New Baby # 2

Well I don’t know if good things come in threes or not- but at least for us this month has been a veritable treat.After our lovely holiday in the Canaries and my sweet little Piglet (see below) and buying our tickets to Santana’s concert in Juen,  I got another cutie new prezzy – a Hyundai i20 RED! Now I am really spoilt. Just hope it’s not true what the car salesman said that police stop people in red cars more. We shall see. Meantime I feel that everything is a little incongruous what with all the terrible world news from Haiti and all .It makes me feel a bit Oscar Wilde-ish decadent.

Then I feel what the hell- there are plenty of people more well off than me,right? There will always be people better and worse off than you are in this oh so consumer world Here is a pic of new baby #2

new Baby #2

Adorable isn’t it? Thinking of calling it Rudolf except that sounds a bit too Germanic. All suggestions will be seriously considered…

The school year which was plodding ponderously along seems suddenly to have speeded up ,with the Winter Bagrut upon us and the end of the first semester and the Purim holidays not far away.So can I start dreaming/planning for the summer holidays, and Japan? Of course I can !

Observed a lesson for my student Michal this week,for the first time.

I was actually very impressed with her classroom control and her rapport with the kids, despite her having to deal with multiple disruptions and even a pillar punkt in the middle of her classroom. She did pretty well and my impression was the most of the kids were actually with her and willing to participate.

Hope she sticks it out – she will be a good teacher. I again reflect on the necessity for novice teachers to have some kind of support and mentoring,without which our job is impossible, frustrating and soul-destroying to say the very least. And again I think how nice it will be to retire early… dream ,dream,dream… etc

here we are again- thoughts of a travelholic

Well now we are back from our amazing trip to Cambodia and Vietnam,guess what the crazy piglet is up to? Yes you guessed it ,dreaming of her next destination. It’s called travelmania, itchy feet and various other derogatory terms.

Anyhow, to anybody interested in my trip account, this is not the place; you can drop by  my virtual tourist page where you will find all the details and pictures.

However what I can say is  that I am in love with Asia. This is definitely partly because it is so different from Europe. But it also has to do with the fact that the travelling there is so cheap, and everything we see there makes us gasp with wonder. Even the madhouse that is Saigon was entrancing. Standing trying to cross the busy roads clogged with motorbikes and feeling like a 3 year old when a kindly Vietnamese comes to help you across is great.

Eating Fish Amok in Phnom Penh Russian market was unforgettable. And standing under an umbrella in the pouring monsoon rains in Angkor Wat to gaze up at the apsara carvings on the temple was wonderful.And having a bee fly up my pants as I cling to the guide on the back of a motorbike,as we bounce down a dirt track on the way to Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia, I will not forget that in a hurry either.

Can’t even go into all the other amazing experiences we had there. But, as usual, it is like scratching the travel itch for me, it just made me scream out “more more, I’m still not satisfied”!It’s not just the sights ,smells and tastes which intrigue me either. The people are so different at first glance, and then just like us ,when it comes down to one on one experiences.You pant up the steps in a temple in 35 degrees heat and then smile at someone else doing the same thing,and your shared wordless experience gives you a thrill.Or you smile at someone’s baby in a crowded market and you have an instant bond,if only for a fleeting instant.In Europe you tend to hire a car, and then hubby has to deal with the driving and I do the navigation. End result, hubby doesn’t get to see the view, while I am ooh-ing and ah-ing. Food and sleeps in Europe are expensive,and  you are just one of the hoard of other tourists traipsing around Italy, the UK, Greece,wherever. And if it’s France, you are a stupid foreigner…But in Asia, first of all you are a curiosity to be gaped at and photographed,and especially smiled and nodded at.

So where to next? Probably the Canary Island of Gran Canaria for Hanuka break because it’s the only European destination I can find which isn’t going to be freezing cold.I know it’s 2 flights to get there but after 3 flights each way to Cambodia and back that’s a cinch for us. Gran Canaria looks to have varied landscapes and easy to get around by rented car. Hope it won’t be prohibitively expensive (god I hate the Euro!)Beloved Asia will have to wait till next year. No point in going to China,  Japan or Korea for a week, right?