31 January 2007
I'm sick again, the second time this winter. This never happened in all my 25 years in the States, so to say "this sucks" would be an understatement. The weather has changed from bright, sunny and warm on the weekend to cold and rainy once again. While it's great that the rain returned...
I woke up this morning with a painful itch in the back of my throat, making me wince every time I swallow. As I began to go about the day, my sinuses felt like they were going to implode. I got through my work, and decided to go to SuperPharm to get throat lozenges. Wouldn't you know it, the day I'm sick and need to go there, only one register is open, and the guy behind it is not only a moron in that he can't properly ring up the woman employee who cut in front of me in line, but doesn't have the guts to say "sorry for the wait;" instead he proceeds to give me the same cold shoulder that I'm giving him. There's something about working in a convenience/pharmacy/toiletries store, whether it's Superpharm, Duane Reede or the infamous CVS that makes people turn into idiots, or else they're just hired that way. Either way, yet another thing in common with the States.
I have to now go back to the accursed store for better throat lozenges that have medication other than Ricola's elderberry extract flavor. Not to mention at some point soon keep working on my take-home test on Lebanon. Take-home tests: sounds like a great idea, until the attached procrastination kicks in and forces you to watch clips of "West Wing on YouTube. And/or makes you sick for the second time in a month.
31 January 2007
29 January 2007
29 January 2007
I'm not trying to insult anyone's intelligence when I write the following: I'm fine, nowhere near the suicide bombing that happened today. I don't assume everyone who reads this blog knows Israel's geography -- Jerusalem is in the center, and Eilat is the southernmost town in the country, a four-hour drive away.
That being said, it's rather scary that Eilat was hit. On the one hand, there hasn't been an attack in the country for a long time, in part thanks to the security buffer; on the other hand, Eilat, being a resort town for Europeans, never gets attacked and this could be a huge setback for the tourism industry in this country.
Thought I'd update the blog while taking a nap after Part 2 of my Arabic final (it went well, although I didn't remember the literal translations of some of the words that we were assumed to memorize. Once again, it's all about the assumptions here.)
I'm not trying to insult anyone's intelligence when I write the following: I'm fine, nowhere near the suicide bombing that happened today. I don't assume everyone who reads this blog knows Israel's geography -- Jerusalem is in the center, and Eilat is the southernmost town in the country, a four-hour drive away.
That being said, it's rather scary that Eilat was hit. On the one hand, there hasn't been an attack in the country for a long time, in part thanks to the security buffer; on the other hand, Eilat, being a resort town for Europeans, never gets attacked and this could be a huge setback for the tourism industry in this country.
Thought I'd update the blog while taking a nap after Part 2 of my Arabic final (it went well, although I didn't remember the literal translations of some of the words that we were assumed to memorize. Once again, it's all about the assumptions here.)
20 January 2007
20 January 2007
My computer is working for the moment, after finally deciding to reformat the hard drive (i.e., erainsg all files and starting from scratch). I saved what I could triage-wise on a USB key, completely forgetting all my Favorites page and a good percentage of mp3's (they still exist on my iPod, so we'll see what happens when I reinstall the iPod software).
All Saturday I wanted to take a walk, yet I knew it was at some point going to rain. Just as Shabbat ended, the wind picked up, the sky turned an ominous shade of mauve, and the rain began. Just like three weeks ago, it poured and poured. I guess the best equivalent to this kind of rain is a monsoon -- seasonal and when it arrives, it arrives in buckets, complete with thunder/lightning. I had an engagement party to go to, trudging through the rain to get there. After a little bit I left, only for the hail to begin. With no cars out, the sound was amplified, as if I was walking in the middle of one of those "rainsticks" they sell in nature stores. My normal way of walking home was blocked by a huge tree which had fallen over, taking some power lines with it.
It's amazing how a Mediterranean storm can make me feel like I'm back in DC.
My computer is working for the moment, after finally deciding to reformat the hard drive (i.e., erainsg all files and starting from scratch). I saved what I could triage-wise on a USB key, completely forgetting all my Favorites page and a good percentage of mp3's (they still exist on my iPod, so we'll see what happens when I reinstall the iPod software).
All Saturday I wanted to take a walk, yet I knew it was at some point going to rain. Just as Shabbat ended, the wind picked up, the sky turned an ominous shade of mauve, and the rain began. Just like three weeks ago, it poured and poured. I guess the best equivalent to this kind of rain is a monsoon -- seasonal and when it arrives, it arrives in buckets, complete with thunder/lightning. I had an engagement party to go to, trudging through the rain to get there. After a little bit I left, only for the hail to begin. With no cars out, the sound was amplified, as if I was walking in the middle of one of those "rainsticks" they sell in nature stores. My normal way of walking home was blocked by a huge tree which had fallen over, taking some power lines with it.
It's amazing how a Mediterranean storm can make me feel like I'm back in DC.
19 January 2007
19 January 2007
My computer has gotten possessed by some sort of demon, which in a fit will cause the screen to start flickering, eventually turning the screen completely gray with several white horizontal lines placed in a way that would make a great design for a sweater at Gap, but not on my computer. If I start up the computer in "debugging mode," it seems to help. The demon is probably a Luddite, and as a result I haven't spent hours on You Tube or a new site I just hear about from a friend with full TV shows and movies.
Where to start? Last weekend I went up to Tel Aviv for a few hours to see good friends from college. As soon as I got out of the minibus, I took a deep breath of Central Bus Station air, full of smashed Russian beer bottles and illegal migrant workers, and was so happy to be in Tel Aviv/out of Jerusalem. We sat outside at a café notorious for poor service, and I absorbed the warmth and view of the sea.
Flash forward a week and it's surprisingly warm here in Jerusalem. So much so that I opened the windows in my apartment. While it's great that it's somewhere in the 60's today, we haven't had any rain since the Great Flood two weeks ago. If the dew point is at a certain level (I never understood the dew point), everything is covered with a skin of moisture, and when one inhales the moisture fills one's lungs. An odd feeling, but that's life on a mountain surrounded by desert.
Sunday brings another strike by the Student Union, making students go a bit berserk because exams are soon approaching; not to mention the new overseas students for the spring semester arrive on Sunday for registration. More than 200, to be exact. Hebrew U is going to have an amount of students that it hasn't seen in several years, which is amazing, even if I'm still part-time staff.
The computer is starting to flicker again, especially when I started playing a movie. Damn. I'm hoping it's a software problem that can easily be fixed.
My computer has gotten possessed by some sort of demon, which in a fit will cause the screen to start flickering, eventually turning the screen completely gray with several white horizontal lines placed in a way that would make a great design for a sweater at Gap, but not on my computer. If I start up the computer in "debugging mode," it seems to help. The demon is probably a Luddite, and as a result I haven't spent hours on You Tube or a new site I just hear about from a friend with full TV shows and movies.
Where to start? Last weekend I went up to Tel Aviv for a few hours to see good friends from college. As soon as I got out of the minibus, I took a deep breath of Central Bus Station air, full of smashed Russian beer bottles and illegal migrant workers, and was so happy to be in Tel Aviv/out of Jerusalem. We sat outside at a café notorious for poor service, and I absorbed the warmth and view of the sea.
Flash forward a week and it's surprisingly warm here in Jerusalem. So much so that I opened the windows in my apartment. While it's great that it's somewhere in the 60's today, we haven't had any rain since the Great Flood two weeks ago. If the dew point is at a certain level (I never understood the dew point), everything is covered with a skin of moisture, and when one inhales the moisture fills one's lungs. An odd feeling, but that's life on a mountain surrounded by desert.
Sunday brings another strike by the Student Union, making students go a bit berserk because exams are soon approaching; not to mention the new overseas students for the spring semester arrive on Sunday for registration. More than 200, to be exact. Hebrew U is going to have an amount of students that it hasn't seen in several years, which is amazing, even if I'm still part-time staff.
The computer is starting to flicker again, especially when I started playing a movie. Damn. I'm hoping it's a software problem that can easily be fixed.
08 January 2007
After weeks and weeks of resisting getting sick, the cold/flu/virus/whatever that been spreading through Jerusalem finally caught me. This morning I was able to get to my 8.30 class relatively on time, which definitely meant something was different. As the morning progressed, the pressure in my head increased. After grabbing lunch on campus with a great friend from high school, I told work I had to go home. I had to stop at the pharmacy downtown, and unfortunately took the bus with the scenic tour of Jerusalem. The pharmacy, part of a chain in Israel, was having a Buy One Get One Free sale, so the customers and staff were going insane. The pharmacist was kind enough to explain the difference between two different types of cold medicine, and I was soon enough out of there.
Looking at the box, which contained both day & night medications, I regretted that it included the dreaded pseudoephedrine, but my throbbing sinuses couldn't wait. I got home, took the pills and ate food, and tried to rest by watching a movie. Turns out watching "Donnie Darko" (an amazing movie) while on Dexamol Cold daytime formula leads to some odd feelings, one of which being a near-complete blurring of time. Not quite sure if I was asleep or not, I got out of bed, made sure to eat something, and eventually met up with two friends for a drink. My drink being hot tea.
After weeks and weeks of resisting getting sick, the cold/flu/virus/whatever that been spreading through Jerusalem finally caught me. This morning I was able to get to my 8.30 class relatively on time, which definitely meant something was different. As the morning progressed, the pressure in my head increased. After grabbing lunch on campus with a great friend from high school, I told work I had to go home. I had to stop at the pharmacy downtown, and unfortunately took the bus with the scenic tour of Jerusalem. The pharmacy, part of a chain in Israel, was having a Buy One Get One Free sale, so the customers and staff were going insane. The pharmacist was kind enough to explain the difference between two different types of cold medicine, and I was soon enough out of there.
Looking at the box, which contained both day & night medications, I regretted that it included the dreaded pseudoephedrine, but my throbbing sinuses couldn't wait. I got home, took the pills and ate food, and tried to rest by watching a movie. Turns out watching "Donnie Darko" (an amazing movie) while on Dexamol Cold daytime formula leads to some odd feelings, one of which being a near-complete blurring of time. Not quite sure if I was asleep or not, I got out of bed, made sure to eat something, and eventually met up with two friends for a drink. My drink being hot tea.
07 January 2007
07 January 2007
PS: One of the other rules I forgot to mention in the previous post was that I am also forbidden to get involved with any one named Tiffany, Brittany, and Brandy.
The strike last Wednesday really did happen: The gates to the university were closed, covered in posters and locked with thick chains. The main gates for cars and buses were blocked. There was a gate open for campus staff only, which I begrudgingly entered. Anyone who showed a student ID to the security guard would be heckled by an intimidating member of the Student Union, wedged into the entrance.
After a 2-hour meeting which was uneventful, to put it mildly, I ran out of the building to get off of campus. Members of the Student Union were blowing whistles at any student they saw, despite the fact that the overseas and pre-college prep students were not affected by the strike. While they stated in an email/communiqué that due to the upcoming finals period, they will wait to wage a protracted strike until next semester, I am nonetheless impressed with how well the protest went, even though pictures from the protest showed them burning tires. As if Jerusalem wasn't polluted enough.
Regardless of the strike, I was in a hurry to get off of campus to see my mom. She was asked to co-staff a 2-week trip for DC area college students, many of whom I know as birthright israel past participants. Although I have lots of friends in Israel, and plenty of work to keep me busy, it's a whole other experience to have a family member be here. Despite keeping a very busy schedule, we managed to see each other several times in the course of her program, including coming over for lunch this past Saturday.
On top of my mom's visit, I have lots of friends visiting from the States now. Friday night dinner saw the reunion of several friends from DC, all of us managing to resort to our once-usual conversations on politics, Israel and Jewish identity. I've definitely missed those meals, as they fed my native Washingtonian soul. This week sees no less than ten people from various walks of my life passing through Israel, and with the semester for overseas students over, I can actually go out during the week to see them, and even invite them over to my recently-cleaned apartment.
This past weekend saw one of the most vicious storms in recent memory. The rain began Friday afternoon with buckets of rain pouring down on a friend & me, as we bought food for Shabbat dinner. The rain never let up, eventually escalating into hail, and then very dramatic bouts of thunder & lightning, eerily bright and booming. In Israel, it's not very common to have long thunderstorms with thunder that rattles the windows. Those of us from DC who were at dinner are used to this kind of weather, albeit not normally in the winter. I couldn't help but think about the native-born Israelis in Jerusalem, who are not only unaccustomed to such weather, but don't have the happiest of connotations with bright flashes of light and crashing noises. On the plus side, the Kinneret/Sea of Galilee, Israel's main freshwater reserve, rose by 5cm this past weekend.
PS: One of the other rules I forgot to mention in the previous post was that I am also forbidden to get involved with any one named Tiffany, Brittany, and Brandy.
The strike last Wednesday really did happen: The gates to the university were closed, covered in posters and locked with thick chains. The main gates for cars and buses were blocked. There was a gate open for campus staff only, which I begrudgingly entered. Anyone who showed a student ID to the security guard would be heckled by an intimidating member of the Student Union, wedged into the entrance.
After a 2-hour meeting which was uneventful, to put it mildly, I ran out of the building to get off of campus. Members of the Student Union were blowing whistles at any student they saw, despite the fact that the overseas and pre-college prep students were not affected by the strike. While they stated in an email/communiqué that due to the upcoming finals period, they will wait to wage a protracted strike until next semester, I am nonetheless impressed with how well the protest went, even though pictures from the protest showed them burning tires. As if Jerusalem wasn't polluted enough.
Regardless of the strike, I was in a hurry to get off of campus to see my mom. She was asked to co-staff a 2-week trip for DC area college students, many of whom I know as birthright israel past participants. Although I have lots of friends in Israel, and plenty of work to keep me busy, it's a whole other experience to have a family member be here. Despite keeping a very busy schedule, we managed to see each other several times in the course of her program, including coming over for lunch this past Saturday.
On top of my mom's visit, I have lots of friends visiting from the States now. Friday night dinner saw the reunion of several friends from DC, all of us managing to resort to our once-usual conversations on politics, Israel and Jewish identity. I've definitely missed those meals, as they fed my native Washingtonian soul. This week sees no less than ten people from various walks of my life passing through Israel, and with the semester for overseas students over, I can actually go out during the week to see them, and even invite them over to my recently-cleaned apartment.
This past weekend saw one of the most vicious storms in recent memory. The rain began Friday afternoon with buckets of rain pouring down on a friend & me, as we bought food for Shabbat dinner. The rain never let up, eventually escalating into hail, and then very dramatic bouts of thunder & lightning, eerily bright and booming. In Israel, it's not very common to have long thunderstorms with thunder that rattles the windows. Those of us from DC who were at dinner are used to this kind of weather, albeit not normally in the winter. I couldn't help but think about the native-born Israelis in Jerusalem, who are not only unaccustomed to such weather, but don't have the happiest of connotations with bright flashes of light and crashing noises. On the plus side, the Kinneret/Sea of Galilee, Israel's main freshwater reserve, rose by 5cm this past weekend.
02 January 2007
02 January 2007
Tomorrow there is a planned general strike on campus by the Student Union. While I understand the strike is about the proposed increase in tuition at public universities, the concept of an organized group of students striking, not to mention canceling classes, is foreign territory. The last new I heard is that classes are cancelled, it's going to be hard to get onto campus, and they're going to let campus workers in the gates. I have a staff meeting at 10am, and while I'm planning to go, there's the issue of having to potentially cross a picket-line.
I may not take my father's advice to heart all the time, but there a few principles I've been taught to live by him: Don't get involved with a woman who's from New Jersey and/or a Republican, and never cross a picket-line. The first tenet is pretty easy to live by, but I've never encountered an instance where the second one would need to be followed. After I graduated from NYU, the graduate students held a strike in front of the library – had I been there, I would not have entered the building. Regardless of the issues and whether I support them or not, this is a legal demonstration that is planned, enshrined in Israel's young democracy, and as such should there arise the issue of facing a "mishméret shovtím" (in this country, of course there's a parallel phrase in Hebrew for a picket-line), I would have to go all the way to campus only to turn around.
To add to the sanity that is tomorrow, I'm volunteering with my old job, Taglit-birthright israel, at the "Mega-Event" this Wednesday and Thursday nights. The M-E is non-creative title for thousands of participants from around the world who come together at the convention center here in Jerusalem to hear politicians, philanthropists, and celebrate their ability to be in Israel for free. I'm manning the Alumni Association booth, and as such will be likely to bump into lots and lots of people I know, plus all the familiar sights I've grown to love: The Brazilian/Argentinean fights, the drunk American students, and the roll-call of countries present and the subsequent upping the ante of who can scream the loudest longest when their country is named.
Tomorrow there is a planned general strike on campus by the Student Union. While I understand the strike is about the proposed increase in tuition at public universities, the concept of an organized group of students striking, not to mention canceling classes, is foreign territory. The last new I heard is that classes are cancelled, it's going to be hard to get onto campus, and they're going to let campus workers in the gates. I have a staff meeting at 10am, and while I'm planning to go, there's the issue of having to potentially cross a picket-line.
I may not take my father's advice to heart all the time, but there a few principles I've been taught to live by him: Don't get involved with a woman who's from New Jersey and/or a Republican, and never cross a picket-line. The first tenet is pretty easy to live by, but I've never encountered an instance where the second one would need to be followed. After I graduated from NYU, the graduate students held a strike in front of the library – had I been there, I would not have entered the building. Regardless of the issues and whether I support them or not, this is a legal demonstration that is planned, enshrined in Israel's young democracy, and as such should there arise the issue of facing a "mishméret shovtím" (in this country, of course there's a parallel phrase in Hebrew for a picket-line), I would have to go all the way to campus only to turn around.
To add to the sanity that is tomorrow, I'm volunteering with my old job, Taglit-birthright israel, at the "Mega-Event" this Wednesday and Thursday nights. The M-E is non-creative title for thousands of participants from around the world who come together at the convention center here in Jerusalem to hear politicians, philanthropists, and celebrate their ability to be in Israel for free. I'm manning the Alumni Association booth, and as such will be likely to bump into lots and lots of people I know, plus all the familiar sights I've grown to love: The Brazilian/Argentinean fights, the drunk American students, and the roll-call of countries present and the subsequent upping the ante of who can scream the loudest longest when their country is named.
30 December 2006
The snow came, freaked everyone out, and has just about disappeared. The resulting pandemonium on the faces and in the voices of Israelis, coupled with the instant turning of freshly fallen snow into grey slush, brought back warm memories of DC. Although it may be cold here, bright blue skies trump any possibility of slush turning into ice.
Shabbat was spent catching up the news and much needed English-language magazines on culture and music. I have just about lost all patience for the two English newspapers in Israel, which either suffer from a horrible translation job or a lack of coverage beyond the often self-enclosed English-speaking communities here in Israel (known as "Anglo-Saxons"). As for the magazines…they cost a bloody fortune here, but well worth it. If this MidEast Studies gig doesn't work out, I'm going into the print importing business.
The snow came, freaked everyone out, and has just about disappeared. The resulting pandemonium on the faces and in the voices of Israelis, coupled with the instant turning of freshly fallen snow into grey slush, brought back warm memories of DC. Although it may be cold here, bright blue skies trump any possibility of slush turning into ice.
Shabbat was spent catching up the news and much needed English-language magazines on culture and music. I have just about lost all patience for the two English newspapers in Israel, which either suffer from a horrible translation job or a lack of coverage beyond the often self-enclosed English-speaking communities here in Israel (known as "Anglo-Saxons"). As for the magazines…they cost a bloody fortune here, but well worth it. If this MidEast Studies gig doesn't work out, I'm going into the print importing business.
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