Ein Gedi - HG's first weekend away

On their recent Israel trip HG's Bubbe and Zayde treated the family to a weekend away in the scenic Dead Sea oasis of Ein Gedi. Aside from the Shabbat on which she was born, this was HG's first sleep away from home since she was born.

The family stayed in the basic, rustic lodgings of the kibbutz guesthouse (the nicer rooms were all booked), very different from what HG is used to at home. The kibbutz provided her with a big playpen/crib which she actually seemed to enjoy, whether because it was something different and new, whether because it was located right


facing a full length mirror or whether because unlike either her crib or playpen at home, this one was very close to the floor, very open and square, allowing her more visibility. In any case, she had a ball playing with the mirror, making faces in it and watching Ima and Abba in it.


The grown ups beds were also for her to play with - as she does at home, she would climb up to the bed and pull herself to a stand on the window sill above it, looking out the window. Only here, unlike at home, the window had curtains, not shutters, more fun to play with, especially peekaboo. Of course the view out of the window was also a surprise, lawns and banyan trees and all sorts of things she doesn't see at home.

She spent quite some time absorbing the landscape, fascinated by the trees and flowers of this residential botanical gardens, staring out at the rugged cliffs and mountains and briefly transfixed by the Dead Sea.

HG has certainly begun noticing birds and animals. She seems to have learnt to associate birdsong with birds, when she hears bird calls she turns toward the sound, apparently looking for the bird. The wolf whistling Tristram's starling, a common Ein Gedi area bird, certainly gave her a run for her money! They spent a lot of time in the tree outside the chalet and woke Ima and HG each morning.

Another attraction for HG were the many foreign tourists staying at the guesthouse. She seemed as much an attraction for some of them as the flora and fauna. This weekend HG heard several new European languages, and met tourists from Italy, Germany, France, assorted Scandinavian countries and Belgium. HG isn't talking yet of course, but she did seem to register that they talked differently, sometimes cocking her head in the direction of conversation as though listening to the new sounds.



She charmed them all, sometimes crawling over to them or their tables at meal time, as if to say hello, or using their chairs for standing practice. She also liked using the lobby, which was usually quite empty, for crawling and walking practice, exploring the furniture and using the lighter chairs as push along walkers. Fortunately when she escaped from Abba, Ima or her grandparents and went off to explore the next table, the other guests took it all in good humour, turning to find a small baby pulling herself up on their chairs or crouching under their table and studying these new people.

HG enjoyed being taken to the substantial mini-zoo on the kibbutz grounds, though she seemed a little nervous of the large rabbits and remains scared of cats. She alternately enjoyed watching the peacocks and was scared when the free roaming birds wandered a little to close to her. She liked watching the goats, finches, racoon and parrot.

On the way home the family stopped at the ancient Ein Gedi synagogue. HG saw her first real Roman era mosaic, and seemed interested in the patterns. She probably wanted to crawl along and examine it, but remained safely ensconced in Ima's arms.

Finally, there was a stop at the Ein Feshkha springs where HG had her first chance to wade in a pool or fresh spring water. She seemed a little wary at first, perhaps because it was rather cool water (though a very hot day) but once Ima was splashing her legs in the water too, HG got into the spirit of things, though she still seemed a little unsure what the point was.