Reasons to Love Ruth (and Her Family)

So everyone remembers the family that took me in from the bus stop and got me to Idan on my first day here?  The one that the dairy manager, Ruth, belongs to?  Well if you don't, feel free to review...

Well, the point is that I've been spending a lot of time with various members of the family.  With Ruth at work and in the afternoons just hanging out.  Her sisters often go swimming with me now.  Her brother Jehonathan took Haley and I to Be'er Sheva.  And of course her whole family (including her cousins who I had never met) organized a pool party for my birthday complete with a present from every family member.  The whole family is as follows (and yes, I had to have Ruth write down all of the names for me):

Her mother and father (Esa maybe?) whose names I don't know since everyone just calls them Ima and Aba (of course).  The oldest is Jehonathan (Jonathan, pronounces Yehonaten)(24), followed by Ruth (22), Ron (19?20?), Simcha (18), Avigaijil (pronounced Avigail)(16), Talitha (14?), Batjah (pronounced Batya)(12), Schifrah (pronounced Shifrah)(10?), and Orijah (pronounced Oriah)(8?). All but Jehonathan live in Ir Ovot which is a collection of houses which were built by the British and transitioned to army base and then finally a kibbutz that fell apart.  200 meters from their backyard is an archeological dig and a km or two away is an isolated mountain surrounded by sand dunes which they call Ari's mountain after their neighbor, Rachelle's, son who died in army training.  The only people who live in Ir Ovot are Ruth and her family, their grandmother and grandfather, her aunt and their family, and Rachelle.  It's a nice little family compound.

I recently had the opportunity to spend Shabbat with them and hope to spend many more if I could move to Hatzeva.  You can almost see the field school from her house.  I spent much of Shabbat fantasizing about how I could get adopted into their family.  If I had to marry Jehonathan, Ron, or Simcha I could probably do worse.... and I'd get a huge family out of it.  Not that I love them more than my real family but I think the two would definitely get along.

So here's why I love Ruth (and her family) and why you should too:

1. They can all flare their nostrils.  It's hilarious.  All except Jehonathan so the jury's still out whether he's really related or not.  Simcha and Batjah are particularly good at it.

2. Their dad worked in agricultural extension in Paraguay because his dream since he was little was to work in community development and organic farming.  He also knows a ridiculous amount about trees.  And archeology.  It's fantastic.

3. Together with Haley and I we could fit 11 people in a teeny tiny clown car.  No one even complained about the lack of space or oxygen.  To keep the bottom from dragging in the back, though, we had reseat people on top of the car and myself on the hood.  Video forthcoming.

4. They each gave me a gift on my birthday.  Ruth gave me 22 balloons and a card and organized a party for me, Ron gave me a headband from him and Simcha that is surprisingly fantastic for a gift from two (almost) teenage boys, Avigajil got me a roll of bubble gum, Talitha made me a cheesecake pudding cake that we destroyed in about three minutes, Batjah made me a lanyard for my bag, Schifrah made me a bracelet, and Orijah gave me four balloons that said "I love you" on them and were shaped like hearts.  It was pretty fantastic.  You can commence being jealous now.  Jehonathan was supposed to get me a teddy bear but he was in Tel Aviv for his friends getting out of the army party so .... lame.


5. There are nine of them so doing the dishes only takes like 15 minutes between all of us.  And most of the time you're just standing around making fun of each other.

6.  After Shabbat dinner, Ron and Ruth play guitar and ukelele and everyone sings.  Almost exclusively in German and Hebrew but yknow... you can't win them all.  They don't even mind when me and my horrible voice join in so they must be saints (and/or deaf) as well.

7. Ruth's dad or her brothers can fix everything.  They snaked the entire plumbing system of Adi and Ynan's house to get a clog out, Jehonathan fixes air conditioning, and her dad even helped me make an anklet and a clasp by drilling holes in shells and helping me bend wire.  Her sisters are pretty darn handy too.

8. Ron likes pyrotechnics.  Last night we ended Shabbat with Ron lighting aluminum on fire at the end of a chain and spinning it around until it looked like the coolest firework display ever.  When we ran out of the aluminum scrubber things, he started filling up bags of gas and then lighting big pools of gas in designs on the ground on fire.  Just for kicks.

9. Ruth taught us how to slide down rock formations at Ari's mountain.  In between the two isolated "mountains" in the middle of this part of the Arava is a smaller hill that is mostly rock covered with a thin layer of very soft sand.  If you go to the top, there is a small warn away path for rainwater that's covered in sand where you can slide down (with a little pain) until you reach the solid 6 foot drop at the end.  It's horribly nerve wracking.  Especially with everyone laughing at you being a wuss.  But it's fun once you do it.

10. You're never alone.  Now this would probably get annoying after a while but when you're not living there it's pretty darn awesome.  You always have someone to play games with or make bracelets or cook or just sit and chat.

11. Their challah is so so so good.

12. Jungle Speed.  This is a really insanely violent game when played with people who refuse to lose (read: Ruth's sisters).

13. They have this "party area" and garden by their house which consists of a gazebo which the boys light up, a fire pit, a bunch of tables and such all outside under the trees of their garden.  Each of the kids has a plot that they're responsible for managing and planting and it's an oasis in the middle of the desert.

14. They live in the middle of the desert.  With no AC.  Or water cooler.  A desert cooler only does so much.  During the afternoon yesterday it reached 55 C (131 F).  And we were just chilling inside.  When we walked outside in the afternoon to stretch our legs it was 110 F and it felt pretty cool and fantastic.  Their dad said it once it 60 C which is pretty much the hottest temperatures I've ever heard.  So that's pretty incredible.

15. Most of them speak German, Hebrew, and pretty good English.  Which is just plain amazing. Some of them are also learning Arabic and know a little bit of Spanish from living in Paraguay.  Win for general multiculturalism.

And there you have it.  There are a billion more reasons to love Ruth's family but those were the first 15 that came to mind.  I'll update with pictures and more about work here after we finish making cheese.