July 2009 Update, Josh's parents visit

Apologies for the long lapse in communication. My Hebrew class ended June 28th, followed immediately by the arrival of my parents for a 2 week visit. They left late Monday night and arrived back in Kalamazoo last night. I worked very hard in the weeks leading up to their arrival on my dissertation, and after a 2 week "vacation", I need to get back to work. The Graduate School is moving offices this week, to where I don't know, and my advisor and I are once again confused by what I do and do not need to do as far as a make-up MA thesis on the road to the dissertation. I also have a 10 page seminar paper I need to write within the next month, in addition to the end of August deadline set by the Grad School for submitting what I need to submit. We have also had to say goodbye to several friends in the Medical School here who headed back to the U.S. after completing their 3rd year of med school. They'll be back in January, and in the meantime, we wish them well on their rotations around the U.S. The 4th years celebrated graduation in May, and are now also gone from Be'er Sheva. Friends of ours, David, a 3rd year med school student, and his wife Daria gave birth to 6.8 pound Lily Danielle, and will also be heading back to the U.S. in the near future. Our other friends are also in a period of transition, as Andreas, a post-doc in chemistry from South Africa, whose parents emigrated there from Austria, is spending 6 weeks this summer at Stonybrook in New York. Sonja will br returning home to Vienna in August. Nadine will come back to Israel from Germany for a 6 week Ulpan (language course in Hebrew) in August and September.

The following is a brief overview of my parents 2 week visit:

5 nights in Tel Aviv, during which time they recovered from jetlag, toured Old Jaffa, and visited Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, we explored the Mt. of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane, Church of Mary Magdalene, Church of the Holy Sepulhere, and the Western Wall. Dad did not enjoy driving or parking in Jerusalem...next time, the bus!

2 nights in Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee: Visited Mt. of Beatitudes, Capernaum, Galilee Boat, Jordan River Baptismal site, and the ruins of Jewish Korazim, chastised by Jesus in the Bible.

3 nights in Be'er Sheva. Toured the Old City, showed them around the university, did laundry, took Dad to the Israeli Air Force Museum.

3 nights in the Sinai peninsula of Egypt. Stopped at the Dead Sea on the way down to Eilat. It was very hot. The wind felt like a heater blowing on high. We took a day tour to St. Catherine's monastery and Mt. Sinai. Enjoyed the pools at the hotel, and on the last morning, Dawn took me out to the coral reefs. (The hotel had a beach on the Red Sea.) Saw a spectacular sea green fish, almost fluoresent, a purple and yellow fish, and a school of little white fishes. I also finished my 900 page Tom Clancy novel during these 2 weeks, Rainbow Six.

1 last night in Be'er Sheva. Stopped in Mitzpe Ramon Crater on the way back. Parents packed, napped, and showered ahead of their 24 hour journey back to Michigan. 2 airlines, 3 changes of planes (because they stopped to visit friends in Germany on the way to Israel, they had to return through Germany).

I will post the link to the vacation photos on Picassa when available.