Slappy has lived in at least six different places over the last year. Diego has lived in five, and he also drove cross-country twice. They are becoming veterans at this moving thing.
It just takes them some time...
Showing posts with label funny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label funny. Show all posts
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Ramat Gan "Safari" Park
(guest posting)
We went here a couple of weeks ago. We didn't get our hopes up, however, after one of the embassy drivers let us know it wasn't a SAFARI!!!!!; it was more of an "eh, safari."
We thought we were smart by going there on Shabbat, figuring fewer Israelis would be out and about. We were wrong. We realized that we should have taken advantage of our situation in which the Israelis work on Sundays, but we are off. Oh well...it at least gave us some more insight into Israeli culture.
You may be wondering by now, what is a Safari? Is it an adventure? A zoo? Oh, it's so much more!
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Safari were the wild and loose-with-the-law Israelis there. More about that later.
The Safari begins, like most things in Tel Aviv, with a long line of traffic. You inch slowly forward until you reach the front gate where you are supposed to pay, but when you get there the clerk says he'll "be right back" and proceeds to leave you waiting there for the next 10 minutes. As a token for the inconvenience, he offers to give you the "local" price, for residents of Tel Aviv only. But we ARE residents of Tel Aviv, we protest. He laughs in disbelief, giving us the local price, all the while thinking he's giving us some sort of deal we don't deserve.
For a while the Safari continues, much like before, with a line of slowly moving traffic, and people honking and jockeying for position. You know, you just HAVE to be the first one to see the emu or the zebra who is waiting for you by the side of the road! Animals surround your car, mostly looking for handouts. But it is still amazing to see these wild creatures so up close and personal. (click on the pictures for larger versions).
You pass by rhinos and hippos, flamingos and gazelles. You see zebras and ostriches, and a pen full of deer. And just when you start to think, wow, that was worth the price of admission, you enter a parking area for the "real" zoo, where they have animals more traditionally in enclosures. I have to say the enclosures were quite nice and spacious (except for the bears), and overall the zoo beats the National Zoo, but not the San Diego Zoo, hands down.
Despite the myriad signs instructing otherwise, most Israelis packed with them a variety of fruits and vegetables to give the animals. Parents encouraged their children to climb over security fences and hand over oranges and carrots with no regard for their diets (see pic below). I nearly went ballistic when I saw a young mother give her child a bag of potato chips to give to a monkey. It was horrifying. I do admit (albeit with a considerable amount of guilt) that the sight of a macaque peeling a Jaffa orange was incredibly adorable. For a time, I took solace in the fact that most guests were feeding the zoo inhabitants healthy fresh fruits and vegetables; however, when Michael later struck up a conversation with a zookeeper, he pointed out that too much food is too much food, no matter how healthy it is. The animals don't know when to say when.
notice how the boy has been placed over
the barrier separating people from the cages
Hard to see from this pic, but here are two little ones begging for food that was being thrown to them from across a moat.
This rooster was chilling out near and peering into the bear enclosure.
The Safari even had a petting zoo!
Sleeping baby goats are adorable!
So, after the zoo, you get back in your car for more wild safari action. You're supposed to keep your windows rolled up and stay in your car, but since no one else was following the rules, we decided to break the window rule. We did stay in our car, particularly after hearing a story I won't repeat here involving not a lion but a hippo.
Talk about tame...
Um, tickets please?
The last great thing to see at the Safari are the lions. You drive right near them, separated only by an electrified fence, which appeared from our vantage point to have a rather large gap on the side. It's times like these that you remember you're not in Kansas anymore. The lion in the picture here caught a whiff of the gazelle's that had mistakenly entered this area. A park employee in a Subaru positioned his car between the lion and the general direction of the gazelles. I don't think it would have helped much had the lion been sufficiently hungry to test the fence.
All in all, the Safari was a great Saturday outing. However, all zoos tend to make me a little sad. I remind myself that these animals are teaching the zookeepers about how to protect their species in their natural habitat, and that helps a little. I'm also really curious and love animals myself, so the opportunity to see them up close is hard to pass up. I just really wish that someone would enforce the rules at the Safari to keep the animals healthy. I find it frustrating that Israelis don't seem to see a bigger picture in their actions, not just at the zoo but in general. It's like how they'll just stop in the middle of a one-lane, one-way road, like you have nothing better to do than wait till they figure out where they want to go next. I honestly don't believe there's any ill intent...just plain obliviousness. I could go on, of course, but this is about the Safari.
So, please, enjoy the primate video!
We went here a couple of weeks ago. We didn't get our hopes up, however, after one of the embassy drivers let us know it wasn't a SAFARI!!!!!; it was more of an "eh, safari."
You may be wondering by now, what is a Safari? Is it an adventure? A zoo? Oh, it's so much more!
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Safari were the wild and loose-with-the-law Israelis there. More about that later.
The Safari begins, like most things in Tel Aviv, with a long line of traffic. You inch slowly forward until you reach the front gate where you are supposed to pay, but when you get there the clerk says he'll "be right back" and proceeds to leave you waiting there for the next 10 minutes. As a token for the inconvenience, he offers to give you the "local" price, for residents of Tel Aviv only. But we ARE residents of Tel Aviv, we protest. He laughs in disbelief, giving us the local price, all the while thinking he's giving us some sort of deal we don't deserve.
For a while the Safari continues, much like before, with a line of slowly moving traffic, and people honking and jockeying for position. You know, you just HAVE to be the first one to see the emu or the zebra who is waiting for you by the side of the road! Animals surround your car, mostly looking for handouts. But it is still amazing to see these wild creatures so up close and personal. (click on the pictures for larger versions).
You pass by rhinos and hippos, flamingos and gazelles. You see zebras and ostriches, and a pen full of deer. And just when you start to think, wow, that was worth the price of admission, you enter a parking area for the "real" zoo, where they have animals more traditionally in enclosures. I have to say the enclosures were quite nice and spacious (except for the bears), and overall the zoo beats the National Zoo, but not the San Diego Zoo, hands down.
Despite the myriad signs instructing otherwise, most Israelis packed with them a variety of fruits and vegetables to give the animals. Parents encouraged their children to climb over security fences and hand over oranges and carrots with no regard for their diets (see pic below). I nearly went ballistic when I saw a young mother give her child a bag of potato chips to give to a monkey. It was horrifying. I do admit (albeit with a considerable amount of guilt) that the sight of a macaque peeling a Jaffa orange was incredibly adorable. For a time, I took solace in the fact that most guests were feeding the zoo inhabitants healthy fresh fruits and vegetables; however, when Michael later struck up a conversation with a zookeeper, he pointed out that too much food is too much food, no matter how healthy it is. The animals don't know when to say when.
notice how the boy has been placed over
the barrier separating people from the cages
Hard to see from this pic, but here are two little ones begging for food that was being thrown to them from across a moat.
This rooster was chilling out near and peering into the bear enclosure.
The Safari even had a petting zoo!
Sleeping baby goats are adorable!
So, after the zoo, you get back in your car for more wild safari action. You're supposed to keep your windows rolled up and stay in your car, but since no one else was following the rules, we decided to break the window rule. We did stay in our car, particularly after hearing a story I won't repeat here involving not a lion but a hippo.
Talk about tame...
Um, tickets please?
The last great thing to see at the Safari are the lions. You drive right near them, separated only by an electrified fence, which appeared from our vantage point to have a rather large gap on the side. It's times like these that you remember you're not in Kansas anymore. The lion in the picture here caught a whiff of the gazelle's that had mistakenly entered this area. A park employee in a Subaru positioned his car between the lion and the general direction of the gazelles. I don't think it would have helped much had the lion been sufficiently hungry to test the fence.
All in all, the Safari was a great Saturday outing. However, all zoos tend to make me a little sad. I remind myself that these animals are teaching the zookeepers about how to protect their species in their natural habitat, and that helps a little. I'm also really curious and love animals myself, so the opportunity to see them up close is hard to pass up. I just really wish that someone would enforce the rules at the Safari to keep the animals healthy. I find it frustrating that Israelis don't seem to see a bigger picture in their actions, not just at the zoo but in general. It's like how they'll just stop in the middle of a one-lane, one-way road, like you have nothing better to do than wait till they figure out where they want to go next. I honestly don't believe there's any ill intent...just plain obliviousness. I could go on, of course, but this is about the Safari.
So, please, enjoy the primate video!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Diplomatic Get Out of Jail Free Card
We were headed to Jerusalem today to witness a political party rally prior to the February 10 elections. We got a late start because of a long day of work and then I wasn't paying attention and headed north on the highway instead of south. I righted the ship, but had to pull a quick u-turn at a stop light when I got off the Ayalon Freeway. As soon as I made the turn, a cop in the street ordered me to pull over. I played dumb American hoping he would just wave me through. He switched to English and told me to park up ahead. When I did, a woman came up and told me that I was pulled over for the u-turn. Again, I played dumb. She asked for my license and I handed it to her...along with my diplomatic ID card. She looked at it and gave this look like, "well, I'm powerless to do anything against you if you have this card" and she told me to just not do it again. Turns out, she was totally within her rights to issue me a ticket.
Dodged one.
Dodged one.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Pilgrimage to IKEA
Most people think that in Israel people make pilgrimages to the holy sites of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. However, I discovered this evening that Israelis also visit Swedish "holy" sites, namely IKEA.
We were on our way to do some grocery shopping at the non-kosher Tiv Taam in Netanya when we decided we'd get a bite to eat at IKEA (fancy, we know). We realized it would be opening around that time because the sun had just gone down, meaning Shabbat was over. We arrived in the rapidly filling parking lot and made our way to the door while holding our noses (for holy sites, this one has the most "stank" we've ever encountered; we think there's a sewage treatment plant nearby). As we approached, we saw a long line waiting to get in to the store, with people queuing up for the metal detectors. I thought I was heading into a concert or something.
Once inside, it was more madness. IKEA, with it's we're-gonna-force-you-to-keep-looking-at-stuff-to-buy crazy maze system, is already somewhat stressful to shop in. Add to it stairways and aisles teeming with Israelis and...well...it was bizarre. The strangest thing about it was that tonight is the equivalent of a Sunday night in the States. The work week starts tomorrow. Is IKEA where I would choose to spend the waning hours of my weekend? Probably not.
This doesn't begin to capture how crowded it was.
(Note: I always wanted to work at IKEA. And,
check out the look that kid is giving me.)
We were on our way to do some grocery shopping at the non-kosher Tiv Taam in Netanya when we decided we'd get a bite to eat at IKEA (fancy, we know). We realized it would be opening around that time because the sun had just gone down, meaning Shabbat was over. We arrived in the rapidly filling parking lot and made our way to the door while holding our noses (for holy sites, this one has the most "stank" we've ever encountered; we think there's a sewage treatment plant nearby). As we approached, we saw a long line waiting to get in to the store, with people queuing up for the metal detectors. I thought I was heading into a concert or something.
Once inside, it was more madness. IKEA, with it's we're-gonna-force-you-to-keep-looking-at-stuff-to-buy crazy maze system, is already somewhat stressful to shop in. Add to it stairways and aisles teeming with Israelis and...well...it was bizarre. The strangest thing about it was that tonight is the equivalent of a Sunday night in the States. The work week starts tomorrow. Is IKEA where I would choose to spend the waning hours of my weekend? Probably not.
This doesn't begin to capture how crowded it was.(Note: I always wanted to work at IKEA. And,
check out the look that kid is giving me.)
Grocery Stores: From Disappointing to Sufficient
When I first arrived here in Tel Aviv, I found that pretty much all the grocery stores in the city were wildly overpriced and were tiny. I had to go through some trial and error to figure things out. My biggest debacle was taking a store's name at face value. "Meatland" had a glorious advertisement in the local paper and it prompted me to make the special trip out to Ranaana to visit this apparent Mecca for meatlovers. When I arrived after our 20 minute car ride out there, my first question from the outside was..."can this be it?" It was tiny. I ventured in and learned that, yes, that was it. It was the size of maybe a studio apartment. Tiny. And, it was Kosher. Not exactly the land of all meats that I had expected. Anyhow, as you can imagine...big disappointment.
I learned from my mistakes, headed out to some other 'burbs, and finally found some good-sized, clean grocery stores. I have now settled into my shopping groove, which is to go to Tiv Taam (a Russian-Israel owned chain that is NON-kosher) and Supersol. Tiv Taam is a little fancier than Supersol, is open on Fridays and Saturdays, and it has a larger meat selection. It's in some ways like Whole Foods compared to Safeway, I guess. Tiv Taam has a whole area dedicated to fresh spices and grains, a flower section, a booze section...in all, it's pretty nice, as you can see below.
I learned from my mistakes, headed out to some other 'burbs, and finally found some good-sized, clean grocery stores. I have now settled into my shopping groove, which is to go to Tiv Taam (a Russian-Israel owned chain that is NON-kosher) and Supersol. Tiv Taam is a little fancier than Supersol, is open on Fridays and Saturdays, and it has a larger meat selection. It's in some ways like Whole Foods compared to Safeway, I guess. Tiv Taam has a whole area dedicated to fresh spices and grains, a flower section, a booze section...in all, it's pretty nice, as you can see below.
Most exciting of all is the Tiv Taam branch out in Ramat Gan (or thereabouts), which has an awesome grocery cart escalator that makes it worth the trip out there. You roll the cart onto the flat conveyor and magnets keep it in place is it makes its way up/down from the parking lot or store. I rode it several times just for kicks.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
"Fixed"
Our internet has been pretty spotty and slow and we were advised to switch from ADSL to cable...so, the technicians were supposed to come over today. Kudos to the company for texting a reminder yesterday, for calling to let me know of their impending arrival, and for them actually arriving on time.
The guys came in and did an "85% installation." They got it done, and got most things done well...there were just those little parts that weren't quite right. For example, when the were ready to install the coaxial cable, the were going to run it straight from the outlet (about 3 feet off the ground) into the modem. The would have had the wire basically hanging in mid-air, cutting off part of the room. I asked them instead to tack it to the wall, which they agreed to. Another example of why this install was typically Israeli was when one of the techs went to his truck to get the additional wire they needed, he got 3 feet instead of the 6 that were needed, so they had to splice two short pieces together. Not sure why he couldn't just get one piece that was the right size. And, finally, when he finished and had checked the specs, I asked if it was all good. He said, "it's fixed." I asked, "it's working well, or it's fixed?" He repeated that it was fixed, and then said that in Israel this was like 100% perfect. His colleague interpreted for me by saying, "eh, it's pretty good." So, in short...he was admitting that it was just ok. Great.
I will say, though, that it did mark an improvement...I don't think it was a coincidence that once the internet was working (fast!), we saw this outside the window:
The guys came in and did an "85% installation." They got it done, and got most things done well...there were just those little parts that weren't quite right. For example, when the were ready to install the coaxial cable, the were going to run it straight from the outlet (about 3 feet off the ground) into the modem. The would have had the wire basically hanging in mid-air, cutting off part of the room. I asked them instead to tack it to the wall, which they agreed to. Another example of why this install was typically Israeli was when one of the techs went to his truck to get the additional wire they needed, he got 3 feet instead of the 6 that were needed, so they had to splice two short pieces together. Not sure why he couldn't just get one piece that was the right size. And, finally, when he finished and had checked the specs, I asked if it was all good. He said, "it's fixed." I asked, "it's working well, or it's fixed?" He repeated that it was fixed, and then said that in Israel this was like 100% perfect. His colleague interpreted for me by saying, "eh, it's pretty good." So, in short...he was admitting that it was just ok. Great.
I will say, though, that it did mark an improvement...I don't think it was a coincidence that once the internet was working (fast!), we saw this outside the window:
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Shabbat Dinner With the Family
I have some family who live about 20 minutes north of here in a small town called Bnei Tzion and they invited me over for Shabbat dinner. I arrived a little after 6:30 and met the extended family. Bilah is my father's cousin. Her husband, Benny, was there as well as his sister (Danielle?) and her husband, Haim. Bilah and Benny have three kids, and two of them--Chen and Eyal--were there with their wives and two kids apiece (Eyal's family actually lives in the house with Bilah and Benny). It made for a very welcoming and very full dinner table.
Before dinner we sat down and had some tea with fresh herbs from the garden--mint, sage, and an herb they kept calling 'luisa' which (when my sinuses cleared following the cold I had been developing) I discovered was what I would call lemon verbena. They offered us cakes, which at first made me think that I may have misunderstood the dinner invitation and were only having dessert. However, soon the table was being set by various family members while Benny, the chef, put the final touches on the meal. We had no idea the culinary delights that awaited us!
First there were Shabbat prayers including passing around challah, dipped in course salt, and wine. I wore the yarmulke, but I passed on the wine so as to not spread my cold. The meal itself began with a course of fish called Princess of the Nile. It was absolutely delicious...light and flaky and swimming in a delightfully savory sauce. Then we had soup, and vegetables and potatoes and salad and paprika chicken, and just when I thought I couldn't eat another bite Benny brought out an enormous bowl of fruit salad, a very refreshing end to the meal. The amount of food Benny prepared for this meal was staggering. Even with 14 people eating, there was enough left over to feed us all again. If we all would have let him, he would have done it, too!
After dinner Benny showed me his artwork, both throughout the house and in the gallery he has downstairs (he maintains a more complete gallery and workshop at Bilah's mother's house). He is a prolific painter, but also makes beautiful metal sculpture--he made the metal bannisters and tables and bathroom vanity in their house. They really were amazing. I have to say that one of the most remarkable pieces of artwork he showed me was a model of Noah's ark that he made with one of his grandsons for a school project. It was a multilevel affair with a retracting ladder, windows, and rooms for people, animals, and supplies. The handiwork was so intricate and detailed, it really blew me away. It could have been in a museum.
The best thing about the dinner, however, was the people. They were so warm and friendly to me. They speak English really well, but sometimes it was cute when they'd say a whole sentence and then look to someone else for that one last word. I can only hope to someday be a tenth that proficient in Hebrew, so it was really nice that we can communicate with them. They also had a knack for humor, keeping most of the room in stitches. The funniest line of the evening was when I asked Eyal about the possibility of him being called up in the army. He said he has some health problems and so he serves in a "disabled" unit. So, he said while he pantomimed wheeling himself in a wheelchair, "if they call me up, it must be very bad for Israel."
I left with bags full of lemons, cumquats, and herbs for tea from their garden....way too generous, but greatly appreciated. I almost forgot to mention the kitties. Their cats were really funny! I'm not entirely certain how many total cats they had, but I interacted mostly with Shmuelech and Fishka, tall skinny tabby siblings (grey and orange, respectively) who tolerate just about everything and are very cute and cuddly. Shmuelech even tried to come home with me by jumping in the car as I was leaving.
I'll be visiting them again soon and will post pics...
Before dinner we sat down and had some tea with fresh herbs from the garden--mint, sage, and an herb they kept calling 'luisa' which (when my sinuses cleared following the cold I had been developing) I discovered was what I would call lemon verbena. They offered us cakes, which at first made me think that I may have misunderstood the dinner invitation and were only having dessert. However, soon the table was being set by various family members while Benny, the chef, put the final touches on the meal. We had no idea the culinary delights that awaited us!
First there were Shabbat prayers including passing around challah, dipped in course salt, and wine. I wore the yarmulke, but I passed on the wine so as to not spread my cold. The meal itself began with a course of fish called Princess of the Nile. It was absolutely delicious...light and flaky and swimming in a delightfully savory sauce. Then we had soup, and vegetables and potatoes and salad and paprika chicken, and just when I thought I couldn't eat another bite Benny brought out an enormous bowl of fruit salad, a very refreshing end to the meal. The amount of food Benny prepared for this meal was staggering. Even with 14 people eating, there was enough left over to feed us all again. If we all would have let him, he would have done it, too!
After dinner Benny showed me his artwork, both throughout the house and in the gallery he has downstairs (he maintains a more complete gallery and workshop at Bilah's mother's house). He is a prolific painter, but also makes beautiful metal sculpture--he made the metal bannisters and tables and bathroom vanity in their house. They really were amazing. I have to say that one of the most remarkable pieces of artwork he showed me was a model of Noah's ark that he made with one of his grandsons for a school project. It was a multilevel affair with a retracting ladder, windows, and rooms for people, animals, and supplies. The handiwork was so intricate and detailed, it really blew me away. It could have been in a museum.
The best thing about the dinner, however, was the people. They were so warm and friendly to me. They speak English really well, but sometimes it was cute when they'd say a whole sentence and then look to someone else for that one last word. I can only hope to someday be a tenth that proficient in Hebrew, so it was really nice that we can communicate with them. They also had a knack for humor, keeping most of the room in stitches. The funniest line of the evening was when I asked Eyal about the possibility of him being called up in the army. He said he has some health problems and so he serves in a "disabled" unit. So, he said while he pantomimed wheeling himself in a wheelchair, "if they call me up, it must be very bad for Israel."
I left with bags full of lemons, cumquats, and herbs for tea from their garden....way too generous, but greatly appreciated. I almost forgot to mention the kitties. Their cats were really funny! I'm not entirely certain how many total cats they had, but I interacted mostly with Shmuelech and Fishka, tall skinny tabby siblings (grey and orange, respectively) who tolerate just about everything and are very cute and cuddly. Shmuelech even tried to come home with me by jumping in the car as I was leaving.
I'll be visiting them again soon and will post pics...
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Jerusalem again!
The weekend between Christmas and New Year's found me in Jerusalem again. I had to work on a visit from a senior US official, so the Embassy put me up in the David Citadel hotel (where Condoleeza stays when she's in town), just outside the Old City. After spending much of the day in preparations for the Senator's visit, the hotel's well-stocked executive lounge was a welcome dining spot just down the hall from my room.
A few strokes of luck got us on a very exclusive tour the following morning. First, I more or less got off the hook in terms of work for Saturday and second I happened to contact a friend who works at the Consulate in Jerusalem who happened to be taking some people on this tour and some of the intended participants happened to cancel since the tour was originally scheduled for Sunday and had been moved at the last minute to Saturday. So, just like that I had a plan to visit the Temple Mount, Dome of the Rock, and Al Aqsa Mosque which are typically closed to non-Muslims.
The Dome of the Rock marks the place of the tip of Mount Moriah, the place that Genesis proclaims that Abraham prepared Isaac for sacrifice. And, like all places of great historical interest, it was under major renovations inside at the time of our visit. Instead of Abraham and Isaac, we found buckets and scaffolding atop the famed mountain. The interior was still breathtaking and highly recommended. The mosque was also beautiful, with high ceilings and tall white columns and windows allowing rays of sunlight to brighten the expansive space.
After this tour we visited the Western Wall again. It was much more animated this time since it was Shabbat. The men's section was positively filled with devotees visiting the wall. The women's section was about equally filled as the previous visit. The men had various factions separated (by outward appearances) according to manner of dress: there were those in the typical black suits with hats and curls, there were those with the suits and large furry Russian looking hats, those in more modern dress wearing yarmulkes or berets, and those in various long robes and headcoverings. Each group had its own set of songs and ways of worship, and at times it seemed one group would try to outdo the rest by singing louder and more emphatically than the next. One guy in a long robe, seemingly on his own, stood at this makeshift pulpit and was seriously getting down. I mean, this guy had rhythm! And he was letting everyone know about it. We might have a photo of this scene, but it's strictly verboten, so I'm really not sure how it got on our memory card.
After the Old City, I headed over to the Israel Museum and Shrine of the Book to see the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was really neat to see these ancient remnants. They also have a model of the Old City during the Second Temple Period (when the Jewish temple sat on the Temple Mount instead of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque...destroyed by the Romans on August 4, 70 A.D.--Not sure how they have the exact date, but whatever...)
On our way back to the hotel, I got a text message that the IDF had invaded Gaza. It marked the beginning of daily uncertainty about the war's future as well as the second time war broke out during a stay in Israel, causing my family here to later remark (jokingly) that it is my fault.
A friend in "modest dress" outside the dome.
The tip of the mighty Mount Moriah...
Inside the Dome (the part that isn't being renovated).
Inside Al Aqsa Mosque.
Western Wall on Shabbat (and during Chanukkah).
Oddly enough, the Israel Museum did not have a coat check, but it DID have a weapons check!
Model of the Old City with the Second Temple on top of the Temple Mount.
A few strokes of luck got us on a very exclusive tour the following morning. First, I more or less got off the hook in terms of work for Saturday and second I happened to contact a friend who works at the Consulate in Jerusalem who happened to be taking some people on this tour and some of the intended participants happened to cancel since the tour was originally scheduled for Sunday and had been moved at the last minute to Saturday. So, just like that I had a plan to visit the Temple Mount, Dome of the Rock, and Al Aqsa Mosque which are typically closed to non-Muslims.
The Dome of the Rock marks the place of the tip of Mount Moriah, the place that Genesis proclaims that Abraham prepared Isaac for sacrifice. And, like all places of great historical interest, it was under major renovations inside at the time of our visit. Instead of Abraham and Isaac, we found buckets and scaffolding atop the famed mountain. The interior was still breathtaking and highly recommended. The mosque was also beautiful, with high ceilings and tall white columns and windows allowing rays of sunlight to brighten the expansive space.
After this tour we visited the Western Wall again. It was much more animated this time since it was Shabbat. The men's section was positively filled with devotees visiting the wall. The women's section was about equally filled as the previous visit. The men had various factions separated (by outward appearances) according to manner of dress: there were those in the typical black suits with hats and curls, there were those with the suits and large furry Russian looking hats, those in more modern dress wearing yarmulkes or berets, and those in various long robes and headcoverings. Each group had its own set of songs and ways of worship, and at times it seemed one group would try to outdo the rest by singing louder and more emphatically than the next. One guy in a long robe, seemingly on his own, stood at this makeshift pulpit and was seriously getting down. I mean, this guy had rhythm! And he was letting everyone know about it. We might have a photo of this scene, but it's strictly verboten, so I'm really not sure how it got on our memory card.
After the Old City, I headed over to the Israel Museum and Shrine of the Book to see the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was really neat to see these ancient remnants. They also have a model of the Old City during the Second Temple Period (when the Jewish temple sat on the Temple Mount instead of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque...destroyed by the Romans on August 4, 70 A.D.--Not sure how they have the exact date, but whatever...)
On our way back to the hotel, I got a text message that the IDF had invaded Gaza. It marked the beginning of daily uncertainty about the war's future as well as the second time war broke out during a stay in Israel, causing my family here to later remark (jokingly) that it is my fault.
A friend in "modest dress" outside the dome.
The tip of the mighty Mount Moriah...
Inside the Dome (the part that isn't being renovated).
Inside Al Aqsa Mosque.
Western Wall on Shabbat (and during Chanukkah).
Oddly enough, the Israel Museum did not have a coat check, but it DID have a weapons check!
Model of the Old City with the Second Temple on top of the Temple Mount.Tuesday, November 11, 2008
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.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
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.
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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.
Friday, November 7, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, November 3, 2008
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).
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).
Thursday, October 30, 2008
$$$, 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...
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...
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