still here....just about........

My keyboard broke last week,thanks to my children bashing it around with their games.Thankfully it's Back2School tomorrow.....yes I do believe that is a choir of angels singing.......so no computer allowed on school days! Well.....what a week,I really am exhausted and just about finished with the summer.The heat here in Nazareth is just so humid,stifling,sticky..anymore adjectives? We will be moving to our new apartment soon (I hope very soon) and i said to my husband that there is absolutely NO WAY I am going to live through another summer here without a decent mazgan(air-conditioning). I want my house to be freezing cold next summer! I just looked out the window and noticed all the flashing lights and decorations across town(we have a view across the whole of Nazareth from our house,it's really beautiful at night) and I just remembered that Ramadan starts tomorrow.I think we are all starting to compete with eachother over who has the most lights for Christmas and Ramadan!!! Every year they seem to multiply on both sides! I really MUST sort out this blog properly and get some photos on here.There really is a wealth of subjects to photo here....SO many really beautiful and interesting things to record.....will do that this week.........

uuuummmmm.....I Dunno

so anyway....I've been discovering some really interesting blogs...Israeli Blogs in English.It's so funny how there is such a broad spectrum of expats here but we can bond over our shared experiences in Israel.I remember when I first came to this country...first of all I was overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of it. The breathtaking(literally) mountain views,the beaches,the Dead Sea, all these beautiful places.But I was also overwhelmed by the repeated questions to myself (and anyone who would listen!) like...............what the hell is WRONG with everyone here?..........why is everyone so STRESSED OUT?..........why is EVERYTHING so difficult?...........WHY are Israelis so RUDE?.......Nobody says PLEASE or THANKYOU!!!......why is everyone shouting???...WHY do they sell milk in plastic bags,just trying to get the flippin' thing open results in losing half the bag...! After 11 years you kind of get used to all that and it becomes..dare I say it...endearing!!! whenever I go back home to england now the first thing that really hits me now is the ORDER...yes,everything seems so civilized and ordered.I beam excitedly at shop assistants saying " oohh..thank you..thank you so much". Another thing is that it is so easy to drive because of the....ORDER. So now whenever I go home,it feels like a culture shock in reverse.In Nazareth we all basically live on top of one another,all the neighbours know eachother. You can here everyones arguments,everyones laughter , all the kids playing outside,the guy upstairs strumming his oud,the teenagers next door blasting out 50cent,families chatting together in the evenings,babies crying ....you name it....all the rich stuff of life. Now...... all of that used to actually drive me mad.I found it really difficult to understand how no one seemed to need any privacy. Basically, I grew up in a typical 1930's semi in a quiet Avenue,where everyone basically kept to themselves.In typical British fashion we'd all say "morning" or"hello" but that was about it.In Arab society it's actually considered impolite if you don't socialize with everyone and drink coffee and chat!!! So it really took some time to get used to although it still does drive me mad sometimes. but the funny thing is,is that when I went to England I actually started missing all that!! I remember thinking how odd and quiet it was at my parents house.......it really made me appreciate the sense of community here more.............................................

holy mother of god when are they going back to school.....

yes....... it seems to be that time of year again.....that couple of weeks before school starts when the lack of routine seems to have gone to everyones heads!!!!! So now that all the summer camps and swimming courses are over and the sports weeks and the day trips are winding down, my kids have a full schedule of lying on the sofa watching TV and asking me whats for lunch every five minutes!!! The fridge door is open and shut so many times everything in it is starting to melt. We had a good summer but I miss the routine of school.I'm so ready for it.My house is an absolute TIP.It gives me the jitters.I'm having to do deep breathing exercises to calm myself down when I'm confronted with more mess. I have fantasies about getting as many garbage bags as I can find and just throwing everything out...everything....no clutter,no mess...just pure clean space....aaaahhhhh if only it were possible. Also,it's so hot here, it makes me mildly psycotic.

Happy birthday BABA.......

II didn't post anything yesterday for the simple fact that I was comatose from the cannelloni I made fro my husbands birthday!! It was loaded with 4 different kinds of Italian cheese...but really delicious!! One son had a stomach bug so he was missing from the table,so was one of my girls and the 2 little ones were asleep...... that left just 4 of us sitting at the table,me and my husband and 2 kids.It was sooo weird.I said to my husband "imagine if we only had 2 kids"? and we both looked at eachother as if to say NNNOOO WWAAYYYY...it just didn't feel like a family. It was so empty and quiet.Yeah.. it's hard work and they do drive us crazy at times but I'm soo glad we have a big family..all the hard work is so worth it for those moments when you look at them all and feel such pride anyway Happy Birthday to my dear husband,the love of my life...I really should tell him that more often.

AAAAAAAGG.....AAAAAAGG......WWAAAAAGG

I was in the kitchen minding my own business when I heard a loud commotion outside.My oldest son Fadi.aged 10 was emitting this awful wailing sound."AAAGH...Sam(brother aged 9) hit me on the head with a stone,AAAGGHHH...I'm covered in blood...AAAAGGH....AAAAAAGGHHHH........." OOH the melodramatics....the hysterics....actually there was quite alot of blood,but it was only a very small cut.What is it with brothers.One minute they are playing together all matey,only for the next minute to descend into outright warfare.The problem is they are so close in age.There's only 11 months between them and they fight about EVERYTHING."Thats my spoon", "No thats my spoon","No I had it first".......do you get my drift!!! I remember being so happy to have 2 boys close in age.I imagined that they were going to be really close,the best of friends....but their not.....at all. I really hope this rivalry is not going to be carried with them into adulthood...I hope that one day they will be friends and really appreciate eachother and actually ENJOY eachothers company...ha...wishful thinking......

What on earth can I write about......

I'm sitting here mulling over the day thinking there's absolutely nothing to write about.but most blogs i read are made up of the minutiae of everyday life.I know my punctuation is appalling but i really can't type properly!My days are really busy though, I barely sit down for 10 minutes.I was thinking today that my kids have never had any interaction with jewish kids......I really hate that.I'm determined that my children will not grow up with the usual stereotypical ideas about the jewish society here.Surely it's up to our generation to instill in our kids the idea of love not hate.Maybe I'm a bit idealistic...but we have to be hopeful for our kids sake.I definately want to send my kids to the Musalaha summer camp next year where they will actually spend time interacting with and getting to know jewish kids.Have to start somewhere!

My back is killing me...........

Tes....it's back breaking work.......getting everyones books ready for school.I have 4 now in elementary school so that is alot of books.I've just got to get it over and done with.At least when they go back to school I'll be able to get some semblance of a routine again.I just sigh in despair when I look around at my messy house.It's just impossible to keep any order when they are all at home. today I bought a new camera which I am really pleased about......now all I have to do is figure out how to get photo's onto this blog!!!! I'm very computer illiterate.OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH.... i can't believe Bernie Mac is dead!! OOOOOHHHHH...poor Bernie Mac...was he not one of the most hilarious men on this planet...I'm really sad about that,i used to watch his show and roll off my sofa laughing.. now back to the heat..it is completely disabling...I can't wait until we have to wear shoes and socks again and have lovely thick blankets on the beds with hot water bottles and heating on...ooooooo..I can't wait (I say this every year without fail and then spend the whole winter whinging about the cold)

Book Club

Today was our Book Club meeting.A group of us expats living here in Nazareth meet every 6 weeks to have a general gossip and talk about the book.Our book thistime was "The Lemon Tree" by Sandy Tolan. Seeing as we are all living here in this country we thought it would be an interesting read seeing as it is about the friendship between a Jew and an Arab amidst the palestinian conflict. we certainly had a really interesting discussion.....and it really is fun to get together with all the girls!!! When I got home my house looked as though a tornado had been through it, which is always the case whenever I am not here. So I had a mini rant about that although everyone just completely ignores me(including my husband!) until I've shut up.My 2 boy's came in late from their church camp looking like 2 homeless boy's.....black from head to toe.I sent them to bed in that state telling them to have a shower in the morning!!! I just could'nt face cleaning up the Armaggedon in the shower after them!!

MAD DOGS AND ENGLISH WOMEN.........

You would think that me being a brit that I woould be relishing all this hot weather, but it's usually about this time of year that I start longing for the grey drizzle of England and the smell of wet oak trees.It's SSSSOOOOOO HHHOOOTTTTTTT!!!! I walk around all day as though I've been drugged.Can't get going with all the housework.4 or 5 in the afternoon is usually when I start getting some energy back.As I say every summer.....ROLL ON WINTER!!!!!! ....At least the kids are busy with all their summer activities. My 2 boys are obbbbsessed with kites. Every conversation that you have with them, somehow becomes about kites.The making of kites, the flying of kites...please don't talk to me about kites I say. HALLAS,BIKAFFI (which means ENOUGH!) in Arabic.