To Run or Not to Run

Jerusalem is full of hills and I'm not talking about little ups and downs.  The best way I can describe them is to picture running up Capital Hill on Independence Ave in DC.  I can't run without running up that hill 3-4 times.  It has taken me a long time to get back into running here but I feel like I've finally done it.  I've been running consistently for the past 2 months and it feels great to conquer the hills that intimidated me so much when I first got here.

To keep me running, I've signed up for 2 big races which have finally arrived.  There is the Dead 2 Red race this week and in 2 weeks, I have the Jerusalem half marathon.  The Dead 2 Red is a relay race (in Jordan) from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea.  We have 10 runners on a team and 2 drivers and 2 cars.  We start Thursday around 4pm and expect to finish Friday around noon.  My brother-in-law and nephew did it last year and I'm joining them this year.  We end in Aqaba, Jordan

I learned this morning that our team was down 2 runners and 1 driver due to illness AND it is supposed to be cold, rainy and possibly snow during the race.  WHAT????  Snow?????  I can't believe that my only chance to see snow while I'm here is when I'm running 240+ kilometers (divided by all runners) from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea.  The team met this afternoon and decided to stay in the race and somehow they had also found extra runners and an extra driver.   I'll leave tomorrow afternoon to drive to Amman and stay there one night before running on and off for 20 hours in miserable rain.  It's sounds crazy but I'm actually very excited.  My biggest fear is that my muscles get so tight and I'm in so much pain that I don't recover in time for the half marathon in 2 weeks.  I don't really think that is going to happen but a friend of mine who ran this race a few years ago said that it took her several weeks to feel better.

March 16 is the half marathon.  I'll be excited to run that.  I've been running all parts of the race during training runs including the awful hills and I'm excited to see how fast I can run.  I'll let you know.

For those of you in the US, think warm thoughts for me on Thursday!

Golan Heights

We just had our first night away from the kids.  It was great.  I love them to pieces but it was nice to be with friends and have an uninterrupted dinner and a lazy morning.  Our friends, Jen and Ben, met us at a B&B on the border of the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights.  We got there midday and went to lunch in a Druze village where Ben thinks he's eaten the best falafel.  It was very good.  The restaurant was packed and there were people there who were skiing on Mt. Hermon which was not too far from there.  We could see the snow on the top of the mountain as we were driving up into the Golan Heights.  It's winter now so there was rain earlier in the day and it was cold - in the 40s and 50s.  After a relaxed lunch, we drove to the Pelter winery.  It is a winery that has been working for the past 14 years.  Tal is the owner and was very informative.  We were shown the winery which is on a kibbutz in the Golan and then we tasted wines for about an hour or so.

After wine tasting, we drove to a peak that overlooked the border between Israel and Syria.  There is a UN controlled area (which we could see) between the two countries (which are still technically at war).  It was so interesting!  We drove back to our B&B and then later had a great dinner.  The next morning after a long and delicious breakfast, we went hiking near Banas waterfall which was a trail of mud after all the rain.  It was well worth it though with the beautiful scenery.   Then we had a 2 1/2 hour drive back to Jerusalem.  I could have stayed an extra night and done some more wine tasting but we didn't have the time.  Maybe we'll get away another time.

Gormans, Gormans, and more Gormans

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We have had a very Gorman holiday season this year.  Almost all Gormans were present for Christmas and New Year's.  We all missed Sean very much but were excited to have Bart, Judy, Bart #2, Donna, Seamus, Aidan, Kyra, Ainsley, Brian, myself, Julia and Thomas.  Bart and Judy flew in from NY to Amman and the Amman Gormans brought them over the border to Jerusalem a week before Christmas.  All 12 of us went and toured Bethlehem and Shepherd's field.  We occupied the last few rows of a bus from the consulate and had an awesome tour with Habib.  All 6 kids behaved pretty well.  We waited in line to get to the birth place of Christ in the Church of the Nativity.  There were a lot of people but with some patience, we all got to see and touch the supposed spot.  Julia was with me and I told her the importance but I'm sure she didn't really understand the significance.  For me, the significance of the locations doesn't always sink in unless I really think about it.  I love having a picture of what we think happened.  For example, Christ wasn't born in a stable like we picture but probably a cave.  I also had the impression that the shepherds had to travel a ways but Shepherd's Field where the shepherds supposedly saw the star is only about a half mile from the Church of the Nativity.  I pictured them following the star for a while but apparently they didn't.  We also went to the Milk Grotto where Mary nursed Jesus and some of her milk spilled.  Apparently, if you drink something made from powder from the grotto, you may conceive if you have had trouble with fertility.  I thought Donna - after having 4 kids - should probably not even enter the grotto.  You never know what could happen if some of the powder rubbed on her.

The whole Gorman clan went to church for the 4th Sunday of Advent at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in the Old City on Sunday.  Julia was excited to introduce Pastor Fred and Gloria to Nana and Pop.  She also had a chance to light one of the 4 advent candles that morning which was so exciting.  The Amman Gormans went back to Amman and Nana and Pop stayed with us for the week.  It was great - more updates are coming!

Catching Up

Wow.  It has been over a month since I blogged and we've done a lot of stuff.  The last thing I blogged about was Halloween and since then, we've done more traveling around Israel and had a few holidays.  So here is my attempt at catching up.  I'm going to try a blog more frequently so check back in a few days for more updates.

Thanksgiving was great!  We spent it with Jen and Ben, our great friends in Tel Aviv, who had a party of 16 people that night and we left  - or at least started to leave - around 2:30.  The traffic was horrible!  Apparently everyone leaves Jerusalem on Thursdays before their weekend which starts essentially on Friday mid-day and it took an hour just to get out the city.  When we finally got there, Julia turned on her charm with all the guests and took care of herself for most of the night.  When we sat down to eat, she sat at a different table next to Matt the Marine who helped her with her dinner, etc.  Thomas did a good job at trying to break everything possible at his level and tried multiple times to stick his entire hand in the cheese dip on the coffee table.  Brian took on the job of following him around and keeping him out of trouble which made my night great but his night until Thomas fell asleep not very relaxing.  Our dinner was a traditional Thanksgiving meal with turkey, cranberries, pecan pie, etc.  It was fabulous and I ate too much as usual and was stuffed.  We were invited to a second Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday night and this time got a babysitter.   Again we stuffed ourselves to the brim and had a great relaxing time.

Brian's birthday was the next weekend.  On Saturday, we jumped in the car and drove up to Hula Valley.  Hula Lake Park is a stopover for migrating birds going from Europe to Africa and back.  They come twice a year and blanket the area.  Jen and Ben joined us there and then had an early birthday dinner celebration at a restaurant in the area.  Here are awesome pictures that Jen took that day.

Odds and Ends

SADLY, I WROTE THIS A MONTH AGO AND NEVER PUBLISHED IT.  BETTER LATE THAT NEVER.......

This past 3 day weekend, the Gormans got out of town - at least for part of it.  Friday was Veteran's Day and so Brian was off work.  We went to Julia's swim lesson with her preschool in the morning and then took off for Ein Gedi after lunch.  The park is a little over an hour away.  You have to drive into the West Bank and then south along the Dead Sea.  You get back into green-line Israel and then get to the national park.  We got started later than we expected and didn't get there until a little before 3.  Unfortunately,  Julia fell asleep about 5 minutes before we got there.   Awesome.  I knew the hike to the first waterfall was about an hour round trip so I wasn't too worried about getting there in the later afternoon but I didn't realize that they closed the entrance at 3.  Since we got there slightly before 3 it wouldn't have been a problem, except that when I got out of the car to get Thomas from his car seat, I found him covered in .... poop.  It was everywhere - car seat, clothes, hands, face, etc.  It took me a while to get him cleaned up and I left Julia sleeping for another 10 minutes or so.  When we finally got to the entrance, the woman told me it was closed so what did I do?  I begged.  I wasn't proud of it, but after the drive, the poop, and waking up Julia, I didn't want to get back into the car and drive home.  Luckily, it didn't take much begging to get her to let us in the park since we were about 5 minutes late.  We had to promise to be back by closing - a promise we kept and even had some time to spare.  The hike was quick but so fun and we will definitely be back to spend some more time.  The ibex and hyrax were all over the place.  We had to keep Julia from trying to run up and pet them.  The waterfalls were beautiful and we'll be back to swim in the natural pools when it is warmer.

Saturday was a quiet day - we took a nice walk with Bob the dog and enjoyed the nice fall-like weather.  We had some friends over for dinner and Julia was so excited!  I think she just collapsed after they left from playing so much with their kids.

Sunday, we skipped church and drove up to the Sea of Galilee.  We stopped off and had lunch in Tiberias on the water and then we continued on to Capernaum.  I tried to explain the historic significance to Julia - this is where St. Peter lived and Jesus came to visit here, etc.  I should have been prepared but I wasn't ready for the whole list of questions:

"I don't see Jesus.  Where is he?"
          "He's was here a long time ago."

"Where is he now?"     Uh oh.... here we go.....
          "He's in Heaven."

"I want to go to Heaven."
          "We'll go but it won't be for a very long time."

"Where's Heaven?"     Oh Boy.....
          "With God"       Now I'm looking at Brian for help.......

"How do you get there?"
          "God lifts you up to be with him."  I am definitely avoiding the whole death/dying topic for now.



Thank God that was then end.  How'd I do?   For a 3 year old, I think the answers were ok and she didn't ask for anymore explanation.

We also made it to the Mount of Beatitudes which overlooks the Sea of Galilee and then headed home.
Before we left, we stopped for a treat.  Julia got ice cream and Brian and I both got a drink of fresh OJ.  Thomas grabbed an orange from the counter that he immediately put in his month - peel and all so that was his treat.  He is beginning to communicate more and show that he understands more.  He now wants whatever Julia has and so the orange wasn't sufficient and he wanted her ice cream the whole time she was eating it.

Ok.  I am procrastinating from studying Hebrew - and I have a test to hand into my teacher.  It's time to hit the books while Thomas is napping.

Halloween

I miss the fall in DC quite a bit.  I love everything about fall - the smell, the cool air after a hot summer, the colors of all the trees as they change and I love Halloween on Capitol Hill.  For those who don't live there, we have "Hilloween" which is a great big party for families next to Eastern Market.  Everyone gets dressed up and it is a blast.  It's usually a few days before Halloween so everyone can dress up twice - once for Hilloween and then again on the real thing - Halloween.

Julia has been obsessed with Cinderella so that's what I thought she'd like to be for Halloween.  When I told her that her friend Ainsley back in DC was going to be Snow White, she immediately said "I want to be Snow White too!"  Too bad - Cinderella was already on her way.  Apparently, Ainsley did the same thing.  Maybe next year, we'll just swap costumes if they still fit.  Clearly Tommy didn't care what he was so my rationale in picking something was to pick something that was clearly identifiable in pictures - a tiger.  Unfortunately, the tiger costume arrived 2 days too late so we borrowed a costume and Thomas was once again, a chicken. 

Some friends of ours live in Tel Aviv and they invited us up to the Halloween festivities there.  It is a much bigger post and they do "trunk or treat" in conjunction with the American International School.  After inviting the whole school, and all the families from the embassy (expats and foreign nationals) there were 800 official Halloween bags sold.  The money from the Halloween bags goes towards all the candy that was purchased to hand out - over $7000!!  "Trunk or treat" was done in a neighborhood just north of Tel Aviv where a lot of families live.  They chose a street and had cars parked and decorated for maybe half a mile.  Brian and our friend, Ben, stayed at the car and handed out candy while Julia, Jen, Thomas and I went "trunk or treating".  Thomas never actually put his chicken costume on since he fell asleep pretty quickly.  Julia did a good job at walking the whole time.  When we finally got back into the car to go back to Jen and Ben's place for pizza - she was asleep in 5 minutes.

Julia, Ben, Me and Brian in front of the bat car for "trunk or treat"

Julia and Jen

Ben and Julia

On Halloween, the consulate had a big party.  There was a costume contest, trick or treating in one of the buildings, carnival games and even a haunted house.  We chose not to do the haunted house and just stuck with everything else.  We all had a great time.  Thomas finally got a chance to wear his borrowed costume. Last year, our friend who wore it won cutest costume.  I thought maybe we had a chance but he was beaten out by a baby dressed as Spock.  Maybe next year.

Julia with her friends, Ingrid and Elliot

Happy Halloween!

Daddy's Back!

Brian got back home last night.   Yeah!  Julia insisted that he come and give her a kiss when he got it, which he did.  She woke up briefly but fell back to sleep quickly.  So what did we do while he was gone?

Last Thursday, we went to the zoo after Thomas woke up from his morning nap.  We met our friend Sara and her two kids there but we got there later than expected.  We ate our picnic lunch as soon as we got there and then went to the aquarium.  At some point after that, Julia had an accident in the stroller.  I was prepared for that.  I should always have something but I was so hurried that morning to meet Sara, that I didn't think about it.  I had an extra pair of "big girl panties" but no pants.  So....... we went Israeli style.  Julia played in her shirt and underwear for the rest of the trip.  I tried to keep her in the stroller for most of the trip but when we got to the super duper big playground, it was a lost cause.  I call it "Israeli style" because I find that Israelis are very relaxed about kids.  I never ask if a restaurant is "kid-friendly" because they all are.  It is not uncommon for kids to go potty at the park off in the corner.  You see it everywhere.  I still prefer to try and find a bathroom for Julia but when we are stuck and there's no place else to go, a patch of grass (or dirt) works for us.  I was uncomfortable with Julia running around without any pants on but Sara told me to go ahead and that no one would care.  She was right.  No one seemed to care at all and I finally relaxed about it.

Sunday, was the olive harvest on the Mount of Olives.  The Lutheran World Federation has an olive grove and the olives are eventually pressed for olive oil.  The proceeds go to Augusta Victoria Hospital which is also on the Mount of Olives.  I heard the money goes to help treat Palestinian pediatric oncology patients.  Bob had a vet appointment so Julia went with our friends after church and I met them up at the olive harvest after dropping off Bob and letting Tommy nap a little bit.  It is very dusty and Julia was covered in dirt.  She like to sit in the dirt as if it were sand and make a "house".  She got hit on the head with a few falling olives (see pic below) but had fun anyway.

Ok.  It's time a study a little Hebrew.  I tend to study only before class but now things are really starting to pile up and I'm not learning all the vocab as quickly as I need to.  I need to be better.

Bye!