Mellow Week

This was a quick week. The day after we got back from Egypt, Julianne and I went on a little date out on the town. We went to a little part of Jerusalem called Ein Kerem. It is a beautiful little village-like place.

Ein Kerem

It is on the outskirts of Jerusalem where it is all steep hills and wonderful trees. It almost feels like you are in a little Alps village. It is so quiet, so peaceful. There are some nice churches there because it is the traditional site of Zacharias and Elizabeth’s home. Thus there are churches to commemorate where John the Baptist was born, where Mary and Elizabeth met when they were both pregnant, etc.

In the Church of St. John the Baptist

It is also an artists’ enclave, and has great little cafes. So we went to some churches, to some galleries, and to a little café. It was so fun, and so peaceful, and so great. I loved it, and it was nice to spend time with Julianne.

Julianne with her ice cream in front of the well near where Elizabeth supposedly met Mary and the babe in her womb leapt


This week I got a lot of actual work done. I don’t often find much time where I can get stuff done, but this week I did and it was very, very good. Of course I had nearly 400 emails to catch up on, but I got most of those taken care of and then did other good things.
We also did a really fun faculty field trip prep, just Frank Judd, Jeff Chadwick and I. We went to tell Gezer, which is a place we aren’t able to take the students because we just don’t have the time. It is a very cool place, with a great example of a gate built by Solomon and an incredible view.

Frank Judd and I at the Tel Gezer gate

Gezer gate and Aijalon Valley

We also went to Tel Azekah, which overlooks where the battle of David and Goliath took place, and to Tel Gath, where Goliath was from.

Frank Judd and I at Tel Azekah



View from Azekah to Elah Valley, where David fought Goliath

It was a fine time with fine people. Also, the flowers are just starting to come out, its great!

Poppy just coming out!


We also had parent-teacher conferences. Our kids are all doing well. They have complained from time to time that it is hard to figure out what is going on at the school. After meeting with their teachers I can see what they mean. Some have thick, difficult accents. Some use phrases that I am sure work well in some parts of the UK, but make no sense to me at all. For example, Kaleb’s teacher had them do a wee of connected writing. After some effort we figured out he had done some lessons on cursive writing. Alexia’s teacher has worked on final stops, which means periods. Crazy! The older kids were given grades between 1 and 7, with 7 as the highest. Figuring out exactly what a five or six means was a bit tricky, but especially when the younger kids were given grades between 1 and 4 with 1 being the best grade. Crazy!

Decorations for Arab Night

Julianne did an incredible job with helping to arrange things for Arab night at the Center. She and some students went out and purchased a bunch of decorations and made an incredible setting for a great evening of culture.

The family at Arab Night.


Classes were great, the students are incredible, my family is wonderful, and I got to spend great time with Julianne.