The "Himalaya"
Recently, I booked a special massage at my gym. It was called the "Himalaya." Like many things here, I didn't bother to try to figure out exactly what it was going to entail because that would require too much effort. All I knew is that I got the massage for a greatly discounted rate.
It turned out, it involved a salt scrub and then an oil massage. Fine. I've had that before. I was trying to imagine myself in Sivara Spa in Phuket, but it wasn't working so well because the cool ocean breezes were missing in the basement of my gym.
Anyway, all was just dandy until....the masseuse started pouring epic amounts of oil onto my forehead from which it ran into my hair. This is apparently an Ayurvedic massage technique, and I'd experienced variations before, but never had I experienced the full-fledged pouring-gallons-of-oil-into-your-hair version. It felt great when the oil hit the "third eye" in my forehead, but I couldn't help but fixate on the unavoidable after-effect of having the world's largest oil slick in my hair.
When Sweetie came home he said, "Oh, you've been in the pool." Uh, well, not exactly.
Two days later, I think most of the oil has been absorbed or washed out. Hooray.
Summer in Israel
Summer is upon us here in Israel and that means one thing: a war is in the offing. Strange but true, many of my friends - from foreign housewives to diplomats - are saying a war is in the air. Maybe it's the constant stream of newspaper articles about preparing the "homeland" for an attack. Maybe it's just something you develop a sense for living here.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Hope and other things
Hope
Last night I attended a benefit concert featuring a famous Israeli musician. The concert raised money for Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam ("Oasis of Peace"), a joint Jewish-Arab village between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The village has about 50 households -- half are Arab and half are Jewish. There is a school where Arab and Jewish children study together, and children are brought in from surrounding areas to attend the school as well. I visited the school and it was definitely very touching to see Arab and Jewish children studying together so happily.
Interestingly, after suggesting myself that people start respecting peace on a micro level, I did not find myself particularly optimistic after my visit to the village -- despite the fact that they are trying to spread peace from the grassroots level. Even after hearing about the educational and peace-building programs in which tens of thousands of people have participated, I felt more hopeless than ever about peace in this region. I couldn't put my finger on why, but that is the way I felt.
I felt the same way last night at the concert when the musician said he has hope for peace in the region. I guess I feel that you can change a few people's minds and lives, and that is a beautiful, amazing thing that has value in and of itself. But, generally speaking the conflict between Jews and Arabs is so ingrained in many of the people here -- I feel like it is in their blood. I once heard a woman (an American who had immigrated recently to Israel) say in a warning fashion, "There are Arabs living among us." I was stunned. And I didn't say anything. It's not like anything I could say would change her mind.
It made me think back the US's history with slavery. The United States is just over 200 years old, so slavery didn't have much time become indelibly marked in people's belief systems. In this region, the conflict stretches for thousands of years. How long and how much/what kind of effort will it take to change things?
Being Human
I was recently watching "Grey's Anatomy" -- one of my favorite shows ever -- and the main character was about to get involved with a new guy and was trying to act like she wasn't "scary and damaged." The more I learn about life and the more people I meet, the more I think that everyone has their own "scary and damaged" aspects. Isn't that what parents are supposed to do to us - mess us up so we can spend the rest of our lives trying to sort it out? :-) But, I think the point is:
--Handle this state of being with grace and humanity. Be gentle and forgiving with ourselves while striving to be better.
--Be compassionate and graceful in how we deal with everyone else since they also have their own issues.
Last night I attended a benefit concert featuring a famous Israeli musician. The concert raised money for Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam ("Oasis of Peace"), a joint Jewish-Arab village between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The village has about 50 households -- half are Arab and half are Jewish. There is a school where Arab and Jewish children study together, and children are brought in from surrounding areas to attend the school as well. I visited the school and it was definitely very touching to see Arab and Jewish children studying together so happily.
Interestingly, after suggesting myself that people start respecting peace on a micro level, I did not find myself particularly optimistic after my visit to the village -- despite the fact that they are trying to spread peace from the grassroots level. Even after hearing about the educational and peace-building programs in which tens of thousands of people have participated, I felt more hopeless than ever about peace in this region. I couldn't put my finger on why, but that is the way I felt.
I felt the same way last night at the concert when the musician said he has hope for peace in the region. I guess I feel that you can change a few people's minds and lives, and that is a beautiful, amazing thing that has value in and of itself. But, generally speaking the conflict between Jews and Arabs is so ingrained in many of the people here -- I feel like it is in their blood. I once heard a woman (an American who had immigrated recently to Israel) say in a warning fashion, "There are Arabs living among us." I was stunned. And I didn't say anything. It's not like anything I could say would change her mind.
It made me think back the US's history with slavery. The United States is just over 200 years old, so slavery didn't have much time become indelibly marked in people's belief systems. In this region, the conflict stretches for thousands of years. How long and how much/what kind of effort will it take to change things?
Being Human
I was recently watching "Grey's Anatomy" -- one of my favorite shows ever -- and the main character was about to get involved with a new guy and was trying to act like she wasn't "scary and damaged." The more I learn about life and the more people I meet, the more I think that everyone has their own "scary and damaged" aspects. Isn't that what parents are supposed to do to us - mess us up so we can spend the rest of our lives trying to sort it out? :-) But, I think the point is:
--Handle this state of being with grace and humanity. Be gentle and forgiving with ourselves while striving to be better.
--Be compassionate and graceful in how we deal with everyone else since they also have their own issues.
Keeping the peace
Every once in a while, we receive a very generic-looking typewritten piece of paper in Hebrew in our mailbox. I can't read enough Hebrew to ever figure these out completely, but it seems they are usually from neighbors who are about to create some noise and nearly drive us to the point of insanity.
One recent letter was apparently related to the teardown of a house right behind ours -- it even had the landlord's name handwritten into the addressee line. There was a different one today. It was more generic, but said something was going to happen today from 11AM until late afternoon in someone's garden. It was going to involve noise (one of the few Hebrew words I could make out). Sure enough, I heard loud (though pleasant, thankfully) music playing during those hours.
I still don't know exactly what the paper said, but I thought, perhaps naively, that maybe someone was having an open house, garage sale, or garden party, and inviting the neighbors. Maybe not:-)
There also tend to be a lot of VERY NOISY children's parties in our neighborhood. Complete with entertainment (the party meister is always equipped with a microphone and very loud speakers). These usually don't start until about 4PM and they always come without warning.
It all makes me wonder, shouldn't we all try respecting peace on a micro level at least?
One recent letter was apparently related to the teardown of a house right behind ours -- it even had the landlord's name handwritten into the addressee line. There was a different one today. It was more generic, but said something was going to happen today from 11AM until late afternoon in someone's garden. It was going to involve noise (one of the few Hebrew words I could make out). Sure enough, I heard loud (though pleasant, thankfully) music playing during those hours.
I still don't know exactly what the paper said, but I thought, perhaps naively, that maybe someone was having an open house, garage sale, or garden party, and inviting the neighbors. Maybe not:-)
There also tend to be a lot of VERY NOISY children's parties in our neighborhood. Complete with entertainment (the party meister is always equipped with a microphone and very loud speakers). These usually don't start until about 4PM and they always come without warning.
It all makes me wonder, shouldn't we all try respecting peace on a micro level at least?
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
I can't believe it's not meat!
An article in the Jerusalem Post today says an estimated 60% of Israeli households have a soy meat-analogue in their freezer (ie: a meat-like product that is based on soy, such as a veggie burger). I wonder if this includes expatriate households. I was so impressed the first time I looked into Sweetie's freezer -- I exclaimed: "You have veggie burgers!" (I'm a vegetarian). He said, "I do?" It turns out he had bought a pack of frozen burgers at the supermarket and had been eating them, but had no idea they were actually veggie burgers. A similar thing happened to another friend of mine. She was feeding her family "chicken patties" for a year before she realized there was absolutely no chicken in them whatsoever.
People often ask me, "Well, what do you eat?" when I tell them I don't eat meat or fish. I say, "Everything else." And as we can see, "everything else" includes things that people eat completely unaware that those products are vegetarian.
Here are some pics from a incredible feast (I couldn't even touch the last course, I was so full) I had at a Japanese inn a few years ago. The food was entirely free of animal products.
People often ask me, "Well, what do you eat?" when I tell them I don't eat meat or fish. I say, "Everything else." And as we can see, "everything else" includes things that people eat completely unaware that those products are vegetarian.
Here are some pics from a incredible feast (I couldn't even touch the last course, I was so full) I had at a Japanese inn a few years ago. The food was entirely free of animal products.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Month 11
Hello all. I have been sending email updates on my life in Israel to 100 or so of my closest friends for the past 11 months. But, I've finally relinquished my Earthlink email account (it was not easy and involved telling a very persistent lady in India at least 4 times that I definitely did NOT want to continue paying for my email address), and my other account won't allow my mass emails. Anyway, it was time to take one step further into the digital age. So, here's my blog.
This is my 11th month in Israel. Life is busy here. Having recently moved houses, I am trying to finish unpacking and playing host to a constant stream of repairmen. I'm also trying to used to being a "housewife" instead of a very gainfully employed professional. Now, I'm.....trying to figure out exactly what I should do for the rest of my life....Preferably something that involves earning money.
Never a dull moment
Recently, I was at home during the day being a "housewife," and suddenly heard a blaring air raid siren and it didn’t sound like it was a test. I rushed into the saferoom/laundry room, but then realized there was no emergency light and no phone in there. I grabbed a phone, and grabbed my cell phone so I would have my sweetie’s [heretofore referred to as "Sweetie"].number. And then waited for it to stop. After it stopped, I went back out and all seemed well, so I sat down to read the paper and then I saw that it was a memorial siren marking an Israeli remembrance day. Would have been nice to know that before I panicked about us being bombed!
Sweetie was hanging pictures a few weeks ago and learned that even my special nails for cement were getting bent by the walls. We both were at least excited by the fact that our walls are really strong! Better in bombings!
And then there was the day a helicopter kept circling the area and we looked at eachother and casually said, "Suicide bomber." They were probably looking for a suicide bomber who was likely on the loose in the area. It happens.
All this sort of stuff just becomes second nature here and you don't really realize that it's a bit strange to make comments like that.
Also, the front page of the weekend section of one of the national daily newspapers addressed the question: If Iran lobs a nuke at Israel, what does the public need to do to prepare? Just the sort of thing you want to contemplate over your morning coffee.
But it's not all bad
On the up-side, we have a lovely house -- there is just no way we could maintain this standard of living in either of our home countries. That's one of the major bonuses in living overseas (and being employed by an entity in your home country).
Reducing my carbon footprint
Having been forced to sell my car due to a visa snag, I now walk everywhere -- sometimes up to 80 minutes a day! Some things I have noticed: no one picks up after their dogs, no one puts their dog on a leash, there are some really nasty, ferocious dogs in our neighborhood, people don't care about parking on sidewalks or blocking sidewalks, people don't care if they run over pedestrians, workmen like to stare at me...and other assorted things.
Also, there is a massive amount of construction going on in our residential neighborhood. There are still quite a few small, old houses from the early days of this area, and those are all slowly being torn down and new, hulking fortresses are being built in their place. People tend to like to keep an eye on their elderly neighbors who are living in these old houses, lest they pass away and leave a new construction site (sad, but true). We tried to find a house that wasn't adjacent to a construction site, but somehow we missed the abandoned house directly behind ours. It was obscured by some fairly massive trees, which someone chopped down today while also removing the roof of the old house. I see a lot of noise in our future.... But there truly is no escape. There are also at least two massive houses being built within 3 or 4 lots of ours in other directions. There is not a single block in this area that lacks at least one construction site.
When it rains, it....
When it rains in Israel at this time of the year, it rains mud. Seriously. It's disgusting. Actually, it shouldn't even be raining this late in May, but it still is, which is another sign of impending global warming doom (which Sweetie and I have determined will leave Europe a desert and will give the Mideast 4 seasons). Anyway, the mud leaves such a mess on everything outside: cars, patio funiture, decks, you if you're unfortunate enough to be outside when it happens.
Cha-chan's intro to cheek-kissing
Now that I'm coupled with a European, I really must get used to the cheek-kissing custom. The other night at a party, I found myself cheek-kissing an Ambassador. This is just not normal for me. That is not how I naturally expect to greet an ambassador. But, it is definitely the custom here.
On a more serious note
One thing that I am still not used to about living here is the fact that this is a country based on a religion. And, I can never get used to how many Americans, Brits, Australians, etc. that I meet who emigrated here. I am one of the first people to cite the US's faults and downsides, but I don't think I would seriously want to immigrate to a country that is at the center of so much conflict in the world. I suppose it's difficult for me to understand because I am not Jewish.
This is my 11th month in Israel. Life is busy here. Having recently moved houses, I am trying to finish unpacking and playing host to a constant stream of repairmen. I'm also trying to used to being a "housewife" instead of a very gainfully employed professional. Now, I'm.....trying to figure out exactly what I should do for the rest of my life....Preferably something that involves earning money.
Never a dull moment
Recently, I was at home during the day being a "housewife," and suddenly heard a blaring air raid siren and it didn’t sound like it was a test. I rushed into the saferoom/laundry room, but then realized there was no emergency light and no phone in there. I grabbed a phone, and grabbed my cell phone so I would have my sweetie’s [heretofore referred to as "Sweetie"].number. And then waited for it to stop. After it stopped, I went back out and all seemed well, so I sat down to read the paper and then I saw that it was a memorial siren marking an Israeli remembrance day. Would have been nice to know that before I panicked about us being bombed!
Sweetie was hanging pictures a few weeks ago and learned that even my special nails for cement were getting bent by the walls. We both were at least excited by the fact that our walls are really strong! Better in bombings!
And then there was the day a helicopter kept circling the area and we looked at eachother and casually said, "Suicide bomber." They were probably looking for a suicide bomber who was likely on the loose in the area. It happens.
All this sort of stuff just becomes second nature here and you don't really realize that it's a bit strange to make comments like that.
Also, the front page of the weekend section of one of the national daily newspapers addressed the question: If Iran lobs a nuke at Israel, what does the public need to do to prepare? Just the sort of thing you want to contemplate over your morning coffee.
But it's not all bad
On the up-side, we have a lovely house -- there is just no way we could maintain this standard of living in either of our home countries. That's one of the major bonuses in living overseas (and being employed by an entity in your home country).
Reducing my carbon footprint
Having been forced to sell my car due to a visa snag, I now walk everywhere -- sometimes up to 80 minutes a day! Some things I have noticed: no one picks up after their dogs, no one puts their dog on a leash, there are some really nasty, ferocious dogs in our neighborhood, people don't care about parking on sidewalks or blocking sidewalks, people don't care if they run over pedestrians, workmen like to stare at me...and other assorted things.
Also, there is a massive amount of construction going on in our residential neighborhood. There are still quite a few small, old houses from the early days of this area, and those are all slowly being torn down and new, hulking fortresses are being built in their place. People tend to like to keep an eye on their elderly neighbors who are living in these old houses, lest they pass away and leave a new construction site (sad, but true). We tried to find a house that wasn't adjacent to a construction site, but somehow we missed the abandoned house directly behind ours. It was obscured by some fairly massive trees, which someone chopped down today while also removing the roof of the old house. I see a lot of noise in our future.... But there truly is no escape. There are also at least two massive houses being built within 3 or 4 lots of ours in other directions. There is not a single block in this area that lacks at least one construction site.
When it rains, it....
When it rains in Israel at this time of the year, it rains mud. Seriously. It's disgusting. Actually, it shouldn't even be raining this late in May, but it still is, which is another sign of impending global warming doom (which Sweetie and I have determined will leave Europe a desert and will give the Mideast 4 seasons). Anyway, the mud leaves such a mess on everything outside: cars, patio funiture, decks, you if you're unfortunate enough to be outside when it happens.
Cha-chan's intro to cheek-kissing
Now that I'm coupled with a European, I really must get used to the cheek-kissing custom. The other night at a party, I found myself cheek-kissing an Ambassador. This is just not normal for me. That is not how I naturally expect to greet an ambassador. But, it is definitely the custom here.
On a more serious note
One thing that I am still not used to about living here is the fact that this is a country based on a religion. And, I can never get used to how many Americans, Brits, Australians, etc. that I meet who emigrated here. I am one of the first people to cite the US's faults and downsides, but I don't think I would seriously want to immigrate to a country that is at the center of so much conflict in the world. I suppose it's difficult for me to understand because I am not Jewish.
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