We had mentioned our Skipper joke on our first post about Tel Aviv, but the spreading of Skipper has reached new heights that I never could have imagined. So to re-cap, I got this Skipper t-shirt from a pile of old clothes my brother Pat was getting rid of. I thought Skipper was funny and photographed well. I started wearing it and made a special point of taking Skipper on trips with me so Skipper could see the world. (Sadly I do not have any of the photos with me, but I have photos wearing Skipper at Zions in Southern Utah, England, and all over Guatemala to name a few of places.) Brian got involved with Skipper in England in 2002 when I thought it would be funny also to get photos of Brian wearing Skipper.

So when we were packing for Israel, Skipper came along too. Then one day when Skipper went to the opera rehearsal, there was a photographer there to take some casual production photos. The above photo is from the Cosi Fan Tutte program. It is a beautiful program, very professional and serious, but there are many photos of Brian in Skipper. I love that the opera going public of Tel Aviv can see Skipper (and there are 12 shows, so LOTS of people will see Skipper.) I personally find this very, very funny and now have a new found love for Skipper.

It is cool to see the Hebrew writing in the program. We feel sort of dumb since we cannot read what is around us and have only learned a few words in Hebrew. We know how to say thank you, and I know the numbers 2, 7, and 9. We knew how to say shalom before we arrived, and we have learned the the words for the sabbath and mint. So we are illiterate and cannot even speak like a 2 year old. It's great.

Cherries are in season at the market. This vendor had a very big pile of cherries. (I am kind of sad I did not get a photo of the pile in proportion to show how big the mound of cherries was.) I love how the sun was coming through the market roof onto the cherries.



Brian picks out some fennel. He needs to keep his hair long for the current opera, and probably the next one too. It bothers him, so it goes up.




I think these are figs. I know I had fresh figs in Argentina and loved them, but I have only taken photos of them here so far.

On the day we went to Jerusalem, on our way to the bus station we ran into something we were not expecting. Brian was a bit ahead of me and he said something to the effect of "look, it is like we are in Indiana." I had no idea what he was talking about, but then I saw the tractors. Our first two wedding anniversaries were spent at the Indiana State Fair, where we watched very romantic tractor parades and had dinner in the pork tent. It was quite funny to stumble upon this in Jerusalem (outside the old city of course) but then we got a little annoyed because the parade route was blocking our way to the bus station. It was fun to see parts of Jerusalem we would not have seen if we had been able to walk directly to the bus. There are some beautiful areas and fun pedestrian walkways. We are mainly pedestrians now. We realized that in over a month we have only been in a car six times.

Colin needed some time to run around at the Pools of Bethesda.

Ann has a great love for the story of the healing of the paralytic. It was a component of her church welfare program training. Like Christ, we need to live outside ourselves more- to be sensitive to the needs around us we might be able to fill. Ann has a way of taking simple shots that capture a lot of meaning.

The Bethesda pools are an extensive archeological site. It's interesting that the baths were apparently a popular place of pagan healing. The man healed by Christ was waiting for his chance to bathe in waters, but others kept moving in front of him. I love that Christ just simply told him to rise and walk- no need for complications.



Colin didn't want to look at the camera because there was a kitty prowling arounds the ruins.

Dome of the Rock peeking out from over the outside wall. We did not make it up here on this trip but we will make sure to get back to it.
As much as I would like to photograph more people, it seems a bit rude to me to just take photos of people I would like to have photos of. However, I find it easy to photograph mannequins.

The grotto of Gethsemane. Tradition holds that this is where Christ was betrayed and arrested. A lot of the traditional designations of where things may have happened are somewhat up in the air, but Gethsemane has had a pretty continuous history since the time of Christ. We can say for sure that Colin got some milk from his mommy in the Grotto since it was cool, dark and quiet in there.

Just a photo I liked of one of the side streets on the Via Dolorosa.

We left the Old City out the Lion's Gate(above) to go over to Gethsemane.
It was very hot and from a lot of walking we were starving and out of water. I saw a sign for the Cafe of All Nations , so we headed up to it. It was a very funny little place. We walked in and it did not seem like a cafe at all. They had some old ice creams and drinks, but it did not seem like there was any food. There was a glass display case that seemed like it would have food but it was empty. We asked the man if they had sandwiches as the sign had suggested and he said yes, or course, and listed off what we could have. We asked for two falafel, so he made some phone calls and seemed to have sent a fax, and a few minutes later a car drove up, handed the man a black plastic bag from which he produced our lunch. It was a very strange little place and Brian asked me if I wanted to go there because I suspected it might be strange. But the food was pretty good (Brian liked the hint of lemon on the hummus), we had a place to sit and drink cold water. The man was very sweet with Colin and had him laughing a lot with 'gimme five' and some rather alarming vocal noises which sounded like they should be followed by him shooting a machine gun into the air (we saw this in "West Bank Story").

After more than a month in Israel, Brian's schedule finally allowed us to go to Jerusalem yesterday. It was strange to be there, since we have grown up always hearing about Jerusalem. It seemed a little unreal to me, like the biblical place was still somewhere else. But we had a fun crazy day. We started by going to the BYU Jerusalem Center (from where Brian took the above photo of the view of the old city) and then walked down. We entered in through the Damascus Gate, which we were advised was more friendly than the closer Herod Gate. Both gates go into the Arab part of the city with the difference being that the Damascus Gate enters directly into lots of shops. Of course they want to be friendly so we will buy things. They like to ask you where you're from in an attempt to lure you into their shop. The maze of shops was unlike anything we have ever seen and is what made us feel like we are really in the Middle East. Tel Aviv just feels Mediterranean. We don't stick out there nearly as much as in the muslim quarter of Jerusalem. I was just about the only woman around who had visible hair. Brian hopes I wasn't causing too much of a fracas with my 'brazen display of blond locks'. Pushing a stroller through Jerusalem was not the most fun thing ever, but Colin was a great little guy.

The men's side of the Western Wall. Brian had a private adventure here since Ann was not allowed. He even got a blessing which he then did not have the money to pay for (since our money was in Ann's purse). Does this mean the blessing does not count? The man had his hand on Brian's head before he even really knew what was happening. The whole thing seemed quite thoughtful until the request for money. Kind of seems reminiscent of the money changers. Another nice hasidic Jew led him into another part of the wall- off to the side and indoors where more of the orthodox Jews were chanting and rocking back and forth. He also wanted money for explaining some of the details of their worship. Remember to leave your wallet with your wife when you go to the wailing wall. Nevertheless, it was very cool to come to this remarkable place, which to the Jews is the origin point of all creation. In the picture you can see the white pieces of paper containing vows and pleas to God which are crammed into the cracks between the stones.

Brian and I were watching a CNN report about the Middle East. The story focused on the short film "West Bank Story" which won an Oscar. It turns out you can buy the film for $1.99 on itunes, and we have been quite entertained by it. It is a clever film, a little naughty with sensitive political and cultural issues and stereotypes, but tries to deliver a message of hope.

I do not think our travel plans are going to include the West Bank, but we did finally go to Jerusalem today. We were reminded we are in the Middle East, as it is kind of easy to forget that in Tel Aviv.

Anyway, check out the film. You will find yourself humming the themes to Hummus Hut and Kosher King.

So the Opera world has once again foiled all of our plans. After Israel, we had hoped to spend several weeks visiting friends and site-seeing in England and Italy. We were so much looking forward to some vacation time after spending the bulk of the last year on the road with different productions and programs- about 10 out of the last 12 months. And we thought Brian's first year out of school would be mostly auditions and free time to be filled. Anyhow- it will be another 2 months before we can stand still for a few minutes. Brian was just offered a Barber of Seville with the Mexican Opera in the Palacio de Bellas Artes (pictured above). Bellas Artes is probably now the foremost opera house Latin America (since the demise of Argentina's economy). In fact the production originated at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires (another place we would like to be taken by the opera fairies [no offence]) and is set in the 1970's, complete with a chorus of Hare Krishnas. It's supposed to be a very funny production. Brian will be singing 5 out of 7 performances, and his cast includes singers who have performed at the Met, Covent Garden, etc.
The punchline is that after the performances in Mexico City, the production will be travelling to Tijuana for 2 performances, which Brian will also be engaged to sing. Opera and Tijuana seem to us strange bedfellows, but apparently there is a budding opera community there which seems to function as a counter cultural movement (opera as counter culture- who knew?). Google found us an interesting NPR piece on TJ's opera scene at the following link if anyone's interested: www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1406015
So Colin continues to rack up international travel credits. The stamps in his baby passport are somehow so much cuter than ours.

Colin helps to put the laundry away. We keep his clothes in this dresser and he loves to take everything out or try to put everything in.