It's been way too long since the last time I (Giora) provided you with an update about what's going on with the Prior-Unger family here in Pittsburgh. Some of the things I intended to write about seem by now to have become ancient history, and there's simply too much to tell... So let's start. Well, an additional note beforehand–I'm intentionally not referring to major current events, such as the disengagement from Gaza or the terrible "Katrina" hurricane. I believe all of you have sufficient sources of information and opinions about these.
Shortly after sending the previous post, we came to Israel for a (much too) short visit. The main reason was celebrating Anat's (my sister) wedding but obviously, as most of you witnessed personally, the 10 day visit was packed with tons of other things. Though not restful, the visit was terrific, and we'd like to take this opportunity and thank you all for taking the time and helping us enjoy it so very much. The first few days back in Pittsburgh weren't easy, a feeling that was intensified by the terrible heat which welcomed us. There's a lot to say about the feelings involved in such a visit, but in order to keep this message not-too-long I'll skip it here. At any rate, after a few more days, we merged again into our relaxed and pleasant Pittsburgh daily life.
As I've written previously, the summer here is extremely active, in the sense of outdoors activities and the like. There is no question that this summer was the busiest we have ever had, surely as a family. Long weekends, along with generous vacations we took were combined with the wealth of possibilities and festivities, so that we were basically jaunting around most of the time. Still in the New Zealand travel spirit, we did a LOT of hiking and camping, and were very pleased to see that the girls enjoy it as much as we do – for them sleeping in our cute tent is a real treat! In Israel, after 20 years of hiking and explorations, we got to the point of mostly hiking in familiar trails. And here, naturally, there is a whole new world to discover.
I might provide some more information about Pennsylvania in a future post, but for now it's worth mentioning that there is a huge number of very well maintained state parks and beautiful nature spots in this state and in bordering states, many of which are easily accessible from Pittsburgh. Even more so as, when living here, 2 hours of driving no longer seem like too big an ordeal. Our most recent journey deserves several additional lines. Faced with a week-off in Hadas' daycare, we decided to take one more long vacation this summer and set off for a 10-day trip to Boston. We broke the very long drive (more than 12 hours) into 3 days in each direction, and used these days to hike in two gorgeous areas –the Poconos in north-eastern Pennsylvania and the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. The Boston part of our trip was particularly pleasant, mostly thanks to our dear relatives there - Sheila, Bill, Stacy, Art & sweet little Dahlia - and their marvelous hospitality. Obviously, we didn't skip some site-seeing in the city, including the famous duck-tour, and also got to meet Israeli friends who livein Boston. All in all, we had a perfect mix of nature, city, family, friends and some rest. Even the weather smiled on us, with 6-7 beautiful sunny days – definitely not something to take forgranted in this part of the world. Oh, and most importantly – shortlyafter departing, we were thrilled to be told about our first niece!!! Hilla (Anat's sister) gave birth to Shira, a lovely baby girl, andwe're sooooooooooooo happy for Benny & Hilla.
Another aspect of our lives here, which I'm not sure I've elaborated about previously, is our pleasant social environment. One of the main barriers when moving to a new place, especially with no family nearby, is lack of friends. As things turned out, we were lucky to acquire many friends here, some of which live within a short walking distance from our apartment. Naturally, many of the families we're friendly with are Israeli; however, as time passes relationships with American families are being formed as well, many times through Noga's play-dates.Talking about the girls and their extreme friendliness with the surrounding, I'll try and limit myself to a couple of paragraphs in a grandparent-oriented style :-)
Hadas is speaking fluently, all of a sudden, articulating Hebrew as if she always knew the language, and she's pretty fluent in English as well. We speak almost only Hebrew at home, so we don't get to hear much of her English, but we're told she has no language difficulties whatsoever. She is really a big girl by now, fully potty-trained and without a diaper for quite some time now, even during night time (before the age of 2.5!). She is extremely charming and regularly conquers the hearts of those she interacts with. I guess it sounds like the usual "parent writing about his child", but I really am under the impression that she's exceptionally cute. And (well, this is an aspect hidden from most of the world), stubborn. Additionally, following some carelessness on our part, she recently started saying "shit" whenever something happens not to her liking. Not educational as it is, it's still hilarious hearing her curse... Other than that, the beginning of her new daycare last week was almost insulting: despite being moved to a new room, with new teachers, Hadas hardly bothers to give us a second look in the mornings and is usually very upset when we come to pick her up by the end of the day, practically telling us to go away. Yes, yes, I know it's better than the opposite alternative.
Noga had an exceptionally busy summer, with two types of day camps ("kaytana", that is). She was swimming in the pool at least twice a day, and developed a gorgeous tan. With so many different "frameworks" in which she has been spending time, so many different counselors and teachers, we started wondering whether there is anything in the world which might jeopardize her constant happiness. So far, we're pleased to say, it seems that there isn't–she's simply happy and shining most of the time. I don't think I fully understand it to date, but within a few days she'll be starting school!!!! Indeed, they call it kindergarten here, but for all practical purposes this is what an Israeli kid undergoes when entering first grade ("Kita Aleph"). They're physically in school (Colfax, the neighborhood public school in our case), studying and not playing for the most part. Kindergarten kids here are being taught how to read and have a specific syllabus and requirements to meet in math and science. The excitement around this transition, both for us the parents and for Noga, is huge. This is, without a doubt, a major milestone and I must say it has arrived much faster than I expected. I kind of keep asking myself - do I really have a daughter who already goes to school?!?!
Both girls are extremely confident, and trust people very easily.They instantly form connections with other kids or adults, and seeing their interactions with the world is a source of great pride for me. At the risk of being too corny, I'll say (again) that they are both girls who make parenthood a pure pleasure. Both Anat and I have numerous magical moments of many sorts with the girls, one-on-one or the whole family together. And these moments simply make life good. My current way of life explicitly puts family in the topmost priority, and as far as this aspect goes, I couldn't ask for more. Well, enough with blabbing ;-)
About my job - I still have the same non-ideal job, and will probably stick to it. Recent developments in my job-hunt left me with only options which are marginally more interesting, however extensively more demanding, leaving far less time for family life.These options were also financially superior, but oddly enough (or possibly naively?!) this is not my emphasis. At the same time my current job became less boring. Considering all the tradeoffs I decided to practically stop searching for an alternative, though if an attractive new option will pop up, things might change. Anat is working full steam on her research, working on multiple projects concurrently, studying Spanish furiously. I started taking a class at the university - auditing a course out of mere interest, though the reading tasks consume lots of time. We're both reading a lot, and are proud to say that the TV is almost never on in our home. Combine the above with regular exercising - Yoga for Anat, basketball twice a week for me, as well as the mundane unavoidable house chores (you know – cleaning, cooking, shopping, laundry etc.),and you'll see why I'm saying that our lives are pretty busy and full of activities. But, as I said, they're very good and enjoyable.
Hope you're all doing fine, Love and kisses,
Hadas, Noga, Anat & Giora
PS:I'll conclude with introducing a new thing – recommendations about useful web sites. Most of you use the web regularly, and it might beof help. Featuring this time:1. Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/) – an excellent service, significantly better than MapQuest. Try the "Satellite" option which shows you a photo of whatever you're after. Additionally, when viewing instructions about directions between places, you have a sleek drag-and-drop capability, as well as zoom-in on every step ofthe explanation, when you click on it. Admittedly, though, it's useful mainly for maps and directions in the US and not in Israel.
2. BugMeNot (http://www.bugmenot.com/) – are you familiar with the case where all you need from some web site is a tiny thing, and still that site requires a tiring and awkward registration? I bet you are. Well, in such a case go to http://www.bugmenot.com/, feed the URL of the site you want to login to and poof, you have a login and a password. Very convenient!
Hope these tips are useful – I'll appreciate any feedback.
Wednesday, September 7
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