A Pictorial Update ... by Hannah

We have been in Israel for one week today! Our time has been fairly uneventful so far, but we feel very blessed to be here.

This was taken the night before we left Ephraim and Rimona's house. We went for a short walk to the lookout in Alfei Menashe, and there was an incredible view. We recognized the tall stacks of the power plant in Hadera, far to the right. We weren't sure how far south we could see, but Rimona told us later that you can see Ashdod from there.

Ephraim and Rimona had to go to Jerusalem on Wednesday, so we rode along with them.

We had a couple hours before it was time to catch the bus to Be'er Sheva, so they dropped us off at the Jaffa Gate area, and we walked down to the Kotel (Western Wall).

It was about noon, and Tommy decided to call home and talk to the family from the streets of Jerusalem. Unfortunately, he forgot that they were eight hours behind us, and thought it was four hours instead :)  Abba sounded a little sleepy when he answered the phone!

The Mount of Olives is to the left ... it is covered in graves.

This is a playground that is right along the Old City Wall.

Tommy saw some people taking pictures with these soldiers, so he asked if he could have a turn too. They gladly agreed, and one asked jokingly if he wanted to hold his gun!

This is the Hurva synagogue. It was destroyed in 1948 by the Arabs, and has recently been rebuilt in the past couple of years.

After walking around the Old City a little, getting some fresh-squeezed orange juice and a falafel for lunch, we went back to the Jaffa Gate area where the car was parked. Ephraim and Rimona drove us to the bus station, and we caught the bus for Be'er Sheva. It was quite crowded, and I sat beside an orthodox woman who couldn't speak any English, but wanted to know where I was from!

Tommy's phone was not working properly, and he was unable to call certain phone numbers. When we arrived at the bus station in Be'er Sheva, I stayed with our suitcases, and he went to find an Orange store (cell phone company) to fix the phone. He ended up having to walk a couple miles ... or more correctly, run a couple of miles, as he was trying to get back to the station in time to catch the bus! When he finally found the store, he was told that he simply couldn't call certain numbers with the plan that we have. "Try to survive," was the advice he received :)

Shortly afterward, he realized that he could call all numbers, but only if he manually dialed them, as opposed to calling from his contact list. We were relieved to discover that! So much for the helpful clerk at Orange :)

We rode the bus from Be'er Sheva to Nitzana, and a man that lives in Ezuz brought us here in his car - about a 10 minute ride from Nitzana.

This is the front view of the Hirshfeld's house.

They recently built their front deck.

This is the porch for the room that we are staying in, and the couch on the left is Tommy's bed. The bathroom is to the right, and our bedroom window is straight ahead.

Tommy's first day at work ... digging holes for posts.

He had plenty of help from the little ones :)

This is going to be a privacy wall for one of the buses. The Hirshfelds have people come to stay in their buses regularly. This past weekend, there was a family from a settlement near Hevron. Eyal told us later that the husband had been shot a couple of times, and had friends who have been killed.

Tommy and Anchel working on the wall ... Anchel is from Mexico, and has been helping out here.

They built these wooden forms ...

... including an arched window ...

... then they staple some type of paper to the outside, and then put welded wire on the outside of that.

Tommy and Anchel.

They make their own concrete, and put it on the welded wire. There will be a couple layers of concrete, and then they will put stucco on top of that.

Tommy ... hard at work ... as you can see :)

The sign at the entrance.

This is one of the buses.

Their goats seem much larger than the ones I am used to in the States. They are only milking one, and I have had the opportunity to do it several times. It's been a long time since we had milk goats, but I was glad to find that I still could do it! Once a milker, always a milker :)

They have the best-tasting goat milk. Even though we had milk goats for awhile, I did not like the strong goaty flavor that would sometimes be in the milk. With theirs, you can hardly tell it is from a goat. It is very good!

Look at the intruder that I found while I was taking a shower :)  Actually, I was probably the intruder, since I think he was there before I came in!  (By the way, I came back after I was finished to take the picture, as I don't make a habit of carrying the camera into the shower with me!)

There is an incredible view of the western sky.

This is a bus stop sign. It says; "Waiting For Messiah. Time Of Arrival: Soon"!

The Hirshfeld family went to a family gathering yesterday, and ended up spending the night there, so I got to make pita for lunch today. It was my first time doing it here.

Avigail had already made the dough, so I just had to shape it ...

... this is the pita oven ...

... the heating element is in the lid ...

... not as pretty as Avigail's, but they tasted good :)

That's all that I have for now. Tommy and I have been formulating some travel plans, so we'll post about that soon.