Borrowed Time

We've been coming to Israel for 2-1/2 to 3 months every year for the past 5 years. We've always stayed in the same neighborhood, Kiryat Shmuel. It's a lovely area, a 20 minute walk to everything, with good shopping, cafes and bakeries, great public transportation and a good vibe. Coincidentally we know several people who live in the neighborhood.

This time, well let's just say we're not in Kiryat Shmuel anymore. Not that we're in a bad neighborhood ... not by a long shot. Rehavia is one of Jerusalem's nicest. About 10 minutes closer to downtown, which also makes it 10 minutes farther to Pardes, and very quiet. There's no supermarket in the immediate vicinity, but there are three small grocery stores, several cafes, a pizzeria and the all-important gelateria around the corner. There are several bus lines but the stops are farther away. Our old neighborhood only had 2 bus lines, but the stop was almost across the street, and it seems we could get anywhere we needed to go on one of them. After 4 weeks we have concluded that we prefer the old neighborhood.

So imagine my surprise when on Tuesday night about 11PM I heard a racket that sounded like maybe someone was taking a building down. I went out to investigate and there was a bulldozer digging up the street. The city is replacing water pipes, and the work is done at night, 11PM to 4AM. So for two nights it was like being in a battlefield, but it was only two nights.

The apartment itself is very nice. Totally renovated. Two bedrooms and two bathrooms, one ensuite. This one has a washer AND a dryer, which isn't the norm in a country whose climate allows clothes to line dry in a couple of hours. And yes, people do hang laundry out to dry. I'm still stymied by the appliances. I can't figure out what all the symbols mean. All I know is that at home we have 3 temperature options - hot, warm and cold - and 3 types of laundry - dirty, really dirty and delicate. Here you need a decoder ring to figure how what settings to use. I decided the best way to go about this would be to use the setting that seemed the most reasonable in terms of time, which is one hour. At least it's not the 9 hour machine we had a few years ago. And I set the bar pretty low. If it's cleaner when it comes out than when it went in, that's good enough. The oven is also giving me grief. Too many symbols to figure out. And the landlord isn't much help, so I take my best guess and hope nothing blows up.

Sid completed his first week in the army. Once again he's at the central medical supply depot, packing kits and lifting cartons. He's with the same manager, in a group of about 30. He doesn't like his roommate, apparently no one else does either. This is unusual. I've never heard of anyone who participates in this program who isn't nice. I guess there always has to be an exception.

You probably don't hear about what's been going on here because the media can't bring themselves to report anything sympathetic about Israel. This past week a new treatment for Crohn's Disease was announced. This is on top of a string of recent advances in early detection and treatment of cancer.

On the other hand, there has been a constant barrage of terrorist attacks from Gaza by means of, believe it or not, kites, balloons and condoms armed with Molotov cocktails. Several thousand acres of farmland have been destroyed; the devastation is unimaginable. This low tech terrorism is very difficult to counter. The missiles, which leave no radar signal, are nearly impossible to detect. The IDF has tried using drones and lasers, with minimum effect. As long as the prevailing winds blow from west to east, this is going to be something to deal with for a long time.

If they would only use their creativity for something good, like establishing the institutions that would form a functioning civil society and earn the public trust ... but who am I kidding? What they really need to do is find a better use for the condoms ...

The other event that grabbed the headlines this week is the series of earthquakes that have occurred in the Galilee near Tiberias. They've been relatively low on the Richter Scale. I think the strongest was 4.2. But Israel is bisected by the Great African Rift Fault, which causes a major quake every 90-100 years. The last one was in 1927 and claimed 500 lives. We're almost overdue.

We're having our first Shabbat guests tonight - my Krav Maga instructor and training partner. We do have to keep in shape, mentally, physically and socially. After all, we are on borrowed time.

Shabbat shalom from Jerusalem,

Peggy and Sid