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.
Friday, November 30, 2007
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!
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!
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!
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!
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"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.
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!
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!
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