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).