Covering All Views

Part of my portfolio out here is covering the rightwing parties in the Israeli Knesset. That is how I ended up at a conference in Jerusalem last Sunday, which was entitled, "Facing Jihad." The conference was sponsored by Eryah Eldad, head of the HaTikva ("The Hope") party, who focuses almost exclusively on ensuring that Jews can settle throughout what he calls "The Land of Israel" -- all the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River. This territory includes the West Bank, which most of the rest of the world considers occupied Palestinian territory.

The conference focused on publicizing the "threat" these individuals feel that Islam or "Radical Islam" poses for the West. The big name on the marquee for this event was Geert Wilders, a far-right Dutch parliamentarian with flowing, bleach-blonde hair who produced a film linking violence with Islam. Critics labeled the short film -- "Fitna" -- as racist, while others threatened to kill Wilders. The Dutch MP, taking the threats seriously following the 2004 assassination of fellow countryman and critic of Islam Theo Van Gogh, travels 24/7 with a team of bodyguards, several of whom surrounded him during his presentation.

The conference provided a useful insight into one segment of the Israeli polity. I would have preferred, however, if there had been more of a give and take with critics of this strain of thought.

New Blog Site!!

http://shalomfromtelaviv.blogspot.com

Kazakh National Day

The Ambassador tagged us with the honor of representing the United States at the Kazakh National Day celebrations at the Dan Panorama Hotel this evening. We didn't let him down. We represented.

We arrived to see the reception hall packed with members of the diplomatic community. We were fortunate to observe musical and dance performances by Kazakh nationals, along with a video presentation about life in Kazakhstan. We would be remiss if we did not mention the food, which was yummy. We indulged in some chicken kabob, salmon, dumplings, and a massive spread of delicious desserts.

All in all, it was a pleasant way to spend a Sunday evening.

Sporting Culture Shock

I'll admit that I guess I have a bit of sporting culture shock whenever I play hockey with a new group of people. Groups always have their own unique rules and practices. The guys here, though, are an interesting lot. 

I was forced to listen to some whining last night when one of my passes and then one of my shots hit two separate guys. The first guy stood right in front of a pass, trying to block it. The second guy--who was the knucklehead who almost knocked my teeth out with his reckless stickwork--was standing in front of the net playing goalie when my shot (a casual wrist shot) hit him. A key fact here is that said knucklehead had told me the first time I played that "we don't stand in front of the net; we play with no goalies." Anyhow, at that point, the first guy who got nailed starts complaining that "we don't play like that here." I asked him what he expects should happen if someone is standing in front of the net when I'm getting ready to shoot. He suggested that I shoot it "softly."

Doin' the (Bureaucratic) Shuffle

So, this is day 40-something and I'm still in my temporary quarters without any clarity on where I will end up (if not here).

It's funny when dealing with bureaucracies -- it's like there's a pattern. The first answer is no. You press a little bit and you get to step two, which is a complete unwillingness to act, but an extreme willingness to "look into it." If you're persistent enough, you get move on to stage three, where you face active opposition. If you haven't already lined up some allies by this point, you can pretty much call it a day; you're screwgied. If you have done your prep well, you get to stage four, when your allies step up on your behalf, the reflexive "no's" of the bureaucrats disappear, and an actual deliberative process begins. I believe I'm in stage four right now, hopeful that I'll get a positive answer next week. 
I'm still in the step-child office, but that's the next battle.

On a more positive note, my car is here in Israel and it had its own appointment at the local DMV today. I could have it as soon as Friday!

My household effects -- all my stuff, basically -- is also here in Israel. I might have that as early as next week. Not sure where we're gonna put it until the major issue of my housing is cleared up.

Shabbat in a cafe in Jerusalem

Election Season in Israel

The presidential race back home was exciting (though rather long) and has dovetailed right into electoral season in Israel. Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has suffered politically from the fallout of Israel's less-than-stellar performance in the Israeli-Hizballah war in 2006, and from the weight of numerous investigations into his alleged corrupt practices. Olmert announced a few months ago that he would step down as premier, which led to a race for the leadership post within his ruling Kadima party. Tzipi Livni, Foreign Minister and political rival of Olmert's, was the front-runner to lead the party but she received a very strong challenge from Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former Defense Minister. Livni eked out a primary win, but she was not able to form a government (despite her standing as the most popular politician in Israel0 and elections were called for 10 February.

Kadima, a new party formed near the end of 2005 to support then-Prime Minister Sharon when he left the more rightwing Likud Party, is facing its first true national election and probably will find its biggest challenge coming from Likud, headed by former premier Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu. Polls are calling it a neck-and-neck race right now, but it seems the next government most likely will lean more rightward than the one we find today.

It is, however, an election, and I'm sure there will be an evolution in the race over the next few months.

In the meantime, Israel had municipal elections this week. I spent a small part of my Veterans' Day holiday checking out the local scene. An aide to one of the government ministers showed a colleague and me around his party's campaign operation and explained how they prepare and monitor results. Like most things in Israel, it was similar to what we find in the US, just smaller. Of note, though, is that each party has its own symbol that it displays on cards. I believe that is what they actually vote with. So, in all the campaign posters you see around town, they all have their little card, reminding you to vote for that party (other than mayoral posts, for which voters directly elect a candidate, Israelis elect a "party slate," which is a list of candidates selected by the party and presented to the voters as a bloc). See the picture for an idea what these cards look like.

Screwgie

A bit of ridiculous passive aggressiveness at work today. I've been here in my temp housing for almost a month and I like it here. It's got a mix of good and bad, but I definitely want to stay. Getting approval to stay hasn't been very easy. There have been some hoops to jump through and a bureaucracy to prod, but I had no idea that, even when prodded, the bureaucracy has ways of fighting back. I witnessed the bureaucracy complying with my request but managing to completely undermine the end goal. I had asked for a waiver to stay in my apartment, but Washington needs to approve. Getting someone to send the cable seemed like a struggle, but I was glad when I found that it went out; that is, until I read it. The "good justification" they were going to give to convince Washington to approve the waiver was: "he likes the apartment very much." That's them trying to give me the kiss of death -- portray an officer as being a spoiled brat and their like-minded bureaucrat in DC will give the ix-nay on the waiver. It didn't help also that this particular section reminded Washington that Washington had decided to ditch this particular apartment anyway.

Really, organizations can be quite passive-aggressive, too.

Found Hockey and a Fat Lip

I took a shot and gambled that hockey night in Gan Hayarkon (a park) was still Tuesday night, as it was in 2006. Sure enough, as I arrived I saw people skating. It took me about 30 seconds to put on my skates, I was so excited to play. I looked for any familiar faces from the last time I played, but none were there. The crowd this time, frankly, wasn't very good. Whatever, it was hockey.

One kid in particular had me worried. He just was not in control of his hockey stick and would swing it wildly in an effort to poke away the puck. I told him at least three times that he needed to watch how he used his stick and that he needed to keep it down. Another guy yelled at him for swinging it, calling him "hatchet man." Ten minutes after I told one of the guys that I was worried about getting a tooth knocked out because I have crappy dental insurance...BAM!...stick to the face. 

Thankfully, I had some frozen chicken breasts to put on there to keep down the swelling.

Keeping the Streets Clean

Ah, yes, it's the little details. Inside this yellow box on some Israeli streets, locals will find little baggies to clean up after Fido (or perhaps it's "Schlomo" here). Apparently, steaming poo frightens shoes.


Kudos, also, for the recycling. These cages are not the most aesthetically pleasing, but they serve a good purpose and some, like this one, even have floral designs added to them.

Yitzak Rabin Commemoration

Today is the 13th anniversary and commemoration of the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin. Rabin was killed by a rightwing extremist opposed to the peace process with the Palestinians following a speech Rabin gave at a peace rally in Tel Aviv. Catherine and I were on our way to the port for dinner when we saw a cordon of police and had to go through a checkpoint on our bikes to get near Rabin Square; we decided to return later when the ceremony was set to begin.

The square was mostly packed when we arrived just after 1930. I was a little surprised how much of a political event it appeared to be. I saw signs for the Labor and Meretz parties, which each are on the left of the Israeli political spectrum. My lack of Hebrew language skills kept me from understanding the speeches (I heard parts of two), but it still seemed more of a political/advocacy event than a somber commemoration.

Check out what we saw:

Lost in Translation

English is pretty abundant here, on signs and menus and with the exception of grocery stores, it hasn't been difficult to find people who speak English really well. Product labeling in stores has been the source of some confusion, causing me to almost purchase fabric softener instead of laundry detergent and fooling me into buying water softener salt instead of dish detergent. Perhaps because of the large number of English speakers here there are fewer translation mishaps than you'd see in, say, Japan, but there is still plenty of material to bring a smile to a native English speaker's face.

Take the aforementioned laundry detergent....

Not sure who thought it was a good idea to name the stuff 'Colon 101'. I tried to squint my eyes to see if it were some fancy font of Hebrew meant to be read "backwards" but it really can't be. I can only hope that "colon" means "clean" to Israelis.

I kept wondering why the dishes weren't getting clean and why the "detergent" crystals were so large and difficult to put in the soap tray. Here is the box of stuff that turned out to be water softening salt "Recommended" by several leading dishwasher companies. I can read the word "chadash" in the yellow banner which means new and I can now read the word "melach" in the red banner beneath the 'finish' logo which means salt. In any case, this company has devised a great scheme to get you to buy detergent, rinse aid, and now water softener as well. Good times. Well, I'm looking forward to seeing if the dishwasher actually does work if you put actual soap in it.
There are a few restaurant names worth mentioning as well. Buzz Stop for one, which is a bar. I guess the proprietor wants to stop there if you want a buzz rather than that place stops/kills your buzz which is how it sounds to me. Never been there myself so I can't comment on the effect of the place. And "Alcohol on the Beach." Nothing wrong with this name, per se, but perhaps a little softening around the edges might help.

Buzz Stop, as you can see, is especially awesome because it clearly targets a certain nationality. As if the flag weren't enough, there is Lady Liberty in all her glory.
Incidentally, it says "Buzz Stop" transliterated into Hebrew lettering as well.

Adventures in Biking

I'm really enjoying getting around by bike in Tel Aviv.  I suppose I could walk to work, but a half-hour journey each way gets a little dull, especially when there are those times when I'm trying to get to my destination quickly.  Riding the bike cuts the trip down to seven minutes and it's faster than I could go by car.  Cruising around the city at other times allows me to quickly get familiar.  I use some of the skyscrapers as waypoints and just take meandering routes to get where I want to go.  That's how to see a city.

Biking here, however, is not without its risks.  First, take riding an Israeli-made bicycle.  I guess it's possible that the one I purchased was a lemon, but I figure it ties in with my 85% theory (if you haven't heard of it by now, just e-mail me and I'll tell you about it).  Anyhow, the bike basically shifts gears when it wants to.  I'm just along for the ride.  It doesn't sound like it would be all that bad except for when you need to stand up to cross the street quickly in front of traffic, only to find that you have gone from a high-resistance gear to one that is low and the chain hasn't fully settled on the sprocket.  You're pretty much just screwed when that happens, and it's happened several times.  I'm just waiting for the day the brakes fail.  Hopefully none of this happens before I go a second round with Crazy Eddy's bike-selling cousin this Sunday.  He has promised to fix the bike.  We'll see.

The second risk or riding a bike here is the affectionate and cozy Israeli pedestrian.  I guess it is such a small country that the people here really feel isolated if they're not packed snugly up against another person.  That's the only thing that can explain why the guy coming the opposite direction on an empty 12 foot wide sidewalk has to veer toward me as I drift away from him to avoid a head on collision.  

The third risk is the Israeli driver.  I have to say that it hasn't been that bad so far.  Yesterday, however, I was heading back from Jaffa on a two-lane road (one in each direction).  I passed a stopped bus at one point and continued on my way.  The bus finished picking up passengers and started gaining on me as we both approached a red light and stopped traffic.  I was about 15-20 car lengths away from the cars at the traffic light when the bus starts blasting its horn behind me.  The driver was in a mad dash to get to that light . . . so that he could . . . stop!?!  When i didn't cede ground, the bus began to overtake me and I found myself riding about six inches away from the curb as the bus passed within less than six inches from my left hand grip.  It was a little nervewracking to watch the bus slowly squeeze me out of ridable pavement.  I emerged unscathed, but I'm not going to deny that I spent the rest of my ride playing out scenarios that probably would result in the Israeli government "graciously" facilitating my departure.

O Jerusalem

On Sunday I rented a car and drove up to Jerusalem with a friend. It's about a 45 minute drive from here. We did a cursory visit...not rushing to see everything, but more of an overview.

We started the day with lunch at the American Colony Hotel. It's a famous old hotel, popular with "international diplomats" as the 1000 places to see before you die book mentioned. Well, I was there and we ran into another woman from the embassy who just happened to be there at the same time, so that book was pretty accurate. The hotel is a calm oasis amid a densely packed city full of sounds, smells, and sights you are unlikely to see anywhere in the US. I was not thrilled with my lunch, a curry chicken sandwich in which the chicken was positively drowning in mayonnaise tinged with an almost tasteless yellow seasoning masquerading as "curry," or the inattentive service we received. An order of bread arrived just as I was delivering my last spoonful of pasta to my mouth. In spite of that, the grounds truly were beautiful and other menu items did look quite tasty. Hopefully the brutally honest remarks I left on the comment card on the table will have had time to make a difference before we return. A much better meal was had later in the evening (in spite of some language difficulties) at a small cafe called Sambooki where we had an enormous, delicious salad and got to pick out everything we wanted. It's also a bakery so there were delicious cookies for dessert.

I don't have any good pics of what it looks like inside the Old City, but it is typically densely packed. Narrow streets are really just sidewalks and no vehicles enter. You walk through packed bazaars to get to the main sites inside so you have this real feeling of being transported to another era.

Here is the Temple Mount/Wailing Wall/Dome of the Rock. It's not a great picture of the wall because it's obscured partly by that footbridge. 


The Mount of Olives (covered in tombstones).


The next three pics are from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The final three stations of the cross purportedly took place on these grounds, although there is considerable controversy regarding the resting place of Jesus before he rose. Some believe it was the Garden Tomb outside the Old City walls on the way to the American Colony Inn (which probably wasn't there back then :). We ended up getting stuck in the church for a very long time, first because my friend wanted to stand on line to actually enter the Holy Sepulcher and see the rock under which Jesus was buried, according to some. However, when my friend was almost at the front of the line, the Armenian archbishop and cronies decided to have a ceremony there with singing and candles and lights which halted the line for a good 20-30 minutes. Then once the tomb was visited and we were preparing to leave, brothers of another Christian sect were blocking the only exit while they performed a similar ceremony at the Stone of Unction. It was a very interesting visit, but was definitely ready for some fresh air when we were done. It was very dark in there. I've never been in such a poorly lit church before.

The site of the where Jesus died on the cross. You have to duck down as the woman in the picture is doing and you can put your hand into a hole and feel where the cross once stood.



The Stone of Unction...where Jesus was laid to prepare for burial. People rub articles of clothing on the stone so that they will be blessed. We left with some of our items being newly holy.


The exterior of the Holy Sepulcher...not sure why the guy in the pic seems so happy.


Ok, so when we got out of the Church, it was already getting dark. So the next few pics are some evening shots of the Old City walls and surrounding area.

Israel defeated the Evil Empire

Yes, that's right...you will find NO Starbucks here!!! Apparently Starbucks invaded in 2001 and by April of 2003 had to close up shop entirely, laying off all 120 employees they managed to hire in that time. Too many good cafes already here. And since just about every cafe, ice cream shop, and restaurant offers free wireless here, they'd have to be willing to budge on their asinine policy of charging for internet while being a paying customer. There is one coffee chain I recognize from the US, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. They have pretty good sandwiches; I had a smoked salmon wrap that was tasty. You see a lot of salmon sandwiches here, I guess because you can eat salmon and dairy and it can still be Kosher. It's not hard to find bacon or other pork products, and incidentally there is supposedly this law that no pigs are allowed to set foot in Israel, so they house the pigs here on raised platforms so that they do not technically touch the ground. 

A word about ice cream... Just about every block has some sort of delectable gelateria where even the sorbet tastes like it was infused with cream. My favorite place so far is Vaniglia, just a block or two down Ibn Gvirol from here, for a couple of reasons. One, it's close and on the way back from the park, two, they don't serve crepes as many ice cream shops do so you don't get stuck behind somebody ordering 3 crepes while you wait for your one tiny scoop of ice cream, three, they have a multitude of size options so you can get exactly how much you want, and most importantly, the display. They have a large case of rectangular steel containers piled high with delectable flavors of dark chocolate, straciatella, tiramisu, passionfruit, coconut, lemon....the creamy confections laying in perfectly soft, glistening peaks made by the gelato spatula and to top it off, most of the flavors have a visually appealing sample of the main ingredient on top (such as half a passionfruit or a slice of lemon). 

$$$, Jaffa, and Crazy Shlomo (the bike guy)

The food, like everything in Israel, is very expensive. Israel is something like the 13th most expensive city in the world (for reference New York is 23rd). A single roll of Bounty paper towels cost $6 here. Breakfast is easily $13 no matter where you go. I haven't noticed gas prices because we've only been walking, riding bikes, and taking cabs (also expensive).

One thing that isn't expensive is produce. I haven't been to the outdoor markets yet, but they are apparently very cheap. But judging by the fact that you get loads of tomatoes and cucumbers at every restaurant, I would imagine they are easy to come by. Olives are also plentiful here.

There are also some things that are commonplace here that would seem like luxuries in the US. For example, just about every single house/apartment has these automated shutters that open and close at the touch of a button that are completely room-darkening. I don't use them that often because I'd never wake up in the morning, but they're great for a nap. The apartment also has zone heating/cooling so you can target the temperature for whatever room you're in and a bidet and toilets like you see in Japan with the different buttons for flushing a little or a lot. No other bells and whistles like Japanese toilets sometimes have, but who needs those anyway?

I just checked the temperature in DC and it was 37 degrees. It's 75 here. I'm not complaining. I'm sitting at a cafe right now looking out at the water. The sun's going to set in about an hour and a half and I plan to walk on the beach a bit before it does.

I recently took a walking tour of Old Jaffa. Jaffa was the original city before Tel Aviv came to be and it is gorgeously situated right on the water. The city has been there since many many years BC, but Napoleon destroyed it all, so what you see today has been rebuilt since that time. And even some of those buildings are restorations. In some places they have preserved old Roman ruins and other archeological digs, and today there are artist shops in the old part of town.

The newer part of Jaffa is not as nice and it's where you go if you want to get something cheaper than you could in Tel Aviv. After quite an adventure at the bike shop there, I picked up a full suspension bike. In the US, the bike shop would have been a law suit waiting to happen. A metal rack on which at least 10 bikes hung when we entered the shop (which was little more than a 2-car garage type room with two separate rolldown doors) started to fall down. So various workers came from all over the place piling bikes outside and on the other end of the room and some guy started spot welding the rack back up. Sparks were flying and the proprietor was still selling bikes. At one point we were in one half of the garage room and they rolled down that door and almost trapped us in by piling bikes in the narrow pathway between the two halves of the room. A pesky foreigner offered to 'translate' for us, but the shop owner spoke better English than he did. He had one of those lame cycling outfits on and warned us against touching his bike because it was expensive. Then some other guy started sawing into the metal causing more sparks to fly. People were shouting in a few different languages, customers coming in and out, workers moving, repairing, and selling bikes. All in all, I am glad we got out of there with a bike and no serious injuries.


Here are some pics. I included a video of bats we saw living in this abandoned building in Jaffa.

View of the Tel Aviv coast from Jaffa.

View from museum at end of tour.




Feral cats can be really cute.









Bat video...

Walking Tour of Jaffa

I  took advantage of a free weekly tour of Old Jaffa, the town from which Tel Aviv grew in the 20th century. I won't bore you with details (you can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffa ).

The highlights of the tour were the views of the Tel Aviv coast from Jaffa, along with the art museum we went through toward the end. The museum was gorgeous on the inside, with ridiculously nice settings for their dining areas and kitchen. It was a nice respite from the

 downpour that started shortly beforehand (we've had a lot of rain this week, plus some  somewhat chilly temps; I'm still wearing shorts, though). We also went over a bridge where  you're supposed to put your hand on your astrological sign and make a wish. A corny touristy endeavor, but we did it anyway. 

The number one thing I saw in Jaffa, however, was this barricaded and gutted ground floor of a building that had probably a couple of hundred bats hanging from the ceiling. Who knew there were so many bats in Israel!??

I bought a bike!

Catherine and I went down to Jaffa for a free walking tour. I'll try to do a separate post there. Being in Jaffa allowed me to buy a bike from the nutty bike store on Jerusalem Street. I have been jonesin' for a bike since I got here because my only form of transportation has been my own two feet or cabs; the former can get tiresome, the latter expensive.

Anyhow, I had bought a bike from the zany bike store when I was here previously and I had negotiated to sell it back at a fixed price. Not surprisingly, the guy jerked me around on the sell back price. Regardless, his bikes are still cheaper than others that you can find downtown. I was looking for a get-around-town bike that I could leave locked outside while I was eating or at a cafe, so cheap is good. 

I arrived at the shop and it was twice as big as before, with bikes hanging, bikes parked, bikes out front...everywhere. Most were of the cheap Chinese variety, which was fine by mean, but he did have some Treks and other decent bikes. The owner was so manic that he kicked up dust like the Tazmanian Devil as he moved about the store. He'd come to me to ask what I wanted, show me some bikes that fit my needs, then turn away while I was in mid-sentence to go yell at one of his "quirky" mechanics. This was all amidst, mind you, some major cutting and welding going on in not one, but two parts of the 15x12 foot shop. 

I wasn't too much in the mood for bargaining, so I just had him slap better tires on the bike that I wanted and I rode home with this (which MIGHT last me two years, but I have my doubts).

Pictures!

Here's pic #1 of the market on Shabbat.


A building on Rothschild that sort looked French Quarter-esque. You can't tell from the picture, but it's blue...a novelty here.



In fairness, this pic was taken in front of a small section of the beach. It is all fenced in and apparently only available to one gender at a time. When we walked by it was Shabbat, an unacceptable day for swimming for the religious anyway, so it was open and anyone could walk in.

A typical tree-lined boulevard in Tel Aviv.

Cats, bats, but no (live) rats

So, feral cats are a big thing here. Really big. There is a big family of cats (khatulim as I just learned on Rosetta Stone) that live in the park next to this complex. Someone from this building feeds them every night. They are so well fed that they actually don't all eat at once. Unlike 'Shloma' and 'Mordecry' (Hebrew names I gave them so they don't feel so out of place here). At first I wondered if anything was being done about the feral cat problem, and it turns out that every cat with a notch cut out of its ear has been spayed or neutered and then released to the street. So, they are whittling away at the problem. But then I noticed that in spite of this being a rather dense city, probably about 4 times the population of Washington DC, which has a huge rat/mouse problem, I wasn't seeing any of either...until I did see one dead mouse ot the walking path near the beach. Instead you see cats at the park, cats at the market, cats in the street, and the funniest is to see cats at the beach. Man, I think Mordecry would love it there. Although he is never setting foot outside the house other than the balcony. I have to say that I prefer cats wandering around to raccoons, squirrels, or other rodents.

Speaking of rodents, the bats use the complex pool as a landing strip as soon as night falls. One by one they do a fly by, briefing skimming off the top of the water before taking off into the night air once more. Over and over the bats take a circular path, dipping and flying. It's a very entertaining show and according to a neighbor, they do not take a detour even if you are swimming in the pool. Hopefully chlorine kills rabies...

I haven't posted for a few days because our free internet access wasn't working over the weekend. On Saturday (Shabbat) I walked miles and miles...through tree- and cafe-lined streets, along the beach, through the port, and back around through a park and several neighborhoods before heading home.

More Space Than I Thought

Israel is a very small country (at one point approximately 10km

 separates the West Bank from the Mediterranean). Nearly everything here is on a smaller scale and space is at a premium. Most Tel Aviv streets seem narrow with narrow sidewalks. There are, however, several boulevards that are fantastic. They are so welcoming because 60% of the street is for pedestrians and bicycles. The center portion is a large "sidewalk" with trees, a bike path, and benches. These boulevards leave only one lane for traffic in each direction on each side of the pedestrian strip. It is very pleasant to walk down these streets, where many other Tel Avivians congregate. 

I saw two other parts of town that were spacious today while Catherine and I were on a very, very long walk (probably four hours walking nonstop). We went by port, which has trendy shops and restaurants. The boardwalk there is quite large and includes open spaces for crowds to move about and for jugglers and "trapeze" artists to perform. The area, in addition to its spaciousness, was also nice because it was new, modern, and clean. I'll be riding my bike over there frequently, I think.

Then, when we finished up at the port, we cut through Gan HaYarkon (The Yarkon--a river--Park). The park was very large, had nice walking paths, a rock climbing facility, tennis courts, basketball courts, and an inline skating rink. It also had a nice bike trail and paddle boat rentals. It's a good location to get away from the congestion--and is an alternative to the beach.

First day in Israel

After a long journey Diego and I arrived in Tel Aviv last night. He was really good on the plane-- I don't think he's meowed even once since we left the house. Michael met us at the airport with flowers and brought us back to temporary quarters that we both hope will become permanent. It could definitely use an update, but the space and location are hard to beat. There's a huge balcony that the kitties love, an outdoor pool and (cold) jacuzzi, and a park right next door. It's just a few blocks from an area of town with a lot of cafes, shops, and restaurants.

We had dinner at this place on the beach with low tables and chairs where you can stick your feet in the sand while you eat. We had some traditional mediterranean food--hummus, lamb kebab, and grilled chicken. It was tasty and relaxing after a long flight to sit and eat watching the waves crash.

The weather is gorgeous...warm and only very slightly humid. And just on Monday I was scraping ice off of my car back home. My first impressions of Tel Aviv is that it kind of reminds me of a cross between Sendai, Japan and Rio de Janeiro. Lots of tall, aging, utilitarian buildings in a semi-tropical environment. Expenses are spared on building exteriors, but not so for the interiors. Though this is not the desert, most buildings are desert hues of sand beige, tan, dirty white, and occasionally that slightly pinkish cream color you might see there. There are tons of tiny shops lining the streets, and I was amazed to see how many people were shopping, sitting in cafes, or otherwise out and about this afternoon. I was thinking, 'don't these people work?' and then I remembered it was Friday. Shabat starts at sundown and people are cramming in what shopping they can before the stores close. Tel Aviv is a modern city, so it will be interesting to see just how much actually does shut down, and, since they've already 'fallen back' here, it gets dark around 5 so I'm about to find out.

The hour I spent studying and learning about half the Hebrew alphabet last Saturday has already paid off. After a little prompting from Michael I was able to distinguish between a Merlot/Cabernet blend and a Merlot/Shiraz blend at the AMPM. We went with the Merlot/Shiraz.

I also had a fairly unique experience in a beauty shop earlier today. I wanted to buy some Ahava lotion. You can get it at home but it's expensive. It's made with Dead Sea minerals and it's light but nice. Charlotte from Sex and the City is their spokesperson. Anyway, I went into this store and this woman was trying to get me to buy this other Dead Sea lotion because you got 50 mL more for 5 shekels less (about 3.75 shekels to the dollar). I prefer the Ahava due to its pleasant fragrance and the other lotion was fragrance free. But I really think that was the first time I've had someone in a shop push hard for me to buy something cheaper.

I feel really safe here too. Time will tell if that's warranted, but I actually feel a LOT safer walking around here than I do in DC. I don't have pictures yet because my batteries have been charging today but I plan to post some soon.

Hugs and kisses to all!

Armed Forces Network...a little bizarre

Armed Forces Network (AFN) was up and running when I got here to the temporary quarters, which was a good thing. I get a good dose of football and other US tv programs, which is helpful, especially this soon into the tour. I note, however, that it's a little jarring to watch the commercials after awhile. You see, there are no traditional commercials; it's all Department of Defense "communication." Some of it is helpful, and it's almost universally conveying positive messages, but it ends up as a whole coming across like a little bit of brainwashing.

Living Quarters...

Housing is always a crapshoot. You can game it only so much because you are dealing with so many variables (commute to work, neighborhood, building amenities, size of apartment) that you can never get everything you want. Add to that the fact that there are limited housing opportunities because most housing is occupied already, and you really get slim pickings.I had thought about living near the embassy and beach, which would have been a great commute (2 minutes), but a friend pointed out how it would be better to live in a neighborhood separate from work. It would be easy to tire of local establishments if work/apartment were in the same 'hood. So, I requested to live near Rabin Square, which is about 20 minutes walking from the embassy, but is in a neat neighborhood with lots of cafes, restaurants, and other entertainment. I was given housing in the area, but I first have to be in temporary quarters.

When I arrived at my building, I was a little underwhelmed. It didn't seem very fancy and felt a little rundown. I did, however, note the huge pool on the way to the elevator. Anyhow, when I stepped into the actual apartment, my first thought was that it was drab, not updated, and had cruddy furniture. As the days have gone on, though, and as I have realized that the other apartment I'm slated for might be tiny, I'm beginning to like this place. It's a decent size--largish master bedroom with bath, a small second bedroom, and a third room that would serve as an office, but could house visitors, too. The apartment has a good-sized balcony, on which I am sitting right now while looking at a performance at the opera house just across the way. The neighborhood is nice; the opera is across the way, there's a park right next door, and stores and cafes are a 5 minute walk from here.

So, all in all, it's not bad here...some slip covers for the couches, replacing the fluorescents with regular lighting, and adding some color/art to the walls...and I'll feel at home. That is...if we can get the landlord here to be reasonable on rent, b/c that's all that stands in the way of me keeping this place. :(Let me know what you think of the pad... (see more pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/twoyearsinisrael/2008OctMyFirstApartmentInIsrael)

So, where do I stand now?

Housing -- angling to stay in the current place, but unclear whether or not that will be possible; will have to talk to housing this week and hope that they can renegotiate with the landlord to get a reasonable lease rate. I've otherwise emptied my luggage and sorta set up shop.

Transportation -- I scored myself a temporary bicycle, thanks to a colleague and her boyfriend. It's broken and requries some trickery to ride, but it's better than nothing.

Communication -- I can no longer "borrow" a neighbor's wi-fi, though, so I'm a little out of the loop. I am trying to identify good cafes to work from. I still am awaiting my blackberry at work, which I probably will curse for desiring once I'm reachable 24/7. I am very happy with Rebtel's phone service, which has allowed me to talk for many minutes, while paying only pennies. Once I get it down to a science, it should be nearly free.

Catherine -- She heads out here this week. I have to work on some fun plans...and some job strategery.

Plus a whole long list of other, mostly work-related, stuff. :(

Long road to get here...

I arrived here in Tel Aviv on 15 October to begin my two year tour as a political officer at the embassy. It's amazing that I am here, as these last seven months or so were quite intense. I had a house that I needed to fix up to prep for rental, my father fell ill and passed away, and I dealt with the administrative, logistical and other crunches to prepare for my departure. I'm here now.

I had shipped off all of my belongings on 1 and 2 October and then sent my car off to the port on the day I left. It was an odd feeling, but my months of living out of a suitcase during the runup to my departure made it easier to digest. On the 14th, I said my goodbye to Catherine following a nice lunch (mmm, bison burger!) and then grabbed all my bags and toted Slappy down to the cab. She had no idea how much her life would be turned upside down.

The flight was rather smooth, though my feet really had nowhere to rest with Slappy taking up all the space below the seat in front of me. I got to watch the Chronicles of Narnia sequel and a bit of the latest Indiana Jones (were all of them that bad?). I also got to watch the Israelis on board mill about constantly; hard to keep them in their seats. The highlight of the whole trip, though, had to be the looks and comments Slappy got when I had to take her out of her carrier and walk her through the metal detector. Needless to say, people have not learned to never comment on a gal's weight (they loved her, though!).

On arrival in Tel Aviv, I was met by an expeditor from the embassy. It's one of the pleasures of flying as a diplomat...someone else scoots you very quickly through all the lines upon arrival. Things were going smoothly until we were waiting at the luggage carousel for far too long and learned that my luggage was...."delayed."  We filled out the paperwork while a lady with two dogs let them urinate on the tile floors. Great!

I headed back to the apartment that I will be staying in at least temporarily, and then my sponsor took me out to a grocery store so that I could get cat food and litter. After a little snack and unpacking my welcome kit of necessities the embassy provides, I went to sleep. What a long day and a half.