Friday, March 25, 2011

Marathon Friday

On the streets of Jerusalem, it is like Yom Kippur, only you can sit at the Cafe with friends and do stuff.    What seems like the entire city is closed on account of the Marathon, only the head nursery teacher and her husband (who live close by) were able to walk to the Gan, the rest of the staff hampered by the lack of public transportation and taxis.  Most nurseries were closed today for this reason.

I dropped Raphaela off at Gan this morning and considered taking her right home, it was clear to me that there was an air of panic, with 28 children expected and no assurances that the rest of the teachers would be able to arrive.  "How are we going to change all those diapers by ourselves?"  asked Sarah...After receiving assurances that "it would all be OK, but pick Raphaela up earlier than usual," I left her there happy and playing, and took to the streets.

Having canceled all my patients for the morning, I stood on Palmach and joined the crowd cheering on the runners, I drank a cup of coffee in leisure, accomplished local errands, and hung out with friends.  Watching the runners, I started to tear up, thinking about all the Boston Marathons I had watched over the years from our house;   my parents live right near Heartbreak Hill, the most rigorous and challenging part of the race.  Memories of home and childhood, but I am watching men, women and even children, athletes from all over the planet, run on the streets of my neighborhood in Jerusalem, my home for the last 14 years.

For a week that started out with the theme, "Shit Happens," it was nice to go into Shabbat with more of a feeling of joy and belonging.

And I am more determined and inspired than ever to run the Jerusalem Marathon next year.

3 comments:

Rachel Selby said...

Lucky you, we had no gan today. And good luck for the Marathon next year. Shabbat Shalom

Unknown said...

Hello, my name is Erica. I live in Tel Aviv and just found out that i'm pregnant. Needless to say this was not planned. I only made alyiah in August and i'm only 22 years old. I'm scared and not sure what I should do. I came across your bolg and you seem to have everything going pretty well. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions somtime. Is there any way I can contact you?

Doc said...

Erica, I would be more than happy to speak with you and help you any way I can, email me at liora.leeder@gmail.com

BTW, there are some days that work out great, and some that are harder than I ever imagined.