The Laughlins

Sorry - there aren't any pictures for this post. I was still feeling dizzy and had a headache on Sunday, but I felt better than I did on Saturday and wanted to get out of the apartment. We took a taxi to the Jerusalem Mall - a three-story tall mega mall - much like the ones at home. They had an Office Depot, Tower Records, Versache, and other recognizable stores, as well as many clothing stores, cafes, etc. with good Hebrew names :) We have been needing a few bigger items for our apartment that we can't get at our little marketplace, including a table (which will double as Mark's desk) and lamps. We found a plastic table with folding legs, one floor lamp, and one desk lamp that we liked. There was a great deal in a movie/CD store too: 3 new DVDs for 99 NIS. We got "Oh Brother Where Art Thou," "Meet Joe Black," and "Hamlet" (with Mel Gibson) there. We are actually hoping that they are in Hebrew, so that we can practice our Hebrew as we get better, but if not, they definitely have Hebrew subtitles. We also decided to try watching a movie at an Israeli theater. The movie was in English with Hebrew subtitles, so it was funny to hear people speaking Hebrew and English in the theater...but we basically all laughed at the same time and got all of the jokes, so that made it fun. Going to the movies is a much noisier experience in terms of the audience than it is in the US. Yesterday, we did laundry late in the afternoon, and then carried it all home...we found a shortcut home though, so that was fun. My headache finally left yesterday afternoon, so I am hoping that it stays that way. We put laundry away, did email, and took it easy yesterday. I put green shelving paper in a number of drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. Something about putting in shelving paper makes you feel like you are covering something dirty, and now you will know if the shelf/drawer is clean or not...at least that's how I feel. I know I would never really want to do it, but some floors make me feel like putting shelving paper all over them too before I will walk on them with bare feet. I'm a weirdo. That was our last two days. My camera battery needed charging on Sunday, so I wasn't able to take pictures of the Jerusalem Mall, but I will do that in the future. Today, we are going to meet Seth (a guy from SoCal that went to our church for a while) for lunch. Mark is going to grill him with all of his questions about the academic side of the Hebrew U programs and summer ulpan. So far, the reports that we have been getting seem to be reassuring that Mark will definitely be far enough along to enter the MA program in Fall 06 - it doesn't sound like they are as strict as they sound at the Modern Hebrew end at least. Well - I will post more later. We have had fun talking to Leah, Geoff, Janella, Grandma and Grandpa Stockton, Joanna, TJ and Karen Smith, Mom and Dad Laughlin, Sarah Laughlin, and the Murrays & Paul Rothhaar (sort of - we'll catch you online soon) on Skype. If you are not on this list, you shoud get Skype or sign on to your Skype sometime!!!