Ledoux's Israel School

First day!

I wrote this from Ledoux’s new school- and I am so thankful that I can be in her classroom until she feels comfortable enough for me to leave.  The class policy is parents can stay as long as they like- and they actually encourage it.  Only a handful of the parents have done it- which surprises me- but most of the students are probably pretty used to change (being they are all international expats). Ledoux still needs to know I am present, even if she cannot see me, so I grab coffee in the cafe upstairs, have a seat in the garden, and wait until class is over. (Its only half days the first two weeks, which is nice).  Today she has only popped over to see my face once.  This makes me very happy, as it means she is starting to adjust to her new classroom. 

Play area

Another play area

Chicken/Rooster coop

The campus is Prek- Senior year and is absolutely gorgeous. The school is an American school, meaning they celebrate American holidays and follow the American school calendar but also observe all Israeli Holidays, and everything is in English. Green gardens everywhere, a swimming pool, a workout room, cafeterias, and a library.  There are open swim times so we can bring Ledoux to go swimming, and we can go to the library anytime to check out books and bring them home.  About 600 students total on campus, made up of different countries, cultures, and beliefs.  In Ledoux’s class, we have a student who just moved from Vietnam and knows no english, a student who just moved from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, a couple Israeli children, an Aussie, multiple children from Europe and Japan, and a couple of us Arizona-ans. (And I am sure more that I don't know yet!)  There are 3 teachers and 19 children, so ratios are pretty good.  

The "bus"

Waving bye to me! (tear!)

The school offers transportation throughout Tel Aviv and surrounding areas on busses.  The little kids are on busses only for preschool- 1st grade with only one stop- about 1/2 mile from our house (it is the reason we chose the home we did!) The bus picks up at the spot every morning and goes directly to the school (about a 15 minute drive) and returns to that same spot in the afternoon.  No other stops, which I love. We eased Ledoux into taking the bus- and she LOVES it.  I had in my head that the bus would be like in America- big yellow busses.  I was terrified at the idea of my child taking the bus at her age, but almost all of her class takes the bus.  And its not your typical bus.  The children have full on motor coach/touring busses- air conditioned, the most comfortable seats with seat belts, and the sweetest old Israeli man that is the bus monitor.  He knows all the little ones names, greets, them, hugs them- its a great way to start and end the day. There is no doubt riding on the bus is probably safer than me driving- busses get to drive in their own lane so crazy drivers and traffic is never an issue.  I think I know it is harder for me. Seeing my baby board a bus makes my mama heart sad and happy- sad she is growing up so fast, but happy and proud of how independent she is learning to be.  When she gets off the bus, we sit by the beach and have a snack before walking home. Its a nice way to end the day, and she always has a story to tell me! Yesterday, it went something like this:

Ledoux: Mama, I need to go home and have my diarrhea!
Me: Your Diarrhea? Is everything ok? Does your tummy hurt? 
Ledoux: Yes mom, my friend has diarrhea and I need it too!  I have it at home, I need to see it!
Me: How do you know this? 
Ledoux: I have diarrhea at home mama, I will show you!
--we run into the house, thinking she needs to use the potty and my mind is freaking out thinking she is sick (and also wondering why/how she knows her friend has diarrhea?!)
Ledoux: See mama, here is my diarrhea! (As she comes running out of her room)
Me: Oh my goodness, you mean your DIARY!

Turns out, she and her friend talked about their DIARYs on the bus- and Ledoux couldn't wait to come home and write a story in hers, just like her friend does.  LOL!

Her actual classroom is a true Reggio program- child directed and play based.  The have a garden (they are going to be planting flowers and veggies in a couple weeks) and will tend to it, and eventually, prepare some of their foods as a class.  They also have a chicken coop and roosters- and you can hear the roosters from anywhere on campus.  They have weekly dance (creative movement) and yoga classes (how awesome is that?!) and trips the library.  Their snacks are fed family style- and are a variety of local foods and they can try- and everything is served on glass plates, bowls, glasses, etc.  Its such a fun, progressive environment.  One teacher is from England, another from Boston, and a third from somewhere in Europe but was a student in the school years ago.  She loves her teachers, and I do too.  They are always on the floor interacting, talking, and engaging with the children.  They are super responsive to parents- and have a blog that they use to update the parents (and grandparents, wink wink) with whats going on in the classroom.  Last week, she was so excited that they she got to go to the "movie theater" with her teacher.  Turns out, it wasn't a movie theater, but a school assembly and the pre-schoolers got to go. It was a pretty big deal to her!

Quiet time- Ledoux is in the bottom left corner in the green dress- not napping of course :)

Lunch time is in the cafeteria where the children have a menu and meals prepared for their class every week, or parents can choose to bring their lunch.  I am pretty excited to not have to make lunch, not going to lie!  I chose to have Ledoux each lunch at school- to encourage her to start trying some new foods.  After lunch is quite time- only 45 minutes where they can take a snooze or read books on their mats.  Since Ledoux is pretty anti-nap (sad mommy face!) she will enjoy being able to choose to do some quiet activities.

First day coming home on the bus!

Brought a library book home!

Last, I am the room parent! Woot Woot!  Not sure what this is going to entail or what I have gotten myself involved with, but I am happy to be able to be involved in her class.  The director asked if I would help in parent involvement in the classroom, and helping with some workshops to bring parents together, and I obviously was thrilled.  I have two loves in my life- recruiting and early childhood.  Glad I get to be involved in one still! 

On a final note: I think I want to be 4 again and go to Ledoux’s school.  Plus, riding that bus looks dreamy.

The circus that is shopping in Israel

First off,  shopping in Israel is much different than in the US.  Its appropriate that I have made this observation, as I have a serious love for any type of shopping .  Correction: I used to have a serious love for any type of shopping.

This is our post shopping face. 

Those days are gone.  Atleast while I am in Israel.  Not because I can't shop, but frankly- I don't want to.  I know you are probably waiting for a prolific and inspiring statement of how I no longer care about the materialistic things and how Israel has changed my very being- but that isn't coming.  Sorry to let you down.  I will always love the sale racks, the new throw pillows in Target's fall line that I just can't live without, the seriously amazing deal on the newest my little ponies...but shopping here is a HOT MESS.

Allow me to explain.

line is out of control- 7-8 people deep

Case 1: the price.  Everything in Israel has ridiculous prices.  Toys and clothes are a good 3x+ more than what they cost in the US.  Ledoux wanted this little shopkins toy at the toy store, and back home they are usually $15-$20.  Here in Israel? Easily $50.00.  We told her for her birthday last week we would take her to Toys R Us and let her pick out whatever she wanted: big mistake.  She chose this dinky little stuffed pony that neighs and walks on a leash- and it was $60 USD.  For a freaking toy pony.  Of course, we couldn't say no- it was her birthday and we promised, but good lord. Out. Of. Control. (the only thing normal priced, or cheaper, is produce.)

Madhouse.

Case 2: Patience is a virtue, right?  Say you dare to pay the crazy prices- i hope you go equipped with patience.  And a lot of it.  Because in Israel, no one gives a crap about your timeline.  Lines are long and S-L-O-W. The clerks could really care less about rushing through anything (or even being timely).  You don't want to wait? Shalom and see you later! Come back another time.  The nice thing is almost all the stores have either a place to leave the kids to play (which they call a gymboree) or have a little mini park.  As a mom I think "oh thats so nice of them to think of the sweet children" but in reality, its because they know your kid is going to have a meltdown in the store and they'd prefer you you to just leave the kids or leave the store, let them play, and try again later.

grocery store play area

Case 3: Parking.  Close your eyes and envision the worst Walmart parking lot you have ever been in.  Now triple that.  Welcome to parking in Israel.  In the same sense that no one cares about your timeline in the above example, they also could care less about parking.  They will cut you off, go the wrong way, park on curbs, take up multiple spots, block you in, or park 1 inch from your bumper.  If you get anxiety parking anywhere, don't bother in Israel.  It will push you over the edge.  (Luckily Lee things this is a fun game to play, and he doesn't mind encompassing these traits of the locals- so I just let him drive me.)

Case 4: Shopping on Friday.  Forget about it.  Seriously, just starve.  Friday evening starts Shabbat- the country's day or rest that continues through Saturday evening.  Almost everything closes- so if you need to "run" to the store and grab something, plan for a couple hours, plus traffic.  You know how grocery stores are right before Thanksgiving and everything is sold out or the store lines are so long and chaotic?  Welcome to Friday shopping.  Every Friday.  The few stores that are open- let me just say- aren't worth the frustration of going.  And if you have to go? Have a road beer to take the edge off before you enter the lion's den.

Bagging our groceries like a local

Our motto: hurry up and wait

Case 5: Convenience.  If I haven't already completely turned you off to the idea of shopping, let me put the last 2 nails in the coffin now. Planning on shopping enough to need a cart? Hope you brought money. Yep, they charge you to "rent" the shopping carts.  About $1 USD to rent a cart.  Oh, and if you think someone is going to bag all your groceries in that cart once you pay- jokes on you homie.  Not.  Gonna.  Happen.  Hope you were a bag-boy or bag-girl back in high school, because you are going to need those sweet bagging skills.  They do not bag ANYTHING for you.  So between the chaos of the grocery store in general, unloading your cart, paying, and wrangling your kid- you also get to bag everything.  While the other 20 people in line wait for you to move out of the way.  (Cue the anxiety right now).

There you have it friends, modern day shopping in Israel.  We are going to head to the Shuks (outdoor farmers markets meet flea markets) and will do a Shopping in Israel part 2 soon :)

We aren't in Kansas anymore...

Our first Shabbat in Israel, spent at the beach. Look at how the sun came through the clouds!

Its been 1 week, 2 days in Israel, almost 2 weeks since we left the US, but who is counting!  First of all- sorry for the radio silence over here.  As you can imagine, moving across the world is a bit hectic and I haven't had a spare second to sit down and write.  Things are settling down, at least a bit, so I am finally finding time to do a quick update.  I have a million things to write about already, but I have plenty of time for that.  For now, a quick hello and updates will suffice :)  We haven't done any exploring yet, but that will come soon.  First off, some photos from our stop in London on our way to Israel below.  We will definitely be making a trip back to there to stay longer- 2 days was not nearly enough!  We decided to make it low key- with a jet lagged baby doing organized tours with long days was going to be too much, so we bought a 48 hour bus pass for the double decker busses and headed out to the Tower of London (where she insisted in wearing a princess dress, of course!)  Our hotel was across from Big Ben and the London Eye, which was the perfect location for our first trip to the city.

We got into Israel early in the evening last Wednesday.  Since our house had nothing but furniture, we had to make a very quick trip (with a very tired baby) to get basics- like sheets, towels, cups, etc.  Since there is no Walmart or Target (insert sad face), our only option was to head to IKEA.  Turns out, everyone in Israel shops at Ikea, eats at Ikea, plays at Ikea, and wanders around aimlessly at Ikea. Its everything we know Ikea to be, but combined with the chaos of Walmart (screaming kids, people everywhere, parking lot chaos)...  It doesn't sound nearly as comforting as I write this, but I think Ikea  may end up being my new Target.  I gotta hold on to whatever familiarity I can find out here, and for now, Ikea is it.

The next day, we had our first Israeli grocery shopping experience.  It wasn't nearly as dramatic as I had made it out to be in my head for week's prior, but still a culture shock.  The market was very small, and we had to guess what a lot of things were (based on the pictures on the labels).  Even more interesting was getting home, realizing not only were we unsure of what the food was, but also unclear on how to cook it.  Instructions are in hebrew.  Then, when we decided to "ballpark" the cooking instructions, we realized we also had no clue how to use the oven/stove.  Sigh.  Since then, we have found some much larger "super markets" not far from the house that are a bit more familiar and have sort of learned how to work the appliances.

We also had our first experience at the Israeli pharmacy.  I started getting a nasty sore throat and migraines the middle of this week, coupled with stress and anxiety of adjusting to life over here, and I was sick sick sick.  Not sick enough to go to the doctor, but in need of some meds.  So off the the "super-pharm" we went. Not comforting not knowing what any of the medicines say, or that the pharmacist speaks very little english...but he gave us some meds, and we are back to feeling better.  On a side note, finding doctors for "private" healthcare isn't super easy either- as Israeli citizens have government healthcare (Maccabi or Clatit) and most doctors operate under one of those programs. Luckily, the US Embassy has a list I can use, as well as some referrals I have found on the Israel Expat forums.  I found Ledoux a doctor (he actually does house calls, how awesome is that?!) but am still working on one for Lee and I.

New friends from school

We also brought Ledoux to her new "other" school for a meet the teachers/students day. Suffice it to say she didn't take to the new environment quickly.  I didn't expect her to.  Ledoux is cautious at first... she takes her time, she analyzes the situation, and is sometimes slow to join in until she is comfortable in new environments (much like me).  It is going to take more time- but the next couple weeks are "transition" weeks in her school.  It will be half days, and the parents can stay as long as needed, in the classroom, until the children are comfortable.  That will (hopefully) be enough time for her to be good. The program itself is a Reggio program, which I really love, and I think once we get through the first couple weeks its going to be an amazing experience.  Once Ledoux is settled, we will all start to feel settled.   She misses her other school and her other friends, and I got tears in my eyes when her "other" teacher, Miss McKenzie, wrote us to say hello.  We did meet some of her new classmates, and have spent time with them outside of the classroom, so I am hopeful that will also help her ease into the new class.

I asked Ledoux about how it is going so far:

Favorite thing about Israel?  I like that my toys are here and the parks. I also like the grass that lives here.
Miss about Tucson? My BG and Opa
Look forward to doing in Israel?  Going to the swimming pool with my friends at the new school (her school has a swimming pool with open swim on the weekends)




From there, every day has been full of experiences.  This past week has been one of a lot of ups and downs, for all of us.  Ledoux is doing well, but you can tell at times she gets uneasy or anxious about the change.  We talk about it, reassure her that her feelings are normal, and focus on the good (which there is ALOT of!) We have some awesome parks (see above!), the beach, and a really awesome country to start learning about.  We miss waking up and going to starbucks, shopping at Target, and all of the other "american" things we loved, but cannot wait to start exploring the country soon.  Annnnd... we will be back in October- which makes us happy!  I will start blogging more consistently after today, I promise!  In the meantime, I post ALOT to Instagram and Facebook.