Day Trip

October 13, 2006 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Holidays, Life 

Beth and her family dressed up in their holiday finery and went on a day trip to Jerusalem.
eli scooter

Here is 3-year-old Eli on his scooter.

Additional photos and captions here.

Today is the last day of Sukkot. Tonight starts a brand-new holiday: Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah (celebrated in the diaspora on two consecutive days).

After that, our round of Autumn holidays — the reflection, the awe, the repentance, the parties, the days off, the food food and more food — draws to a close.

Until Chanukah.

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Hungry in Holy Land Central

October 13, 2006 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Food, General, Immigrant Moments, Life, Politics 

Stefanella comes face to face with the rising poverty and food insecurity levels in Israel:

Yesterday while cruising the city, I saw a lanky, young-ish guy in his twenties trolling through a trash can. He wasn’t typical homeless meaning he either hasn’t been on the streets for a long time or he isn’t full blown schizophrenic or psychotic. Yet.

Living in San Francisco one develops a keen understanding of these matters: differentiating between the street dwelling newbies, old hands and “this person doesn’t belong here” types becomes second nature.

My heart screamed and I stifled a cry of despair as he continued to pick unaware of my presence.

In San Fran or New York or Paris, okay.

But in my idealized memory of Holy Land Central (HLC) and its social system to protect all, this image of a young man wearing high tops, Bermudas and a preppy short sleeved shirt while sifting through garbage didn’t gel. He was indicative of a larger looming issue here in HLC.

I recently supped with an old friend who bemoaned the country’s poverty levels. He cited demographics and figures shocking to a city dweller such as myself who rarely travels to the peripheries. 5-person families living on the equivalent of $900 U.S. per month. Soup Kitchens. Hunger.

I noticed the pre-holiday food drives were a bit more driven than last year.

What’s up, war withstanding?

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Straight from the Brady Family suitcase . . .

October 13, 2006 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, Immigrant Moments, Life 

The Artist Formerly Known as Purple Parrot had a surprise guest this sukkot:

I returned home yesterday to find (what I first thought was) a massive great brown hairy tarantula* sitting on the handle of the door to my apartment. You don’t want to imagine my initial response- rest assured it was nothing like the Sideshow Bob noise previously discussed.

Having seen one too many film where large-insect-on-door-handle is used as a formulaic “bad” omen, my first thought was to call my landlord down to inspect this gargantuan “tarantula” and ascertain that my apartment wasn’t filled with it’s brothers, sisters and 4th cousins รก la that tunnel Dr. Jones crunches his way thru on the way down to the Temple of Doom. However when I realised that such an action might result in said Landlord seeing just how unruly his prized property is currently being kept by yours truly, I decided against, reminding myself that I have an OK track record regarding creepy-crawlies. (Obviously, I am fervently anti cockroach, mozzies and wasps- if anyone can explain the purpose of that Triumvirate Of Evil Pointlessness on this planet, I’m all ears- I’m prone to a moderate snake phobia as much as the next person, but nevertheless I was a fearless scorpion-squelcher back in the day, and if there was ever a course on how to safely remove spiders from scared people’s rooms, I might even be asked to teach it.)

So to last night’s visitor: Upon closer inspection, it became apparent that he didn’t have enough legs to be a tarantula, although I wasn’t 100% certain of this being as my last encounter with deathly arachnids had been 20 years ago at my friend (now Dr.) S’s 10th Birthday Party at Kidderminster Butterfly Farm. Yet that “expertise”, plus vague memories of Pinocchio, confirmed the diagnosis that this unwelcome squatter was, in fact, a cricket.*
cricket

I suppose that when one hails from a country where Cricket is a game (albeit one you still don’t really understand, despite the fact that international tournaments are played around the corner from your Parents’ home) one remains sadly unprepared for such encounters.

Had I been a keen member of some hallowed insect-spotting society, I’d probably have been very happy at this point. This not being the case, I duly informed Mr. Cricket (although according to the research undertaken since, I think in retrospect it was a Ms. Cricket) that not only was I not scared of him, but also he was to take great pains to be silent if he wished to remain a guest on my front door handle. He responded by nonchalantly jumping off the handle and scuttling away. Upon entering my abode, I was pleased to note an absence of crickets languishing anywhere else. Having said that, reading up on them today, I also discovered that they lay eggs at a rate of knots. Locals, I’ll let you know if I need somewhere to stay within 56 days…

Perhaps she and Noorster should have lunch.

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Tel Aviv: Dimension X

October 13, 2006 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Art, General, Life 

(Photo: Dave Bender)

(Cross-posted at Israel At Level Ground)

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View of Tel Aviv from the Mediterranean Sea

October 13, 2006 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, Holidays, Travel 

TA coastline
Judging from the two photos he posted of Tel Aviv’s coastline, it looks like Rafi G had a very nice day trip and boat ride during a day off for the holiday.

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