Making it Legal

The plan for Friday morning was to get married early.  A civil ceremony is compulsory in Ecuador.  My parents, sister, nephew, Jones and Jon, met Carlos and I around 8AM to walk to the ministry where that occurs.  The building looks like an elementary school that was built in the US in the 1960's.

I'm So Excited!

Mom is coming to visit for two weeks in July.

Resurrection

This event took place about a month ago in Chicago. I feel that it is time to write about it in order to explain the next story. But first, some more background...

I was born and raised in the United States, along with both my siblings. My parents were born and raised in South Africa and moved to the US over 30 years ago and now have lived there over half their lives. I now live in Ecuador.

A friend of my parents once described Ecuador as "Mexico 30 years ago." But I think he was wrong. I think Ecuador is really South Africa 30 years ago. I returned to what my parents left. It's not just the climate, or the flora, or the lifestyle (i.e., coming home for lunch everyday, walled and gated houses, having indigenous maids, spending half the weekend with your entire extended family, etc.) that is similar. The mythology too.

A disclaimer. I am Jewish. My fiance is Catholic. The six characters in this episode have five (and a half) Bachelor's degrees, speak four (and a half) languages, and have earned three (and a half) Master's degrees. We are a PBS-watching, NPR-listening, National Geographic-reading bunch.

So, last month I was home. The whole family was home. We were eating dinner. We started talking about Easter and Jesus and the resurrection. And just like any good Jewish family during Passover, some of us were confused. Particularly, if he was resurrected, where did he go? Mom knew the answer. She always knows the answer, she's a teacher. Anyway, Mom said with an absolute straight face, that after he was resurrected, "Jesus went to Japan."

At this point my sister, brother, and I are laughing so hard that we are gasping for air. Japan? Really? You've got to be kidding me. But Dad, who also always seems to know the answer to everything, set the record straight. "Irene," he said in a how can you think something so absurd kind of voice, like what you would use to tell a child that there are still no monsters under the bed because we just checked for the millionth time, "Jesus did not go Japan. He went to India."

Now we aren't just gasping for air, we are almost crying, hyperventilating, in need of medical attention. It was like a David Sedaris story. We eventually catch our breath and my brother does something interesting. He takes out his Blackberry, makes a call, and just says into his phone, "Did Jesus go to Japan?". Who did he call? What was he doing?

He had called a service that answers questions. It's free. Apparently you call and leave a voicemail with your question. They send back your question in the form of a text message to make sure it is correct. Then a few minutes later, send a text with the answer.

We wait. The text arrives. It says that it is possible that Jesus went to Japan, however it cannot be confirmed because that was 2000 years ago. Case closed.

That evening I talk to Carlos, who is in Ecuador. I tell him what happened at dinner, trying to give him an honest idea of what he will be marrying into. His response? How ridiculous. How could you even think that Jesus went to Japan or India. That's absurd.

Jesus went to Mexico.

Or at least there were rumors that he visited. Ruins were found with drawings of a man with a beard. But the Aztecs and Mayans didn't have beards.

So, the first instance of my parents having more in common with my fiance than with me: They all believe that Jesus was a backpacker.

Home Again

More tales from the front...

Quality Time

One lovely Saturday morning Dad and I went to the city to visit my apartment. There was an association meeting and he wanted to see how our tenants were doing. They were fine. On the way home we discussed lunch, then I called home, took the order, called the restaurant to place the order, when Dad, who was driving, suddenly declared in an urgent voice, "I need to speak with Mom." Uh oh. What did I do? Am I in trouble? Was it because I ordered the pork and the shrimp?

So I get out the phone (again), call home (again), get Mom on the line (again), hand the phone to Dad, and he explains, "Irene! I need a manicure!" That was when I started laughing. "Judes, you need anything?" he asks. "I'll take a pedicure," I respond.

Some families go to the movies, apparently mine gets our nails done...

Keyless Entry

Mom has a Toyota Camry Hybrid. She's had it for about a year, maybe a bit less. It's a cool car, but it drives differently than a normal car. You need lots more distance to brake, otherwise you get whiplash. It took me a little while to get used to. However, I never was able to get used to the key. Or lack thereof. There is no key. You have a fob that you put in your pocket or purse, (I think it needs to be within 10 or 15 ft of the car) and when you approach the car the doors automatically unlock for you (or lock as you walk away). Then you get in the driver's seat and push a button and the car turns on. But that's not the part that I found odd. I can deal with that. The part I never got used to is turning the car off. I was always looking for a key to remove from the ignition. None. Just push the power button again and the car will congratulate you for how fuel efficient you were. I would sit there and fumble for a few seconds, every time I drove it, then would suddenly realize, no key. In Cuenca I have five keys just for the house and thee for the car. In Chicago I carried zero.

Gigi's

For my high school graduation there were no caps and gowns. I had to wear a floor length, formal, white dress, but it couldn't be strapless. The tradition still carries on today. Why is this relevant?

While in Chicago I bought my wedding gown. I bought it at a boutique that has all sorts of formal dresses. When getting measured (after I had chosen the dress) the women says to me, “That dress will be lovely for your graduation.” WTF? “Actually, that's my wedding gown,” I reply. “But you're too young to be getting married!” she exclaims, trying to reinforce her view to those around, “Isn't she?” “Um, I'm 29.”

Maybe I look young. Or maybe she thought I was young because I was there with my mom. But did she seriously think I was 18?

Adventures in Babysitting

I made it back safely to Ecuador without having to argue with immigration again or pay anymore fines. I had a really nice time at home, and will share some stories from there...

Part I

I have a nephew Nicholas, who now is about two months old, but was just five weeks old when I met him. My sister Ruth came from Indy for a week with him, her husband Vince was only able to come for the weekend. I babysat him about half a dozen times (like when Ruth was drying her hair), but for no more than 10 minutes each time because whenever I was watching him, Mom would swoop in and take him away. Granted, usually he was screaming at me (babies just don't seem to like me), but Mom has turned into a fervent grandma. Apparently, when my sister was born my mom had never held a baby in her life and her mom flew in from South Africa to help out. Many of my mother's friends told me that same story. I guess this is part of grandparenting. Anyway, here is Nicholas...

Part II

On part of being home that I didn't miss was the daily round of "Wake the Kid." The Kid is my 23-year-old brother, David. He has some problems waking up and getting to work in the morning. He usually makes it there just in time, or within 5 minutes. But four mornings a week someone needs to wake him up with a combination of requests, orders, threats, and the occasional tearing the sheets off the bed.

I don't know how my parents manage. It's like playing a game in which you know that even if you win, you loose. And the most ironic fact is that once he is out of bed, if you have a conversation with him, he will acknowledge that he needs the help getting up and wouldn't be able to live on his own right now and appreciates what my parents do. But you wouldn't know that 20 minutes before he needs to leave the house, with one alarm clock playing hava nagila, the other, Clocky, spinning around the room, plus his blackberry buzzing, and him grumbling in front of a well stocked closet, "I have nothing to wear."

Part III

Connie (my former roommate) and Greg (former coworker) also have a baby, six month old Keira. Basically my vacation was a crash course in babies. While Nicholas still spends the majority of his day sleeping and is still figuring out how to lift his head, Keira is a playful baby who likes sucking on fingers (hers and other peoples) and toes (just her own). She also likes museums, so Connie and I took her to the Field Museum and the Art Institute where she got lots of compliments for being so cute and well behaved. Granted, she slept through the Monets and cried when she saw the stuffed buffalo. But Sue didn't seem to even faze her (Sue is a T. Rex, for those of you who haven't seen her yet).

Sweet Home Chicago

Last weekend I was in Chicago, back home for the second time this year. This trip was much longer than last, it was six days instead of four, but this time there was much more to do. The reason that I went home was because one of my closest friends, Nicole, got married, thus much of my visit was spent doing things related to the wedding.

I've known Nicole since high school, almost 15 years, and the first adjective that could be use to describe her is, "late". One of my main duties as a bridesmaid was to make sure that she showed up on time. That was actually accomplished, give or take 20 minutes. We had appointments for hair and nails, dropping off dresses and picking up shoes, getting to synagogue, and we even made it to the rehearsal dinner on time just as the Saturday snow storm was icing over.

The wedding was beautiful. I consider myself a conservative Jew, but Nicole and Rudy are modern orthodox. So this wedding was similar to previous weddings that I had attended, but had a few differences. Most of what I was not used to was the separation of the men and women, not all the time, but only for certain parts. The men had bottles of liquor, the women had fruit salad and soda. The men entertain the groom and the women entertain the bride, so there was alot of dancing and singing. But after the ceremony the genders were once again mixed.

I didn't spent the whole weekend with Nicole, Rudy, and their families. I was able to spend some time with my own as well. On Friday morning I had the honor of waking up The Kid (my brother David). I think that it was more of me doing my parents a favor, since it is almost impossible to get my brother out of bed. After jumping on the bed, and poking at him with one of my old foils, he finally peeked his head out and declared, "I have nothing to wear." Exhibit A, to your right, is his closet.

Mom and I went to the Field Museum to see the exhibit on maps. It was incredible. They had over a millennia worth of maps. The docent said it would take about 45 minutes to view, but Mom and I spent about two hours there. I loved it, they had some of my favorite maps there (yes, there actually are some maps that I consider my favorites, such as the "Geological Map of England and Wales and Part of Scotland" by William Smith and "The loss of men during Hannibal’s march to Italy, 218 B.C. and Napoleon’s march to Moscow, 1812-13" by Charles Joseph Minard). We only had half an hour to look at the Darwin exhibit, but that was alright, since I preferred the maps. I hung out with Dad at his office and at the airport, drinking cups of tea. Every conversation with him I learn something.

Ruth was also in town, with Vince, so I got to see them at Connie and Greg's place (east meets west with the Chinese Christmas tree), plus for dim sum in Chinatown. Drew joined us as well. It was nice to see him again. He is letting me borrow one of his bike boxes so I was able to bring my racing bike back to Delft. It was surprisingly easy, though the box is a bit awkward, I did not have to pay an extra fee to bring it with. It is my baby now. I took a long ride this morning, the sun was out, though so was the wind. I was so happy to be geared up and gliding through the wetlands, chatting with Julia (we were going slow since I'm not quite in the cycling shape I was before).

It think that was pretty much my whole weekend. Oh, I did some shopping. Some of it was in the shops, but most was looking through my parent's basement, peering though boxes that I packed a year ago, looking for my shoes that I swear I left right there (not recalling that our home is actually lived in and I cannot expect things to stay put for months). It was a really nice visit home. I got to see some snow, but leave before the storm hit (though I got to watch our plane being de-iced). Time to plan my next vacation.

Spaaaah

I spent last weekend in Frankfurt, with Connie visiting Pia and Ingo. We had fun. We ate well. I adopted Connie's favorite German breakfast as my own: raw meat with raw onion. We stank for the rest of the day. But that was alright, because we sweat it out at the spa on Saturday.

The spa was nice. Apparently this was a regular activity for Connie and Pia, but it was my first time at a German spa. We spent our afternoon in the naked area. There is a swimsuit area with lots of pools, but we spent our time in the area with the steam room, saunas, pools, and tanning beds. Naked. Everyone was naked. It was not a pretty sight, but everyone looked quite comfortable.

So, the really difference with every other spa I have been to is the treatments. A sauna is dry heat. Most of the saunas at this spa were about 85°C. At a prescribed time, a dressed German man will come into the sauna and open the door and window and air out the room. It's still hot. Then he will close it up and pour flavored water on the sauna rocks. We got to experience both lemon tea and green tea. Then the fanning starts. He takes his towel and throws waves of hot wet air down from near the ceiling. It hits you like a brick. You are overcome by the heat. You can barely keep yourself sitting up and you wonder how this man has the energy to twirl his towel around for four minutes...

Then he stops. Plastic bottles are passed around. They contain honey. It is slathered into every nook and cranny. The honey is not sticky like I had expected, it glides onto the skin, then slowly melts off. After a few more minutes of heat we are released. We rush outside, not just out of the sauna, but outside, on a typical gray, cold, yet dry German autumn day. You can see the steam rising from our skin. After a minute or so we go into the showers and rinse off in the cold, then take at dip in the 20°C plunge pool. Very refreshing. But apparently not cooling enough. A few minutes later a beautiful pink pattern appears on my legs. My blood is still boiling and a map of my veins appear. It soon fades after another walk outside.

The spa was great. While there we snacked on pretzels with cheese and fresh juices, a perfect salty sweet hydrating combination. That night Pia and Ingo's former neighbors came over for a dinner of pasta, schnitzel, and chocolate chip cookies, very reminiscent of dinner parties at Connie's.

And on Sunday I left, after a great 48 hours. I wish I could have stayed longer, but the lab today was almost like a spa. Instead of dousing myself in honey I bathed my glassware in acid. Close, right?

Excuses, excuses

The family just left. It was nice to spend time with Mom, Dad, and the Kid. Tomorrow I go on holiday, one week in Corfu. Thus, no time to write. I know I need to write about Belgium, Helsinki, Tallinn, and Berlin, about Asian night, about groupwork, about my family's visit, but I'm tired. No, exhausted. I've been working, my thesis proposal is due in four weeks. I've been fighting, I am desperate for a consistent funding policy. I will catch up eventually. Just not tonight.

MIA

The past three weeks have been a bit bust. First there was the weekend in Belgium. Then Asian night. Then group work. Therefore, I skipped town and spent last week in Helsinki, Tallinn, and Berlin. So in the next few days I will be posting. It needs to be done soon because Mom, Dad, and Kid arrive in 10 days. No, nine. Wow. Lots to do.

Homesick

I'm finally homesick. During the past nine months I have missed some things, but I have never felt like this. It began last night as I spoke with my mom. She had found some of my clothes in the basement and had washed them for me. I'm 5000 miles away and Mom is still willing to do my laundry. Then she told me that she had found a painting I had done when I was seven and hung it up. How could I not miss that? Dad was napping on the couch in the sunroom, fulfilling the ideal Saturday afternoon right. And the Kid was getting me my copy of Harry Potter. I wanted to be there.

Instead I was here, in Mina, in Delft, in Holland. I am doing my own laundry, lounging on other peoples couches, and buying my own books. I sleep in a twin bed with a flimsy mattress and sheets that may not ever have a thread count off 150. And my shower won't even stay on the wall.

I'm terribly cynical this morning.

I love it here, but I miss being there.

Blame It on the Rain?

This morning we had a fieldtrip up north. We were supposed to meet at school at 8PM. I had spoken with the professor last Friday and assured her that I would manage our class, since she planned on meeting us at the treatment plant, a duty that usually falls to me since I am the class captain. Anyway, I guess I turned off my 7AM alarm instead of hitting snooze and woke up at 8:10AM in a panic. I called a classmate and asked them to hold the bus for me as I grabbed for my glasses and ran out the door. I raced to school in the pouring rain, arriving at 8:20AM wet, sweaty, out of breath, and without deodorant.

We were supposed to arrive at the plant at 9:30AM, but due to some traffic/rain/my tardiness, we only arrived at 11AM. The purpose of the fieldtrip was to see how urine separation systems were implemented in Holland. From what we saw, not very well. During the day we visited two waterboards (regional authorities), a wastewater treatment plant, and saw a lab scale urine treatment reactor, all very nice to see. But our lecturers seemed hypocritical. The premise is to separate urine because it is easier to treat an uncontaminated and undiluted polluted water source than one that is mixed. One lecturer spoke of urine can be treated and the nutrients used for fertilizer, but that is not done in The Netherlands because it is too expensive, there are too many specific agriculture rules, there may be hormones that cannot be removed, etc., all while he was trying to promote this for developing countries. He spoke of how their region is shutting down its smaller treatment plants to get the economy of scale, while our current course is on decentralized water treatment systems. I found most of what we learned today to be hypocritical and not really worth 600km on the bus (yes, we were on the bus for about 7 hours today).

As we returned to Delft at around 6:30PM. The sky was dark, gray with a sickly greenish tone. It had been sunny and hot up north, but as I rode to the shops the clouds were looming. I bought my groceries in record time and as I rode home I could feel the pressure dropping. As I approached the stop lights I prayed for them to change as I sprinted through the street with the gusting wind testing my balance. I felt the first drops as I fumbled for the keys to the bike shed and seconds after I entered I heard the whoosh of a downpour. Moments later it was over.

Apparently, this is what summer is like in Holland.

Regardless, the past few days have been really nice. There have been a lot of little things that have happened...

Visit
My family has booked their flights! Mom, Dad, and the Kid are coming in September. I'm very excited to show them my nice small town. Mom and Dad have been to Amsterdam and briefly Den Haag, but my brother hasn't been to Holland yet. I'm sure he's drooling at the thought of coffeeshops and red lights ;) They will only be here for five days, but I am really looking forward to their visit.

Julavender
Julia likes flowers. She really like lavender. She likes to pick it when she finds it. Yesterday, Julia, Marquinhos, and I went for a bike ride. Though it was raining in the morning, it had cleared up by midday, so we decided to explore the small towns near by. The signage in this country is excellent, so there was no need to plan a route, for where ever we went we were always able to see signs pointing back to Delft. We rested and changed direction as we pleased. I made us stop at a cemetery for a quick walk. In one neighborhood we saw some lavender. So we stopped again and Julia started to pick some. Then some more. Then a guy came out of the adjacent house and started to question her. We had thought it was wild, but apparently it was his and he was a bit upset about our pruning. Julia offered to give it back, but he just stared us down and said it was useless since it was cut and made us feel very guilty. An innocent mistake had us fearing that the Dutch police would be arresting us at any second. We got over that fear pretty soon with a beer in Schpluiden. The lavender looks and smells very nice in Julia's vases.

Leiden
Yesterday was 401 years since Rembrandt's birth . There was a festival all weekend in Leiden for his birthday. That is not why we were in Leiden on Saturday. Giorgia, Bin, and I had planned to go for a conference, to hear a lecture about water management in Africa. We never found the facility. I lead us astray, assuming that the Sociology building would be within the university grounds, not on the other side of town. So we went for coffee instead. Giorgia and I had coffee. Bin had beer, almost deserting me and Giorgia when we told the waitress not to serve him (it seemed he was still enjoying the drinks he had the night before). As we were wandering through town we noticed some people in costume. Apparently they were Rembrandt's whores. Then we saw more. It was like Disneyland, but with dentists and nuns and painters and dead men being carried through town. There were some nice plays and celebrations that we did not see, but chose to have lunch on a canal boat and admire the crowds instead. I wonder if the lecture would have been as interesting?

Other
I have finally recovered from last Thursday's capoeira class. Julia, Carol, and I went last week after some time away. Besides an unexpected kick to the stomach (OK, I expected it, but was just a bit slow to tense my abs), the rest of the class was quite successful. We got to climb ropes like in elementary school gym class. My chest was sore for days and my legs are still a bit tight, but we had fun. It made our Saturday futbol match a bit difficult at first, but after warming up I was fine. Of course, after the game I recovered with beer and chocolate chip cookies.

Chicago: How to Spend It

I've been back in Delft for about an hour after a twelve hop across the pond via Zurich. I had an amazing weekend in Chicago. Last Thursday was graduation, so it was a long day of celebrating, but I woke up at 6:30AM the next morning to catch the 7:30AM train to the airport for my 11AM flight. There was no check in line, no security line, no immigration line, my flight arrived in Chicago an hour early, my luggage was waiting for me on the carousel after immigration, and my Dad was waiting for me at the gate. It was the easiest flight I had ever taken. Even as we drive home the process is streamlined. Dad has the menu for our favorite Japanese restaurant in his glove compartment. We call to order, pick it up, and before I know it we're in our kitchen having lunch, then a cup of tea, and of course, some chocolate chip chocolate cake that Mom made for me because she knows I like it for breakfast. It had been six months since I had been home and nothing had changed. Friday night was a nice dinner at home. My parents close friends, the Braun's, and their family trickled in, as did my sister Ruth, her husband Vince, and their dog Roxy (or is it Roxie? I should know, but I never thought about it until now).

Saturday started slow, but I wasn't jet lagged. I dusted off my bike and Mom and I went for a ride in the forest preserve. We only went about 10 miles, but it was perfect. It was a bit cool, but the sun was shining and riding my road bike was divine. I was gliding. I am not looking forward to riding my beast back here in Delft. After the bike ride I was seriously considering bringing the road bike back to Delft, but decided not too after I realized how much time, energy, and money that it would cost me. The bike itself weighs eight or nine kilos, maybe ten. I can easily lift it with one hand and throw it over my shoulder, but taking it apart and putting it in a case to carry back on the train would be miserable.

After the bike ride was a bit of shopping, a family lunch, followed my pedicures for Mom, Ruth, and myself, then back to the house for a doggy play date. Connie and Greg had come over with their pup, Izzy (I can't spell that one either) and Connie's brother Tony (who just started as a pilot, but was a bit unsure of where the The Netherlands was). So all the kids were home. For one brief hour the house was full, but then it was time to go to the city.

Dinner was at BBQ King in Chinatown. They make the best Peking Duck I have ever had (but I haven't been to China, yet). We ate until we could not move, as usual, then went to a bar to meet up with some other friends of mine. There were eight of us at dinner, three were in from out of town (Ruth, Vince, Becky), one had just moved into town but is a pilot so he doesn't hang out there much (Tony), and one was me. So I had dinner with three of my friends that live in Chicago (Connie, Greg, Drew (my ex)), and at the bar I met three of the other four (Vishal (Duke), Blanca (SOM), Aparna (SOM)). We didn't stay out too late, it was a laid back night, just as I had wanted.

Sunday was when I was put to work. I spent the morning at the Shedd Aquarium, testing water. Drew has volunteered there every other Sunday for the past two years in their water quality lab. I knew what he did but had never thought to tag along, until now. Behind the scenes at the aquarium is really cool. We took samples from the dolphin and whale pools and I helped in the lab with the ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite tests for the sea water. I really like lab work. Then it was back to Connie's for some cleaning. We took apart her bed. We have a wonderful domestic relationship, she's a cleaner, I'm an organizer. Neither of us would have survived some previous moves without the other. From there I met Nicole, the final friend in Chicago I had wanted to see (she had another appointment the previous night). She had just moved so I helped hang. It was really nice to see my friends and actual do something useful with them.

That night was an engagement party for some family friends and by the time I got home I was exhausted. Monday was an easy day, up early to ride to the dentist, then I spent about an hour wandering through a book store. Back home to wake up the Kid and get him to take me to buy $12 worth of cheese (which made it through customs) before meeting Dad for lunch. Then a nap on the couch in the sunroom and it was time to say goodbye to Mom and go to the airport. I had such a wonderful time at home but three and a half days is just enough. The excitement wears off, people need to work, and by the end it was just me, the couch and the Financial Times. It was a nice trip, but I felt ready to return to Delft. And 12 hours I was back.

Fun and Games

Last week was fantastic. Even though I had eight hours of classes each day, I was blessed with a course that has only lab reports and an individual assignment as opposed to a group presentation. That meant that drinks for Giorgia's birthday last Tuesday was followed by beer at De Ruif on Wednesday night, aquadiente in front of IHE on Thursday, and Stefania's birthday on Friday (I have posted the April photos, along with March and Italy, finally, these are not as well captioned as I would have liked, but I've been taking lots of pictures). Then a day in Amsterdam on Saturday. Last Sunday was our final formal futbol match of the season. The first years lost to the graduating students 3-2 in the last minute, but the match was followed by a nice picnic at the lake. I hope that I don't give the impression of being a lush, but since spring is here it has been easy to relax.

In two days I go to Chicago. I'm really looking forward to seeing my family and friends, but at the same time, I'm a bit nervous about going back to the US after spending the past six months living in Europe with the international crowd. The last time I left the states for a significant period of time (10 months) my sister picked me up from the airport. When I asked her what had changed while I was away here first response was, "Everything is now low-carb, even the beer." I shudder at the thought of another epiphany like that. I'm afraid that I will find everything in the States to be too big, too loud, too fast, too ostentatious. I mean, Mom and Dad live two blocks from the corner store and we would occasionally drive there. But I'm sure after 24 hours it will be business as usual.

What I Did on My Chirstmas Vacation

I guess it's PC to call it "Winter Break" but I don't like how it sounds. Regardless, my holiday was spent in Israel with my family (see previous entry for cast and photos). We spent about a week touring the country with a guide, then a few days with friends and family. My expectations were exceeded, though it should be obvious by now that my parents know how to plan a good vacation. There was the right mix of hiking, history, and heritage, as well as some time to relax.

I don't know what to write. I don't want to go through a detailed description of everyday. It would take forever. And I'm feeling so lazy with the dreary, grey, windy, stormy weather. But I'll try. We started with a few days in Jerusalem, then to the Dead Sea for a day, followed by a few days in the North, saw some family, then went to Tel Aviv. Ruth, Vince, and the Kid left New Year's Day, Mom and Dad to follow two days later, then I spent my last two days scuba diving in Eilat before returning to Holland on Jan 5th.

This is horrible. It's boring. Maybe I'll just post my journals in a few days, after they are reviewed by my Spanish tutor...

Back to School

I've been home from Israel for about two days, so it's about time I talk about my trip and post some pictures. http://picasaweb.google.com/judesj/Israel For those of you who do not know my family, the cast of characters is as follows: Dad (Basil), Mom (Irene), Ruth (sister, 28), Vince (Ruth's husband), Judith (me, 27), and Kid (or the Kid, brother, David, 21). We spent about 10 days in Israel together, then I stayed on a few extra days to do some scuba diving. Unfortunately I'm having trouble uploading those pictures, because just as I got my new camera, the old one failed. I don't have much to say about the trip yet, but details will follow.