I'm grateful for: Juice; good books; staying mostly pleasant today.

I could write a really pouty entry here, but I don't think I will for a wonder. It's mostly about not getting any sleep last night. I didn't fall asleep until after 5am, so I can safely say I didn't sleep last night. I did sleep a little bit this morning but trust me, it wasn't enough.

I also felt like someone had been beating on me with wooden mallets. All over. I think if it was just muscle aches, it would've been okay. If it was just the horrible, sweaty heat it would've been, well, better. But it was both and, on top of so little sleep, it was an effort not to be really cranky, whiny and bitchy today.

I think I succeeded for the most part. Yeaaa me.

I watched a new-to-me movie that we rented at the video store in Netivot. It's about illegal workers, and follows a fellow, an Xtian African who comes to Israel on a pilgrimage and gets locked up because they refuse to believe he isn't here just to work illegally. Of course he ends up falling into work as an illegal alien, loses sight of his purpose in coming here, gets involved in this whole family thing, ends up getting arrested to be deported and finally, in the police car taking him to prison, gets to Jerusalem. It's a typical Israeli sort of ending.

He goes through all this awful stuff, getting used and abused by the Jewish Israelis who employ him, the Xtians he meets going to church, and some of the other illegal workers he lives and works with - losing his moral compass and finding it again just as he gets arrested. And finally arriving in Jerusalem, in handcuffs. He convinces the policemen who are transporting him to stop to take his picture with the city as background so he can take it back with him to his village, where he is going to be a priest.

It's a sweet and happy ending after all.

The movie is in English, Hebrew, some Zulu, some Arabic, and I think there is even a bit of Rumanian in the very beginning. The only subtitles were in Hebrew, but we managed, with a little help from Havva (really only a little) to follow along, so I guess our Hebrew really is better than it was.

We also watched The Full Monty for our Friday night family movie. For Eliyahu it is best to avoid movies with subtitles entirely. For a little while yet, I suppose.

Zechy continues to read aloud to me from (I think it's) Cryptonomicon. If I've got the name wrong, it's not very important. It is really an incredible book, and includes enough math, history, and technical information to make it quite an educational experience. Zechy said he was actually reading it at the same time as studying for his math G.E.D. test, and that it helped him a lot. :-) More importantly, it's loads of fun.

I'm still hurting about Hans. The phone rang well after sundown tonight, and I automatically assumed it was him calling, as he does, at a time he knows he can't get caught talking with us on the phone. Actually it was Jessica, so that was a relief. I won't be able to talk to her later - she said they would be away all weekend - but I will phone and leave a message so she knows we got her message, and so on.

Sometimes your children break your heart. Jessica did it nine years ago, now it's Hans' turn. Perhaps some of the others will as well. It's good to love lots of people, so when loving some of them hurts, you have plenty of others to fall back on.

Thinking of which I am WAY behind on telephoning people I want to stay close to here. I'll try and make that up on Sunday, but that means I'll be exhausted at the end of it, no matter what happens. I find talking on the phone to be quite exhausting.

And I'd better try to get some sleep. It's after 1:30am now. Sometimes it's hard to want to go to sleep because this is the only time the temperatures are anything near bearable. But I want to be less of a basketcase tomorrow, if possible.

Oh, one last thing, John has almost finished fencing in the back yard. Which means it is so much easier with goats and dogs. We can just let them out, although with the dogs we have to make sure the chickens are safe first. *sigh* Animals can be a pain sometimes, too.

I'm listening to the fan, which sounds like a helicopter overhead sometimes, but right now it's not.

:: Yesterdays : Tomorrows ::

~~~Last Five Entries~~~
Hi and goodbye - 2010-10-15
I'll be moving on - 2010-10-10
Gold membership and stuff - 2010-10-10
Decisions, decisions - 2010-10-07
Days to go - 2010-10-06