A Finland State of Mind

This time last year, I was dealing with Ephraim's fourth surgery and preparing for our family trip to Finland. I've mostly repressed the whole surgery thing. I've been thinking about the trip a lot. I didn't really write about it much. I meant to. It was a mixed bag as trips go. Some of it was absolutely fantastic. But some of it wasn't.
For example, eating blueberries and lox and crusty fresh bread was great. Taking a boat to the island zoo was great. Having Kinneret stung by a bee for the first time on Shabbat in a campground in Helsinki - less good. Managing to pull the stinger out and giving her Children's Advil and having her calm down pretty quickly and her breathing remain even for the next several hours - better.
The worst moment was in Russia. (Remember, we flew into St. Petersburg, spent an overnight there, took the train to Joensuu, spent a week there, took the train to Helsinki, spent a week there, took the train back to St. Petersburg, spent three days there, and took a flight back to Israel) We had two strollers. We'd loaded our luggage on one, and Kinneret in the other. Ephraim was on my back. We walked several blocks looking for a taxi, going over several large curbs. One of the wheels popped off of the stroller that the luggage was on, and everything spilled into the street. We hailed a taxi and told him to take us to the hotel. He took us to what was clearly the wrong address, dumped our stuff out on the sidewalk, demanded his money, and pulled away. I cried.
People came out of the apartment building we'd been dumped in front of and asked what help we needed. One lady spoke some English. She helped us call the hotel we were supposed to be staying at, and the hotel sent a taxi to pick us up. The taxi came and took us all the way to the hotel. We managed the rest of the trip with the backpack carrier and the stroller.
We never did get that stroller fixed, though we did bring it back to Israel.

Anyway, I've been thinking about the trip a lot, thinking about blueberries and thinking about swimming in icy water and living in a little cabin. I miss Finland. I miss three weeks of undivided family time. I even miss cooking in a tiny little travel cooker and eating sandwiches for most of my meals. I miss the adventure. I can't wait for our next family adventure. I know it won't be next year in Lublin (EJC 2012), but maybe the year after... In the meantime, I'll be in a Finland state of mind.

One Olut, Kiitos!*

So here we are in Joensuu, Finland, and I'm too lazy to upload photos.

It's beautiful here. Behind our cabin is a small creek. Cross over the creek on the bridge and you'll arrive at a gate. Go through the gate, and you'll find a game of volley-club going on. Walk past the game, and you're on the shore of a lake where the water is cold and refreshing. It's a very gentle slope, and we've taken the kids walking into the water. It's lovely, but very very cold.

The weather has been playing a game of cat-and-mouse with us. We've seen rain, almost freezing temperatures (5 c), and today was hot hot hot (30 c). Our cabin is heated but not air-conditioned. It's not even well-ventilated. There are two windows, but the hinges on one window are broken so it can't be opened. (i tried on the first night, with somewhat disastrous results.)

Food has been an interesting challenge. We've been eating a lot of fruit, including MANY bananas. The kids are addicted to blueberry yogurt. We've eaten too many potato chips, a fair number of omelets. You can get Philly cream cheese here, some of the bread is kosher, and you can get lox! We had rice and tuna for lunch, and our kids are big fans of tomatoes...Most interesting is the little miniature pies that we've been devouring... they come in apple and blueberry - super yum.

And the juggling... We bought 5 more hats, and I'm working on hat juggling now. we're hoping to work on a hat act. Right now it feels worse that starting fresh with balls, but each day is a new day.

Finnish words
*Olut-beer
*kiitos-thank you

The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful

Passover is a great holiday. Seder this year was a bit hectic, as we piled 12 adults and 13 children into a living room/dining room area that seats 14 comfortably.

The Shabbat meals were fairly quiet, as Yaakov, Kinneret, and I hosted just my brother Ben. The food was a little sparse with no matza and all the bread eaten on plastic before the meal proper... (sorry Ben).

And then... we get to the good part. Each year, there is an Israeli juggling convention (IJC) held in Gan Hashlosha (Sachne) which is located between Afula and Beit She'an in the Beit She'an Valley.
(My dad claims it's in the Jezreel Valley, but it belongs to the Beit She'an Valley Council.)

I love juggling! I love jugglers. They're great people. I love juggling festivals. I don't love camping, but I'm willing to make the effort, as long as I have enough food. I really really really don't love traveling on multiple buses with my baby and lots of luggage. However, we examined all of our options, and sent up a big bag with Scott, and we went up by bus on Monday morning. We left at ten am, made a few stops at the central bus station in Tel Aviv, and got to Gan Hashlosha at three pm. It was hot and I was worn out from traveling, so Yaakov agreed to put together the tent and watch the baby so I could go swimming with Scott and his girls.

We swam. The water there is beautiful. The next day, I took Kinneret with me into the water. She was a little scared of it at first, but eventually, she calmed down and seemed to be having a good time.

The water there is beautiful, and there are fish in the water. The downsides to the convention: It was VERY VERY hot during the day, rising over 45 C (113 F). You can say "but it's a dry heat" as many times as you want, but when you're going through a liter an hour of water and you still don't have to go to the bathroom...

The gym, which usually stays cool all day got so hot that the few jugglers there wilted and could barely juggle. There was no air-conditioning available most of the time. The tent was so hot that I had a panic attack from feeling like I couldn't breathe the air inside of it.

In the evenings, it cooled down nicely. Friends and I cooked meals, and there was plenty of food this time. (Thanks to the Bar Yaakovs, Trachtmans, and Seltzers for their cooperation in feeding me and baby K. Sorry there were eggs in the cake, vegans.) On Wednesday, I hitched a ride to Beit She'an with M. Trachtman, and we spent a long time in the well-airconditioned supermarket. I picked up a cake for my birthday (which was Shabbat, April 19th, so passed with little fanfare. Thanks parents for the new outfit, and thanks Rach for the pearls!) and told the Bar Yaakov and Seltzer children that anyone who wanted cake had to sing happy birthday to me. It was a neat party out on a straw mat in the cool evening air.

The best parts were swimming in the natural spring, making some new friends and spending time with old friends, and Kinneret's big moment! At one of the shows, there were some technical difficulties, so they asked volunteers to come up and showcase whatever they want in order to amuse people. (With some assistance from Yaakov,) Kinneret went up on stage, sat there, and held three small rings (linked together) in her hands. I announced "Kinneret with three rings" and she got a huge round of applause. As we took our seats, Kinneret was asked for her autograph several times.

The down sides of the convention... There were mosquitoes and other biting insects. I'm still bitten up. Fortunately, Kinneret seems to be bite-less, and Yaakov was more careful about not getting bitten (not to mention that the aforementioned panic attack led me to sleep outside the tent all three nights whereas Yaakov and Kinneret slept inside the tent). It was insanely hot. The worst part, though, was that Yaakov was sick, so we ended up going home a day early (which was a relief in some ways), and we missed the big show with the international guests.

The beautiful:

Nir David at Twilight

The Brady Bunch - Juggler Edition

Last Sunday, my juggler friend Scott got married!
To those who haven't been following my whole story, let me recap.
Scott and I once went out on a date. The next day, he left me an email saying that it was nice meeting me, and he thought I would do well to meet his friend Yaakov.
About 4 months later, Yaakov and I stood under the Chuppah, and Scott juggled for us.

On Sunday, Yaakov was able to return the favor, juggling for Scott and his new wife.

Kinneret and I were not up for juggling, but we did do a little dancing.

Mazal Tov to Scott and Natasha and their kids!

Belly Brain!

A week or two ago, Yaakov was asked to perform and give a speech at City Hall in Jerusalem. Those of you who know Yaakov well know that public speaking in Hebrew is not something that comes naturally or easily for him.

Actually it's the Hebrew that doesn't come naturally or easily for him. When he was a kid, he studied acting, and even did some acting, and he has natural performance ability - something I completely lack.

At any rate, he's happy to juggle for anyone and everyone, but the speech was another story... so I offered to come and give the speech for him.

So my mother caught me on a chat (from China... they're still there) and I tell my mother this - about how I will be speaking in front of Mayor Lupolianski (or however you spell it)... We go on to talk about other things, including the fact that I keep having contractions, apparently still Braxton-Hicks (or Mason-Dixon, according to a friend who teaches Poli Sci) and that I have an appointment with the doctor to find out how things are going on Thursday.

So this morning, I wake up to see an email wishing me good luck for today, to which I automatically respond "my doctor's appointment isn't until Thursday, but thanks."

I am SUCH a belly brain!