on a regular basis that I actually livenot just in a Jewish country but I also live in theMiddle East. It really is different here! Culturally,socially and physically. I am getting it slowly butsurely. Six months have gone by. It feels like it isflying by. I have friends that guide me as to how tonavigate the cultural differences. When to beassertive and when to smile. Paying bills still isquite daunting and sometimes confusing. I did missparent teacher conferences completely last week. Thatis frustrating. My sister Kattie called last week fromthe school as I was driving back fromJerusalem...'Adele, did you know that tonight wasparent teacher conferences, etc?' Maybe if Josh wouldremember to give me papers he receives at school Imight have a fighting chance. Anyhow. It will all comein the right time.There is so much to do and it feels like time is evenshorter here. How can that be? I did think that lifewould someohow be slower here but not true. I guess Ihave fallen back to the habit of needing to slow downa bit. Maybe... Overall, We are doing really well. There continue tobe those days that 'the bags are packed and I am outtahere'. I have planned a few 'I am going to run away toThailand's but I haven't. Tears flow less often. Theweather keeps my spirits up. The people are bothamazing and challenging. They are very deep and acomplex group. It really feels like country of family.I wish you all a very healthy and blessed Holidayseason. May you feel the brightness of my smile andjoy beam across the oceans to you all. Please clostyou eyes and see my eyes beam with joy and happinesswhen I say 'I love you and send you all good wishes'.Hugs and smiles, Happy New Year.Adele

five months into it

Hello Everyone,I have attached two views from our back patio. We lovethe openness feeling of it. It is coming upon five months that we have been in ournew home and country. It continues to be a excitingand a huge growing experience for all of us. Thepositives far outweigh the negatives. The town we are in, Zichron Yaakov, is still gorgeousto us. It is a cross between Laguna Beach, Boulder,and Santa Barbara. Yesterday I was mountain bikingthrough open space in a tee shirt and shorts in 72degree weather. Today we will go to the beach and hangout a bit. Our house is large enough for us to haveour businesses in it but squeezed into 1/3 the size.It is fine as a rental. Our neighborhood is not ourfavorite but we will cope fine until the next movewhich I have no idea when, where and what. There willbe a next move sometime.I will start with Drew my beloved life adventurepartner and friend. We just celebrated our 20 yearanniversary. We hope to do something exciting in thespring to really commemorate it like go to Croatia orTurkey. Drew is eternally optimistic and holds me whenmy intensity gets the better part of me. He is in hislast three weeks of Ulpan, intensive language school.He has worked the hardest I could imagine and it haspaid off. He can hold a half hour conversation inpresent, past, and future. Not easy for a 44 year oldAmerican man learning a new language. It is often saidthat Americans learn languages the slowest. Thefastest, of course, are the Russians, then I believecome the French. Not sure on that one. He will bestarting to look for a job, maybe in a wood /cabinetfactory where he will be immersed in Hebrew and woodworking terms. Send him your good prayers as he facesthis new somewhat daunting phase of his life. Zach, 6 foot and 1 inch tall budding teen in foreigncountry. He can converse fairly freely with hisfriends in Hebrew. His social life is an 8.5/10. Hewishes he had the freedom of a 25 year old yet stillwants laundry done and food in the fridge. He is backto his Tae Qwon Doe. Unfortunately he got his brandnew bike stolen 4 days ago from right under his chin.He turned around and some kid grabbed the cool newAmerican mountain bike. It was his big bar mitzvahpresent and we have been down about it. Moving on.Learn and keep moving forward. He is working harder atschool but still can not understand 90% of what theteacher is saying. It is a struggle and I pray he willbe motivated enough to succeed with this challenge. Wehave to constantly reassess to figure out what is thebest path. Little Joshua. He is happy, misses Boulderperiodically, plays basketball 3 x week and getstutoring. Loves cartoons in Hebrew (sponge bob). He iscurrently writing, directing and acting in a movie. Ofcourse the stars are he and his cousins, Noa, Danieland Gavriel. Mostly the princess (Fair Noa) is to besaved by the handsome princes (josh and Daniel) fromthe evil monster (Gavirel). Very cute. School....whatschool? No, I am kidding. he is progressing along withthe same ole: tutors, fighting at school, friendissues (same same). You know the drill.Me? up down up down up down up down up down. Like ayo-yo. Coming here has taken my personal strengths andweakness and has magnified them with electronmicroscope. ha haa - that's funny. I work all over theplace hustling wherever I can. I go from the elderlyto the pediatric in one day with some soldier actionin the middle. I have started my army work (paid 8hours a week yet I've been there so far around 18hours a week) That has been very interesting, amazingand full of new experiences and visions. This is thestrangest part. I knew I was going to work in the Armybut I did not KNOW really (not know now) what armyreally is. It is sad and strange to me to be a healerin a place of 'the war machine'. I just don't have itin my heart that we can solving any problems withkilling human beings especially our children that we,as parents, have poured our hearts and souls intoraising them. I never even met a soldier in Boulder!Too young for the Vietnam days I guess. I am slowlylearning army is war. I look at these young (verycute) boys going out there to protect this teeny tinycountry from our neighbors that really hate us. It isa strange, isolating and awful feeling to me. Enough of that. The soldiers are wonderful, the work is 100%stimulating and great and I am the most grateful Icould be to be where I am.Then two days a week I work in the holy city ofJerusalem in my brothers holy (Small but magnificent)castle of a house. It is a great opportunity to stepout of my town, get away, see something else but a twohour commute with out traffic each way. I had 17 patients last week! This is my all time high.ooooohhh baby. Add in the kid driving, chauffeuring,cooking, shopping cleaning and other mom duties.We are starting to make some good friends. Thequalities of people here are wonderful. We really likethe lifestyle. Work like maniacs all week. Weekendsare Friday and Saturday. Friday am get together withfriends for brunch. Friday night shabbas dinnersomewhere, Saturday: exercise, hang out, travel, hike,see the countryside, eat and have a relaxing day.Sunday is back to the work week.I am really proud of us all. We are out here doing it.We are living out this dream.I miss the magnificence of the Rockies, 'Saddle Back'hikes, Chautauqua, dowdy draw, cinitas. Boulder to meis like a 'Lightness of Being'. Flowing thoughwhipping cream, snowboarding through puff puff powder.Enjoy.We miss you all and send you prayers of goodness,health and prosperity. love love loveAdele

the rain is coming

Hello Everyone,My religious sister shared with me that God teststhose who live in Israel in a harder, more intense anddirect kind of way. I believe her. I really reallybelieve her. AS you are all my friends and surely morewise than I know that tests make you grow in ways thatyou did not know where you could or would end up. Weare tested here in Israel on a minute by minute basis.I believe that it is all absolutely for the good. Ibelieve (and really hope) that out of hardship createsa deeper joy. Kind of like a fight with your loverand then the make up can be so sweet and growing. Thejoy created is on a deeper spiritual level.A friend came to visit from Boulder last night. He hadthe aura of Boulder still on him. He looked different.He had that kind of open space energy around him. Thatspace between the eyes that was drawn open. What agorgeous easy place to settle in. What a differentlife we had there. I recall questioning myself andothers so many times what could be 'hard' in Israel,what does 'hard' really mean? I know that I haveshared with all of you this pondering. I don't havethe answers and in perspective there is nothing hardabout my life. But growth occurs differently for allof us. My challenges here are good and strong. Itfeels as if the creator has decided that NOW is thetime to make those extra leaps of growth and toaddress those that have been part of my limitations. Idon't know how I will do. It is a process that takestime of course. The sun is here today at 75 degrees but it is supposedto rain for the next 4 days! Then back to 75. What ajoy. Drew and I are growing and struggling. What did youall think? Party town? NOOOOO. I have brought a verygentle soft man to a country full of survivors.Many/most of the men (and women) here are strong andconfident and sure of themselves (also some arechauvinistic a-holes as well). Around these woods...ifyou ain't tough ....someone gonna get you baby! Iimagine that the creator thought that Drew had betterdo some growin here. We will pull through and grow.Ouch ouch ouch. Today we have a parent teacher conference at schoolwith Josh. He is having a real tough time of it. Hehad a hard enough time in States to deal and makefriends. So, now with out language, and moreaggressive children in a totally different culturewith a crazy ass mom, he is struggling. We are goingto help him any way we can. We hope to find him atherapist if that is needed. Therapists around hereare great but the stigma is intense. Sick-o's only.Scary! It is not great from that perspective. GLAD INEVER DID THERAPY!!! haZach is cruising....I am sure hell and damnation fireis just around the corner. Why have a war only onthree fronts when it can be 4? Watch,,,growth is acoming.Back to things that I think I can control butcan't....I had 14 private patients last week! Yahoo baby. Thiscoming week not so many but last week was a good one.Kind of like fishing. I caught a 14 pound-er baby.This week maybe only an 8 pound-er. ha ha ha. This isfun.It is Early in the am. I miss you all. I am living asbig as I possibly can. I love it here. I have met somany amazing different kind of souls. I am stimulatedbeyond belief. I love sharing with you all.Love to you,thank you for your love and support.HugsAdele

hi everyone, I am still hear

Hello all my dear friends,I hope that this letter finds you all in good spiritsand health.I know it has been a while since I have written. Lifehas been a bit like living in the center of a mildTORNADO! so I have to overcome those centrifugalforces to step out to look at the last block of timeand then share it... so here goes.The holidays period here are huge! They last for agood three weeks. Schools are out for much of it,people are on the move, traveling, visiting, guests,loads of food and good times. I am looking forward tohaving some normalcy in the total lack of normal lifethat I have. At least getting the kids and Drew backto schools and Ulpan will be good for them.My life is still somewhat unstructured and unscheduledwhich has its own challenges for me. Although it isgetting a bit busier and easier. As you can all wellimagine I am not taking it lying down! ha. I don'tlike it, I fight it, I cry, I bitch, moan andbellyache. Then all the wonderful wise people aroundme share and say: 'please, you must take it easy, bepatient, this takes time, everything will unfold inthe right time, go slowly' and a whole host of guidingwords. So, I decided that I will try that, to work onbeing with myself more or something like that. Wewill see. For all of us moving to a different country and worldcontinues to be the most amazing adventure withgrowing experiences along the way. I have traveled and moved around in the world some but to settle downand live in a different country has been so eyeopening. The Israeli people are a complex lot. It istruly a mixing pot of people and cultures from allover the world so there is absolutely nothing boringabout it. There are strong and subtle culturaldifferences between the Yemenites, Moroccans, Iraqi's,Bukhara';s, Kurds to name a few from that part5 of theworld. Then there are the USSR groups of Grozny's fromGeorgia, Ukrainians, Tajiks, Uzbek's and on and on.Ethiopians, Tunisians, Moroccans, etc. We fall intothe Anglo-Saxons. American (very few), British,Canadians, Australians. Zach's best friend is fromLiverpool and that is a real hoot to understand hislovely diction. Overall everyone has been extremelykind and helpful. We all have one thing in commonwhich is our religion. It is an amazing thing to be init and I love that part. Our community, Zichron Yaakov, is one of the oldestcommunities in modern Israel. Founded by Romanians inthe 1800's and then the Yemenites. Baron Rothschildpurchased most of the land years ago (early 1900's). Ineed to learn a lot more about it all. Another flavor in the pot is that I am also livingwith a new group of 5 siblings and my mother! I havemy two very religious siblings living in the heart ofJerusalem in the center of the universe. My sisterBarbara just moved from near by me to Jerusalem (J-town) as well. I don't think that J-town is theplace for us right now but it is totally incredible. Kattier is living here with us in the town. Population17,000. Work-wise, I have been traveling to J-town for one-twodays a week to see patients there. Most of them areAmerican religious folks that live a life of travelbetween the states and Israel. In the next few weeks I will be working part time withsoldiers doing PT on their army training injuries.Another incredible job that I will also start 1-2 daysa week working with is for an organization here called"One family' that does work with victims of terror. Iwent to their open house a few days ago and met andsaw people in all walks of life working on gettingtheir lives back together. I met a 20 something womanwho was riding in a bus and a terrorist's bomb blew upand blew off her legs (above the knees). anotherwoman, 53 years old lost both of her parents in thePark Hotel bomb that blew up some 70 people while theywere having their passover Seder. The devastation iscompletely different but both lives are shattered. Iwill be working doing PT/massage with them 1-2 days aweek. So, Life will soon become very stimulated forsure with these differ net worlds of work. Drew and I mountain bike a couple days a week rightout of my house. I look forward to getting back to thegym after a 3 week hiatus. The kids continue to adjust. Zach is text messaginghis little hands off with all the new kids he meets.Don't ask...I do...why don't they just get together?How strange to be raising children in a world thatthey are learning to communicate with text rather thanvoice and actual physical interaction. How will theylearn to read body language, etc? Both boys areplaying basketball and enjoying it. The children hereare completely different than their Boulder friendsand experiences and I am sure that they are allchallenged as they learn the new ways of the the new'hood'. The kids are very good quality and I am notworried. Although it is standard fare around here forthe kids to go hang out with groups of children on thelocal teeny tiny outdoor mall and at friends housesuntil 5 am! Zach came home the other night at 5 am! Soweird.Drew starts back at language school tomorrow for hislast 2 months of free language school. He is going toget his butt kicked and it is such a full time job. Iam really proud of him.Beach weather is still here. We snorkeled yesterdayand will go again today. It is absolutely gorgeous asthe weather today will be 87 degrees! We are stillsleeping with only a sheet so we haven't even gotteninto our summer quilts yet. We brought so much stuffthat we won't need!Everyday is a new and exciting time. Challenges comein all sorts of forms when you move to a new country.This part is not the beaucratic part, it is justflowing with a new country! Israel is only 60 yearsold. Think how many years it takes to smooth thingsout. Think about starting a new country from scratch!The mail is a bit daunting. Weekly we get mail thatisn't for us. All bills are in Hebrew. I have to keepall the mail together for when I find someone totranslate it. Getting gas in the car with the creditcard when it works is really exciting and fun. Believeme, it isn't as simple as you think. It isn't just putthe card in and squeeze the trigger. The steps arevery different. So, learning the small things alsotake time. The grocery carts you must rent with a 5shekel coin that you get back when you return thecart. You put the coin in and the cart unlocks. It islike a dollar coin. Anyhow, if you do not happen tohave that coin you must go in the store, etc , getchange and then start again.Lots of funny differences that are out here in theworld. Some are much more efficient than in the statesand some are just ways that have been borrowed fromthe British because they were here for a time. For sure the food is the best I have ever eaten. (Peruas well has great fruit and vegetables). Thevegetables are like from your garden! That is great. Ihave actually lost almost 18 lbs since i left thestates so I feel heahtlier for sure. Every Arab taxidriver wants to marry me so I feel super special.Gotta love that one....Over all to wrap up this letter. We are so pleasedthat we did this. We do not know what the futureholds. We are living out this year in its fullness andseeing what unfolds. I miss you all in many differentways. I miss my girlfriend time. I miss all theheartfelt talks and learning while I was torturingsome tight spot on your bodies. We are starting to make some friends and wiggle intoour community. Time allows for lots to occur. We wish you all only the best.LoveAdele

new job and new year

Hello Everyone,Happy Jewish New Year! No, its not a celebration withchampagne and party hats. It is a celebration of thebirth of human beings. This Friday night is the Jewishnew year where we are given the wonderful opportunityto re-New and examine our spirits. We can beintrospective on a level that is as deep as we arecapable or willing to go. What type of people do wereally want to be? What actions do I want to be doing,words that I really want to be coming out of my mouth.Making conscious decisions from a deep place andfulfilling them. Last year when we came back from Zach's bar mitzvahtrip in Israel I made the conscious decision to sharewith everyone that I could that we were planning tomove to Israel. I wanted to lock in as tight aspossible the awareness and expectations (to myself)that we would really stick it through and go for it.If I told a 100 people then I really better go for it.It is with this in mind that I open up to you all andshare that I have a new intention for this year. (Uhoh) OK, so I am making a commitment to myself to stopthe negative self talk. My sister (1 of the 6) said tome: "Adele, you do not need any critics because youare your own worst critic". So, for this year and g-dwilling years to come I will be my own cheerleader andlook at the cup full. We all know that life rushes by so fast. It seems thatthe older you get the faster the time flys. Toactually take the time and opportunity to stop andself evaluate is what I am aiming for. I have lived 44years. (OK, so I am 44 and a 1/2)! I have chosen toreally pick up and throw a big wrench into thegrinding wheel of my old life. How do I really want todo this life? I get another (I pray) 40-50 years to doit all. I want to take this opportunity to tell youall how grateful I am to have you in my life. Each andeveryone has played a significant role in developingmy spirit. I want to ask you all for forgiveness if Ihave directly or indirectly offended you or hurt youin any way. It was never my intention to hurt or harmanyone's feelings or even bodies. (I know several ofyou are saying right now....oh, I would like to gether back, one little dig into that trigger point,tender point.) That is not what I am talking about.You all needed that! It was with LOVE. You know that.OK, now for the job part. I got a job. An awesome jobbut it is only for 8 hours a week. Ha ha. I am to be ain-house PT for a special forces army unit. That's allI can say because you know...me and James B are now ateam. I can't tell you everything or I would have todum da dum dum.OK, so, it is for a whopping $30.00/hour. That is agood amount. I am gonna be singing to the bank. Oh my.Anyhow, It is with such a great unit that I am goingto have a blast. I also have been traveling toJerusalem 1 x week to treat 4-5 patients at mybrother's house. That is also good but the commute is2 hours each way in one day. You can't say I am notpaying my dues.I am really excited about it all. I am grateful tohave some work. I am just getting started and amlearning patience. It will all happen in the righttime. See, I am doing it already. Fast learner.Kids are adjusting.As for our family. Zach is in heaven at school. He haschanged 100% since we got here. Really! he has agirlfriend! Holy mack-in-o-lee. Don't ask. I don'teven want to know. He is learning fast. Enjoying allthe new challenges. He is really rising to thosechallenges as well. He is on a basketball team (thetallest). Tonight I went to an open house for parentsat Zach's school. The first 45 minutes (I left afterthat), was all about how to make the class a tighterknit of friends. Not academics, not drugs, problemkids, etc. Just how to make them happy and all becometighter, closer friends. Parties, outings, team andself development games, etc. It was very amazing to mehow the parents were so focused on how tight the kidswere and that they had friends and were enjoyingschool. Very interesting to me. There are 21 kids inhis class.Josh is working it out. Every gray hair at a time. Heis a true electric spirit full of life and ideas andEMOTIONS. He, too, is really enjoying basketball,skateboarding and cucumbers. He is a lot fun and Ithink also happy. Not entirely sure. Drew is hammering away at the language thing. He alsogot a new job doing a custom wood project for thesynagogue which is new. He feels like he is at homeand continues to be the best friend and angel that Icould have ever dreamed of. We are spending time with new and old friends andfamily. We have all the luxuries we need and more.I went surfing two days ago and stood up (on the foamthat Drew helped me get into). It was a blast and Ican't wait to go again. We went swimming this eveningand it was great. I am still learning from andenjoying the new cultural angles and experiences. WE wish you all a very happy healthy new year. We praythat you find the next year a year of joy and peace.Follow your dreams and take chances that promotegrowth.Love alwaysAdele and Drew and the young-ins.

back to the normal life

Wow, so boring here! No sirens, bombs, nothing. Just real regular life.Just kidding. It feels fantastic not to have thatpressure and stress. It is exhausting to be checkingthe news, internet, phone calls, etc round the clock.Jumping in the bomb shelter, always being on intensealert. We have finished for the next two weeks our schleppingto Ulpan, intensive language school. The kids schoolstarts Sept 3rd. We have a few more days to get ourhouse together and our lives into somewhat of asemblance before the new onslaught of activity. Drewgoes back to Ulpan in Netanya. Yes, We finally have gotten them cell phones so thatthey can be in contact whenever needed. Since theschools are full of little Joshuas that also want totake out there aggression in a physical way I am surewe will have loads of opportunities for resolutionprocessing, principal visits and mayve even ER visits.I know it sounds crazy but I am bracing myself for theworst and hoping for the best. Overall the kids are really happy here. It is amazing,they immediately understand how great it is for kidshere. There is such freedom. The whole country feelslike their back yard. We will see when we get to theschool thing.Drew is the most amazing trooper. He is stronger andmore resiliant than I ever imagined. Things go wrongthat send me into a tizzy and he just plugs along.That is it for the mundane and reality of day to daylife here. Sometimes I look around and think....where am I? Whereexactly did I move to? What did I do? This ishappening less and less but still everything is so very new. I spoke to an army officer the other dayjust asking whether or not he thought that this wholewar thing was over. He looked at me and said: "Adele,the war thing around here is NEVER over". Well, thatwas depressing! I know I still get stuck in naiveteeand thinking like a Boulderite. I would say Americanbut I don't know what American's think like. What aintense way to live to be under war pressure or fearof war breaking out always. I am not thinking like anIsraeli yet. We get checked for bombs in our carseverytime we go to the grocery store or mall. We arescanned before we enter any building be it the bank,post office or even a restaurant. I guess you get usedto it. It is all still very new to me yet it ios theprice one pays to live in a country where you haveenemies surrounding you. It is also the price you payfor living in and wanting to have a Jewish Country tolive in.I really love it here. I have been treating somepatients in Jerusalem a couple of times a week. I needto get it going here in Zichron because Jerusalem is1.5 hours away.AS we have moved in more I found that my palm pilotsoftware completely disintegrated on my computer. Ihave no access to your telephone numbers. If you wouldbe so gracious as to send me your address and numbersI would appreciate it. At least when I come for avisit and pull out my table I can see you again.We miss you and love to hear how life is progressingfor you all.Please keep in touch.Hugs and blessingsAdele

european clothes washers and tears

Hello Everyone and Shabbat Shalom!We have spent our second weekend here in our new housein Zichron Yaakov. This place is a total gem and sobeautiful. Our house has an amazing view of thevineyards of the Carmel Winery. Along with everythingmagnificent here in Israel there always seems to be atwist of learning, intensity and challenges. Before wecame here we heard always: "life is hard there but itis also good". I could not for the life of meunderstand what is hard life like? Life isn't hard.Life is easy and fun here in Boulder. Get up, patientsarrive, work out at the cute gym down the street:Bike, hike, swim and run. Dinner then hang out(basically). I asked deeper and probed into this verystrange concept for me. Hard life? All my visits toIsrael were full of fun and joy and laughter. Yes, Idid know that by coming here we would encountersuicide bombers, continued problems in Gaza and thegeneral cool distance maintained from the localadjacent Arab city, Faredeis. And, well, I reallydidn't think that war was on its way. So, now afteronly 7 weeks here I have a much better idea. Hard Lifecan come in a variety of packages and of course, HardLife can be different for different people. Here is an example of Hard Life from a shelteredsomewhat worldly Boulder transplant competent woman,mom and physical therapist/healer.1. The washer is EUROPEAN. I have already shed severaltears and mild tantrums (josh?) over the fact that Icould not fit the 75 cm Maytag washer into the 60centimeter door opening of the laundry room. Not tomention that there is not hot water faucet in the roomat all. So what is so bad about a European washers?Not that it cost me around $1000. It is stae of theart, digital, and white. That is not the hard part. Itis a pure control issue. To wash a load of whites ittakes 1.36 minutes. Can you believe it? One load ofwhites at 7 kilos (mind you) takes a friggin hour anda half. Seeing patients all day and washing sheets atnight and well, no dryer, imagine it.2. The dryer won't arrive for 2 months because of thewar and the ship came to deliver them from Italy thenturned around and went back. Delightful.3. Yesterday the "Cable Guy" came. Drilled holes inevery wall, installed things I don't think I ordered,couldn't install the main thing we wanted for thekids..TV because the TV people did not deliver the TVthey said they would for 2 days. (It will now comenext week). While he was here the bomb sirens went offand we all jumped in our very own bomb shelter. Theywent off two times yesterday. Kind of unnerving. Weheard the bombs (actually missiles but I call thembombs, they are not). Scared the cable guy more thanus. We have been hearing them fairly regularly so nobig deal. 4. Hard Life also rears it head in the strangest ofplaces. I became fast friends with a woman, Billy whosold us our appliances. There seems to be this kind ofspecial time here for people to talk and to share andthat's what we did. We spoke about my life and herlife a bit. We got to know each other over the phone.She asked me if my husband was called up to war beforeshe understood I was a new immigrant. I said no andasked about her. She said her husband and brother andmany of her employees were called up. Yesterday her 23year old brother, Yoni was killed. I will go to herhouse this week to sit Shiva with her. I called her onthe phone. We cried and I told her how sorry I was andfelt like telling her I loved her. Maybe I did. Tearsflow right now. He was married, young, no kids andfull of life and future. 5. Delivery of refrigerator. The "Delivery Guy"carried the large refrigerator on his back up 3flights of stairs. At the top, entered the house andstarted yelling at me as to where was my mezuzah onthe door while the refridgerator was still perched onhis back. As we hadn't really spent more than 1-2nights here we did not even have them out of theboxes. I could write volumes of the challenges here. Theyrange from death and war to frustrations that creepinto places that you never knew existed. Tears offrustration over the length of a wash cycle. It isabout control. We have so little control in life. Whatwe do have control over with are the words we speak,the smiles we send and how freely we can give ourlove. (Jet fighter planes flying overhead right now onshabbas is weird). The concept that life is tenuous isever present here. I love that. We all feel so alivehere. That is the fun part. The kids are really happyhere and yet it is also incredibly challenging. Thereare many times a day when I think I want toleave...this feeling. I want to leave...what? LeaveIsrael? To where? For me (and us)there is no otherplace. Sometimes I think that it would be so mucheasier to pick up and leave. Right now Boulder doesnot feel like home to us. It was our temporaryshelter. Does Israel feel like home? Well, in a kindof love/hate relationship way. Like a family. We are here, we are going to give it our all despitemy threats and frustrating tears. I am not going togive into my my fantasy of smashing the car in frontof me that has just cut me off within a hair of mylife, or when we are in a total traffic jam and theguy behind me honks. Like for what? No one can move.What is he thinking? Some say that angels and prophetstootle around in disguises and give us the opportunityto do mitzvahs in the strangest of ways. Give ourtime, our love, dollars, smiles but I don't think thatsmashing the car in front of me is one of them. Iwill continue to try to control myself. Boy, am Ichanging....So, today we are off to a moment of paradise andheaven...the beach. We are schlepping our surfboard(that has been stored in Boulder for the last 8years), our blow up kayak and every toy imaginablethat will fit in my sisters rocket propelled cardboardbox. love to you all. Shabbat Shalom. Prayers for healthand peace. May this war end today, right now. stop.love,Adele

giants in the promised land

Hello Everyone,This past week has been very full and intense in everyway imaginable. Overall we are doing just fine. Wemiss the good ole early days of our arrival with easygoing fun in the sun. It is quite strange because westill have our days filled with beach going but alwayswith our ears open and with a heavy layer of tension,worry, concern and sadness. Helicopters fly overheadthrough out the day and night. Israel has a fightingforce of 100,000 soldiers. Not too big. My brother inlaw, Gal, has a little brother who has now been calledup to Lebanon to fight. Today the sirens went on moresouth of Haifa(where we are going to live) butinterestingly enough we were on our way to a touristsight outside of Jerusalem. We did not hear anythingnor have to go to bomb shelters, but Kattie did!A few days ago Kattie and I had to go to Haifa. Weneeded to take our papers to the customs tobegin the process of releasing our big shipment. Thewhole port is closed so that isn't going to happenright now but soon enough it will open. I got an emailfrom an earlier immigrant who told me that hershipment was held for 9 months by a labor strike 15years ago! So, practice patience and remind yourselfthat it will be a good story for your grandchildren.'Patience' still is a skill that I am developing. Thelong lines of waiting are not making me so crazy. I amsure the heat tones everyone's energy down as well. Weare still in Netanya at my mom's house. She is nowfishing in Alaska. 140 rockets fell yesterday in thenorth. A total of 2200 rockets have been shot intoIsrael thus far and counting. I am listening to thenews now and sirens are going off in Haifa. Haifa is agorgeous city which is about 40 miles north of here.It is so challenging to describe what it feels like tobe here now. I haven't written in a while because I amnot sure what I feel yet alone put into words. I seemto be 'dazed and confused' with a dash of numbness. Idon't know what to say. I am not really scared but itis really stressful and very sad as to the loss of anysoldier's life as well as to anyone else. Logistically, in my head is where the inexperiencecomes to play. Getting to my mom's bomb shelter isbasically a pain in the ass. We are on the 7Th floorand the shelter is in the basement. Now that Zach canwalk on his injured foot I feel a lot more relaxed.So, like, do we run down the stairs or take theelevator? If it is in the middle of the night will Ihave time to get some clothes on? We do have a bagpacked by the front door. If, god forbid, Hezbollahshoots missiles this far south I would like to havethe first siren and run into the bomb shelter thingover with and then it will not be so foreign. I willno longer be a virgin bomb shelter dasher.I also am pretty amazed with how surreal andunfortunate that this has occurred so early into ourtrip/life here. Drew reminded me of a beautiful storyfrom the Torah today. It was when the 12 spies weresent into Israel to scope it out and have a good'look/see'. All but Joshua and Caleb returned with areport that the land was inhabited by giants and thatthey 'just couldn't make it there'. The Israelites dueto their lack of faith were then sentenced by Hashem(God) to wander in the desert for 40 years. We alsofeel that at this point there is an element of thesame test. This current situation is our Giants in thenew land. We don't want a repeat of the same storyand have to wander around in 'our Egypt' for another40 years!! We don't want to have nor show the samelack of faith as 10 of the 12 spies did. We werecertainly given a message to come to this land. Plus,we have Mr. Bling Bling Joshua on our side! He be sobaaaaad.I did know all along that there would be moreconflicts and suicide bombs but I did not think that awar would break out. War to me is so foreign andridiculous. It feels like it never helps anything andin the long run it does not seem to change anything.Kids (soldiers) die, people die and then we go back toCostco (actually here it is called Mega-deal) and buyjunk for our lives and our houses. I know that soundsso flippant but that is what is so strange. We don'thear any war going on. At night the parties rage righthere in Netanya just like always. The beaches arefull, swimming, surfing, smash ball and of course, icecream. What do you do? You forget and then the blackhawks and Cobra helicopters fly overhead. I don't knowwhat to say. It is really weird. Life goes on herefull force. People are very kind and gentle in manyways. they have lived with this their whole lives. Idon't believe that this is a conflict about land. Ibelieve it is about ending Israel as a country and forall human life here to be gone. With that as areality, I can't say that we plan to return in thenear future. I still feel that we want to stay andgrow our lives here. Don't think that i am nottremendously concerned and don't know what the futureholds. I am really sad about the whole thing. Personally and emotionally I feel quite displaced! Ihave never had such a time like this in my life. I amnot working and not traveling. Not working, with myhand still healing, is really really really reallyreally really tough!!! I miss you all, I especiallymiss your bodies! Sounds funky? Well, bodies speak tome and it is my dialog. I am less lonely that way. As soon as I can move my hand better I want to govolunteer with soldier rehabilitation. I am not sure Ican help much but I know that my goofball way of beingand foreignness will surely crack them up. So, pray for all of us and for this whole world. Praythat no one suffers, not one child, mother or father.I can say that life here is still very electric, aliveand full. Blessings to you all. Hugs and squeezes and smiles.Adele

it aint over yet

Hello Everyone and thank you for your words andblessings.Made it through the night and around here all isquiet. Lots of hoop-la yesterday. Picked up Josh fromcamp and met Drew and Zach back at the house. We hungout and were determining whether or not to go toJerusalem. Last year my brother asked me to do some PTon a very high ranking intelligence officer in theIsraeli Defense Force. I have worked on him more thana few times and now he kind of takes us under his wingand calls every so often from the front to joke withme and also advise us. When he called yesterday totell me to take my family to Jerusalem the stressnotch cranked a few. We discussed different optionsand what was decided was to keep the bag packed by thefront door and leave when/if barraged by the psychoArabs. So, what did we do? We went boogie boarding with thekids down at the beach. What else to do? I can't inall good consciousness eat any more ice cream! Reallynow! So, there we were playing my favoritegame..."smash ball" and Zach comes out of the waterand he has cut his foot quite deep. Hmmmmmm. sit downand think..... OK, to the life guard station, then tothe clinic....then to the ER room. I was thinking allalong that if there was to be any missile injurieswhat better place to be than at the ER!!! How clever!All was OK except Josh was back at the apartmentalone. I was pretty nervous about that but had tofocus on getting Zach figured out. I knew Mr. Josh,who is now better known as Mr. Bling Bling, would beliving it up in front of the TV anyhow. We drove tothe hospital which turned out to be a religioushospital and modest attire was requested. Modestattire? I have just come from the beach! This is toofunny. We dug through the car to find somethingmodest. Aha...I wrap a towel around my waist to make along skirt and take Zach in. We get moved throughquite quickly but then need an Xray to see ifsomething is lodged in the foot. The doctor was aLatvian ancient guy who communicated with me in Latin!yikes. The people that walked in were quite the'Motley Crew'. One women with an injured foot fromrunning from the missiles in the north. In the end, hehad cut into the foot over 1 inch deep. Cleaned it,antibiotics and we were off. Got home at ten and thenhad to reassess what the plan was. Started in with thephone calls of what to do... We decided to sleepthrough the night in Netanya and here we are. We arekeeping everybody home today to stay together althoughI don't even know if that is necessary. Everything isfull speed ahead. Language school did not stop, campis going on but really my nerves need a littlereprieve. Politically, sounds like the Iranians are funnelingmilitary supplies to the Syrians which are handing itover to their ADD, ADHD, psychopathic little brothers, the Hezbollah to shoot at us. Lovely. Thankgod the G8 is behind us. Didn't do too well in political science? Well, youshould move here because before you know it you can bean expert on world affairs. (not the boy type!)I hear the Israeli helicopters working round theclock. They are amazing. Send your support to Israel.We need it to keep these terrorists down. It is toprotect the Americans as well. That's my plug.Well today should be as exciting as the last 30 days Ihave been here. love Adele

floating

Hello everyone It is wonderful to have a few minutes to write to youall and have a moment to put my thoughts together;The new developments here are difficult. It is anunusual feeling to be here and still in the darksomewhat because I can not understand the news fullyon the radio (I get only around 25% of the words. theytalk so fast). The only English info I get is from ashoddy BBC and a biased European/middle east CNN. Veryfrustrating that my sister has to call me to tell mewhat is going on? Strange. We heard last nighthelicopters flying over head up to the north. All thisfighting is about 2-3 hours north of here and yet wespent the afternoon and evening swimming and playingat the beach with out a care! So weird. I can’t fillanyone in on details as I am sure you are all pummeledwith news. All I can say from this point of view froma somewhat/very ignorant American new immigrant thatis about to send her son into the army in a few yearsthat…I would be so grateful if my country went to warto get my son back from being kidnapped! Thank god.Knowing that they are doing something big to get himback. I know that it also is very political andinvolves money for the exchange life for life. A fewyears ago Israel traded 500 live political prisonersfor two Israeli bodies of soldiers. I pray for aresolution to get these boys back. They really areboys. My sisters’ two sons are starting he army in afew months.Overall we are still in hyper-speed mode. Busy all daylong yet feeling quite strange because it is notfilled with patients and work. I miss working a TON! Imiss all my patients/friends. My hand is still quiteweak and limited. I thought that at the 5 week point Icould remove the brace and voila all done with theproblem. I really miss the joy and vitality Iexperience with my hands on people (as most of youknow). It is has been very strange not to touch noone. Even on vacations I would find myself regularlyworking on people but with this fracture even typingis fatiguing. Yes I know it will pass but I want itnow! Give me the golden egg now daddy!Josh is spending two weeks at a day camp forwindsurfing, kayaking and sailing. Every day adifferent one of those sports. He is a natural in thewater and is having fun. We are now down to paying him½ a shekel for any word he memorizes. Ha he is notgoing to be a millionaire nor get the 500 shekels heis aiming for to get the drivers license for go- cartracing that his new friend does. I haven’t checked itout thoroughly yet. Zach also has a made a new friend,Sam. His mom is from Liverpool, Dad is Israeli who isIraqi by culture. Let me just share that Liverpoolaccents are quite challenging as well as the wordusage. The mom asked us to come over for Shabbat lunchwith a: “do you fancy comin round for a bit of ….?” Ican’t even remember. It was quite embarrassing to haveto ask several times…WHAT??? Kind of funny though.Sam’s dad shared with us stories about when he was akid he would go hunting with the local Arabs and theirhunting dogs at night for porcupine. Apparently thoseArabs believed that fresh blood from a porcupine giveshealth, live and vitality. So, they would corner aporcupine in a cave with the dogs, get it some how andslash its throat then lean down and drink the blood.Blah! Yuk, I am going to barf!Lots more adventures but I liked the porcupine storybest this week. Drew is plugging away at Ulpan. He is really workingvery hard at the language school (Ulpan) with hisHebrew. For some reason the instructors say that theAmericans get the language the slowest and the fastestare the Russians. 20% of Israel is Russian. Mosteverything here (signs and stuff) are in Hebrew,Arabic, English and Russian. Drew is having a veryvery interesting time. Interestingly enough there arePalestinians, a Jordanian and an Egyptian in his Ulpanclass. He tells us about the interesting dynamicsamongst them all. He will have to fill you in.We ate dinner at a friend of Josh’s house. Mother isAlgerian born, raised in France until age 18 and thenIsraeli. The father came from Russian at age 24 afterbeing a naval officer and escaping right before thefall of the wall. This kid speaks Russian, Hebrew,French and English (they lived in Boston for twoyears). Talk about International. I love it! I lovethe cultural differences. Oh yeah, the food here isfantastic, fresh produces and is killing my waistline.Although the walking helps burn it off! We walkeverywhere. I like that a lot.Our friends from Boulder are here, the Chizzali’s.Their kids are going to camp with our kids and mylittle sisters kids as well. So in the evenings we endup at the beach with the bar-be –que going, smash ballplaying. We end up leaving the sand around 8:30 atnight. That is really special. Life here seems on theoutside so fun, driving is crazy but manageable. Kindof a game unless you yourself are stressed and then itis open free for all for anger explosion. No passiveaggressive stuff going on here. It is activeaggressive. Hey a new term! I am not passiveaggressive, I am active aggressive! Ha ha. So takethat! Drew loves it because he is a suppressed roadrage guy so he gets right down to the mentality of allthe other five year old boys on the road pushing forfirst place in line! (He is going to be mad at me whenhe reads this hee hee). As I was hunting around forthe sources of stress that I haven’t seen besidesthose listed above I asked a friend who is a soldierofficer guy. He said that I don’t really have thestress until my kids are in the army. He said that thestats are that there are only around 100,000 activeIsraeli soldiers and that 90% plus are in Gaza rightnow. (This letter was written before the north’sproblems). Careful what you watch... CNN is superbiased. I can’t get too political but always alwaysquestion the sources as the media is so oftenmisleading and wrong.I go up and down about feeling confident in gettingwork. There is an abundance of excellent therapists inthe area. The local social medicine clinic is alsovery good. I thought that only 10-15 minutes is spentwith each patient although I find out that it is morelike 45 min-1 hour. I have to be patient. Yesterday aswe were playing this game “smash ball-like a beachpaddle tennis” this lifeguard, Saji offered to takeall the kids for rides on his life saver,windsurfer-like board that he stands on in the backand paddles in standing. The board is about 3.5-4 feetwide. So 5 of us scrambled on the board and went for atootle. He zealously tried to teach me anatomy whilepaddling, directing the children, and explainingsimultaneously in Hebrew, English and Latin the majormuscle groups. In retrospect it was hysterical. There is so much to tell I must stop somewhere. I prayfor peace and safety for all humans on this earth.Send your angels of safety and goodness over here toIsrael. I miss you and love it when you write andshare your thoughts. Blessings foreverAdele

New Exiting Life

Shalom!Thank you so much for your loving and supportivewords. Life is so exciting and we have had so manywonderful moments and the challenges have beendiminshed. We spent the day at the beach at my brothers teenytiny beach house. The whole coast is covered in jellyfish for 1 month. The water is crystal clear andaquamarine. we went to Josh's new school and all the kids came outand bombarded him with excitment, warmth, andcuriosity. He felt great!ZAch is totally mentally focused to get his hebrew upto snuff (but doesn't want to put in the hours yaknow) so that he can attend the regular high school.we will see.We just got back from a bakery in an Israeli Arabvillage called Faradeis. We bought fresh Baklava andchocolate cream cake for shabbas! yum! Overall, Kids are really doing great. Zach and Dreware plugging along in Ulpan (which is intensive hebrewlanguage school). Drew is also doing great. I am soproud of him. (remind me that when I want to explodehim from frustration). He is thinking of changeing hisname to Doron.The kids spirits are strong, don't miss their friendstoo much and are excited to try new things and see newthings. I am so proud of them. I guess the appledoesn't fall from the tree. We feel so blessed.Beaucracy these last few days have been much more somellow.zillions of internet opportunities. My hand is comingalong and I am typing with both hands!Hugs and love and miss you lotsAdele

Bureaucracy

Hello Everyone,This letter is Titled Bureaucracy. I see that my first task in life here to learn ispatience. I have learned over these years that mytasks in life come in blocks. 20's-30's was spent onanger awareness, 30's-40's I wanted to focus oncompassion and the 40's need to be spent on Patience,timing, and control. So here I am typing this letter from a car repairplace and waiting for the car my sister loaned me tobe fixed. Surprising to find a public Internet andchecking emails at a car repair garage here in thewaiting area for getting your tires changed. Our experience here has been very interesting andintense with little moments of "oh yeah, now Iremember why we did this". WE have been here less thana week and I feel like it has been a month. Most ofthe days have been spent in and with bureaucracy.Ministry of Absorption, Education, Interior, theMedical system, and most frustrating and confusing ofall is the banking. Usually during the experience I amon theverge of tears and then after wards I can laugh aboutit. I wish that the laughter would come during theexperience rather than only hours after. Although Iguess any laughter is good laughter. We are all very happy to be here. It still feels likehome in a strange kind of way because sometimes Ithink I want to go home (to Boulder?) and thenwonder....where is home? What does home feel like? Iguess for me home is a place that my soul feelsgrounded and calm. Who knows..thats a big one. My sister loaned us her old car, super great. Werealized after we have it for a day or so that thehorn didn't work. Besides gas, the horn here is themostimportant item of necessity while driving. So we takeit to the the repair place (after I got lost ofcourse) and the guy pushes the button where I wouldpush to make water come out of the windshield wiper.Lo and behold the horn honks. What the hell? The guylooks at me like I am a big dope and I am looking athim like I want to smash the car in frustrationbecause I spent my whole morning getting lost to getthere for a horn blowing windshield wiper mechanism.We practically crushed in the center of her steeringwheel to make the invisible non existent horn work.Pounding on it to no avail.OK, back to more serious matters. To enroll Zach inthe intensive language school here is what we had todo: Go to the court and get a "paper" for notary. Topay for the notary ($8.00)we had to go to the postoffice and buy special stamps. Then back to the courthouse to stamp the stamps. Take "paper" to Ministry ofEducation, then take "paper" from ministry ofeducation to middle school, then take "paper" to highschool, and finally bring the "paper" to the languageschool. I have so many friggin pieces of paper withgibberish on it I have to spend today straighteningout my papers. It took us 3 hours to open a checking account at thebank and then in the end we forgot to order thechecks. We were so jet lagged and pounding out hebrewall day long is tiring as well. Well, we need thechecks because we need to write 12 checks in advancefor our rent and hand the landlord the checks uponmoving in. No security deposits here, only bankguarantee notes. Don't ask. It is so confusing. Thelandlord did no credit check, did not ask us if wemake or have any money. It is so funny moving to a newplace and everything is different and upside down.Next task....Visa card. I think back to how we had tocall and cancel all the extra junk mail that we weregetting in relation to trying for us to open creditcards everywhere. Well to open a visa card here a with$5000 credit, you simply need to put $5000 in the visacard account. Sounds like a debit card to me but I wasassured over and over again that was how it is done. Iprobably did not use the right word to communicate andit is all confused. We wait everywhere and for everything. Big chunks oftime are spent waiting and yet all people quote tous..."money is time". We were told to pick up the car(that was sitting and ready) at 5:15 and now it is7:00 and obviously it is not.So much has happened so far. we are busy 24/7. I fight thoughts that I miss Boulder and the old ways as tokeep my brain straight and spirits strong.After getting lost 4 times yesterday going to eachplace I had to go I screamed so loud in the car thatmy throat was sore for a few hours. Not smart nor agood idea so I will have to find another way torelease frustration. I have to keep remembering that this is an adventureand we can see how it goes. Yes, we can always go backbut who wants to go backwards? I love the challengebut don't quote me when I am crying and frustrated orlost or the car breaks down. Ha!Israel is a very powerful place, the people are gruffon the outside and sugary sweet and caring on theinside. It is a no bullshit place. Not many frills,bells or whistles (although losts of horns). Thebeaches are gorgeous and have swamalmost every afternoon. 1 month a year the jelly fishcome in hoards so it is starting to happen now. wewill be taking a break from swimming.For sure the scariest thing for me is the driving,more people here are killed in car accidents than allthe wars and terrorist attacks combined. People aremaniacs on the road. I pray and pray while we drive. I miss you all and wish that you could be here to talkto while I stand in lines. Ha. I remember how timefocused I was in the U.S. It really has been a greatadventure so far full of tears and laughter and bestof all LIFE!Blessings until we talk againAdele