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!!