Sensory Overload

Today started out with a special treat for breakfast -- pancakes.
Not exactly the healthiest of breakfasts, so we don't have them often. The kids thought I was amazing for making them a bear and dinosaur shaped pancake. Boy, it's nice to have kids that are so easy to please!


We decided to take a journey into the Old City this afternoon to buy some souvenirs and birthday presents for friends and family. Since we were going to be gone for a large part of the day, we decided that it would be a good time to defrost our large freezer. As I was moving it's contents to the other freezer, I realized that I might have a slight carbohydrate problem. Look at all of these different flours:

I have cake flour, bread flour, pastry flour, semolina flour, wholewheat flour, and white flour.
I actually do use all of these, but I thought it was very humorous to see so many.

We had our driver pick us up and take us to the Old City (our car still isn't fixed), and I have to say, it was a nice start to our day not having to search for a place to park. When we've gone to the Old City in the past we've had to park about 1/4 mile away and walk. I can't post pictures of the items I purchased this time because it would spoil the surprise. But I was finally able to find a gift for Heather (I got myself the same thing, so I'm pretty sure she'll like it), and I have some things for Hope's birthday that's coming up soon. My daughter brought along the money that she's been saving and bought some stuffed animals for her friends. We got some other items as well for my family, and we got some pretty good deals. My husband is getting really good at this bargaining thing. He gives a price, and he doesn't budge. One item we were given a price of 480 shekels (about $120), but we weren't about to pay that. My husband said 200 is all we'll give you. The man looked shocked of course, but it's funny how as soon as we started to walk away he started to lower his price. But my husband stood firm. My husband kept saying no, and the man kept lowering. 300--no, 250--no, 220--NO, okay 210--NO. Just guess what price we finally paid? That's right; 200. The man made us promise not to tell anyone where we bought this item and how much we paid. It was funny the tactics that these vendors will use. They would show us their wares and they would be covered in dust. They would say, "Oh, it's holy dust." Like that's going to make me want it more. One man whispered to us, "We Christians need to help each other out. You buy this from me and I'll give you a good price." It's funny how fast he "converted" to Christianity when he saw us walk through the door! One vendor was trying to sell us something and I was telling my husband how I didn't want that one because it had some damage on it. The man got upset and as we were walking away said loudly "under his breath", your wife is too fussy. I don't know how people in this part of the world react to that kind of comment, but my husband was not happy. He turned around and told this man to watch his mouth, which the man didn't seem to like being told. It's amazing how quiet and still this very busy street got all of a sudden. I was touched that my husband wanted to defend my honor like that, but I quickly pulled him away down the street. After we made our final purchase we started back the way we came so that we could leave the city and head back home. But in going back, guess who we would have to walk by? As soon as I saw the man who called me fussy, I suggested that we take another side road that I thought would take us back out to where we needed to be. I couldn't have been more wrong. Imagine floating down a gentle river, calm and serene---that's home. Upon entering the Old City----that's when the river starts becoming a white water rapids adventure. With our wrong turn, we were now in the Muslim quarter of the city----this is like going over a waterfall! It was so crowded!!! I was hanging on to my daughter and my purse and sticking like glue to my husband in front of me. Not because I wanted to be that close to him, but because the people behind me were pushing us together. We walked, and walked, and walked through these crowds, down narrow alleyways crammed with shops on either side. We finally emerged from the covered areas and saw the daylight again, but we were still in the crowds. We pushed our way through the people and made it to higher ground. We had come out of the city at the complete opposite side of where we had entered! We had walked that far! We called our driver to come pick us up, and we were hoping he'd hurry because this isn't the friendliest part of town. Especially on a busy Saturday. Just look at this picture of the street where we were. This is who they needed directing traffic and people:


This is an Israeli police officer, and an Israeli soldier. *Notice the huge gun slung over his shoulder* We finally got out of there and headed home where we crashed on the couch for a couple of hours. I think we've all decided that we don't want to go back there for a long time!