An Approximation of Old Jerusalem

Those of you who know me will remember that in early June I went through a short period of hair-pulling insanity and mouth-foaming angst as Ahno and I were constructing the decorations for old Jerusalem at church. Ms. Charlie's summer program for the children involves learning about the culture and custom in Jerusalem in Jesus' time. They are learning to say Hebrew words, recognize objects in the home, and practices in the synagogue. They're going to make bricks, dye fabric -- yesterday they worked on using a stylus to create Hebrew words in a block of wax.

Ahno and I are not responsible for the awesome lessons, but we did make the backdrop for it, and here's our work:

The "in the home" set with Ms. Barbara teaching the children:



The "in the synagogue" set:



More synagogue:



Two homes, or a home and a market stall, or two market stalls, depending:



Onlookers:





Ahno and I worked together, but she did all the conceptualizing, drawing, etc. I did the lifting and carrying the backdrops up from the basement and around the room. :) I did the backdrops in the homes/market stalls and she did the sheep and donkey and the angel in the synagogue -- the picture of the donkey was blurry but he is a very fine specimen. Anyway, whatever it is, it's done, which is more that can be said for the dishes.