Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Sam Harris on CSPAN2
| An abridged version of a speech by Sam Harris in New York City, November 2005. Harris outlines much of the content of his bestseller, "The End of Faith." | |
Monday, August 21, 2006
Monday, August 07, 2006
god bless vhs...
You thought literary memories were cool? Last night I found videotapes dating back to my Grandfather's 70th birthday. I WAS 3 when Pop Pop turned 70.
I even have a tape of David Hermelin's video tribute to his wife on her 5oth birthday. Who is David Hermelin you ask? David was a friend of my father's, a huge supporter of ORT, the organization my father ran, and oh yeah, he was also the U.S. ambassador to Norway... during the Oslo accords... Yeah, well I think it's cool...
I also have audio tapes. An audio tape of me, singing Oklahoma! at a Florida flea market at age 4. An audio tape of the Safam song I played at the unveiling of my father's head stone when I was 9. An audio tape of the last family interview with my great-grandma on my mother's mother's side, Eva. She was one of 9 kids and the bearer of numerous stories about each of them and their offspring.
On 8mm, I have my bar mitzvah trip to Israel in 1995. Hobbes' first days as a member of the Klein family. A science project I did with Ethan Schwartz, casting Ethan's little brother Alex as an alien from Alpha Centauri. My mother played the news anchor. Somewhere, I also have 4 tapes, totalling 8 hours in all, of footage from Poland and Israel. The photography is terrible, but it is a chronicle of the 2 weeks I spent visiting concentration camps in Poland and, with new eyes, travelled to Israel to celebrate Israel's 50 year anniversary in 1998.
My memory is shit. If you asked right now what it said in paragraph one of this post I wouldn't be able to tell you without scrolling up. To have such a plethora of memories, captured on a variety of media, is a blessing. But also a curse... I am not looking forward to transfering everything to DVD and MP3...
I even have a tape of David Hermelin's video tribute to his wife on her 5oth birthday. Who is David Hermelin you ask? David was a friend of my father's, a huge supporter of ORT, the organization my father ran, and oh yeah, he was also the U.S. ambassador to Norway... during the Oslo accords... Yeah, well I think it's cool...
I also have audio tapes. An audio tape of me, singing Oklahoma! at a Florida flea market at age 4. An audio tape of the Safam song I played at the unveiling of my father's head stone when I was 9. An audio tape of the last family interview with my great-grandma on my mother's mother's side, Eva. She was one of 9 kids and the bearer of numerous stories about each of them and their offspring.
On 8mm, I have my bar mitzvah trip to Israel in 1995. Hobbes' first days as a member of the Klein family. A science project I did with Ethan Schwartz, casting Ethan's little brother Alex as an alien from Alpha Centauri. My mother played the news anchor. Somewhere, I also have 4 tapes, totalling 8 hours in all, of footage from Poland and Israel. The photography is terrible, but it is a chronicle of the 2 weeks I spent visiting concentration camps in Poland and, with new eyes, travelled to Israel to celebrate Israel's 50 year anniversary in 1998.
My memory is shit. If you asked right now what it said in paragraph one of this post I wouldn't be able to tell you without scrolling up. To have such a plethora of memories, captured on a variety of media, is a blessing. But also a curse... I am not looking forward to transfering everything to DVD and MP3...
Monday, July 31, 2006
Family History in a Box
Since the insanity hit fever pitch I've been tossed into the frey of cleaning out my home. Forced to segregate everything my mother and I owned into one of three categories, I am forever making little decisions and seemingly forever avoiding the big ones. The three categories are as follows: 1) Stuff I Want To Keep, 2) Stuff I Don't Want To Keep, and 3) Stuff I Want To Keep But Can't.
Among the stuff ensnared in category one I have compiled a full 2 boxes worth of various writings, letters, notes, poems, songs, articles, cards, invitations, announcements, and other items involving ink and paper, that have been exchanged over the years between the most important people in my life. Love notes from my father to my mother. Love notes from my grandfather to my grandmother. Articles sent from my grandmother to my father about various things of mutual interest. Poems written by my mother to my father. Poems written by my grandfather to my mother. Letters from my uncle to my mother regarding his college applications. Letters from some guy my mom went to college with who then moved to Paris and continued sending her notes that appear to be harmless but infer some sort of relationship may have taken place.
The most interesting of my discoveries comes in the form of The Nothing Book. The Nothing Book started out once upon a time as just that... a book with nothing in it. The cover of the book asks a simple question, "Wanna make something of it?" Scrawled on my Nothing Book's pages are a chronicle of the first months of my parent's relationship, pre-marriage. Upon its pages I have found notes to one another following momentous occasions such as the first dinner meeting of my mother and her future mother in-law or perhaps more daunting at the time, the evenings on which my mother was introduced to each of my father's children. Between its covers, The Nothing Book hold an extraordinary insight to the love my parents held for one another and furthermore, a roadmap for the early stages of their life-journey together.
Perhaps everyone has one of these. I do not know. I hope not. For the moment it makes me feel as if my parents have left me with something positive. Something I don't have to make a decision about. Something no one could not keep.
Among the stuff ensnared in category one I have compiled a full 2 boxes worth of various writings, letters, notes, poems, songs, articles, cards, invitations, announcements, and other items involving ink and paper, that have been exchanged over the years between the most important people in my life. Love notes from my father to my mother. Love notes from my grandfather to my grandmother. Articles sent from my grandmother to my father about various things of mutual interest. Poems written by my mother to my father. Poems written by my grandfather to my mother. Letters from my uncle to my mother regarding his college applications. Letters from some guy my mom went to college with who then moved to Paris and continued sending her notes that appear to be harmless but infer some sort of relationship may have taken place.
The most interesting of my discoveries comes in the form of The Nothing Book. The Nothing Book started out once upon a time as just that... a book with nothing in it. The cover of the book asks a simple question, "Wanna make something of it?" Scrawled on my Nothing Book's pages are a chronicle of the first months of my parent's relationship, pre-marriage. Upon its pages I have found notes to one another following momentous occasions such as the first dinner meeting of my mother and her future mother in-law or perhaps more daunting at the time, the evenings on which my mother was introduced to each of my father's children. Between its covers, The Nothing Book hold an extraordinary insight to the love my parents held for one another and furthermore, a roadmap for the early stages of their life-journey together.
Perhaps everyone has one of these. I do not know. I hope not. For the moment it makes me feel as if my parents have left me with something positive. Something I don't have to make a decision about. Something no one could not keep.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
info overload
Talk about time gone by...
As it stood last time we spoke my mother had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, had undergone her first chemotherapy treatment and was optimistically on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, the road to recovery was under construction and we got lost on the detour.
On May 24th, 2006, Thea Klein, my mother, died from complications due to ovarian cancer. Complications implies that it wasn't actually the cancer that killed her, but all of the lousy symptoms and ancillary diseases and whatnot that did her in. From the beginning people have asked, "Lung cancer?" when I have failed to state its ovarian nature up front. To these people with a gift of intuition, rest assured, emphysema was ovarian cancer's accomplice. In short, following her first chemotherapy treatment, mom's immune system shut down and welcomed with open arms, every possible infection it could.
Sure there are gory details. Sure there are heartbreaking moments. Sure, there are even devastating recollections from these few weeks of my life. The last few weeks of hers. I find them unneccessary to share, and moreover I find myself not wanting to share them.
As blogs seem to be for updating a faceless public with pointless information about oneself and oneself's schedule, activities and future plans, here are mine to date:
I am liquidating almost all that I own. Some out of desire but mostly out of neccessity. A 23 yr old who graduated with a degree in film is in no position to make a mortgage payment and furthermore has no ability to house and store everything his parents and their parents aquired from birth.
I obtained a temporary position with a large corporation (actually a small contractor at a large corporation) and have been working at UBS for almost 6 weeks. I do not love it, nor do I love when people ask if I love it. It will do for now. I work with nice people in a tolerable environment. (I am also compensated handsomely.)
I bought myself a present. I am the proud owner of a brand new Scion tC automobile. I deserve it.
I fully intend to sell my mother's condo by October and am currently planning on moving to Los Angeles to pursue an actual career.
These are my immediate plans and activities. I'm not sure what it accomplishes by posting them on the internet, but there they are.
Also, worth mentioning, since my last post, Israel has become involved in a war on two fronts, one with Hamas in the Gaza strip and the other with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Both began following unprovoked kidnappings of IDF soldiers. In a few short weeks Israelis have once again been backed into their bomb shelters with unprecedented attacks reaching farther into Israel than previously thought possible. Our friends are in shelters. The college campus we stayed on has been hit by several missles and students we worked with have been quoted by international news agencies. Gillian and I have been incredibly sad lately, and furthermore, I have almost felt guily for not being there to experience it with them. It must sound nuts, but it is how I feel. If nothing else, I hope you stay glued to the news and follow the story. Ignorance is inexcusable.
As I am quite busy these days, packing, sorting, dumping, working, nervously rocking in corners while sucking my thumb, etc. updating my blog is not of the utmost importance. I do hope you understand. I will try to return to it when things settle down. If they settle down.
Take care.
As it stood last time we spoke my mother had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, had undergone her first chemotherapy treatment and was optimistically on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, the road to recovery was under construction and we got lost on the detour.
On May 24th, 2006, Thea Klein, my mother, died from complications due to ovarian cancer. Complications implies that it wasn't actually the cancer that killed her, but all of the lousy symptoms and ancillary diseases and whatnot that did her in. From the beginning people have asked, "Lung cancer?" when I have failed to state its ovarian nature up front. To these people with a gift of intuition, rest assured, emphysema was ovarian cancer's accomplice. In short, following her first chemotherapy treatment, mom's immune system shut down and welcomed with open arms, every possible infection it could.
Sure there are gory details. Sure there are heartbreaking moments. Sure, there are even devastating recollections from these few weeks of my life. The last few weeks of hers. I find them unneccessary to share, and moreover I find myself not wanting to share them.
As blogs seem to be for updating a faceless public with pointless information about oneself and oneself's schedule, activities and future plans, here are mine to date:
I am liquidating almost all that I own. Some out of desire but mostly out of neccessity. A 23 yr old who graduated with a degree in film is in no position to make a mortgage payment and furthermore has no ability to house and store everything his parents and their parents aquired from birth.
I obtained a temporary position with a large corporation (actually a small contractor at a large corporation) and have been working at UBS for almost 6 weeks. I do not love it, nor do I love when people ask if I love it. It will do for now. I work with nice people in a tolerable environment. (I am also compensated handsomely.)
I bought myself a present. I am the proud owner of a brand new Scion tC automobile. I deserve it.
I fully intend to sell my mother's condo by October and am currently planning on moving to Los Angeles to pursue an actual career.
These are my immediate plans and activities. I'm not sure what it accomplishes by posting them on the internet, but there they are.
Also, worth mentioning, since my last post, Israel has become involved in a war on two fronts, one with Hamas in the Gaza strip and the other with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Both began following unprovoked kidnappings of IDF soldiers. In a few short weeks Israelis have once again been backed into their bomb shelters with unprecedented attacks reaching farther into Israel than previously thought possible. Our friends are in shelters. The college campus we stayed on has been hit by several missles and students we worked with have been quoted by international news agencies. Gillian and I have been incredibly sad lately, and furthermore, I have almost felt guily for not being there to experience it with them. It must sound nuts, but it is how I feel. If nothing else, I hope you stay glued to the news and follow the story. Ignorance is inexcusable.
As I am quite busy these days, packing, sorting, dumping, working, nervously rocking in corners while sucking my thumb, etc. updating my blog is not of the utmost importance. I do hope you understand. I will try to return to it when things settle down. If they settle down.
Take care.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
"Why Did You Drop Off The Planet?" & other queries...
Wow... been a while... don't you hate those awkward moments when you run into a friend you've known forever but haven't spoken to in a while and neither one of you really has any clue what to say to the other past the usual formalities?
Anyway, I ought to just cut right to the chase (a movie-world cliche if you break it down...) and let you know what the hell has been going on these last few weeks. While my last blog entry clearly places my whereabouts in the lovely country of Israel, more specifically the Dead Sea area of Israel, I am no longer there. Nor have I been for quite some time. After leaving the Dead Sea, Gillian & I travelled down to Eilat as planned, spending 5 wonderful days in the sun, beaching it up, eating great food, burning our skin, swimming with dolphins and crossing the border into the country of Jordan to visit the city of Petra. All were excellent experiences (sans skin burning), each with their own detailed description that can only be obtained at the moment by picking up a phone and calling me directly for further info. The reason for glazing over such events will become apparent in a paragraph or two...
After Eilat we worked our way up to Jerusalem, staying with friends, determined to get in one last visit to the holiest city on earth before packing up and heading home. The plan as it stood was to spend 5 days in Jerusalem, 3 in Holon where we would celebrate Pesach (Passover) with Dan Ziv and family, then move on to Tel Aviv for 3 days to visit more friends and explore that city one last time and then head back to Karmi'el where packing up our stuff could leisurely take place over the course of approximately 2 weeks, interspersed with various final day trips in the North and possibly a rafting or kayaking trip down the Jordan River.
But here's what really happened...
During our stay in the Dead Sea & Eilat, I was in constant contact with my mother for various reasons, the least of which was that it is a national law in Israel for Jewish sons to be in constant contact with their Jewish mothers. The main reason was that for a few weeks she had been complaining of stomach problems and had pretty much been feeling sorta lousy all around. While we were in the Dead Sea she decided she had had enough and finally started seeking a doctor's opinion. Long story short (and trust me, it is a VERY long story), my mother was prediagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer. Just in case any of you readers are focusing on the wrong part of that last sentence out of confusion over what a prediagnosis is, let's just get that definition out of the way, shall we? A prediagnosis means that the doctors made their best guess and a "final diagnosis" would be forthcoming after many more tests. Moving on to the part of the sentence that matters, yes, I used the "C" word.
So, at first, my and Gillian's schedule proceeded as planned, mom not wanting to inconvenience our travel arrangements with her little "condition", but once common sense set in sometime around our 3rd day in Jerusalem, a Monday, she called and asked us to come home. By Monday afternoon we were back in Karmi'el, and by Wednesday morning we had packed up our whole apartment and on our way back down to Holon for Pesach. After spending many hours on the phone with British Airways, conning them into changing our flight itinerary and failing, Mom spent 20 minutes on the phone with them and struck success. So by Friday afternoon we were on a plane headed for London. London, you say? When did Thea pack up the condo in CT and move to the UK? She didn't. We had an unfortunate 12 hour layover in the world's greyist city and stayed at the Heathrow Hilton a short walk off Terminal 4. By Saturday morning JFK welcomed us with open runways.
Since we've been home, mom's final diagnosis came in and yes it's true it's ovarian cancer, they think. Apparently these cancer diagnosis' can be rather tricky. They won't really know if it's ovarian in nature until they see how the cells respond to chemotherapy, which by the way we started this past Thursday. 5 more sessions to go...
Overall, things have been ridiculously hectic around here as I'm sure you can all imagine. So far I'm ok and mom is doing alright. We're just glad to be moving forward and finally beginning the treatment so that all of the shitty symptoms she's been experiencing go away as soon as possible. This post hardly does the ups and downs of this journey any justice, but it ain't easy cramming all the pertinent info into such a condensed form. As always I welcome questions or comments just in case you've got any.
Anyway, I ought to just cut right to the chase (a movie-world cliche if you break it down...) and let you know what the hell has been going on these last few weeks. While my last blog entry clearly places my whereabouts in the lovely country of Israel, more specifically the Dead Sea area of Israel, I am no longer there. Nor have I been for quite some time. After leaving the Dead Sea, Gillian & I travelled down to Eilat as planned, spending 5 wonderful days in the sun, beaching it up, eating great food, burning our skin, swimming with dolphins and crossing the border into the country of Jordan to visit the city of Petra. All were excellent experiences (sans skin burning), each with their own detailed description that can only be obtained at the moment by picking up a phone and calling me directly for further info. The reason for glazing over such events will become apparent in a paragraph or two...
After Eilat we worked our way up to Jerusalem, staying with friends, determined to get in one last visit to the holiest city on earth before packing up and heading home. The plan as it stood was to spend 5 days in Jerusalem, 3 in Holon where we would celebrate Pesach (Passover) with Dan Ziv and family, then move on to Tel Aviv for 3 days to visit more friends and explore that city one last time and then head back to Karmi'el where packing up our stuff could leisurely take place over the course of approximately 2 weeks, interspersed with various final day trips in the North and possibly a rafting or kayaking trip down the Jordan River.
But here's what really happened...
During our stay in the Dead Sea & Eilat, I was in constant contact with my mother for various reasons, the least of which was that it is a national law in Israel for Jewish sons to be in constant contact with their Jewish mothers. The main reason was that for a few weeks she had been complaining of stomach problems and had pretty much been feeling sorta lousy all around. While we were in the Dead Sea she decided she had had enough and finally started seeking a doctor's opinion. Long story short (and trust me, it is a VERY long story), my mother was prediagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer. Just in case any of you readers are focusing on the wrong part of that last sentence out of confusion over what a prediagnosis is, let's just get that definition out of the way, shall we? A prediagnosis means that the doctors made their best guess and a "final diagnosis" would be forthcoming after many more tests. Moving on to the part of the sentence that matters, yes, I used the "C" word.
So, at first, my and Gillian's schedule proceeded as planned, mom not wanting to inconvenience our travel arrangements with her little "condition", but once common sense set in sometime around our 3rd day in Jerusalem, a Monday, she called and asked us to come home. By Monday afternoon we were back in Karmi'el, and by Wednesday morning we had packed up our whole apartment and on our way back down to Holon for Pesach. After spending many hours on the phone with British Airways, conning them into changing our flight itinerary and failing, Mom spent 20 minutes on the phone with them and struck success. So by Friday afternoon we were on a plane headed for London. London, you say? When did Thea pack up the condo in CT and move to the UK? She didn't. We had an unfortunate 12 hour layover in the world's greyist city and stayed at the Heathrow Hilton a short walk off Terminal 4. By Saturday morning JFK welcomed us with open runways.
Since we've been home, mom's final diagnosis came in and yes it's true it's ovarian cancer, they think. Apparently these cancer diagnosis' can be rather tricky. They won't really know if it's ovarian in nature until they see how the cells respond to chemotherapy, which by the way we started this past Thursday. 5 more sessions to go...
Overall, things have been ridiculously hectic around here as I'm sure you can all imagine. So far I'm ok and mom is doing alright. We're just glad to be moving forward and finally beginning the treatment so that all of the shitty symptoms she's been experiencing go away as soon as possible. This post hardly does the ups and downs of this journey any justice, but it ain't easy cramming all the pertinent info into such a condensed form. As always I welcome questions or comments just in case you've got any.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
3 min. left...
i'm at the sole computer at our hotel at the Dead Sea and only have 3 minutes left on my 30 miunute card i purchased for an extravagant $4. crazy.
quick update on what we did today:
Woke up at 3am, climbed Masada, a famous mountain fortress, in pitch black and then watched the sunrise at the top.
After a great breakfast back at the hotel we headed to Ein Gedi, an oasis, and swam in a spring under a waterfall. then i took a nap which was followed by a Swedish massage.
What did you do today?
quick update on what we did today:
Woke up at 3am, climbed Masada, a famous mountain fortress, in pitch black and then watched the sunrise at the top.
After a great breakfast back at the hotel we headed to Ein Gedi, an oasis, and swam in a spring under a waterfall. then i took a nap which was followed by a Swedish massage.
What did you do today?
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Israeli Elections: Part Two
Final Outcome...
Kadima: 28
(Former party of Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister until he suffered a stroke and slipped into a coma. He defected from the Likud party last fall. Ehud Olmert, acting Prime Minister as a result of Sharon's ill state, is now the legitimate leader of the country. Most people seem to think he's as boring as humanly possible. Kadima was originally polling at 44 seats and although still the winner, 28 knesset seats is pretty pathetic.
Labor: 20
Headed by Amir Peretz, the Labor party represents the main-stream left wing of Israel. Peretz is mostly known for his Stalin-like mustache and most people don't seem to take him too seriously. Of course, he now heads the second biggest party in the knesset, so who knows?
Shas: 13
As I understand it (which by no way means it's true), Shas is a quasi-religious party founded by Sephardic Jews who thought they were being discriminated against by Ashkenazi Jews. No, that does not mean Germans. If you're really confused, just email me.
Israel Our Home: 12
The party of the Russian Immigrant. Originally supporters of the National Union party, then supporters of Likud when Sharon was still a member, then supporters of Kadima when Sharon was still conscious, these former USSRers are new to the scene and their strong showing was quite a shock. No one has any idea what to make of it.
Likud: 11
The disaster party. After Sharon's defection this party had trouble keeping its pants from falling around its ankles and tripping on the stairs at the entrance to the Knesset Prom. Lead by former Prime Minister Bebe Netanyahu, Likud was once one of the most powerful parties in the country. Now, they're sort of the right-wing red-headed step child the whole family enjoys beating to a bloody pulp.
National Union-NRP: 9
National Religious Party. If you like God, a lot, cast your ballot here. Or so I'm told.
Pensioners Party: 7
Never before have the old people held a Knesset seat and here they are with 7 of them. Some say it was a protest vote. If so, it seems that the geriatric crowd was protesting an early death by boredom brought on by lousy candidates from other parties.
United Torah Judaism: 6
Ultra-Orthodox party. To vote here you not only have to like God a lot, you have to be willing to wear an all black suit and black hat every day. In the desert.
Meretz: 4
By far the party with the best posters, this party featured the leaders of other parties and the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil monkeys. Classic! Oh yeah, and they're left-wingers...
Arab parties:10
Funny, I couldn't really find any information on this party. Seems they represent some group of dissaffected individuals who aren't thrilled with the current state of affairs in the region. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine...
So, 120 seats filled in a Knesset that now has its work cut out for it. Good night & good luck.
Kadima: 28
(Former party of Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister until he suffered a stroke and slipped into a coma. He defected from the Likud party last fall. Ehud Olmert, acting Prime Minister as a result of Sharon's ill state, is now the legitimate leader of the country. Most people seem to think he's as boring as humanly possible. Kadima was originally polling at 44 seats and although still the winner, 28 knesset seats is pretty pathetic.
Labor: 20
Headed by Amir Peretz, the Labor party represents the main-stream left wing of Israel. Peretz is mostly known for his Stalin-like mustache and most people don't seem to take him too seriously. Of course, he now heads the second biggest party in the knesset, so who knows?
Shas: 13
As I understand it (which by no way means it's true), Shas is a quasi-religious party founded by Sephardic Jews who thought they were being discriminated against by Ashkenazi Jews. No, that does not mean Germans. If you're really confused, just email me.
Israel Our Home: 12
The party of the Russian Immigrant. Originally supporters of the National Union party, then supporters of Likud when Sharon was still a member, then supporters of Kadima when Sharon was still conscious, these former USSRers are new to the scene and their strong showing was quite a shock. No one has any idea what to make of it.
Likud: 11
The disaster party. After Sharon's defection this party had trouble keeping its pants from falling around its ankles and tripping on the stairs at the entrance to the Knesset Prom. Lead by former Prime Minister Bebe Netanyahu, Likud was once one of the most powerful parties in the country. Now, they're sort of the right-wing red-headed step child the whole family enjoys beating to a bloody pulp.
National Union-NRP: 9
National Religious Party. If you like God, a lot, cast your ballot here. Or so I'm told.
Pensioners Party: 7
Never before have the old people held a Knesset seat and here they are with 7 of them. Some say it was a protest vote. If so, it seems that the geriatric crowd was protesting an early death by boredom brought on by lousy candidates from other parties.
United Torah Judaism: 6
Ultra-Orthodox party. To vote here you not only have to like God a lot, you have to be willing to wear an all black suit and black hat every day. In the desert.
Meretz: 4
By far the party with the best posters, this party featured the leaders of other parties and the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil monkeys. Classic! Oh yeah, and they're left-wingers...
Arab parties:10
Funny, I couldn't really find any information on this party. Seems they represent some group of dissaffected individuals who aren't thrilled with the current state of affairs in the region. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine...
So, 120 seats filled in a Knesset that now has its work cut out for it. Good night & good luck.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Israeli Elections: Part One
With Israeli elections taking place tomorrow I've been looking for an article, a story, an angle, anything to convey the way I'm perceiving the general atmosphere of the country during this time. I never thought I'd find it in a New York Times Op/Ed, but I did, so here it is.
Stupor in Our Time
Tel Aviv
THE parties my father votes for never get into Parliament. One year he'll vote for some economist with thick glasses who promises a revolution in tax law, the next year for an irate teacher with a ponytail who advocates a revolution in the school system, the year after that for a restaurateur in Jaffa who explains that only a new culinary approach can bring peace to the Middle East.
The one thing these candidates have in common is a genuine desire for fundamental change. That and the naiveté to believe such change is possible. My father, even at the age of 78, is naïve enough to believe this, too. It's one of his finest qualities.
In the last elections, my brother, a founder of the Legalize Marijuana Party, asked my father for his vote. My father found himself in a quandary. On the one hand, it's not every day that your son founds a political party. On the other, my father, who had a taste of the horrors of fascism during World War II, takes all his civic duties very seriously.
"Look," he said to my brother, "It's not that I don't trust you, but there are all these serious people who claim that grass is actually dangerous, and as a person who's never tried it, I can't really be sure they're wrong."
And so, about a week before Election Day, my brother and one of the senior members of the party rolled my father a joint. "What can I tell you, kid?" my father said to me that evening during a slightly hallucinatory phone conversation. "It's not half as good as Chivas — but to make it illegal?" And so my father became the oldest voter for the coolest party in the history of Israel's elections. From the minute he said he would vote for it, I knew it wouldn't get into Parliament.
That's why I'm really surprised that my father, an enthusiastic supporter of underdogs, is going to vote for Kadima, the party of Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The polls say Kadima is a shoo-in. "This is the most boring election campaign in the history of the country," he explained, "and I'm telling you this as a person who's been here since it was founded. I won't even turn on the TV on Election Day — well, maybe for the weather forecast, but that's it. These elections are one big sleeping pill.
"In past elections, there was always a little suspense, something to raise your blood pressure. And it didn't matter whether it was Menachem Begin burning up the town squares with his speeches, or the fuss over Ehud Barak and that brilliant remark of his: 'If I'd been born a Palestinian, I probably would have joined a terrorist group.' This time, there's nothing. Sure, Olmert's smug. But one look at his face and I'm already yawning. Forty years that man has been in politics and he hasn't done a single thing anyone can remember."
"That's not exactly a reason to vote for somebody," I said, trying to argue.
"The hell it isn't," my father replied. "Listen, we've had so many Rabins and Pereses and Begins, people who tried to galvanize everyone with their charisma and energy. None of them ever really managed to bring us peace. I'm telling you, what this region needs is Olmert — someone who'll bore us and the Palestinians so much that we fall into a kind of stupor. A stupor that's a kind of co-existence. A co-existence that's a kind of peace. Forget all that 'peace of the courageous' stuff Barak and Arafat tried to sell us. Even a child knows that courageous people go into battle, they don't make peace. What this region needs is a peace of the tired, and Olmert's the man to put us all to sleep."
On the way home from my parents' house, I began to think that maybe my father was right. And that it wasn't exactly good news. If, after all the hopes and disappointments, all the accords and intifadas, the best a whole country can wish for is a politician so nondescript that the pundits are still arguing over whether he's on the left or the right — if we want a non-event on Election Day — then we really must be exhausted.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Playing Catch-Up...
I am so far behind it's a crime. Truth be told, I have such an abundance of things to write about and pics to post, I'm simply overwhelmed. Gillian and I have been very busy the past few weeks, travelling all over the place and taking an insane amount of photgraphs everywhere we go.
Here is a quick overview of just one trip we took a few weeks back:
We visited an old friend of my parents named Dan Ziv. He is a teacher and former principal of several ORT schools in Israel.
Dan lives in Holon, a suburb of Tel Aviv. The picture above is not of Holon or Tel Aviv. It is of Ashdod. Dan took us there our first day staying with him. It is south of Tel Aviv and has lovely beaches.
Ashdod was only the first stop on our whirlwind tour of the southern coast of Israel. Our next stop was Ashqelon. On the way we passed this sign...
Ashqelon is very ugly.
Good thing Gillian is very pretty. Life always seems to have a way of balancing itself out, doesn't it?
Gillian looking through a man-constructed cave-ish structure. Ancient dwellings are everywhere in Israel. This place is old.
I guess, when I look back on it, Ashqelon wasn't all that bad...
Dinner took place at Dan's home. We met all three of his children. From left to right (not including Gillian & me): Asaf, Etai & Maya.
The next day started off with a trip to Mini Israel. As one might assume from it's name, Mini Israel is in fact a compilation of replicas of major sites around Israel, only mini. The pic above is of the mini BaHai Gardens in Haifa.
This is Tel Aviv. A mini Tel Aviv. Notice the giant green human Godzilla and his "Zilla-kids". This should inform your perspective.
After wondering around Mini Israel and a great afternoon hike, of which I have no pictures worth showing here, we were treated to a walking tour of Tel Aviv, guided by Dan's daughter Maya. While there were many wonderful things seen during our very long and ultimately painful tour, the most important stop for me was in Rabin Square (above).
Just over ten years ago, on November 4th, 1995, Yitzhak Rabin, then Prime Minister of Israel, was assasinated after giving a speech in this square. It has since been named after him.
On November 5th, 1995, myself and 27 members of my family traveled to Israel to celebrate my bar mitzvah. Dan Ziv picked my mother and I up at our hotel the night we landed and brought us to this square to witness the outpouring of emotions during that difficult time. It was a night that will stay with me forever.
To return 10 years later with Dan's daughter as my guide was quite an experience for me. Where once thousands of people stood crying, now is empty, only a few photographs of graffiti memorializing Rabin's death remain to remind an entire nation of one it's saddest moments in history.
After our fantastic visit with Dan and his family, we headed home. But on our way we stopped in Caesearea. An ancient roman theater still stands there and is quite an impressive sight.
This is the Caesearean coast. The site is home to many ruins and was lots of fun to explore.
Gillian and I climbed down to the shoreline and went shell-shopping. Not only did we find some beautiful shells but pieces of ancient pottery embedded in the beach wall almost out-number the shells.
So that's the low-down on only one of our recent excursions. I have so many more pics of this trip and lots of other outings to relay, but it's 4:30am and I'm gonna crash. I'll try and catch up some more as soon as possible. I promise.
Here is a quick overview of just one trip we took a few weeks back:
We visited an old friend of my parents named Dan Ziv. He is a teacher and former principal of several ORT schools in Israel.
Dan lives in Holon, a suburb of Tel Aviv. The picture above is not of Holon or Tel Aviv. It is of Ashdod. Dan took us there our first day staying with him. It is south of Tel Aviv and has lovely beaches.
Ashdod was only the first stop on our whirlwind tour of the southern coast of Israel. Our next stop was Ashqelon. On the way we passed this sign...
Ashqelon is very ugly.
Good thing Gillian is very pretty. Life always seems to have a way of balancing itself out, doesn't it?
Gillian looking through a man-constructed cave-ish structure. Ancient dwellings are everywhere in Israel. This place is old.
I guess, when I look back on it, Ashqelon wasn't all that bad...
Dinner took place at Dan's home. We met all three of his children. From left to right (not including Gillian & me): Asaf, Etai & Maya.
The next day started off with a trip to Mini Israel. As one might assume from it's name, Mini Israel is in fact a compilation of replicas of major sites around Israel, only mini. The pic above is of the mini BaHai Gardens in Haifa.
This is Tel Aviv. A mini Tel Aviv. Notice the giant green human Godzilla and his "Zilla-kids". This should inform your perspective.
After wondering around Mini Israel and a great afternoon hike, of which I have no pictures worth showing here, we were treated to a walking tour of Tel Aviv, guided by Dan's daughter Maya. While there were many wonderful things seen during our very long and ultimately painful tour, the most important stop for me was in Rabin Square (above).
Just over ten years ago, on November 4th, 1995, Yitzhak Rabin, then Prime Minister of Israel, was assasinated after giving a speech in this square. It has since been named after him.On November 5th, 1995, myself and 27 members of my family traveled to Israel to celebrate my bar mitzvah. Dan Ziv picked my mother and I up at our hotel the night we landed and brought us to this square to witness the outpouring of emotions during that difficult time. It was a night that will stay with me forever.
To return 10 years later with Dan's daughter as my guide was quite an experience for me. Where once thousands of people stood crying, now is empty, only a few photographs of graffiti memorializing Rabin's death remain to remind an entire nation of one it's saddest moments in history.
After our fantastic visit with Dan and his family, we headed home. But on our way we stopped in Caesearea. An ancient roman theater still stands there and is quite an impressive sight.
This is the Caesearean coast. The site is home to many ruins and was lots of fun to explore.
Gillian and I climbed down to the shoreline and went shell-shopping. Not only did we find some beautiful shells but pieces of ancient pottery embedded in the beach wall almost out-number the shells.So that's the low-down on only one of our recent excursions. I have so many more pics of this trip and lots of other outings to relay, but it's 4:30am and I'm gonna crash. I'll try and catch up some more as soon as possible. I promise.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Thursday, March 02, 2006
MySpace & other things...
I've only got a few things to post about this evening, the first of which is Gillian. My lovely girlfriend has decided that the blogosphere (I think that's what they call it) was only getting half the story from the holy land and has begun posting to her very own blog. Hosted by MySpace.com, her blog is accompanied by a personal profile, giving you a window into her mind.
Just a word about MySpace.com. If you have yet to browse the mindlessness that is this website network, perhaps you should direct your browser to it's url right now. No, wait, perhaps you should visit the site after you're done with my blog. Regardless, whenever you do check it out, you too will be sucked in and wake up days later wondering what happened to all of the hours you wasted away browsing people's profiles, creating your own profile, finding long lost friend's profiles, posting comments on their profiles and last but not least, posting bulletins to all of your friend's profiles. It really is an amazing site, much like friendster and facebook once were, but it should be noted that practically EVERYONE IS ON MYSPACE. Since joining I have managed to reconnect with a ridiculous amount of people, including my best friend from before nursery school. It's a frighteningly powerful tool...
Anyhow, back to Gillian's blog... you can catch up with her and check out her musings at the following address: http://blog.myspace.com/gilliansocks. Go there now. No, wait, go there after you're done here... but go there.
New info on the wire: We're going down to Holon this weekend to meet an old friend of my family. He used to be the principal of an ORT school here and knew my father quite well. He has promised to take us to "Mini Israel". When I know what the hell that is I will fill you in. Otherwise, we're just going to spend some time there and get out of Karmiel for a weekend.
Speaking of getting out of Karmi'el, wonderful plans are in the works for a great trip to the south of Israel. Another family friend here in Israel is a travel agent and he has been kind enough to go to work on our behalf. Let me tell you, it is good to have a friend with connections to the tourist industry. Especially when you're a tourist. The planned itinerary should be a lot of fun. For the first three days we will be staying at the Dead Sea. I'm not sure what we're gonna do there besides marvel at our inability to drown, but it is a beautiful place and some time in the sun with a good book is a welcome change. After the Dead Sea we're driving down to Eilat, the southern-most city in Israel. There we will stay for 5 nights, soaking up more sun and enjoying the resort city to its fullest. However, the highlight of the trip will be the one day we depart from Eilat and cross the border into Jordan. Once across the border we will meet up with a tour guide who will lead us to the ancient city of Petra. I was there 10 years ago when I came to Israel for my bar mitzvah and I desperately want Gillian to see it. I can honestly say that although it isn't the eight wonder of the world, it should be. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures when I go to explain what I mean.
Other than that, not much has been happening. I'm back to teaching and tutoring and still have no idea how to teach a class. I have no problem commanding a classroom and interacting with students, I'm just not so sure that I'm the most effective way to learn English. Oh well.
Hope things are well with each of you. Drop me an email so that I know you're all well.
Just a word about MySpace.com. If you have yet to browse the mindlessness that is this website network, perhaps you should direct your browser to it's url right now. No, wait, perhaps you should visit the site after you're done with my blog. Regardless, whenever you do check it out, you too will be sucked in and wake up days later wondering what happened to all of the hours you wasted away browsing people's profiles, creating your own profile, finding long lost friend's profiles, posting comments on their profiles and last but not least, posting bulletins to all of your friend's profiles. It really is an amazing site, much like friendster and facebook once were, but it should be noted that practically EVERYONE IS ON MYSPACE. Since joining I have managed to reconnect with a ridiculous amount of people, including my best friend from before nursery school. It's a frighteningly powerful tool...
Anyhow, back to Gillian's blog... you can catch up with her and check out her musings at the following address: http://blog.myspace.com/gilliansocks. Go there now. No, wait, go there after you're done here... but go there.
New info on the wire: We're going down to Holon this weekend to meet an old friend of my family. He used to be the principal of an ORT school here and knew my father quite well. He has promised to take us to "Mini Israel". When I know what the hell that is I will fill you in. Otherwise, we're just going to spend some time there and get out of Karmiel for a weekend.
Speaking of getting out of Karmi'el, wonderful plans are in the works for a great trip to the south of Israel. Another family friend here in Israel is a travel agent and he has been kind enough to go to work on our behalf. Let me tell you, it is good to have a friend with connections to the tourist industry. Especially when you're a tourist. The planned itinerary should be a lot of fun. For the first three days we will be staying at the Dead Sea. I'm not sure what we're gonna do there besides marvel at our inability to drown, but it is a beautiful place and some time in the sun with a good book is a welcome change. After the Dead Sea we're driving down to Eilat, the southern-most city in Israel. There we will stay for 5 nights, soaking up more sun and enjoying the resort city to its fullest. However, the highlight of the trip will be the one day we depart from Eilat and cross the border into Jordan. Once across the border we will meet up with a tour guide who will lead us to the ancient city of Petra. I was there 10 years ago when I came to Israel for my bar mitzvah and I desperately want Gillian to see it. I can honestly say that although it isn't the eight wonder of the world, it should be. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures when I go to explain what I mean.
Other than that, not much has been happening. I'm back to teaching and tutoring and still have no idea how to teach a class. I have no problem commanding a classroom and interacting with students, I'm just not so sure that I'm the most effective way to learn English. Oh well.
Hope things are well with each of you. Drop me an email so that I know you're all well.
Friday, February 24, 2006
What a week...
Wish I could say that this week was the best week ever, but I can't. I've been home all week, sick with a sore throat and a leaky faucet biologists refer to as a nose. I have been sick and miserable all week, unable to go out unto the holy land and return with interesting snipits of information to relay to all of the people who don't read my blog or at least read it but refuse to comment, making it impossible to really know if I'm the only one who cares about what I post up here.
Sorry, it's been a long week.
Gillian, like the trooper she is, put up with me, even going so far as to fold my students into her classes and not bitch too much about it. Teaching one class is hard enough without having to teach two at the same time. Especially considering their skill levels are all over the place. She has also made me tea countless times and also made soup.
I do have to point out one funny thing about the whole being sick situation though... You see, when Gillian and I teach the Ethiopian kids we do so several miles away from where we live. Our commute by car is at least 30 minutes. Sure, it doesn't sound like a big deal, but when the only person registered and insured to drive the rental car is the schmuck with a sore throat and a fever, getting to where you need to go becomes a logistics problem.
For the past two days I mustered up enough energy to drive her and kill some time in a local mall where I didn't have to speak to anyone in my sandpapery tone, however today was a different story. Today, Gillian drove herself, uninsured and unsure of where she was going but got there all the same. Sure, we broke the law, but hey, I have a stuffy nose. Anyhow, she returned unscathed and reassured that driving is not a skill one easily forgets how to do. Remember, she hasn't really been behind the wheel of a vehicle since before she left for France way back in October. Applause are most certainly in order...
In other news, I hope you all have been following the steady stream of lousy stories emanating from our homeland in the past few days. From anti-abortion law to selling the control of our ports to foreign entities with ties to terrorism, few positive things have happened of late. Between the violence that swept across the world regarding the cartoons of Muhammad, the U.N.'s call to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, along with the mosque bombings in Iraq, I can't help but ask if we deserve to eat whatever's in the pot we've been stirring. If nothing else, it's impossible to say that we live in boring times...
It's just good to know that all is right with the world when the photographers who were stalking Princess Diana on the night her limo was run off the road have been brought to justice. That's right, they have been made to pay for the role they had in her death. One whole whopping Euro each. Wow.
Oh wait, before I go, I would be remiss to leave out two of the most important stories of recent news cycles. It's hard not to link these two stories in some sick, uncomfortable, unpleasant, unfortunate way, but it's a tough pill to swallow that they aren't karmically connected anyhow.
It's always an interesting week in the news when the Vice President of the United States shoots a man in the face and only a few days later the first school shooting of the season takes place. Of course, in a normal, sane and just world the NRA would have it's hands full...
That's all I've got for now. Be good.
Sorry, it's been a long week.
Gillian, like the trooper she is, put up with me, even going so far as to fold my students into her classes and not bitch too much about it. Teaching one class is hard enough without having to teach two at the same time. Especially considering their skill levels are all over the place. She has also made me tea countless times and also made soup.
I do have to point out one funny thing about the whole being sick situation though... You see, when Gillian and I teach the Ethiopian kids we do so several miles away from where we live. Our commute by car is at least 30 minutes. Sure, it doesn't sound like a big deal, but when the only person registered and insured to drive the rental car is the schmuck with a sore throat and a fever, getting to where you need to go becomes a logistics problem.
For the past two days I mustered up enough energy to drive her and kill some time in a local mall where I didn't have to speak to anyone in my sandpapery tone, however today was a different story. Today, Gillian drove herself, uninsured and unsure of where she was going but got there all the same. Sure, we broke the law, but hey, I have a stuffy nose. Anyhow, she returned unscathed and reassured that driving is not a skill one easily forgets how to do. Remember, she hasn't really been behind the wheel of a vehicle since before she left for France way back in October. Applause are most certainly in order...
In other news, I hope you all have been following the steady stream of lousy stories emanating from our homeland in the past few days. From anti-abortion law to selling the control of our ports to foreign entities with ties to terrorism, few positive things have happened of late. Between the violence that swept across the world regarding the cartoons of Muhammad, the U.N.'s call to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, along with the mosque bombings in Iraq, I can't help but ask if we deserve to eat whatever's in the pot we've been stirring. If nothing else, it's impossible to say that we live in boring times...
It's just good to know that all is right with the world when the photographers who were stalking Princess Diana on the night her limo was run off the road have been brought to justice. That's right, they have been made to pay for the role they had in her death. One whole whopping Euro each. Wow.
Oh wait, before I go, I would be remiss to leave out two of the most important stories of recent news cycles. It's hard not to link these two stories in some sick, uncomfortable, unpleasant, unfortunate way, but it's a tough pill to swallow that they aren't karmically connected anyhow.
It's always an interesting week in the news when the Vice President of the United States shoots a man in the face and only a few days later the first school shooting of the season takes place. Of course, in a normal, sane and just world the NRA would have it's hands full...
That's all I've got for now. Be good.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Your Show of Shows...
Here is the first true installment of moving pictures from the holy land produced by me.
Click above or click here...
Click above or click here...
An Afternoon In Nahariyya
Nahariyya is a nice town in the North of Israel on the Mediteranean. Although it isn't more than a 25 minute drive from Karmi'el, today was our first excursion to that neck of the woods. We spent the afternoon on the boardwalk, ate cheesecake that had the consistency of flan, and finally found a Chinese restaurant that serves Chinese food. Actually, they serve really good Chinese food. A triumph that punctuated an absolutely gorgeous day.
Insomnia Is Beautiful
I couldn't sleep last night. Just couldn't do it. I simply didn't feel like being unconscious. So, I stayed up to watch the sunrise over Karmi'el and much of Northern Israel. Good thing I didn't forget my camera...
Now With Video!
Sure still pics are great but every once and a while I may feel the need to share a few frames of video with you as well. I hereby officially upgrade The Cultural Deklein from a plain ol' blog to a fancy new vlog (or video blog). Pretty cool huh?To start out I've posted my best work to date just as a test... Back home I freelance for an A/V company and in the office, every Thursday at 4pm, Eugenia the cleaning woman tends the plants.
Click here or on the video window to tune in...
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Ethiopian National Project
So the past few weeks have been crazy. Padded cell crazy. As in "I've stabbed myself with a spoon and need to be placed in a padded cell" crazy.
About 4 weeks ago we got a phone call from one of the women in charge of our stay here in Israel. She runs the English program in practically all of the ORT schools in the country. She informed us that there was a new program desperately in need of teachers that we'd be perfect for. Naturally, she told us that the person in direct charge of the program would get in touch with us to discuss the details. For two weeks we waited by the phone. No call. Then, one Sunday afternoon, while driving around the North of Israel looking for supposedly pretty flowers that grow on the side of the road (the excursion came highly recommended) we received a phone call reminding us to be at a school in Kiryat Bialik at 4pm. The only problem was that no one had mentioned it to us in the first place. So, after cutting our flower hunt short, we arrived at aforementioned school completely unaware that we were walking into a trap.
Unprepared, unready, unequipped, uneverything, Gillian & I were handed schedules and shoved into classrooms where we met the first of many classes we were charged with teaching English. Given no materials to work with, no background on our students, no clue what the purpose of the program was or expectations for the students or ourselves, we submitted to the excruciating experience of being thrown to the wolves.
Now, after a week or two of being stunned, petrified and stuttering and stammering through each classroom encounter, we each teach approximately 6-8 classes of anywhere between 2-7 students, attempting in each session to evaluate their current skill level and inventing the best way to move them forward. At first we had no idea how to proceed (you know, NOT BEING TEACHERS and all) but we recently sat down for a few hours with a British lady who provided us with many worksheets and directed us to a number of resources on the web for struggling ESL teachers.
Anyhow, now that my nightmare has come true, perhaps I should tell you about the fantastic kids who have been put in the unenviable position to be taught English by yours truly.
As the name of the project implies, all of the students in our classes are Ethiopians. You might ask, "But the Ethiopians are from Africa, not the Middle East. Why are there Ethiopians in Israel?" Well, the answer is somewhat complicated, but I'll take a stab at it: They are Ethiopian Jews. "Black Jews?", you might say to yourself, to which I reply, "Fucking awesome, right?"
Anyhow, the simple explanation is that these Ethiopian Jews claim to be the lost tribe of Israel and have either been practicing the traditions for thousands of years or had been forced to convert to Christianity and are just now returning to the Jewish faith. They lived for many years in Ethiopia, often under persecution, and have been immigrating steadily to Israel since the 1980s. However, the majority arrived within one 36-hour period in 1991, when Israel air-lifted almost 15,000 Ethiopian Jews amidst growing political destabilization between the two countries. Operation Solomon as it was called is quite an amazing story.
Many of the students we teach are either first generation Israelis or were very young when their families immigrated. Most of them come from huge families of up to 12 siblings. Their English skills range from "able to communicate" to "barely understands a thing", but throughout they all seem like great kids and we've enjoyed meeting all of them. Below is a picture of a few students Gillian and I worked with the other day. It was Valentine's Day and we taught them about the holiday and had them make valentines for loved ones at home. If you haven't guessed yet, it was all Gillian's idea.
They even made valentines for us...
The thought of being a teacher scares the shit out of me and I'm not sure I'm cut out for this sort of thing but I'm trying and will hopefully not fail too bad. Gillian is much more enthusiastic as usual and seems to be taking quite naturally to the tasks of creating lesson plans and molding young minds. I for one am happy just to make them laugh every now and then between vocabulary words. Of course it's a lot easier to make someone laugh when they understand what you're saying but we're working on that... Also, if nothing else, I think my Hebrew is improving ever so slightly each time a student turns to another student to ask if anyone knows what the hell I'm talking about.
Frankly, I'm not so sure I know what I'm talking about half the time. English is a tough language...
About 4 weeks ago we got a phone call from one of the women in charge of our stay here in Israel. She runs the English program in practically all of the ORT schools in the country. She informed us that there was a new program desperately in need of teachers that we'd be perfect for. Naturally, she told us that the person in direct charge of the program would get in touch with us to discuss the details. For two weeks we waited by the phone. No call. Then, one Sunday afternoon, while driving around the North of Israel looking for supposedly pretty flowers that grow on the side of the road (the excursion came highly recommended) we received a phone call reminding us to be at a school in Kiryat Bialik at 4pm. The only problem was that no one had mentioned it to us in the first place. So, after cutting our flower hunt short, we arrived at aforementioned school completely unaware that we were walking into a trap.
Unprepared, unready, unequipped, uneverything, Gillian & I were handed schedules and shoved into classrooms where we met the first of many classes we were charged with teaching English. Given no materials to work with, no background on our students, no clue what the purpose of the program was or expectations for the students or ourselves, we submitted to the excruciating experience of being thrown to the wolves.
Now, after a week or two of being stunned, petrified and stuttering and stammering through each classroom encounter, we each teach approximately 6-8 classes of anywhere between 2-7 students, attempting in each session to evaluate their current skill level and inventing the best way to move them forward. At first we had no idea how to proceed (you know, NOT BEING TEACHERS and all) but we recently sat down for a few hours with a British lady who provided us with many worksheets and directed us to a number of resources on the web for struggling ESL teachers.
Anyhow, now that my nightmare has come true, perhaps I should tell you about the fantastic kids who have been put in the unenviable position to be taught English by yours truly.
As the name of the project implies, all of the students in our classes are Ethiopians. You might ask, "But the Ethiopians are from Africa, not the Middle East. Why are there Ethiopians in Israel?" Well, the answer is somewhat complicated, but I'll take a stab at it: They are Ethiopian Jews. "Black Jews?", you might say to yourself, to which I reply, "Fucking awesome, right?"
Anyhow, the simple explanation is that these Ethiopian Jews claim to be the lost tribe of Israel and have either been practicing the traditions for thousands of years or had been forced to convert to Christianity and are just now returning to the Jewish faith. They lived for many years in Ethiopia, often under persecution, and have been immigrating steadily to Israel since the 1980s. However, the majority arrived within one 36-hour period in 1991, when Israel air-lifted almost 15,000 Ethiopian Jews amidst growing political destabilization between the two countries. Operation Solomon as it was called is quite an amazing story.
Many of the students we teach are either first generation Israelis or were very young when their families immigrated. Most of them come from huge families of up to 12 siblings. Their English skills range from "able to communicate" to "barely understands a thing", but throughout they all seem like great kids and we've enjoyed meeting all of them. Below is a picture of a few students Gillian and I worked with the other day. It was Valentine's Day and we taught them about the holiday and had them make valentines for loved ones at home. If you haven't guessed yet, it was all Gillian's idea.
They even made valentines for us...The thought of being a teacher scares the shit out of me and I'm not sure I'm cut out for this sort of thing but I'm trying and will hopefully not fail too bad. Gillian is much more enthusiastic as usual and seems to be taking quite naturally to the tasks of creating lesson plans and molding young minds. I for one am happy just to make them laugh every now and then between vocabulary words. Of course it's a lot easier to make someone laugh when they understand what you're saying but we're working on that... Also, if nothing else, I think my Hebrew is improving ever so slightly each time a student turns to another student to ask if anyone knows what the hell I'm talking about.
Frankly, I'm not so sure I know what I'm talking about half the time. English is a tough language...
Friday, February 17, 2006
a few new pics
with a new camera comes new pictures!
This is Maxine Bennett. She is in charge of us at one the high schools we volunteer at.
A sunset at Braude College.
A view from the side of the road.
Another sunset photo.
Gillian and some students making valentines.
more to come...
This is Maxine Bennett. She is in charge of us at one the high schools we volunteer at.
A sunset at Braude College.
A view from the side of the road.
Another sunset photo.
Gillian and some students making valentines.more to come...
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Our First Ultrasound
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.
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.
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...
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