Playing with the Locals!!

OH MAN!! Everyone!! I finally have something great to blog about!! This afternoon I was having mixed feelings about going into the city, sometimes I get pretty homebody and don't want to leave the center and I was feeling that way today. But then I heard that Synth was going to go help Lawrence, another person here, go fix someones window so I figured it would be a great chance to interact with a local family. We left the gates of the Jerusalem center and walked just a few steps to some apartments across the road. We walked into this outdoor hallway and went to the second door where the house was that needed the repair. At first I was a little confused, there were just a few kids around and no parents. One of the kids spoke English really well, I learned that his name was Achmad and he was 11. When I asked him how he knew English so well he said that he took it in school but he also reads the dictionary and watches TV in English sometimes, he is so smart. We met his dad, who speaks good English because he is a taxi driver, and we said he is so smart! He said, ya he is. He is a beautiful child, seriously. I am in love. So we went into the house, the front room was like a sitting room, much like a room in the United States except the walls were just cement, painted yellow halfway up the wall. So we sat in there and started playing cards and I noticed the mom was sitting in a room that was like the living room, where the TV was. She didn't speak English though. So we sat in there and then I left the room with Synthia and there were more kids in the outdoor hallway and so we started chatting with them. There were about 6 kids. There was a girl that was 14 who was really nice, she was over the fence in the courtyard of her house and she spoke English pretty well. I started talking to her and I learned that her name was Nasreel and that her dad is an ambulance driver. She told me I was really sweet and nice. That made me so happy. She was too grown up to play games with us but it was nice to chat with her. I want to talk to her again. So we started playing duck duck goose with the kids. haha it was so great. We all sat in this hallway, so we weren't in a real circle and we couldn't walk around the circle, just like reach over and tap every ones heads. So when the goose was chosen they would jump up and chase the other person to the end of the hallway into this courtyard where all the laundry was drying on lines and then they would tag their opponent and then run back and sit down really quick in our discombobulated circle. It was the best. Sooo funny!! We were screaming, dodging clothes lines, etc. So in the middle of this the mom comes out and yells something at her kids and we asked what she said and they said she said like you are all so happy right now, something like that. I thought she was like, "Stop running down the hallway and being so loud!" haha but nope she smiled at us and let us keep playing with her kiddos! So we did that then we took pictures with them and of course, being kids, they all wanted a turn to take the picture so they did that and then we played hand games. Like where you slap each others hands and sing a song. They taught us a new one in Arabic, I know the first part. Its countries. So you say zero, zero, zero, Ameerka, Europa, Espania, Paris. And then that is all I know haha. It was so fun though. So we did that then we left to go home and we were going to take the long nature walk way so we crossed the street and they followed us and asked us to play with them at the park, which was right there, we were passing it on our way. We of course obliged! It was such a blast. We met lots more kids at the park and they all came over to us and wanted to play with us. Except first off they wanted us to go down the big slide so we all did, by now it was just me, Victoria, and Synthia. After the slide we sort of split off in the park. I went over and spun on this spinny toy. So it has 3 seats and then someone pushes you and spins you soo fast. It was so much fun. So I jumped in and the kids spun me, then I pushed them, and then they spun me again. I loved it and Synthia snapped a picture of me with the kids spinning so I hope that turns out way cute. After this we went to the big play area and chatted with some other kids. There was this darling girl wearing this pink outfit, I forget her name, but she loved me! They asked us to play tag with them so we did, then we played hide and go seek and then we left. When we were getting ready to leave they were like we won't see you again! We want you to play with us some more!! We told them we would for sure come back and that is not a lie. Achmad asked for my phone number haha I told him I couldn't give to him but that I knew where he lived so we would stop by again. We told them we would go to the park next Friday. I can't wait! It was my first real cultural experience with the people and I loved it. I realized that children are the same everywhere, as are the mothers. At the park all the moms were sitting on the side wall chatting while their kiddos played, much like a park in the U.S. We are all human beings, mothers love their children, children love to play, we all share the same desires and yearnings. It is an amazing lesson I am always learning everywhere I go. I am so thankful to be in Israel. Today I was missing Grant a lot, so much and going out and losing myself playing with these kids made me so happy, I stopped thinking about myself and just enjoyed the moment of making these kids day; who knows I may have even had more fun than them. I want to get out and do things like that more. They lift my spirits and they show the locals here how much we love them and want to be with them. It was an amazing afternoon, nough said.