Hi Everyone,
Once again I am moved to write and tell all. Ha. This letter is a another inside discription of how life looks here. It has been a very interesting experience and brand new to me so I want to share with all. Some of you might say...DUH!!! But, it was pretty trippy for me. I also need to put in a disclaimer that I am sure all my shocks are a regular cultural phenomenon for anyone else who has moved to a foreign country.
Well, we have had a very interesting last week. Josh got sick. Yep. "Mommy, my face hurts, especially my jaw." So off we go to the doctor. Now, mind you, we have all had a very intensively sick winter thus far. I was sick for 3 weeks with a cough and cold. So this was already; week three for him as well. Also, I am not sure if you all remember the Oscar letter in which Josh won an Oscar at his camp for being the sickest kid. So, my motto with him is.....if there ain't no fever, there ain't no sickness. I basically don't believe anything he says about mostly anything. Yes, awful situation but since you are my dearest loving friends and won't judge me unfavorably....He is a total bullshitter!
OK back to this sickness. So, painful lower jaw I am thinking he can't be making this up. Well, off to MD. Another note about the doctor. This was our third visit to her. On the last visit, she palpated his stomach and said that we need to go to the ER because he might have appendicitis. Or, if we didn't want to do that, we should just go get an x-ray in case he has pneumonia. What? How does one relate with the other? So, I went home, put a hot rice bag on his stomach in front of the TV and all was well. Mother and healer's intuition was that he had been coughing so hard for so long he strained his rib muscle. Plus, we did not go to the doctor for any abdominal pain. Josh basically did not want to go to school. So, 3 days later starts this jaw pain. I am thinking he can't be that creative that his jaw is killing him. Off to MD, x-rays of face. Phone call front ENT, need to go to hospital for IV antibiotics. FOR A SINUS INFECTION??? Now this is really getting crazy. I need to go to the ENT and have him check Josh for sure. Well, the last appointment in the Jewish city of mine is taken and they tell me I need to go to the next town over (less than 1 mile away) which is an Arab city, called Faredeis (paradise). We don't really ever go to Faredeis. Kinda scary. We go see the board certified Jewish doctor that also treats part time in other Arab cities. I never imagined that we would have to go to an ISRAELI ARAB CITY to get an appointment and see the doc but we went. It was all fine and no stress but it was just another twist - o in my getting used to this place. Confirmation to hospital for frontal sinus infection which can't be penetrated with oral antibiotics. Off we go to a hospital. Now, when you are trying to figure out which hospital in Israel to go to everyone just gives this sour looking face like they have just tasted bad milk. They pause and say: "well, go to @$#%^%$^^. They may be the nicest there". So, with my glowing recommendation in hand and heart we drive to Haifa to the hospital. To shorten this some, Josh was ecstatic. Go figure. I guess it was something new and exciting. His pain was pretty severe but he was coping. We get admitted. He is a total trooper. Tests, IV, etc. First night we left him alone...why you ask? Because we rented him a mini TV that was right in front of his nose. He was in heaven. Kind of like Club Med. Room service, cable TV, no chores, cleaning, nothing. There was no toilet in his room so no shower either! He told us to go home and that he would be ok. We came every morning (1 hour drive each way). So, Josh was in the hospital for 5 days. It turned out to be not such a party for him. It was tough. He couldn't tolerate the strong meds and threw up most of the time. It was not great but we got through it. Now, this letter was not prompted by his experience so to say. It was more to share with you how the Arabs and Jews live hand in hand here. And share with you some of my ignorance and nativity.
All the pharmacists I have ever been to here are all Arab. All the nurses at the hospital were either Arab or Russian. The cleaners at the hospital were Russian. The doctors were Russian and Israeli. 85+% of the patients were Arab. The people selling coffee in the local kiosk (like a Starbucks deal) were Russian. Remember, socialized medicine here. The first morning I happened to go to the nurses station and see people standing in line for the am breakfast. Nope they don't bring the trays to the room. No one told me anything about getting our own food so I am savvy ya see and get in line. After a minute a young Arab mother ( big girl, head dress, the whole she-bang) stands in front of me in line and looks at me like: ' I am a gonna ---- you if you ---- with me". I feel like I am in a prison. I can't believe that I feel this whole Arab conflict waiting in line on the pediatric floor for breakfast. Other kind of wild things were we left Zach there to sleep with him for a night. They allowed my 15 year old son to sleep with my 12 year old in a room with out adult supervision. They just watched TV but Josh was in heaven.
So, we got out of the hospital 5 days later. Sent home to recoup for another few days. Yesterday, while I and Drew were at work Josh's class took upon themselves to come and visit. 15 kids came over unannounced, no parents at home and hung out with him and went crazy in the house. Totally normal and expected here. They all brought $ to run up to the pizza store and..have a party of course. Partying is a big thing around here. Israelis love to socialize.
We are a young country compared to the US so give us some time.
So thats that. yesterday on my drive to Jerusalem (2 hours) I almost got into 3 major accidents. Live is very exciting here. At times frustrating beyond belief. And other times totally hysterical. I love it and sometimes hate it. Yep, good ole me...black and white.
Some other news. Drew is going through a formal conversion to orthodoxy. He is totally in love with it and I am me. I have to jump through some hoops like be completely observant on the sabbath..no electricity stuff but I still get to live how I like. Life is good. We have to get married again at the end of this. That should be amazing. Probably sometime around September. So, you are all invited to my wedding. I will only have 2 weeks notice so stay tuned.
blessings to you all.
love
adele
