My First Bus Ride V,O

Jerusalem, 1945

Hello everyone,

   "My Ima (mom) is sad... Sometimes she is crying, because her Ima is very sick...  Ima tells me that we are going on a Big Bus to visit her Ima in Rechovot... I am about two and a half years old now... I don't understand how could my big Ima, also have an Ima... I am very happy, because we are going ,on a Big Bus! I was never inside a big bus before, so am very excited when I finally sit next to the window with Ima by my side... Through the window, I can see mountains and hills passing by...  Ima is pointing at a big building, which looks like a Palace; "Here is King David hotel"! She says... I can see a few sheep and cows and two kids sitting on donkey! Ima brought sandwiches of sprouted grain bread, with a slice of avocado in between. She also gave me "Vegetarian candies": Two dates, stuffed with shredded coconuts...

With my Ima

"Big bus!"

   All of a sudden the bus stops and two solders get on...They speak  very loud and some time they scream... I don't understand what they say...  Ima tells me that they speak English. The people in the bus look scared and I begin to cry... Ima calms me down, she says that these people are British soldiers, who are looking for "Hidden Ammunition and there is nothing to worry about...

One of the soldiers, brings down a suitcase, from shelves above our seats and begins to look inside... The other, tells some people to stand up and empty their pockets... The British soldiers, move their hands, up and down the people bodies... They finally get off  and bus begins to move again... The people are happy, but they are also angry at the same time... "I don't like British soldiers, I am scared of them..." I tell Ima.  She hugs me and says that these solders are very nice and they are just doing their job... The bus begins to move again and Ima points at a big building and tells me it belongs to King David... I am very tired and eventually fall asleep on her lap, with her arms around me... I wake up when the bus arrives to the Central Bus Station in tel Aviv... We wait for a long time for the bus to Rechovot,where my my Ima's parents live... This time the bus is much smaller, then the big bus from Jerusalem... The road to Rechovot is 'sandwiched' between two Orange Groves... Ima opens the window and tells me to smell the flowers of the orange trees... "Isn't it a wonderful smell?!" She says.       

King David's Tomb

Orange Blossoms

     In my aunt Yudit's farm the color is dark brown. The color of the streets and side walks in Jerusalem is grey, the building are made out of white stone; "Jerusalem stone"... Only in the field, near King David's Tomb, the ground has green grass in the winter, which turns yellow,in the summer time. Sometime. There are wild red flowers growing in the fields. "Look Ima!"  I cry with excitement, pointing at the few small houses, which begin to replace the orange groves... "Are we in Rechovot already?!" "Yes, we are!" Ima says with excitement; "Soon we are going to be at Saba and Savta's house..."Saba and Savta are my Grand Parents! I saw them before, but I don't remember...

    A very tall and thin man, with black hair, opens the door... Ima hugs him and talks to him in"Yiddish" which I don't understand... She tells me that this tall man, who tries to hug me, is her"Aba" an he is also my "Saba"... But this strange man, with the black hair, is NOT my Saba! My real Saba, lives in Jerusalem,  he is my father's dad and has white hair and beard, like the color of clouds... The eyes of my 'real Saba' in Jerusalem, are blue like the sky... This tall stranger, who tries to kiss me, has black hair, he is not my Saba! I begin to cry, hiding my face in Ima's blue dress, with the small yellow flowers... After putting down the suitcase, we go to another room, to see my Savta, who is Ima's Ima... An old woman with white hair, is lying in bed and her head is on top of two big white pillows. I notice that this bed has white metal rods... "Why does my old Savta sleeps in a crib, if she is not a baby?" XI ask my Ima and she whispers to me that she will tell me later...

 I don't like the smell in the room; it smells like the 'Yod' (Iodine) which Ima once put on my bleeding knee, after I fell... The old woman (my Savta) is wearing round glasses, she is looking at Ima and me and begins to cry... My mother kisses her and asks me to kiss her too, but I turn my face away and hide behind Ima's back... When I finally peek at the old woman's direction, I can see on the small table, next to her bed, a glass full of water and White Teeth inside... When this old woman tries to smile at me, I notice she has no teeth... X" How could she put her teeth in the glass?" X I wounder, trying to pull out my own teeth...  My Savta makes a funny face and begins to cry, I feel scared, so I also begin to cry...

   The next thing I remember, is Ima and me entering a small garden and start to walk on a long path, with pretty roses on bouth sides...The path stops in front of to a tall, green wooden door. Ima tells me that this is the doctor's house and we are going to ask him to come and help Savta feel better... The doctor, who is wearing a white coat, strokes my hair and asks me if I want a candy. I look up at Ima for permission and she nods her head, to say yes... I can't believe it;" A real candy! not that vegetarian things I get at home! The doctor takes off his white coat, picks up a black bag and the three of us, begin to walk together to Savta's house. My mother and the doctor speak in law voices and they are not smiling... 

   I know they talk about my Savta, because Ima is sad and begins to cry again, like she did at our home in Jerusalem, before we came to my Savta in Rechovot...  I want to look inside the doctor's black bag, to see if there is a Band-Aid there, so he can make Savta's feel better, but Ima says:"No!" 

With love and Light,
Shira