Saturday, December 29, 2007

Egypt: Days Three and Four

We spent our second full day at the Mena House bumming around, relaxing, etc.  We had massages in the late afternoon, which I hoped would solve my mobility issue due to my pyramid legs.  The masseusse was VERY STRONG.  Sheer brute force.  I endured it, thinking that it must be what I need to release all my built-up tension.  I did feel better afterwards, but Sweetie later noticed that I was extensively bruised along my spine as a result!  It did look really bad.

Anyway, the night before we left for our Nile cruise, the pyramids were lit at night and it was very magical to see the Great Pyramid from our balcony, all lit up.  We had dinner at a fancy, grand old-style restaurant in the hotel.  There was a guy singing Lionel Richie, Eric Clapton, etc. covers (after a dismal pianist did a set where he was trying to play along with pre-recorded music.  It was very clear that he didn't have the faintest clue how to play the piano.  Bizarre.)  The food was not great for a vegetarian like myself, but I loved the free appetizer (this was very common at all the restaurants we ate at -- free suprise appetizers -- so it meant we were always eating more than we planned).  

The ride to the airport on Day Four was fine and I was glad we had Bales taking care of us, because I wouldn't have had the faintest clue what to do at the airport  (the x-ray machines for you and all your baggage are at the entrance to the airport).  While our Bales guide for the boat trip was checking us in for our flight to Luxor, a crying little boy walking past us and then proceded to puke all over the place.  We relocated to put some more distance between us and the puking boy.  I did notice, however, that the boy's mother and sister (?) were very diligent and wiped it all up off the airport floor and changed his clothes and tossed his clothes into a plastic bag.

The wait for our plane was AWFUL.  Some dude was chainsmoking near us.  And when we finally went to the gate, the air wasn't much better.  We were ravenous, but the cafes at the airport were a terrible ripoff.  Our plane was over one hour late, so we were waiting at the less-than-stellar Cairo airport domestic terminal for about 3 hours.  It felt like forever.

Needless to say, we were VERY excited to finally land in Luxor and hop on a minibus to a small boat which shuttled us over to our "dahabiyya" sailboat for the week.  The Nesma is a gorgeous sailboat, with six cabins and room for 12 guests.  Haras, one of the crew, was waiting for us with a tray of drinks.  They were apple juice, but I was so happy to finally be on the boat that I didn't care that they weren't alcoholic!

Lunch was served (it was 1730 by then!) and then we went back across the Nile to Luxor Temple on the opposite bank.  It was lit (it was dark by then) and very cool!  We saw great carvings -- it was all rather extensive.

Dinner was served in the elegant salon.  It was delicious!!  And I was not short-changed at all even though I was the only vegetarian.  The food was amazing!

Sweetie and I called it an early night as we had a 5AM wakeup the next day for our balloon ride over Luxor!

Friday, December 28, 2007

Egypt Days One and Two - Uncut!

Taken from my trip journal -- Day One:

Egypt! The great pyramid is before my eyes. What a mass of humanity we had to pass through to get here! We flew from Tel Aviv to Amman (Jordan) and there we were lucky enough to see our connecting gate immediately, but we had to loop around behind it and go through security again. I was directed to a female inspector for my requisite pat-down. She wore a veil and was seated in a box with curtains. She had a bit of BO, which wasn't suprising because it was really hot in the airport. No air circulating whatsoever.

I decided to check out the bathroom, and had to return to Sweetie in order to grab some tissues (they just use squat toilets and only water to rinse in Jordan...). I decided to avail myself of the only Western style toilet in the ladies' room.

We boarded in a slightly random fashion (no line, but also no overt pushing and shoving). The plane was great -- two seats on each side (Royal Jordanian Air). We flew over some of the most inhospitable-looking places I've ever seen. Complete and total mountainous desert.

The Bales Travel rep (we booked the trip through British company Bales Worldwide) was waiting for us immediately as we got into the airport in Cairo. He purchased our visas at the bank window (I never would have figured that out on my own) and we went through immigration after a short delay in which Sweetie's passport somehow left the immigration officer's cubicle, completely unbeknownst to us.

My bag was virtually the first to come out and Sweetie's was right behind, so needless to say, we were very happy (thinking back to my FIVE days without my suitcase in Sicily). We had an entire crew from Eastmar Travel (Bales's local travel company) there to usher us to our minibus. It took us 75 minutes to get to our hotel, the famous and historic Mena House at Giza. it was a very scary ride because traffic is just INSANE.

We took a nap and had a scrumptious dinner at the hotel's famous Moghul Indian restaurant (best Indian food in Egypt, apparently). We walked around the hotel grounds, which are really "Oriental" (that means "Middle Eastern" in the Middle East).

Day Two:
Today we saw the Bent Pyramid -- a pyramid that the ancient Egyptians sort of messed up on because they got the angles wrong and had to tighten the angles as the reached the top. Oops.

Then, I ventured into the Red Pyramid at Dashur, all by myself. In retrospect, it was completely insane for me to go in by myself, without a flashlight, and without anyone else inside the pyramid. But, anyway, I had to bend over while scuttling down the very steep staircase/ladder that descended into the pyramid (as the entrance is about 1/3 UP the side of the pyramid). It was not easy. Then, once in, there were three separate chambers. There wasn't really anything to see inside, except the architecture, which wasn't what I was expecting. I didn't expect the three independent chambers. Anyway, it smelled strongly of ammonia inside and I was slightly worried that I would pass out, and sort of neared a panic-state when I realized how far down I was and that I was entirely alone.

So, I did not linger long and made the hunched climb back out. I have to be honest and say that as a result of that little venture, I could barely walk for two days after that!! I work out regularly and lift weights, but walking into and out of a pyramid clearly uses different muscle fibers!

After that, we went on to Saqqara (with our guide and driver, whom I had hired for the day). There I made the very short descent into Titi's pyramid, which looks just like a mound now because all the outer granite was plundered. An old man escorted me with a flashlight. It was much more interesting inside because it had carvings of Titi's cartouche and one chamber had a ceiling carved with stars. It was truly spectacular and very magical. I also looked in the sarcophogus. It was amazing -- the fine detail of the carvings.

After that, we saw a tomb of a noble where our guide Mustafa showed us lots of pictures and hieroglyphics and carvings that still had the original color from 3000 years ago.

We ventured onward to Giza. The Great Pyramid (visable from our hotel room) was impressive. Massive. The Sphinx was actually shorted than I expected -- maybe this is because you view it not from the base of it, but from a platform off to the side that is much higher than the base of the Sphinx.

Our guide took us for kushari for lunch -- a very traditional Egyptian food. It has macaroni and linguini mixed with lentils, fried and dried onion, tomato and spices. YUMMY. And dirt cheap.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Back!


Merry Christmas to all!  Somewhat belatedly.  Sweetie and I did some traveling over the holidays -- so stay tuned to my trip report on EGYPT.  It was amazing and I saw so many things I never thought I would get a chance to see!  Here's a little preview photo (taken from the Temple of Philae).

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Brief Hiatus

I'm taking a blog break over the holidays, so check back toward the end of the year.  My computer has been having some issues (not only that, but I also just discovered that my external hard drive is nearly full), so I'm going to try to get it repaired.  

In Praise of Israel

One very positive thing happened today -- I have been trying to track down a piece of mail I sent from an Israeli post office via registered mail to the US.  In desperation, yesterday I found a spot on the Israel Post website where I could send an email with my issue and someone 
was supposed to contact me.  And guess what, someone called me today!!  And she had tried 
tracking my item on the USPS website (I had tried yesterday to no avail) and she said that there was now a record of my item on the USPS website and that a delivery of it had been attempted.

HOORAY.   It was true and I called the recipient today and they confirmed receipt.  

Huge sigh of relief.  The envelope contained a check representing my entire savings, so it was rather important!

On the flipside, the USPS was also supposed to contact me regarding the same issue, and they haven't yet:-)

More of Cha-Chan Being Israeli

This evening I was waiting in line at the pharmacy.  I realize that "line" is a difficult concept for some people here.  And low and behold, a Russian couple comes in (they were most  likely immigrants) and this lady proceeds to walk up to the counter, which is occupied with a young woman trying to get her medications in some semblance of privacy, and shoves her paper there.  I immediately walk up to the counter (even though I had appropriately been waiting behind the
"privacy" line) and impose myself between the large Russian lady and the girl being served.  Then, when the girl being served left, Russian Lady put her paper back down yet again, but I swooped in and without making eye contact (very key), defiantly and with aplomb, put my paper down.  And got served. Hooray.  Take that, Russian Lady!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Cha-chan Being Israeli

First, let me begin with a list of my top ten gym pet peeves:

10) People who use their arms to hold themselves up on the stairstepper, rather than using it for its intended purpose in which you use your legs to support yourself.

9) Inappropriate gym wear.  This would include ladies with their pants falling down.  Ladies with their thong underwear sticking out of their pants (which may or may not be falling down).  Ladies who wear thin white stretchy pants.  Men who wear shorts that are entirely too tight (TMI).  

8) People who feel the need to stretch in a location that blocks traffic for everyone else.

7) People talking on their cellphones.

6) People who chat with others while sitting on (and not using) machines.

5) Posers who spend more time checking themselves out in the mirror than they do working out.

4) Guys who drop their weights with a massive crash or thud (I guess 'cuz they are too wimpy to set them down properly).

3) Trainers who would rather oogle at girls than actually help or watch for people potentially hurting themselves on equipment.

2) Trainers who actually watch people hurting themselves (bad squats, buckling knees on the leg press, nearly ripping their arms out of their sockets on the assisted pull-up, etc).

1) People who leave towels on machines to "reserve" them while they're off chatting, posing, strolling, talking on cell phone, or using the restroom.

And along the lines of #1, today I wanted to use the leg press.  There is only one leg press and I wanted to use it.  There was  a towel on it, but I had not actually seen anyone using the leg press for several minutes.  So I moved the towel and hopped on.  Shortly thereafter, some "Mr. Macho" returned.  I did not make eye contact and proceded to finish my set.  Then, I left and did other things.  He got back on and did a set.  Then, he disappeared again.  I was still occupied with other stuff, so he had about 4 minutes of putzing around elsewhere in the gym before he went back to do yet another set.  Then, after that set, he went off again, so I went back and moved his towel again and did a set.  No eye contact.  I went and did other stuff, he did a set and then disappeared.  So, I started going back to the machine and he was there, so I said I only had one more set, so he told me to go ahead.  Oh how generous of him.  

What is more lame than hogging a machine like that is the fact that this moron is resting about 4-5 minutes between sets!  What's the point of that?  No trainer has ever indicated that I might like to do a set and then go have a coffee, for example, before coming back to do another!

Anyway, it was all very Israeli of me to just barge in and move his towel.  So I was proud. 

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Where are my brilliant blog ideas?

I find that whenever I'm walking to the gym (or elsewhere), I think of all these witty, interesting, entertaining things to write in my blog, and then when I get home, I can't think of them. Very frustrating....

My New Camera
So, now I'm already fantasizing about buying a telephoto lens for the DSLR that Sweetie got me (and Mom delivered) for my birthday.  We're headed to Africa next Spring and I'm torn about the issue of Image Stabilization.  Some people say you need it, others say you just need to rest your hand somewhere when taking pictures.  All very confusing and I would like to sort it out seeing as how there is about a $1000 difference between the two.  Any camera gurus out there?

My New  Volunteering Adventure
I recently started doing some virtual volunteering for a non-profit called the National Political Do Not Contact Registry (www.StopPoliticalCalls.org).   You can register your home phone number for free and it will be included on do-not-call lists provided to politicians.  The idea is to help people eliminate irritating political robo calls and other unsolicited political phone calls.  The group is non-partisan and fills a hole left by the National Do Not Call Registry, which does not apply to politicians.   Though politicians aren't obligated to abide by the National Political Do Not Contact Registry, hopefully they will!  If they don't, you are always free to use your vote to express how you feel about their unsolicited campaign phone calls:-)

My Favorite Foods

I am obsessed with food. Sweetie gets really angry when I plan my vacation itineraries around meals at good restaurants. But, I think food should be appreciated. And here's my list of some of my favorite foods:

1) Strawberries
2) Grandma's apple pie
3) Grandma's chocolate oatmeal no-bake cookies
4) Fortnum and Mason's chocolate cake
5) Java House's carrot cake (Washington DC)
6) Candy corn and candy pumpkins
7) Johnny's Pastries maple cream sticks (Massillon, OH)
8) Oimatsu's nerikiri Japanese sweets (Kyoto)
9) Krispy Kreme glazed donuts HOT
10) I'm still thinking about #10....

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Less White Space, Hooray

After an hour or two of fiddling and web-searching, I think I managed to significantly decrease the white space on the sides of my blog.  Hooray.

Today's repairs
It wouldn't be a real day at my house without some home repairs scheduled.  Today, I had two men come to check and clean the a/c filters and show me how to do it.  

Well, there was no filter to speak of in one of the units.  Slight oversight when they put the house together, it seems.

The bedroom filter was spic and span, but it certainly was not easy to access.  The repairman had to pull some Super Stretch moves in order to access it.  

The basement filters were a snap.  As long as you can balance yourself on top of a toilet without falling in.

But then they tackled the living room a/c.  After some very serious effort trying to remove the grate (in our house, all they did was whack a whole in the wall and put the grate on.  There's no frame for the grate to rest in, or anything handy like that) and after removing half the ceiling plaster in the process, they finally got the grate off.  Then, more acrobatics were involved in actually accessing the filter.  Then, the guy pulled out something that was straight out of Alien.  I was soooo utterly grossed out.  They immediately took it outside to hose off.  

It was pointed out to me that the filter should be blue. But it in no way resembled the color blue.  It had about two inches of disgusting alien life forms encrusted on it.  The repairman admitted he had never seen anything like it. He guessed it had never been cleaned since the house was built.

Anyway, as usual, right after he walked into the house, the repairman said, "This house is very clean." They always say clean! And he also commented that the a/c grates are all very streamlined and he said they clearly cost a lot of money. But, as usual, I was quick to point out the house's deficiencies. Like the fact that if one light bulb in our living room or bedroom goes out, all the lights in that room go out as well. Bad design.

What's With All This White Space

There is so much white space on either side of my blog and I can't figure out how to get rid of it!  It's driving me nuts.  My html knowledge isn't quite good enough to figure this one out.  Any tips out there??

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

お茶を日常生活で生かす

先日家でパーティをしました。料理はシェフに頼んで、20名の客が来ました。私にとって初めての外交官のパーティで、とてもいろいろなことを心配していました。だけど、シェフがとても早めに来てくれ、私たちは何にも心配しなくてもいいとずっと言ってくれていました。本当にその通りでした。大成功でした。

その若いシェフは何も茶道と関係ないですけど、彼の態度やお気遣いなどをとてもお茶の精神を表していました。

例えば、彼(名前はイタイです)が早く来てくれたこと。イスラエルの人たちは大体遅れてくることは当然ですが、彼は30分も早めに来てくれたのです。

そしてお料理についての態度。かれがわざわざ色々な素敵な手作りの焼き物のお皿を持ってきてくれました。とても焼き物が好きな私はとても喜んでいました。

季節の食材を使いました。メニューに載っていなかったチョウセンアザミなどをメニューに加えてくれました。

お客さんの中で一人は風邪を引いていて食事が出る前帰りました。彼女のため、お弁当をチェフに頼みましたが、彼女の旦那が帰る時にすっかりお弁当のことを忘れちゃいました。だけどイタイはキッチンから見ていてお弁当を渡してくれました。とても感心しました。

パーティーの前、私の旦那と色々お皿やクラスについて喧嘩していました。彼は私たちの素敵な磁器のお皿を使いたかったですが、私は皿洗いをしたくなくて、お皿を借りたかったのです。結局私たちのお皿を使いました。そしてイタイたちが全部洗ってくれました。また感心しまして。

終わったら、彼に色々ありがとうと言って、彼も嬉しかったみたいです。すべての人が彼がすることをちゃんと見て、感謝わけではないみたいです。

このお互いに感謝することもお茶ですね。

The Cleanest House

Today the repairman who was here said our house is very clean.  He said he sees lots of houses (he's been in every single house of our embassy) and he said ours is the cleanest.  

Yippee.  Anyone who  knows me well will be very surprised.  I am not known for being tidy.  I always WANT to be tidy, but never have before accomplished it.  But, it was a condition of Sweetie and I moving in together.  He said I had to keep all common areas clean.  And I do.  

I have to admit, I find this all MUCH easier when 1) I don't have a job 2) I have a humongous house so there's a place for everything and 3) We have someone cleaning the house twice a week (but I do most of the tidy-ing).  

Somebody Restrain Me

Please stop me before I run outside and go postal on the construction crew building a house adjacent to ours.

LOUD, NOISY, MESSY JERKS who don't know how to work their car alarms.

And due to an acoustic (and evil) act of nature, all their noise is funneled directly down into the room where my computer resides. It sounds like they've broken down the wall and are working on our house instead of the one under construction.

And not a one of them seems capable of opening his car door without setting off the car alarm (this is true for Israelis in general, but that's a completely separate diatribe I will indulge in some other day).

Looking at the glass half-full, I am very glad it's cool and cloudy outside because otherwise they'd be spoiling my pool time.

The latest house repair
I was playing host this morning to yet more fix-it guys -- this time to try to keep our guest shower from allowing GALLONS of water to leak out the door every time its used. The handymen told me there's nothing that can be done. It's a fundamental design flaw. Big surprise.

How is it that builders here can't figure out how to make a shower that doesn't leak?  In my US experience, the only way your shower can leak is if you forget to put the curtain in the tub.  Pretty simple.  And the Japanese just turn the whole bathroom into a shower, so there's really no problem there.

Time to relax
At least yesterday I indulged in a massage at the gym.  I only have one left now of a batch of 10 that I purchased before I quit my job.  Boohoo!  (I must say, I REALLY miss having huge amounts of disposable income from the days when I was working, but I wouldn't trade Sweetie for the world!).

I had a male masseuse, which was both good and bad.  The male masseuses at the gym are far superior to the women.  HOWEVER, I still am not comfortable with the whole overexposure issue with massages in Israel.  They are really just not that careful about not exposing your butt completely.  In the US or Japan, they are OH-SO-CAREFUL about tucking the sheet (not towel, like they use here) into your underwear so that you're not exposed.  But here, it's all very loosey goosey and I am just not a big fan of that aspect.

To anyone in the Tel Aviv area
I cannot say enough great things about the chef who catered our party last week.  He's fab.  His name is Etai and he works at a restaurant in Tel Aviv called Brasserie.  
We're going next week to  check it out. 

Friday, November 30, 2007

The Party

Sweetie and I hosted our first dinner party last night. It was fabulous (if I do say so myself). People loved our house (yes -- it *looks* fabulous, but looks are deceiving). And they really loved the food. Our chef really knows his stuff, paid attention to the little things, and made it possible for Sweetie and me to drink copious amounts of alcohol and converse with our our guests.

For some reason, Sweetie and I were steaming hot last night while sleeping. Maybe it was the effect of the considerable amount of alcohol we had consumed during the party. I was snuggled up against him and thought I was going to spontaneously combust at any moment. Then shortly after that, Sweetie said, "I'm REALLY hot!" No joke! Maybe it was just due to residual heat from having so many bodies in the house and all the cooking that went on (I've never used both our ovens at the same time, for example, but the chef did).

Speaking of cooking, I was really grossed out by the lingering meat smell after the party. I didn't think I'd have an issue with someone preparing meat in the house -- I'm a pretty relaxed vegetarian about that sort of thing because I do like to peacefully coexist with the non-vegetarian world. But, the smell was overwhelming and there was no breeze the next day, so opening the windows didn't seem to help. I could barely sleep because of it. But, thankfully it subsided after about 24 hours.

At the party, inevitably part of the conversation turned to how much Israel/Israelis drive us crazy. Then someone mentioned that certain behaviors also drive Israelis crazy and they are not shy to admit it. It's all very perplexing to me. I never think to myself, "It really drives me crazy how Americans...." But many (non-irritating) Israelis will freely admit that flying on an airplane with a bunch of Israelis is a complete nightmare, for example. Or that Israeli drivers are impossible, to give another example.

Anyway, it was a great party, the guests seemed to have a great time, and Sweetie and I never thought entertaining could be so easy. Hats off to the chef and his staff!

By the way, I received some blog feedback and apparently, my mom did not entirely appreciate my previous comment about her and my dad's entertaining skills when I was young....

Speaking of driving
I had to go to the DMV the other day to register my car and get new plates.  That place is a complete third-world nightmare.  It could have been Venezuela.  Just TEEMING with people (of all sorts) and it seems to be complete chaos.  No drawing numbers (that I could see).  Just masses of people inside and outside and no one it seemed was getting much service or would be getting served in the near future.

Fortunately, diplomatic types seem to have their own line.  And even though the lady at the counter has a strange way of getting things done, she does get things done. For example, while I was waiting, she was shouting into her cell phone, rolling her eyes, hitting lots of keys on the keyboard (how can you have to hit that many keys to register a car?), etc. Then, she took off with her tea cup and said she was taking a break. Just like that. She returned and while she was helping us, she started helping the guy in line behind us at the same time. It all seemed very strange, but she did get us out of there in about one hour, and by the end of it, I thought she was pretty effective and efficient.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Unwelcome Guest

An unwelcome guest entered our house the other day. I was walking down the stairs and saw the beady eyes starting at me from above the door frame. It was a gecko. Inside the house. Israeli geckos do not come inside the house. This is why I've been able to coexist with them thus far. They have their space outside and I have mine inside. It's a great arrangement. But for some reason, this one got confused and decided to pay a visit. I told Sweetie about it, thinking *maybe* he would be my hero and trap it and take it outside. But, he only said, "Are you going to catch it?" Uh...the answer to that would be NO. Definitely not. I do not catch geckos. Even in Okinawa, where I faced constant, daily gecko harrassment, I only trapped two successfully. And I was screaming the entire time.

So, Mr. Gecko has been having his run of the basement for the past few days. I don't think he'll survive long down here though -- not much food for a guy like him. I suspect any day now I'll find his petrified gecko corpse. The only thing possibly worse than a live gecko!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Awful GMAC Bank

Per my previous post on GMAC Bank, they have continued to display their gross incompetence even AFTER I closed my account. I've been waiting since 5 November to receive a check containing the reminder of my account which I closed with them. The bank said it was mailed on 5 November and that it would take 7-10 business days to receive it. Yeah right. Only after several emails to them asking if they were certain they used correct international postage, did they say, "Oh, well, if it's international then we don't know how long it will take to get there." GREAT. The whole point of this whole saga is the fact that I am living overseas. Quite why they didn't figure that out over the course of a phone call and several emails, I'm not sure.

Basically, whatever problem you have, GMAC Bank will only let you talk to one of these useless general customer service reps who only have a rote list of responses. So, there is NO personal attention whatsoever. You might as well just forget calling them to resolve any sort of problem or question, because their reps know less than you will!

Anyway, the check FINALLY arrived and guess what, they didn't send it until 21 November! They closed my account on the 5th!!! They sat on all my money for over two weeks! Complete jerks.

I hope lots of people pull up this post (and my other one on this issue) doing searches on GMAC Bank!

Friday, November 23, 2007

The Baha'i Faith

Have you ever heard of the Baha'i Faith ? I had only heard of it once before coming to Israel. But, it turns out the Baha'i world headquarters is located in Haifa, just one hour north of Tel Aviv.

The Baha'i Faith is an independent religion. Its founder, Bahá'u'lláh, lived in the 19th century. The Baha'is believe that all religious leaders (such as Moses, Christ, Mohammed, Krishna) are messengers of God and that all religions are unified. According to the website cited above: "Bahá'u'lláh's message is that humanity is one single race and that the day has come for its unification in one global society."

The Baha'i World Centre in Haifa includes administrative buildings for the faith (which has no clergy, by the way) and the world-famous Baha'i gardens. My mother and I recently had a private tour of the gardens, given by a 6th generation Baha'i. It was fascinating to learn more about this very unique religion.

Particularly interesting was the fact that there were no pictures of Bahá'u'lláh in the museum we visited. This is deliberate, according to our guide. I guess it is left up to each person to envision the founder of the religion in the way they choose. Likewise, it was interesting to learn that though the Baha'is have a general guideline as to what percentage of a person's disposable income should be given to the World Centre, it is not obligatory by any means and it is something Baha'is never talk about amongst themselves. It is a deeply personal decision and simply is not discussed.

If you feel like learning more about the Baha'i faith, check out their website or the site listed above.

At any rate, the gardens are absolutely stunning and I only wish we could have spent longer there. I could have stayed there all day!


















"How do you like Israel?"

This is a question that I and others are frequently asked.

Last night, I attended a dinner hosted by Americans and attended by several Israelis (immigrants) -- the oldest have lived here for 50 years, with the newest arrival having immigrated 3 years ago.

The conversations were very interesting to me. For example, the most recent immigrant told horror stories about trying to seek medical care for a very serious and life-threatening medical problem just 2 weeks after arriving in Israel. In the end, he had to essentially start shouting and hollering to get anyone in the hospital to take him seriously.

This is how I feel about virtually everything here -- if you want someone to do something and take you seriously, you often have to become very confrontational, which is just not something I am good at, or feel comfortable doing.

Later, the conversation turned to the influx of immigrants into Europe. One of the guests was basically saying that the number of Muslims is growing so rapidly in Europe that "Europe is lost." He said the Jews really only have Israel, the US, and Australia left as options for countries to live in. Then he went on to say that even Israel has "the Arabs" and then mentioned "right of return" and the disputed Golan Heights.

What struck me about all this talk was that it was all based on an assumption or belief that Jews simply cannot live in a country with Muslims. If this is the assumption, then how can anyone possibly be hopeful about peace in this region?

Personally, I am not, and never have been, hopeful about peace in this region. I simply do not think it is possible. Every side has legitimate points. Everyone has either already lost, or will lose something that they worked hard for. I don't see a solution that will make everyone happy, or make things any better than they are now.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Crappy House Part II

I forgot to add in my last post that a few days ago (when, unbelievably, it was still warm enough to swim) I was outside by the pool and was peeking over our the cement wall surrounding our house and yard. And then I heard something crashing to the ground and breaking. I looked down and saw a bunch of cement on the ground. By merely brushing up against the wall, I had caused one of the cement pillar tops to crumble!!! I had my mom there as a witness to attest to the fact that I had barely touched the wall. Ridiculous.

Nice Israeli
The other day a friend and I stopped off at a little fruit and vegetable shop after having lunch. We got our things and then left in the car. A block away, we were waiting at a stop light. We heard a knocking at the back door of the car, saw a man, who then opened the door and dropped something into the car. It was my friend's leftovers from lunch. The veggie shopkeeper noticed she had inadvertently left them at the counter and he chased after us to return them! Totally sweet!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

My new toy

For my birthday, Sweetie got me a digital SLR camera.  Woohoo!!  Very exciting.  My mom delivered it to me from the US.  I am completely clueless about how it works, therefore so far I've just been using the automatic modes.  But it can do everything that a traditional professional camera can do (and more!), so I really have a lot of studying to do.  And lots of pictures to take!  

Our crappy house

Today I've played host to not one, not two, not three, but FOUR repairmen.  Just an average day at our house.

First, the "handyman" (if only he were really handy) came to deal with our leaking (more like gushing) windows.  We've had three days of massive thunderstorms with torrential rains and I noticed substantial puddles in three rooms of the house.  Thank goodness Mom already left, otherwise she would've been washed off her bed!

This house is only two years old, so I really can't explain why the windows are leaking from the frames........

After the handyman, I had the washing machine "repairman."  I swear, this guy has been here more times to NOT fix something than I could shake a stick at.  I told the embassy I did not want the same guy to come because on 4 or 5  visits he has yet to ONCE successfully repair the machine!  But, guess who came, the same guy.  UG!!!

Then, the electrician came at a moment's notice because every time it rains, the circuitbreaker flips the power out in the basement.  Delightful!  He did a bit of caulking on the patio lights, but couldn't be sure what was causing the problem, so who knows.....

And, I noticed some sort of mystery button outside on the patio with a hole for a key in the middle.  I have NO idea what it might be for.  Anyone want to send their guesses?

And THEN, the carpenter came to look at our dining room chairs, 
as 9 out of 12 are in a state of imminent collapse.  The estimate 
for repair: almost $2,000!!!!  
But, we can't keep the chairs as is, so the carpenter took 
them for repair. 

Monday, November 19, 2007

That'll be 3, I mean 20, Shekels

Mom got up early to explore the hotel's beach and take pictures of the sun rising over the Jordanian hills. I slept a bit later and when I woke up we both got into our swimsuits and headed down to the sea. The beach was much nicer than the one I had been to last year and we had a great time getting in the water (which was a very comfortable temperature) and doing the famous Dead Sea float. It felt wonderful! I didn't want to get out, but it is recommended that one not stay in for more than 15 minutes at a time.


We checked out of the hotel and drove to Jerusalem, making a few wrong turns in our attempt to find our hotel. We did eventually find it and dropped off our bags, had a huge feast of mezzes at the restaurant, and then headed into the Old City, which was a 5-minute walk away.


This was my first time staying in east Jerusalem -- the Arab part of the city. It was definitely a different experience and very interesting to me. Generally, I find the Arabs to be very friendly and helpful, though their shopkeepers are just as quick to try to make a tourist buck as any of the others.

For example: We were on our way back to our through the Arab market in the Old City.  I was extremely thirsty and I saw a shop selling juices.  All of them were listed as costing Three shekels (about 75 cents).  Sounded good to me.  So, I ordered a carrot juice.  The shopkeeper made it and served it to me in a GINORMOUS glass.  It was bigger than a Biggee Coke or whatever obscenely large drinks they have in the typical US fast food joints.  I was thinking, wow, all this for 3 shekels?!  Then, some other customers came in and they spoke Arabic.  Then it became apparent to me that there were about 4 different sizes and clearly I was given the size large enough to satisfy a small army.  Was I ever given options?  Nope.  

So, at this point, I know that I've been taken advantage of and that my drink is going to cost about $5.  And that's exactly what it cost.  The shopkeeper seemed almost every-so-slightly apologetic when he told me the cost.  But, any guilt he might have felt clearly didn't stop him from taking advantage.


Sunday, November 18, 2007

The Dead Sea

After Masada, Mom and I drove about 10 minutes further south along the Dead Sea to Ein Bokek and the Lot Hotel. My expectations were fairly low as no one has ever really given rave reviews of any of the hotels down at Ein Bokek. I chose the Lot Hotel because of favorable reviews on tripadvisor.com.

The hotel was actually pretty decent. The room was not fancy by any means (old flat carpet, dated bedspread), but it was clean and we had a great view of the Dead Sea. The buffet dinner satisfied my vegetarian tooth and Mom seemed to fare well also.

The hotel clientele was mostly Europeans and Russians. Lots of Norwegians on a tour. And Israelis (one of whom rammed Mom and me into the tiny elevator with a stroller -- completely ignoring us and refusing to let us get out. I was furious and we both had to literally crawl over the stroller).

The next morning, we made our way down to the beach. The water was still surprisingly warm (considering it's mid-November) and I thought the beach was much nicer than what I experienced at Ein Gedi last year (further north along the Dead Sea). The beach was sandy and there weren't any rocks, so it was all rather pleasant. Mom and I did our little floating tricks (Mom also did the "I've rolled-over-and-I-can't-get-up-trick" but luckily I was there to intervene) and I actually did not want to get out after the recommended 15-minute limit.

But, I did get out, and we checked out and drove north to Jerusalem.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

The Dead Sea, Masada

Mom and I went on a little mini-trip, leaving Sweetie behind (poor lonely Sweetie! Actually, I am sure he LOVED the peace and quiet, as today he was closing the door on my mom and me while I tried to explain to her how to work the washing machine). We drove down toward the Dead Sea in my speedy (and gas-guzzling -- it's no Honda Civic!) "new" car, passing the signs indicating sea level, and increments below that, as we headed toward the lowest point on earth.

We passed by Qumran, where a Bedouin found the Dead Sea Scrolls, but we didn't stop as time was running short and we wanted to fit Masada in. We arrived at Masada and elected to take the cable car round-trip instead of hiking the 45-minute to one-hour Snake Path up (Masada was going to be closing in 90 minutes, so we didn't really have time).

The cable car turned out to be more painful than a hike up the path would have been, as we were cramped in with about 78 very talkative (read: LOUD) Russian tourists, one of whom forced herself into about two inches of space directly behind my bum).

ANYWAY, we walked around Masada and had a great time admiring the beauty of the Dead Sea and the surrounding mountians. Until we encountered a group of about 70 very obnoxious and loud Arab girls at one of the palaces on Masada. We ended up on a cable car with them for the ride down. As I boarded the cable car, the operator looked at me defeatedy and said, "I'm very sorry." Indeed. So was I. Discipline was not the strong point of these girls or their chaperones.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Driving in Nazareth

Driving in Nazareth is an exercise in chaos theory.  Last time Sweetie and I went to Nazareth, it was on a Saturday, and we vowed never to do that again.  Everybody and their brother are out driving in Nazareth on Saturday.  Well, guess what, we found ourselves in Nazareth yet again on a Saturday.  And there I was, driving my pristine luxury sedan through mass chaos.  Cars shooting out with no warning, people opening car doors on the side of the street without even glancing to see if a car is coming, bumper to bumper traffic and cars darting out of side streets while cars are attempting to cross past them from the main road.  Pure chaos.  And then add me -- darting back into traffic on the main road after realizing I had started to make an incorrect right turn (among other things).  It was a miracle we didn't have an accident.  Well, it was Nazareth after all, I suppose!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Some Peace and Quiet

My mother is visiting from the US and over the weekend we spent one night in Amirim -- a vegetarian village near the Sea of Galilee (aka Lake Kinneret).  It was really lovely, peaceful (hooray!) and relaxing.  We stayed at the Campbell's -- they have two units with a double bed, kitchen table, kitchenette, bathroom with jacuzzi, and patio with views of the hills of the Galilee.

We had dinner at Dalia's -- a vegetarian restaurant with a set menu -- more food than you can possibly eat and all sorts of delicious, inventive vegetarian food for $25/person.  Dalia served us dessert on their veranda with amazing views of the Galilee.  As night fell, we could see all the lights of various towns and villages twinkling in the distance.  Very relaxing.

For breakfast, we wandered down to a healthy bread shop and got an assortment of goodies that all were scrumptious.  We ate on the patio and Alit, the owner of the zimmer (the word for B&B-type places in Israel), brought us a plate of banana in soft squishy persimmon.  Delicious!

The next day, we ventured into Nazareth, aiming to show Mom the Church of the Annunciation and St. Joseph's.  Proved a bit of a driving adventure....stay tuned for more...

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Houseguests

Yesterday some official houseguests arrived from England. Last night was easy (except for the part where I locked them out and was already in my pajamas when they came home and I had to keep them waiting outside while I threw clothes on and ran down the stairs to open the door) because Sweetie and the guests had a business dinner , but this morning, Sweetie and I got up early to set up breakfast out on our patio. I was afraid we'd have to do bacon and eggs and the whole lot, but Sweetie said we could keep it simple, so we put out cereals, fruit, toast, etc. Anyway, that was plenty stressful enough for me, seeing as how I come from a family where "entertaining" means sending one of the kids down to the basement to get a pitcher of beer from the tap.

Monday, November 5, 2007

The maiden voyage

Today I took my new wheels out for the first time.  VERY EXCITING.  Sweetie suggested I go for a test drive before driving to the airport later this week to pick up my mother.  I drove to the gigantic health food store about 15 minutes north of here.  It was like a religious experience for me.  A car and a giant health food store.

Quick! Close the shutters!

This morning, Sweetie reported to me that there was a giant dust cloud headed down the road toward us.  "You might want to close the shutters," he said.  Seeing as how I could actually SEE the dust cloud on our relatively low-resolution security monitor, I took his advice.  

We were trying to figure out what caused it and then saw that "street cleaners" had a leaf blower to consolidate trash and this was actually instead creating a HUGE dust cloud.  Again, a typical example of good Israeli intentions gone awry...

One thing I love about Israel
Israel has a fabulous variety of fruit.  You can get starfruit, dragon fruit, persimmons, Noni fruit, tiny little pears, clementines, figs, mangoes, guava, passionfruit, pomagranate, quince, and a million other things when they're in their respective season.  It's really amazing.  Sometimes I have a hard time limiting myself because I want to eat them all every day!

If You're a Female and You've Lived Overseas....

All my expat (or formerly expat) female readers -- I'm writing a book and I need your help!  I am collecting dating tales from ladies who live/have lived overseas and will be putting them all together into a book.  The stories will be arranged into thematic chapters, so there's a place for all your stories!  For example: did you meet the man of your dreams while overseas?  Did you not have a date for two straight years while living overseas (it has happened to me!)?  Or perhaps you you had a really funny experience dating a guy from another culture?  Anyway, these are just some possibilities.  If you have ANY experiences dating men while living away from your home country, please file a comment providing me with your email address (I won't publish it), and I'll send you my interview questions.

THANKS  and please tell your friends!

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Some People Do Pick Up After Their Pets

Not to dwell on this topic (I think it's to the point now where it needs its own label), but today I did find evidence that someone in this country picks up after their dog. There was plastic see-through bag with evidence inside it thrown next to a tree in the parking lot by the beach.

So, some people have picked up on the plastic bag bit. They just haven't figured out that you actually have to properly dispose of the plastic bag!

Friday, November 2, 2007

Winning the Small Battles

Sweetie and I discovered last night that we were missing one of the bills for our drinking water delivery service. So, my task today was to call the delivery company and ask for a copy of the bill to be mailed to us. I was not looking forward to this as their phone menu is only in Hebrew and I have NEVER been able to get through to a human being.

But, I had to try again. I had a task. It had to be completed. So, I called and hurray, on my second attempt, I actually understood enough Hebrew to get to a human being. She was really helpful and I was really happy!

BOYCOTT GMAC BANK

About that trick or treater I turned away, the reason I was in such a foul mood is because my bank is ROTTEN, HORRIBLE, AWFUL, and GROSSLY INCOMPETENT.

All I wanted to do was wire some money to the owner of the car I wished the purchase. Fairly simple task. But GMAC Bank wouldn't fax me the necessary forms and the forms weren't available on their website. So...it took several days and several HOURS of talking on the phone with their stupid customer service to finally get the forms emailed to me.

THEN, I needed to fax the forms back. And their only fax # is a toll-free number, which I could not fax from overseas. Lovely. So, again MORE useless phone calls talking to useless people. I won't tell you how I finally sent the forms back, but let's just say it was a completely unacceptable way to send them.

Then, they promised me the wire transfer would be completed that day. But, it wasn't. Because they needed to call me back to confirm it, and they won't spend 20 cents to call an overseas number.

So, the transfer was then supposed to happen the NEXT day, and when I emailed them to confirm that, some moron then tells me it will be 24-48 hours before the transfer occurs. WHAT?!?! So, I wrote back citing the name of the agent who told me it would be done the PREVIOUS day, and low and behold, it did happen. And then I called back to tell them to close my account and send me the check.

I have subsequently had to change all my direct deposits, direct withdrawals, etc. etc.

Anyway, when I finally saw that the transfer went through, I went racing upstairs shouting and doing a happy dance. Sweetie came out of the kitchen and said, "So, are you going to start acting normal now [and not depressed and sullen]?" Then, he took one look at me doing my crazy happy dance and said, "Apparently not." :-)

Expanding my carbon footprint

This morning marks my return to the world of mobility. Independence. Sightseeing. Reasonably priced groceries (ie: not overpriced groceries from the nearby corner stores). And other assorted fun things. I got a car. It took much effort, but eventually finally the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that I am actually allowed to purchase a car.

The last straw for me was last week. Sweetie and I tend to drive to the gym on Sundays so that we can go to the grocery store right after. It sucks, mostly for Sweetie because he works hard everyday and the last thing he wants to do on his day off is to deal with Israelis in the grocery store, parking lot, and on the streets. So, last Sunday's grocery trip was just the last straw.

We ended up getting something much larger and much nicer than I intended. I wanted a little beater like I used to have, but instead I have an immaculately maintained luxury sedan. Oh well. Our two car garage doesn't have enough space for two big cars, so Sweetie will be parking his big beater SUV outside (his choice!). Anyway, lots of adventures in store for me now, I am sure. I will try to maintain my habit of walking most of the time, though. Especially to nearby places. But I certainly am looking forward to seeing more of Israel again!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Trick or Treat

Yesterday evening, the doorbell rang. We were not expecting anyone so Sweetie and I looked at the security camera and all we could see was the top of a head of a very short person. It was clearly a child. So, I answered the intercom and a little voice said, "Trick or Treat." This was November 1. And I had had a really bad day. I was not in a good mood. I was not feeling charitable. Even to a kid. So, I said, "That was yesterday. It's over. Sorry!"

Gosh. Am I a terrible person? I turned away a tricker treater on 1 November.

Something smells funny

Yesterday when I left my house, something smelled funny. Like somebody's dog left a present in the street kind-of-funny. And you know what, it smelled like that along my entire 25-minute walk to the gym. The further I walked, the more I started to think that the smell must be ON ME somewhere, because otherwise, how could the entire neighborhood smell like a cow pasture? So, I was looking at the soles of my shoes, my hat, my backback, but there was nothing there. I thought I was going to keel over it was so awful. I was nearly running to the gym for fresh air. I was never so happy to get to the gym!!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

No Clue

I have a problem -- I don't know what kind of work I'm going to do when I have to start working again. Sweetie nearly threw me over the precipice last week at dinner when he we were talking about his post-retirement and he basically said, "How can you not know what you want to do?"

UG.

I don't know. I know there are various things I would love to do, but either I'm completely unqualified or they don't pay enough to bring me above the poverty level.

Yes, I have all this great time to ponder my future career now that I'm not working, but it hasn't really brought me any closer to figuring it all out.

Very frustrating.

Any nuggets of wisdom out there? Magic bullets? Dream jobs? Feel free to send them my way!

お月見茶会

10月25日に我が家でお月見茶会をやりました。20名のお客さんを呼んで、お庭で御園棚の点前をしました。とても素晴らしい一夜になりました。私は忙しくて、写真を撮れなかったので、残念です。

25日、お客さんのためにまずお庭で冷たい飲み物をセットしました。皆さんは来てから他のお客さんと会話しながら飲んでいました。そして、スタートの時間になったら、みんなに椅子にかけてもらって、ちょっとお月見のことやお茶会の流れなどを説明しました。日本人の友達が点前をしながら私が点前の説明をしていました。皆さんはとても真剣に、興味を持ってみていました。お月様がちゃんと見え、お庭のライトアップもぴったりでとても素敵でした。

準備と片付けは本当に大変でしたけど、多分このお茶会は皆にとって忘れられない一時だったと思います。こういう機会を与えることができ、とてもありがたいです。

A beautiful evening

Last Thursday, we held an "Otsukimi Chakai" (Moon-Viewing Tea Gathering) at our home.  It is a tradition in Japan to honor and appreciate the full moon in the fall.  Sometimes this is celebrated in September, sometimes in October.  People set up a tray with dango (dumplings) and susuki (Japanese silver pampas grass)  as an offering to the moon.

It was a really wonderful and amazing night.  There were 19 guests seated on our deck facing the Misonodana -- a special lacquer table for Chado (the Way of Tea, or "tea ceremony").   Sweetie sat in the garden so that he could keep an eye on the gate in case of interlopers.

We set up a table in the garden with a small Otsukimi display -- of dango and a local grass that is remeniscent of susuki.  There was a pitcher of cold water and also one of cold dokudami-cha (a traditional herbal Okinawan tea).  When the guests arrived, we invited them to help themselves to a cold beverage, which they did.  They really enjoyed the Okinawan tea!

Then, as the time approached to begin, we invited all the guests to sit and I provided a brief intro.  I explained the tradition of Otsukimi and what we would be doing that evening -- serving sweets, watching the tea being prepared, drinking tea, and then a Q&A opportunity.

A Japanese  friend of mine N-san, who has been training under me on the Misonodana for about one month, performed the "ceremony," while I provided commentary and explanation.  Meanwhile, another friend who has been training under me, C-san, took care of everything else -- ensuring the guests were served cool drinks, serving sweets, and whipping and serving the tea.  Likewise, Y-san, who was a guest, pitched in and whipped many bowls of tea for us so that we could serve the guests quickly.

The lighting was perfect, the weather was just cool enough to be comfortable, and the moon was definitely visible from the garden.  Everyone was riveted on the ceremony.  It was completely new to many of them and everyone was fascinated.  Some guests told me they were "in heaven."  It was a really special time.  We were all able to enjoy the time together, appreciating eachothers' company and the beauty of nature.  

It was a tremendous amount of work, but I hope to do it again in the spring, for another occasion.  There were many interested people that we were not able to invite due to lack of space, and lack of sufficient help to whip the many bowls of tea.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Dogs Part II

Yesterday on our walk home from the gym, Sweetie and I passed a guy walking his dog.  The rather large dog was positioned in the street leaving a "present."  And of course, the guy just walked away as almost all Israelis do.  So, Sweetie and I started saying in voices loud enough for the man to hear, "Disgusting!!"  "Third World!"  "Filty Wanker" and other assorted derogatory terms.  I felt completely justified because someone has to teach these people and perhaps shame them into realizing that this is just not acceptable.  Maybe I should start carrying around a spare plastic bag in my backback and handing it out as a hint...:-)

Confession

Sweetie and I have put on a few extra pounds lately.  Sweetie is really bothered by his weight gain and practially panicked about it.  I'm a little more relaxed because all I need is one good week of going to the gym and I'll be back in shape.  Or at least, that's how it's worked so far.  I recently turned the dreaded age where women say their metabolism suddenly drops off into oblivion and all they have to do is look at an ice cream cone and they gain five pounds.....

Anyway, I keep reassuring Sweetie that the main reason for our weight gain is that we, the two of us, ate virtually his ENTIRE birthday cake by ourselves.  We did.   At first, I suggested he take it in to work, but he was wholly opposed to that idea.  And it was a very special cake, with instructions that it should NOT be stored in the refrigerator.  So, to keeps the ants at bay, we decided to store it in the oven.  It worked quite well.

I think eating the entire cake was totally worth the extra two inches I now have around my waist and hips.  It was heavenly.  I actually still fantasize about the cake.  If I could, I would go out and buy another.  But it was custom-made, very fancy, and cost a fortune (it had a 4-inch figure of a cricket player on it, entirely made of icing.  It was really, truly spectacular.)  
Just as well that I can't buy another!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Lessons Learned

Lesson #1: If ants are devouring a gross insect on your patio, leave them to it.

Today, I discovered a huge hoard of ants devouring what appeared to be a worm on our patio.  I thought I should clean it all up, then thought maybe I should just let the ants eat the dead thing.  That turned out to be the correct choice.  A few hours later, I looked outside and there was nary a sign of the whole spectacle.

Lesson #2: If there is a stream of ants just outside your front door, take no action.

One day, Sweetie was leaving for work and noticed a massive stream of ants running all along the front of our house.  He thought I should do something about it.  So, I sprayed them.  Bad idea.  Very soon, there was a stream of ants IN the house.  I was struggling to find their entry point, and then after much detective work realized that they were coming in from the burglar alarm noise-maker unit which is approximately 6 feet off the floor.  Go figure.  Anyway, I am now strictly against spraying or attempting to redirect ants that are outside the house.

I'll Call Before I Come Over

People here  such as friends, repairmen, clients, etc. who need to come to my house always tell me, "I'll call before I come by."  

But you know what, they always just show up.  

For example, last week, I was busy in the shower and my cell phone rang.  The person didn't leave a message, so I didn't make much of it and thought it must not have been important.  Well, a few days later I found out it was someone I did an editing job for and he called from my FRONT GATE with flowers as a thank you.  Result, I suppose his wife got the flowers instead.  No harm done, I suppose.  But, the point is, does "call before you come" mean to you "call as you walk up to the door"?  Generally, I think not.

Then again today I talked to a repairman and he took down my number and said he'd call before he came by.  Well, low and behold but at 5PM there's someone ringing my bell and it's one of the repairman's workers.  No call.  

It's all very interesting to me.  To me, these people are just inconveniencing themselves by apparently assuming that I am home literally all the time (ok, I really am home nearly all the time since I have no job, but that's beside the point).  I don't get it....

Monday, October 22, 2007

The West Bank

Over the weekend, Sweetie and I went up to the Galilee.  We went out for lunch at a lovely cafe on a mountainside.  The other side of the mountain is the West Bank - Palestinian territory.  After lunch, we drove further up the mountain and stopped at a lookout point.  We could see a West Bank town about one mile away.  It was so eerie.  It looked like a dark, heavy cloud of stagnation and depression was right on top of the town.  I've never seen anything like it.

It really makes me count my blessings.

The things that drive me crazy

Today when Sweetie tried to back out of the garage on his way to work, it was completely blocked by a workman's little pickup truck.  Sweetie had to find the workman (at a neighbor's house) and get it moved.  He told the guy not to park his truck there again.

Well, low and behold, I go out and it is RIGHT in front of our garage.  Completely blocking it.  And there were plenty of other places he could have parked.   Like in front of the garage of the person whose house he was working on, for one.  Anyway, I was sooooooo fed up.  I wrote a very "firm" note in both English and Hebrew stating that he should not park there.  Now, thankfully, the truck is completely gone.

"Peace"
Last Thursday, the next door neighbor's house alarm was going off literally for THREE HOURS in the morning.  It would be going off for 3 minutes, stop for 30 seconds, and then start going off again.  I was soooooooo irritated.  I started screaming, "There will NEVER be peace in this country because people here have absolutely no respect for it!!"

I believe this.

And add the whole parking thing, and you see that some people (many here, according to my observations) have no respect for and show no consideration for other people.  This is another truly necessary component to making peace with your neighbors, whether they are neighbors on your street, or neighbors in the next country or "territory."

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Did you say "Fire"?

Yesterday when I arrived at the gym, it was plastered with signs in Hebrew.  They were on the revolving entrance door, at the front desk, everywhere.  So, I decided it might be wise to see what they said (they were in Hebrew).  I asked at the front desk.  And the reply:

"Oh, we had an electrical outage.  There was a little fire this morning.  So you can't use the pool, the showers, or one of the aerobics studios."

Excuse, but did she say "little FIRE"?!?!  Not exactly confidence-inspiring.  But, I decided to take advantage of the fact that the gym was virtually empty after the "little fire" and ignored the acrid smell of burnt wires and pressed on with my workout!

Friday, October 12, 2007

Oops

I have complained about the quality of construction of our house before. It's all-the-more infuriating because everyone who walks into our house comments on how nice it is. They assume we live in this wonderful fantastic fantasy house, when in fact, it's a piece of....

Today, the pool guy commented on how nice the house is. I said, "Yeah, but.........." And then I commented that the new pool pump is quite loud. He said that's because when they built the house, they did the house and pool "all in one." I think he meant that they dug one hole, and laid one slab of concrete for both. So, all the pool pump noise transmits directly into our basement (and my tea room -- not exactly one of the "sounds" of tea that you expect to hear in the tea room). He said, "Yeah, they made a mistake." Uh, yeah, guess so!

And Wednesday, the gardener spent THREE hours here trying to mitigate the effects of another "mistake" they made when building the house. I lost two of my precious camelia bushes because of it. They didn't install the proper pipe to feed water to one of the flower beds in the garden. The gardener said he told them what to do when they built the house, but they didn't do it. So, there he was, trying to feed 30ft long rubber hoses from one end of the patio, underground, to the other end. We'll see if it worked.

That's all just indicative of the general quality of workmanship around here.

Sweet things

It's the time of the year for fruit trees here in Israel. The mandarins in our yard are almost orange, and the oranges are starting to turn from green. The lemons still have a way to go, but we managed to pull one that ripened early and it was delicious! It's so nice to have your own fruit and know that it's not coated in pesticides.

Walking through the neighborhood, I've seen pomagrante trees and a starfruit tree! These are fruits you rarely even see at the grocery store in the US, let alone in your yard.

It's just nice to have such a great variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. This morning I had a persimmon, for example. Yummy.

Cooking Adventures
Yesterday, a Japanese friend of mine came over and taught me how to make nama-Yatsuhashi (a Japanese sweet famous in Kyoto) and dango (another Japanese sweet) in the microwave! It was much easier than I ever expected.

Then, today I made an (Japanese sweet bean paste). I had tried to make it once about 10 years ago, and I failed miserably. Today's attempt went much better, and I think it's actually pretty close to the way it should be. Woohoo. That's a good thing because it took 4 HOURS to make.

Japanese cuisine is not known for being quick and easy. My goodness. I just made a pot of beans and sugar, but it took FOUR hours. That stuff should be worth its weight in gold!

英語が難しい方のため、私は先日日本人の友達に八橋と団子の皮、電子レンジでの簡単な作り方を教えていただきました。20分でできとても楽でした。昨日彼女が作っておいた餡を使ったんですが、今日私は一人で粒餡を作ってみました。10年前に一度作ろうとして失敗した経験があったのですが、今日頑張って、何とか結構いい餡が作れました。嬉しいけど、相当時間かかりますね!餡は金と同じくらいの値段を取ればいいと思います!

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

When Sweetie and I were forced to downsize in March (when the rent on his house virtually doubled), we looked at quite a few houses. There was the "Italian House," which was absolutely gorgeous, but entirely too small for us. It had no laundry room, no storage, no basement, etc. There was a large open area on the first floor, a small-ish kitchen, and a yard with a heated lap pool. Upstairs, it simply had 4 rooms (two with walk-in closets), each with a toilet and shower, but two of the rooms were QUITE small. That was it. There was no place to put a washer and dryer, etc. It was a shame because the house was absolutely beautiful. Brand new, great attention to detail. Imported everything from Italy. But, we declined because it was too small.

The house remained vacant for MONTHS. But finally, about a month ago, we saw that some diplomats had moved in. Then, a week ago, I noticed that a flag had been erected and a sign put up declaring it the residence of an ambassador. So, we turned down an ambassador's house.

Another house we looked at was a semi-detached (aka duplex) on a somewhat dilapidated street that seems on the upswing. The house was big enough and though it wasn't perfect, it was the only acceptable one we'd seen so far (it too was brand new, and actually not even finished yet). We put a bid in on it, only to find out later that someone had already signed a contract on it (such the Israeli way to keep showing a house after someone else has sealed a deal on it). Anyway, we found out later that the people who had been living in the house we eventually took (and live in now) moved into THAT house! Interesting.

Well, we took a walk by it the other day and low and behold, but a HUGE house is being built right next to it! Vindication!!! We were so pleased. Yes, there's a house being built behind us, but it's only two stories (no basement). And it's sort of diagonally behind us, not directly behind us. On the other hand, the house being constructed by the duplex is ginormous and has a basement (ie: more construction, more noise). Because the house is a duplex, this new construction will effective block out many of the nice views in the house and lots of natural light.

So, even though the construction we've been dealing with has been a nightmare, we've learned that it could always be worse....:-)

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Sightseeing in Ohio

While we were in Ohio, I took Sweetie to see some of the local "attractions." One day, we went to Amish country (Ohio has the largest Amish population in the US, I believe). It was a beautiful day (as were virtually all days we were in Ohio -- something I keep trying to convince Sweetie is NOT at all normal). We drove down to Berlin, Ohio, parked the car and wandered in and out of some shops and stopped for some tea (while choking on fumes from the countless semi-trucks that passed on the rather narrow main street) -- all the while trying to escape from attacking yellow jackets.



We finally surrendered and got back into the car in search of the Amish-Mennonite Heritage Center. We resisted the temptation to pay to see the highly touted "cyclorama." Instead, we tried to catch some free peeks into the barn and schoolhouse while a tour was being conducted.



On the way home, we took a different route and discovered glorious local route 77 (not the highway 77 that runs up to Cleveland, as we learned). It was just beautiful. I knew Sweetie really enjoyed it. Me less so since I was constantly trying to avoid hitting the numerous horses and buggies we encountered on the road.



Pro Football Hall of Fame

No visit to the Canton-Massillon area is compete without a stop at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The last time I was there, I was FIVE years old. A very very long time ago. Longer than even I can believe. Anyway, the parking lot was full of cars with HOF theme license plates. We were in HOF territory for sure.



By this point during the trip, I had managed to contract some plague and was not feeling well at all. Nevertheless, I pressed on, taking frequent breaks at the benches scattered throughout the facility. The historical displays were rather interesting and I'll be happy to take any future Ohio visitors there.



Wine Festival

Sweetie and I are big fans of wine, so we couldn't resist checking out Canton's Wine Tasting event that coincided with our visit home. It was actually much better than we expected, with a fairly large variety of wines from virtually all major wine-producing countries. The live music was good, there were various restaurants offering food for a nominal cost (and sometimes free!), and there were tables available to stand at and sip your wine (I migrated to a picnic table on the fringe of the festival because I needed to sit!).



Incidentally, this is where we did make an appearance in the newspaper. While Sweetie was getting wine for us, a reporter for the local paper zeroed in on me and by the time Sweetie came back, I was in full-swing trying to give the reporter some good quotes. Sweetie, however, was much better at this, and he certainly attracted the attention of my relatives with his infamous, "Rather than [just] sitting at home and visiting relatives, we decided to do something."



Unfortunately, my illness (and the fact that I was driving) put a slight damper on my energy level, but again, I pressed on and hung in there the best I could. Neither of us were able to finish our EIGHT wine tasting tickets (the samples were practically half-glasses!), which sort of made us feel old, but anyway, we enjoyed it.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Happy, 嬉しい

けっこう私のブログを見てくれている友達が多いみたいで、とても嬉しいです。皆さん、ありがとう!

I continue to hear from friends and family that they are reading my blog, so I'm very happy. Thanks!

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Cornhole


While visiting family in Ohio, Sweetie and I were introduced to Cornhole -- an outdoor game sweeping Ohio (and perhaps other parts of the US?). I just checked Wikipedia and it was actually invented back in the 1960s in the west side of Cincinnati. Anyway, it is very much the rage now in Ohio, with everyone from college students to families playing it.


For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Cornhole involves two boards set at an incline and placed 30 feet apart. Each board has a hole in it. Teams stand at opposite boards and try to throw beanbags into the hole of the board 30 feet away from them. [Photo from Wikipedia]


My aunt and uncle initiated Sweetie and me into Cornhole and all its glory. They told me beforehand that one of my aunts, who will remain nameless, managed to throw her beanbag behind her and ONTO THE ROOF. Well, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be doing that.


Well....I shouldn't have been so confident. None of my beanbags landed on the roof, but they came pretty darn close, and in addition, I nearly hit my cousin, and she wasn't even playing the game!


Anyway, I had another aunt to commisserate with over my serious lack of hand-eye coordination. Another aunt of mine said her bags go straight up in the air like mine did. Much to my uncle's complete disbelief. He just could not understand how it could be so difficult to toss a stupid beanbag. Indeed. I don't understand either!


I tried to convince Sweetie that we should make a Cornhole set to play here, but he pointed out that our yard isn't long enough and that we'd be sending the bags into the street or the swimming pool (or worse, if I am playing).

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

日本語を頂戴

もっと日本語で分ログをお願いしますということですので、今日日本語でちょっと頑張ります。

アメリカの旅行はとても楽しくて(短かったけど)イスラエルに帰ってくるのはちょっと。。。難しい。もちろん時分の家にいて、自分のベッドで寝るのは気持ちいいけどね。だけど、いらいらすることが多いですね。そして私たちの家はとてもハイテックで問題が次から次出てくるの。例えば、ベッドルームの電気(ライト)が昨日消えてしまった。これは前も消えてしまったものです。直すのはとても難しい。専門の人を呼ばなきゃいけません。普通のライトをつけたらよかったのに、この家はとても「おしゃれ」なものばっかりで、問題だらけです。

つかれた!

Monday, October 1, 2007

From Southern CA to Ohio

Sweetie and I really enjoyed our beachside days in CA, even if we only actually walked along the beach once (Brrrr....that Pacific water is COLD!).

After four days in California, we flew to Ohio to visit the bulk of my relatives, including my 91-year-old grandmother.

We decided to visit Grandma early on in the trip and I called her to schedule our visit. Since I was last home, my grandpa died and my grandma had to be moved into an assisted living facility.

When I called her, she asked me Sweetie's name and when I told her his first name, she said, "And is that how I should address him?" Hmmm...ummmm....yeah... I was trying to figure out what else she might want to call him...?!

Anyway, I should have taken that as a sign that something was amiss. Very long and painful story short, Grandma thought Sweetie was an AMBASSADOR. She called to reconfirm his title the night before our scheduled visit to the assisted living center. She said something about a "camera crew" and the "newspaper." I completely panicked. I called the local newspaper and sounding like a complete lunatic, explained my apparent predicament. I was told that they would inform the lady who would be working on the story, if there was in fact such a story in the works.

Then, my aunt calls and mentions something about the "nursing home newsletter." NewsLETTER? Newsletter?? Not newsPAPER? So, apparently I really really sounded like a complete lunatic calling up the newsPAPER. "Welcome home, Cha-chan," is all my aunt had to say.

Well, in the end, Sweetie did okay without my mom and her friend showing up dressed in black with my iPod headphones in their ears looking like bodyguards. There was no red carpet, no formal diplomatic welcome reception, no cameras....no newspaper or even newsletter. Just a nice quiet chat with Grandma on such gentle issues as global warming (she brought it up!).

As it turns out, we did end up in the newspaper later during our trip. We were at a wine festival and while Sweetie was getting us more wine, a reporter made a beeline for me. My aunt called the next morning to report that we were on the "front page" of the "local section," right below "Daddy stabbed Mommy."

That's Ohio excitement for you. And Sweetie really took a liking to the place.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Turn the volume down, please

Basically since I met Sweetie, every chance he gets he comments that Americans are loud. And, unfortunately, this sometimes proves true. Like the time we were having dinner in an upscale restaurant which was still completely empty (it was 7PM - early for dinner by Israeli standards). The hostess seated a table of 3 right next to us - one American and two Israelis. The American was SO LOUD. I could barely think. There was no reason for him to be talking that loudly.

Anyway, Americans are not always loud. I keep trying to tell Sweetie this. But, one day in California we decided to try a local eatery for breakfast. We strolled down to the marina, walked in, and found ourselves in a very small dining area with a very large table of approximately 20 very LOUD Americans. They were so loud that the waitress was clearly also very disturbed by them, and assured us they'd be leaving soon. And they did. Phew. Quiet.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Driving in LA

A part of our trip that I was dreading the most was the drive from Dana Point to Ventura to visit my aunt and uncle. I really wanted to see them, so I was determined to make the trip, but it was estimated to be a 2-hour trip on LA-area highways, IF we were lucky. I was terrified. We were in Make-a-wrong-move-merging-onto-the-freeway-and-somebody- shoots- you Territory, after all.

Fortunately, Sweetie volunteered to do this portion of the driving. I knew he was better qualified and that we would be safer with him at the wheel.

And we were. He drove marvelously. We didn't hit any traffic jams (as we carefully followed my uncle's advice on avoiding peak travel times). We visited my aunt and uncle and had a really nice time.

Sweetie and Cha-Chan's Excellent Adventure

Sweetie and I recently returned from our much-anticipated (and somewhat feared, on my part) trip to the US to visit my friends and family.

We started off in sunny (and chilly, if you ask me) Orange County, California. There we visited with a good friend of mine from back when I was in first grade. I hadn't seen her since she had her first child, and we actually visited her and her family literally less than 24 hours before she gave birth to her second! Our trip was off to a great start!

We stayed at the Marriott Laguna Cliffs hotel in Dana Point. It was lovely. Gorgeous grounds, a lovely outdoor seating area where we ate breakfast several times (and where I ate at least $14-worth of rasberries at the buffet), sweeping ocean views....what more could you ask for.

Reverse Culture Shock
As other expats will know, it can often be a rude awakening when we return to our home countries. The one thing all US expats comment on these days is how shocked they are at how "fat" Americans are. True. But, I am long past the days of being shocked by that. No, I was shocked (in a positive way) by something else this time....

We were taking a stroll just outside the hotel. There was a very large public park area overlooking the sea. I noticed a man dressed in a suit walking his dog in the park. And then I observed the well-to-do, well-dressed man pulling some tissues out of his pocket, reaching down, scooping up a doggie deposit, and putting it into his luxury car. Yes indeedy!!!! I was so delighted I could barely contain myself.

My friend's husband pointed out that there are strict laws enforcing this and so naturally people are going to pick up after their dogs.

It really made me think how truly ashamed Israelis should be for not picking up after their dogs. Simply disgusting.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

New material to follow next week

I've been a little preoccupied recently, but plan to update the blog with new adventures next week!

Saturday, September 1, 2007

A lovely morning

On Saturday mornings, we like to eat our breakfast out on our second floor balcony. But, sometimes it is just too hot to do so. Today, I opened the door to see what it was like out, and said to Sweetie, "It's nice and overcast."

Yes, in the scorching Israeli summer, overcast is actually something we desire!

On the otherhand, we were watching CNN last night and Sweetie commented that, "Oh, it's sunny in London." And then right after that, the reporter said, "Hello from a sunny London." Clearly, sun is such a rare thing for Londoners that they all feel compelled to comment on it when it happens!

Friday, August 24, 2007

日本人にとってRとLを区別するのが難しいと言います。

私はイスラエルに来て、ヘブライ語を勉強して始めたのです。私はヘブライ語でRとLの区別がつかないのですよ。私の先生はこれはとても不思議だと思っています。日本に長く住んで、長く勉強したせいのかな?

Third World?


This morning our housekeeper (part-time, mind you! Diplomatic life isn't THAT good) came in and informed me that there was a rather large, fresh, fragrant dog deposit on the sidewalk right in front of our house. Delightful. I said, "It's like living in the third world here! There's dog poo EVERYWHERE on the sidewalks." She agreed.

I am not joking. If you walk one block, you literally have to negotiate your way around 3-4 dog piles. Can you imagine? God forbid you will be walking around at night in the dark.

We live in the most elite area of Israel, as far as I know. It's like Beverly Hills here but with so much dog poo on the streets that you would think it's a cow pasture or something! It's absolutely disgusting. Some people actually have handwritten signs on their gates telling people that the area in front of their house is not a "toilet" for dogs.

You do see people carrying around little plastic bags, but my housekeeper said that she figures it just must be for show. I guess so!

Unfortunately, I never witness the acts themselves, otherwise I would definitely go outside and confront the person: "Excuse me, you forgot something!" and then toss it to them:-)

"Muslim Warriors"

Yesterday, I watched most of the second installment of "God's Warriors" on CNN. This one was about "Muslim Warriors." My impression after watching Part II was that it didn't really tell me anything I did not already know. I suppose I was hoping for a more analytical approach to the issues. Instead the episode seemed to focus on interviews that provided examples of the ideologies (for example, an American girl who chooses to wear a hijab), which, frankly, I've seen and read plenty about already.

The program seemed aimed toward an audience that does not already have a general knowledge of various extremist ideologies. But, if someone doesn't already have a basic knowledge of the topic, are they really going to be interested enough to sit in front of a TV for SIX hours total to educate themselves? I'm just not sure who the target audience is....

Thursday, August 23, 2007

"God's Warriors"

I'm sure many of you have seen some of Christiane Amanpour's "God's Warriors" three-part series for CNN. Part II is airing today.

Last night Sweetie and I caught about 45-minutes of Part I one "Jewish Warriors." "Disturbing" was our opinion. Watching it really made us feel like things are truly hopeless in the realm of religion and peace.

I know the show focuses on extremes in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. But it is precisely the concept of focusing on the extremists that engenders this hopeless feeling.

The fact is that people who take their religion to confrontational and sometimes violent extremes are in the minority. I think the key is to remember that the vast majority of people do not have these disturbing attitudes toward other peoples and other religions. Somehow, the world has to find a way to teach tolerance to more people.

This makes me think back to my experience at Neve Shalom here in Israel. If only everyone could be raised in such an environment.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

時間

日本人とイスラエル人の時間のコンセプトはぜんぜん違いますね。お湯を沸かして釜をかけて待っているのにお客さんはまだ来ません。「タイミング」がもっとも大事な茶道ですよ。もし私は炭でやっていたら、もう焼けています。

こういった文化の違いのせいでイスラエルで茶道をするのはとても難しいと思います。

Friday, August 17, 2007

Yummy tea

I made some Roiboos tea the other tea. It's African Red Bush tea. Lovely stuff. I decided to ice it because it's summer and I'm in Israel and it is darn hot here. So, I put it in a kettle in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

Likewise, Sweetie and I mixed up some Pimms. For you Americans out there, Pimms is a British alcoholic mixer that is drunk in the summer. It's basically the alcoholic base for a sangria-like beverage. You chuck in all sorts of fruit, mint, etc. and add Sprite and 7-Up.

Cut to: my housekeeper. I told her I had some really nice herbal tea in the fridge that she could help herself to.

Later, she says to me, "Oh, that tea is really yummy!" Good -- I'm happy she likes it.

Then, I walk into the kitchen and see her glass. There are bits of apple and orange and mint in it.....

"Jocelyn...ummmm......that's not the tea!:

Oops. No wonder she really liked it:-)

Vegetarian Rant

I will need to be restrained if I hear another person say that they're a vegetarian, "but I eat fish" IF YOU EAT FISH, you are NOT A VEGETARIAN.

Wikipedia official definition of "vegetarianism": "Vegetarianism is the practice of not consuming the flesh of any animal (including sea animals)." Vegetarian posers: please note the "INCLUDING SEA ANIMALS" part.

It just really irks me when people say that they're a vegetarian when they are clearly not. I'm not a vegetarian activist and I don't care if people eat meat in front of me. But PUH-LEASE, if you eat sea creatures, don't call yourself a flipping vegetarian. You're a PESCETARIAN. And if you just sometimes eat meat or fish, you're neither a vegetarian nor a pescetarian. You're a FLEXITARIAN.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Say Cheese

I recently set things up so that Sweetie could talk to his daughter on Skype. I helped initiate his first call to her. As they started talking, I realize that Skype also has a "video" function, so I suggested we try that. I made sure that I was standing very safely outside the camera's frame of view because I was only half-dressed at that point (and I literally mean HALF dressed...imagine what you may). His daughter sayed, "Oh wow! Hi Dad!!! And I can see Cha-chan in the window." WHAT?!?!??! Ohmygawd! I looked back and sure enough, you could see me reflected in the window. Sweetie and I stared at eachother with huge eyes for a moment and then I promptly exited the room and closed the door!

Just hoping she only saw the dressed half of me......

Sunday, August 12, 2007

An exciting Saturday night

Sweetie and I had such an exciting night last night. We had a little swim in the pool ("little" being the operative word because you can reach the opposite end of the pool with one good push and one stroke). Then, we watched an episode of Season 2 of 24 (we're slowly working our way through the first five seasons, most of which we've already seen, but nevertheless, we think we're really clever when we know what Jack is going to do next). Then, we played a game of Scrabble. Yes, that's a hot night for us.

I guess we have resigned ourselves to the fact that it is more irritating than anything to go out in this country and so we just stay in most of the time. Despite the fact that our 2-year-old house only half-functions, it is a rather pleasant place to be. It has lots of light and a nice interior and I quite enjoy being inside it.

Anyway, we really embarrassed ourselves with our Scrabble performance, as our scores totaled well under what is considered an acceptable total score for the game according to the instructions. Last few times we played, alcohol was involved, so maybe we need to go back to that....

"Partner" and all its implications, Part II

Okay, this post will be a wee bit embarrassing because it involves me admitting that I was watching a clip of Kathy Griffith's show "Life on the D List."

Now that my confession is out of the way, I was indeed watching a clip from that show. Kathy was speaking to Ricky Gervais (I don't know who he is exactly, but I've heard of him, and apparently he's a British comedian with his own TV show). Ricky referred to his significant other of the feminine persuasion as his "partner," and Kathy called him out saying that sounds "totally gay."

So, this just reconfirmed for me that Brits freely use that term to refer to opposite sex long-term, serious boyfriend/girlfriends, while Americans do, in fact, get thrown off by the use of this term in such a fashion.

Well, personally, having given up my 6-figure income, health benefits, promising (though woefully unfulfilling) career, apartment with ocean views, etc. for Sweetie, I would really like to be called something more than "girlfriend." So, maybe I'll just have to train Americans to understand that "partner" can be used in straight couples, too....

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Why live in Israel?

This is a question I often ask when I see people who emigrate here from the US or the UK.



Yesterday, I talked to one such person. I didn't bring up the issue, though. He was a locksmith who came to fix a door lock in my house. (Incidentally, I had a very interesting conversation with another locksmith from the same company a month ago). Anyway, they sent a different guy this time. I said I didn't understand why someone would build a house as nice and fancy as ours and not be careful to install the doors and locks properly. He said, "There's a lot one can't understand about Israel. The key is don't even try." I see. That's it. No, things don't make sense here. And.....that's it. Period. Don't try to understand why or why not this or that.



The gentleman said that he was born here, but his parents moved to the US and he lived there for 15 years. But, he decided to return to live in Israel. He said it's his country, and there are lots of good things about Israel. For example, it's very safe here. The occasional war and intifada aside, it is very safe. Personal crime is very unusual. Generally speaking, women can walk around at night in the dark alone without a problem. In general, you're not likely to be robbed or mugged, etc. In fact, once we accidentally left our garage door open while away for several hours and when we returned, everything was still there (and there were some eye-catching, valuable objects inside that would have tempted a would-be robber).



The locksmith was quick to mention the downsides of life here. Like how expensive it is to live here. He said young people who want to buy a home either get help from the parents or buy a "dump" somewhere undesirable (I think this is the same in MANY countries these days). Likewise, salaries are extremely low here (I think some Israeli's working full-time at the embassy only take home $1,000 - $2,000 per month), but prices are high. For example, a box of Wheatabix costs the equivalent of $8. (Why anyone would want to pay ANYTHING for something that tastes like cardboard with milk on it is beyond me, but anyway).

On the upside, the locksmith said that Tel Aviv is always alive, straight into the morning. There are always restaurants and bars open and people milling about.

Personally, I think you have to be Jewish to connect with this country enough to want to settle down here. I'm sure there are non-Jews who are exceptions out there, but I think they must be very few and far between.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Comments and Manners

"Nobody Loves Me"



Please y'all, submit some comments! My dear friend Kuri has been the only person to do this so far, bless her heart, she has kept me from falling into a blog-induced depressive state. It's all very easy and you do not need a Blogspot account to do it.



Manners



These anecdotes fall under the category of Israeli Observations.



#1: Last night I was at a seaside bar with a group of about 15 people. We were spread out at a large table and a smaller table. Now, I did not actually see this happen, but I did witness the yelling that ensued as a result....



Apparently, a young Israeli female (in her 20s) walked over to the smaller table, at which a young man and woman (part of party) were sitting. She picked up a pack of Camel cigarettes that was on the table and asked for one (as she was removing it from the package). The young man said, "No, those aren't mine, so I can't let you take one." The owner of the Camels was in the ladies room. He offered one of his cigarettes, but the lady refused it and took one of the Camels anyway, even as the man told her again that she couldn't have one of those because they weren't his. She ignored him and walked off with the Camel cigarette.



That's when the man started saying loudly across the bar, "That's really rude...you could at least say 'Thank you.'" etc. When I heard what happened, I was appalled. As was the man's girlfriend, who is Israeli and was sitting right there. She said she's Israeli but she would never do something like that. The man was going on about how not all Israelis are like that, but 95% of them are. The girlfriend got quiet.... I don't know if she disagreed with that assertion, or agreed but didn't want to say it out loud about her own fellow countrymen.

#2: On Friday, Sweetie and I were lounging by the pool in the evening when suddenly loud disco music started thumping across the street. It was coming from the neighbor's pool area and continued until we headed up to bed. Now, Shabbat (the Jewish holy day of the week) starts on Friday night. We assume that things are supposed to be kept relatively quiet during that time and until Shabbat ends on Saturday night. But, apparently not.

I asked an Israeli about this once, and he told me that Shabbat only applies to religious Jews and so others don't really care.

Okay, fine. Shabbat aside, isn't it still really rude to subject the entire neighborhood to your music? This would never fly in the average residential area in the US. The neighbors would ask you to turn it down and even call the police if they had to.

Does is not bother people here? There are lots of retired people living on our block -- does loud music outside not bother them?