I heard you gasp. Don't deny it. For just a second there you panicked...
UltraSound is a dance club near Haifa. We went on Friday night after being invited by Eli, the guy who held the party we went to a few weeks ago. Nope, no gross gooey substance or supermarket checkout scanner-looking thing to think about. (For the record, my entire knowledge of what the process of an ultrasound looks like is completely compiled of clips from movies. I have no first-hand knowledge whatsoever.)
It was a pretty cool place. Housed in a warehouse on a kibbutz, UltraSound sports 4 seperate dance floors and what I estimate to be around 8 to 10 bars, including a hot dog and crepe stand and a seperate food bar with flaky pastries and other yummy stuff you're craving after a few drinks. Spread out over several levels, all open-air, each serving as an observation deck for the one below, the club has a strange amusement park feel, most significantly displayed by the two slides that drunk-off-their-ass patrons can utilize to carry them from the top floor to the bottom floor. Quite clever, I know. When your club is populated by stairs as an element of design you have to devise some sort of plan to prevent the alcoholics from taking nasty spills on their way downstairs.
If the place sounds huge, that's because it is. And if you're wondering how many Israelis it takes to fill a warehouse, my estimate would be somewhere between 800 and 1,000. When we left at 2:00am the massive parking lot (think Stamford High School) was full to the brim and the street on which the club is located was lined with cars on both sides. There were even some vehicles all the way out on the main road, approximately a half mile away. And people were still arriving... You see, the club doesn't close until somewhere between 4:00 and 6;00 in the morning. We, on the the other hand, had to get up at a reasonable hour the next day. So unfortunately, we missed the live musical performance. Oh well, maybe next time...
We weren't really prepared for the experience anyway to tell you the truth. We kind of got sucker-punched into going. When Eli called to invite us, he left out some of the details. In fact, he pretty much didn't tell us anything. If I recall, he invited us to "a party... on a kibbutz". I don't know about you, but when I think about a "party on a kibbutz", I think about a small to medium sized function room, filled with youthful students (he said it was a party for the end of the semester), maybe with a DJ in the corner next to a small fridge with lousy beer. We were misled. We were hoodwinked. We were taken totally unawares. Not dressed for the occaision and forgetting my dance shoes at home, we felt slightly uncomfortable. Not to mention the fact that we hadn't brought much cash with us, leaving us unable to purchase food and drink, only admission to this circus.
Well, "why didn't you use your credit card", you must be saying right about now. I asked myself the same question, only to discover that the entire establishment, all 4 floors and 10 bars are completely CASH. Sure, it doesn't seem like such a big deal, until you remember that Israel is 4.7 sheckles to the dollar, meaning that every single one of those 1,000 people had to be carrying on them a seriously significant amount of money. The whole thing took me by surprise, from beginning to end.
I regret not having a camera with me to take some pictures, but I will have one soon as it is in the mail. I will most definitely return to UltraSound camera in hand, money in pocket, dolled-up girlfriend on arm to take full advantage and observation of what I can only call an event to behold.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Saturday, January 28, 2006
RSS Feed
A quick note about the blog.
In case you didn't know, or rather, don't know how, you can subscribe to my blog in a variety of different ways, making it easier to keep up with new posts as soon as they get posted.
For example, if you use gmail, or google's personalized home page, you can program both services to subscribe to my blog, alerting you whenever I add an entry. Both services offer RSS readers, which are explained in the help and FAQ sections on the google site. Other RSS readers work just fine as well.
The link to enter into your RSS reader is as follows:
http://deklein.blogspot.com/atom.xml
If you have any questions let me know. i'd be happy to try and help if I can.
Also, comments are an important tool for you to utilize. They let me know that people out there are reading and make the blog a dialogue instead of rant after rant from just me. I encourage you all to take the time to write even just a sentence, whether it's to agree with me, contradict me, or just say hello. I'd like to thank Andy, Adam, Kate & Gillian for consistently engaging in the process and posting comments. And a reminder to you all: please remember to include your name with your comments... it helps me know who's listening.
Hope to hear from you all soon!
In case you didn't know, or rather, don't know how, you can subscribe to my blog in a variety of different ways, making it easier to keep up with new posts as soon as they get posted.
For example, if you use gmail, or google's personalized home page, you can program both services to subscribe to my blog, alerting you whenever I add an entry. Both services offer RSS readers, which are explained in the help and FAQ sections on the google site. Other RSS readers work just fine as well.
The link to enter into your RSS reader is as follows:
http://deklein.blogspot.com/atom.xml
If you have any questions let me know. i'd be happy to try and help if I can.
Also, comments are an important tool for you to utilize. They let me know that people out there are reading and make the blog a dialogue instead of rant after rant from just me. I encourage you all to take the time to write even just a sentence, whether it's to agree with me, contradict me, or just say hello. I'd like to thank Andy, Adam, Kate & Gillian for consistently engaging in the process and posting comments. And a reminder to you all: please remember to include your name with your comments... it helps me know who's listening.
Hope to hear from you all soon!
Friday, January 27, 2006
From Hummus to Hamas
In other news, you may have heard that elections took place and the Palestinian people decided that Hamas, a known terrorist organization, was the right choice to lead them. Where Hamas will lead them seems to be the question of the day around here. Whereas everyone watching the election believed that Hamas wouldn't win a majority of seats in the parliament, leaving the Fatah party (of which Mahmoud Abbas, the current president, is a member) in power, it turned out that Hamas swept the election, winning approximately 76 of the 132 seats available.
The debate here in Israel for a while was whether or not to allow voting in East Jerusalem by absentee ballot as long as Hamas was on the ballot. The argument raged for weeks. Eventually, Israel allowed a limited number of absentee ballots to be cast.
It's a sticky situation worldwide, prompting our own shining example of leadership to step up to the mic and say a few words. Bush stated that the U.S. would not deal with Hamas unless it renounced its call for the destruction of Israel. Oh yeah, and he also told them to stop being terrorists. He's not happy that they won, but now that they have, it would be dangerous and politically damaging to do anything but shout hooray and point at what he claims is another instance of western-inspired democracy at work. It's funny, I can't recall the last time the Ku Klux Klan was allowed to register a candidate for president...
There is obviously a lot of info I'm leaving out, so feel free to look it up on your own and post a comment or two.
The debate here in Israel for a while was whether or not to allow voting in East Jerusalem by absentee ballot as long as Hamas was on the ballot. The argument raged for weeks. Eventually, Israel allowed a limited number of absentee ballots to be cast.
It's a sticky situation worldwide, prompting our own shining example of leadership to step up to the mic and say a few words. Bush stated that the U.S. would not deal with Hamas unless it renounced its call for the destruction of Israel. Oh yeah, and he also told them to stop being terrorists. He's not happy that they won, but now that they have, it would be dangerous and politically damaging to do anything but shout hooray and point at what he claims is another instance of western-inspired democracy at work. It's funny, I can't recall the last time the Ku Klux Klan was allowed to register a candidate for president...
There is obviously a lot of info I'm leaving out, so feel free to look it up on your own and post a comment or two.
Palate Report
Today I start off by saluting a food I've come to know and love. Sure hummus exists in the states but here, in Israel, hummus is the staple of all things edible, and locally its quality far exceeds anything available back at home.
Salads and dips and spreads and anything else you can shmear, lather, glop or shovel are the basic building blocks of authentic middle-eastern cuisine and Gillian and I have tried our fair share. Hummus is by far the most versatile but tahina (sesame seed sauce), hatzalim (eggplant dip) and labane (cheese spread) have all become fast favorites.
Of course none of these could be consumed properly without an appropriate scooping, smearing and shoveling tool: the pita. Again, I know that pita exists in the states, but like New York is to the bagel, Israel is to the pita. At home, pita can often be confused with cardboard, or if you're really unlucky, chewy. Here, pita is baked fresh every day and is served fluffy and flexible. It is also employable as a vessel for such favorites as felafel (balls of fried chickpeas) and shwarma (shaved meat, usually lamb). In addition to pita, we have discovered some other types of bread that aren't so popular (they don't exist) back home. Laffa, kinda like a wrap but with more substance, and malawa, a flaky sort of wrap, circular in shape and tasty beyond belief.
Burehkas, or flaky pastries filled with cheese or potato, are also quite popular here either for breakfast or as a snack. I'd comfortably compare their prominence to bagels and donuts at home. Sadly, in the land of the Jews, nowhere have we come across a good bagel and donuts are practically non-existent. (I say practically because during Hannukah "suvganiyot" are fashionable to eat but are awful, spongy, not fluffy, disgustingly pathetic attempts at replicating the goodness that Krispy Kreme perfected long ago.)
That's all I've got on food for now but I think it gives you an decent overview. As for what they don't have... that's a very long list. Among the things I miss the most: Chinese food (apparently, noodles and soy sauce pass around here), good pizza (they don't use enough cheese, the dough is wrong, and people put ketchup on it...), a decent cheeseburger (McDonald's & Burger King are our only options), and god help me (sure we're neighbors now, but the kind of neighbors who don't lend each other gardening tools) I miss diners. I know many of you remember I had the same complaint about Boston, but believe me, Boston was in good diner shape in comparison. At least in MA you could find a restaurant willing to pretend... here they simply don't exist. I'm sure there are other things I will no longer take for granted when I get home, but these are the ones that I find myself pining for. Gillian on the other hand misses pie. She really misses pie. I can't blame her. They just don't do pie here. It's a real shame.
Salads and dips and spreads and anything else you can shmear, lather, glop or shovel are the basic building blocks of authentic middle-eastern cuisine and Gillian and I have tried our fair share. Hummus is by far the most versatile but tahina (sesame seed sauce), hatzalim (eggplant dip) and labane (cheese spread) have all become fast favorites.
Of course none of these could be consumed properly without an appropriate scooping, smearing and shoveling tool: the pita. Again, I know that pita exists in the states, but like New York is to the bagel, Israel is to the pita. At home, pita can often be confused with cardboard, or if you're really unlucky, chewy. Here, pita is baked fresh every day and is served fluffy and flexible. It is also employable as a vessel for such favorites as felafel (balls of fried chickpeas) and shwarma (shaved meat, usually lamb). In addition to pita, we have discovered some other types of bread that aren't so popular (they don't exist) back home. Laffa, kinda like a wrap but with more substance, and malawa, a flaky sort of wrap, circular in shape and tasty beyond belief.
Burehkas, or flaky pastries filled with cheese or potato, are also quite popular here either for breakfast or as a snack. I'd comfortably compare their prominence to bagels and donuts at home. Sadly, in the land of the Jews, nowhere have we come across a good bagel and donuts are practically non-existent. (I say practically because during Hannukah "suvganiyot" are fashionable to eat but are awful, spongy, not fluffy, disgustingly pathetic attempts at replicating the goodness that Krispy Kreme perfected long ago.)
That's all I've got on food for now but I think it gives you an decent overview. As for what they don't have... that's a very long list. Among the things I miss the most: Chinese food (apparently, noodles and soy sauce pass around here), good pizza (they don't use enough cheese, the dough is wrong, and people put ketchup on it...), a decent cheeseburger (McDonald's & Burger King are our only options), and god help me (sure we're neighbors now, but the kind of neighbors who don't lend each other gardening tools) I miss diners. I know many of you remember I had the same complaint about Boston, but believe me, Boston was in good diner shape in comparison. At least in MA you could find a restaurant willing to pretend... here they simply don't exist. I'm sure there are other things I will no longer take for granted when I get home, but these are the ones that I find myself pining for. Gillian on the other hand misses pie. She really misses pie. I can't blame her. They just don't do pie here. It's a real shame.
Monday, January 23, 2006
I'm Just Not That Interesting...
I think that I've come to the conclusion that I am not interesting. I don't have a lot to write about. There isn't that much that is happening to me here in Israel that seems worth writing about. Maybe that's just an easy way out but it is the way I feel. I'm sorry. Wish there was more to it than that, but I'm not sure there is. Let's see what I can come up with...
A week or two ago Gillian and I confronted the people in charge of our stay here and told them that we were getting bored having the same conversation over and over again with students in the two high schools we're vollunteering in. They responded by finding us a place to teach in a school in Qiryat Bialik, only 20 or so minutes from Karmiel. We will supposedly be starting soon, teaching (not tutoring) Ethioipian students in English. I remember saying I was bored, not insane... Regardless, I think it is an opportunity to truly be useful, and maybe prove to myself once and for all that I'm not cut out to be a teacher.
Way back a few weeks ago, on the fourth of January to be exact, a birthday was had. I turned 23 years old. We didn't really make a big deal out of it or anything, simply going out for dinner to a local restaurant that specializes in chocolate. It was a very pleasant day punctuated by the consuming of an apple crumble pie, baked by Gillian Tanz, dessert chef extrodinaire. The apartment reeked of deliciousness for a week...
In other news we have taken up tennis. OK, I'll give you a moment to stop your snickering. Are you finished? Good. Let's proceed. So we've taken up tennis. Stop snickering. That's enough. I gave plenty of time to get it out of your system and I won't stand for it any longer. OK, maybe just a bit more... Anyhow, yes, we've started playing tennis, or rather swatting at a bouncy yellow ball with so-called "rackets". We're not very good at it and have the sore muscles to prove it, but we're trying anyway. We need to get out of our apartment more and be more physical. We haven't gotten much exercise since we acquired the car.
We've been taking instruction in the ways of speaking Hebrew. We're not very good at it (me worse that Gillian) but we're slowly trying to get better. We weren't able to enroll in an Ullpan program (Hebrew Language Immersion Program) because our schedule didn't allow it, but we're meeting with a tutor on the college campus once a week to learn the basics and hopefully learn how to hold a simple conversation before we leave. So far all I've been able to do is order pasta at a restaurant because the word for pasta in Hebrew is fairly simple: pasta. Oh, well. Perhaps progress will occur soon. I sure hope so... I'm getting tired of spaghetti.
I think we may have made a few friends... This evening, we went out with a guy we met in a round-about way. Maxine, the woman hosting us on campus put us in touch with a family that lives in her community. The mother is a ceramacist like Gillian and the woman's son is a filmmaker, currently applying to film schools in the U.S. including Emerson College, my alma mater. Elon, the son, is a really cool guy, just about our age, and tonight he introduced us to a few of his friends and we all went out for drinks at the only local watering hole within several miles of Karmiel. We had an awesome time, playing Tekken 4 on Playstation2 (a rare commodity in Israel) and also play a Texas Hold'em Tournament over a few pints of Guiness on tap (another rare commodity in Israel). Good beer, good people and a good game of poker were all welcomed reminders of home that Gillian and I have missed considerably. Although it wasn't the same as a Blue Moon Wednesday or a weekly Poker Night with Russian comrades it was nice to finally socialize with Israelis outside of elementary and high school students. Hopefully it won't be the last time we meet up with them.
The only other thing that I have deemed worth mentioning to those of you who have stuck with me this far (and I appreciate that), has to do with what I see as a strange phenomenon here is Israel. Everyone hitchhikes. It's really weird. You can't drive up to an intersection without someone soliciting you for a ride. Everyone thinks it is completely normal to stand in the middle of the road and stick your thumb out in the wind. Israelis from kids serving in the army to religious Jews (curly sideburns and all) take part in this stateside forbidden practice. They even get angry at you for not stopping. I can't say I have seen anyone actually get picked up yet, but I have to assume that people are successful at this endeavor condisering no one would continue trying unless people actually stopped every once and a while. I dunno... I'm still glad we rented a car.
A few pics to tide you over until I get my new digital camera in a week or so. Maxine has been kind enough to take pics for us lately and I share them with you now:
A self-explanatory two-shot taken by Maxine.
Maxine often insists on taking photos of of the two of us for no reason whatsoever.
This is a photo of Gillian and I with a man named Gary Perl. He is the Campaign Director of American ORT and used to work for/with my father when dad worked there as the Executive Vice President. Gary came to the college for a tour and we had the opportunity to eat lunch with him. I haven't seen him for almost 15 years.
Anyhow, I think that I may start opening up the possiblility of post topics wider that I was willing to allow before. I do a lot of reading on the internet, from articles on politics to articles on technology and media. Perhaps I will begin to use this blog as a forum for sharing those types of information with you. Maybe I should take a survey of what the readership is interesting in consuming. Yes, I think that is a good idea. It will force you to form an opinion and disavow myself of any responsiblity incase I bore any of you to death...
Do you think I should keep this blog pure and continue to struggle coming up with topics that relate to my travelogue or should I expand and include posts regarding thing outside of Israel that interest me like politics and media? Leave a comment to let me and the rest of cyberspace know what you think! Thanks in advance for participating.
Miss you all and hope to hear from you soon...
A week or two ago Gillian and I confronted the people in charge of our stay here and told them that we were getting bored having the same conversation over and over again with students in the two high schools we're vollunteering in. They responded by finding us a place to teach in a school in Qiryat Bialik, only 20 or so minutes from Karmiel. We will supposedly be starting soon, teaching (not tutoring) Ethioipian students in English. I remember saying I was bored, not insane... Regardless, I think it is an opportunity to truly be useful, and maybe prove to myself once and for all that I'm not cut out to be a teacher.
Way back a few weeks ago, on the fourth of January to be exact, a birthday was had. I turned 23 years old. We didn't really make a big deal out of it or anything, simply going out for dinner to a local restaurant that specializes in chocolate. It was a very pleasant day punctuated by the consuming of an apple crumble pie, baked by Gillian Tanz, dessert chef extrodinaire. The apartment reeked of deliciousness for a week...
In other news we have taken up tennis. OK, I'll give you a moment to stop your snickering. Are you finished? Good. Let's proceed. So we've taken up tennis. Stop snickering. That's enough. I gave plenty of time to get it out of your system and I won't stand for it any longer. OK, maybe just a bit more... Anyhow, yes, we've started playing tennis, or rather swatting at a bouncy yellow ball with so-called "rackets". We're not very good at it and have the sore muscles to prove it, but we're trying anyway. We need to get out of our apartment more and be more physical. We haven't gotten much exercise since we acquired the car.
We've been taking instruction in the ways of speaking Hebrew. We're not very good at it (me worse that Gillian) but we're slowly trying to get better. We weren't able to enroll in an Ullpan program (Hebrew Language Immersion Program) because our schedule didn't allow it, but we're meeting with a tutor on the college campus once a week to learn the basics and hopefully learn how to hold a simple conversation before we leave. So far all I've been able to do is order pasta at a restaurant because the word for pasta in Hebrew is fairly simple: pasta. Oh, well. Perhaps progress will occur soon. I sure hope so... I'm getting tired of spaghetti.
I think we may have made a few friends... This evening, we went out with a guy we met in a round-about way. Maxine, the woman hosting us on campus put us in touch with a family that lives in her community. The mother is a ceramacist like Gillian and the woman's son is a filmmaker, currently applying to film schools in the U.S. including Emerson College, my alma mater. Elon, the son, is a really cool guy, just about our age, and tonight he introduced us to a few of his friends and we all went out for drinks at the only local watering hole within several miles of Karmiel. We had an awesome time, playing Tekken 4 on Playstation2 (a rare commodity in Israel) and also play a Texas Hold'em Tournament over a few pints of Guiness on tap (another rare commodity in Israel). Good beer, good people and a good game of poker were all welcomed reminders of home that Gillian and I have missed considerably. Although it wasn't the same as a Blue Moon Wednesday or a weekly Poker Night with Russian comrades it was nice to finally socialize with Israelis outside of elementary and high school students. Hopefully it won't be the last time we meet up with them.
The only other thing that I have deemed worth mentioning to those of you who have stuck with me this far (and I appreciate that), has to do with what I see as a strange phenomenon here is Israel. Everyone hitchhikes. It's really weird. You can't drive up to an intersection without someone soliciting you for a ride. Everyone thinks it is completely normal to stand in the middle of the road and stick your thumb out in the wind. Israelis from kids serving in the army to religious Jews (curly sideburns and all) take part in this stateside forbidden practice. They even get angry at you for not stopping. I can't say I have seen anyone actually get picked up yet, but I have to assume that people are successful at this endeavor condisering no one would continue trying unless people actually stopped every once and a while. I dunno... I'm still glad we rented a car.
A few pics to tide you over until I get my new digital camera in a week or so. Maxine has been kind enough to take pics for us lately and I share them with you now:
A self-explanatory two-shot taken by Maxine.
Maxine often insists on taking photos of of the two of us for no reason whatsoever.
This is a photo of Gillian and I with a man named Gary Perl. He is the Campaign Director of American ORT and used to work for/with my father when dad worked there as the Executive Vice President. Gary came to the college for a tour and we had the opportunity to eat lunch with him. I haven't seen him for almost 15 years.
Anyhow, I think that I may start opening up the possiblility of post topics wider that I was willing to allow before. I do a lot of reading on the internet, from articles on politics to articles on technology and media. Perhaps I will begin to use this blog as a forum for sharing those types of information with you. Maybe I should take a survey of what the readership is interesting in consuming. Yes, I think that is a good idea. It will force you to form an opinion and disavow myself of any responsiblity incase I bore any of you to death...
Do you think I should keep this blog pure and continue to struggle coming up with topics that relate to my travelogue or should I expand and include posts regarding thing outside of Israel that interest me like politics and media? Leave a comment to let me and the rest of cyberspace know what you think! Thanks in advance for participating.
Miss you all and hope to hear from you soon...
Thursday, December 29, 2005
A formal apology and a few excuses...
Yeah, I know. Alright already, I get it. Back off man!
Sure, its been a while, but I haven't forgotten about you, I promise. I've just been busy, tied up, you know how it is. One minute you're here, the next you're in Jerusalem, never quite sure which way is up. But don't worry, I still care about you. I won't leave you hanging again. Trust me.
A quick overview to bring you up to speed:
Last you heard, I was all torn up over losing my camera. Truth be told, I was less upset about the physical camera than I was about being an idiot to let it happen. That said, I really miss my camera. I've been trying to do a lot of research on other cameras before I buy a new one because mine didn't take such great pics in low light but I think I discovered the secret. Practically no compact digital camera in my price range takes decent pictures in low light. I think I'll just be replacing the old one with a new one. Hopefully soon because when you don't have a camera you become keenly aware of all of the photo opportunities that present themselves daily.
A quick list of such missed opportunites:
1) Our first weekend away travelling we went to Tiberias to visit a friend, Israela. Israela took us on a fantastic trip around the Kinneret, better known as the Sea of Gallilee. We drove from the very bottom and made a huge loop, venturing up near the top of Israel near the Lebanon border, and returning to Tiberias on the other side of the Kinneret. It was quite a beautiful trip, punctuated by a delicious stop in a Druze village for sweet flaky pastries. Approximate number of photo opportunities lost: countless.
2) The following weekend we made our way down to Tel Aviv, a great city on the water. Staying in the worst hostel you can imagine, Gillian and I spent a pleasant weekend in the rain, shopping, eating international cuisine (Gillian's first sushi in months), and visiting with my parents' oldest friends in Israel. It had been ten years since I'd last seen them and we had the pleasure of meeting their sons and their families. An excellent time was had by all. Again, many photos were not taken, but thanks to Josh Perlman, who was kind enough to give Gillian his only-manual, 35mm camera for her trip to France, a few analog shots were snapped. After development perhaps I can find a scanner somewhere on campus...
3) This past weekend we took it upon ourselves to travel to Jerusalem where we stayed with other friends of my parents. Perhaps sometime in the future I'll go into further detail on these people and others that I have connection to here in Israel. For now, in the name of brevity and mercy, I'm only highlighting events, for your sake and my own. Anyhow, we took a ridiculous tour of Jerusalem on a bus with first-timers, kindly arranged by our hostess. Rushed through the Holocaust museum in 45 minutes, provided a passing glance at the Western Wall and sped through several Stations of the Cross in the Old City only to be locked inside a tacky souvenir shop was not the best introduction the the world's holiest city, but if nothing else it showed us where stuff was. The next day we returned to the Old City, exploring the shops and haggling with the store owners. We also stopped by the Israel Museum and explored the archaeology exhibit. That was kinda neat. Again, 35mm to the rescue, but a manual camera is cumbersome and many pics were ruled out cause it was just too much of a pain in the ass to figure out proper exposure.
I know I've glazed over a lot, but as with a donut, if you're gonna use glaze, pour it on thick. God I miss Krispy Kreme. Here's a list of other stuff I should have written about at the time but failed miserably to do so:
— Party @ Eli's (Cool guy we met on campus)
— Dinner at the conservative rabbi's house on Shabbat
— Renting a car (yes it is very expensive but it's been well worth it so far)
— Receiving packages from home (apparently, cheese doesn't go bad when shipped overseas. neither do Doritos)
— Food has been interesting and wonderful (a post focusing on this topic is sure to follow sometime soon)
— Our Hebrew tutor Ash (nice guy, details will follow soon as well)
— Cats (not the musical. Gillian and I have come to believe that feral cats are Israel's equivolent to our Squirrel. Therefore, we have decided to deem all Israeli cats as "Squattrels". Seriously, they are everywhere.
OK, so for the most part I think you're up to speed. Of course, this time of year requires me to mention something about how we're missing out on Christmas back at home, being in the land of the Jews and all. Honestly, I can't say I miss all of the fan fare that much. Some peace and quiet this year instead of the usual call for consumerism is a welcome change of pace. Although, our prospective New Year's celebration isn't panning out to be so interesting, so I think we both kind of miss that a little. Since everyone here celebrated the new year back in September, there is no falling ball of light to tune into here in the holy land. Oh well.
Again, I'm sorry for the month-long delay. I'll try not to let so much time pass before the next post. You folks deserve better and frankly, if I don't write down what I'm doing here I'll probably forget. As is I can't remember whether I had felafel or shwarma for lunch.
Lots of love...
Sure, its been a while, but I haven't forgotten about you, I promise. I've just been busy, tied up, you know how it is. One minute you're here, the next you're in Jerusalem, never quite sure which way is up. But don't worry, I still care about you. I won't leave you hanging again. Trust me.
A quick overview to bring you up to speed:
Last you heard, I was all torn up over losing my camera. Truth be told, I was less upset about the physical camera than I was about being an idiot to let it happen. That said, I really miss my camera. I've been trying to do a lot of research on other cameras before I buy a new one because mine didn't take such great pics in low light but I think I discovered the secret. Practically no compact digital camera in my price range takes decent pictures in low light. I think I'll just be replacing the old one with a new one. Hopefully soon because when you don't have a camera you become keenly aware of all of the photo opportunities that present themselves daily.
A quick list of such missed opportunites:
1) Our first weekend away travelling we went to Tiberias to visit a friend, Israela. Israela took us on a fantastic trip around the Kinneret, better known as the Sea of Gallilee. We drove from the very bottom and made a huge loop, venturing up near the top of Israel near the Lebanon border, and returning to Tiberias on the other side of the Kinneret. It was quite a beautiful trip, punctuated by a delicious stop in a Druze village for sweet flaky pastries. Approximate number of photo opportunities lost: countless.
2) The following weekend we made our way down to Tel Aviv, a great city on the water. Staying in the worst hostel you can imagine, Gillian and I spent a pleasant weekend in the rain, shopping, eating international cuisine (Gillian's first sushi in months), and visiting with my parents' oldest friends in Israel. It had been ten years since I'd last seen them and we had the pleasure of meeting their sons and their families. An excellent time was had by all. Again, many photos were not taken, but thanks to Josh Perlman, who was kind enough to give Gillian his only-manual, 35mm camera for her trip to France, a few analog shots were snapped. After development perhaps I can find a scanner somewhere on campus...
3) This past weekend we took it upon ourselves to travel to Jerusalem where we stayed with other friends of my parents. Perhaps sometime in the future I'll go into further detail on these people and others that I have connection to here in Israel. For now, in the name of brevity and mercy, I'm only highlighting events, for your sake and my own. Anyhow, we took a ridiculous tour of Jerusalem on a bus with first-timers, kindly arranged by our hostess. Rushed through the Holocaust museum in 45 minutes, provided a passing glance at the Western Wall and sped through several Stations of the Cross in the Old City only to be locked inside a tacky souvenir shop was not the best introduction the the world's holiest city, but if nothing else it showed us where stuff was. The next day we returned to the Old City, exploring the shops and haggling with the store owners. We also stopped by the Israel Museum and explored the archaeology exhibit. That was kinda neat. Again, 35mm to the rescue, but a manual camera is cumbersome and many pics were ruled out cause it was just too much of a pain in the ass to figure out proper exposure.
I know I've glazed over a lot, but as with a donut, if you're gonna use glaze, pour it on thick. God I miss Krispy Kreme. Here's a list of other stuff I should have written about at the time but failed miserably to do so:
— Party @ Eli's (Cool guy we met on campus)
— Dinner at the conservative rabbi's house on Shabbat
— Renting a car (yes it is very expensive but it's been well worth it so far)
— Receiving packages from home (apparently, cheese doesn't go bad when shipped overseas. neither do Doritos)
— Food has been interesting and wonderful (a post focusing on this topic is sure to follow sometime soon)
— Our Hebrew tutor Ash (nice guy, details will follow soon as well)
— Cats (not the musical. Gillian and I have come to believe that feral cats are Israel's equivolent to our Squirrel. Therefore, we have decided to deem all Israeli cats as "Squattrels". Seriously, they are everywhere.
OK, so for the most part I think you're up to speed. Of course, this time of year requires me to mention something about how we're missing out on Christmas back at home, being in the land of the Jews and all. Honestly, I can't say I miss all of the fan fare that much. Some peace and quiet this year instead of the usual call for consumerism is a welcome change of pace. Although, our prospective New Year's celebration isn't panning out to be so interesting, so I think we both kind of miss that a little. Since everyone here celebrated the new year back in September, there is no falling ball of light to tune into here in the holy land. Oh well.
Again, I'm sorry for the month-long delay. I'll try not to let so much time pass before the next post. You folks deserve better and frankly, if I don't write down what I'm doing here I'll probably forget. As is I can't remember whether I had felafel or shwarma for lunch.
Lots of love...
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
When Good News Is Bad News...
I know you're expecting an update on what we're up to in Israel and I promise one is on its way, but on occasion the need will strike me to write about something other than myself. Shocking, I know.
Although overseas I have still made it a point to keep abreast of current events at home. For the past few days I have followed a story about a government that pays off journalists and strategically places propaganda in the form of ads and news articles in the news outlets of another country it is attempting to democratize. Perhaps you've heard of the story and I'm not telling you anything you didn't already know. On the other hand, perhaps you had no idea that the American government was undermining its own credibility and moral code of ethics, meanwhile embarassing every college journalism program around the country.
I believe it to be reprehensible when our own government resorts to fascist tactics to control the message of the media for its own gain. I believe it to be unforgivable when our own government bribes journalists, at home and abroad, to shill for its policies and undermine the institution of a free press. The very concept of a free press gives it the ability and some would say the responsibility to report acurately on current events and the people or groups involved. No journalist or news outlet should be beholden to any point of view other than their own.
I urge you to read into this story and seek out as much as you can about it. In my opinion it is a perfect example of all the issues building between Americans and our own government, not to mention the pathetic and reckless ways we're interacting with the people and governments of other countries.
I've included links below. Hope they let me back in the country when it comes time to go home in May...
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/03/politics/03propaganda.html
http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/D8E89HJG0.html
http://alternet.org/mediaculture/29151/
Although overseas I have still made it a point to keep abreast of current events at home. For the past few days I have followed a story about a government that pays off journalists and strategically places propaganda in the form of ads and news articles in the news outlets of another country it is attempting to democratize. Perhaps you've heard of the story and I'm not telling you anything you didn't already know. On the other hand, perhaps you had no idea that the American government was undermining its own credibility and moral code of ethics, meanwhile embarassing every college journalism program around the country.
I believe it to be reprehensible when our own government resorts to fascist tactics to control the message of the media for its own gain. I believe it to be unforgivable when our own government bribes journalists, at home and abroad, to shill for its policies and undermine the institution of a free press. The very concept of a free press gives it the ability and some would say the responsibility to report acurately on current events and the people or groups involved. No journalist or news outlet should be beholden to any point of view other than their own.
I urge you to read into this story and seek out as much as you can about it. In my opinion it is a perfect example of all the issues building between Americans and our own government, not to mention the pathetic and reckless ways we're interacting with the people and governments of other countries.
I've included links below. Hope they let me back in the country when it comes time to go home in May...
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/03/politics/03propaganda.html
http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/D8E89HJG0.html
http://alternet.org/mediaculture/29151/
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
A Day That Will Live In Infamy
Weekends here can be very boring. We often find ourselves lolling about the apartment, occasionally getting up from our spots in front of the computer or TV, walking over to the refridgerator just to make sure that nothing got up and walked away. Usually, the celery has moved a few inches but it has yet to flee the fridge entirely. I think it may just be as restless as we are.
On Sunday Gillian and I decided to take our first trip away from our home base of Karmi'el. Haifa, a very pretty city on the water which happens to be not far from us seemed like the perfect destination for our maiden voyage. So we packed our bags for the day and went off in search of transportation. (We have yet to figure out our primary means of getting around. Renting a car is very expensive but everything else is a tremendous pain in the ass.)
Just outside the college gate we expected to take a taxi cab to the bus station and then catch a bus to Haifa. While waiting for the cab a small van pulled up with a sign in its window that said Haifa, but in Hebrew. We quickly asked the driver if we had read the sign correctly upon which he turned to a passenger and asked him to translate. It seemed that we were correct and he was indeed driving in the direction we wanted to go. You see, in Israel there are large taxi cabs called "sherut cabs" that follow the bus routes. As I understand it, they are a direct result of people's understandable fear of being blown up as a passenger on a bus. However, that being their origin, I think that in a more modern framework they are simply more practical and reasonably priced. Anyhow, back to the story.
We climb aboard and proceed to drive around looking for other people to join us on our trip to Haifa. It seems that two people you can't communicate with are not a sufficient fare for such a long trip. (It's really only about a half hour by car but in Israel it's only a six hour drive from one end of the country to the other.) So after circling around several times and picking up various characters, we actually left Karmi'el. 45 minutes later we arrived in Haifa without a clue in the world as to where to tell the driver who didn't understand us where to drop us off. So, he left us in the middle of a fairly run down area with the assumption we would find our way from there.
NOTE: I don't handle situations such as the one above very well. I have this little thing I like to call a control complex. I like to be in control. I like to know where I am going. I like to know where I am. I like to know how to ask where I am. I prefer to be in control. Gillian on the other hand has a fabulous throw-caution-to-the-wind-everything-will-be-ok philosophy. She backpacked across France never really knowing what to expect, perfectly comfortable not being comfortable. In this scenario, she was better prepared.
Soon after the cab pulled away from the curb and I began feeling like an abandoned puppy in the middle of a city didn't know, an awful feeling hit me. It started in my throat as if my ability to collect air and send it to my lungs had been put on hold. Then, it moved from my throat to stomach where each labored breath I managed to squeeze into my lungs felt as if a 10 pound rock had settled in my abdomen. No, breakfast was not the culprit, but simply my own stupidity and lack of awareness. I had left my bag in the back of the taxi.
Contents: 1 piece of paper with bus schedules and phone numbers, 1 flashlight, 1 pair of clip-on sunglasses, 1 iPod (2nd generation) including earbuds, 1 U.S. passport (authentic) and 1 brand new Nikon Coolpix 7900 digital camera.
Following 45 seconds of near breakdown antics Gillian quickly got on the phone and called our contact in Karmi'el. She in turn put her best people on the case, subsequently tracking down the two taxi companies that run service between Karmi'el and Haifa. Meanwhile, I continued breaking down, alternatively thinking back and forth about stepping into traffic and how it would feel if my mother threw me into traffic for being an imbicile. Gillian was smart enough to stand between me and the curb while making phone calls.
Only 15 minutes after making the call we received a call in return telling us that the driver had phoned in the bag to his dispatcher and that it would be returned to the college without a problem. I caught my breath, hugged Gillian for her fast-acting intellect and calmed down to best of my ability, still thinking every now and then that I should at least have my leg run over if for nothing else than the shame of being so careless and stupid. Nevertheless, Gillian and I proceeded to have a pleasant afternoon in Haifa, not seeing much, but in the least picking up a map to guide us on our next visit.
The next morning, Gillian picked up my bag so that I didn't have to face the shunning stares of the college administration. You know, the kinds of stares that make you wish you were a turtle, retracting your head beneath your collar, impervious to unpleasant glares. After breakfast I opened up the bag and took inventory.
Contents: 1 piece of paper with bus schedules and phone numbers, 1 flashlight, 1 pair of clip on sunglasses, 1 iPod (2nd generation) including earbuds and 1 U.S. passport (authentic).
I looked again.
Contents: 1 piece of paper with bus schedules and phone numbers, 1 flashlight, 1 pair of clip on sunglasses, 1 iPod (2nd generation) including earbuds and 1 U.S. passport (authentic).
Something was missing. Something was gone. Something had been stolen.
Someone had to go find a busy street.
Alas, it is gone. I will never see it again and will most likely have to replace it as I have no intention of spending 5 months in a country as beautiful as Israel and not have some visual record that I was here. But for now, don't ask for pictures.
On Sunday Gillian and I decided to take our first trip away from our home base of Karmi'el. Haifa, a very pretty city on the water which happens to be not far from us seemed like the perfect destination for our maiden voyage. So we packed our bags for the day and went off in search of transportation. (We have yet to figure out our primary means of getting around. Renting a car is very expensive but everything else is a tremendous pain in the ass.)
Just outside the college gate we expected to take a taxi cab to the bus station and then catch a bus to Haifa. While waiting for the cab a small van pulled up with a sign in its window that said Haifa, but in Hebrew. We quickly asked the driver if we had read the sign correctly upon which he turned to a passenger and asked him to translate. It seemed that we were correct and he was indeed driving in the direction we wanted to go. You see, in Israel there are large taxi cabs called "sherut cabs" that follow the bus routes. As I understand it, they are a direct result of people's understandable fear of being blown up as a passenger on a bus. However, that being their origin, I think that in a more modern framework they are simply more practical and reasonably priced. Anyhow, back to the story.
We climb aboard and proceed to drive around looking for other people to join us on our trip to Haifa. It seems that two people you can't communicate with are not a sufficient fare for such a long trip. (It's really only about a half hour by car but in Israel it's only a six hour drive from one end of the country to the other.) So after circling around several times and picking up various characters, we actually left Karmi'el. 45 minutes later we arrived in Haifa without a clue in the world as to where to tell the driver who didn't understand us where to drop us off. So, he left us in the middle of a fairly run down area with the assumption we would find our way from there.
NOTE: I don't handle situations such as the one above very well. I have this little thing I like to call a control complex. I like to be in control. I like to know where I am going. I like to know where I am. I like to know how to ask where I am. I prefer to be in control. Gillian on the other hand has a fabulous throw-caution-to-the-wind-everything-will-be-ok philosophy. She backpacked across France never really knowing what to expect, perfectly comfortable not being comfortable. In this scenario, she was better prepared.
Soon after the cab pulled away from the curb and I began feeling like an abandoned puppy in the middle of a city didn't know, an awful feeling hit me. It started in my throat as if my ability to collect air and send it to my lungs had been put on hold. Then, it moved from my throat to stomach where each labored breath I managed to squeeze into my lungs felt as if a 10 pound rock had settled in my abdomen. No, breakfast was not the culprit, but simply my own stupidity and lack of awareness. I had left my bag in the back of the taxi.
Contents: 1 piece of paper with bus schedules and phone numbers, 1 flashlight, 1 pair of clip-on sunglasses, 1 iPod (2nd generation) including earbuds, 1 U.S. passport (authentic) and 1 brand new Nikon Coolpix 7900 digital camera.
Following 45 seconds of near breakdown antics Gillian quickly got on the phone and called our contact in Karmi'el. She in turn put her best people on the case, subsequently tracking down the two taxi companies that run service between Karmi'el and Haifa. Meanwhile, I continued breaking down, alternatively thinking back and forth about stepping into traffic and how it would feel if my mother threw me into traffic for being an imbicile. Gillian was smart enough to stand between me and the curb while making phone calls.
Only 15 minutes after making the call we received a call in return telling us that the driver had phoned in the bag to his dispatcher and that it would be returned to the college without a problem. I caught my breath, hugged Gillian for her fast-acting intellect and calmed down to best of my ability, still thinking every now and then that I should at least have my leg run over if for nothing else than the shame of being so careless and stupid. Nevertheless, Gillian and I proceeded to have a pleasant afternoon in Haifa, not seeing much, but in the least picking up a map to guide us on our next visit.
The next morning, Gillian picked up my bag so that I didn't have to face the shunning stares of the college administration. You know, the kinds of stares that make you wish you were a turtle, retracting your head beneath your collar, impervious to unpleasant glares. After breakfast I opened up the bag and took inventory.
Contents: 1 piece of paper with bus schedules and phone numbers, 1 flashlight, 1 pair of clip on sunglasses, 1 iPod (2nd generation) including earbuds and 1 U.S. passport (authentic).
I looked again.
Contents: 1 piece of paper with bus schedules and phone numbers, 1 flashlight, 1 pair of clip on sunglasses, 1 iPod (2nd generation) including earbuds and 1 U.S. passport (authentic).
Something was missing. Something was gone. Something had been stolen.
Someone had to go find a busy street.
Alas, it is gone. I will never see it again and will most likely have to replace it as I have no intention of spending 5 months in a country as beautiful as Israel and not have some visual record that I was here. But for now, don't ask for pictures.
Karmi'el 7 Day Forecast
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Pleasantly warm. 82°F
Wednesday: High level clouds. Warm. 79°F
Thursday: Mostly sunny. Pleasantly warm. 79°F
Friday: Sunny. Pleasantly warm. 80°F
Saturday: Mostly sunny. Pleasantly warm. 82°F
Sunday: Sunny. Mild. 75°F
Monday: Mostly sunny. Mild. 70°F
Wednesday: High level clouds. Warm. 79°F
Thursday: Mostly sunny. Pleasantly warm. 79°F
Friday: Sunny. Pleasantly warm. 80°F
Saturday: Mostly sunny. Pleasantly warm. 82°F
Sunday: Sunny. Mild. 75°F
Monday: Mostly sunny. Mild. 70°F
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Just Getting Started...
A lot has happened in the past few days. I'm not sure if I can do it all justice but here it goes...
On Friday, the entire state of Israel shuts down at 3pm. You know how the world keeps revolving everywhere else in the world? Stores don't close, buses still run and people act all normal and go about their happy little lives using electricity, driving to the supermarket and doing their jobs? Nope, not it Israel. Ok, I admit that I am exaggerating slightly, but I won't admit to lying. This "sabbath" business lasts all through Saturday and can really kill a guy's weekend. Especially when the country doesn't even wait until Monday to start revolving again. That's right, you heard me, people go back to work and kids start school again on Sunday. Crazy, I know. Insane, I know. Alright already, get over it.
On Sunday morning Gillian and I took a short walk to the high school that sits just outside of the college campus on which we live. Here we spent an hour or two looking for the people in charge of putting us to work for the next six months. After a few painful "conversations" (see previous posts for definition) and a trip to another high school, we finally met with a few English teachers from each of the high schools in Karmi'el. A tentative schedule was thrown together, apparently subject to many expected revisions, and we were sent on our merry way.
On Monday we picked up our toaster oven.
On Tuesday we started work in one of the high schools to high praise and much appreciation. I hope. When I said before that we worked out a schedule, what I really meant was that they told us what days we were going to what schools. Which classes we are working with is being left up to the last minute. So essentially we were thrown to the wolves, working with students right away. It was daunting but a surefire way to know whether or not we're good at it. Sink or swim if you know what I mean. I think Gillian & I proved that we are perfectly capable of treading water with the best of them. We worked with two levels of students and I think both groups gained something from the encounters. If nothing else I'm sure they appreciated the fact we practically did their homework for them.
Today, Wednesday, was interesting. Or I'm sure it would have been if I understood a word of Hebrew. We were invited to tag along on a field trip to a city south of Karmi'el called Yoqna'em. The students participating are preparing for a month-long trip to the U.S. where they will stay with families in both Cleveland and Atlanta. The students come from a few different ORT schools in Israel and the purpose of the trip is to allow students who otherwise wouldn't get the chance to travel overseas the opportunity to do so. Each of the students goes for completely free and hopefully will make life-long friends and learn passable spoken English. An excellent idea and I was happy to be included in their preparation. Over the next few weeks Gillian and I will help them practice English and answer questions about the US and other stuff. But today we just sat around and listened to presentations in Hebrew that we didn't understand. Needless to say we were bored beyond belief. Just one more concrete reason to learn the damn language as soon as possible. On that particular front I have no known progress...
So that's what we've been up to. But don't close your browser window just yet. I have a few more things to say.
If at all possible, if and when you leave a comment, please be sure to include your first and last name. As more and more people tune in to these ridiculous ramblings, I have found it difficult at times to distiguish which Jake is leaving comments and who the heck Anonymous is. Thanks!
Also, as stated in previous entries, I hate shutterfly.com. I have done a minute amount of research and have decided not to use any of the other frustrating photo-sharing sites either. I think I'll just be selective and post pics directly to the blog. It seems to be the easiest solution on both ends of the transaction. I don't have to deal with two sites and neither do you. Woohoo.
Oddly enough a strange rivalry has broken out amongst some of my readers. (Can I call you My Readers or is that way too pretentious?) Recently, I changed the name of my blog from The Deklein of Society to the one word shorter The Cultural Deklein. An outpouring of emotion ensued. Divided sharply into two camps, some of you liked the witty, "edgy" quality of Society, while others screamed "NO!" at the very thought of erasing the equally witty Culture from the title. I'm not sold either way on this issue and believe further arguing should commence. Please share your opinion and let me know which you prefer...
I think I have officially given up on trying to get any of you to utilize god's gift to internet users, Skype. Hardly any of you answered my call for conversion and I'm tired of sermonizing. I still think it's an awesome application and easy as heck to use and I whole-heartedly believe you should download it immediately and ring me up, but alas, this is my last attempt to enlighten the masses. Check it out if you want. Please. I can't use AIM and it's the cheapest and easiest way for us to stay in touch, damn it! Ok, I'm done, I promise.
Miss and love you all. Or at least most of you. Email me or comment. Either way I'd like to hear from you. Homesickness might set in soon and the best way to stave it off for another week or so is if I get bombarded with correspondence. Later.
On Friday, the entire state of Israel shuts down at 3pm. You know how the world keeps revolving everywhere else in the world? Stores don't close, buses still run and people act all normal and go about their happy little lives using electricity, driving to the supermarket and doing their jobs? Nope, not it Israel. Ok, I admit that I am exaggerating slightly, but I won't admit to lying. This "sabbath" business lasts all through Saturday and can really kill a guy's weekend. Especially when the country doesn't even wait until Monday to start revolving again. That's right, you heard me, people go back to work and kids start school again on Sunday. Crazy, I know. Insane, I know. Alright already, get over it.
On Sunday morning Gillian and I took a short walk to the high school that sits just outside of the college campus on which we live. Here we spent an hour or two looking for the people in charge of putting us to work for the next six months. After a few painful "conversations" (see previous posts for definition) and a trip to another high school, we finally met with a few English teachers from each of the high schools in Karmi'el. A tentative schedule was thrown together, apparently subject to many expected revisions, and we were sent on our merry way.
On Monday we picked up our toaster oven.
On Tuesday we started work in one of the high schools to high praise and much appreciation. I hope. When I said before that we worked out a schedule, what I really meant was that they told us what days we were going to what schools. Which classes we are working with is being left up to the last minute. So essentially we were thrown to the wolves, working with students right away. It was daunting but a surefire way to know whether or not we're good at it. Sink or swim if you know what I mean. I think Gillian & I proved that we are perfectly capable of treading water with the best of them. We worked with two levels of students and I think both groups gained something from the encounters. If nothing else I'm sure they appreciated the fact we practically did their homework for them.
Today, Wednesday, was interesting. Or I'm sure it would have been if I understood a word of Hebrew. We were invited to tag along on a field trip to a city south of Karmi'el called Yoqna'em. The students participating are preparing for a month-long trip to the U.S. where they will stay with families in both Cleveland and Atlanta. The students come from a few different ORT schools in Israel and the purpose of the trip is to allow students who otherwise wouldn't get the chance to travel overseas the opportunity to do so. Each of the students goes for completely free and hopefully will make life-long friends and learn passable spoken English. An excellent idea and I was happy to be included in their preparation. Over the next few weeks Gillian and I will help them practice English and answer questions about the US and other stuff. But today we just sat around and listened to presentations in Hebrew that we didn't understand. Needless to say we were bored beyond belief. Just one more concrete reason to learn the damn language as soon as possible. On that particular front I have no known progress...
So that's what we've been up to. But don't close your browser window just yet. I have a few more things to say.
If at all possible, if and when you leave a comment, please be sure to include your first and last name. As more and more people tune in to these ridiculous ramblings, I have found it difficult at times to distiguish which Jake is leaving comments and who the heck Anonymous is. Thanks!
Also, as stated in previous entries, I hate shutterfly.com. I have done a minute amount of research and have decided not to use any of the other frustrating photo-sharing sites either. I think I'll just be selective and post pics directly to the blog. It seems to be the easiest solution on both ends of the transaction. I don't have to deal with two sites and neither do you. Woohoo.
Oddly enough a strange rivalry has broken out amongst some of my readers. (Can I call you My Readers or is that way too pretentious?) Recently, I changed the name of my blog from The Deklein of Society to the one word shorter The Cultural Deklein. An outpouring of emotion ensued. Divided sharply into two camps, some of you liked the witty, "edgy" quality of Society, while others screamed "NO!" at the very thought of erasing the equally witty Culture from the title. I'm not sold either way on this issue and believe further arguing should commence. Please share your opinion and let me know which you prefer...
I think I have officially given up on trying to get any of you to utilize god's gift to internet users, Skype. Hardly any of you answered my call for conversion and I'm tired of sermonizing. I still think it's an awesome application and easy as heck to use and I whole-heartedly believe you should download it immediately and ring me up, but alas, this is my last attempt to enlighten the masses. Check it out if you want. Please. I can't use AIM and it's the cheapest and easiest way for us to stay in touch, damn it! Ok, I'm done, I promise.
Miss and love you all. Or at least most of you. Email me or comment. Either way I'd like to hear from you. Homesickness might set in soon and the best way to stave it off for another week or so is if I get bombarded with correspondence. Later.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Pictures of Karmiel
These are pictures of the ORT Braude College and of surrounding Karmi'el. Comment with questions...
This is the entrance to the college.
This is a sign at the entrance to the college.
This is the dormitory building in which we live.
This is the administration building at the college.
This is the main road that we walk to get into the middle of town.
This is the crappy little mall in the middle of town.
Across from the mall is the "midrachov" or pedestrian street where the majority of restaurants and shops are located.
A view of surrounding Karmi'el.
Another view of surrounding Karmi'el.
This is the entrance to the college.
This is a sign at the entrance to the college.
This is the dormitory building in which we live.
This is the administration building at the college.
This is the main road that we walk to get into the middle of town. 
This is the crappy little mall in the middle of town.
Across from the mall is the "midrachov" or pedestrian street where the majority of restaurants and shops are located.
A view of surrounding Karmi'el.
Another view of surrounding Karmi'el.
Friday, November 18, 2005
a few pics...
pictures from london can be found at the following address: http://deklein.shutterfly.com
i think i hate shutterfly and will be shopping around for a new photo sharing site. but for now, this is what i'm stuck with.
miss you all!
i think i hate shutterfly and will be shopping around for a new photo sharing site. but for now, this is what i'm stuck with.
miss you all!
Thursday, November 17, 2005
join skype now!
you're all very pathetic. i spent an entire paragraph last post extolling the virtues of Skype and only one of you checked it out, signed up and gave me a call. yes that's right, a call. maybe i wasn't clear. maybe i didn't explain it well. or maybe you're all just dragging your feet on the the coolest service to revolutionize communication around the world.
download skype, register a skype name and CALL me. I even have voicemail. it's frickin' free people. and if you're not gonna get on the band wagon have the decency to email me or comment. those have really fallen off in the past week or so as well. in fact, i think i sent out a few emails and never heard from some of you at all. in the eternal words of Stephanie Tanner, "How rude!"
(i'm not really angry, but it sure would be nice to hear from you!)
download skype, register a skype name and CALL me. I even have voicemail. it's frickin' free people. and if you're not gonna get on the band wagon have the decency to email me or comment. those have really fallen off in the past week or so as well. in fact, i think i sent out a few emails and never heard from some of you at all. in the eternal words of Stephanie Tanner, "How rude!"
(i'm not really angry, but it sure would be nice to hear from you!)
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
They Get Big Here
So I'm in the bathroom and I'm about to engage it the sorts of activities one engages in when they're in the bathroom when I realize I'm not alone. Accompanied by a 6-legged creature the size of a small dog I audibly yelped with excitement as it scurried behind a waste basket. After my heart returned to my chest cavity from its trip to my throat, I quickly found my heaviest pair of shoes and disptached the chihuahua-sized cockroach with swift, yet fair, justice. Let's be reasonable. He had four more legs than I did. Not exactly a fair fight. I think I was entitled to a weapon of sorts.
Oh yeah, and we have ants. Lots of ants.
Oh yeah, and we have ants. Lots of ants.
We're here!
WARNING: THIS POST HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE VERY LONG. DO NOT CONTINUE READING UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO DEDICATE THE TIME NECESSARY TO FULLY DIGEST THIS ENTRY.
Holy shit. That's all I can come up with to describe the past 24 hours. I'll attempt an explanation:
Yesterday, Gillian and I woke up at 5am in order to make an 8:30am flight from London Heathrow. Several hours later we landed at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. After a pleasant flight and lots of laughs from watching Wedding Crashers we got off the airplane and shlepped down to passport control whereupon Gillian realized she had forgotten her cell phone on the plane prompting me to run (yes, i ran) back to the gate and find a security person to help me find the phone. In the end, the phone beat us through customs and was waiting at the Lost & Found station in the baggage claim. So, I did a lot of running for nothing.
Next, we met up with our very talkative (in impressively fluent english) taxi driver. He shuttled us to the college all the while talking politics, economics, and god knows what else. I think all we really wanted to do was sleep, but it was a nice ride anyway. So there we are, exhausted, confused, out of our element, not knowing what to expect, and we're shown into the dormitory that will house us for the next 6 months. Wow. For the first time in our lives, Gillian and I are the proud occupants of a two bedroom apartment. Sure, it doesn't have a full kitchen, but it's ten times what we expected. Honestly, we didn't know what to expect but what we got is far beyond what we would have expected if we had been expecting anything. Luckily, a nice gentleman named Mark, a student here at the college, gave us a brief tour of the campus after translating how each appliance worked for the dormitory supervisor. He was very helpful and even offered to hang out with us. And no, it was not out of pity for the silly americans.
Considering that airplane food was the only sustenance obtained all day it quickly became clear that finding something to eat was of the highest importance. After talking (from here on out it will be known that the word "talking" stands for "awkwardly attempting to communicate with people who either speak only Hebrew or broken English) to a few people we ventured off campus and went scavenging for food. after a number of wrong turns and conversations (same definition as above) with locals we stumbled upon something magical in the distance. For a short time we had trouble making the figure out, but it seemed to be glowing. Upon further inspection, the sign seemed to call to us, as if it were saying, "Everything is going to be alright. You aren't going to starve in this strange land." And then, it all became clear as the golden arches came into focus. I have to say that I find it oddly comforting that no matter where you go in the world McDonalds french fries taste exactly the same. Am I slightly ashamed that I travelled half-way around the world to consume my first meal in the holy land at an awful American fast-food export? No, we were fucking hungry.
Airplane food and McDonalds can really screw up your internal organs, so we'll skip through the rest of the night and move right on to the events of this morning.
If I thought my stomach was turning, you should have seen my head spin today. First thing we had a breakfast appointment with our contact and shepherd here on campus, a lovely woman named Maxine. Born in Philly and an Israeli resident for over 30 years, Maxine couldn't understand our situation any better. Anyhow, back to breakfast. We met her in the dining cafe, a low key place where students hangout throughout the day and are greeted with a full scale israeli meal. Dining at the only table with a table cloth, we consumed delicious pastries, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, orange juice, tea, etc. It was wonderful.
After breakfast Maxine took us on a full tour of the campus and introduced us to everyone, including the president of the college. We were paraded around like prize turkeys, shuffled from office to office for inspection. It was overwhelming. I can honestly say that I've met a very large number of people in a very short period of time and each one of them and been kinder and more anxious to be of assistance than the last. If this continues I'll be in serious need of a New Yorker's attitude in order to keep me sane and balanced. It's just not normal for so many people to be so helpful.
Talk about going above and beyond, Maxine finished her welcome wagon schedule with a tour of downtown Karmiel and a trip to the supermarket so that Gillian and I could obtain some food stuffs and other necessary items to make our apartment a home. Later in the day, Lillit, the human resources officer for the college, an extremely nice woman we met on our whirlwind tour of the college and a recent grandmother to a beautiful new granddaughter named Mica, was extremely kind and shuttled down to the Orange store for some more essential shopping. Orange store you say? What on earth does a community need with an entire store dedicated to a delicious acidic fruit? Don't be ridiculous. It's only a cell phone store. Have a little more faith in the country, jeez. So anyhow, after many hours trying to understand our options and rates and phones and blah, blah, blah, we have local cell phones. If you would like the numbers email me and I'd be happy to oblige. After receiving a few random comments from anonymous spammers I'd prefer not to post them on the blog.
So that was the majority of the day. This evening has been just as fascinating however. I discovered (not really, I just hooked it up. I've known about it for a while.) Skype. I've become an addict and yet, I don't really have anyone to use it with yet besides my mother. If you are technologically unknowledgeable, Skype is a fantastic program for most modern operation systems that allows people to talk for free over the internet anywhere in the world. All you need is the program, a microphone and a set of headphones and you're good to go. Sure, that's amazing but that's not all! Skype not only slices and dices and slashes the prices, with just a small investment of $22.00 dollars, I purchased a local CT number that allows people at home to make a free phone call on a regular phone that makes my computer in Israel ring and enables us to talk for absolutely free any time, day or night. Also, I can make Skype calls to regular phones at home for the next to nothing price of just 2 cents a minute. That's cheaper than dirt cheap. How could you go wrong? Get in on it today and visit www.skype.com, or just email me for the local CT number so that we can speak anytime for however long we'd like.
So that's the scoop. Don't think I've left anything important out, but you never know. I may wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, just itching to tell the world some important detail I've carelessly omitted. Or maybe it can wait til tomorrow. Goodnight.
Holy shit. That's all I can come up with to describe the past 24 hours. I'll attempt an explanation:
Yesterday, Gillian and I woke up at 5am in order to make an 8:30am flight from London Heathrow. Several hours later we landed at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. After a pleasant flight and lots of laughs from watching Wedding Crashers we got off the airplane and shlepped down to passport control whereupon Gillian realized she had forgotten her cell phone on the plane prompting me to run (yes, i ran) back to the gate and find a security person to help me find the phone. In the end, the phone beat us through customs and was waiting at the Lost & Found station in the baggage claim. So, I did a lot of running for nothing.
Next, we met up with our very talkative (in impressively fluent english) taxi driver. He shuttled us to the college all the while talking politics, economics, and god knows what else. I think all we really wanted to do was sleep, but it was a nice ride anyway. So there we are, exhausted, confused, out of our element, not knowing what to expect, and we're shown into the dormitory that will house us for the next 6 months. Wow. For the first time in our lives, Gillian and I are the proud occupants of a two bedroom apartment. Sure, it doesn't have a full kitchen, but it's ten times what we expected. Honestly, we didn't know what to expect but what we got is far beyond what we would have expected if we had been expecting anything. Luckily, a nice gentleman named Mark, a student here at the college, gave us a brief tour of the campus after translating how each appliance worked for the dormitory supervisor. He was very helpful and even offered to hang out with us. And no, it was not out of pity for the silly americans.
Considering that airplane food was the only sustenance obtained all day it quickly became clear that finding something to eat was of the highest importance. After talking (from here on out it will be known that the word "talking" stands for "awkwardly attempting to communicate with people who either speak only Hebrew or broken English) to a few people we ventured off campus and went scavenging for food. after a number of wrong turns and conversations (same definition as above) with locals we stumbled upon something magical in the distance. For a short time we had trouble making the figure out, but it seemed to be glowing. Upon further inspection, the sign seemed to call to us, as if it were saying, "Everything is going to be alright. You aren't going to starve in this strange land." And then, it all became clear as the golden arches came into focus. I have to say that I find it oddly comforting that no matter where you go in the world McDonalds french fries taste exactly the same. Am I slightly ashamed that I travelled half-way around the world to consume my first meal in the holy land at an awful American fast-food export? No, we were fucking hungry.
Airplane food and McDonalds can really screw up your internal organs, so we'll skip through the rest of the night and move right on to the events of this morning.
If I thought my stomach was turning, you should have seen my head spin today. First thing we had a breakfast appointment with our contact and shepherd here on campus, a lovely woman named Maxine. Born in Philly and an Israeli resident for over 30 years, Maxine couldn't understand our situation any better. Anyhow, back to breakfast. We met her in the dining cafe, a low key place where students hangout throughout the day and are greeted with a full scale israeli meal. Dining at the only table with a table cloth, we consumed delicious pastries, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, orange juice, tea, etc. It was wonderful.
After breakfast Maxine took us on a full tour of the campus and introduced us to everyone, including the president of the college. We were paraded around like prize turkeys, shuffled from office to office for inspection. It was overwhelming. I can honestly say that I've met a very large number of people in a very short period of time and each one of them and been kinder and more anxious to be of assistance than the last. If this continues I'll be in serious need of a New Yorker's attitude in order to keep me sane and balanced. It's just not normal for so many people to be so helpful.
Talk about going above and beyond, Maxine finished her welcome wagon schedule with a tour of downtown Karmiel and a trip to the supermarket so that Gillian and I could obtain some food stuffs and other necessary items to make our apartment a home. Later in the day, Lillit, the human resources officer for the college, an extremely nice woman we met on our whirlwind tour of the college and a recent grandmother to a beautiful new granddaughter named Mica, was extremely kind and shuttled down to the Orange store for some more essential shopping. Orange store you say? What on earth does a community need with an entire store dedicated to a delicious acidic fruit? Don't be ridiculous. It's only a cell phone store. Have a little more faith in the country, jeez. So anyhow, after many hours trying to understand our options and rates and phones and blah, blah, blah, we have local cell phones. If you would like the numbers email me and I'd be happy to oblige. After receiving a few random comments from anonymous spammers I'd prefer not to post them on the blog.
So that was the majority of the day. This evening has been just as fascinating however. I discovered (not really, I just hooked it up. I've known about it for a while.) Skype. I've become an addict and yet, I don't really have anyone to use it with yet besides my mother. If you are technologically unknowledgeable, Skype is a fantastic program for most modern operation systems that allows people to talk for free over the internet anywhere in the world. All you need is the program, a microphone and a set of headphones and you're good to go. Sure, that's amazing but that's not all! Skype not only slices and dices and slashes the prices, with just a small investment of $22.00 dollars, I purchased a local CT number that allows people at home to make a free phone call on a regular phone that makes my computer in Israel ring and enables us to talk for absolutely free any time, day or night. Also, I can make Skype calls to regular phones at home for the next to nothing price of just 2 cents a minute. That's cheaper than dirt cheap. How could you go wrong? Get in on it today and visit www.skype.com, or just email me for the local CT number so that we can speak anytime for however long we'd like.
So that's the scoop. Don't think I've left anything important out, but you never know. I may wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, just itching to tell the world some important detail I've carelessly omitted. Or maybe it can wait til tomorrow. Goodnight.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
...worth a thousand words
Until now I haven't been able to post pictures so we've got a little bit of catching up to do. This first pic is of Yvette & Alan's home in Stamford, England. It's very pretty and fairly small but we were very cozy and comfortable.
This one is of the house that Gillian & I purchased during our stay in England. I can't tell you how much we paid for it because of the complicated exchange rate between dollars and pounds and bullshit but I can assure you we got a very good deal. It's known as Burghley House and is situated on a tremendous amount of land.
This is Fotheringhay Church where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned and beheaded. Lovely don't you think?
Monday, November 14, 2005
The Last Dispatch From London...
A week gone by in London, two in England and I more than ready to move on. Who's with me? Grab your coat, throw away your umbrella, check out of your cell at 5am and we're off to the airport. Next stop on our whirlwind trip around the world: Israel!
Tomorrow we'll leave the gray skies of the Uk behind us and join our Jewish friends in the birthplace of all religion, where Gillian and I will live and work for 6 months at the ORT Braude College of Engineering in Karmiel.
OK, I'll touch base with you blokes when we touch down on the otherside. Hope things are good and the weather is better than it is here... Thank god we're leaving. Come to think of it, I'll just thank him when I get to Israel. I hear he keeps office hours there.
Tomorrow we'll leave the gray skies of the Uk behind us and join our Jewish friends in the birthplace of all religion, where Gillian and I will live and work for 6 months at the ORT Braude College of Engineering in Karmiel.
OK, I'll touch base with you blokes when we touch down on the otherside. Hope things are good and the weather is better than it is here... Thank god we're leaving. Come to think of it, I'll just thank him when I get to Israel. I hear he keeps office hours there.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Filling in the details
My feet hurt. We've walked up, down and around this damn city and my feet hurt. Don't get me wrong, I still swear by my Merrells, but when you spend one day walking through 3 museums (Globe Theatre, Tate Modern & Hayward Gallery) and then walk from Trafalgar Square down The Mall to Buckingham Palace, you're tootsies are bound to be in pain. But I guess it's worth it...
I've done a lot in the past two weeks that I haven't shared with you either because I didn't have the time or I forgot. Now is no better a time nor has my memory improved but here we go:
Out in the countryside, while staying with Gillian's family, I drove their car. Sure it doesn't sound like much until you remember that they drive go-carts with manual transmissions and if you drive on the right side of the road you face the distict possibility of driving into oncoming traffic. Luckily, (or not depending on the way you look at it) out in the countryside the roads are only wide enough for one car anyway so worrying about left and right is almost moot. The grass along the roadside is littered with tire tracks... and provided that the steering wheel is on the other side of the car I also deem it an accomplishment that I only struck the curb once as a result of a screwed up sense of perspective.
Theater: We've seen 2 shows. 1 musical and 1 play. The Producers was lots of fun but not as good as the production I saw on Broadway. Gillian throughly enjoyed it but agreed with most of my critcisms and even had a few of her own. All in all, it was worth seeing and a most enjoyable evening.
The play we saw was A Few Good Men starring Rob Lowe and written by Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing. A beautiful production but alas not good enough to escape my critical eyes & ears. Unfortunately, it seems that shows produced in the West End that take place in America require the british actors to put on bad american accents, and this in turn screws up the comedic timing and ultimate flow of the show. Both The Producers & A Few Good Men were plagued by this. Gillian astutely referred to the productions as "crippled." I whole-heartedly agree.
That's just a brief overview, if you really care about my thoughts on either show in depth, email me and I'll elaborate. For now, I'm moving on.
Dessert: After The Producers, Gillian and I felt like dessert and popped into an interesting-looking establishment around the corner from the theater. Decor designed by an operatic set designer, you can imagine what it looked like. We sat down, glanced at the menu and ordered, Gillian the Creme Brulee and myself the assorted cheese platter. We wait. Out comes the tiny dish of Creme Brulee and for me a huge tray with 6 cheeses. Full wedges and blocks of cheese accompanied by a beach ball sized basket of breadsticks and toasts. Gillian and I are stunned long enough for the waiter to go back into the kitchen and return with a "on-the-house" fruit platter incuding 6 apples, 6 oranges, 3 banannas and 1 kiwi all nicely arranged around a gigantic pineapple. At this point we think it to be a joke... you know, "Ha, ha, stupid americans, think they can come in here and order dessert like normal people. We'll show them!" But alas, it was no joke, and I proceeded to eat lots of cheese.
So that's all I can remember for now. I'm sure there's more and I'll remember it all as soon as I sign off and start wandering around the next museum. Hope alls well at home!
I've done a lot in the past two weeks that I haven't shared with you either because I didn't have the time or I forgot. Now is no better a time nor has my memory improved but here we go:
Out in the countryside, while staying with Gillian's family, I drove their car. Sure it doesn't sound like much until you remember that they drive go-carts with manual transmissions and if you drive on the right side of the road you face the distict possibility of driving into oncoming traffic. Luckily, (or not depending on the way you look at it) out in the countryside the roads are only wide enough for one car anyway so worrying about left and right is almost moot. The grass along the roadside is littered with tire tracks... and provided that the steering wheel is on the other side of the car I also deem it an accomplishment that I only struck the curb once as a result of a screwed up sense of perspective.
Theater: We've seen 2 shows. 1 musical and 1 play. The Producers was lots of fun but not as good as the production I saw on Broadway. Gillian throughly enjoyed it but agreed with most of my critcisms and even had a few of her own. All in all, it was worth seeing and a most enjoyable evening.
The play we saw was A Few Good Men starring Rob Lowe and written by Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing. A beautiful production but alas not good enough to escape my critical eyes & ears. Unfortunately, it seems that shows produced in the West End that take place in America require the british actors to put on bad american accents, and this in turn screws up the comedic timing and ultimate flow of the show. Both The Producers & A Few Good Men were plagued by this. Gillian astutely referred to the productions as "crippled." I whole-heartedly agree.
That's just a brief overview, if you really care about my thoughts on either show in depth, email me and I'll elaborate. For now, I'm moving on.
Dessert: After The Producers, Gillian and I felt like dessert and popped into an interesting-looking establishment around the corner from the theater. Decor designed by an operatic set designer, you can imagine what it looked like. We sat down, glanced at the menu and ordered, Gillian the Creme Brulee and myself the assorted cheese platter. We wait. Out comes the tiny dish of Creme Brulee and for me a huge tray with 6 cheeses. Full wedges and blocks of cheese accompanied by a beach ball sized basket of breadsticks and toasts. Gillian and I are stunned long enough for the waiter to go back into the kitchen and return with a "on-the-house" fruit platter incuding 6 apples, 6 oranges, 3 banannas and 1 kiwi all nicely arranged around a gigantic pineapple. At this point we think it to be a joke... you know, "Ha, ha, stupid americans, think they can come in here and order dessert like normal people. We'll show them!" But alas, it was no joke, and I proceeded to eat lots of cheese.
So that's all I can remember for now. I'm sure there's more and I'll remember it all as soon as I sign off and start wandering around the next museum. Hope alls well at home!
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Pressed For Time
AHHH! I hate internet cafes. I'm sitting in an internet cafe around the corner from our hotel (which is awful. details to come) and above my browser window is a countdown of how long I have until I have to pay more money. It's really stressful. 14 minutes and 22 seconds to go...
The Hotel: The Hyde Park Court Hotel is awful in every way. awfully small, awfully dirty, awfully expensive for what you get. Our toilet is in our shower stall and you can brush your teeth from the shower stall. If I flex my elbows I hit both walls. The room is no picnic either. For those of you who have heard me complain about my accomodations at SVA, you can apply the same descriptions here. It's tiny and cell-like, has barely enough room between the bed and dresser to stand up and we found a bottle of sour milk on our window sill. Did I mention that we have four heavy bags and there is no elevator? A word of advice to future travellers: Stay elsewhere.
So I've got 10 minutes left and I keep having to edit my mistakes. The keyboards here in the UK are only slightly different than US keyboards.
Today was a productive and tiring day: We walked and shopped a lot along Oxford Street and Covent Gardens. Tonight we're going to a show. The Producers. I can't wait cause it's an awesome show. Gillian has never seen it but I have. It should be lots of fun.
That's all I've got for now. More to come after we've done and seen more. Keep the comments coming!
The Hotel: The Hyde Park Court Hotel is awful in every way. awfully small, awfully dirty, awfully expensive for what you get. Our toilet is in our shower stall and you can brush your teeth from the shower stall. If I flex my elbows I hit both walls. The room is no picnic either. For those of you who have heard me complain about my accomodations at SVA, you can apply the same descriptions here. It's tiny and cell-like, has barely enough room between the bed and dresser to stand up and we found a bottle of sour milk on our window sill. Did I mention that we have four heavy bags and there is no elevator? A word of advice to future travellers: Stay elsewhere.
So I've got 10 minutes left and I keep having to edit my mistakes. The keyboards here in the UK are only slightly different than US keyboards.
Today was a productive and tiring day: We walked and shopped a lot along Oxford Street and Covent Gardens. Tonight we're going to a show. The Producers. I can't wait cause it's an awesome show. Gillian has never seen it but I have. It should be lots of fun.
That's all I've got for now. More to come after we've done and seen more. Keep the comments coming!
Sunday, November 06, 2005
First Entry of Interest
Here I sit, in Stamford, England, having been the guest of Gillian's Aunt Yvette & Uncle Alan. They have been wonderful hosts and thus far have taken excellent care of us. Between Toad in the Hole and Shepherd's Pie I've been quite satisfied on the food front and god knows I've had enough tea to last me a lifetime.
The story of my flight over here isn't very interesting I'm afraid. I left from JFK in NY on Tuesday night with my mother and Gillian's mother Michele bidding me fairwell. My flight left at 8:30pm and six hours later I landed at Heathrow airport in London, England at 8:30am. Luckily I'm one of those people who can sleep anywhere and I was able to get a few hours of shut-eye. I did however watch The Fantastic Four movie on a tiny screen 8 inches from my face and it was aweful. I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with the fact the screen was so close I couldn't focus on the image. The movie was just bad. Although I have to say that seeing Jessica Alba only 8 inches from my face made my in-flight nap that much more enjoyable.
After disembarking from the plane I trekked a mile and a half to the customs line where a scary looking woman asked me various questions to make sure I wasn't a terrorist (I think the facial hair makes them suspicious) and that I knew where I was going. When I told her I was on my way to Peterborough to spectate at a fox hunt, her frightening face changed and she promptly told me that she should be the last person I tell my plans to. Apparently, the rumors are true and the majority of England is vehemently against "The Hunt". (Did you know that on UK computers the @ symbol and the " symbol are in reverse locations on the keyboard?)
So we've been here for 5 days and much of our time has been taken up with very funny conversations with Yvette & Alan. They both have excellent senses of humor and enjoy wine. Lots of wine. We're getting along swimmingly...
A day trip here and there has taken us to Burghley House, which is much more of a mansion or castle than it is a house considering it's massive, has a moat and stands on a ridiculous amount of land. Yesterday we took a train to Cambridge and tried to fit in with smart people. It appears that having an English accent doesn't automatically make you an intellectual. We saw a few "Uni" or University buildings, traipsed around a few art galleries and the hopped back on the train back to Peterborough for a late dinner out in Stamford with Yvette & Alan.
Tomorrow is our last day here as we will be travelling to London in the evening. I have no idea what we'll be doing there yet but I'm sure we'll figure something out.
As far as Israel goes, I still can't believe I'm in England so comprehending 6 months in Israel isn't really feasible at the moment. What I do know is that when we get off the plane in Tel Aviv, a taxi will be waiting to pick us up and take us to Karmiel. So that's a start.
It will probably be a few days before I can get back on the interweb (europeans are weird)but when I do I'll try and throw a few picture up here.
Hope all is well back in the states. Lots of love.
The story of my flight over here isn't very interesting I'm afraid. I left from JFK in NY on Tuesday night with my mother and Gillian's mother Michele bidding me fairwell. My flight left at 8:30pm and six hours later I landed at Heathrow airport in London, England at 8:30am. Luckily I'm one of those people who can sleep anywhere and I was able to get a few hours of shut-eye. I did however watch The Fantastic Four movie on a tiny screen 8 inches from my face and it was aweful. I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with the fact the screen was so close I couldn't focus on the image. The movie was just bad. Although I have to say that seeing Jessica Alba only 8 inches from my face made my in-flight nap that much more enjoyable.
After disembarking from the plane I trekked a mile and a half to the customs line where a scary looking woman asked me various questions to make sure I wasn't a terrorist (I think the facial hair makes them suspicious) and that I knew where I was going. When I told her I was on my way to Peterborough to spectate at a fox hunt, her frightening face changed and she promptly told me that she should be the last person I tell my plans to. Apparently, the rumors are true and the majority of England is vehemently against "The Hunt". (Did you know that on UK computers the @ symbol and the " symbol are in reverse locations on the keyboard?)
So we've been here for 5 days and much of our time has been taken up with very funny conversations with Yvette & Alan. They both have excellent senses of humor and enjoy wine. Lots of wine. We're getting along swimmingly...
A day trip here and there has taken us to Burghley House, which is much more of a mansion or castle than it is a house considering it's massive, has a moat and stands on a ridiculous amount of land. Yesterday we took a train to Cambridge and tried to fit in with smart people. It appears that having an English accent doesn't automatically make you an intellectual. We saw a few "Uni" or University buildings, traipsed around a few art galleries and the hopped back on the train back to Peterborough for a late dinner out in Stamford with Yvette & Alan.
Tomorrow is our last day here as we will be travelling to London in the evening. I have no idea what we'll be doing there yet but I'm sure we'll figure something out.
As far as Israel goes, I still can't believe I'm in England so comprehending 6 months in Israel isn't really feasible at the moment. What I do know is that when we get off the plane in Tel Aviv, a taxi will be waiting to pick us up and take us to Karmiel. So that's a start.
It will probably be a few days before I can get back on the interweb (europeans are weird)but when I do I'll try and throw a few picture up here.
Hope all is well back in the states. Lots of love.
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