LIFE IS AMAZING!!!

Hi Everyone,
How are you all? Please send me a note and update me on your lives!
Well, here is my update. LIFE IS AMAZING!!!
Might as well write when we are on the upswing. Right? Well, loads to share and tell. We are doing really well. We are growing and connecting and as a matter of fact looking to buy a house. (more on that later). Kids are doing really well. Zach is the most incredible. In two months he will be taking bacclaurate exams for grade 10 in Grammer, Math, Computer Science and History. They are exams that test the whole years work and apply towards his university acceptance stuff. He has been working really hard at getting his language going. I am rreally proud of him. Josh also has kicked into gear and caring more about grades and school in general. This year for him has been school 7:30-3:30 and then tutoring after school 2-3 x week. Not fun but I am so proud of him. His bar mitzvah is this summer June 19 at the Western Wall in the Old City. His true wish for a bar mitzvah party including belly dancing girls and being carried in on a magic carpet gizmo might not happen. He loves to skate board and roller hockey. Zach is busy at the gym pumping and primping. He looks all cut and 16. I wish I had his discipline. Josh, well, as his nickname is Baccus he is certiainly still enjoying the riches of life (lox and smelly cheese go down the hatch easily). Both are healthy and we are blessed.

Drew, is pretty much conversationally fluent by now. It is amazing. He is walking around speaking hebrew everywhere. As some of you may or may not know we are going through an Orthodox conversion. Lots to tell threre. After 6 months of me kicking and screaming and making everyone in around me generally miserable, I am finally getting on the band wagon and 'doin it to'. It is quite a change but almost all for the good. I can;'t think of any for the bad but there is always that residual rebellious nature of mine that doesn't seem to go away. It is a very serious committment and change of lifestyle. It takes a year at least to do the whole she-bang so that is still a work in progress. He is working at the factory still, growing, learning and studying Torah with his download Podcasts in his new Ipod during the day at work. Not bad at all. His plan is to get back into painting on a serious basis and move in that direction. I am so excited to see fun new paintings.

Ok, The big news is that we hopefully found a house. House shopping in Israel is a little like being in a mental institute full of wacko's! I tried to sit here and think of metaphors like...fishing, or whatever but nope, it is psychotic! Here are some of the ground rules. First of all there are no ground rules. There are some givens. Like, the realtors represent both the buyer and the seller. If you want to call it representation. I told my realtor to make an offer at such and such amount of monopoly money and she said 'No'. That the seller would only take full price and that I had better offer full price. Ok. onward. The first house we made an offer on, the seller said that he was no longer interested in selling but just wanted to see what he could get for the house. Now I am sure there are crazy real estate stories everywhere on this earth and we are certainly novices in the real estate world but it is really funny unless at the moment you are crying. Ok, rule 2: Different houses have different real estate agents that go with them. So the only way to see the house is if you hire that particular agent. So, we have worked with about 7-10 or so different agents all bull shitting us along the path. Rule 3: As soon as you make an offer you need to get a lawyer. Everyone needs a lawyer for real estate stuff. Anyhow, not to bore you too much but it is a little snippit of life here. Rule 4: never believe anything you hear.

Work is amazing for me. I am still working in the Navy. I am implementing new programs that I learned this past winter in the states. I am presenting a lecture at the International Sports Medicine Conference in June. Building my private practice in a very half ass kind of way. Working in Jerusalem 1 x week and booked there so my local town is more for being a mom and keeping house, body and mind and wishing I was doing some ceramics. I guess in retirement in the big sky there will be time for ceramics. I just took a course in dry needling techniuqe so I am getting into that more. Just a frustrated Acupuncturist at heart. The soldiers love anything painful so I am right in the right spot. They suffer quietly through my deep strong massage stuff. It is so funny but for my whole career as a PT people have often said to me: "OK sargent". It used to make me mad at times but now it is so funny. I am where I am finally supposed to be.

My angle on Israel and war stuff. Well, pray for peace, don't read the newspapers or listen to news. Don't believe anything you hear. All politicians lie for money. Think that maybe one day a messiah will come and we don't have to worry no more, every girl is a size 8. ha ha!

I pray for all of you that you will be healthy and feel goodness, joy and peace of mind. That you can take the time and laugh and hang with your friends. Eat yummy yummy food and work out!
Blessing and love,
Adele

Hospitals, culture shock, and other kinds of wild things.

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

Here in heaven

Hello Everyone,
I am not sure how long it has been since my last letter but I figured I am due for another one. Yep, as the title states at times it feels like I am alive in heaven. After the first year things have gotten enormously easier. We are exactly, perfectly in the right place. I truly feel at home. Yes, home is where the heart is so it can be anywhere on earth but here I have found a place that I feel connected to. Now, although I have experienced a war here, I have not been under the pounding of rockets so I reserve my right to freak out and say...I'm outta here!" I truly hope not. I doubt it but you never never know. We have made some wonderful friends, bought a new old car. Get this.....1997 Toyota corolla 4 door for a whopping $8000! It is somewhat of a medium gas guzzler and since gas is around $6.00 a gal, I spend on average $400 month on gas for the car (I think I am low balling it). But I am still happy! the car is solid and since the most dangerous thing to do in Israel is drive on the roads (well, getting lost and going into the territories is more dangerous) I feel better in a bigger car. (Yeah, Toyota corolla - huge man) ha ha.
Work is great. I definitely do not work like I did in the US but now I enjoy some more extra time. The time I always dreamed about for more socializing and basically exercising and working out. Everyone seems to be available for a 'coffee' some time or another. I really enjoy the social atmosphere. It is a very interesting phenomenon. It is like society enjoys and encourages building social networks because we must rely on each other so much here.
Drew is jamming on his Hebrew and is still working at the German Factory. he has tons going on and is very prolific on his blog-spot called http://www.bravenewland.blogspot.com/
You can follow everything he is up to there.
AS FOR THE KIDS..............
Well, ya see.......we sold them..... this Arab sheik was tootling by and I couldn't resist...........
NOT...just joking...........
OK, the scoop with the kids is that there is a country wide strike in the middle and high schools. We are on week three now and there are threats of it lasting 2-3 months. It could end tomorrow, next week or 2 months. So, that ain't so pretty. the kids are in heaven but the parents are frustrated. The teachers here in Israel make the pay that an average McDonald's worker does. The prestige that goes with the job is also on par with fast food workers. It isn't right and we do stand by them. So, my sister, Debbie, whose children are fabulously successful at the schooling stuff (PHd's and the sort) says to me: "Adele, you must get them on a schedule. They should first make the schedule themselves and then you can adjust it." OK. I will try whatever she recommends. She obviously did the right things, right? OK, well. Josh's schedule that he composed goes like this...
9:00-11:00 Breakfast and Free Time.
11:00-12:00 Study (like what I am thinking?)
12:00-1:00 - guess.... LUNCH! of course.
1:00-2:30 yep.....'Free Time'
2:30-4:00 (get this) 'Clean house'. I later learned that it was going to be 'within those hours' that housecleaning could take place.
4:00-6:30 Study
6:00-7:00 Dinner (note the time discrepancy)
7:00-10:30 Free time.
So, that's my Joshie. Life is way good for him here. He has found a friend, Mr. Alon we call him. They are two peas in a pod and we feel so blessed that he was sent to Josh as a friend. His judgment is fair at times being 12 and all (burned a kitchen pan and utensil to smithereens) but we are happy for Josh.
Zach is almost if not 6'2". Ugh at 15. I yell at him about loads of things but I am not sure if he hears me up there! the 15 year old brain is very very interesting. He is a wonderful kid and we are still in the puppy training mode. He doesn't pee in the house but close. Today I was up at 5:30 and the door opened and he was rolling in. I know you all are thinking What??? But that is the life here. NO drugs, some drinking but just teens hanging out on the walking mall (3 blocks long) and talking and hopefully not too much trouble. Israelis are super lax about they kids being up and out late at night. I know I have already gone over that with y'all.
Oh my goodness. I did not tell you that I am coming to the states....This coming week!!! I will be there from Oct 26-Nov 4. I am going to be having a little party Saturday evening Nov 3 early at my sisters house in table mesa, 3260 endicott. Her number is 303-499-5788. Come by and give me a hug! I will love to see you all. I hope to have a cell phone there but don't have anything lined up right now.
It is 82 degrees out now and I am going on a driving day with my mom and Drew to the north of Israel to the Lebanese and Syrian border, sightseeing and stuff.
OK, so that's that. I can fill out all in more with details in 6 days!!!
yeah..
hugs and blessings from the holy land.
Adele

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