Three years ago. . .

I haven't posted anything from my Israel journal yet because I have been struck at how boring my writing sounded when I had just turned twelve. Not that I've improved that drastically, but it is interesting to see how differently I sounded when I wrote.

Three years ago from yesterday this is part of what I wrote:

Next we crossed the street around 3:30 and had a delightfully fun time in the Dead Sea. We had to be careful not to touch our eyes or to splash (or drink it) and such things, but it was super. It was amazing to be able to float and lie in the water so easily and so comfortably. It was funny and cool; I felt like I could effortlessly lie there, feeling like I was floating on air, and read. We went to the hot springs (which you cannot be in any longer than 15 minutes) and I felt like going asleep as I floated. I went back down and joined everybody (all but Daddy, Mama, [Rachel], and Wesley) in plastering ourselves with "Dead Sea mud" (it's supposed to be good for your skin because of minerals in it), which is gray, gooey, like clay, and fun to play with. I didn't do it as much as everyone else, but it was hilarious. Some people were covered from head to toe, with gray faces and all. Cameras clicked for sure (though Rachel kindly clicked them, since most of the cameras' masters' hands were inconveniently slimy and muddy), and by quarter of five we went to the outside rinse-off, [then the] freshwater shower, and got dressed and out to the m[mini]-bus by five, which was when the swimming place closed.

Next is something I wrote three years ago from this very day. My current comments and corrections are in the bracket thingies "[ ]."

Tuesday, April 29, 2003

I got up at about 7:00. After getting ready for the day I started a math test. At about 9:15, Craig, Kendra, Clyde, and I left and walked quite quickly to the New City. We sat down, and in a few minutes, at 10:00, the Holocaust siren rang. Long and thick it sounded, for a whole minute or more. Everyone (cars and people included) stood as still as stones, like statues; no real movement was seen up and down the [once-bustling] street, with no sound but the forever-moaning siren. Then, quite suddenly, the siren died down, people unfroze, and everything went surprisingly quickly back to as it was before.

We walked on down the street and we met Mama and Daddy. Mama said that when the siren rang they were right outside the CNN building, and a man came rushing out [with a video camera] and focused on Marie's face! Then, Mum said she thought he was walking past her, but he turned and zoomed the camera on her face! She said it was hard to keep a straight face and she was glad she had her sunglasses on so you couldn't see her eyes.

We parted, and went into a Jewish neighborhood and walked and walked and walked to cover new ground. Then we walked to the Old City at sometime between 12:15-12:45.

We stopped and Clyde and I got two different types of falafel (he got a chicken one), then we walked on, doing nothing in particular. Craig was looking for sunglasses (he lost his sometime last week), and one place we stopped there was a man (maybe 25 [his estimated age]) who tried to be helpful. He took out a few ones for Craig to try on, [and] he "recommended" one or two. Craig would try them on, and look in a small mirror. He finally decided on a pair that he liked. He asked how much it was. 95 sheqels [is the plural supposed to be "-im?"] was the reply. He said he couldn't afford that. The man asked what he thought. Maybe 25 sheqels, Craig replied. "No, no!" cried the man. "Now, these," he pulled down a different pair, "I could give you for 30, but these, look, they're sturdy; they're a very good quality! . . ." He took the ones Craig liked and began bending the earpieces on the frames. "Crack--snap!" The sunglasses broke. The man had a momentary split-second pause of surprise, but, as if all part of his salesmanship showing, he smoothly recovered and just as energetically as before said, "And they break! But I can get you another pair. . . . " We left. We went around the corner and all burst out laughing.

We looked in a nice Jewish man's shop [probably the Shorishim], then, near the Jewish square, Craig and Kendra got bagel sandwiches, and Craig bought two three-sheqel yummy sugared "donuts" [no idea why that's in quotes!].

Next we headed home. On Route One, near the beginning of our trip home, I fell in the middle of a cross-walk. Two skinned, slightly bleeding knees, a skinned, slightly bleeding elbow, skinned on the back one hand, and two filthy hands [were what I got as a result]. [As a matter of fact, Craig informed me weeks ago that he wrote in his journal that I fell in the cross walk and neither of us could for the world of us remember it, and I was even skeptical, though it sounded funny, but here is double proof written here that it really did happen! How embarrassing. . .]

[. . . .] We had a dinner of chicken, rice, corn, bread, and fresh vegetables at 5:20.