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My First Cell Phone: A Poem

I got a cell phone
it goes beep-beep-boop
I don’t know how to use it yet
but it sure is cute

It’s funny it took this long
to catch up with all the rage
Guess I had to come to Israel
to enter the modern age

Tomato Peduncle

Bet you didn’t know peduncle is a word.

Reprogramming My Brain

Kilometers, not miles.
Centimeters, not inches.
Celsius, not Fahrenheit.
A3 paper, not tabloid; A4 paper, not letter.
Shekels, not dollars.
Shalom, not hello.
The Jerusalem Post, not The Chicago Tribune.

Both Sunny and Cloudy Over the Sea

Up and Down

We walked so much this weekend -- up and down, and up and down the mountain -- that my leg muscles are sore.

I even walked to Sholeh’s on Friday night, which was smart because I ate some serious helpings of good food. (For those of you who don’t know, Sholeh is a former Chicagoan who also moved to Haifa, and she’s a bit of a genius in the kitchen.)

A lot of people take walks here. Yet for the most part, we’ve noticed that Israelis don’t seem to make a lot of eye contact, and if they do, it doesn’t seem customary to smile or say hello.

The exception was on Saturday. Eric and I were walking to French Carmel, and everyone was literally staring at me. At first I thought it was my imagination, but Eric noticed it, too. One woman’s jaw even dropped open when she saw me! It was very bizarre. At one point Eric stopped me in my tracks to look me up and down, trying to see something, anything.

We never figured out what they were staring at, and unfortunately, we probably never will. Maybe I look like a local celebrity? Or it’s offensive to have wet hair on Shabbat? Or I had a booger?

Or they were transfixed by my beauty?

Well anyway, enjoy pictures of some Haifa buildings.

My, How You’ve Grown

Haifa is a beautiful city, but the lush greenery of the Bahá’í gardens makes it stunning.

I’ve been going to the gardens almost every day, usually at lunchtime, sometimes at night. It really has a transforming effect. Despite any disturbances beyond, my life feels calm and unshakable.

It’s becoming clear that we really needed to get away from the life we were living before this. Though we were surrounded by friends, had successful careers, and were basically happy, we were slowly getting caught up in the rat race -- the “exhausting, unremitting, and high-pressure urban working life spent trying to get ahead” (as defined by Dictionary.com).

Israelis, however, seem unfazed by materialism and celebrity worship. I’m no sociologist, but perhaps because this country has been plagued by conflict for so long, they simply have better things to worry about.

Living here is going to be good for us, I think.

I Actually Live Here

It’s a gorgeous day today.

Hebrew Immersion, Haifa Signage

It’s amazing how quickly you can learn a language when there’s total immersion. Three weeks ago I didn’t know one Hebrew word, and today I’m confidently asking my bus driver to punch my bus ticket for two people. Perhaps someday I’ll be able to have a real conversation in Hebrew!

Also, I’ve been taking pictures of signs -- in part because they’re interesting (to a foreigner), and in part because they illustrate how diverse this place is. Signs are written in Hebrew, Arabic, English, and even Russian.

And then... there’s the pedestrian sign. No words, but I’m curious: why is he wearing a hat?

Survived the First Three Weeks

I’ve been in Israel for three weeks now. Now that the jet lag and scratchy throat are gone, we’ve started exploring. We’ve visited the Horev Center, which is like a super-condensed, Middle Eastern version of the Shops at 900 N. Michigan; we’ve grabbed falafel in the Hadar, and we found a dry cleaner not too far from our place. Oh, and we have an amazing little bakery next door to our apartment -- hooray.

Pictured below is a winding street in the Wadi, which is (so far) one of my favorite neighborhoods in Haifa.

On the Wing, Turkish Airlines

Flight from Istanbul to Tel Aviv, January 4, 2007.

Thank You Very Gluch

Last night’s sherut driver was making a sincere effort to speak English with us. He did alright, except he kept saying, “Thank you very gluch! Thank you very gluch!” Oh man, it was hilarious.

Once the van cleared out, I quietly told him, “Not gluch. MUCH.”

“Mukh-ch?”

“No, MUCH.”

“Much?”

“Yes, good.”

But when we got out of the van, he yelled out, “Thank you very muck-ch!” We just about died giggling.

Of course... I have to remember that my Hebrew is much worse than his English.

Adjusting to Life in Israel

The only available seat on the bus this morning was next to an Israeli soldier holding a machine gun. That the barrel of the gun was pointed toward me was a bit disquieting, but this is the sort of thing I will probably get used to after a while.

The Israeli work week is 5.5 days long. The weekend usually starts around noon on Friday, and then you go back to work on Sunday. Saturday is Shabbat, or Day of Sabbath, and everything in town is pretty quiet -- stores are closed, streets are empty, and everyone is relaxing at home. I appreciate that since nothing is open it truly becomes a day of rest; I also appreciate that since nothing is open I don’t spend money, and when you’re working as a volunteer, that's really, really important.

The Bare Necessities

My husband and I are careful planners. We gave much thought to buying a condo, a car, a TV, and even a DSL connection. The ironic thing is that, despite how much time it took for us to acquire those things, it didn’t take long at all to give them all up for the experience of living overseas and serving our Faith.

Now that we’re here, it feels quite cleansing to go back to having just the bare essentials.

A couch, a bed, table and chairs, clothing, food, a few lamps, simple kitchen appliances, a laptop computer and The Complete First Season of Lost.

Yep. It sure feels good to live simply.

Life is Different Here

Certainly there will be more to add to this list in the future, but here are some initial things I find new and exciting about life in Israel.

1. They were right. Fruits and vegetables DO taste better here.

2. Hot water is not a given. The water heater in our apartment does not heat all day; it heats only during time slots which we specify. We selected the hours of 6:00-7:00 am and 7:30-9:00 pm for having piping-hot water. I am so impressed with this simple way to save energy.

3. I am also impressed with other energy-saving methods in our apartment. For example, the sink faucets do not continue to run at full-blast if they are idle. If they are idle for more than a few seconds, the water pressure diminishes. Brilliant.

4. The common areas in our apartment are also not lit at all hours. When we arrive at our building, we turn on the light switch, and it stays on for about 60 seconds -- just enough time for us to get upstairs to our flat.

5. Window coverings are equally brilliant. Apartments do not come with interior vinyl blinds; instead, we have exterior, heavy-duty, metal “blinds” that keep out NOT ONLY varying degrees of light intensity, but they also keep out wind and cold, AND they are pretty much indestructable.

6. The toilet and shower are usually in different, but adjoining, rooms.

7. Scary street cats! I have seen them on past visits, but it continues to surprise me that “wild” cats roam the streets and alleys, and I shudder at the thought of what this would do to Heather.

8. Highly domesticated dogs! Eric and I joke that there is no need for dogwalkers here, since dogs just walk themselves. They walk down the sidewalks and wait to cross streets just as we humans do.

Anyway, there is so much more to learn about life here, and there is so much to TELL about life here... I hope to give many more glimpses of it as we continue to experience it every day. Much love!

Hello, Haifa

I have arrived.

Moving Overseas Day

See y’all on the flip side.