The Laughlins

We had to run to campus again yesterday (Thursday) to take care of a few more registration items. It turns out that Mark's computer code workds, but mine does not :( They are going to fix it for me though. We stopped by the campus bookstore, and bought some more kid's books at various reading levels (in Hebrew) so that we can practice our skills as we get better. So far, our collection includes: "Had I Been..." "The Hungry Caterpillar" (I love that book!), "The Smartest Giant in Town," "Chicken Little," and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." We also got an electric hair trimming kit to cut Mark's hair (and maybe mine in this weather...I have considered it). We decided to take a taxi (instead of a bus) to the IBEX picnic (The Master's College extension campus) because of current events in Israel. Traffic was absolutely awful though. There were TONS of police cars out and about yesterday and helicopters flying around. Don't worry though - daily life is still normal besides some road delays. We got to YadHashmonah around 4pm, and had a nice little picnic with two of the IBEX professors and their extensive families. There was also a lady named Martha and her five kids there, and a woman Mark's age named Sarah who is the first IBEX student to get Israeli citizenship. She works for "Israel Today" (journalism), so it was interesting to hear some inside story kind of news. A number of Hebrew U students (that are TMC alumni) were invited to the picnic, but they all backed out because of final exams right now. At the very end of the picnic, Josh Clutterham showed up. He is probably the student in Israel that we know best right now (from SoCal and TMC), but he will only be there for the summer. We should be in the same summer classes though, so that will be fun. We got a ride into town with Martha after the picnic, and took a taxi from her house to ours (which was much closer). Here are some pictures of the picnic and our kid's books:

We went to campus to register today. There were many rooms that we had to find, sit and wait for our turn, and then proceed to the next room. We got our new health insurance that starts immediately, so that is good. If we travel anywhere outside of Israel, we can pay about $2.50 a day to be covered for the trip, so that is very nice. Also, even though I am only attending Hebrew U for the summer (at least that is the plan for now), it sounds like they will still extend my health insurance through the school year as well. We also got a Talk-N-Save plan through the school. We got two Nokia phones for free (which are literally the exact same phones we brought to Israel - just new), we paid $100 for the year, and then we just get charged for calls (no monthly costs). Mark and I can call each other or anyone else with a Cellcom phone in Israel (which is anyone at Hebrew U) for 1.9 cents a minute. We also got our student ID cards, which literally save you 30-50% off of the entrance to most attractions in Israel (museums, theaters, zoos, historical locations, etc.). Tomorrow we need to go back to get our computer access codes/passwords.

Basically, our cell numbers are the BEST PHONE NUMBERS to reach us at for three reasons: 1) All incoming calls are free for us, 2) you can reach us wherever we are, since we will be out and about many times, and 3) it has voicemail, which our home phone does not. Here are our numbers (calling from the US):
Aubrey - 011-972-52-312-5925
Mark - 011-972-52-312-5817

Our mailing address is:
Mark and Aubrey Laughlin
14 Sderot Levi Eshkol
Ramat Eshkol, Jerusalem 97702
Israel

Today we met Seth for lunch at Aroma. He is one year into the same MA degree that Mark is doing, so he was a great resource for Mark. Mark was able to ask him lots of questions, and Seth came prepared with lots of info and suggestions, so that was very good. He is also interested in visiting some of the places that we would like to go to at some point. It is good to find people to travel with both to split costs and to have a greater sense of security in some areas - especially the more remote areas. Right now, we are thinking that it would be cool to do a 2-3 day trek in the Negev Desert in October on camels with a bedouin guide. Again, that would be something we would want to do with a small group. After meeting with Seth, Mark and I took a taxi to the Israel Museum. We found out that this was the only day that they opened at 4pm, so we went across the street to the Bible Lands Museum instead. We only made it through 6.5 of their 20+ galleries though, so we'll have to go back again. I was not allowed to take my camera inside, but you can take the virtual tour of the museum at this link: Bible Lands Museum Tour
After the museum, we walked around trying to find something to eat, but instead we ended up making a large circle around the very large Sacher Park. We walked to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, and took a taxi home from there. Here is a little side note on taxis. For those of you unfamiliar with taxi drivers in Israel, it goes something like this. You flag them down, tell them where you are going (and see if they understand you), and then ask "Meter Bavakesha" (Turn on the meter please). Most of them are pretty good about it (if you catch the officially endorsed taxis that have a certain sign and look to them), but some of them will refuse and ask a certain shekel amount before they will take you. We quickly exit those taxis, and take the next one. The first time that a driver was very persistant about a price up front and would not turn his meter on, Mark got pretty upset (more internally than externally). He basically said, "You're not going to turn your meter on? Then we're getting out. There are a million taxis around here that we could take." He wanted 30 shekels, and we knew the drive was only about 20, so we hopped in the next taxi and got home for 18 shekels. Today a guy wanted to take us to the Israel Museum for 60 shekels. We said, "No thanks," and a taxi pulled up right behind him with a very nice old man driver that took us there for less than half that price on the meter. There is always another taxi seconds behind the one before, so it is easy to be picky. We're getting used to the pushy attitude of some taxi drivers and marketplace merchants, but others are very cordial and low-key.

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!!!

I've missed a couple of days, because I got sick Friday night. It started out as a headache that turned into a migraine all night long. By morning (I will skip the gross details) but my body was letting me know in multiple ways that I was not feeling well at all. I was quite dizzy too, and remained that way all day on Sunday as well. That is one of the longest-standing bad headaches I have had. Today, my head feels a bit better. There is still a lingering headache, and I am quite "swimmy" in the head, but I wanted to get out and try to be normal. Before I tell you about today, I will back up to Friday.
On Friday, Mark and I decided to be a little more low-key since we have been going everywhere and doing a lot. We took a taxi to the Damascus Gate, which is the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. There is supposed to be a good falafel place there, so we got falafel, wandered around, and were told at some point that only Muslims were allowed further on...apparently we don't look much like Muslims :) We backtracked and ended up at the Western Wall. I went on the "women's side" and took some pictures throughout the day. They are constantly doing new excavations all over Israel, and there are currently some happening within the Western Wall area. Apparently, when you plan to remodel your house in the Jerusalem area, they call in a special emergency excavation team to do a quick dig. It is amazing what they have found in these kinds of digs. It would be a little frustrating as a homeowner though. We then wandered around the Cardo and found the Broad Wall (see pictures). Afterwards, we looked around the Jewish Quarter a bit, found a good overlook of the Western Wall up higher, and then bought a good map book at a bookstore. We sat for a while and read through our travel book and looked at the maps. We then had lamb shwarma in the Jewish Quarter right before everything closed for Shabbat. We walked home, clocking another 5+ mile day. We have been averaging 5-7 most days. Friday night we watched the Three Amigos on our computer, but by that time my head was hurting a lot, and I fell asleep right before the end. As a side note, there are many different people that tote guns around Israel - all military (uniformed or not), police, and all kinds of armed guards. Anything from a grocery store to a restaurant may have an armed guard. Our grocery store downstairs does, as well as our post office, phone company, etc. You get pretty used to seeing them around, and you actually feel better about always going through basic checkpoints. Here are the pictures from Friday. I will make a new entry for today.

Yesterday (Thursday), we went to the City of David just outside of the Old City. For those of you familiar with Old Testament stories, when the City of David is mentioned, it is really referring to a 10-12 acre area of land, which lies just outside the modern day Dung Gate on the southern side of the Old City walls. This is where Jerusalem began (with King David), after he conquered the Jebusites (II Samuel 5). We paid the student rate to get into the City of David area, and then saw: Beit Hatsofeh Overlook (which looks out over the Arab village of Silwan and the Burial Caves in the wall), the "Tira" House, Warren's Shaft, Hezekiah's Tunnel, and The Shiloach Pool (Pool of Siloam). The best part was definitely Hezekiah's Tunnel. This is a 533 meter underground tunnel through sheer rock. Hezekiah created this tunnel in preparation for Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem in 701 BC (II Chronicles 32:30). This tunnel allowed water to flow into Jerusalem from the Shiloach Pool (Pool of Siloam). Anyways, it is really fun to trudge through with headlamps and sandals. The water is very clear and the bottom is solid rock. It takes about 40 minutes to get through, and at its deepest point, it is only mid-thighish. Anyways, here are some cool pictures of it. Also, for everything we are telling you about in Israel, you should click on my Bible Places link on the right to get a lot more historical information and other photos.

Just a short blog for some of you that have lost it already...here is our contact information again!

Mark and Aubrey Laughlin
14 Shderot Levi Eshkol Apt #2
Ramat Eshkol, Jerusalem 97702
Israel

Our phone line and Internet will be hooked up on Wednesday. To dial our number from the US, it will be 011-02-540-0176. You can get International Calling cards from Costco for a good price if you really want to call.

Our Skype name is: aubrey13. Get Skype if you don't have it!!! It is free!

We had some complications getting our Internet set up. It turns out that there are multiple steps to the process and basically three different things that you pay for: a phone line, ADSL, and an Internet provider. This is obviously similar to the US, but it is hard to communicate as to who we need to call and what the next step is. Apparently, the phone company hooks up your phone line and ADSL. A man came yesterday to hook up the phone line, but he did not speak any English, and seemed to want information from us that we were not adequately giving him. He wandered the hallways on his phone and ended up going downstairs to the actual Bezek phone company to figure out what he needed to know. When he came back, it took him all of two seconds to connect the phone line. We plugged our phone in, but the Internet did not seem to be working. We went downstairs to Bezek, and they said that our account showed no ADSL yet, so we would have to wait 24 hours for the ADSL to be up and running. They gave us phone numbers for Internet providers, and I chose the first one that I could understand. The customer service rep was very nice, and gave me logins and passwords, and then connected me with the support technician to set up my Mac. He definitely seemed to know what he was doing. He asked me about the ADSL light on my modem, but it was blinking. He said that it was not synchronized through Bezek yet and said that I should call them again. I called, and the lady I spoke with didn’t seem to see our ADSL on there yet. She then told me the same thing as the lady downstairs, and said it would take 24 hours for the ADSL to be up and running.
Mark and I decided to go on a walk last night to the other end of town that we hadn’t been to yet. We live amongst many Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, so during busy hours, you just see floods of BLACK crossing streets, getting off buses, and going to stores. For those of you that don’t know, the Orthodox Jews are what we would think of as the “most strict” sect of Judaism. They can be visually spotted because of their black pants and coat, white shirts, long beards (generally), long ringlets in front of their ears (payot), and a black kippa (small, round flat hat worn on the back of the head) or black hat over their black kippa. Instead of a full prayer shawl, most men wear a prayer shawl shirt of sorts that has the tassels hanging down off of either side at the bottom. The women have to wear long skirts/dresses and have a hair covering. It is funny to see many of the little boys with shaved heads and then these long ringlets in front of their ears and black kippas. Since the Simpsons cartoon was created by a Jew (Matt Groening), it is especially funny to think that Krusty the Klown (whose father is a Jewish rabbi) actually looks very Jewish with his two spikey points of hair – they are like the teased/hair sprayed version of Jewish payots. Anyways, we seriously stuck out like sore thumbs

If you get our email list, then this entry will sound a bit familiar, but I am doing it on behalf of any slacker that did not check their email or respond to our initial list set-up!
Mark and I are having a great time here. I know that when Modern Hebrew classes start, Mark (especially) will feel the burden of needing to achieve in order to enter his program in Fall 06, but I think he will do fine. Come the end of the summer, I will also be in a position of needing to find work of some sort, so that will be another transition at that point as well.
Moving into a more immediate context - we did laundry yesterday, and it was the first time that something here was definitely more expensive than the US (about $15 for three loads of laundry). Everything else here has been very comparable to prices in the US (or cheaper). We talked to a girl named Or (means “light” in Hebrew) who was born in Israel, but has lived in Canada since she was six. It was fun to ask her questions (she goes to Hebrew U as well). After we walked to the laundromat and back home again, we then walked to the Aroma Café (on the Hebrew U campus) and met Crystal (my 2nd, 3rd, removed cousin of sorts) for lunch. I think we figured out that our connection was that her grandmother married my great grandfather after there were deaths of previous spouses on both sides. Anyways, we’re “cousins.”
She gave us a thorough tour of the campus, and we were able to purchase basic things we would need, including textbooks, binders, a copy card, a printer card, etc. All of this was very good to do before our registration (in a week), because apparently the lines are extremely long to buy things (since everyone is doing it at once). We were very thankful for all of her help. We took some pictures from some amazing lookout points around campus too (on our website). Since it is on Mt. Scopus, it is reputed to have some of the best views of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. We finished by reading at Aroma for a while, and then walking home.
So far, we have walked long distances on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday. Mark wore his pedometer on two of those three days, and our respective distances were 7.5 miles and 8 miles (rounding down). The day that he didn’t wear it was at least a 6-8 mile-day as well. Needless to say, my feet have been a bit sore, and I have blisters and shin splints a bit. It sure does feel good to be exercising though ☺
Below you will find a variety of pictures from our Hebrew U tour of sorts. All of the city overlook pictures (except for two) and the synagogue pictures are taken from the Hecht Synagogue on the Hebrew U campus. The other two overlooks are from the Hebrew U amphitheater. On a clear day, you can see past the desert, all the way to the Dead Sea from this location.
The best time to Skype with us is from 6am-noon or 9pm-11pm (Pacific Standard Time). Since there is a ten-hour difference, this is basically from 4pm-10pm and 7am-9am our time. We may not be on that whole time since classes will start soon and our schedule may change a bit, but try and give us a call!

On Monday we took a taxi to the German Colony. We went the Natural History Museum and then grabbed a coffee from Aroma. We did a bit more walking around town and then had lunch at a pizza place. The pizzas here are mostly kosher, which means that they don’t mix meat and cheese (meat and dairy), so we had cheese pizza, which was very good. We also did our first real blunder there when we tried to buy a DVD. They have large vending machines of sorts where you can buy (and rent) videos. We didn’t know about the renting part, and after we got someone to help us buy it (since it was all in Hebrew), we thought, “Hmmm…that’s pretty cheap. I wonder if it is a rental?” Luckily we got some help again and found out that it was a rental, but if you return it to the machine within ten minutes, you are not charged…so we didn’t have to pay anything, but we learned a lesson ☺ We walked from the German Colony to the Jaffa gate of the Old City. Along the way, Mark said that he thought he remembered a place they stopped at with his IBEX group four years ago. It turns out that he has an amazing memory when it comes to anything he has studied/visited in Israel, which is good, since that is what he wants to teach. We ended up walking up this street to a St. Andrews Church, peering down over their fencing, and finding some burial caves that Gaby Barkai had excavated. They were enclosed within the fence of a large cultural center building, so we walked down to the building, asked if we could go around the back, and soon found ourselves peering into old burial caves…just like Indiana Jones ☺ I was very impressed that Mark remembered and found such an obscure location. When we got to the Jaffa Gate, we did the Rampart Walk. We basically paid about 24 NIS ($5-6) altogether to walk along the top of the city wall. It goes around the entire city, but since I had not planned to walk quite that far (and my blisters popped on the wall), we only walked around about 1/3 of the wall, but that was about a mile in (to Herod’s Gate), and then a mile back to the Jaffa Gate again. We visited Shabaan again (our money changer) and then had chicken shwarma for lunch. We took a taxi home from there.

This is a view of our new apartment. We basically live in a 14-story apartment building – the tallest one in our immediate area. We live on the ground floor, but there is one floor below us (Floor -1). The elevator is about ten paces down our hallway, and the entrance to the building is about another ten from there. According to the people we have talked to here (some of which are looking for a place to rent), we got an absolute “steal” for only $360 a month (plus taxes, utilities, Internet/phone, etc.). As I mentioned in our email, it is in a great location that includes an extensive marketplace for all of our basic needs (grocery stores, phone company, multiple banks, pet store, bookstore, hardware store, restaurants, plant nursery, one-hour photo shops, pharmacy, Blockbuster rental, gas station, post office, medical center, etc.) The apartment itself came with a refrigerator, gas range, shower curtain, shelves built into the wall, two small coffee tables, two chairs with gross, old yellow upholstery, and lots of closet space. We spruced it up a bit on Sunday. I bought 75% off curtain material and made a large curtain to divide our studio apartment into a bedroom and living room area. We also hung one in front of the closet space as a kind of changing area. We bought a colorful floor rug from Isaam at Jaffa Gate (all of our floors are older tile floors), and I covered our closet shelves with blue contact (shelf paper) from the hardware store. We bought an oscillating fan on a stand for air circulation (AC is not common here) and picture frames for my pictures I brought. We now have ten 5x7 – 8x10 pictures on the wall. Batia took us to buy a bed the first day we got here, so we got a brand new double-sized bed and wooden frame (with delivery and “assembly”) for about $260. I also bought fabric that matches our curtains and re-upholstered the two chairs that were here. At first I was going to hand-sew them, but that was taking WAY TOO LONG, so Mark suggested using small safety pins along the seams since they are not visible or near where you actually sit when you fit the cushion in the wooden frame. That worked out quite well, and the chairs look 500% better! My current house projects include covering a few more shelves in the closet, covering drawers in the kitchen with shelving, buying at least two more frames for pictures decorations, possibly buying some tapestry or hanging or sorts (Mark suggested this décor) for the wall space above the bed, cleaning, and finding a way to keep the water in the shower from spilling onto the rest of the bathroom floor (there is no ledge/basin built into the shower area). I wish I has taken before and after pictures (since I feel like I’m on HDTV), but take my word on it – we have made it much more cozy ☺

On Saturday we walked to Aroma Café and had breakfast there. We then walked to the Jaffa Gate, where we changed money and bought a floor rug and a shofar (ram’s horn). I am not very good at it yet, and Mark says that it is the most annoying noise in the world ☺ We get fresh bags of oven-cooked (fire oven) pitas at Jaffa Gate as well (for less than $1 a bag). Mark took me up a tiny winding staircase in an old Lutheran church for an incredible view (from all sides) of the Old City). That is where all of the city pictures are taken from, including the Dome of the Rock (gold-domed building). We also went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is very ornate and has incredible celings. As kind of a gross side-note, there are many cats all over the place in Israel that were apparently brought in to curb a rat problem. Well, now there is a cat problem, and we watched a man throwing a gross, stiff, dead cat out in a pile of trash in an alley near the church. (I won’t include that picture for the cat-lovers and faint-hearted.) We walked home.
On Sunday we went to all of the stores (since they are all closed on Saturday – Shabbat). We spent the day fixing up our apartment, which is talked about in my next entry.

During our week in Northern California, Charlie (my 10-year-old brother) used my camera to take a number of pictures. They turned out great! Here is a mini-portfolio of sorts! (Note to mom and dad: Buy him a camera!)

Tag! You're it! My friend, Mat has tagged me, so that means that you all get to learn a bit about my quirks...see below...
(So the rules are, once you've been tagged, you have to write a blog with "6 weird facts/things/habits about yourself." In the end you need to choose the 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their comments and tell them to read yours.)

1) I routinely click the emergency brake button while I am driving as an obsessive compulsive means of making sure that it is not pulled up at all...Mark makes fun of me for it.
2) I am in the habit of "organizing" insanely fast when I put my mind to it and often have the bad habit of cleaning cooking items up before Mark is finished with them, throwing away the "junk mail" before it hits the table, and otherwise "finding a place" for everything...everything needs a home...a real home :) Amazingly enough, that does not mean that we have a pristine apartment...just that I go into clutter frenzies every so often.
3) When I put gel in my hair (which I normally do), I end up "playing with my hair" most of the day, or at least until the gel dries and I have sufficiently "broken it all up" so that my hair is softer and not so gelled. Even then, I usually end up twirling random sections of loose hair into what I think are curls, but they usually end up looking more like dreds when I am done.
4) Certain noises can really drive me crazy under different circumstance. I hate all hissing/high air pressure noises, balloons popping, people chewing or gulping ANYTHING near my ear (mough noises), extremely loud noises, etc. I still jump everytime a firework explodes (even though I expect the noise) and when guns go of