Out and about
Today we went on a trip organized by the parents of my eldest daughter’s class. You never saw such a badly organized event. We spent half of the day lost, driving around, looking for where we were supposed to be going.

In the morning we got lost on the way to the breakfast stop. I was starving and getting very grumpy. The place we were meant to have turned off, according to the guide’s explanation, did not exist, and we’d typically left our roadmap at home. (the guide was one of the mothers).

After breakfast, we went to see some caves, which used to be inhabited by prehistoric people. We found that alright, because we’ve been there before.

Then we got lost again on the way to the lunch stop. This time we were lost with about five other cars full of hungry families. Getting lost together is so much more fun. We found the group eventually. Thank goodness for cell phones. How did we ever manage without them?

By the way, everywhere we went was packed with picnicking and day tripping Israeli families. And the traffic was very heavy on the way home. So much for the terrified-Israelis-huddling-at-home theory. So there, terrorists, you lose again!

As Farid says “people who live through violence become increasingly numb to it in degrees. its a survival mechanism that otherwise would prevent people from showing up for life. but that's all we can do, isn't it? just continue showing up for life. as they do in israel, in bali, in russia, in maryland and washington, d.c.”
(I’m not sure how to link directly to this post of his. It ‘s from 10/26. The one before it – 10/25 is worth reading, too. Very moving).