Sitting by the Roadside

The National Bible Bee Competition ( www.biblebee.org ) this year took place in San Antonio, Texas, November 16-20.  My sister and I were competing in the Junior division and my two younger siblings in the Primary division. My family drove across two states to Texas in our eight-passenger van packed with our personal belongings and a good amount of cookware (my brother has severe allergy to soy, eggs, milk, nuts, and peanuts, so we have to cook all his food).  We took a one-night stop in El Paso before continuing on to San Antonio. Registration (Wed. 11/16) When we arrived in San Antonio, I didn't feel much of the "Bible Bee spirit" yet; it was more like living in a dream.  Until Wednesday afternoon, that is. On the sixteenth (Wed.) we registered and got our name tags.  Our family photo was taken, and right after that a camera crew came up to us and interviewed my siblings and I.  I didn't mind, because I liked interviews, and they said they might s

We leave Israel tonight!  It has been a wonderful time to be in the Holy Land.  Here are some highlights from my trip: Monopoly (in Hebrew!!).  Our family does not have a set, though my siblings and I play it at friends' houses sometimes.  I had to try to recall how Monopoly was played and guess our way around the board.  I could only read a word or two on the "community chest" and "chance" cards ("lose" and "win"), so we had to take a couple of them out of the deck when I couldn't figure out what was written on it. Popcorn popped the "old-fashioned way"--on the stovetop!  The previous residents of our rented apartment left a bag of popcorn kernels in the cabinet (my family usually doesn't buy popcorn). The gigantic sand volcano my siblings built at a beach next to the Mediterranean Sea. Eggs!  What a treat since I don't get them often (my brother is severely allergic to them). Delicious chocola

Here are a few photos from the wonderful time my family and I had at the Tel Aviv beach!  The shoreline is only a five-minute walk from our apartment. View of the beach from a hill directly overlooking it. The sea was warm, unlike the cold water we were used to in the beaches of southern California (not many waves here, though!). My brother's sand castle (see note here ). The waves are beautiful during the evening (a different beach). Sunset on the beach.