Weekly Update

Not that I've been posting weekly, but maybe this title will encourage me to start a trend.....I do think it's interesting to have a diary of what life is like here, and my friend Heidi (hi Hids!) told me she likes to "compare and contrast" life in the US with my reports of life here, so here are some random thoughts:

First off, the public school year ended with a bang.  Or maybe that was more of a whimper.  It seems the teacher's union representing middle- and high school teachers was less-than-thrilled with the mandate handed down to them to work nine extra days at the end of the year to make up for "corona days".  When negotiations broke down, a lawsuit was brought, and last Friday, an hour before Shabbos, the court ruled in favor of the union and BOOM, just like that, school had ended for the year.  Most people didn't even find out until after Shabbos ended Saturday night and, based on what I saw on the local groups, there was a general feeling of "WHAAAAT?  Yesterday was my kids' last day at school?!  There was no closure! They didn't even take home their stuff!!!"

For our family, it hasn't made any difference.  The ruling only applies to Penina's grades/school and she was only going in for bagruyot matriculation exams anyway.  And they'll still be having those until the end of July (where's that eye roll emoji?!)

Speaking of bagrut exams, here's some crazy news: Currently there are almost 1000 corona patients in the educational system and over 23,000 people in quarantine from schools. Yet the District Physician's office today announced that quarantined students can sit for bagrut matriculation exams, which, as Dr. Eliana Aaron (you can join her daily Whatsapp update group at https://chat.whatsapp.com/EewEcjXLjY39MRSpXC4qcj) so aptly notes: "makes no sense epidemiologically unless they are in complete isolation from other students.  University exams will be given over Zoom, not in-person whenever possible.  It is reasonable to ask why high school students can be sacrificed to COVID sitting in a testing room with 'quarantined' students, while university students remain protected?"  YEAH--you tell 'em, Dr. Eliana!  Is the Israeli educational system's motto "Bagrut uber alles"?! 

Ilana is preparing for 8th grade graduation this week.  Since they have been together at school for the past few weeks, it is not as challenging as the virtual graduations students had in the US (although I loved how our friend Eitan's school made a video of each student walking with cap and gown and giving a speech).  The school originally announced that they would be making a video of the play and song/dance the girls had put together, and that Thursday's official graduation ceremony would only be for the girls and school staff.  I'm hearing whispers that they're trying to find a way for the mothers to attend. Meanwhile, here is the class picture (thanks to Meyrav's Boutique Photography), which makes me want to burst out laughing and crying at the same time:

Ilana is bottom row, second from right.  MAZAL TOV, Ilana!

And, lastly, the puppy update!  His name is Percy (officially "Sir Percival of [our town]), but, yeah, there's a little bit of Percy Jackson homage in there as well.  Here is my favorite picture of him.  He's playing "the tickle game" with Chana, which he looooves to do:

Who even knew dogs had armpits?!  He had his first vet appointment and we found out he weighed 800 grams.  That's less than a package of flour! We really saw it when we gave him a bath--that puppy is all fluff and very little else!  Ilana has not disappointed as a pet parent, getting up early in the morning with him (and a few times during the night) and showing endless patience. Here is a photo she took yesterday: