The First Day of School

The BYU students arrived today and this place sure feels different. It was so quiet and peaceful before, but you could sense in the air all day today that everyone was gearing up for the students. They arrived in the late afternoon surprisingly bright-eyed and excited from their overnight flights. My kids are so excited to have more people to play with, Isaac especially. I don't think he understands that they aren't here just to hang out with him.

But this last week for us has been a busy one. The kids had an orientation at their new school (the Anglican International School of Jerusalem, or AISJ) on Friday morning, met their teachers, and got to run around the campus, which is an old hospital built by the British in the 1920s. School officially started Monday, and all the kids seem to really love it. Of course, there are minor complaints: from Isaac--"my teacher's too strict so my name is always on the board;" from Mary--"our gym teacher is so mean that my experience today was absolutely horrific;" from Linda--"Mom, I want you to go to school with me." All in all, though, I am nothing but impressed by the school, its staff, and its teachers. Everyone is so welcoming and helpful, but they have high expectations for behavior and academics. There are no more than twenty in a class, and Isaac only has ten other students in his class. It's going to be a challenging year, but I think the kids will grow a lot.

I also love the school because of its international character. Many of the teachers are deeply religious people from all over the English-speaking world. The kids speak a multitude of languages, and many of them are learning English for the first time. I've met parents from Holland, Italy, Spain, Africa, Korea, America, and Britain, not to mention from Israel. All the kids dress uniquely and have unique foods and experiences and attitudes to share with one another. I'm sure that could be difficult at times for the teachers, but they all seem more than excited for the challenge because of the benefits that variety brings to their school community.

Can you tell I'm excited about their school? I really love it and I hope the kids create great memories there.

Here are all the kids attending the school from the BYU campus, sans Isaac--I don't know where he is, but I know where he was supposed to be! (On the Left: Megan, Lisa and Emily Judd; Mary and Linda, then Carrie and Amanda Judd; then Elizabeth, Adam and David Schade.)

Mary with two of her new classmates, and Amanda Judd, who is from the
BYU Center and in Isaac's school class.

Isaac outside his classroom.

Linda with her most delightful of all "Pre-Primary" teachers, Ms. Gandy.
She is wonderful to and for Linda.

While the big kids were at school, Abby and Joe and I went on a hunt around the neighborhood for a local preschool. We found it but they were still closed for August holiday. However, we did find a fun playground at the neighboring hospital, where a seven-year-old Palestinian girl from Jericho fell in love with Abby and tried to teach us both Arabic.

Joe liked to wander between the swings and push them until they hit him in the forehead.
He eventually got better at ducking.

And then we gave Joe a haircut. Sniff sniff. He looks way too grown-up. Better pictures to follow.

Before...

...and After

Jerusalem's Old City

We took the kids into the Old City on Sunday morning (Saturday is our Sabbath here, so Sunday is a play day) to see the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock/Temple Mount. The line was too long for the Dome of the Rock, even at 8 a.m., so we decided to see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where most forms of Catholic and Orthodox Christianity believe Christ was crucified and buried. The church is fifteen hundred years old and each of seven sects owns a particular part of it. Ed says if you get there before it closes at night, you can sleep inside. But they won't unlock the door until 7 a.m., so you'd better be sure that you really want to stay.  Anyway, our kids were (un)remarkably whiny from the very beginning of the excursion, so we didn't get very far, and Ed and I didn't enjoy ourselves very much. But it was a good reminder: don't take your kids to the Old City unless you want to carry them.

Can you believe my cheesy daughters? And at the Wailing Wall, of all places!
(Standing next to Abby is Elizabeth Schade, one of the other faculty kids.)

Yes, it got so bad that at one point we were dragging Abby through the Old City. I think Ed was ready to duck into a side alley and never reappear. Good thing he loves me so much he couldn't ever really leave me.

The Garden Tomb

Many people--including some LDS prophets--consider this to be a likely spot for Christ's burial and resurrection. Whether it is or not, the evangelical church that cares for the tomb has done a lovely job of beautifying the space, especially in a way we Mormons find conducive to the Holy Spirit. It was a nice place to visit on a Sabbath afternoon with my family.

Three of the most handsome (and entertaining) men I know.

Linda standing at the entrance of the tomb. There has been a wooden door installed, upon which says 
"Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen."

Such a beautiful, peaceful setting.

Week 1

We have been here for five days now (the kids say it feels like weeks
and weeks) and getting fairly acclimated. Ed and I ventured out
driving on our own this evening to look for baby gates and booster
seats and didn't get lost or crash into anyone. Plus we found the baby
store and some fantastic falafel, so it was a success.

Everyone is happy, no one is homesick, and the jet lag is mostly gone.
Ed heads up to the Galilee tomorrow for two days for, the kids have
their school orientation on Friday morning, then life will start in
earnest on Monday with school and meetings. Right now we are still
doing some of the getting settled things, but the center (and
especially the service couples) really work hard to have as much in
place for us as possible. Not only is the apartment fully stocked, but
they even supply laundry soap and toilet paper.

Even though the Center was built for college students, it is a kid's
paradise. My older ones are running around like madmen with the other
faculty kids and I see them less than when we were in Orem. Linda and
Abby are having a great time just playing together, both in their new
bedroom and out on the patio. Joe is still a bit cranky with jet lag,
but getting better. The apartment is small, but entirely adequate, and
the view from the patio is really astonishing. We come out and have
breakfast under the olive and pomegranate trees, and in the evening we
read scriptures out there with the sunset glinting off the Al-Aqsa
Mosque on the Temple Mount and the Call to Prayer ringing from various
mosques around us. The daytime is hot but dry, but there is plenty for
the kids to do indoors with the gym and the bomb shelter (which has
the nursery toys and foosball tables) and the playground just outside
the lower floor. Most of the time they can all run around
unsupervised, which is heavenly.

Today we went up to the Galilee because one of the other faculty's
daughters got baptized in the Jordan River. The sea was beautiful with
a cliffside home-turned-meetinghouse overlooking the whole area. Then
we drove down to a pilgrimage site where people come from all over the
world to be baptized like Jesus. It was quite the experience--my first
induction into the Holy Land pilgrimage culture, complete with prayers
carved in stone walls and trees planted by prominent people with lots
of money to have their name displayed equally prominently (including
Glenn Beck, believe it or not), a 2-acre gift shop to buy every kind
of Christian paraphernalia you can imagine (from every sect you can
imagine), and a front desk where you can rent the required white
clothing. Some of the catfish in the river were as big as Abby, but
only the little ones nibbled your toes when you put your feet in the
water. It was a beautiful baptism and a beautiful little girl. The
drive was long but we got to see Jericho and date palm plantations and
the Dead Sea and the West Bank and Bedouin shanty settlements and
little boys driving herds of sheep on the cliffs.

As for me, I'm still organizing some cupboards and trying to work down
my shopping list. I hope to find time to start studying when life
begins in earnest next week. All in all, the trip over and the
settling in couldn't have gone smoother and we are all enjoying this
new adventure.

Joe and Ed at an overlook on the Mount of Olives,  near the Center. Just below him is a Jewish cemetery filled with believers who hope to be in the center of the action at the Messiah's Second Coming. Across the valley you can see the Old City walls and the Dome of the Rock.

The family at the meetinghouse in Tiberias, with the Sea of Galilee in the background.

Baptism at Yardenit, just below where the Jordan River flows out of the Sea of Galilee.

The Big Change

Ed's history job at BYU is taking us to Jerusalem for a year. We will be living at the Jerusalem Center on the Mount of Olives in a fairly small apartment with incredible balcony views. And I have been so excited about this whole adventure until I realized that I was going to have to blog about it.