Top 10 things I learned from my mother in law

October 24 is here again.  It's been 9 years since Sylvia died suddenly from malaria.

Here are top 10 things I learned from her:

1.  Live in a beautiful place
2.  See every part of the world you can
3.  Get into a swimming pool whenever possible
4.  Stop the car if you think you see a monkey
5.  You can open a can of tuna or sardines and eat anywhere
6.  A dinner mint will solve any nausea you get from eating a tuna sandwich while driving down a winding road.
7.  Comparison shop
8.  It's not a depression mentality, it's "good Yorkshire sense"
9.  Visit your mother whenever you can
10.  And as true today as the day she said it in 1996 "Gail is kind of high strung".

We miss you Sylvia.

Haiti & Israel

I think one reason I'm so obsessed with what's going on in Haiti is because it's probably the first time my level of interest in/connection with the Caribbean is matched by the Israeli media. People in Israel are grateful our army and teams have been able to help there and grateful that our contribution has been recognized. Good news about Israel on the international front is scarce, so this is much appreciated.

Before these past weeks events, many people in Israel did not know where Haiti is. The Caribbean is so far from here and Israelis don't have a tradition of visiting there - they do go to Central and South America - young travellers - and they do go to Colombia for medical treatment (transplants), but most Israelis have no connection with the Caribbean.

We took our book of photos of Haiti down from the shelf (a gift from Vlad) and found that the photographer, Daniel Kedar, is an Israeli who lives in Haiti. The very next morning I heard him interviewed on the radio news - an Israeli expert on Haiti - he is one of the key people communicating between Haitians and the Israeli medical and rescue teams there. You can see his work and read about his photo books at www.kedar.net (some of the pages work, some don't). Gabi now wants to meet him - she's learned a lot about the situation in Haiti and is considering making Haiti her topic when she does her "a friend teaches a friend" presentation in March.

Please donate for Haiti.

Haiti on my mind

I've been thinking all week of this calypso song written by David Rudder in 1988:
Hear it on youtube. Here's some lyrics:

When there's anguish in Port-Au-Prince
It's still Africa crying
We're outing fires in faraway places
When our neighbours are just burning.
They say the Middle Passage is gone
So how come overcrowded boats still haunt our lives?
I refuse to believe that we good people
Would forever turn our hearts and eyes
Away.

Haiti I'm sorry
We misunderstood you,
But one day we'll turn around
And look inside you.
Haiti I'm sorry
Haiti I'm so sorry...
But one day we'll turn our heads,
Restore your glory.

I'm not the only one thinking of this song. The St. Kitts newspaper also ran an editorial of this title this week.

Listen to the song, then donate!!!

Israelis On the Scene in Haiti

This was sent by a friend:

In the midst of the overwhelming death and destruction that is Haiti right now, there are Israelis who have come to save lives and offer succor.

On Friday, El Al and IDF planes came into Haiti, carrying 250 medical personnel -- doctors, nurses, lab and x-ray technicians and even a psychiatrist -- and supplies for a mobile hospital, including a pharmacy, a surgical unit, and a maternity ward. A young Haitian mother who was the first to deliver in this ward, early this morning, named her baby Israel.

You can see footage of an IDF rescue team at work in Haiti here:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/Page/VideoPlayer&cid=1194419829128&videoId=1263147905094

~~~~~~~~~~

Members of ZAKA, the Israeli ultra-Orthodox volunteer rescue organization, were on the scene as well. Yesterday, on Shabbat, they labored, digging in the rubble of a collapsed multi-story university building, where cries were heard. After hours of effort, they succeeded in pulling eight students from that rubble, alive.

These ZAKA members then took time, in the midst of the chaos, to wrap themselves in their tallitot (prayer shawls) and recite their Shabbat prayers. Undoubtedly most if not all of the Haitians on the scene had never seen such a sight.

When the men had finished praying, a crowd of people gathered around them and kissed their tallitot.

~~~~~~~~~~

According to one report, head of the ZAKA mission, Mati Goldstein said:

"With all the hell going on outside, even when things get bad Judaism says we must take a deep breath and go on to save more people.

"We did everything to save lives, despite Shabbat. People asked, 'Why are you here? There are no Jews here', but we are here because the Torah orders us to save lives…"

At one point, when things were very grim, Goldstein reported that one mission member started to sing, Heveinu Shalom Aleichem (We bring peace to you.) "I had tears in my eyes," he said.

The ZAKA mission will be staying in Haiti a couple more days, even though beyond a certain point it is highly unlikely that anyone else will be found alive under the rubble.

We have a lot to be grateful for.

Last day in Trinidad and what to do in Miami?

So I'm feeling very sad to be leaving Trinidad, though not as tearful as Gabi, who has to leave her wonderful cousin Kayleigh. The girls really got along, for which we are so grateful.

We spent the last 2 days at Rampanalgas, just north of Balandra Bay, at a beach house that Alen's brother Jonny goes to as a time share about 4 weeks a year. I have not found a photo that does justice to the place. The house has access to its own rocky beach (as well as its own cold jacuzzi), and just a couple of miles down is Balandra beach where there is a river outlet. The kids loved playing there.

We also drove up to Galera point lighthouse near Toco. The highlight of this was taking Sasha down onto the rocks - you can't see it in the photo, but it's on a rocky cliff right on the northeast corner of Trinidad. Sasha was thrilled to go out on the rocks - I held him tight and kept him far from the edge but I could see his grandfather Vlad was about to have a heart attack nonetheless in fear Sasha would take off. I let Sasha throw small rocks off the cliff and he was able to throw quite far but we could not see them fall into the water of course since we stayed far back for safety. Amazing view and lots of stress.

So the kids had a fabulous time and going to the northeast coast was really one of the highlights of our trip.

I had to edit this part of the post because the links I found did not work. Here's a map of Trinidad. On this same site are photos of the places we went but I can't get the links to work to them. Find Balandra and Rampanalgas on the beaches page and the lighthouse on the sites, all in the northeast coast.

Now this is not the first time that while we were away from our quiet, safe home country on a long plane trip some fool has tried to blow up a plane. At least, I don't think it is. We seem to attract increased travel restrictions whenever we fly. So now nerves are gearing up for another three leg journey. The flight attendants responsible for making passengers stay in their seats have not yet met my son!!! Please pray for us.

Tomorrow a (comparatively) short flight to Miami and 2 days with my parents. Will it be the children's museum, the zoo, or the science museum? Anyone with experience, please weigh in!!!! The Seaquarium looks great but costs nearly 3 times the other items mentioned above. We also hope to do some shopping if we can find any room in the suitcases after all the presents we have received.

All in all, I am filled with gratitude for the time and special occasions we have been able to spend with our family here and the joy and fun times we have had with them and with our kids.