Thursday, January 21, 2016
Week 2
We moved into our apartment last Friday, January 15. But first we rented a car to move our 6 suitcases.
We went to Eldan (the car rental company) at 1130AM, which is about the worst possible time on a Friday, but shockingly it was not crowded and we were taken care of immediately. We had a brand new Peugeot, and decided to stop at the apartment to check it out before going back to the hotel to pick up our luggage. But we didn't even get that far. There was evidently something very wrong with the car. It jerked, had delayed reactions, and felt like driving a stick shift even tho it was automatic. No way were we going to keep it, so back to Eldan where the agent said, it's because the car is robotic. There's a way to take it off the robotic setting but we said absolutely not, we want a car that just goes without the robot. So they changed it.
The apartment is on the first floor, which really means the second floor, about 18 steps up. No elevator of course. And we had very heavy suitcases. Slowly we emptied the car ( we were lucky to find parking right in front of the building) and schlepped our way up the stairs. It's quite large and has very high ceilings. Two bedrooms, two and a half baths, combination living room-dining room-kitchen. It's been rehabbed. The balconies were enclosed in order to enlarge the living room and master bedroom. It's nice to have the extra square footage, but it comes with certain drawbacks. First, it's hard to heat a place with high ceilings, even more so because there's no insulation (it's only in the past few years that they use insulation in construction), so every wall is an outside wall. And while it's very nice to have an ensuite bathroom in the master bedroom, whoever designed this place didn't take sunrise into account. (There will be photos as soon as I figure out how to transfer them from my new phone.) When Dori gets out of the army she will stay with us. Her bedroom has bunk beds and an ensuite bathroom as well. There is a washing machine but no dryer, and without balconies there's nowhere to hang laundry to dry. At least this year the washing machine is normal - a cycle only takes 2 hours and no shake, rattle and roll like last year. The kitchen is nicely designed but poorly equipped. I guess the owners didn't expect the renters to cook. As last year, the owners are French. Anyone noticing a trend? According to what I've been reading 43% of French Jews want to emigrate.
We made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up the minimum supplies - coffee mostly. We didn't worry about food because Batsheva had us over for both Friday night dinner and Shabbat lunch. And no one leaves Batsheva's hungry.
Saturday evening we took a walk downtown. Sid wanted to go back to Birman's, the jazz bar we discovered last year. On the way there we ran into the Korean Choir on Ben Yehuda Street.
Sunday we went to the shuk for provisions. No where else do you get the quality and variety that you get in the shuk. Everyone told us not to go on Sunday. Not every shop is open, the produce isn't fresh because they don't get deliveries until late in the day or early on Monday, etc etc. Israelis have a real thing about food being fresh, which is easy to do here because something picked at 4AM gets to the market at 6. If it's more than a day old it's considered ready for the waste bin. That may be true, but the great thing about going on Sunday is that it's not crowded and you can actually find parking. We were in food heaven. There are so many things we can get here that are so much better than in Chicago. For the last few weeks all we could talk about was the cheese, olives, yoghurt, and a particular dry biscuit I absolutely love. Feed me that and I could last a lifetime.
Mondays are my busy days, but this was busier than most. Sid returned the rental car and I walked to my women's class, from 10AM-1PM. The depth of the analysis, the breath of knowledge that each lecturer has never ceases to amaze me. My friend Bevie, who I've known for many many many years, came for the second lecture. We will get together next Sunday for quality time.
From there I walked to my Krav Maga class. Moshe, the instructor, wasn't expecting me till next week so I took him by surprise. It was good to be back with my posse. We are doing knife defense.
I wasn't up to walking home but considering how long I had to wait for the bus I might as well have. We ate and then it was off to Pardes for yet another lecture. It was the second of a four part series about King David. Very good, but not nearly at the level of a Yeshurun lecture. Ironically we studied the same material at Yeshurun 2 years ago.
Tuesday it was back to the mall. We still needed a couple of things and I was determined to get Sid a phone. Getting his phone couldn't have been easier. It took no more than 5 minutes, and they even gave him a number that's close to mine ... 058-70-999-40. If anyone wants to call him, there's an 8 hour time difference and the dialing sequence is 011 972 58 70-999-40.
Wednesday was again a busy day. The ceramics class from last year has expanded to include a drawing class. Just what I need. I'm so not into any crafts except beading, and I would have loved to find an excuse to get out of the ceramics, so instead I wind up with drawing AND ceramics. Much to my surprise I really enjoyed the drawing.We worked with chalk which is very messy. For that matter ceramics is worse. Anybody who knows me knows I'm a neat freak so by nature I'm not cut out for these activities. On the plus side it's actually a great escape and has been compared to meditating for clearing the mind. And the women in the class are wonderful. They welcomed me back like a long lost relative.
We didn't have much planned for today, except I had to change money, which goes so fast it just disappears. We walked to the shuk (where else would you go to change money?), and from there I walked to my krav maga class. Still working on knife defense. At the end of the class I got a text from Dori letting me know she was on her way to Jerusalem. When I boarded the bus to go back to our apt, there she was sitting in the first seat with her ginormous backpack on the seat next to her, wearing ear phones and her eyes were closed. I lightly tapped her arm and asked if she could move her backpack. She looked at me and it took a second for her to realize who had the chutzpa to get her out of her zone. What a coincidence. If we had planned this it never would have worked. She's here for Shabbat, then back to the base.
We're settled in the apartment and establishing a routine. Even tho the kitchen isn't well equipped I made a couple of great dinners this week. It's amazing what you can do with so little. And the food here is fabulous. The only thing between me and another 20 pounds is all the walking.
Shabbat shalom from Jerusalem,
Peggy and Sid
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Home
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Ask an Israeli living abroad where his heart is and 9 out of 10 will say in Israel. No matter how good life can be (or the reason for) living in other countries, this is home. And home is where the heart is.
The flights were fine except for a delay of 1 hour and 45 minutes leaving Chicago. Because I'm a worrier by nature, I was concerned that we wouldn't make our connection in London due to the lengthy security procedures. Fortunately Heathrow has streamlined security and the airport was uncharacteristically uncrowded, so we made the flight and so did our luggage. I booked us on late flights, which is the best cure yet for jet lag. We landed at 9PM and walked into the hotel (we are staying at the Inbal Hotel until tomorrow when we move to our apartment) at 11PM. We went to sleep around midnight, and slept till 8AM.
Our apartment is in the same neighborhood where we've stayed previously. It's great to be in a location that is so familiar. We know the area, the grocery store (one of the cashiers has a big crush on Sid), the bus routes, the short cuts to restaurants and shops. In a word, it's home.
Speaking of luggage ... we checked 5 suitcases this time and TSA opened 4 of them. I don't know what they were looking for, since we've never had our luggage inspected before. It was probably the paper towels, aluminum foil, saran wrap and vitamins that show up suspiciously on an x-ray. Yes, paper towels, foil and saran. Every American I know who comes to Israel for a length of time brings these things because they are expensive and of poor quality here.
We spent this morning at the phone store. For reasons that anyone over 9 years old will never understand, I couldn't unlock my phone. Long story short I bought a phone. The young man who helped me was a gem. He imported my contacts, downloaded my apps and showed me how the phone works. This was a time-consuming process and he was very nice about it. The fact that the store wasn't busy helped.
Our granddaughter Dori got to Jerusalem late this afternoon. We had dinner at Olive and Fish, a restaurant we've been to several times, conveniently located across from the hotel. She is stationed at a base near the Gaza border and has a few days off. She made sargeant.
I wrote the first part of this post from the 9th floor lounge at the Inbal, with a view of Mount Zion. It was clear with a few clouds. Israel has had a lot much-needed rain so far this winter, but the long-range forecast for the next 2 and a half months is for mostly sunny, pleasant weather.
My plan is to blog once a week, on Thursdays. I appreciate comments and followers.
Shabbat shalom,
Peggy and Sid
Monday, March 30, 2015
The End
This will be the final entry for this visit. I have been in somewhat of a depression for the last 3 weeks. I keep telling myself to live in the moment, focus on the fact that we're still here and there are so many things to keep us busy, but that's eye wash and doesn't work. We've had such a wonderful time here and I'm not ready to give it up.
Of course I left too many things for the final week. Batsheva and I had our annual spa day at Ramat Rachel, which is always a treat. Sid and I ran down to Tel Aviv to visit the recently opened Norman Hotel, which is like nothing I've seen in Israel. Amazing design, and it took 10 years to build. Building projects take an inordinately long time in this country, but a renovation takes even longer, especially when it's a landmark building. We managed to get there and back without getting lost, thanks to this fabulous app (invented here of course) called Waze. It's a GPS that factors in road conditions and routes you accordingly. Mine has a split personality. I put my destination into the search box in English. The map comes up in Hebrew, but the robot (or whoever it is that lives inside my cell phone) gives the turn by turn directions in English. And it's never wrong. For someone like me who gets lost going thru a revolving door, this is nothing short of a miracle. And my old friend Gail came up from the moshav she lives on near Hadera for a visit, and she brought her wonderful Hungarian pointer Zsa Zsa.
Only in Jerusalem ...
After our ceramics class on Wednesday Batsheva and I crossed the plaza in front of City Hall to get to the car. There was music, lots of people milling around and a big event tent. Naturally we had to check it out. It was a matza baking station, and not just for kids. I've mentioned before that this city puts on a vast array of cultural and educational programs for the public. This was one of them. Fortunately we got there early and there was only a 5 minute wait. A rabbi gave a brief explanation of the 18-minute process, from mixing the flour and water to pulling the finished product out of the oven, and said what a wonderful mitzvah it is to bake, rather than buy, your matza. There were long tables with heavy metal rods that were used as rolling pins. We were handed plastic gloves and aprons, and the games began. The process was done in strict adherence to the rules of matza-making, and the rabbi assured us that according to a highly respected kashrut authority they are kosher under the strictest standards. I tasted the finished product and I can tell you my preference is still for what I get at the store.
Under the heading "cool things to do in Jerusalem", we did two of them last week.
On Thursday night we went to the championship game of the Israel Football League. Yes, they do play American football here. It's not exactly the same game that's played in the States, but it comes close. The reason we went is because the assistant instructor in my krav maga class is on the team, and his dad is one of the coaches. How could we not go? There is a small stadium that was donated by the owner of the new England Patriots. Small means the field is 60 feet long, they only play with 9 men, no goal posts and therefore no field goals and the quarters are 12 minutes. The scoring is 6 points for a touchdown and they go for the 2 points after. There is a small seating area and I was told to get there early or else we'd have to stand for the whole game. The opposing team was from Tel Aviv, so the rivalry was already intense, and there were several TA fans in the audience. They sold hot dogs, hamburgers and beer, but you had to get it yourself - no vendors. The game was announced in Hebrew, but no one has translated the terminology so the words for the penalties are still in English and it sounds pretty funny. Each team had about 40 guys and one of the coaches for the Jerusalem team was ultra-orthodox (big black hat and black suit) but he knew how to handle the football. There were 6 officials on the field and they had a very hard time agreeing on the penalties. It seems they just threw the flags and then decided what the infractions were.
The audience was every bit as interesting as the game. Several were ultra-orthodox who must have been related to the coach. They wore bright orange T-shirts over their black suits. The teams colors are bright orange and green, so if you didn't know better you would think they're Irish. Mostly Americans of course, and lots of young kids. These are professional teams and supposedly have some foreign players.
I'm not a fan of American football, but it was a lot of fun. And our team won by a score of 20 to 10.
The other cool thing is something I've been reading about for a few years. There is a very serious counter-terrorism training center near Jerusalem called Caliber 3. They train police, military and personal security forces from all over the world. They also have programs for tourists. It was amazing. We were given an overview of what counter-terrorism and urban warfare are all about, went thru a training drill, and then fired weapons - a Beretta and some kind of rifle. The Beretta was a lot more difficult, but we did well with both weapons. The instructors are all from elite combat units; one of them looked like he came from central casting.
We've been very fortunate to have Dori stay with us several times during our trip. We haven't stopped being amazed at how she's changed. She's a real soldier and takes her job very seriously. She's very independent and self-reliant. She is very Israeli; in fact she's developed a slight intonation when she speaks English. And she and I usually speak Hebrew to each other. Somehow she seems more comfortable in Hebrew than English.
She and her friend Lauren were in Jerusalem for a wedding and stayed with us for a couple nights ...
And what trip to Israel would be complete without a huge dinner at Eli and Batsheva's. We had an early birthday celebration for Sid, and the whole family was there.
Last year we used to go to a bar near Machane Yehuda (the produce market) that had a Friday afternoon jam session - Sephardi Shabbat music. We had looked forward to returning this year, but unfortunately they went out of business. So we had to find a replacement and we happened on a place called Birman, located on one of the side streets off Ben Yehuda. A very eclectic place, not terribly clean but lots of atmosphere. The jazz was surprisingly good. The bartender took a liking to us, probably because we were at least 30 years older than anyone else who crossed their threshold and therefore an oddity. We hope they stay around till next year.
As I wrap things up (literally, because I'm almost completely packed), it occurs to me that I haven't mentioned anything about the apartment. As readers of this blog know, what we had last year was a shoebox and I vowed never to make that mistake again. This year the first thing I asked was square footage, and we found a very nice 2-bedroom unit in a good neighborhood that's about 750 sq ft.
On this final day ... I managed to do almost everything I somehow didn't get to during the 2 months we've been here. Mostly phone calls and a final load of laundry, but we also ran out to say goodbye to Eli and Batsheva, Yafit and Nir came here to say goodbye, and I had my final krav maga class. We're about to sit down to a final dinner consisting of some choice leftovers, and then pack up the electronics and sleep fast because we have a very early pick up tomorrow morning.
Till next year ... thanks for reading.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
The days are getting shorter...
It's hard to comprehend how quickly the time has gone by. We have 11 more days here, and still so much to do. I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that there are people I'm not going to be able to see and things I'm not going to be able to do. That, I suppose, is why there's a next time.
Anyone who doesn't recognize what a fabulous city Jerusalem is either needs their head examined or they work for the mainstream media which has a policy of turning a blind eye at anything good that goes on in this country. Last week the city held a 4-night festival called Sounds of the Old City. Half a dozen stages were set up all over the Old City, and a variety of bands rotated from one to the other. The natural acoustics were incredible. It brought all kinds of people together, which is what goes on all over Israel on a daily basis. The music was great, and the atmosphere was wonderful.
This week's big news was the elections.The way it works here is each party can submit a list of up to 120 names, and you vote for the party, not the individual candidates. 26 parties ran. A lot of people, particularly from Western countries, feel the system should be replaced by a traditional western representational system. I happen to be one of those who disagree. The parties have platforms and represent constituents all over the country. It's cumbersome to have 26 parties, but not all of them get enough votes to matter, and it ensures that all viewpoints have a voice. This year there was even a Green Leaf party, whose raison d'etre is to make marijuana growers and recreational users happy. (Medical marijuana is legal and used in several treatment protocols.) The election was very controversial because of a US taxpayer subsidized and highly illegal attempt to elect the Herzog/Livni Party. No matter where you are on the political spectrum, this was seen as way out of bounds and the efforts backfired. Everyone who thought Bibi was done had a lot of egg on their faces. Sid and I were both very happy with the outcome, as were all our friends here.
The voting process itself is charming and antiquated. For a country that is so high tech, the voting is anything but. My polling place was in a nearby school. Several precincts voted in the various classrooms. There were ushers to direct people to the correct room, and 3 poll watchers in each. The procedure was to give one of them your identity card, they checked your name off a list, and you went behind a cardboard privacy barrier, selected one of the 26 ballots, placed it in an envelope, sealed it, and dropped it in the ballot box. My identity card is from 1969, which makes it an antique. When I gave it to the poll watcher, all 3 of them, and some of the people waiting in line behind me, made comments about not having seen such an old version in many years, if ever. One of them suggested that I replace it with a new one, but I said I was very attached to the original and besides I still look the same. One of the poll watchers said I actually look younger, and another one said the only difference is that I've cut my hair. This kind of banter is so common here, whether in a store, on a bus, or just waiting for an elevator. People connect with each other.
My schedule here has been anchored by my classes, which take up 3 days a week. Monday is the busy day - starting with the 3 hour lecture series (for women only), and from there I run to the 2 hour krav maga class. Wednesday is my ceramics class, which really isn't my sport but I do it anyway. And Thursday is another krav maga class. I even went thru the 4-hour yellow belt test, altho I wasn't qualified; the students who tested have been working up to this level for a couple of years.
The test went over the 4 hours. The final part was sparring, and it was already dark. It was hard to photograph using a cell camera, but that's me with the yellow handwraps.
The ceramics class is really occupational therapy, but I must say most of the students are quite talented ... and there's even a guy in the class.
That's it for this episode.
Shabbat shalom from Jerusalem.
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