Ten years ago today I said good-bye to my family and friends and boarded a plane for the Holy Land. I was about to embark on a journey of life, of discovery, of fear, loathing and love. Ten years on, 3 children, 3 conflicts, 3 homes and a lot poorer I can honestly say that…
AEIOU I sometimes cry
You have probably noticed that that slogan t shirts are back in style after a 30 year break. Yes it was the 80's when we sported 'Choose Life', 'Just say NO' and 'Frankie says Relax' t-shirts and yes that was indeed 30 years ago. Hmmm. I had a particularly fetching pale pink cut off t-shirt…
Where ever I lay my hat?
It's a big year chez nous, 2014. It's the year that husband turns 40, it's the year that no. 1 son starts school, it's the year that we will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and it is 10 years this year since I moved to this sometimes not-so holy Holy Land. How did that happen? Where did…
The 3 legged camel
On our recent Passover trip to the desert we stayed in a campsite. It was not the kind of campsite I am used to staying in, it was what I would term 'glamping' (glamour camping). No we didn't all don high heels and dressed for dinner (only the boys), but because the tents were huge domed affairs…
Trying to make sense of it all
When you quasi speak in a different language on a day-to-day basis there are words or phrases that you find yourself using a lot, often as a bridge to the next bit of vocab that you have momentarily forgotten. For example when I lived in France I always used 'je pense' (I think), even though most of the…
Have a little patience
Savlanoot, one of the first words they teach you in the Ulpan - the first stop for all keen new arrivals to Israel's fair shores. Savlanoot means patience and as most Israelis will admit, is something you don't see much evidence of on the streets here. Remember the driving post? Why wait patiently when you can lean…
Nonsense to the Vernacular
Not satisfied with tweeting, blogging, facebooking, linking in and pinning interest we are now taking on the vocabulary and manner of speech we use whilst typing which by the way we have usually picked up from the TV. Here are the top 5 that I use a lot in conversation and probably shouldn’t: So, since when have we…
Reasons to Celebrate #6: Kids
Like the number 19 bus our children arrived all at once, none for ages and then 3 arrived within 2 short years. Four and a half years on, this in essence means, I cannot speak on the phone during their waking hours I seldom have waking hours outside of theirs I am always the mother…
Reasons to Celebrate # 3: New Skills
It’s a fact that the skill of language learning is a child's game; the younger you learn the easier it is. Children’s brains are like sponges and age unfortunately hardens the sponge, making it way more difficult for languages to sink in. At 18 I briefly lived in France and worked for Eurocamp, a British…
39 and Counting 