In my excitement at doubling our adult:dwarf ratio with a visit from Mum and Dad, I succumbed to numeric dyslexia which often rears its head in relation to the 24 hour clock, and managed to arrive at the airport with the Lozenge 4 hours before their flight arrived.
Luckily, with a large open space, a few cafes and shops and a four year old in tow, there is plenty to do - even after you've eaten 2 genetically modified sized Danish pastries in lieu of dinner, and gone up and down the escalators a few times.
And from the moment they did eventually arrive, things in our lives seemed to go smoothly again. Our big room in which we do most of our living, was transformed from jumble sale to orderly in just over a day; I managed to do a bit of work without Rashimi standing right by my desk asking me: 'Are you not bizzy? Are you not important?' And even better, in this land - in some ways the cultural and religious centre of the earth - got to be a tourist for the first time in a couple of months. And I even had a moment to crank up my Arabic classes again, in a branch of Al Quds (Jerusalem) university which is within walking distance from our house.
Poor J has been suffering from the very small amount of Arabic spoken here, and it's easy for previous standards to slip - which is why he might be found reading: 'The ten measures of the trilateral Arabic verb' in bed before we go to sleep. So it's probably good for our marriage if I have an equivalent going on, even if I haven't reached the trilaterals quite yet.
We made very few plans for the 10 days Mum and Dad were here, but they couldn't have been more harmonious. However our new Palestinian friend Johnny at Holy Land Insurance, lived up to his name by also ensuring we had a more informed look into this extraordinary city, by very generously giving us some guided days around Jerusalem, Bethlehem and beyond with his friend.
So everyone was smiling - and we relished every minute of their company as you learn how to do, when you live far from home.
Luckily, with a large open space, a few cafes and shops and a four year old in tow, there is plenty to do - even after you've eaten 2 genetically modified sized Danish pastries in lieu of dinner, and gone up and down the escalators a few times.
And from the moment they did eventually arrive, things in our lives seemed to go smoothly again. Our big room in which we do most of our living, was transformed from jumble sale to orderly in just over a day; I managed to do a bit of work without Rashimi standing right by my desk asking me: 'Are you not bizzy? Are you not important?' And even better, in this land - in some ways the cultural and religious centre of the earth - got to be a tourist for the first time in a couple of months. And I even had a moment to crank up my Arabic classes again, in a branch of Al Quds (Jerusalem) university which is within walking distance from our house.
Poor J has been suffering from the very small amount of Arabic spoken here, and it's easy for previous standards to slip - which is why he might be found reading: 'The ten measures of the trilateral Arabic verb' in bed before we go to sleep. So it's probably good for our marriage if I have an equivalent going on, even if I haven't reached the trilaterals quite yet.
We made very few plans for the 10 days Mum and Dad were here, but they couldn't have been more harmonious. However our new Palestinian friend Johnny at Holy Land Insurance, lived up to his name by also ensuring we had a more informed look into this extraordinary city, by very generously giving us some guided days around Jerusalem, Bethlehem and beyond with his friend.
So everyone was smiling - and we relished every minute of their company as you learn how to do, when you live far from home.
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