Meet The Meltzers

Hello! I write to you from my fifth bed and the home of Miriam and Collin Meltzer, and their dog, Neil (who names a dog Neil?). They live on a moshav, a small village/community, called Neve Ilan located about twenty minutes outside of Jerusalem in the direction of the Mediterranean. It is a very beautiful place with wonderful views but I haven't seen too much of it because, unfortunately for me but fortunately for the country, it has been raining most of the time since I got here on Friday afternoon. Regardless, I'm enjoying my time here and these are good people to hole up with until the rain passes. They are both grandparent age and though I've never had a grandmother, Miriam is exactly what I imagine when I thought of what one would be like. She's almost a foot shorter than I am but she's a lively lady; if anyone's helping anyone cross roads, it's her helping me. She always has chocolate, she holds my hand when we leave places so we don't get separated, and she gives me little jobs to do then praises me for completing them. She makes me feel like a small child, but I like her too much for that to bother me. Collin is another sweetheart; he's blind and Neil is his guide dog. There isn't a lot he can't do, I like hearing about some of the inventions he has that make his independence possible. He recently got a iPhone (which I taught him how to use today) and it has an app so that you place it on a page of text, raise it up until the whole page is within the phone's view, and then the phone will beep to let you know it's got it all and will read the page aloud. How incredible is that? And for the things he can't quite manage, Miriam is devotedly and patiently always ready to help him.

Before I can write anything else I need to tell you about something that happened Friday. So I got on a bus around noon to come to Neve Ilan, but I wasn't really sure whereabouts that was or where I was supposed to get off. After about twenty minutes I nervously got the bus driver's attention with, "Excuse me, where is Neve Ilan?" and he responded, "The hotel?" in reference to the one that's part of the moshav. Assuming that was a good place to get off the bus I answered yes. He then said something I couldn't make out but I could tell by his tone and gestures that we weren't there yet but it wasn't far off.
That's all.
Except it was my first conversation entirely in Hebrew!
How's that for less than two weeks abroad?!

Now I'll reverse a bit to Thursday. Richard Paley dropped me off in the center of Jerusalem on Thursday morning and I took my stuff back to Danny's apartment where I was staying the night again. We went to a Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra concert that evening which Richard had been able to spare two tickets for. It was an incredible concert with Mischa Maisky, a cellist, as the soloist. This man is amazing. He almost doesn't need the cello! There is such purpose in every one of his movements, just the way he lifts his bow to the strings is gripping. His whole body is filled with music. I wonder if it's depressing being his cello and knowing you'll never be able to keep up with your player. He encored twice and the second time he played a piece I've heard my mom play many times. It made me so happy; I know he played it well but I can't help but prefer the way it sounds when my mom plays it. On the walk home from the concert Danny spied a pile of free books and I found one that I love a disproportionate amount. Around The World - in colour (because being in color was a big deal) by WG Moore, published in 1960 in Czechoslovakia (so you know it's going to be good). It's politically incorrect and not up to date by any means, but the pictures are beautifully drawn and it ends by reminding us all that though our world is large and full of wonder, we should keep in mind that we are only one small planet in the great expanses of the universe and in those terms, insignificant.

As usual, there was good conversation with Danny on this walk back to the apartment. I really enjoy talking with him. Some things from that walk that I know I plan on keeping in mind and might be good for others to internalize a little:
-Approach new things and subjects of learning with equal receptivity and interest. I think too often we'll turn down an opportunity because it sounds boring but you really learn so much more when we say yes! Incidentally, that was essentially the advice Noa and her boyfriend (and Danny's brother), Jack, gave me before leaving the states.
-On this trip I am seeing new things everyday. Just walking down the road is something new and exciting for me because these are places I've never seen. What I hope is to be able to bring that same sense of excitement  with me when I go home and am surrounded by the same places I've grown up around and have seen a thousand times. This is related to my previous comment, but takes it farther.
-"To find yourself" is a phrase used very often with a lot of vagueness. Before I left people said I would be able to use this time to "find myself" and I'd internally roll my eyes at the overused phrase given so much reverence. But I am guilty of thinking on a parallel plane, because the reason I insisted on doing this trip alone was so that I would be free of anyone's expectations of me based on how they knew me in Bangor and my whole life. I was convinced that would limit my ability to change or, I suppose, "find myself."

I realize those aren't necessarily applicable to anyone or anything besides me and this trip, but nonetheless, there they are.

So I've been in Neve Ilan two nights now. On Saturday I woke up quite dizzy and it continued most of the day, finally fading before evening. I think it might have something to do with altitude changes, but in the moment I freaked myself out with a bout of hypochondria and I believed I had brain eating amoeba, after reading an article about brain eating amoeba killing two people who had to do some of the same treatments I had to do after my surgery. Seeing as it passed and I'm fine now, I'm pretty sure it's not brain eating amoeba. However my worry and general fear of falling out of my chair made it difficult to enjoy a concert I went to with Miriam yesterday afternoon. She is a very good singing coach and one of her students was singing with another of Miriam's friends, a violinist, and a small group of baroque musicians in a lovely church one town over. There was a stone figure on the roof of the church and after finishing the book, The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart a few days ago I have new appreciation for anything carved, wooden or stone. If you're looking for a good book I would definitely recommend it. I'm now on East of Eden by John Steinbeck but I'm afraid that even with its 600 pages it won't last me long. I finished rereading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer not long after arriving in Israel...so finishing East of Eden will exhaust my book collection. Except that I've got my brand new, used, politically incorrect book about the world I can always read!

All for now...I'm here with the Meltzers another two nights and then back to Jerusalem to test the hospitality of Danny and his room mates once again. I hope everyone's enjoying their Hanukkah and Christmas!