Postcard from... Israel

The Dead Sea, the Old City and Nutella pizzas. Plus Frida's responses to Classical Kids' questions...

Dear Classical Wisdom Kids,

Joel here (Frida’s dad) with a quick note to parents and friends of our Little Learners…

First off, welcome back to another Postcards from... As long time readers know, our little family are “away schooling,” which we think of as similar to homeschooling… only, without the home.

For the past couple of months, we’ve been traveling from place to place, city to city, country to country. We began our Junior Grand Tour back in Tivoli, Italy, and have since visited Turkey, Jordan and Israel. Tomorrow, we head to Greece, where we’ll spend a month or so visiting plenty of ancient sites and museums and, of course, making more Postcards and Owly videos for you along the way.

If you’re just joining us, feel free to catch up on our adventures here. You can also sign up for our Classical Kids Members section, where we have tons of fun activities, games, stories and printable material to help acquaint our Little Learners with the wonders of the ancient world.

As you’ll see in these pages, we’re all about “learning by doing.” Perhaps that’s practicing foreign languages through immersion… studying ancients sites by getting our shoes dusty… or developing math skills by reading train timetables, calculating time zone differences or practicing currency conversions (and figuring out which country has the strongest currency to reward a lost tooth…)

Life is full of lessons, and we’re on the lookout to learn as much as we can along the journey. Speaking of which, we’ve managed once again to leave our packing to the very last minute… so we’re going to turn you over to our co-author, Frida, for today’s installment of Postcards from...

Please enjoy…

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Postcard from...Israel

By Frida Bowman 

Hi! We’re in Jerusalem. Today, I’m not going to tell you what a camel smells like, because I did that last week. Instead, I’m going to tell you about the Old City.

We arrived here last Friday. We drove here from Eilat, which is on the Red Sea. On the way, we stopped at the Dead Sea, which is so salty that you can practically walk on the water. The water was turquoise and the sand was brown with white salt everywhere. 

When we got to Jerusalem, in the afternoon, we walked to the Old City. Then we found the path that Jesus walked on. The street was old and very narrow. We spoke to an old man who was selling beautiful jewelry with ancient Roman glass. He told us about the fourteen Stations of the Cross. I don’t remember all of them, but there was one where Jesus fell and put his hand against a rock. We put our hands on the same rock. It was orangey-brown and very smooth. People have been touching this rock for thousands of years. 

Walking the Via Dolorosa (the path Jesus took)

Next, we went to the Western Wall. It was tall and wide and it had a woman’s side and a men’s side. There were lots of people praying and bowing. Some people were even singing in Hebrew, which is an ancient Jewish language. 

Watching the Western Wall

After a while, we got hungry and needed to eat dinner. Mommy’s sugar levels were crashing, but because it was Shabbat (that’s the day of rest for Jewish people), all the Jewish restaurants were closed. So, we went to a lovely Armenian restaurant with a friendly waiter. For dessert we ate a Nutella pizza. I had the leftovers for breakfast the next day. 

My mommy told me, “You can’t eat your Kinder egg until you finish your Nutella pizza.” It was the best breakfast ever. And in the Kinder egg, I even got a dolphin. 

I’ll write to you next time from the place where I’ll hopefully lose my tooth. (It’s been wiggly-wobbly forever!)

Bye for now!

Frida

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And now for your Postcards to Frida (with responses)…

Hi Frida,

Can you go to Japan in Nagasaki to see a temple where they throw money and pray? It’s really cool, I’ve been there. Are there any temples like that there? 

- Mr. YouTube (age 9)

Frida: Oh cool! One of my friend’s mother is from there. No there aren’t temples like that here, but there is a big wall where they pray… and they are still fighting over it actually!

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Hi Frida, 

Why did you start going all over the world?

- Electrical (age 8) 

Frida: Ummm… because it’s fun and you get to see new areas.

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Hi Frida & Owly!

How is it there? Did you see anything cool? 

-Box (age 9)

Frida: Where I am there is the strangest thing in the whole world… the DEAD Sea. Do you want to know why it’s crazy? Cuz it’s only salt and a few drops of water. So you sit there and you float! You can’t even swim… you practically walk on water. And make sure you don’t have any cuts! I had a cut on my knee and it stung (though it’s good because it’s cleaning it).

(Here’s daddy “swimming”… I mean not swimming - floating!)

Hello Frida & Owly, 

Are there any surprises? Things that happen you didn’t expect? 

- Cherry (age 6)

Frida: The Dead Sea to be so salty you can literally walk on it! I also expected the Red Sea to be red… but no! It just meant it was south. Actually it should have been called the Blue Sea…

Hi Frida, 

Have you ever went to California? 

- Messi (age 8) 

Frida: When I was two years old, I did. But I can’t remember it, because I was two.

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Hi Frida, 

Do they have any storage houses where you are at? 

- Candy (age 7)

Frida: Umm…. Maybe? Probably…

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Guess my real name. If you guess my name you get one of my mom’s Hersheys. 

- Tiger (age 7 1/2)

Frida: John? Mike? Sally? Lily?

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Hello Frida, 

Why don’t you go to school? Do you like crystals? If you do like crystals, we have that in common. I like crystals, too. 

- Tiger Lilly (age 7)

Frida: I also like crystal… My birthstone is a crystal! It’s hard to go to school when you’re traveling. Imagine when I’m in Jordan for one day and then the next day I have to leave the school again in the morning!

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Hi Frida & Owly! 

I like traveling, too. I’ve been to Reno, Texas and New York and more places. Have you been to Texas? New York or Reno? 

-Roller Whistler (age 7)

Frida: I have been to Texas and New York… but I’ve never been to Reno. What does it look like? What’s your favorite color? Mine is Orange-y pink.

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Hi Frida, 

Where do you live if you travel everywhere?

-Space Kale (age 7) 

Frida: I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina, when I’m not traveling. When I’m traveling I live in hotels. My dad always wanted to live in hotel… but the closest we get to living in a hotel is back in Buenos Aires because next door is a hotel, which has one of my favorite restaurants. Yummm… I call it Tiger restaurant because its logo is a tiger.

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Hi Frida, 

Which one is the funnest place you’ve been to? 

-Noodle (age 7)

Frida: Ushuia, Argentina… at the end of the world! It was fun because the hotel was awesome and the place was awesome. There are adorable penguins!

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I just want to say hi. I love foxes, and I have an owl plushy, too! 

-Sandy the Fox (age 9)

Frida: I also love foxes. My cousin’s favorite animal is a fox. And I have giant fox toy that gets up to my hip when it stands on its hind legs.

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Hi Frida & Owly, 

Do you have candy? What is your favorite candy? 

- House (age 6) 

Frida: Yes! The last candy I ate was called Sour flush. It was a little toilet. You undo the plastic, open it up and there are fake plumbers that are actually lollypops. It was really yummy.

Hey Frida,

What’s your favorite to read? Hey, also Frida, my favorite books are Wings of Fire, and Dragon Kingdom. 

-Batman8 (age 8) 

Frida: One of my favorite books is called Dragon John. I also like my book on Arctic Foxes… and of course the book my mommy wrote: Little Sappho. You can see more about it here: