The Stratfords Ride Again: July 2013

I usually dread summer vacation, mostly because for me it is exhausting trying to keep five kids happy all day, every day, with few breaks. But this summer is different, in that unlike Utah, it isn't thirteen weeks long. This year, we have three weeks of regular vacation, two weeks in Galilee, then three more weeks until we go home to Utah. Those are manageable chunks of time, and I have been excited to see what fun we can accomplish during our last weeks in the Holy Land. The kids will start school five days after we get home, so all our summer activities will have to happen here in Israel.

The first three weeks went pretty well. We were able to do a lot of activities both outside and inside the Center, although by the first Friday I was ready for a little break to get some of my own things done. Here are some of the highlights:

Media Day: Mary and Isaac love being on the computer. Actually, they are obsessed with the computer. I thought originally that I would give each of the kids a little time each day, and that some days they would have to confine themselves to educational websites. But I find it's easier and I hear less complaining if I just designate an entire day once in awhile to letting them do as much screen time (computer and TV) as they want. Then they aren't constantly waiting all day for that magic hour when all their computer dreams come true. Instead, knowing the computer is off for the whole day allows them to get completely involved in other activities. Conversely, when I let them do all the screen time they want, it means I can actually enjoy some peace and quiet and get things done for a day. This may not work for everyone, but it seems to be working well for us.

YMCA Carillon: As the story goes, one of the Jerusalem Center organists was walking down the street in Jerusalem and noticed that the YMCA tower had carillon bells. He walked in and asked why no one ever played them, and they responded that they didn't know anyone who knew how. The organist asked if every Sunday he could bring students and they could play from 11-12, and the YMCA agreed. Now, residents of the Jerusalem Center have the chance to go and play at being carilloners for an hour on any given Sunday. We got to go on June 23rd, and even though the kids were antsy, everyone got a chance to strike the bells at least a couple times. I got to play a few songs, including a duet with Ed.

Mary is playing the carillon with Jan Clayton, the current JC organist. Mary has a lot of musical talent, reads music well, and was able to play a couple songs on the bells.

Isaac and Ed, working to keep up with Jan.

Here's Joe working on the practice carillon. Somehow he knew this wasn't the real thing, and he kept trying to squirm away from me and grab the levers for the real carillon while people were playing it.

We were able to walk up from the carillon room and see the bells themselves, and I loved the capitals on the pillars surrounding the bell room--of course they are carved with bells!

Despite only being there for an hour, the kids got bored fairly quickly and the only thing that saved us was the Clayton's iPad and iPhone. John and Jan Clayton sit behind us in church every week and have a huge bag filled with crayons, markers, coloring pages, etc. If that's not working well enough for the little ones, they take Abby and Joe on their laps and keep them silent with their i-gadgets. I can actually hear what's going on in the meeting for the first time in forever.

What an adorable smile!

Terribly blurry, but I love this picture of Mary. This is her 11 year-old response to all things family.

The Bloomfield Science Museum: one of our favorite places in Jerusalem. We went once a week during the first three weeks of vacation, including once with David and Elizabeth Schade, once with the Judd girls, and once for Ivan William's birthday party. Ivan is Isaac and Mary's best friend here, and his family is moving to Germany. Ivan's birthday was actually six months ago, but his mom decided to finally hold a party, and did so at the Science Museum. A couple days after that we had Ivan at our house all day while the movers came to his house to pack, and it was hard for the kids to say goodbye.

Ivan's birthday included a fun science presentation by Museum staff:

What's the difference between sitting on one nail and a whole bed of them?
(Mary's all wet due to the globe I mention below.)

Enjoying the presentation with the other kids.

The party-ers, with Ivan in the purple shirt down front. There were lots of kids from church there as well.

Handsome guy. Needs a haircut.

Joe was even interested, albeit for only a few minutes.

Left to right: Mary, Isaac, Megan, Emily, Amanda, and Lisa. This globe is located at the museum entrance, and the kids were trying to make it turn backwards. Water is pouring over it, so they all get soaked every time we go the museum.

Three-way air hockey!

On our last visit, they had a Monsters University exhibit.

Pool Parties: I went to the dollar store and bought three small pools. The kids have had a great time with them, and it usually keeps them busy from about 3-5 in the afternoon, right when I can use a little break. Granted, they are constantly asking for more water, a towel, a snack, or complaining that someone won't share, but it's better than having them begging for computer time.

I bought two tiny pools thinking Abby and Joe would love them, but the older kids enjoy them as much as the little ones do.

How many kids does it take to fill a wading pool?

Joe was happy that both the pool and his swim diaper had fish printed on them.

JC Mommy Camp: For the three weeks in Jerusalem before Galilee, the faculty moms decided we'd each take one afternoon and plan a summer camp activity for all the JC kids. The first week was led by Jill, who made pita pizzas (with pepperoni!!!!!), had games, a woodcraft, and a waterfight. I think the best part of the experience was just having a structured activity to look forward to for that day. I planned the second week. The kids each sewed a small bag that they were able to decorate with stencils, paints, and markers. Then they each made a JC Memory Book that fit into their bag.

Eating watermelon while the paint dried. Since Adam was on the field trip to Jordan, Isaac and David were the only boys with nine other girls--and as you can see, they apparently didn't want to be associated with the girls at all.

But Karla's week was the best. She told us to read ahead of time the Newberry Honor book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin, then led activities developed around the story. The kids made dragon pearls, kites of the borrowed line and red string, practiced writing Chinese characters, painted dragons, had a scavenger hunt, then cooked a full buffet of amazing Chinese food. Then Karla invited them back in the afternoon to watch Mulan.

The Fourth of July: The BYU students wanted to throw "A Surprise Party for America," so they asked Ed to dress up as "America" so they could surprise him. It was a pretty fun party, and Chef Ahmed outdid himself making authentic tasting burgers, grilled chicken and apple pie. Unfortunately, the students played that awful Toby Keith song "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" outside where all our East Jerusalem, Palestinian neighbors could probably hear it.

Ed makes a good Uncle Sam.

The students had lots of creative costumes, including American Gothic.

Mary's Independence Crown

Linda said she was the Queen of the USA.

There's nothing like face paint when you're 4.

Horsey races.

One of the students has been teaching Isaac to play the guitar.

Abby and Lady Liberty, aka Victoria Violette.

Danny Seidemann's 'Separation Wall Tour': Mr. Seidemann is an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian situation as it is reflected in Jerusalem, and an advisor to both the Israeli government and the US State Department. Every semester he gives our students a lecture on the Jerusalem question, then takes them to various places around the city to discuss the effects of political decisions and realities. He believes that if there is to be a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, it will have to happen in the next few months, concurrent with Secretary John Kerry's current efforts to renew the peace talks. Otherwise, settlement building will resume in the West Bank to such an extent that a geographically contiguous Palestine will be impossible.

Welcome to the Wall. In Jerusalem, it doesn't separate Israelis from Palestinians--it runs right through the middle of Palestinian neighborhoods as it follows the Jerusalem municipal boundary. While in other areas of the country it has served to prevent terrorism, in Jerusalem its primary purpose is to demarcate an Israeli land grab, and it's unintended result is further radicalization of an already impoverished, oppressed and marginalized Palestinian population.

If apartheid is the government-sanctioned separation of ethnic groups, then Israel is guilty of apartheid.

I didn't want to be seen taking this photo, hence the strange composition. The truck behind all the students is the Israeli border patrol, who stopped to find out what we were doing while we were visiting the wall in a Palestinian neighborhood. They thought perhaps we were protesters, and once they found out we were Americans, just visiting and not intending to incite any riots, they offered us their protection. While East Jerusalem is definitely in places a ghetto, and dirty, and undoubtedly there are people who would do me harm, I never feel uncomfortable there. As the year has progressed, I find myself getting increasingly angry at the frequent anti-Palestinian stereotypes I hear from Israelis. There have been atrocities committed on both sides, and there is plenty of blame to go around, but I can't help but feel sympathy for the group that has no homeland, no free and fair government, and no wealthy foreign donors pouring millions into their economy to build their infrastructure and educate their children.

Zedekiah's Cave: A five-acre cave stretching under Jerusalem's Old City, created possibly by Solomon to quarry stone for his temple, but definitely used by Herod the Great in his renovation of the Temple in the first century AD. It was a fun jaunt for the kids on a hot morning, just long enough to keep everyone interested but not get too bored or tired. We capped it off with a trip to the candy shop just inside Damascus Gate.

The kids had fun pretending to be explorers, pirates, etc.

Joe also loved it, especially throwing rocks.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project: In 1999, Muslims decided to build a new mosque on the Temple Mount, and because tensions were running particularly high between them and Israel at the time, excavation of the construction site was carried out quickly, without any archaeological supervision, and with bulldozers and dump trucks, instead of with trowels and buckets. The dirt from under the Mount (we're talking hundreds of truckloads) was dumped in various places around Jerusalem, and now a group of Israeli archaeologists are trying to sift through it all to recover artifacts. For a somewhat unreasonable price, anyone can take their kids and go pretend to be archaeologists for an hour and discover old mosaic pieces, coins, potsherds (pieces of broken pottery), etc. We took our kids one afternoon, and despite the heavily right-wing politics of the presentation, the sifting itself was pretty exciting. Okay, Mary and I found it exciting. Linda and Isaac got bored within ten minutes.

The presenter showed us some of the cool things that have been found and what to look for.

Sifting is meticulous and monotonous work, and these two got a bit bored.

The Schade family found a piece of tile from the renovation of the Dome of the Rock.

Of course, summer vacation just isn't vacation without a little boredom, and since I can't let the kids just wander freely around the Center, we have to structure a lot more time than I normally would back home. Nevertheless, there is always time for reading books, assembling train tracks, and having tea parties.

Mary can get through two or three books in a day. Reminds me of me when I was a kid.

Just getting ready for church. . .

Every summer needs a rock candy-making science experiment.

Carrie Judd's Sweet Sixteen Birthday. (Her parents were in Jordan, so we got to host her for her favorite dinner and follow up with the obligatory cake and ice cream.)