Baghdadi Tortilla

February 27, 2005 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Food, Israeliness 

After my Spinning class every Sunday morning, I spoil myself with some posh sandwiches for my lunch from the CafeNeto coffee shop near the underground car park. Today I noticed they had nicely wrapped tortillas. I’d never had a tortilla before that I could remember, so I thought I’d try that. There were different kinds and I opted for the Baghdadi Tortilla, which looked good and was the least expensive.

Well, it was absolutely scrumptious, but I was amused that they’d called it a tortilla. This was none other than an Iraqi pita (also called a Laffa). It was a yuppie, gourmet, snobby, Ashkenazi version of an Iraqi pita, but an Iraqi pita nevertheless.

Ah, but would I have bought it if the snazzy little wrapping had had Iraqi Pita written on it, rather than the more exotic Baghdadi Tortilla? I think not. An Iraqi pita is popular, down-to-earth street food, not something for which you pay a lot of money in a snooty coffee place that doesn’t even serve an ordinary ‘Ness’ (that’s instant coffee, short for Nestle, although the cheapish Elite powdered instant coffee in a can is still unbelievably popular here).

You should have seen the pitiful looks they gave a young man who came in asking for a ‘Ness’ at this place, while I was there last week. Poor guy, he was completely mystified. Even more so when he discovered that they didn’t serve ‘Botz’ either. (‘Botz’ – literally ‘mud’ – is Turkish coffee that hasn’t been boiled in a finjan but just mixed with boiling water, sugar added for the froth, and then allowed to settle).

(Cross-posted on Not a Fish)

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Givat Haturmusim

February 27, 2005 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Life, Travel 

On Friday morning, my family and I headed to Givat Haturmusim (Lupine Hill), located about 15 minutes from our home in Beit Shemesh. There, we met up with fellow Israelity contributor David Bogner, and his lovely family, for a picnic lunch.

During February each year, Israelis from all over the country flock to Givat Hatumursim to simply behold the wonderous purple turmusim (lupines), red kalaniyot (windflower/anemone), and other wildflowers covering the hill. The tranquility of the surroundings provides a surreal contrast to the hustle and bustle of life in Israel, and give no hint as to the battle that once occured here .

I am, of course, referring to the battle of David and Goliath, as is described in the first book of Samuel. During the war between the Israelites and Philistines, the Philistine camp encamped between Givat Haturmusim and Tez Azekah, another hill nearby. Later on, Goliath stood in the nearby Valley of Elah for forthy consecutive days, challenging someone to fight him. Of course, we all know what happened next. But while David slew Goliath with stones, it is the flowers which now draw people to the area.

How many of you reading this ever imagined that Israelis, living in such a volatile region of the world, took time out to do something as simple as appreciate nature? Not many, I am sure. Yet this is another facet of life in this wonderful land.

The cute children in these pictures are, of course, my daughters Atara and Maya.

(Cross-posted on Israellycool)

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And Sometimes, Israelity Becomes Surreality

February 26, 2005 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General 

While the aim of our blog is to focus on Israel beyond the conflict, we certain can’t ignore the conflict completely.

So if you are interested in reading about how it felt to hear the news of the Tel Aviv bombing yesterday, I’ve posted about it here, and Imshin’s written about it here.

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An Israeli touchdown

February 24, 2005 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, Life 

I attended the re-dedication last night of the Kraft Family football field in Jerusalem – the home of the American Football in Israel league.

It reminded me of those days long ago, drinking beer in brown paper bags under the grandstands of the bleachers, while the Portland Bulldogs were out on the field smashing their opponents. But this was different – it was still football, but it was in the Holyland. And now that I’m well over 18, I could drink the beer without hiding it in a bag.

It was a kick seeing Robert Kraft – the owner of the New England Patriots (thus the Maine Patriots) – tossing a pigskin with Bibi Netanyahu. Ever try to throw a football in a suit and tie? They both looked really comfortable.

It was also neat seeing all these cute dati girls from places like Efrat and Har Nof going for down and outs, and blitzing the quarterback. The guys were another story, and their general testosterone level and bulkiness reminded me why I was more of a softball kind of guy.

The new synthetic grass was indeed amazing, the lights rock concert bright, and the atmosphere genuinely excitable. There were even a bunch of native Israelis there from Tel Aviv – who play in an ad hoc tackle league trying to convince Kraft to finance a new league. He demonstrated why he’s made millions, by turning them over to league president Steve Leibowitz and telling him to deal with it.

If you’re a former American living in Israel, and have a hankering to visit the Old country without having to hop on a plane and spend a ton of money, a quick fix is available at the Kraft Stadium. Now, if they would only build some bleachers.

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Pvt. Superstar

February 24, 2005 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General 

Britney Spears doesn’t have these kinds of problems.

There’s been a lot of fussing lately in Israel about pop stars who receive deferrals from their army service. It’s a problem in a country with a universal draft.

You have cases of young people for whom national service just happens to directly interfere with a career like modeling, sports, or other forms of show biz with a very short and lucrative lifespan.

Now, it’s not so hard for Israeli women to elude the draft. The time they serve is relatively short and the positions they are permitted to fill relatively limited, so the supply and demand is such that the army doesn’t put up much of a struggle when a woman claims she’s too religious, too crazy, or just unsuited to the army. Another easy out that a lot of models take – just get married. Married women are automatically exempt.
roni superstar
The problem comes when the public gets mad that pop idols, who are inevitably admired by the nation’s youth and become role models – are draft-dodgers – not a very good role model.

So some of them – whether it’s due to real motivation, or career advancement – do role up their sleeves and sign on. The latest to do so is a blonde bubble-gum pop star named Roni Douani, known as “Roni Superstar” for her Hebrew-language cover of the dance hit “Superstar” (who did the original version? Usher? It was an American song originally, right? Oof, I’m so uncool…)

ANYWAY, so Roni joins the army. Problem solved, right? Wrong. Now you may think we shouldn’t shed tears for her, but it’s not easy to be a foxy 18-year-old celeb in the army in a really small country. On her second day, she’s already run into problems that other models/actresses/singers whatever have run into during basic training – like group showers with the other women overly interested in potential body flaws that they can report back to their friends or maybe a tabloid. And leering male soldiers. And guard duty. It’s not just going to be hard for her, but a bit disruptive to the functioning of the army if everyone’s looking for an excuse to invade the army base, hoping for an autograph from the guard who catches them.

So accommodations are made: Roni gets to shower alone, is exempt from guard duty – if not from midnight runs and scrubbing toilets. NOW, her “special treatment” is getting the other soldiers pissed off, and they are grumbling over their cell phones to their pals, who are passing it on to the newspapers.

So the poor celebrity princesses can’t win. They look bad if they get out of serving. They can’t be treated like everyone else in the army. And they are accused of being spoiled if they sign up and ask for accommodations.

Crossposted on An Unsealed Room

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