Jewish Quarter- Part One

Once we finished lunch on campus, we headed through the markets to the Jewish Quarter. We happened to lose one group member along the way and sent someone back to find her. 

This picture sums up the Old City. Four quarters, Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Armenian.

We stopped to admire the Jerusalem Cardo ruins. This would have been the main street 1500 years ago. Built in the 2nd century by Hadrian (the Romans). 

This is in the jewish quarter. Israel has mandatory military service requirement for women (although these were certainly teenage girls). There were many groups like this in that same square (out of view here),  and it reminded me of ROTC in a way.  

Wohl Museum

Ritual Bath (Wohl Museum)

Mosaic Floor (Wohl Museum)

Wohl Museum. You can see a collection of vases in the background.

Mansion of those times. (Wohl Museum)

Ornate column (Wohl Museum)

Roman architecture indicating a courtyard enclosed by a series of columns. (Wohl Museum) 

Jerusalem University College- Israel

Once we arrived on campus, we were given a tour and had our Orientation class. We had quite a bit of homework to complete before heading to Israel. One of the main objectives of this academic tour was to learn the Historical Geography of the regions. I won't bore you too much with the details, but it's very interesting to learn the layout of the land. You can better imagine why people fought over certain areas (perhaps the soil, climate, access to water, etc.) and you can see just how hard some of the journeys taken would have been. Geography, Geology, Archeology were main topics of discussion during our stay.

JUC

The tour guide we had was very, very good. Dr. Carl Rasmussen has had many years of experience in Israel and has published an atlas of the bible with Zondervan publishing. It was wonderful to learn from such a distinguished instructor. Carl teaches at Bethel University (or may have recently retired, I'm not sure) and serves as an adjunct professor at JUC.


The college itself sits on Mount Zion and overlooks the Hinnom Valley. The history of the land includes:

- JUC relocating to this location following the Six Day War in 1967 after being occupied by troops. It overlooks a valley that was considered no mans land during the war.
- The historic buildings were part of the Bishop Gobat School built in 1853.
- The grounds and buildings rest atop portions of the Herodian Wall and includes the site of the Essene Gate. (Herodian= really old, possibly built by Herod the Great 74 BC- 3AD).
- There is also a cemetery located here, where famous protestants from the 19th and 20th century are buried.

This is the dining room where we enjoyed lunch on campus.

Carl describing the tombs and burial methods. Notice the people in the background? 

Our fearless leader stopping to get a picture. Carl has a free website filled with pictures of the holy land. HolyLandPhotos.org. 

First Impressions - Israel

Once we landed in Israel, we joined a group of people who were also headed to Jerusalem University College for the same tour we were taking. We arrived at the Gloria Hotel and met Moria, the student assistant for the college, who let us know about our "no room in the inn" situation. The hotel did not have a room available for us that night so they escorted us two blocks down the road to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. A very simple room with working air conditioning and a few unique features:
The electricity only worked if your room key was placed in a slot on the wall.
The shower head was handheld.
This is actually a church, so you could very well be eating breakfast with a priest or group of nuns.

This is called Jaffa Gate. It is named after the city it points to (Jaffa on the Mediterranean).  One note on names, there are multiple names for places here. There might be a hebrew name (Sha'ar Yafo), an english name (Jaffa Gate) and arabic name (Bab el-Khalil or Bab Mihrab Dawud) for the exact same gate!

We headed out the next morning (4/05) to find the college and attend our orientation class.

This was a moving sight for me, to see normal life happening in a place we think of primarily in terms of historical context. 

The view from our room at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Church.

Entrance to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Church

Another view of Jaffa Gate. Behind me is the road leading down to JUC. 

Right inside the opening of Jaffa Gate. 

Trying really hard to not look like a tourist but still amazed at everything we see! 

Mom is tired of the pictures already! 

Something in bloom. 

This is the Old City Wall just down the road from Jaffa Gate. This whole wall around the city was built during the the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (1538). He was a Turkish ruler of the Ottoman Empire from 1520-1566.  

Arrived!

Never Too Late

I have neglected this blog for a few years and it's time to dust off the keyboard. Life can get away from you sometimes, but it's never too late to do something you have been meaning to do. I'm starting a series of blogs talking about my trip to Israel this past April. I had the opportunity to go with my mom for two weeks and I learned so much. I know I will be unpacking all of that information for years to come. I do not call it a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity because I know I will go back. There is something special about being there that is beyond words. I did not feel like I was walking on holy ground, as some have described it. The ground there is the same as it is here, they have parks, they have cities, they have modern lives, just like we do. I would say the difference I noticed, would be that they have a connection to the history that we do not. They have the ability to go to the Sea of Galilee, Shiloh, the Temple Mount steps and other places mentioned in the bible. Even if the landscape has changed over the years, you still feel the sense of excitement knowing these places are deeply connected to the bible. To start this series I will say, I could not have gone without the support of my family. My wonderful in-laws stepped up to help with all four kids while I was away. The day I left the helped me get to the airport and I left feeling confident that everyone would be okay. I also left Ohio mid snow fall. The latest possible snow we've had since we have been here. The plane had to have it's wings de-iced before we could take off!

Leaving the winter wonderland (in April!).

I met my mom at the Tulsa airport and we boarded our Air France flight to Paris.

This is the classy meal we enjoyed on the 8 hour flight from Atlanta to Paris (red eye). The only in-flight meal I liked. My first culture awareness moment was on our Air France flight since the flight attendants all spoke french first and would then speak english. 

Tel Aviv Airport.

Just Keep Swimming

The kids are taking swim lessons right now. The princess will jump into the pool and has started swimming without having the instructor hold her up. This is progress for the girl who hates to get her hair wet in the bath! 

Peanut's class is more like a mommy and me class in water. He absolutely loves it! He does not like going completely under the water, so we have only tried that once. The class is available to babies as young as six months old and the younger they are, the more comfortable they seem to be in the water. 

While we are on the topic of swimming, we now have a fish! 

Fred is a red crown tail Betta. Princesses first pet, although the interest faded as soon as it came home... So now I get to feed him, clean the tank, etc. he is pretty low maintenance thankfully. The average life span is 1-3 years so we know how long of a commitment we are on for if he survives. He has been pretty shy and hides in the foliage every time you pass. The reason for this was revealed to me last week when my sweet innocent princess casually walked up to the tank and shook it while on the way to the bathroom! Apparently, this had become a daily ritual! We have explained why this is bad and hopefully the little guy will start feeling at home now... Just Keep Swimming Fred. 

PA trip and birthdays

In February we celebrated DD's 5th birthday as well as my mother-in-laws 21st birthday ;) (I'm not telling how many 21st birthdays preceded it.). 

Here is the donut cake celebrating DD's birthday on the actual day. We had a real cake later, while the inlaws were in town. Here is a glimpse back in time: 

She was so little! 

I didn't get any family pictures while they were in town, but I do have a picture of the cake. 

Here is how you make a cake without a pedestal. Just un-see the messy counter! 

It was red velvet with a cheesecake layer. Delicious! 

We also made a trip to Pittsburg while they were here. We got a fantastic deal on a buffet and hutch. 

Perfect for this corner of the dining room. 

They are real wood, old and beautiful! I have never seen anything like Pittsburgh. The hills and narrow lots were incredible! The roads twisted and turned around ravines and the river. The Burroughs reminded me of rabbit burrows, small roads dug into the side of the hill, barely big enough for one car to drive. 

Love and Loss

Saturday we celebrated the birthdays of the two leading guys in my life. DH turned 29 and DS turned one! This time last year we were bringing the little guy home from the hospital. 5lbs 10 oz, 19 inches long. 

 

He has been the sweetest, happiest baby I have ever known! He is full of grins and giggles. 

He loves balls and anything with wheels. He can crawl at the speed of light and is so close to walking! His sister is probably his favorite person; no matter how much she bugs him, his face lights up when he sees her. You can tell they will be best friends! 

DH has been an amazing father and husband, and is so supportive to our whole family. He never hesitates to play games with DD or chase DS around, even giving me a break when I need it most! 

Now, on to the "loss" part of this post. As many of you know, we spent Saturday in the ER and found out we have lost the baby (Some birthday, right?!). They are calling it a missed miscarriage, which is defined as follows: 

A missed miscarriage, also known as a missed abortion or a silent miscarriage, occurs when a fetus dies, but the body does not recognize the pregnancy loss or expel the pregnancy tissue. As a result, the placenta may still continue to release hormones, so the woman may continue to experience signs of pregnancy. A missed miscarriage is usually diagnosed during a routine checkup, where the doctor will fail to detect a heartbeat. A subsequent ultrasound will show an underdeveloped fetus.

This was not the news we were expecting. I have never experienced anything like this before. I really wanted them to say everything was fine and that we were just worried about nothing. That maybe I had imagined or exaggerated the cramps and bleeding. I think it sinks in a little more each time we talk about it, but it's still processing. 

In a way, I'm grateful it happened so early on. We never heard the heartbeat, never found out the sex, or even saw it alive. 

We debated sharing the news of the pregnancy so early, since we usually waited until after our first appt to share with everyone. We wanted to share the news in person with family and we were traveling to visit them right after Christmas. I think sharing the news early has also allowed everyone to share in our loss as well. I think it will be good for us. I would not be as open about the loss if we hadn't been open about the joy. 

The OB/GYN doctor on call gave us the choices on how we could proceed with the news. We decided to take the wait and see approach, to allow my body to naturally finish what had been started. I did receive the Rhogam shot because I am RH negative and DH is RH positive (and has his blood type card in his wallet to prove it lol). He was incredibly surprised we had conceived while I was still nursing but said that breast feeding should actually help the uterus contract as it needs to.

I didn't do a lot for the rest if the day, and for whatever reason, I could not eat or drink anything without feeling sick. I felt fine for the most of the day, and then I would have major cramping. The cramps were similar to the contractions I felt with both the kids. I was giving DS a bath in the sink at one point and the cramping started. I had to kneel down for a minute and let it pass. Just very uncomfortable. I tried to stay on top of it with Tylenol as much as possible. We tried to have a normal dinner and birthday celebration that evening for the guys. 

The next morning, I was trying to figure out if I wanted to go to church or not (maybe showing up late and leaving early because I wasn't ready to really talk about it yet). I decided to have a friend take the kids and I would stay home and rest. I passed the fetal tissue ( I guess you can't really call it anything else at that point) that morning. I scooped it into a container. Maybe that is totally weird or gross but I needed to make sure that is what was really happening. I think it has been helpful for closure. It has solidified the situation for me, this really happened. It looked just like I expected it to, and I won't gross you out with any pictures. I didn't feel right about flushing it down the toilet. I did call the ER to find out if they needed it for testing. They don't, and won't typically do testing on your first loss. They say that most miscarriages at this stage are chromosome related, something didn't happen right and it just wasn't a viable pregnancy. 

Viable or not, it was very real for us. We were excited to welcome another little one into this world. You start talking about which room it will stay in, if you need a bigger car, if you need to save those baby clothes or that play pen. You start talking about names. 

God has given us this opportunity to grieve, find comfort in each other. I would love it if you shared your experiences with us, I know we are not alone in this. According to the statistics, 20% of pregnancies end in loss. My prayer is that God will continue to use us for His divine glory and that no hurt or pain will go unused. And maybe it's too soon, but I'm open to more children if God will bless us with them.