Worth Its Weight in Gold

Sweetie's sister arrived for a visit yesterday and the one thing he asked her to bring was Weetabix cereal. The reason? Well, it costs approximately $9 per box here. I am not exaggerating. It's actually $9.16 per box, to be precise. I'm not sure why anyone would want to eat something with a consistency somewhere between balsa wood and styrofoam, and that congeals so hard and solidly that it would rival duct tape as an adhesive. But Sweetie really loves his Weetabix. So, his sister brought mass quantities of it, basically paying for her plane ticket in the money we've saved on Weetabix. Bless her.

日本語でちょこっと

ブログ

いつもブログを日本語で頑張ろうと思いながら、なかなか。なぜか日本語でブログを書くとき、書いたものが2回出てくるので、かなり不便です。だからあまり日本語で書いていないのです。ごめんなさいね。

発見！Internet Explorerでやれば、大丈夫です。私は最近Operaというブラウザーが気に入って、それを使っていましたが、ブログを書くにはIEがいいみたいです。

イスラエル
最近イスラエルの天気が雨と嵐で、家にいる事が多いです。11月に彼にいただいたDSLRカメラを練習したいけど、中で写真をとるのが面白くないのです。友達にWide angle lensとTelephoto lensを貸していただいてそれを使ったみたいけど。

先日イスラエルに地震が起こりました。私は気づいたけど、自分の体が触れているだけと思ったのです。体に感じる地震は日本にすんだとき意外初めてでした。

日本といえば、秋から私が再び働くことになり、日本で仕事をしたいのです。彼も日本語できるし。もしいい仕事の話を聞いたら是非！

一期一会

悲しい話ですけど、先日こちらでの知り合いが交通事故で重傷を受け、無意識で、近いうちになくなる可能性が高いらしい。彼女が10月に我が家で開催した「お月見茶会」に来てくれた方で、沖縄に住んだことのある何人か子供がいるお母さんです。いつも何が起こるのかわからないので、Each momentに大切にして、一所懸命楽しむことが大事だと再び気づきました。最近、皆が他のことをしながら携帯電話で話したり、SMSを送ったりしています。全然やっていることや一緒にいる人に集中していない、気づいていないことが多いです。それは本当に残念だと思います。

皆さん、一期一会を思い出して、FOCUSをして生きていきましょう。

More Photos

I hereby promise more photos on my blog.  One kind reader suggested this and I know that I've been a terrible photo slacker.  A real shame because I have my fancy DSLR now, so I truly have no excuses.  So, I promise more photos.

That said, yesterday I met with a serious photographer to get some advice on lens purchases.  I need a zoom telephoto for my upcoming trip to Africa.  Easy enough.  He gave me some great suggestions that I am going to investigate and see what I can afford.  But, he also told me that I really need to be taking my photos in the 
RAW format, which means that in order to do anything with them, 
I have to convert them using software that is basically like a digital darkroom. 
UG.  As if uploading and organizing my photos wasn't enough of a trial already:-) 

Free Food

I had to make the dreaded grocery store trip today.  I often enjoy grocery shopping, but buying all the items on my list here, like everywhere else I have lived, requires trips to about three different stores.  I'm tired.  I already made a pilgrimage to the largest natural foods supermarket in Israel late last week.  Anyway, I am on the hook for some homecooked meals since last night Sweetie took me out to dinner (to the scene of our first ever dinner out together - needless to say, the same level of suspense and tension was not in evidence between us last night).  

All I wanted today was a red onion.  Was that too much to ask.  Apparently so.  My usual general purpose supermarket only had one soft and squishy red onion at the bottom of a crate.  No thank you.  So, I ran across to the health food store.  All I found there was a decorative string of red onions made of paper (though it was useful in showing the non-English speaking produce guy what I was looking for).  No dice.  So, I made a bargain with myself.  If the little strip of shops on the way home had a parking spot, I would try there for my onion AND get Sweetie's suit from the cleaners.  What a coup that would be.  

There was a spot.  And I went into my favorite neighborhood veggie shop and they had a whole bunch of red onions.  I picked one out.  Told the shopkeeper I didn't need a bag and tossed it into my $200 purse (those were the days, when I could afford purses like that) and asked him how much it cost.  "It's on the house," was the kind reply.  I really do like doing business with small shops in Israel.  The staff are friendly.  They'll spot you $10 and trust you to pay it back.  They'll toss little veggies in for free.  It's all good.

Hazards; Close Call

Hazard #1

What's that statistic about the vast majority of accidents occuring in the home?  Well, the other day I was diligently peeling some beets for a stew for dinner.  And then the peeler slipped.  And I felt pain.  However, seeing as how I was peeling beets, it was hard to tell much damage I had done.  Lovely.  Anyway, I will spare you the gory details, but it was pretty amazing what a simple vegetable peeler can do!

So, now my typing is slightly hampered.  But that's what painkillers are for, isn't it?

Hazard #2
Yesterday, I was walking home from the pharmacy at about 12:30 in the afternoon.  At one point
I paused and tried to decide which way to walk home.  I elected to take a slightly scruffy street since the other route was blocked by a massive truck that looked to be doing something sewage-related.  We call this particularscruffy  street "drug dealers' row" because the street itself is in pretty poor condition and it just generally looks seedy, but at the same time, some of the most massive, sprawling homes in the 'hood are on it.  

Anyway, I went down that street and then turned onto a very narrow alley-like street that leads toward our house.  For about 50 yards, there are no gates to houses -- just tall walls surrounding the properties on either side of the alley.  I was walking through this part and I heard footsteps approaching...quickly.  I looked back and tried to keep looking back at the figure approaching me so that he knew I saw him, but also not wanting to look directly at him, lest he think that was an invitation to harrass me.  

Anyway, my fears were realized when he sidled up beside me (entirely too closely) and started talking to me.  In Hebrew.  I knew what he was saying, but I just kept saying that I didn't speak Hebrew.  He was asking if I had a boyfriend....said he loved me....other assorted creepy comments.  YUCK.  I was eyeing my options as we emerged from the walled area and approached some houses with gates.  I decided to keep walking quickly toward our street.  Fortunately, there is an official embassy residence close to our house that has guards 24/7, so I figured I would walk there if the freak kept following me.  Fortunately, he got bored by the one-sided professions of devotion and walked the other way.  

Close call.  I am NEVER walking down drug-dealers'-row again.  I am boycotting that street.  And I have been reminded that although street crime is pretty rare in Israel, Israel is not entirely immune and I need to be careful.

Israel - bombings and beaches

Suicide Bombing
In case anyone is wondering, I am nowhere near Dimona, where the suicide bombing killing one Israeli lady took place today.  Dimona is in the south, whereas Tel Aviv is in central Israel.  That said, as a precaution, Sweetie asked me to cancel my meeting with my conversation partner today in Tel Aviv, just in case there will be a cluster of bombings.  There were two bombers in Dimona, maybe there are others working there way up north.  Who knows.  

I am pretty sure we have the border break between Gaza and Egypt to thank for this.  When that happened, everyone imagined that some terrorists would go into Egypt and then infiltrate Israel from Egypt.  

Ironically, about 10 minutes before I heard about the bombing, I was opening my backpack for a security guard at the nearby medical center.  I was thinking to myself that a packpack has the be the LAST thing an Israeli security guard wants to see, and I do sometimes feel bad for using one, because even I get scared seeing someone carrying a backpack.    But life goes on.

If it had just been me, I probably wouldn't have cancelled my trip into Tel Aviv this afternoon, because I just don't believe in living like that.  Also, I tend to think that an attack is more likely to occur in Tel Aviv in the coming days, rather than today, because it will take would-be suicide bombers that much longer to surreptitiously make their through the desert up to Tel Aviv.  At any rate, I think I will keep my mall excursions to a minimum until some time has passed and also until the border between Gaza and Egypt is solidly shut again.

Happier times
On the nice-news front, the weather has been spectacular and Sweetie and I ventured to Caesarea for lunch yesterday.  It was lovely -- we sat outside, nestled between the ancient ruins and the Mediterranean sea was practically lapping at our feet.  Lovely.

But it did occur to me that Israel doesn't really take advantage of its coastline like it should.  Okinawa, where I lived for three years, 
had soooo many "destination" restaurants and cafes.  I can think of so many charming seaside places that I would drive anywhere from 15-75 minutes to eat at because they had great food, great atmosphere, and stunning views of the sea.   But here, there is really only one "destination" cafe that Sweetie and I know of, and it's not even on the water.  A real shame.  Israel does, however, have its share of mediocre bars and restaurants here and there along the coast, but nothing like what I wish it had!

Hebrew; Ant Invasion

I just saw a notice that Blogger (the site hosting this blog) is now available in Hebrew.  Just in case I feel inspired, I guess!  Actually, I continue to prod along with my Hebrew studies, even though I feel like it's basically futile, because when am I ever again (after leaving Israel) going to use Hebrew?  I take have a weekly private lesson and also have recently started meeting with a conversation partner (we meet an hour each week: 30 minutes of English and 30 of Hebrew).  And I keep wondering why I am doing this.  I have to admit though, it does come in handy during my daily life here.  Most people do speak English.  But some don't.  Also, there are many occasions where being able to read Hebrew is really helpful (at the grocery store, reading street signs, etc.)   So, it does help alleviate the general sense of alienation one might feel not speaking the language here.

Rain = Ants in the House

You might have heard that Israel has had some pretty extreme weather this week.  Snow in Jerusalem.  Three straight days and nights of thunderstorms here on the coast.  It was pretty strange.  There was one clap of thunder so loud the other night that if Jesus was going to rise again, he would have then.  I started thinking about building an ark.  It just kept going and going.  
And now peace and tranquility have returned (at least weather-wise).  And so have the ants.  I was just going to lie down on the sofa with my book and rest for a bit when I noticed ants swarming that particular area of the living room.  I should have known.  They did this the last time we had really  heavy rains.  They come in via the hole in the wall where all the wires for our sophisticated sound/plasma TV system are (which we don't really use because we don't have any sophisticated stereo systems or plasma tvs).  

Question: When you vacuum up ants, could they potentially crawl back out of the vacuum cleaner?  These are the sorts of things I really need to know.