.

2007-11-14T16:27:00.000+02:00

It's good, real good, to be back in the TLV.

2007-11-01T01:47:00.000+02:00

Happy Holloween. Rock on, all.

2007-08-13T14:41:00.000+03:00

Last week was pretty quiet, mainly because Ben and I hardly saw one another. With him pulling long hours in the office trying to get a months-delayed paper out for publication, and me working every night until almost midnight, our schedules only coincided for a bleary-eyed few minutes over coffee each morning. So when Thursday rolled around, when Ben had finally sent off his paper and I had my one day off, we thought it was high time to kick back and play a bit. So we headed to the beach, had a few drinks, and flew a cheap kite I had bought. Having lived most of my life in places where kite-flying is really impossible (too many trees, too little wind), it's still a completely thrilling thing to fly kites. There's something about holding the tether of anything airborne that I've never quite gotten over.

With all that time alone last week I got a jump on that skirt and finished it yesterday. I'm pretty happy with how it came out, although it took a while to convince my sewing machine to treat it properly -- who knew that small differences in thread and needles would matter so much?

This is my first clothing project (as far as I can remember) that I've done where I've used new, non-repurposed fabric. I suppose until now (since I've been basically teaching myself how to sew) there has been less percieved risk in using cheap and found fabrics. Screwing up certainly seemed a lot less painful when I didn't have anything invested in the fabric I used.

Even this time, I couldn't quite bring myself to use the good stuff. I found the fabric in a remnants bin (and even so, it was more painful when I screwed up). But not getting the good stuff was sort of intentional. I really liked the irregular stitching, the "factory edge" of the cloth, that runs along the middle. The piece came from the very interior of the bolt, where "bad" fabric was adhered to the cardboard bolt tube and stitched to the edge of the "good" fabric. The odd stitching describes the border between the "good" and "bad" fabrics. It gave it a one-off quality that I thought might help gloss over whatever imperfect stitching I might do (and it does). But whatever it may do to the looks of the skirt, it sure makes for a good story to tell when I wear it.

2007-08-06T12:51:00.000+03:00

Another day, another bag. This one is made from the same brand of floor cloth as the little clutch. I'm especially proud of the zipper; it's the first one I've ever used in a project.

But now, it's back to clothes for a while. I bought some sweet green-grey cotton which should make a great skirt, which will hopefully make its debut next week. Stay tuned!

2007-08-01T14:16:00.000+03:00

Over the last week I've scored some pretty awesome street finds. Furniture, clothes, papers, stuff &mdash as a result our little apartment has suddenly transformed itself from just-another-little-studio into some pretty awesome digs. It's amazing to think how little furniture we've actually bought for the place: one coffee table, one armchair, one lamp, a bookshelf and a couple of foldaway side tables. That's it. The rest is either built-in or free stuff I've scrounged from the street. Ben thinks I'm crazy for rescuing furniture and crap from the street, treating them as if they're poor stray dogs who need a home. Be that as it may, I think all my stray dogs have given our place stubbly, Tel Avivian edge that I dig.

The most useful find was the vintage desk and chair (found on the same day, but not together), which is the new home for my sewing machine and pretty much where I've been spending most of my free time. It has this amazing lily-orange laminate on the desktop and along the baseboard, and it makes me alternately want to watch the Eames' short films and anything with Steve McQueen in it. Hot, I tell ya.

To inaugurate the desk I made a clutch sort of thing from this cool felt-like floor cloth. Not exactly the thing for hot-hot August in Tel Aviv, but pretty sweet nonetheless. I was happy enough with the way the material behaved that I'm making another version, this time with handles.

But back to stray dogs for a minute. As awesome as the desk is, I have to mention another recent adoption: this big blackboard, a former specials board from a bar a few buildings over. They had chucked it out on the street early one morning, and I was lucky enough to grab it before anyone else. It's huge &mdash maybe 2.5'x3.5' (and was already full of doodles five minutes after I took the photo). Any takers for a drink and a game of tic-tac-toe on the board can come over anytime they like. xo

2007-07-25T16:45:00.000+03:00

July on the beach.

2007-07-11T15:57:00.000+03:00

Say hello to my new best friend. He's quiet, burly, and behind that Home-Ec, jheri-curl exterior is a heart of gold.

Seriously. I'm super excited to finally, finally have a sewing machine this side of the Atlantic. After I bought it I had trouble getting to sleep because of those childhood Christmas Eve jitters; I just couldn't stop thinking about it. And even after I finally got to sleep, I had several weird sewing dreams. (Is it possible to have sewing-depravation syndrome and not know it?)

So finally, finally, finally, after months of putting it off and spending my savings on other stuff and thinking maybe I didn't need one at all, I bit the bullet and bought one. But boy was it hard working up the courage to buy it. A year ago it took a lot of emotional energy just going to the grocery store; I didn't understand anything anyone said, I couldn't read any signage &mdash you know, the typical confused new-immigrant situation. I talked about it a lot back then (and I guess I'm still talking about it). And although I feel pretty confident getting around on my tourist Hebrew these days, buying a sewing machine seemed just as monumental a task as grocery shopping did back then. All the specialized words; the fear of getting ripped off and spending a lot on a crappy machine (I could only afford a used one); the inevitable awkward negotiations, alone in a strange, dusty shop far from home; that was enough to freak me out for all these months. Fortunately though, I was bold and ended up lucky. A friend told me about a good place, which was well-stocked, and I was surprised to find that the owner spoke English (I guess I crammed those key sewing terms for nothing).

I had my first really free (post-purchase) day yesterday, so I spent it sewing. I repurposed a street find (a horrible early-90s hoodie-ish thing) into this skirt and fixed a couple of tees that were too big. I'm sure next week I'll have new bags to show (as if I needed more. Anyone out there want one?). Well, I think I've spent enough time away from my little Elnita now, gotta run back home and start a new project. xo

2007-07-04T14:40:00.000+03:00

Happy Fourth of July, all!

I, for one, have been on vacation. And it's been in the elementary-school sense: I've totally ignored (most of) my responsibilities and done nothing but play kick-the-can with my friends in the driveway, swim in the city pool, and eat ice cream. Yeah, it's been pretty sweet. A little too sweet, actually. I didn't think you could overdose on vacation, but I seem to have done it. So for the few of you who are still hanging around, things are going to start back up here.

You wanna know what my first non-vacation-vacation project is gonna be? Look no further.

2007-04-22T20:40:00.000+03:00

Happy Yom Ha-Zikaron (Memorial Day) + Independence Day!

Unlike the US version, Memorial Day here (it was Monday) is a really serious affair. Sunday at 8:00pm precisely (per the Hebrew calendar, days here start at sunset, not at midnight; so by 8pm it's already considered to be Monday), sirens went off across the country to honor soldiers who have died in recent conflicts. All stores, restaurants and bars were closed (by law). Bus routes that passed by cemeteries were expanded, and there were lots of private and public memorial services. The entire city is decked out in flags and blue-and-white garlands. Monday it was the same &mdash ulpan classes were cut short so we could attend a memorial service, another set of sirens at 11:00am, empty streets and beaches.

In a nation of 6 million, with mandatory military service and an antagonistic history with its neighbors &mdash 8 wars in 60 years, with more than 100,000 killed or wounded (we had a complete history of the conflicts this week in what I now call the "propaganda" portion of our ulpan studies), it's almost impossible not to know someone who was a casualty. A few of the waitresses at work were asking me why Memorial Day in the US wasn't more like it is here &mdash it seemed almost offensive to them that Memorial Day stateside is usually a big shopping/vacation day, not a day for remembering the fallen. One waitress said she usually ends up crying all day on Memorial Day.

However, after sunset on Monday (a.k.a. the start of Tuesday on the Hebrew calendar), Independance Day began. Very much in contrast with Memorial Day just a few hours before, Independence Day is a really exctatic day. That's the 4th of July equivalent &mdash everyone is at the beach or grilling in the parks, or just generally out and about. There were fireworks and concerts, and it was a day off for everyone.

The stark contrast in mood between the two consecutive days was hard to get my brain around. That you could spend one day crying for the fallen and the next day partying with friends was difficult for me to understand. But I've decided that that's how many people live life here, that is, very much in the moment.

2007-04-11T16:43:00.000+03:00

Yep, I'm still rockin' it here. Although mainly offline. You know how it is -- working hard and playing hard. So I'm just poking my head out here to say hello and that I'm still alive. After a two-week break school is back in session; I'm hoping that having a rigid schedule again will make it easier to find time to write.

But like I said, it's been intense. I only took two days off; the rest I spent working at the restaurant, hitting the books, and hitting the town. Last Monday night I went to a seder dinner at the Sharons (very cool), Thursday I went to Jerusalem (very cool + very crowded), Friday I went to an indie t-shirt market (very very cool + not so crowded), and Saturday I spent at home trying to beat the heat (100F + 95% humidity: awful ).

Although I haven't been writing here much, I've been keeping my flickr site updated with lots of photos, so if you're bored go there. more soon. xoxo to all!

2007-03-30T11:35:00.000+03:00

A little vacation goes a long way.

Thanks for being patient while I crashed. Finally, I've had some time to take a deep breath and chill out for a bit. Vacation started on Wednesday and I've tried to use these first days to their fullest. The house is clean, some studying has been done, I've had a chance to spend some quality date time my man, and finally I've had a little time to tube out watching 30Rock and some old-school serials. So much fun. I'm even catching up a bit on my reading &mdash the bedside table has only one book on it now, rather than the rediculous pile of half-finished books it did a few weeks ago. The weather is beginning to perform, too: we're definitely going to hit the beach in a few hours.

During all this wind-down time, I've been thinking a lot about the Seder we did at the ulpan (for those of you who haven't spied on my flickr site, that mysterious grocery list did in fact turn out to be for a seder meal). I'm going to hold off talking about it until after Monday, until after the seder meal at the Sharon's. The Sharons are so great because they're always so chill and so gracious &mdash such a change from the typical brusque Tel Avivian. It'll also be useful to contrast the public-school-style, rah-rah ceremony we had at the ulpan to the private, familial one we're sure to do on Monday.

For now though, it's off to the beach.

2007-03-20T17:05:00.000+02:00

I've been trying to write something here for days. Well, probably more like two weeks now. It feels as though it's only been days, anyway. Every time I sit down, I either realize I've forgotten to do something really important, or it's already late and I'm beat, or some other thing comes up. Somehow I've been totally blindsided by a bunch of unexpected crap. I suppose that when you ignore all your responsibilities for a week to play tourist with your parents, it's gotta catch up with you. I guess I just didn't expect it to happen so suddenly, or without any warning.

But enough excuses. More vacation is coming right up (Israelis like to bunch their holidays together!). I get two whole weeks off for Pesach (Passover), starting next Wednesday. (Which is probably why I was hit so hard with work &mdash I had to make up for one vacation while working toward another one. But I promised not to talk about that anymore, didn't I?) I can't wait for all that time off, now that the weather is beginning to get nice enough to spend an afternoon on the beach.

Tomorrow is the requisite Pesach party at the Ulpan, which is why I have such an odd list to-do list written on my hand ("white shirt, potatoes & a hard-boiled egg"). As our class is now further along than many others, we've been asked to do more and more with each subsequent party. This time, we are doing a short reading from the traditional Pesach booklet (I don't know what the name of the booklet is, but it's a sort of Pesach manual that tells you what songs to sing, what to say, and when. Maybe like a highly abridged Book of Common Prayer). We're also supposed to wear a white shirt, and bring with us a hard-boiled egg and two steamed and peeled potatoes.

Our teacher wouldn't tell us why we're doing any of this, but after peeking in the auditorium and seeing six or seven 40ft-long tables being set for a meal, there's no doubt that tomorrow the entire school is having a Seder meal together. It should be really interesting (then again, what ulpan party hasn't been interesting so far?). I've always wanted to know the details of the Seder meal, beyond matzoh and "bitter herbs" (whatever that means). So more tomorrow; gotta go charge my camera...

2007-03-11T16:14:00.000+02:00

While I take a few days to process photos, spend some time with Patri, ooh-ing and aah-ing over crazy radar(?) images and stories from her Air Force husband, who is stationed "somewhere in the Middle East" (but definitely not here). Oh and try not to puke when you see his moustache. He doesn't normally look like such a perv.

And while you're at it (and on a completely different note), take some time to read an interesting article from Der Spiegel about the video "game" Second Life.

2007-03-08T18:51:00.000+02:00

This is me, just a few hours ago, drying off at the Dead Sea. There is so much salt in the water that it started to crystallize right on my skin. Crazy. Dad put it a good way: swimming in the Dead Sea is like swimming in unset jello. It's a little thick, a little slimy, and really blue.

I won't have time to say much more until after the 'rents leave on Saturday. I have plenty of photos to share (Caesaria, Mesada, the Dead Sea and some pics from here in TA are in the works), so stay tuned until this weekend when I'll start actually talking about what I've been doing and not just lamely posting photos. Okay, now to make martinis for everyone and then out to dinner.

2007-03-05T19:37:00.000+02:00

The parents are here this week, so I'm skipping a lot of school and doing a lot of playing. I'm already sunburned and have seen more of Israel in the last three days than I did in my first six months here. Lots of photos to come. I won't have much time to post while everyone is here this week, so spy on my flickr site for up-to-the-minute views. Here's a small taste of what we've done so far.

Saturday was Akko:

And Sunday was Jerusalem:

2007-02-28T19:10:00.000+02:00

Purim party!

There was all kinds of excitement today. This was the pre-party, out in the courtyard, with lots of dancing. (Can you see the klezmer trio playing in the corner?) Like the Hannukah party, today's ulpan shindig was much more fun than I expected it to be, since everyone was so into it.

Most students at the ulpan really enjoy themselves (in a rah-rah sort of way), which is in general a pretty refreshing change. They're excited to be in Israel and excited to be learning Hebrew, and therefore embrace any chance to express their Jewish heritage. I get the sense that for many, it's sort of a homecoming: finally, everyone speaks the language they've studied for so long in elementary school, everyone celebrates the same holidays, everyone knows the same hymns and songs.

Here are my teacher and classmates decked out in their crazy Purim hats.

And our class practicing the Purim song we had to perform during the assembly. Yes, we adults had to sing a kids' song, wearing crazy hats, in front of other adults. (And, when we finally did, by the end everyone was singing with us and cheering. Yep, definitely a rah-rah group.)

The klezmer trio dropped in to our classroom to signal the official start of the party.

We were served (gross!) wine and "Haman's pockets" &mdash butter pastries filled with either nutella, date paste, or poppy seed paste.

I've heard from more than a few people that most Jewish holidays have the same basis: Someone tried to kill the Jews, they failed, so let's party. Purim definitely fits the stereotype. I'm not sure where the costumes come in, but there you have it.

Purim commemorates the entire book of Esther, when during the Persian empire, the Jews were saved (via the cleverness of Esther and Mordecai, and of course with Providential help) from Haman's plot to eradicate them. It's certainly one of the rowdier holidays; whenever the Purim story is told, you're supposed to yell and hiss and use noisemakers whenever Haman's name is mentioned, to "blot out the name of evil." Ha. There was plenty of hollering and hissing today, both in class and during the assembly (the story was read in Hebrew, English, and Russian above). Noisemakers and tambourines were passed out beforehand, for just that purpose.

Besides costumes, noisemakers and sweets, there is an expectation of heavy drinking. I was told today that you're supposed to drink wine until you can't distinguish Haman (i.e. the bad) from Mordecai (i.e. the good). Ha. Now where's my glass...?

2007-02-26T17:06:00.000+02:00

More ulpan antics today.

We haven't had a vacation in what seems like ages, and this weekend is Purim, which is like a mixture of Mardi Gras and Holloween (the big selling point is tons of parties, some costumes, and a rediculous amount of wine). So everyone is getting a bit punchy and looking for any excuse to mess around a bit.

There is a contingent of Argentines in class (Alon, here, is one of them), and yesterday in the context of learning some verb (big surprise: I forget which verb), one of them mentioned wanting to drink maté. Of course none of us anglos knew what maté was, so they decided to bring in enough for the whole class, complete with all the accoutrements: gourd mugs and metal straws. Maté turns out to be the national drink of Uruguay and Argentina: tea made from the yerba plant. To be honest, maté isn't my new favorite drink. It's smokey and vegetabley and bitter, brewed to punch-you-in-the-face strength. But I probably thought the same thing about coffee the first time I had it, so I suppose if I had it frequently enough and in the right context, I might get to like it.

Oh yes, and before I forget: we're having another school assembly on Thursday. And this time our class gets to (er, more like is required to) perform in it. This time around I'll try to take sneak in some pics, both of the snacks we're sure to get (probably Haman's pockets) and of the on-stage antics. Stay tuned!

2007-02-22T17:01:00.000+02:00

At times, I love working at restaurants. Seriously, once you're in with the cooks, you're golden. This was my lunch-slash-dinner today: fried fish (as you can see, both little whole ones and large chunks, piping hot, straight out of the fryer. Looks gross, tastes great), with plenty of little salads on the side: guacamole, salsa, parsley salad, cabbage salad. Yum. And to add a little spice to my meal, I got thinking about how someone described to me today the best way to evade immigration inspectors. Does my life mirror that of some Chinese girl, working for a bit at some restaurant in the States? Yes. Yes, I think it does.

2007-02-21T18:14:00.000+02:00

One of the subtlest details of life here is the mezuzah. Mezuzah literally means "doorpost," but usually it refers to the small box attached to doorjambs, which contains a copy of two passages from Deuteronomy. Naturally there are rules regarding how often they should be checked and replaced, and who is qualified to do it (Not being Jewish, I don't think I'm even really supposed to touch them).

We have one for every room in our apartment, including the outer door and also on the doorway of our building. There is one in every classroom at the ulpan. They're in every storefront in the malls, at the grocery store, in hair salons, at the bank, in bars and clubs. I can't quite get over the fact that even the seediest bars and some of the most counter-culture places (think: neo-goth or x-rated) have them on their doorways. Maybe they've become more a cultural symbol than a religious one; regardless, the irony gets me every time.

Although mezuzahs hang quietly on nearly every doorway, both inside and out, in both private spaces and public spaces (with the exception of bathrooms and storage rooms), they're pretty easy to ignore. I always register them in my peripheral vision; they're something that flashes by en route to somewhere else. Usually just above (my) eye level, most are fairly small, usually 6"-8" long.

Mezuzahs are a fascinating commentary on the way spaces are perceived -- which are considered kosher and "clean" (with mezuzah), and which ones are considered to be "dirty" or insignificant (without mezuzah). Sometimes mezuzahs and doorposts have a residue from many hands running across them in deference to the Torah and the bit of scripture they contain. I suppose it's not unlike a Catholic crossing themselves as they pass an image of Mary or the cross. More than once, at the mall, I've seen people kiss their hand, then touch the mezuzah as they leave a store.

It's fascinating to be reminded that for much of the world doorways are significant things, and ideas about "clean" and "dirty" spaces vary greatly. Check out some interesting (although more Asia-centric) observations on Jan Chipchase's blog, here, here, and here.

2007-02-20T18:59:00.000+02:00

A couple of drinks on the beach sure do take the edge off a busy week.

2007-02-16T16:59:00.000+02:00

I was lucky the weather was weird yesterday afternoon; it meant my first day working at the restaurant was pretty quiet. I've been told that the place is packed on nice days and empty on not-so-nice ones, which was fortunate for me yesterday. It made for a pretty unstressful time. Not that there wasn't anything to do; I was kept plenty busy. But it meant that there was just enough slack for me to make a few mistakes and ask a few questions without consequences.

It was a pretty interesting time no matter what. The waitresses warned me that "the place has a lot of character" because "so many interesting people work there". I think they were trying to warn me. The woman who owns the place certainly seems like a battle axe. But, like I said last week when I took the job, it's nothing different than what I had to put up with back in Ann Arbor, so I feel like I'm going into it with my eyes pretty open.

The strangest thing about working there though, is that I have to keep track of my own hours. That's the one part I'm a little uncomfortable about. It means that I have to keep a diary of what hours I worked and on what days, then the owner signs the tally at the end of each shift. It's a weird system, and I don't see how it can really work. But when a place doesn't ask any questions about my status, for now there's nothing to do but keep my mouth shut as well.

All that to say that I had to get my hands on a datebook, and fast. Unlike the stationery stores in Rome, which were a treasure trove of awesome old-school supplies, the stores here totally suck. Everything is ugly and cheaply made and imported from China. It makes me want to cry sometimes.

But that's where my birthday present comes in. Back in October I bought myself (as an early birthday present) the most rediculously large, never used, customizable stamp. It has all 22 Hebrew characters, a full set of numbers and a few punctuation marks. It was so worth the $7 I paid for it. I've been waiting for just the right moment to use it, and finally it arrived.

This morning I bought a small blank book (I'm trying to get over the fact that it has a pink cover; it was the only one left), and I made myself a little datebook. I'm so excited about it. There were enough pages to cover 1.5 years; hopefully the book will hold together that long. All that's left to do now is to stamp in all the Israeli holidays and trick it out some more.

2007-02-11T15:32:00.000+02:00

Well, it's official. It's back to the restaurant scene for me. Remember that barista job I mentioned sometime last month? (I wouldn't mind if you didn't; I wasn't so sure about it.) I just landed it. I start on Thursday afternoon. It'll be stressful, of course &mdash first days on the job always are. And knowing my luck the place will be packed on Thursday afternoon (Thursday is the last day of the work week here), so it will be a marathon three hours.

But thank goodness for the time I worked behind the bar at Zola; as a result I feel like I've done it all before. I spent a couple hours this afternoon getting a crash course from my friend whose job I'll be taking, and it's just the same deal as Zola &mdash make cappuccinos, prep salads and drinks, answer the phone (that's the one part I'm petrified about), help the waitresses here and there. It should be good for me. Real good. I'll have lots of opportunity to speak Hebrew with people (which I really, really need), and just as important, I'll finally have a little pocket money to play with. Ben doesn't know it yet, but he's going to hate that I work there. Since all the food is loaded with garlic (my fave, btw), when I grab some lunch during my shift I just know I'll start reeking. Guess it's time to start wearing purfume and brushing my teeth twice a day.

2007-02-08T13:33:00.000+02:00

The dialogues that go on about the field of architecture have a bad reputation. Critics say it's all self-referential, full of silly jargon, and often not useful when it comes to "real" design issues. An interesting article about the legacy of short-run architecture magazines from the 60s and 70s appeared in the NYTimes today, which makes some interesting observations about that dialog and the current state of things. Definitely worth checking out, especially for all of you who scratched your head when you thumbed through 306090.

But just as interesting were the web ads that appeared on the page. (What, you thought I could get through a post without mentioning that I'm still a foreigner? No way.) At first I thought they were those cheapy "Win $1000! Win an ipod!" ads. But they were even better:

Both ads took me here, which was shady, as I expected. What gets me is the way the offer is presented -- as if a green card is some kind of commodity, like new gutters or a lower mortgage rate, that you can win or shop around for. I wonder what "fees" you have to pay to enter the "lottery"? Hmmm. Off to check the WHOIS registry.

2007-02-07T14:10:00.000+02:00

Recently Jonah, a classmate from the ulpan, asked me a few questions about my experiences in Israel for an article he's writing for a small American Jewish publication. I'm one of the few non-Jewish students in the class; he wanted a non-Jewish perspective on Israel. He sure got one. It happens that the questions he asked are ones that I've been thinking a lot about since I moved here. I ended up rehashing a lot of what I've already said here, on this blog, but I thought it might be interesting to publish the interview and put it all in one place. Enjoy.

What was the perception you had of Israel before you got here. What image did you have in your mind?

I'm a Christian, so I was raised with Bible stories. The impression I
somehow formed (irrationally, I think, at some early age, maybe due to
the cheezy 50s illustrations we used in Sunday School), was
of Israel being a kind of desert wilderness, spotted with dusty towns
and palm trees. Sort of like the Old West, but replace the spurs and saloons
with robes and miracles. The only place I really knew about was Jerusalem, and
even my knowlege of that city was pretty slim. I knew it was an
important center for three major religions. I knew it had some hills,
olive trees, an important wall, a lot of churches, mosques, and
synagogues, and a lot of winding streets.

But that's about it. I didn't even know Tel Aviv had skyscrapers until
about a month before i moved here, when i saw a reporter on pbs being
interviewed from TA with one of those cityscapes dropped in on the
blue-screen behind her. A few months ago I sent some in-laws an aerial
postcard of Tel Aviv; They said, "Wow!! You live in a real city! It's
big! We thought Tel Aviv was a small town in the desert..." So it's
not just me that has this sort of wild-west image of Israel.

And, of course, I thought Israel was some kind of war zone. I knew it
was a highly-contested place -- how can you not, if you follow the
news with any regularity? At first my husband and I agreed
that he wouldn't apply for jobs in Israel, because it seemed like such
an unstable place.

I think many Americans these days live with a funny idea of space and
distance -- or maybe Israelis do -- because in Israel, unless a bomb
goes off in your neighborhood, no matter how close it may have gone off,
it may as well have been two towns away. Whereas, in the States, if
something happens 150 miles away, it's still in your backyard. For
example: I got calls on 9/11 asking if I was alright, although I was
three hours north of NYC; but we're now what, maybe, forty miles from
the site of a recent terrorist attack, and it seems like just as far
away as New York did on 9/11.

What was your first impression of the country during the first few days, or weeks that you were here.

beautiful, lush, leisurely, complex, and chaotic, haha...

What is your impression now that you've been here a little while.

A few days after we arrived, Ben's quasi-advisor warned us that life
here would be "a little more chaotic" than life in the States, and to
sit back a bit and expect things to take longer than they do in the
states. He was right. But fortunately there our so many reasons to
enjoy things while we wait for the bureaucrats and lazy secretaries --
great beaches, beautiful weather, great food, passionate people. I
think it's an amazing country.

How does Israel compare in your mind to other countries, do you think that Jewish culture here is expressed the same way that other cultures are expressed in other countries. For example, would you say that Israel is Jewish in the same way that America is a Christian country, or alternatively as countries in Europe are European.

i think judaism is expressed in a much more outward way in israel than
christianity is in america. or, israeli culture is more sharply
defined than that vague, malleable thing we call american culture. but
that's sort of the point, isn't it? israel is meant to be a jewish
state, for and by jews. my admittedly shaky understanding of the
country is, that it exists primarily as a way to corporately celebrate
jewish religion and culture, since that culture was understood to be
oppressed elsewhere.

as an american, not part of that culture, it's a jarring thing -- i've
always seen america as a place of pluralism and naively assumed that
other western democracies were equally pluralistic. i suppose israel
can be equated to somewhere like france or the norway, who
proudly stand by their culture and actively defend it. which in many
ways is admirable. but i think one of the strengths of the US is that
it has been able to successfully house so many different belief
structures under its governance.

that's not to say that it's not obvious that there is a majority
religion in the US -- the little town i grew up in had at least 7
different churches, only one synagogue and no mosques, (although it
did have a bhuddist center pretty close to town). but i think because
ideas of secularism and a-religiosity are so strongly stressed, christianity less of
a front-and-center part of the culture. but here, where to my surprise
most of the grocery stores are kosher, there are mezuzahs on all the
doorways of my apartment (and in stores and bars and clubs),
everything closes during shabbat, and you can't get married or
emigrate unless you prove your jewish heritage, religion is a bit more
obviously a central part of life.

Do you feel as though you've truly experienced Israel, or do you feel as though you can't break through a language, culture barrier.

i feel as though i haven't experienced israel much, but only because i
haven't been much outside of tel aviv. i also think, because i have no
conception of the meaning of jewish holidays (which seem so central to
life here), or what goes on in the synagogues, its impossible for me
to really "get" what it is to be an israeli right now.

from an immigration point of view, i feel like it's closed, but any
country probably seems like that to a new resident. did you know that
the university finds it so impossible to work with the government to
get its foreign post-docs work permits that the post-docs are forced
to be called "students", and take student visas? it'll be hard for me
to get a work permit (and nearly impossible to get a work visa)
because neither my husband or i is jewish or israeli. but i've heard
similar horror stories about the american bureaucracy, so it doesn't
totally surprise me, or strike me as unique...

2007-02-06T07:26:00.000+02:00

It's hailing!

See that granular white stuff in the photo? Yep, it's hail. And pretty big, too. (Sorry for the blurry photo of the alley outside our window, but it's all I could get in the stormy morning light.) I never thought anything frozen ever descended from the Tel Aviv skies, but here it is. Hail is always sort of exciting -- it makes the best sort of racket. Ha -- I bet only a few students are going to make it to class today, since all it takes is a bit of a rainstorm for everyone to decide to sleep in. I would probably do the same today, that is, if I didn't suck so much at Hebrew!

2007-02-05T21:18:00.000+02:00

This is the kind of building that gives architects a bad name. I can't begin to describe my feelings when I walk past this place. It makes me angry. Yes, angry. Not many things make me mad but this, ohhh. I can hear Gaudi spinning in his grave when I see this mess. Fortunately, I don't have to walk by it on a regular basis, and it's not quite so bad on the other side where it faces a main street. But still, oohh.

2007-02-02T16:15:00.000+02:00

Quote of the day: "And this? This is Staten Island. It's made entirely of garbage. Don't go there."

Our poor, patient ulpan teacher. A couple of weeks ago we were assigned to write an essay about our favorite city, why it's so great, and our favorite spot there. I chose my hometown, not necessarily because it's my favorite city, but because I knew everyone would write about big, famous cities and I wanted keep myself amused and be a little different. Most essays were pretty bland ("My favorite city is Tel Aviv, because it's beautiful and I love the beaches," etc.). We don't really know enough words to tackle ideas much more complex than that. And no one really has the time or motivation to do anything over the top; everyone just wants to get their homework done fast.

When our redlined essays were handed back to us, our teacher asked a few students to recite what they wrote from memory in a few days' time. I assumed she was asking only the authors of the best essays until, over the course of the week, she made her way through most of the rest of the class. She scheduled me and a couple of guys I sit near, Avi and Benny, to recite ours yesterday. (She called us "the three musketeers" &mdash we all sit in the back row, have typically short American attention spans and constantly crack jokes to keep ourselves amused. Not that our teacher doesn't frequently make jokes herself, but we, um, like to keep our own running commentary. Oh, and have I mentioned what a small world this is? Avi just left his job in Wixom (near Detroit), and went to Carnegie Mellon at the same time as Ben; Benny just graduated from Binghamton. So crazy).

Anyway, I was nervous about what I had to say, until Benny called me and told me what he was going to do for his. His favorite city is New York (no big surprise; he grew up in Westchester), and decided that rather than reciting his essay (which he basically whipped up during class, a day late), he would do a whole presentation about what to do when you come to New York, complete with map and little icons.

Here is Benny at the board and our teacher, in the striped shirt, scratching her head wondering what he is up to.

He starts off: "We're here..."

It was hilarious. All of us familiar with the City were rolling on the floor, laughing at all of Benny's snide comments. But our poor teacher. I swear &mdash she is the most patient person on the planet to put up with all the shennanigans and cheeky responses she gets from us kids.

2007-01-31T14:10:00.000+02:00

Here's why I love going to the ulpan. This weekend marks another holiday, Tu Bishvat. I've heard some people equate it with Arbor Day in the US, since many Israelis go plant trees. But it's more like a fiscal/agricultural new year, the point where devout farmers calculate how much of their harvest they need to tithe. It's a minor holiday — we don't get any vacation — but, my ulpan, in the spirit of elementary schools worldwide, diligently marks all holidays, especially those involving food (which, as far as I can tell, is all of them. Did I mention the sufganiot we were given before Hannukah, and the school assembly — complete with hymns and skits — we had afterward? Great stuff). In the middle of class, the principal of the school personally delivered a tray of dried fruit and nuts, the traditional food of Tu Bishvat (all of which come from trees and bushes — get it?).

I admit this looks a bit like a turd, but it's actually a dried carob bean. It was the highlight of the fruit tray. I always seem to end up reaching for the strangest thing on offer, and this was it today. It tasted oddly familiar, a little waxy but savory, and I couldn't place it until I looked it up in the big dictionary we have at home (the Hebrew word wasn't in my pocket dictionary, and my teacher's description of it was, uh, a bit lacking. I suppose it's assumed that everyone in class is Jewish and therefore are familiar with the details of the holiday).

I have to say, the dried fruit available here is tremendous. The raisins are cheaper than those you get in the States, are three times the size and sweeter. Dates, apricots, prunes — all big, juicy and cheap. Having become addicted to dried fruit as a dessert thanks to the Burrington clan, it's such a treat to have consistently magnificent fruit on hand. And, in general, fresh food here always is incredible. It's no wonder much "authentic" Israeli food is salad. The unusually long growing season and the unusually short distance which fresh food has to travel — at most 150 miles from farm to plate — makes for great quality.

I first realized things were different when, during my first week here, I wanted to eat cucumbers raw. I've never wanted to do that; plain cucumbers are gross. But not these. These are sweet and savory and so good. Hm. I wonder if this is like eating sushi in Japan: it's excellent when you're there, but it prejudices you for the rest of your life. I hope that's not the case. But if it is, well, I think I'll be willing to suffer.

2007-01-27T14:45:00.000+02:00

From dirt bag to tote bag.

So, in my inimitable scroungy way, I rescued a used sandbag from the sidewalk the other morning on my way to school (this kind of sandbag is everywhere, since all buildings are concrete and renovation is going on all over the city) and spent a few hours this weekend making it into a tote bag.

It's not as cool as my rice totes were, mainly because the print is more plain (the 20lb bags of Thai rice we were able to buy in NY and Michigan, made of the same cheap woven plastic, had a much better pattern, something like this). But pretty cool nonetheless, and a good warm-up -- it really makes me want to jump into making something with the billboards I've got hanging around.

On a related note, has anyone read this NYTimes article, about disposable fashion contributing to climate change? It seems to me that sustainable fashion is a more complex issue than simply (as the Times posits) the washability of cotton vs. polyester. But it sure does make me re-assess the impact of fun, H&M-like, single-season clothing. Plus it helps me justify my freakish obsession with the Salvation Army and used, vintage stuff.

2007-01-26T13:14:00.000+02:00

Happy January!

We had coffee on the beach this morning. Barefoot and in shirt sleeves. Spectacular.

2007-01-26T08:12:00.000+02:00

Interesting immigration statistics, taken from the "easy reading" Hebrew newspaper we sometimes get in class:

278 people became citizens last week:

65 - Ethiopia
57 - Russia
27 - Ukrane
20 - US
10 - Peru
10 - France
89 - other countries

2007-01-25T21:10:00.000+02:00

I apologize if this blog is a drag to read sometimes. It's easier to notice and talk about the tough, weird, alien things than it is to talk about mundane details, just as it's easy for people on the street to stare at someone out of the ordinary. This is becoming a place for me to show my own dirty laundry, in a way I can't do very well in person. As most of you know, I'm not so good at talking about my serious thoughts. I always stutter or stumble over myself and often I don't really say what I mean. I'll be the first to admit I can't walk and chew gum at the same time when it comes to a lot of conversation -- it's hard for me to think and speak simultaneously. It's much easier for me to write things down, since writing is such a malleable thing; I can delete and reorganize as much as I want until I'm satisfied (or get tired of it, which is what usually happens). When I write, I feel like there is more room for error, more room for revision, and just more room in general. I'll try to be a little more broad with what I post in the future.

But this is a good forum for me to process my thoughts and feelings about being here. It seems like I'm having a hard time adjusting, and things are tough and weird. And they are. But I'm also having a great time here. I love this city, and I love the country. The climate, the people, the culture -- I'm sure I'll be just as annoying when I get back into the states, always talking about how wonderful this or that was, back in Israel. So always keep a little grain of salt around to throw into the mix of what I write here; I'm still sort of finding my feet and making friends with a place I don't quite understand yet. But I know we'll be good friends soon, so stay tuned.

2007-01-21T18:52:00.000+02:00

Sometimes, it's the little differences that count.

Living in a foreign country is funny. It's so different and yet it's so much like home. All the details are different: different plugs, different language, different food; and yet the sketch of life is just the same. Work, home, friends, food, love, stress, life.

One of the differences I've been meaning to talk about is the street. I think, because there is so much room to expand in the States, there isn't much street life there anymore. There doesn't have to be. It's easy (and often necessary) to live out of your car. I pretty much did it when I was living in the Midwest: I commuted to my job, to my grocery store, to my bar, to my gym. But here, because it's such an abbreviated, dense, contested country, it's nearly impossible to use your car in the same, natural way you use it in the States. There is hardly enough real estate to park a car in this country, much less live life from it. And when you can drive the entire coastline in less than four hours, what's the need?

Hence the intense, almost claustrophobic street life. It seems like everyone in Tel Aviv walks or rides the bus. It's probably true in Jerusalem and Haifa as well. As I write, I'm listening to some kids practicing their ollies and exchanging insults a couple floors down, just outside my window. An hour ago some toddlers were yelling to their parents. This being such a hot country (or at least a hot town), where electricity (and gasoline) is relatively expensive, there is a very thin separation between public street and private home, both physically and socially. Physically, you're provided with wide plastic blinds with single-pane glass partitions to keep out the winter "cold," just like I have in my apartment. But when it's 90F outside for three-quarters of the year, who wants to shut their apartment off from any cool breeze?? It's easier just to open up all your windows and blinds (fortunately, there are next to no bugs that live here), and let the sea breeze cool your apartment down naturally, and leave your laundry out to dry on your balcony. Because who cares if the whole world knows all about your dirty underwear? Socially, it's expected that everyone knows their neighbors and their neighbors know them. (I think that's why I'm eyed so much by the kids who run the kiosk downstairs: I'm the new, foreign kid in town, who is obviously a little awkward and who comes home at odd times in the afternoon.)

I've come to expect that when I walk down a neighborhood street at any time of the day or night, I'll hear kids yelling "Imaaaaaaa!" ("Mommmmy!") or "Abbaaaaaaahhhh!" ("Daadddd!"); or hear someone practicing their piano lessons; or to be forced to eavesdrop on domestic disputes, TV shows, or, if it's very late, some giggly argument at a streetside cafe. It's a strangely wonderful experience for a whole city to be out there on display, just like their clothes always are on the clotheslines: out there, unashamedly in public.

In some ways, it's a privilege to be witness to all this public life. It's novel to see pedestrian details so obviously displayed. But at the same time it's uncomfortable. Just as I get to eavesdrop on my neighbors, it means I'm stared at as I walk down the street because I'm new. Ben and I both get the sensation that we are stared at (by everyone) a little too long, and a little too openly. Maybe it's because we're not dressed right. Or maybe it's because no one has seen us before. It's certainly a departure from the privacy of the car and the passivity of the American grocery store checkout line.

Even so, we're beginning to become regular faces. People stare at us less than when we first arrived, when we were loud and inept (we've learned to talk quietly on the street). All the grocery store ladies know me and my poor language comprehension, but are still encouraging when I come in knowing a few more words every week (they also know only just enough, as most of them are Russian olót hadashót). Ben knows all the guards at the checkpoints at TAU, and can communicate happily with the lunch-room staff.

But I suppose that's how it is for all new, awkward immigrants: on the surface we're strange, but our goals are so much like everyone else's. We're trying hard to make a living in a funny, strange place, but what we're really struggling with are the same things everyone cares about: work, home, friends, food, love, stress, life.

2007-01-20T14:24:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was a gorgeous spring-like day. No clouds, warm in the sun, cool in the shade. It was my favorite kind of day, where you only need a thin coat to stay warm.

A friend from the uplan had suggested we meet up at the shuk to do some grocery shopping; we had a blast. And I think the whole city was out with us. Ben and I battled crowds everywhere: on the street, in the cafes, in the stores. I watched more people seeing and being seen than I thought possible in a city of this size. Spring is definitely in the air.

But back to the shuk. Jackie and I didn't exactly hang out as we had planned. There were too many people for that. The crush of people was too great to do anything but futilely crane your neck around, looking for someone you know to float down the stream of people moving through the narrow walkway between stalls. And anyway, Jackie and I had different missions: Jackie and Noam wanted to do serious grocery shopping (since they live so close by, they get all their produce at the shuk -- they even came armed with a grocery list!) whereas Ben and I wanted to get non-staples -- fresh dates, olives, fresh pita -- of a quality you can't get in our neck of the woods. So we just played tag from stall to stall and caught up with each other at the end, which, of course, is where all the candy and fresh pastries are sold. We all found each other there, noshing on hot chocolate-filled croissants and mushroom bourekas.

It's always so great to go down there. Now that Ben and I know our numbers, we can fake like we're locals and do all our transactions in Hebrew. We probably betray our foreignness by the fact that we don't try to haggle our way into any bargains, but on Friday afternoons, just before the stalls close, everything is so cheap that it's silly to bargain as it is. I mean, we bought a kilo of high-quality olives for $7, and a pound of fresh dates for $1. How can you complain about that?

Ben and I promised each other we would go more often. It's such a thrill to battle your way through the crowds and get the freshest, cheapest stuff in town. Next time, when we go by ourselves, we plan to thoroughly explore the handful of Asian markets along the side alleys. I can't wait to finally feed my addiction to Vietnamese spring rolls and Thai curry again!

2007-01-19T09:00:00.000+02:00

From the Caught-On-Tape department: Ben says I always sleep balled up in the middle of the bed. I have no idea where he gets all his crazy ideas.

2007-01-17T19:15:00.000+02:00

Here I am modeling my awesome new scarf from my sister. I just recieved a little post-christmas package from the hacienda (and Mom - thanks for the toothpaste! In case you all were wondering, the stuff here is sorta nasty. Even the tried-and-true brands are reformulated).

And again, thanks to many families and friends for all your generosity and support since our move almost five months ago. Your love has kept us feeling warm and secure, just like my new scarf. Cheers!

2007-01-13T11:23:00.000+02:00

I'm lucky to have the friends I do: people who have great sensitivity and insight. Patri, whose husband is in the military and about to deploy for six months, knocked my socks off yesterday when she wrote an email saying:

I guess there are no secrets when you are on your own. I think we are going to be coming up against a situation that will need us to step up and get the bullshit off &mdash where you have to be open and naked and uncomfortable in order for other people to keep knowing who you are.

Exactly. It's actually something I've been thinking a lot about lately. For a really long time I've been able to get away with a lot of fence-sitting, a lot of passivity, a lot of covering up. But lately I've been realizing that it's okay, even good, to get my hands dirty, to make mistakes, to be uncomfortable.

In fact, it's necessary to do so, not only (as Patri says) to meaningfully keep connected with people far away, but just to survive. Cause, you know, as much as I'd like to spend my entire life poking around in my living room, I can't really get away with that. Case in point: I might get hooked up with a job as a bartender at a place down the street (with, um, no questions asked about a work permit). I figure I'll make some much-needed pocket cash, learn a good life skill, and practice my Hebrew. Take that, fence!

: : : : : : :

In other news, yesterday I finally(!) had the attention span to finish some embroidery on the lapel of a shirt I made just before we left the States. I'm glad to get it off the bookshelf and in the closet. I'm not so sure about the open feathers, but I don't think I'll have the stamina to fill them in anytime soon. Maybe some afternoon when all my chores and studying are done. Yeah, okay, maybe never.

2007-01-12T22:00:00.000+02:00

Quote of the day:

Ben: "Internet gnomes. With elephants attached."

Me: "Why elephants?"

Ben: "Because elephants never forget."

[silence]

Me: "Right."

2007-01-05T22:55:00.000+02:00

I promise to start talking about other things soon, but I can't believe it was a month ago today that my first class session was held at the ulpan. It's gone so quickly. I feel like I've come a long way, but in the grand scheme of things definitely not far enough.

Still, it's pretty gratifying to look back and see my progress. Just a month ago I knew six or seven words and had a shaky grasp on reading. Yesterday, we finished off the week by learning the roots of verbs and variations of the word "of." (And yes, it was explained entirely in Hebrew.) Even my notebook is 50-50 Hebrew-English. Here's a sample from early in the week. Granted, most of it is copied from the board, but there is a clear evolution away from English and toward Hebrew. Something must be getting through.

The other thing that's becoming clear is how few people are in my situation. And that's strange in itself. Pretty much all the foreigners I've met through the ulpan are here because their partner or a family member is Israeli. Most seem to be girlfriends, whose partner has lived with them for a long time in some other country and finally convinced them to move to Israel; others are making aliya by retiring to Israel. A friend and I joke that all the women at the ulpan are mailorder brides. Granted, it's partly a function the class I'm enrolled in (who else has the luxury to learn Hebrew all day?), but it's true even in Ben's class, where most students have jobs or have lived here for a year or longer.

In my class, only four students out of thirty-some don't have someone fluent in Hebrew living with them. Everyone (everyone!) looks at me wide-eyed and confused when I tell them Ben and I don't have any connection with the country outside of Ben's job. Then they all say, "Wow, it must be really hard for you then!" At least it explains why Hebrew class seems so difficult.

I have this sense about the country that it's like Florida, where tourists and retirees make up the majority of the non-native population. I mean, no one in Europe would ever be surprised when you say you're the wife of a post-doc, just living there for a while. Yet here, it seems to be understood that no one comes to Israel for anything other than family, retirement or tourism. It's really strange. (Anyone from TAF, feel free to chime in here:) Unfortunately I don't know enough about the political or historical reasons for it, or whether it's a fluke that the foreigners we've met fall into so few categories. My sense is that it's not.

2007-01-04T15:20:00.000+02:00

Just returned from the grocery store where, when I tried to buy a couple bottles of beer, I got carded. Yep, you read right. Carded. If I were back in the States I wouldn't make such a big deal about it. But here, where the drinking age is 18 and no one ever asks, it means you must look really young. I'm sure the cashier (who, incidentally, has cashed me out lots of times) thought my drivers' licence was a fake. It took the women on either side of me in line to convince her I was old enough.

I guess the sea and sun has been good for my complexion, or else I've shed some years studying kindergarten-style at the ulpan. Ha!

2007-01-03T06:41:00.000+02:00

Check out this hilarious DOS program we used at the ulpan yesterday.

The program is designed to help improve grammar and spelling. When you get an answer right, there is a little animation of a basketball player netting the free throw, with fireworks and a big excellent! announcement. It's super funny and nostalgic; it reminds me of my Tandy 1000 days.

But what really clinched the entire computer-game class session for me is: if we got all the answers right (the computer keeps score), our teacher would give us a piece of chocolate. No joke. It was so funny. Now where did I put that apple to give to my teacher...?

2006-12-30T10:43:00.000+02:00

There has been all kinds of billboard recovery going on around here lately.

After my initial excitement about the "sandwich sale" banner I picked out of someone's trash (above), I was disappointed to discover that it has entirely vinyl-sticker lettering, which is flimsy and doesn't weather well. It sucks. I guess I wasn't looking closely enough at it when I grabbed it. It means I have to be really careful about what I make from it and which parts of the banner I use. I was hoping to be able to cut and paste from anywhere, but clearly I can't. I'm pretty sure I'll still be able to make small things from it, as long as I make sure to sew the lettering in to a seam. Or, maybe a better option is to use that long stripe down the center, which seems to be more firmly attached than the rest of it.

Anyway, you'll understand the thrill I had when, after a big midweek rainstorm, a printed vinyl banner appeared curbside just down the street. I restrained myself for a day, to make sure no one was going to return it to whatever billboard it came down from. Then, Wednesday afternoon, I nonchalantly slipped an Olfa knife in my pocket, cut off as much as I could, and ran home.

It was pretty filthy, having (among other things) been rained on and run over a few times, but it was nothing that a little dish detergent couldn't fix. I don't know how I fit it in our little shower stall for a wash, but half an hour later it came out gleaming.

I'm excited because can make anything I want from this one. Since it's all a single material, I can use it just like fabric, without worrying so much about wear. Hand-sewing will be difficult (it's thick and I don't have a sewing machine), but I think I'll be fine with a carpet needle and a pair of pliers. It'll just take me a while. Would anyone like a new messenger bag in a month or so?

2006-12-27T18:16:00.000+02:00

Winter has finally arrived in Tel Aviv. And man, is it nasty out there.

Yesterday the rains came, and with them came the cold, wet air. I was totally unprepared for it. I scoffed at all the women walking around in wool coats and down jackets all month (Why would anyone buy a coat that heavy around here?!? It's still warm! Must be their thin Mediterranean blood...), but now I'm wishing I had one. I was actually shivering on the street yesterday, although I was bundled up in four layers. Weather reports say it snowed in Jerusalem -- only 25 miles from here -- this morning. Everyone has been assuring me it would get cold eventually, but I didn't believe it would happen so quickly or with such intensity.

Fortunately, I only have to shiver on the way to school and back. We have A/C units which also pump out heat in our apartment (we were also skeptical about the need for heat back when it was 90F every day two short months ago), and I brought a few sweaters knowing it would get cool ("cool-ish," I thought) during winter. Cool-ish indeed. In many ways I'm glad it's nasty out, since bad weather always facilitates good studying, which I definitely need to do at the moment. But I'm not so excited about the fact that I have to deal with a poncho-covered yenta cart (I used my backpacking skills to wet-proof it with a garbage bag), while sloshing through rain with a cheap umbrella that likes to turn inside-out, on my way to the grocery store. At least there's always hot tea (and tasty whiskey) to welcome me home.

2006-12-25T16:25:00.000+02:00

Merry Christmas! Here's a little show and tell of our celebration. I think by now everyone knows that this is a regular work week -- I'm already hitting the books hard again -- so we opened presents (and stayed in our pajamas all day) on Saturday.

This is my little Christmas tableau.

I used some of the fabric I rescued from the
dumpster as wrapping paper. I was too lazy
to trek around to find proper stuff...

Ben reluctantly let me take his photo.
And although he doesn't like to admit it,
he loves the Jaime Oliver cookbook I bought him.

The Lego train set from my mother was a big hit.
It's my first train set ever! It took three hours
and a two-part set of instruction booklets to
put together, but it was cleverly engineered
and genuinely cool.

Here it is in action. The guardrail and rail station
engineer came handily included in the boy-version
Lego advent calendar. (I think my mother loves Legos
more than I do...)

..and we do. Very much. Best wishes to
all of you! Haag Saméakh! xoxo, m + b.

2006-12-19T10:30:00.000+02:00

I'm still around. Just not exactly sure where right now.

Finally the short Hannukah vacation has arrived. My head is still spinning from these first, very intense, two weeks of language class. I have a huge backlog of vocabulary I need to memorize, plus lots of assigned homework to do. I've been studying a few hours outside of class every day (and yeah, on the weekends too), but I still feel behind. I'm encouraged by the fact that I was magically able to understand and speak a little bit with the cashiers at the grocery store yesterday, which although it doesn't sound like much, is huge for me. I actually shared a joke with one of the cashiers; it was an amazing eureka moment. It was as if a door opened. Suddenly, this country and life here seemed a little more do-able, a little more human, a little less intimidating. I still feel oddly off-balance -- I'm not yet part of this culture, but no longer simply an American -- but at least I can see that very soon I'll be able to stand solidly on my own. And that's really encouraging.

Today I'm trying to decompress a bit and spend it entirely at play. I had some pretty amazing dumpster dives late last week -- I managed to retrieve some really killer vintage fabric. I'm spending the morning deconstructing handmade vintage dresses, and hopefully I'll be able to make something quick and fun from them this afternoon. Photos soon. Tomorrow, in between homework assignments, I might tackle the huge vinyl banner I yanked from a garbage can (it says "sandwich sale" in Hebrew. Hot, no?). Freitag knockoff, here I come!

2006-12-12T16:50:00.000+02:00

The view from my back window, this afternoon.

2006-12-11T21:09:00.000+02:00

Guess who Ben is meeting tomorrow: Stephen Hawking! What a rock star. SH is in town to meet with the string theorists in the Jeru/TA area; I'm making ben promise to invite me to any social gatherings that go down. Cross your fingers that I get to meet him! haha...

In other news, I've been completely swamped by Hebrew class. I'm already behind on my vocabulary (twenty new words a day is a lot!), and my verb conjugation leaves something to be desired. Yesterday, we finished up the alphabet; today, we already are expected to read words without written vowels. (In Hebrew, vowels are not normally printed [well, they only are in children's books], so you usually have to guess what the word is based on phonetics and context, just like you do when you receive a text message).

At least now I'm grammatically correct when I say, I don't speak Hebrew.

2006-12-09T17:26:00.000+02:00

So this is the part of the story when I'm reminded that, despite all my crazy adventures here, I've got it good. Real good.

Below is the latest from my amazing cousin Leslie, who just began her service doing agricultural work in Cameroon with the Peace Corps. Incidentally, she studied poly-sci, not biology, and didn't know a word of French or Fulfulde before she arrived. She has my thoughts, prayers and admiration.

I ate a banana this morning that should have been used for making banana bread. The peal was brown and the fruit was pretty squishy, but I ate it with a huge smile. And that's something for me because I usually only eat nearly green bananas. And that's when it hit me that I have grown and changed in the last 2 months of training in Cameroon. It's not just that I now speak Ful-fran-glish without thought (Fulfulde-French-English; it's normal for me to say Oui, me dilli chez moi, "Yes, I'm going to my house"). And it's not that I can identify trees I didn't know existed ten weeks ago. Changes hit me in eating a banana that I never would have eaten two months ago or in strapping a little cousin to my back and pulling up water with my sisters from the well by our house. It's been a crazy ten weeks of life changes. This past week has been really hard. As in spontaneously crying during classes kind of hard, but I constantly think of what my dad says, "Do the next right thing." And I realize that life is not that much different here than in the US. Things get hard wherever we are and we need to simply do the next thing.

And the changes have only begun.

On Wednesday, I will swear in as Peace Corps Volunteers. Thursday morning I leave for Kolofata with other volunteers and Frida night I will spend my first night alone in my house. That's scary. But I know that I can talk it one day at a time and that God is with me each step of the way. That first morning I wake up I'll walk to Iyagna's house and buy beans from her, just because she's a person I know in the village. And I'll smile at my new neighbors and remind myself that Kolofata is home for the next two years.

: : : : : : : : : :

Attention: my blog will be ugly and in flux a few days while I hack around with the blogger template. Thanks for your patience while things are under construction. xo.

2006-12-08T19:03:00.000+02:00

Best of luck to Keren and BK as they get married and move to Chicago.

Keren has been an incredibly generous and hospitable friend. Ben and I would probably still be without an apartment, bank account, phone, etc, if not for her, and her family has adopted us as one of their own.

Thanks for helping us get our feet on the ground.

Can't wait for the party to start again in May, when you come back for your Israeli wedding. Until then, we'll miss you!

2006-12-06T19:54:00.000+02:00

I'm taking it as a good sign that I dreamed in Hebrew last night.

I'm two days into the intensive language course and already we've covered the same material we did in two weeks of the old class. I'm so glad I decided to wait and upgrade. I think this teacher is better, and there also seem to be few know-it-all students (strangely, there are an unusually large number of old-timers in Ben's class), which makes the pace just that much calmer and more digestible. You feel a lot more at liberty to struggle and hold the class up a bit, since most of the rest of the class is struggling too. I think I may actually be pretty fluent in six months...

But now I have an announcement to make: I am now -- and will always be -- a tourist in Israel. This is not a statement regarding my subjective feelings about the country or my ability to integrate. It's a factual statement. If you don't hold an Israeli passport, you are a "tourist." Period. At least, this is what I'm told in my language class, where we learned both words today (talyaret (tourist) and olé hadash (new citizen)).

Another fun fact is that you do not "immigrate" to Israel. You "upgrade." The term olé (of ole hadash ) means "to upgrade" or "to ascend." (Keren, chime in here if I'm wrong, but...) As far as I can tell from my language teachers, there is no other word for "immigrate." No wonder they only confer it on a chosen few.

2006-12-04T18:17:00.000+02:00

We're getting there.

I finished one garland and hung some silver stuff last night, so finally things are beginning to look a little like the Christmas I wanted it to be. Still no snow in the forecast (there will never be snow in the forecast here, but I could definitely get used to this weather, where the whole winter is that one perfect mid-October day, cloudless and crisp but warm in the sun. Yeah, we got it tough around here).

These ornaments will be hung on the wall (they're pretty big), after another garland materializes out of that pile of felt scraps which has been growing on the couch. More pics when they actually make it on the wall.

I'm halfway done making a bunch of small ones, which will go on whatever Charlie Brown branch or felt tree we end up having. I'm hurrying tonight to finish up, since school starts tomorrow and we have a party to attend tonight. Somehow I don't think I'll make it in time, but hey -- what else do I have on board for this weekend?

Hope you're humming a Christmas carol for me tonight. xo.

2006-12-02T17:00:00.000+02:00

Happy December!

We're trying our hardest to make it feel like Christmas is coming around here. It's sorta hard to get in the spirit since Chanukah is a minor holiday (in Israel anyway) and as far as I can tell no one in Tel Aviv does a European Christmas. It also doesn't help matters that there is definitely no snow.

Still, all things considered we're doing pretty well. Those ornaments are almost done (photos should be up late tomorrow). Two felt garlands are also in the works. And thanks to my mother we have an awesome sequel to last year's Lego Advent calendar. Dude, this thing rocks.

As you can see, this is not just a calendar. It's an Advent extravaganza. I'm pretty sure it's the boy version -- it's all workmen and bulldozers (I'll bet you anything that in this city Santa drives a CAT backhoe) -- unlike last year's which was chock full of geese a-laying and partridges in pear trees.

Day one was a smirking, stubbly workman, complete with a shovel to lean on. Today was his roadblocks and cones, with ultra-clear Swedish diagrams on how to effectively set up roadblocks. Yep. Definitely the boy version. Stay tuned for up-to-the-minute news on any large public works projects or car chases that go down in Lego Town from here on out.

2006-11-30T09:45:00.000+02:00

I've been meaning to share a couple of things I ran across this week.

I've been very much missing garage sales and the Salvation Army. Without them, I don't know how or where to get my cheap clothes, cheap furniture and cheap thrills. Therefore, I think I need to make Saturday official Dumpster-Diving Day. Sunday is trash day for the area of the city in which we live, so there is always the most inviting stuff on the sidewalk. And since Saturday is Shabbat and there isn't as much foot-traffic on the street, you don't cause the kind of scene you would on a weekday when you rifle around in someone's trash.

Anyway, I found this awesome faux wood pencil holder on the street last Saturday. It looks super-good on the white bookcase.

So, way (way!) back in mid-October when I visited the TA Museum of Art, I totally fell in love with a book at the museum bookstore; I was looking for a break from errands on Monday, so I went back to see if they had any copies left (it was an exhibition catalog from 2003, so I was a little worried). They did, and the book was marked down to $5!!! I had to get it, and I'm so glad I did. (P + JR -- they still have three copies left, so email me if you want one!)

The book, How Many Is One, is about one-off jewelry, made entirely from cast-off jewelry hardware parts. Generally I'm not keen on one-off "art" jewelry (it's usually awful craft fair fodder or else super-high end nonsense), but the pieces in the book were pretty interesting, both aesthetically and materially. I thought the way the pieces elevated hardware (which were originally designed to be thrown out or melted down) was really cool.

2006-11-29T17:01:00.000+02:00

I think I make resolutions only to break them.

Hebrew class starts next Tuesday, so I'm beginning to see an end to the long six weeks of unscheduled time. I've spent most of this week running housewifey errands (shop for groceries. visit drugstore. do laundry. make dinner. etc.), so I decided today I would buckle down and work to make the most of my remaining free time.

I'm supposed to be working on a little web project with Patri. But after getting frustrated and a little confused trying to figure out html this morning, I decided that instead of working on my portfolio (as I should be doing) I would make Christmas ornaments. Because dammit, we're gonna have Christmas decorations this year and that's that!!! I had to hit up the mall yesterday as part of my errands (having only one set of bedsheets just wasn't cutting it) so I spent part of my allowance and bought some felt to make ornaments (just like Ma made in the '70s!).

This was my worktable. The computer was just there to make me feel better about not working.

And here's ornament number one in progress. Anyone who guesses it's mistletoe gets a free kiss the next time I see them!

2006-11-28T11:42:00.000+02:00

I wasn't feeling so great this morning, so instead of the usual jog in the park I took a brisk walk and brought my camera. I'm not so sure it was such great exercise, but I sure did get some nice photos.

2006-11-25T17:45:00.000+02:00

An essay in 25 photos or less, plus a Thanksgiving checklist.

The butcher shop where we bought our turkey.

It was tiny inside.

Ben, Keren, and the 10 kilo (22 lb!) bird.

Dressing the bird.

Yeah, it was big. Real big.

Ben looking dapper in an apron.

Broth.

Potatoes.

Sage stuffing.

The presented bird.

Ben showing off his mad carving skillz. (Safda Sarah looks skeptical.)

Dinner.

Malackas had some too.

Afterward.

Dessert: apple strudel a la mode.

This year, I'm thankful for:

__All those Saturday afternoons I spent as a kid in the kitchen with Dad.

__Europeans agreeing that vowels are useful components of language.

__The man who invented the gin martini. And, well, gin in general.

__M1 Radio to go!

__My ability to read. 'Took it for granted until I was illiterate in a language.

__Living near a park so I can work off all the nutella I've been eating.

__Cheap international calling plans.

__Epicurious.com (yes, I need to go jogging for this too).

__Generous and loving parents (of all categories: biological, legal, surrogate).

__Good friends + kind strangers.

2006-11-23T22:05:00.000+02:00

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone's was good.

Here's a preview of preparations for tomorrow's big dinner at the Sharon's. Wish us luck!

2006-11-21T12:07:00.000+02:00

It's self-portrait Tuesday! And boy do I have one for ya. (Patri, start rolling your eyes now...)

Here's the one I intended to post.

I took these at a sticker booth outside the grocery store a couple of weeks ago -- they're going on a few letters + postcards I've been meaning to write.

So far so good.

But I had some errands to run this morning, and on the way I saw this chick with a killer haircut. I hate my hair, I thought. Maybe if I just tweak it -- just a little bit -- it'll be better. But just a little change...

It was all downhill from there.

As is generally the case when someone cuts their own hair, a little bit turned into a little more which turned into a lot.

~~I was still a little unsure about it here. But~~

UPDATE: It's a couple of days later and I'm liking it a lot. There are some things I'll change when it's time for a "trim" (ha!), but until then I'm pretty satisfied. It's not uber-cool, but it's definitely one of the better 'cuts I've had! Here's a better pic.

After some more "tweaking" I've arrived at something I'm happy with. Ben has got to make sure the back side is presentable (let's just say I crossed my fingers on that part). As far as I can tell, though, the 'cut looks pretty good: afterward, less than a block from the apartment and on my way to the grocery store, this dude rolls up in his sleek black SUV and starts hitting on me big-time. It's the first time that's happened so far. Maybe it's coincidence but I'm taking it as a good sign. I wonder what Ben will say...

Coming up later this week, a Thanksgiving special: Ben and Martha play caterers at the Sharon's Thanksgiving party. Hah! Place your bets now on whether the main course will be pizza.

2006-11-16T09:04:00.000+02:00

But wha...? I mean, who...? I don't even know where to begin with this. I found this in the closet. It's made of that funky plastic billboard material, carefully hand-mounted on a frame. And what you can't see from the photo is that it's low res and pixellated. I'm pretty much made speechless by the combination of it's uglitude and the obvious care which someone took putting it together by hand. I would make something from it (a bag or wallet or whatever), but it's too ugly even for that. We found it right after we moved in along with some other (pretty decent) framed prints. It's been hanging around the apartment since then. But I just can't throw it out -- it's so ugly that it's back to being sort of oddly sweet. And it makes me wonder all these things about the previous tenants: what adult would by choice hang this little gem on the walls of their apartment? If it was a gift they hated, then why does it clearly have wear on the top? And if it was loved and used, why didn't they take it with them? Maybe it needs to go back in the closet as a surprise for the next tenants, so they can be all intrigued about us...

2006-11-13T12:39:00.000+02:00

Here by popular demand: a tourist photo Keren took of Ben and I at the Baha'i Gardens. For the record, neither Ben nor I really wanted to have this photo taken, but Keren gave us a lecture about never taking photos of ourselves (love ya Keren! ), so we relented. And since everyone else is lecturing me about never posting photos of myself or Ben (I love you all! ), I'll relent again and try to be better about it in the future, heehee...xoxo!

2006-11-11T16:04:00.000+02:00

Finally some action after a week of doing nothing: Keren invited us to go to Haifa for the day. Although it meant getting up at a ridiculously early hour (6am; well, okay, so maybe not that early), I was looking forward to it. Ben mentioned something about our goal being to visit "some monastery," but it could have been anything -- I was just happy to get out of the house on the cheap!

After making it out of bed on time, we started the trip off right -- at a pancake shop. This was one of the places that Keren and BK always rave about; they always have the best breakfasts. It was good, but I wasn't hungry enough to really appreciate it. BK had his favorite: chocolate chip-covered pancakes and maple syrup (he's worse than a girl when it comes to chocolate! Or in any case worse than me, which is saying a lot...); I snacked off of Ben's order (pancakes with blackberries). From there it was off to Haifa.

To me, it's surreal that it only takes a little over an hour to get from Tel Aviv to Haifa. That means, driving the entire western shore of the country takes around two hours. Israel is often referred to as the State of Israel, and now I sort of see why; my American brain had inflated the size to be something much larger than it is (an entire country can't really be the smaller than Vermont!?).

"Some monastery" turned out to mean the Baha'i Gardens -- a huge ornamental garden and shrine, built in the 90s on a prominent hillside to house the remains of the founder of the Baha'i religion. It reminded me a lot of the Vatican gardens: it's sprawling, formal, obviously very expensive, and immaculately kept. One of the tenets of the Baha'i faith is that (besides paying a fee to enter the religion), one must make a pilgrimage to the gardens and work in them for a week, so they get a third of their workforce for free.

It was lovely to walk through, although it seemed a little stiff. I can imagine it would be murderous in the summer when temperatures are high. But the weather on Friday made it seem luscious -- the air was cool and sparkling, which is my absolute favorite.

Once we were done at the gardens, we visited a friend of Keren's, and then back home. Keren and BK had an appointment with a wedding planner that night (and, it turns out, all the museums in Haifa close at 1pm on Fridays, so we weren't missing much anyway).

On our way back, out of the blue, Keren asks us if we like "stinky cheese," -- clearly she doesn't know us very well; of course we do! -- so she screetches off at the nearest exit and down some strange side road to a dairy she knows.

Ohhhh mama; everything on offer was amazing. It is one of the few places that can say it's more than 100 years old, so it takes pride in having lots of memorabilia from the town's (and the dairy's) early years, which made the ambience pretty interesting. For those in Michigan: it was a bit like Dominick's; to those from Oneonta: it was like a cross between Woodbull and Fly Creek cider mill. It was mainly outdoors between a tall roadside hedge and a dairy-house, with lots of strange odds and ends dangling from bare beams and from the few courtyard trees. It was so hard to decide what to buy, so we bought as much as we could -- yogurt, hard parmesan-like goat cheese, and something like feta embedded with mustard seeds. We'll be enjoying it for weeks! All in all, a pretty awesome Friday.

2006-11-09T14:08:00.000+02:00

I had a great birthday on Sunday -- thanks to everyone who sent all the love! I decided I would be virtuous and not do all my playing in one day. Instead I wanted to spread things out a bit and do something sorta fun every day. I had plans to visit one of the museums but, as you've probably guessed by my slim posts, I haven't done much of anything at all. I fact, I didn't even step foot out of the apartment on Monday or Tuesday. I've been justifying my inactivity by alternately assuring myself that it's still my birthday (it was only five days ago! ) and that it's worthwile spending my time cleaning out my music collection (thanks, M1! ) which is taking up much more room on my backup drive than it should. Oh, and have I mentioned that I've rediscovered my love of reading? And that it's been too chilly outside to want to go out? And Ben was home sick for a couple of days? Hah. I think you get the picture.

2006-11-03T11:26:00.000+02:00

I love maps. Especially ones that respond to interaction. Bet you never would have guessed that, haha.

I just added another counter/map/widget thing to the sidebar. Looks sorta cheezy, I know -- I plan on moving the big one over to the sidebar so the two will be together, maybe later today or tomorrow. Probably neither will last too long -- or else they'll become part of some huge collection -- but for now they'll just be toys.

2006-10-31T14:20:00.000+02:00

So it's been quiet around here lately. The weather has turned cool and cloudy (by cool I mean it's in the 70s, which after (only!) a month of 90˚F weather feels like full-on fall), so finally the jeans and long sleeves have come out.

It's a welcome change. I was so excited when the bad weather arrived; I had forgotten (again) how much I like the cold. It rained non-stop on Saturday, with a full four hours of thunderstorms in the morning. I was thrilled and spent most of the day wrapped up in a blanket. Paul, a friend of Ben's, just moved to Edinburgh; when I asked how he liked it there, he said it's "rather grey, cold and dismal -- I love it!"

I think I sort of understand how he feels.

Last night we did something unusual and ate dinner out. Keren and Ben K. met us at Goocha, a restaurant two blocks down Dizengoff; K + BK were in the neighborhood and asked us out. Keren mentioned that this place had great seafood, so I was happy to try it.

It was excellent. I ordered shrimp in coconut milk with mango and basil, and it was heaven. Ben and Keren had mussels (Ben's with a garlic + oil sauce; Keren's with a tomato and coconut cream sauce), and BK had a rice-mussel-cheese risotto-ish thing. All were awesome. We'll definitely hit this place up whenever we get the chance -- especially when people visit!

Not to diminish the quality of the food, but it was especially good because (beyond that can of oysters I mistook for clams last week) I haven't had shellfish in months. In fact, I was surprised that half the menu was shellfish -- clams, mussels, oysters, shrimp, crab -- not that I've been looking too hard, but Goocha is the first place I've encountered that serves any of that.

There is this funny city/suburb thing going on that I don't quite understand yet: in the suburbs, there are actually more places that sell and serve non-kosher food, and which are open on the sabbath. In the city, however, almost every store is closed according to sabbath law (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday), and I have yet to find a market in the city that sells cans of clams (my mission last weekend was unsuccessful). I thought it would be the other way around, since my assumption is that cities generally host a more diverse population than the 'burbs. But as most of my experience with urban life has been in New York -- New York is definitely not like most other cities -- I'm probably way off.

And I've been meaning to say: Before I left the States everyone asked whether it would be safe here. Well, it's really safe. You can walk the streets at any time of the day or night and feel comfortable. There are always people around. I've been out until after midnight in the parks and on the beaches; even then there are still lots of people walking, jogging, talking. It's really wonderful. But -- whenever you enter any enclosure (grocery stores, malls, many cafes, etc), your bag is searched by a guard and often you're wanded with a metal detector. You have to access the university via certain pedestrian gates, and when you enter your bags are searched. It's become such a regular thing that I don't even think about it any more (and it helps that I'm such a sweet looking girl (haha), I often just get waved by).

Last night was the same -- seated next to the hostess on the patio was the guard (a twenty-something, normal guy), who I barely looked at except to absently show my bag. I thought it was a little unusual that he was carrying a man bag (you know what I mean -- those square nylon or pleather man purses -- Ben has one now, haha...) -- but I wasn't really paying attention because I was looking for K + BK. It turns out that what I saw wasn't a man bag. I had seen only the strap and assumed it was a bag. In fact, it was a mini-Uzi (says Keren, the former army sniper instructor, who then lectured us about how convenient a field weapon it is). Both Bens were awed -- that's the kind of thing you see in movies, not on a casual dinner date.

Having spent six months in Rome, where there is a very visible police force who all tote around huge machine guns always at the ready, I'm not as surprised to see heavy weaponry on the street. But it's a reminder of how tense things are under the happy surface. We really aren't in Kansas anymore.

Lastly: this is for you, Mom -- me, this morning, sitting on the messy unmade bed. I've gotta do some housecleaning today so it won't stay unmade much longer. Just thought I'd peek out from behind the camera to say a quick hello. I think you can still (although just barely) make out the tan lines from my split-toed shoes, from before I bought myself those green flip-flops.

2006-10-28T15:58:00.000+02:00

So I'm playing around with some new Flickr toys and decided to put one here for a while, at least until it gets annoying (although maybe it already has...I think I need a blog redesign, which I'd like to do once I figure out how...).

Probably it isn't so fun for you, but it's definitely cool for me to see a map of the photos I've taken over the last few years. Anyway, have fun with it while it's here.

2006-10-27T11:51:00.000+02:00

Thanks to everyone for the love! Really, things are fine. That first bout of homesickness is always the worst. You (okay, well, at least I ) sort of have to deal with it a bit after any move, whether in a foreign country or not. I was sort of expecting it to come a lot sooner than it did, which is testament to how much I love it here. I made a long list two weeks ago of all the things I'd miss if I had to leave right now; maybe I'll post it tomorrow.

Anyway the last few days have been really productive. I cleaned house, exercised, spent most of a day studying Hebrew (I still have trouble with certian script characters!) and worked a bit more on the portfolio. I also played a bit in an effort to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

Tuesday was really fun; I completely threw off work responsibilities and just roamed around town. I found a fairly large bookstore (large for Tel Aviv) that carries only used English paperbacks right near our place, so I spent some time browsing. I had just run out of reading material so I found it just in time. The selection was totally beachtown rental-house reading: lots of Danielle Steele, grocery store pulp, and westerns; but there was a small classics section and a few quality novels, so it was ultimately worth the visit.

I then went on a search for some cheap umbrellas. Beginning about a week ago, it has rained hard at least once every day, so I started the hike the ten or so blocks down to the mall. I could have ridden the bus but I wanted the exercise, and I was happy I did: by the time I got to Dizengoff Square an open-air flea market had just opened. Being a used-crap junkie, it's hard for me to turn down a chance to browse through any flea market, much less a foreign one. So I had to have a look.

Two nights prior, Luca, Ben's office-mate, came over after Hebrew class and hung out for a while. Talk rambled all over the map, but it touched on the proper method of bartering. Unless prices are posted (which they rarely are, even on some new consumer goods), it's expected the first price quoted will be exhorbitant and you'll have to play offended and barter down to something reasonable. And of course if you're bartering in English you have to work extra-hard to get good pricing. It's going to take some getting used to -- can you imagine me acting offended and walking away as part of some scripted bartering dance?

Well...there was nothing for it but to try. I walked through the flea market mainly just to check it out, but I totally fell in love with something on one of the tables. I asked the woman how much it was (praying it would be cheap), and of course the price she quoted was way too much. Being the chicken I am, I just shrugged and walked away. And I was all justified because I still hadn't found the umbrellas that I went down there for anyway.

But of course I just had to pass the market again on my way back up so I decided to give it another try. I still paid too much -- the woman accepted my lower offer right away (crap! I forgot to subtract that extra zero they add for tourists...), but since my offer was $7.00 it's not as if I spent the savings. And now I have myself an awesome birthday present.

(No, Papa B, it's not just an old box!) I'll unwrap it on the big day. Ben says it's suuuuch a Martha gift -- and haha, yeah, it is. I'm sure you'll all roll your eyes and say, oh, Martha!, but it's worth it, you'll see!

So to make up for all that playing I did Hebrew homework most of Wednesday. I'm not quite out of my script ABCs yet, but I'm getting close. These are mainly handwriting and vowel-reading exercises. Even in the rare instance that vowels are printed (in children's books and new-reader material), they appear as tick-marks above/below consonants.

Now off to do some grocery shopping. I mistakenly bought a can of oysters when I thought I was getting clams for a pasta dish (Shellfish are all imported from Russia -- what self-respecting Israeli would open a non-Kosher seafood business? -- and my Russian is worse than my Hebrew, so I've got to get a replacement)... xo!

2006-10-23T14:28:00.000+02:00

So the first bouts of homesickness have arrived. I've been feeling pretty adrift lately, and it's been getting me down. Yeah, I've had stuff to keep me busy -- a few errands here, a little Hebrew homework there, some job stuff too. But sitting at home all day by myself, feeling kinda lost and pessimistic about job prospects, hasn't been so good for my psyche. It's partly that tough job-search syndrome of putting yourself out there just to be shot down a lot. It's also that after working really hard for almost ten years (first in college, then with a full-time job plus freelancing), I feel guilty because I lack a long list of projects running at the moment. And it's the language barrier too: it would be one thing if I knew I could get a waitressing job anytime I wanted. But I can't even do that yet -- I can't take an order, read a menu, interpret a bill -- it's so frustrating to be unable to communicate even with grocery store clerks.

To try to nip this gloom in the bud, I've decided to upgrade to the daily intensive language course. It will force me into a regular schedule with concrete deadlines (which I need badly!) and in a month or so I should be confident enough to at least get a temp job if it comes to that. It'll also give me a crop of people to get to know. (Not that seeing Ben's isn't great (it's a real luxury to have evenings with him! I sure didn't back in the States), but it makes me a bit stir-crazy when he's the only person I talk with all day.)

And thank goodness for you, too. The support and love I've recieved from all of you has meant so much! Knowing that you're reading gives me such a thrill.

Well, siesta is over, so it's time for me to run my errands. I'll leave you with a photo of my new best friend: the yenta bag! xoxo.

2006-10-21T12:50:00.000+02:00

Wow, has it been a week since I posted last?? The days have flown by. I've felt as though I haven't been doing that much but, looking back, I've been keeping pretty busy, splitting my time between being a housewife and trying to get my portfolio in order. Props to all the housewives out there: I never realized how easily it can get out of hand and turn into a full-time job.

(our new fave after-dinner drink -- mint "tea")

And speaking of the house, yes, a trip to Ikea was all it took for us to turn a house into a home (scroll down for a photo of the new and improved apartment). We bought all those things that seem to get left till last, probably because you can ultimately live without them but which make life so much more comfortable. So no more "storage" on the floor, no more chopping with a tiny steak knife, no more taking pinches of salt straight from the bag.

I have to say I'd forgotten how much of an "experience" Ikea is. Although as a kid I went a lot with my parents (loved the ball-filled playroom, hated the weird food), this was only the second time I've been to Ikea as an adult. Both times I expected to breeze in and out, but we were there for hours. I'm glad our furniture choices worked out as well as we had planned, although it took all of Tuesday to assemble the furniture (I did it solo, since Ben was at work) and get the apartment back in order.

And did I mention, we had our furniture delivered?!? We got to Ikea's warehouse without remembering that Keren's little Renault barely held the four of us and our computer bags. It certainly wouldn't accommodate all those boxes. Fortunately, delivery was cheap and painless -- the driver arrived first thing the next morning and brought the boxes right up to our door -- but the concept of door-to-door delivery seems like a wild luxury to us suburbanite Americans.

*

Wednesday night our first language class was held. It was 2.5 hours of immersive language training. In class, our instructor spoke no English (not that she couldn't: she's fluent in English, but insisted everyone speak only Hebrew), so by the end my head felt as though it was going to explode from trying so hard to grasp what was going on and trying to keep up with everyone else. It's the beginner class, designed for idiots like me who know nothing about the language, but it seemed as though half of the class already knew quite a lot of Hebrew. It sort of annoyed us that we are already at the bottom third of the class since we don't have the experience everyone else does.

However, far as I can tell, Ben and I are the only Americans in the class -- there is a really diverse set of nationalities represented: French, British, German, Russian, Belarussian, Latvian, Venezuelan, Argentinian, Swiss, Japanese, Filipino -- there were practically no two students from the same country. So, knowing the class isn't designed exclusively for dumb Americans salved our pride a little bit.

And as I said in an earlier post, it's fun to be back in "school." The other night I ran over to a bookstore and bought back-to-school supplies: notebooks, pens, flash cards and a couple of folders (I should mention that I spent almost an hour browsing leisurely through all the many notebooks and pens -- i love office supplies!). They also sold a small selection of workbooks, so I also bought a penmanship book (ahem, designed for kindergartners -- you trace lines to practice writing your ABCs). Class meets again tomorrow, so tonight we do homework and I'll work through the penmanship book. Photos of my bad handwriting will be posted soon...

*

One thing Ikea didn't yield was fabric; for whatever reason, the selection was poor. So yesterday, since it was rainy and gross, I dragged Ben back down to the HaCarmel shuk (the one in Tel Aviv) to check out the fabric shops (one whole street of the shuk is devoted to them). Not surprisingly, like the antique shops in Jaffa, these stores were tiny and packed deep with bolts of fabric. They were mostly so small that I would have had to poke a camera in the shop owner's face to get a shot. This is a more spacious, comparatively well organized shop. I found a few materials that will be excellent for pouch-making -- we'll see how they turn out!

And of course we just had to cut through the produce part of the shuk to get back home. We reluctantly bought ourselves what I call a "yenta cart" -- a plaid-covered wheeled cart, about the size of a large piece of carry-on luggage. Many of the old ladies here have them. They're super-dorky but without one it's impossible to do grocery shopping solo. Anyhow, because we had the cart with us we felt free enough to actually buy a few groceries at the produce part of HaCarmel. We got some good stuff: dried, marienated olives ($5 for a lb!); some really tasty, cheap cold cuts and sausages; and the best part -- two big handfuls of still-warm pita, half plain, half intensely seasoned and oiled (again just a few bucks for the lot).

*

Today the weather is beautiful. The heat feels like it has finally broken -- it's golden instead of red-hot -- so we plan to spend the rest of the day at the beach. (Maybe I'll get the rest of my postcards written. Has anyone received theirs yet?)

We jogged in the park this morning (along with, it seemed, half the population of the city) so it should be really pleasant to just sit and relax. Here at the cafe it feels great to just sit back and enjoy our cappuccinos -- it's about 75F, a breeze is blowing, it's beautiful. If the stolen wireless connection at home is cooperative (which it hasn't been, but you get what you pay for), I'll probably post more photos later today. xo!

2006-10-19T11:51:00.000+02:00

I'll add to this post later (I've got a whole week's worth of stories!), once I get back from errand-running. I just wanted to post this quickly while the internet is working: the post-Ikea apartment! It feels like home now. Be sure to click on the photo; I littered it with notes in Flickr.

2006-10-18T11:55:00.000+02:00

Sorry for the brief posts lately. It's been a pain to get online. I'm at a cafe right now and my laptop battery is about to die, so this too will have to be short.

The results of our Ikea trip on Monday were excellent; photos are posted on my flickr site, and a full report will come as soon as I get a chance to come back to the cafe.

2006-10-16T16:38:00.000+02:00

For all the 'ricans in the house:

It's been raining here lately, so yesterday I googled to find a Tel
Aviv doppler map, you know, to see how long the rain would last.
Anyway, I clicked on the first link, clearly marked "Tel Aviv/Ben
Gurion Airport Doppler Radar." Check out the map that popped up.
Notice that it even says "Tel Aviv" everywhere on the site, they just
linked the wrong map. Hilarious, eh?

2006-10-15T14:00:00.000+02:00

It was another busy weekend, bookended by the first fall-like day. It actually rained hard this morning -- and it wasn't just the typical 30-second shower. It was a genuinely rainy morning. I never thought it would happen! But I'm getting ahead of myself. About the weekend:

Friday we had a lazy morning (it was hot, which leads to lethargy), but finally got ourselves out of bed and visited the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The museum has a couple of really interesting exhibits up: one of painter Diti Almog's recent work, the other of sculptor Dov Feigin's pieces from the '60s (it's too bad neither artist has a website). The museum was much larger than I expected it would be (four spacious floors), and I was impressed with the building in which it's housed -- it's high, open and airy, faced with lots of sandy-colored limestone and dark wood. It also has an outdoor sculpture garden with a surprisingly good collection of modernist sculptures.

On the way back from the museum, a few blocks south of our apartment (around the corner from the cafe where we ate our first breakfast and had those great smoothies), I found treasure on the street.

In general, there are fewer things left out on the curb than there might be in Brooklyn, and certainly fewer than there are in Ann Arbor. I think it's directly related to the small size of the thoroughfares and dense activity that always goes on at sidewalk level: the round-the-clock pedestrian traffic; the parked cars, jammed together; the lack of any buffer zone between street, sidewalk, and front gate. Still, it's in my pack-rat nature to always keep my eyes peeled for stuff.

And Friday I was lucky: Purse clasps! A whole mess of them. Three toolboxes worth. Of course, if they had looked on the street like they do in the photo, I might actually have taken all three boxes. But they were gross, completely covered with muck and dust when I picked them up.

In fact, they were so iffy-looking that at first I only picked up a couple, to see if they were even worth saving (see how nasty the ones to the left of the wash basin look? and how brown the water is?). It's lucky that it's so dry here. It was only surface gunk and probably helped preserve the finish on them. So when the first few cleaned up okay, I flew out the door (this time with a couple of plastic bags so my hands wouldn't get so filthy) and practically ran back to where I found them, collecting the rest of the good-looking ones.

I'm so excited. They're all super, super cool, probably from the '60s and '70s. It's remarkable: earlier in the summer I was trying to figure out how to get my hands on exactly this kind of clasp. And I found them just in time; we're going to Ikea sometime this week (Ikea sells fabric by the yard), so I'll definitely have some sweet cloth to use for the bodies. (Hey girlfriends, I hope you like the purse you'll be getting for Christmas!)

I brought them with me to the Sharons' house that afternoon (I figured either Dalia or Oddi would have good recommendations on how to properly deep-clean them), and Dalia laughed when she saw them. She said I remind her of a South African friend from art school, who also used to go scrounging around for things on the street. Makes me feel better that I'm not the only one, haha...

*

So, yes, we also had another long, late weekend dinner at the Sharons'. This time though, the Benim had to pay for our dinner by helping to bury an irrigation hose in the Sharons' small patch of avocado trees. It was worth it.

The appetizers and first course: Appetizers: baba ghannoush, labanneh cheese, stuffed grape leaves, and deep-fried dumplings. First course: pumpkin+yam soup with Safda Sarah's handmade ravioli. For the main course we had green salad (with "sweetie" -- a mild grapefruit-like fruit), chicken skewers and kebabs. (I was too excited about the main course to remember to take photos, haha...) It was all so good.

(After-dinner cleanup.)

As usual, Dori was there. He's been given a present at every large dinner (so far, there has been a holiday every weekend, and holidays = presents). But this time we also had one to open, and it was the best present ever: Hebrew fridge magnets! (Incidentally, Dori was given the same set, haha...)

So far we've managed to spell our names and the alphabet. We know most of the letters and can sound things out slowly (the Rosetta stone for us has been the tri-lingual street signs). Our first Hebrew class meets tonight, so hopefully it won't take long for us to move past pre-school and into kindergarten. Early on, we bought some children's books, ("Layla Tov, Yariyach" (Goodnight Moon), "Goldberg," "The Little Prince") so we're also armed with new bedtime stories. In a funny way I'm really looking forward to penmanship exercises!

Yesterday was also slow. We spent some time with Keren and Ben (and later Dori, Dikla and Omer) at the beach. In a bold move I took my camera out in the water to get some shots of the fishermen and a few swimmers.

But now it's Sunday, which means it's time to get back to work. Gotta clean the house a bit and get some postcards mailed before class tonight. Ciao!

Gettin' down to business

2006-10-12T18:07:00.001+02:00

I had my first job interview today, thanks to Omer (Keren's brother). But I should say: yes, it was a formal job interview with Omer's company, but I wasn't expecting much from it. I'm still primarily interested in forging connections and getting advice about interesting design houses in the area. It's not that Omer's company isn't worth working for, it's just that I wasn't expecting a job as much as I was hoping for some advice about the local scene.

Tel Aviv has been so good for me. Over the last month, my perspective has changed about certain things. Maybe it's that I'm adjusting to the country and culture. Or maybe I'm just learning to take things one day at a time (piano, piano!). But this is the first time I've had to participate in something like a job interview (really it happens anytime I have to talk about myself and my work), where I didn't feel as if my entire sense of self-worth was on the line. Things would still be okay if the interviewer wasn't so into the work, or if my interests diverged from those of the company. I'm still proud of the projects I've worked on, I still think I can work hard, I still think I'm alright at what I do. It's okay if I have to work a little harder to find something I'm happy doing.

Hah -- I still felt really wound up and vulnerable afterward (clearly I'm not one who likes to have to defend themselves and their work, and I still like pleasing others), but it was nothing a glass of wine can't cure.

Somehow though, despite my change of attitude about the consequences of the interview, I still felt compelled to prepare for it and whip up something good to show. Even though it was an opportunity pretty much without strings attached -- I didn't care that they said they weren't looking for designers -- it was still a good dry run, a good kickstart back into thinking about past work I've done, my future here in Israel, and how to integrate the two.

Tomorrow we go to (another!) meal at the Sharons' house. I hear that this time it's a bar-b-que. Can't wait to observe the Israeli grilling technique!

Backlog of photos

2006-10-10T17:43:00.000+02:00

I think I'm about up to date as far as processing photos and stories goes. I just posted a bunch of photos to my Flickr site from our first couple of weeks here, so get on over there if you want more pretty pictures and a couple of short anecdotes, including some good-looking coffee, some sad-looking airline food, and Ben making a funny face.

And by the way, the photos on my Flickr site don't necessarily make it on this blog, so if you want more photos check there often.

The apartment

2006-10-09T12:35:00.000+02:00

As promised, here are some photos of our place, including the "scooter clock" (it's embossed metal with a reflective coating; it's supposed to look like an Israeli motorino licence plate) and the child's chair I rescued from the dumpster.

Below is a rough joiner of the apartment as it looked right after we moved in. It's still pretty much as it's pictured. Click on it for a larger version. It's almost a 360º view -- maybe it's 290º or something like that (sorry, sorry -- that's probably a little too much information. Comes from having a freaking physicist for a husband). Just off the left hand side of the image is the hall with our stacked washer/dryer, the w/c, and the main door. That's our bedroom on the left, and across from it is the little built-in table you see on the right. My fave part about this place is the huge wall with sliding built-in blinds and windows (it's completely open in the photo). Together, the tracks for windows and blinds are just deep enough to sit on comfortably; we've since bought some cushions so when the windows are open, the track can be used as a window seat.

The chair with my flip flops for scale. It's a sweet little thing! And not as grimy as it looks in this photo, I swear.

The little scooter clock, resting on our tiny sub-woofer. Hanging it on the wall is on the to-do list. Just gotta get my hands on a hammer and nails.

My new boyfriend

2006-10-09T07:20:00.000+02:00

We had another great, leisurely time at the Sharon's house on Saturday. We were invited to lunch, partly to celebrate Sukkot -- the last of the many holidays in September and October -- and partly to welcome Keren and Ben (Keren's fiancee) back from the States (We know Keren through Ben. Both Bens are good friends and worked together in Michigan).

As with any big family gathering, whether in Israel or in the States, it was long and unhurried. We arrived for "lunch" a little after noon, ate at two, and left at 6:30.

For you foodies out there who have been wondering about the local cuisine, it was all excellent. For the first course we were served devilled eggs with handmade mayonnaise, roasted fresh vegetables (eggplant, pepper, broccolli, cauliflower), garlic bread and stuffed grape leaves. The main meal was served buffet-style, with lots of different dishes: roast lamb, roast beef, ground-meat casserole with hummus and pine nuts on top, handmade ravioli, pasta salad and green salad. Dessert was also excellent -- two kinds of frozen not-ice-cream-but-something-very-similar pies (one chocolate, one lemon, both super), fruit salad, cookies and fudge. At Rosh Hashanna everyone joked that Dalia always makes enough food to feed an army. She certainly did on Friday!

Ooooh! And my new boyfriend was there!

Dori is Omer's 2.5 year old (Omer is the Sharons' middle son). He is so adorable!!! He was at the Rosh Hashanna dinner, and we played a bit then. I guess he fell in love with me. It was big joke around the house on Saturday -- most of what he said for the first few hours was, "Marta! Marta!" Hahaha...it was too funny. I got to sit next to him at dinner, and even then it was the same.

Fortunately he had other loves who were also in attendance -- Dalia, his grandmother; and Ben, Keren's fiancee. He bounced around between his favorite people, grabbing as many as he could to be playmates. Dalia said she was glad to be relieved from Dori-duty for once; since she's the usual favorite, at these sorts of gatherings she ends up playing with Dori and doesn't get to talk much with the grownups.

Not that there was a whole lot of talking coming out of the two Bens ("Benim" as they're now collectively known). Dalia bought a battery-powered car track for Dori in Ben and Keren's name, so the two doctors of physics and Aron (the youngest of the three Sharons) spent a couple of hours on the kitchen floor -- stumped -- trying to put the thing together.

During dinner, Keren actually read the assembly instructions (which no one had done), corrected a couple of the boys' mistakes and managed to get the thing together. Then the boys rushed back (including Dori for a few minutes here and there), and played with it long enough to run the batteries down. It was pretty hilarious.

But now I've got to get out before it gets too hot and run off the mountain of food I ate over the weekend. Cheers!

Jaffa

2006-10-07T11:30:00.000+02:00

We made it down to Jaffa again yesterday, and finally I took the photos I meant to take the first time we went. The top image is of a minaret in Old Jaffa (Patri + John: Old Jaffa reminds me a little bit of Old San Juan); the lower photo is of Tel Aviv as seen from the Old Jaffa hillside.

When we went to Jaffa a few weeks ago, it was a holiday so everything was closed. But yesterday it was plenty busy and the Shuk Ha-Pishpishim (the flea market) was packed. We went looking for used bikes. However, I think you could buy anything but bikes there. I guess they take up too much space. Really. The place was crammed with stuff. Half of the market was pretty much a big garage sale and the balance was slightly more legitimate, "licenced" antiques kiosks. The vendors at garage sale half seemed to be people cleaning out their basements: piles of battered clothing, assortments of housewares and old electronics, rugs, VHS tapes from the 80s, and on and on. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

Certain cheap, touristy stuff was sold at lots of the legitimate stands: scrap rugs, partitions made of beads, stuffed-animal garlands and "ethnic" knickknacks. But the interesting vintage collections vastly overwhelmed the token mass-market tchochkes. The color and texture of the whole place was amazing. Shops, the size and layout of large storage units, were packed to the gills with everything under the sun, and all of it older than I am. It's interesting to speculate about the mixed origin of all this stuff, considering Israel is such a young country and its residents have come from so many different places.

There were actually a few things I was interested in buying. Some pieces of furniture were tempting, as well as some awesome vintage tableware and a few lamps. (Oneontans: it's just like the Grand and Glorious Garage Sale. There is lots of junk, but somehow it's impossible to leave empty handed.) If I knew Hebrew, I might have jumped in and haggled over a few pieces. But since I don't, I knew I would be wasting my money. (English speakers get special tourist prices: an extra zero is added to the end of all prices offered.) In the end, it was a blast just to walk around and check out the colorful, hectic scene.

Now off to Dalia and Oddi's for lunch to celebrate Sukkot, and to welcome Keren and Ben (Koester, not Burrington) back from the US. Can't wait to spend another afternoon with my host family...

2006-10-05T20:44:00.000+02:00

Ben and I just returned from an after-dinner walk along the shore. Today was a second day spent mainly working, so there aren't many stories. I did manage to find a pretty cool clock for the apt today, although I'm still holding off buying much else until the Ikea run. Oh, and I rescued a little chair from the dumpster last night. Pictures of clock, chair, and apartment coming soon. I think we're going to the Jaffa flea market to try to find some bikes tomorrow. Hopefully there will be some pics of that as well. In the meantime, here are some shots I've taken over the last few days.

The AM:PM is just one step above a convenience store. My fave part is the sign: the colon blinks.

The garden below our balcony.

2006-10-04T13:21:00.001+02:00

I'm back after a week of no internet, and finally on my own laptop. Between our move, (more) holidays and our inability to read Hebrew, it's been tough to find somewhere to log on. Anyhow, things are beginning to settle down to a normal pace. We love our new place. This is the path that runs along the side of our building and out onto the street.

The apartment is just the right size and the location is good -- I feel like I'm an active participant in city life. We're right in the middle of things, on a main artery in Tel Aviv's informal garment district. We live above an optometrist's shop. Our street is most famous for its innumerable bridal shops, but peppered among them are lots of small, independent designers, so it's not entirely white lace and satin. I'll have to post some photos of some of the more memorable wedding dresses, especially a (surprisingly popular) style where the top half is made entirely of lace. Not the kind of thing I'd wear on my wedding day, in front of my parents and grandparents, but what do I know? This is a more modest dress in a shop a block or so away.

On the day we moved in, we were lucky and found a sleek little couch in a rubbish cart so we grabbed it. It's missing a leg, but it's in good condition otherwise. Besides the bed, handful of chairs, and built-in table that came with the place, the couch is our only piece of furniture. We're planning to get out to the Ikea just a few miles away, in Herzilya, once Keren returns.

And speaking of Keren, I have to state for the record that she and her family are some of the most hospitable, giving people I've ever met. The night after we moved in, Keren's parents asked to drop off the rest of our luggage (they were storing a few suitcases for us). They arrived not only with luggage, but with plates, cups, silverware, pots and pans, even fresh-baked brownies -- everything to get us started. They came up to our place and inspected it with the trained eyes of parents -- carefully checking the plumbing, the locks, the amenities, while pretending just to wander around the place. The next day Dalia and Oddi (Keren's father) dropped off Keren's old microwave and another box of goodies. They insisted we call if we need anything.

After trying to thank them properly (I'm sure we did a poor job -- it's difficult to thank someone enough for such hospitality), Dalia told us about her past. She and Oddi spent the first four years of their marriage in South Africa; Oddi went there for work and Dalia was along for the ride. They didn't speak the language, knew no one, and were far from their families. When in South Africa, she said, she wished that they had someone to go to, just a friendly house or a trusted friend. It was especially meaningful to her to help us -- she could now be that person she wished she had known. What an incredible thing to say -- and to hear! We were really moved.

...... . .. . .. . .. . ....

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from Yom Kippur, three days ago. It's against religious law to drive on the Yom Kippur holiday, so the normally busy streets were filled instead with people: biker-gangs of kids with parents talking and laughing nearby, grandmothers gossiping on the street-side benches, twenty- and thirty-somethings walking their dogs. It was really quite amazing -- there were literally no cars driven anywhere in the city for almost 24 hours. More pictures are on my flickr site. cheers!

the shuk

2006-09-28T15:25:00.000+03:00

Finally, a photo! My camera is back up and running but I still don't have a good way to transfer photos, so this photo of the shuk I stole from Flickr will have to do for now. I still have to take a photo of myself burned like a proper tourist from yesterday's incredible day at the beach.

Anyhow, after a quick run to school and the bank this morning (and 30 mins or so spent lost after boarding the wrong bus, duh!), we decided to play tourists again and spend the afternoon checking out the shuk -- the enormous farmers' / vendors' market that occupies (at least) two entire blocks of south Tel Aviv. I definitely know where I'll buy my fruits and vegetables from now on; everything looks so good and it's worth the extra hike just to soak in the atmosphere.

If I had lived at all in California, I might not be surprised that lots of different kinds of produce could all be grown in the same region. But being from a state that has a three-month growing season, I'm continually surprised at Israel's agricultural ability. Dates, figs, grapes, avocado, all kinds of citrus fruit, tomato, cucumber, lettuce, herbs, spices -- all grow eagerly with (relatively) little encouragement. Keren's parents have an avocado grove behind their house, along with a couple of wild pomegranate and lime trees. It's not uncommon to walk past a producing fruit tree planted in the median of a road, or growing semi-wild on campus. Wild grapes grow in the alleys of old-town Jaffa. I think by the time I make it back to the States I'll be surprised that anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon line is habitable at all.

Tonight we make up for all our touristy activities. We plan to spend the evening doing what many locals do: hanging out on the long boardwalk near the river, people watching and nursing a bottle of beer. Tomorrow we move in to our new place (!), so it might be a few days before I post again (it'll take me that long to either make it back up to school or find a nearby wired cafe). Hopefully by then I'll be ready to post pics, too. Love to all! xoxox

softly, softly

2006-09-27T07:44:00.000+03:00

So, as expected, things have calmed down quite a bit. Yesterday afternoon we went to the beach, not just to have a quick beer in between apartment viewings, or for a nice view on our way to do some errand, but for the first time to actually sit and swim and play. We've signed for an apartment and put as much in motion at school, at the bank, and elsewhere that we realized we have no more commitments for the next day or so. We had promised ourselves that once we had a place lined up we'd spend a few days at the beach, and now it's finally time. (We plan to spend all of today there -- Woohoo!)

What a relief it is to know that we've got a place set up. I don't do so well without some kind of support structure or safety net; not having a place bothered and stressed me out from the moment we touched down. It's a big weight off my mind to know we'll be self-sufficient soon. My introvertedness tells me that no one should be burdened with my problems, so I'm extremely uncomfortable relying on others' hospitality, as we've been doing. From the moment we arrived, I've been eager to move out of the apartment we've been house-sitting, mainly because my instinct (irrationally) says I must be causing a lot of inconvenience for someone.

But enough of that. Our new place is going to be great. It's in a perfect location -- a 10 minute walk to the beach (which actually is considered a long way, but I'm not counting...), close to the bus lines, and right in the middle of a vibrant neighborhood. It's NYC-sized -- just a bedroom and a living room. We managed to find a place which includes all the fixtures we were worried about having to buy: a fridge, a tiny gas range, sink, and even a dishwasher (a dishwasher is considered an almost unheard-of feature for an apartment of that size and price). There are no screens on any windows here, so the floor-to-ceiling windows on one short wall of the living room can be folded back and the entire wall opened wide to the small garden below.

... .. .. . . .. . .. . . .. ..

One big culture shock for me has been the way in which business is conducted. (Haha, yes, it's really all I've been talking about so far.) People want to negotiate. They want to hear your life story and it's expected that you ask for theirs. Written contracts mean less than a well-timed joke and a handshake.

For instance: to rent the apartment, we first were required to have a drink at our landlords' apartment (I think we made a faux pas by refusing the ice cream they offered), talk about the news, the weather, and a little bit about ourselves before a copy of the lease even appeared on the table. It was then expected we ask for their identification (only to appease Keren's father, however. Apparently it's not uncommon to pose as a landlord, then take the deposit and run), and then debate a few clauses of the lease (which we were happy to do: rent in Tel Aviv is calculated in US dollars(!) but paid in shekels, so one's rent fluctuates with the strength or weakness of the dollar. Don't ask me why, but it's standard practice. Keren managed to convince them to tie our rent to something more stable -- the national "cost-of-living" index. Beats me why they don't just set a rent price in shekels and stick to it). An hour-and-a-half later (and after a tour of their apartment, which they recently renovated), a lease was in hand and a deal made.

At least I'm starting to understand the pace of life here, and why no one else can understand our drive to take care of things today instead of tomorrow. "Piano, piano, -- softly, softly," is the advice we've received from most of the university staff. I've been repeating that mantra to myself, and it's magic has yet to catch on. But it's beginning to.

new year / new life

2006-09-23T19:20:00.000+03:00

Today will be our first day off since we arrived (it's Rosh Hashanna, thank goodness!). We've been out every day, all day, pounding the pavement, getting ourselves set up. I imagine we could easily have been floating around for a month without a phone, bank or apartment without someone to vouch for us and show us around.

Apartment-hunting is extremely difficult -- I imagine it's just as hard to get a place in NYC, although here you don't have any real estate agents to fall back on. Good places are advertised, shown and rented all within 24-36 hours, so it's essential that you work fast. We've come close to renting a few places, but there have been snags: an unreasonable lease and nervous landlord at one place, someone else had first pick (and signed) on another, a Nov. 15 move-in date on a third.

For some reason stoves and fridges are not standard features in apartments here -- tenants often (i'd say about 60% of the time) have to buy their own, which we may very well have to do (used appliances are very available, but to get one it means another few days of wrangling and a more complex budgeting equation). it's also the tenant's responsibility to pay property tax (I understand that it's folded in with the bi-monthly municipal utility bill) and each building has a monthly maintenance fee. So even when we're presented with nice, available places there's always a hot-and-fast debate to be done about location, fixtures, potential additional expenses, its comparison with other places we've seen, etc.

We've had to do similar gymnastics with most other business as well -- short working hours and big bureaucracy at school (and everywhere else too) have prevented much progress there (Ben still doesn't have a contract -- apparently all the school needs is the email offer from the head of the department, which makes us nervous). There have been lots of unexpected bank issues (it takes a month to process a bankers' check, you're committed to using a certain branch of a bank for all your business, which would be okay except the bank Keren took us to is a 30min bus ride from where we'll be living). Also, you have to apply for an ATM card, which takes 10 days to arrive. The only place to change travellers' checks affordably is at the post office, so there was also a very nervous bus ride to the bank with my bag bulging with cash. Those are the times when i'm extremely glad I married someone with huge biceps!

We've managed to work out most of our issues (except apartment, of course) pretty reasonably but we're still feeling as though we're in freefall without a clear landing place. Cobi (Ben's quasi-advisor at TAU) suggested that things don't happen as quickly here as they do in the States, but I think we've impressed him with the speed at which we've managed to get so much done (due entirely to Keren being such an amazing friend/interpreter/guide -- she's done so much finessing and haggling and arguing for us that, as Ben joked, we're now required to name our first born after her).

But things are calming down. it's Rosh Hashanna (Shana Tova! -- Happy New Year!), so everyone gets Sunday off (normally, the weekend is Friday-Saturday). Keren brought us to the big Rosh Hashanna dinner at her parents' house last night. Her brother has a 2-yr-old, so for his benefit (and a little bit ours too, I think), the (normally very secular) family decided to do the long, traditional New Year toasts and blessings with the meal (haha, we sat down at 7:30pm and got up at 10:30pm). The dinner was 5+ courses long, and opened with some gift-giving, a short passage of poetry, and tasting and toasts over each of the 10 (or so) different symbolic dishes.

I'm so glad they made English translations of the blessings for us -- for me, that was the highlight. the names of each of the 10 foods make a play on the blessing phrase, so you remember the blessing via the food. For instance, for beets, loosely translated, the blessing is something like, "so that this year we may beat our enemies." Each of the 10 dishes was passed around individually, toasted, and each person took a piece or two. The most culinarily interesting was the gefilte fish (although I don't think it's pleasant plain -- it requires a lot of horseradish sauce!). But all the food was incredible -- I ate a ton!

Today Keren offered to take us down to Jaffa and south TA. We've been so busy that we've only seen north Tel Aviv and the Ramat Aviv quarter (the northern 'burb where TAU is located). I'm looking forward to a whole day off.