Keepin' On

It's amazing to me, we humans and our adaptive natures.  Already we are eeking out a rhythm to our day, a comforting routine that proves to me once again the colloquial sentiment that home is where the heart is.

Sure, it's hoky but, like many things that end up on a Hallmark card, they are true in spite of the cheese.  I find that, with my husband and children, I bring home with me.  Sure, I miss my friends and family, but with and our family's shared experiences,  we bring you all along too!

We had another middle-of-the-night party, with Kevin and I reading my silly magazines and Jacob doing a puzzle (thanks, Auntie Kathleen).  Ceci seems to be weathering the time change better than the rest of us, with only a night waking or two.

Although we went back to bed at 4 am, we actually woke up before noon, giving us about 5-6 hours of sleep.  Ceci slept in until 9:30/10, which means the rest of us did too.  After some more unpacking and such, we prepared for lunch at the dining room.

Finding we were  30 min. early, we set out to find the washing machines and do some much-needed laundry.

On the way, we met a few members of the cleaning staff who were gentle, welcoming and enamored with the children---Jacob coyly hiding behind my legs and then bursting out with, "I'm five," or "I like adventures, " and Ceci huddled on Kev's chest in the carrier, batting her eyes and flashing that soul-melting smile.  Thank you, Noha, Judy, Fatin and Juliette for your hospitality and pleasure at our presence. 

The washing machines were quite new but all in German (???).  After much guessing and drawing on our limited knowledge of German (Kev for his proficiency and me for singing art songs :),  we started the loads.  They take 2.5 hours to wash and about that long to dry, so it's kind of a several hours' process.  It's amazing the things we take for granted!

Speaking of things we takes for granted:

What I miss (aside from the obvious family, friends, my own bed):
Washing Machine 2 steps from the bathroom
Cloth diapering (I know, it sounds ridiculous)
Antless floors---the little guys are ubiquitous over here
Netflix Watch It Now
Flushing toilet paper (the kind used here has polymers and thus has to be trashed. YUCK).
Non-dusty floors

Things I'm loving
Waking up to tons of sunshine and workman noises outside our window
Laid-back pace
Oodles of family time as we settle in before Kev starts a work schedule
No t.v.
Fresh, healthy food prepared by wonderful cooks
The natural beauty
Reading
Puzzles with Jacob
Little Rojet (sp?), the 6 y/o Palestinian boy who is the son of a staff member.  Jacob met him tonight and, although neither speaks the other's language, they know how to speak play.  Seeing them tossing the tennis ball back and forth in the echoing hallway, squealing and popping out at eachother around corners put my heart all aflutter.
Family workout time.  Dance video.  'Nuff said.

We have yet to make it into the city, but hope to tomorrow we can go to the Old City to explore a bit and hopefully find a memory card before Shabbat starts and Jerusalem closes down. 

I'm just itching to get my pics up, but have to resort to taking photos with our computer.

Tomorrow I'll probably take some Flip videos of the grounds so you can see more!

Layla tov!