North to Nimrod

Nimrod Fortress (National Park)

Like most old things, this one has changed hands a few times. It was built by the Crusaders, then taken over by the Muslims of Damascus and actually used to defend against the Crusaders. ("Joe, I told you not to build the walls so high! Now we can't get back in!") More info




The Fortress at Sunset

High up on Mt. Hermon, looking over the valley. Beautiful way to end a day.

When I went to the College of Engineering and Mines this isn't what I had in mind....


Way up north, we can see signs of past conflicts.

Hmmm... I think I'll stick to the other side of the road .

The Newest Member of the B's

Isn't my new puppy sweet?! At least, if M were still in the US instead of here, it would be my new puppy. As it is, she's still playing like a crazy dog at her old home, not in my home. Hmph.

*** UPDATE *** She IS mine!!!!! as of Dec 31, 2007

Eeeek

I made a stop for fuel last night on my way to celebrate the second night of Hannukah at a South African restaurant in a small kibbutz outside of Kiryat-Gat. Was I ever shocked to see that it took $80 to fill the tank in my little Mazda 3. Gas here is now up to $6.20 a gallon.

At least I can be happy for the 8.4L/100km fuel economy (about 28MPG). Oh, and that I'm not in Europe where the price is closer to $8 a gallon.

SMART park

This was in the Ikea parking lot. (We're progressive here, with our Sveedish storres)

Not a good picture (it was taken at night with my cell phone) but if you look closely does reveal the mindset here on parking.

Touring the New Way

I got to gallivant around Galilee in some old gear. What do you think?

Spontaneous Combustion

My last day in Germany, I had to find something to do that would still let me get back to the airport early enough to wish I had arrived later. Rack and Fade, yadah, yadah, yadah... (ask a pilot what that means)


The whole city of Frankfurt was buzzing with the 62nd Annual FIAA - the world's largest auto show. Not letting myself be constrained that M had already left back to the US, I decided to venture forth alone, and face that mob that was Saturday at the Show. (of course, now that I am "hebrewing" Shabat at the Show.)

There were massive crowds and quite an outstanding number of vehicles.

I bet Mom reallly wishes she could have been here.

Or even here. This was a freestanding, two story "tent" put up by BMW for their exhibit.

The BMW Formula 1 car, sponsored by "yours truly"
















The Ferrarri F1.







It's sponsored by "THE OTHER" supplier of microprocessors

But wait. I thought it was sponsored by them... but I don't see any logos.


Oh, there it is. Isn't it so cute and hidden!?!?

Old classics. I don't like it, cuz where would Tesla sit?

Hmmm, my fingernails might get jealous of this one's shiny red paint.

Customs

I think this must be the way parking laws are enforced so darn quickly in Tel Aviv.

The Head, not the Tail

Symbolism abounds in every piece of the Jewish ceremonies, and this year I got to learn some about the ones in Rosh Hashanah.

(First, a non-symbol thing to point out. The pronunciation is ROSH hashaNAH with the heaviest accent on the NAH. That one only took me a week to break the habit!)

If you read my earlier post, you may have discovered that, this year, ROsh HashaNAH started at sundown on Wednesday and went to sundown on Friday. So that means two nights partying, and as luck would have it, two of my co-workers invited me to join their families in celebrating, one on each night.

I won't swamp you with the details of how each family celebrated as there were some differences, but I'll try to pass on some of the symbols as best I can from what I absorbed during the ceremonies and translations.

Round Chalah (a sweet soft bread, usually made braided, not round) is broken by the father and drizzled with honey. The round bread is for the crown, or for the seasons. The honey, as with the many sweet things served during the meal, is for sweetness and hope in the new year.

Then came some savory tarts, one root vegetable one (onions, leeks, celery root, and such) and one spinach. The roots are to put the end to enemies - by being a pun! I checked into it here at home, and this is what one website says about it: "Both the Arabic and Hebrew words for leek sound like the Hebrew word for "cut off." God is asked to prevent, or cut off, those who would harm the Jewish people." The spinach is for a green year with lots of crops.

Next was "a new fruit of the season", this time a pomegranate, in the hope that one's good deeds in the coming year will be as plentiful as its seeds. Or, as my friend's sister said as she made sure I got a big scoop, that it's for having LOTs of children. Maybe I will come back to the US with triplets. (Hmmm... when is Mark getting here?)

There were many, many other foods served with their own symbolism, but the one that gave the title to this post is a fish. You eat a whole fish, with its head still attached, so that in the next year you are at the head, not the tail.

*btw, the pics are just from my wanderings in Jerusalem

Holidays are upon us

Yesterday marked the beginning of a series of holidays here in Israel. Here is what my Hebrew teacher gave me about the festivities.

The Jewish New Year and the holiday season is approaching and we would like to provide you and your families with some information about the nature of the Holy Days and about what goes on in the country during this period. We trust that you will prepare yourselves accordingly and that you will have the opportunity of experiencing the special nature of the holidays together with the people of Israel.

ROSH HASHANA EVE / JEWISH NEW YEAR
Wednesday, September 12 – Friday, September 14

Rosh Hashanah is the first of the "High Holy Days”. During the two days of Rosh Hashanah, Jewish businesses are closed and public transport does not operate. For Israel's non-religious majority who may or may not attend synagogue, Rosh Hashanah is a period where extended families get together for meals and for outings to the beach and other day destinations. There is an atmosphere of festivity and celebration during this period, similar to that of the Christmas/ New Year period in other countries.

Special food is sold in the supermarkets for the holiday and you will see that a lot of honey and honey products are sold, as it is a Jewish custom to eat an apple dipped in honey over the Rosh Hashanah holiday in order to herald a sweet year.



YOM KIPPUR / DAY OF ATONEMENT
Friday, September 21 - Shabbat, September 22

Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and is observed by the majority of the Jewish people throughout the world, even if they are not religious. A 25-hour fast is observed, beginning at sundown on Yom Kippur Eve, and most of Yom Kippur is spent in the synagogue reciting special prayers. There are two reasons for the somber atmosphere of Yom Kippur.

The first and foremost one is the traditional religious one as it is on this day, according to the Jewish faith that a persons fate is sealed for the year to come and on this day we ask God's forgiveness for all the transgressions we have made during the year. The second reason is that on the day of Yom Kippur in 1973, Israel's enemies launched one of the most aggressive wars on the country, during a day when the country was the least prepared, resulting in a death toll of thousands of Israeli soldiers. For many people this day is also a commemoration to these fallen men and women.

All Jewish businesses and public transportation come to a halt at around 13:00 on the eve of the fast (October 1). By sundown, all other kinds of traffic come to a stop as well (except for emergency vehicles). Ben Gurion Airport is closed. National T.V and radio broadcasts also cease during Yom Kippur. Normal activity resumes after nightfall on October 2.

Not only does public transportation come to a stop, but also private cars are not driven out of respect for the Holy Day, (please take note that this applies to you too.) Please be aware that although no cars are allowed in the streets, kids take over the roads riding bicycles and rollerblades.




SUKKOT/ FESTIVAL OF THE TABERNACLES AND THE INTERMEDIATE DAYS
Wednesday, September 26 – Thursday , 4 October

The Festival of Sukkoth begins on the fifth day after Yom Kippur and it is quite a drastic transition, from one of the most solemn holidays in our year to one of the most joyous.
This festival is sometimes referred to as the Season of our Rejoicing and it lasts for seven days. The two days following the festival are separate holidays Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah but are commonly thought of as part of Sukkot.

The word "Sukkot" means "booths," and refers to the temporary dwellings that the Jewish people are commanded to live in during this holiday. Sukkot has a dual significance: historical and agricultural. The holiday commemorates the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Sukkot is also a harvest festival. In honor of the holiday's historical significance, we are commanded to dwell in temporary shelters, as our ancestors did in the wilderness. The commandment to "dwell" in a sukkah is taken literally by many religious people in Israel but the majorities of the population who erect them invest time and energy in decorating them and eat their meals in them, weather permitting. Traditionally Sukkot also heralds the first rain of the season and a special prayer is said to encourage an abundance of rain in the coming winter.

The days of Sukkot (26-27 September and 3-4 October) are religious days and these days can be compared to Shabbat and other holidays where most shops and businesses are closed but restaurants and tourist sites will be open. During the intermediate days of Sukkot (8-12 October), life continues as normal although some businesses and places of work operate on a half day basis. Traditionally, Sukkot is a time of taking trips and having picnics and the beaches, Nature Reserves and Parks and historical sites are packed to capacity. It is also customary for the religious population to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem so there is more activity in the city during this week.

To all of you A Sweet & Happy Jewish New Year and we hope that you enjoy the holiday season!

Vegetable Soup for the Soul

As isolated as I am from the real conflict not too far south of me, I can go along my life as if it didn't exist. To keep a smidgen of reality and awareness in my system, I subscribed to Google news alerts of any published news articles about my area.

Some of the articles it finds are related to the nearby desalinization plant. It provides an incredible amount of water, and is powered by an offshore natural gas source.

Others articles might talk about the migration of birds, or the hardships of farmers, or the mayor, "is he accepting bribes??"

And, of course, there are usually one or two that discuss the Palestinian/Israeli conflicts.

My favorite one, though, was one that talked about the Kassam rockets that the Islamic Jihad occasionally shoot out of Gaza towards Israel towns and kibbutz in the Negev. Sderot has suffered considerably, and there were some wounded listed in this article. But no, that's not the funny part - Here is the funny part:

"On Thursday, a group of left-wing activists fired tomatoes, corn and eggs into the area from where Gazans had been firing rockets, in order to demonstrate the helplessness of the government.

The activists fired the vegetables from an improvised cannon, which was made from sewage pipes and flammable liquid. The vegetables were covered with soup in order to minimize friction.

Several minutes later, IDF soldiers arrived at the scene and asked the activists to stop the vegetable fire."

Two wounded in Sderot Kassam attack, JPOST.COM STAFF, Aug. 3, 2007 http://www.jpost.com/

THAT is peaceful protest the Israel way :P

Sunset on the Med

Oh, the pain and suffering I endure. I had to watch this sunset from my balcony instead of the sand! If only my evening phone meetings would disappear!

Move-in Madness

"Fully furnished"

Yah Raaahhht!

I suppose I am spoiled. Ok, I believe I deserve to be treated like a princess. Anything wrong with that?

But when you are told by the Relocation Department that you don't need to bring anything except "your clothes and any personal items that will make your place feel more like a home", you hope that at least that means that there will be drinking glasses, a shower rod and curtain, and a desk at which you will be able to park your computer for the 2-6 hours of meetings you have every night.

But maybe I am stretching it to believe that there will be a mirror or even some storage place in the bathroom besides the 2 inches of level space adjacent to the faucet, or on the tank behind the toilet. Or maybe I am complaining if I want light fixtures aside from bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Or an ironing board to go with the iron they did buy me. Or cold water along with the hot water in the kitchen sink (with gloves on, the scalding is minimized). Hey - I have hot water!! What am I whining about?

Then there's the light switch that triggers that breaker to trip, but then takes the whole apartment down with it. Or the electric blinds (cool huh!?) where up is down, and down is up. Or beautiful ceramic tile with smears of grout hardened in ugly brown patterns.

Of course, if one expects the whole bathroom to get wet when you shower, then it makes sense to not have a place to put the toilet paper. After all, it'd get wet too, and who wants to use wet toilet paper.

Drapes? Nah, we know that the inventory list says that there should be drapes, but the aura of darkness instilled by the solitary-confinement prison cell appearance of the light-blocking shutters is by far better for the soul than any wispy fabric hung from a cold iron rod.

I think I laughed (or cried) the most when I talked with the landlord of this brand new apartment. I had been already planning how to convince him that he needed to install additional counter space, in the form of a bar that wrapped around to close off the kitchen from open view of the entering world, and provide much needed additional counter space. (I am messy when I cook. Princesses can be messy and no one should complain.) He proceeds to tell me how the original plans had a disturbing low wall and counter around the kitchen, and he made the builders knock it out. He likes it OPEN! Hmph, I bet he never cooks either!

Apartment View

We finally moved in!

The view is still beautiful, especially early in the morning (when these pictures were taken), or late in the afternoon, just as the sun is settling down into the water. Now I need to hang up my hammock on the deck.

CHOCOLATE

Chocolate is the Eighth Wonder of the Natural World.

The afternoon of our tour up North, we didn't really have lunch. We had chocolate. Though, maybe "did" chocolate would be a better description.

We went to a small shop in an industrial section of the town, and entered a large room where chocolate is the teacher.

The facilitator started her business in the late 90's when the stock markets and the tech companies went flat. She eventually turned her small operation into a workshop instead of a factory, with all sorts of groups, kids to the ancient, stopping in to get their hands dirty.

She and her daughter set out dozens of bowls of toppings and fillings.


But first we had to taste the pure stuff.

The owner says that one of her favorite groups so far was from a visit she made to a hospital where she worked with several anorexic women. I'm glad to say I don't suffer from that disease.

Ewww... Chocolate covered truffle gooooooop....

Careful attention to detail.

The term "gremlin" comes to mind for some of these little beasts.

Tour de Israel

My work team took a day off and headed up to the cooler lands up north, to Zichron Yaakov. (Here's a fairly comprehensive article about the region.)

We ate breakfast in an old winery that was converted into a restaurant and visitor's center.




Breakfasts in Israel are an odd mix of foods... Cucumber, tomato, feta salad; scrambled eggs or very flat omlette; variety of cheeses, soft and semi-firm; fish, usually salmon, sardines, or whitefish; and breads. Because of the kosher rules, do not expect meat. (They put fish and eggs in the "non-meat" category.

After breakfast, off to find out more about the region and get our history lesson about the 19th century Baron Rothschild, whose money and entrepreneurship grew the region into a large developed area. Then a brief walk around town.




Ceasaria isn't far from the Zichron Yaakov region, and the Roman influence is still around. The more adventurous part of our tour was a visit to the site of ancient cisterns the Romans built to get water into thirsty, bath-happy Ceasaria. We climbed down one of the 7 shafts, and splashed through the hand chiseled tunnels in an inch of water, then 2 inches, then 5, then 8, then up to my knees, then my hiney.


Course, that was all before lunch, so I'll finish up about our afternoon next blog.

28 Again

I am 28 again. It is very easy to remember, because my mom is 29 and it's impossible for me to be older than my own mother.

The little cake and birthday wish is from the hotel. They have to have a copy of my passport, so I think they spied on it and marked my birthday in their system. I won't complain. It's kind of nice to come back after a long day at work and be greeted at the front desk with a "Happy Birthday" and impish smile.

You call that DRIVING??

I have to say that I am very amused with what passes as 'Driving' here in Israel. Lane control are two words that I think cannot possibly coexist in the same sentence, and certainly not anywhere near a road.

At first you wonder if someone is changing lanes, cuz they are creeeeeeping over into your lane. But then, they slowwwwly creep back. (It's most fun on a curvy road, while you are trying to pass.) When they do change lanes, they actually use their blinkers more than the folks in Oregon do. But then it's as if they forgot what they were doing, and wait for a while... then slowwwwly creep halfway across, straddling the line. There they wait, pondering what to do next.

Traffic lights are also different. A red light still means stop, but it gives you a warning yellow before turning green. Makes me feels like I'm a race car! 'Gentleman, Start Your ENGINES!!!!!'

Before turning red again, the green light will start to flash, usually 3-4 times. In Oregon, that would mean ACCELERATE! Not here. Slam on your brakes, and stop, while you wait for the light to turn yellow for a few seconds, then red. Seriously, I almost rear-ended a van that stopped at the green light. I did find out that my little Mazda has ABS.

Being Prepared

I know how important it is to be prepared to survive and thrive, so I have canceled my surfing lessons and the scuba diving trip, and am immersing myself in the culture here. Incredibly, as an add-on option to my Hebrew language lessons, I am also able to get my fighter pilot's licence. The online quizzes and the $50 Microsoft Flight Simulator program have really paid off, and I go out solo tomorrow.

Party on...

Yes, we do suffer terribly while on assignment.

I went to a fun barbeque at my friend's house in Old Jaffa. (This is the same place where Noah dropped off one of his sons, and where Jonah ran to catch a boat instead of heading up to Nineveh.)

My friend got here about 4 months ago, and landed a beautiful apartment. For a brief couple of days it looked like I might get a place in the same building, but the landlord had raised the price out of the allocated company budget, and no amount of fussing brought the price down.

This is the view from another friend's place. (Hard to see, but that's the Mediterranean between the buildings.) Sunsets are often golden, as there is very fine dust from Africa blown this way. I've even heard that on some days it can rain mud!

Warning, it's a groaner

So, (that one's just for you, Grace), I have been learning a lot about the many cultures here in Israel. I visited one area that was about 85% Arab and 15% Christian. I saw some big mosques and some little ones. Turns out that the big mosques are simply called mosques; the little ones are mosque'itos.

Whewww - HOT!!

Weather Underground tracked the temp and humidity yesterday. I felt like I was back in Boa Vista, Roraima!

Masada

M and I took a Saturday and ventured to Masada, south of the Dead Sea. Though the struggle we faced to get there was not of the same duration as the Roman soldiers laying siege to the mountain-top fortress, I did begin to wonder if we'd ever make it. You see, we got trapped in Jerusalem, wandering for forty minutes and forty seconds, waiting to stumble onto Highway 1. Hwy 1 eventually revealed itself and we were finally making our way, down, down, down towards the lowest "outdoor" point on earth.

My Mazda lease-car enjoying rest at a desert mirage

(First place in a long time that I've had to pay to use a restroom)

The southern bit of the Dead Sea

M thought it'd be fun to run up to the top of the mountain, but my new Mazda wouldn't hear of it! No hot and sweaty runner was going to blemish its new interior!! He had to be happy with the tram ride up instead...

The Trail of Sweat and Gnashing of Teeth in a Hot Dry Climate
(or why Sarah is not in charge of naming things)

A Byzantine church (built well after the days of Herod)

New Apartment

The apartment M and I chose is just finishing construction, and should be ready at the end of the month. Here are some pictures. I am anxious to see what odd assortment of furniture and appliances I'll get....

My New Apartment (red box)

Lobby Entrance

View towards north beach

View South

View of kitchen from living room (front door is where the guy is standing, one bedroom/bath off to the right)

View of living/dining room- hallway towards three bedroom, two baths off the right

Kitchen (Laundry room entrance in view)