BLOG

Haifa Zoo

Considering that its entrance is in a busy, fancy neighborhood, I never expected Haifa Zoo to be so grand in scale and to have such a wide variety of animals.

It’s kind of wacky, actually, being positioned where it is. For example, in the last photograph, there’s a tiger sleeping, and just behind his cage there’s a white building. See it? That’s a regular ol’ apartment building. Can you imagine waking up every morning and looking out your window to SEE A TIGER?

Oh, also -- I decided that baboons may be the strangest-looking animal, while fennec foxes may be the cutest.

And that turtles may be cute when they trudge along, but they are certainly NOT CUTE when they mate.

Zesty!

I’d been wanting to go to Zesty Grilled Sandwich ever since it opened, so yesterday we finally did. And oh, let me tell you! I ordered the chicken avocado on whole grain bread, and it had the perfect intermingling of flavors -- if I ever envisioned my ideal sandwich, that was it.

Lonely Planet Digital Downloads

You don’t have to buy an entire travel guide anymore -- you can Pick & Mix by buying individual chapters of your choice and downloading them in PDF. I like!

The Potato Eaters

In the summer of 1995 I fell in love with a painting by Vincent van Gogh called The Potato Eaters. It portrays a group of peasants taking a simple evening meal under the dim light of an oil lamp. I was fascinated by their faces -- sullen, wrinkled, and hardened by the work of a long day.

Since then, I sometimes find myself crossing paths with real-life potato eaters, solitary figures who might be walking down the street or sitting on a bench. Their faces -- sullen, wrinkled -- give them away. I delight in recognizing individuals as a member of this rarefied class, but alas, such experiences are infrequent; there may be months between sightings.

Last night was different, however. After finding a seat on a crowded bus, I looked around at my fellow riders. Potato eaters everywhere!

The man seated by the window in the gray coat -- potato eater!
The man across the aisle to my left with a cap -- potato eater!
The woman in the double seat before me -- potato eater!

I couldn’t believe it! Never has there been such a mass convergence of potato eaters! I glanced excitedly from one to the other, relishing in their faces -- sullen, wrinkled -- for nearly 20 minutes. It was glorious.

Rearranging

This blows! We’ve rearranged our furniture about ten times today, and we still don’t like it.

Arcaffé with John and Natascha

John and Natascha introduced us to Arcaffé, and now it’s one of my favorite cafés in Haifa. It may even be one of my favorite cafés in the world.

We went back with them last Saturday. As usual, Natascha and I are enjoying a tall glass of mango juice. Can you say yummo? Yep, I thought so.

Naw-Ruz, Fattoush, Jessica’s Visit

Naw-Ruz, which marks the new year for Bahá’ís, was last Friday. The weather was gorgeous, so we walked down to the German Templar Colony and had lunch at Fattoush, where we ordered a whole pitcher of lemonana just for the two of us (how indulgent).

Later in the afternoon we went to the Naw-Ruz celebration, where we bumped into Jessica (see below), an old friend from Chicago.

Note that my pretty fuchsia jacket is actually a sari blouse. I bought it from Shradha at her Indian Bonanza! and want to wear it every day since, probably because it’s the only non-maternity item of clothing I’ve bought in the last 15 months. And because it’s fuchsia.

I’m a Lucky Woman

Eric: I make homemade baba ghanoush, homemade pesto... You’re a lucky woman, you know.

Me: I know. I don’t take you for granted, sweetie. Every day I thank God for you.

Eric: What about thanking me?

Me: ...

Eric: ...

Me: Nah.

Michael, Leah, Jessa, and Anne-Marie’s Visit

I love these people.

Jen and Nick at Our Place

The quality of this photo is terrible, but I’m posting it anyway, just for the memory.

Out-of-Control Cleavage

Me: (Gesturing to woman on the street.) Whoa! Look at THOSE!

Eric: Look at them? I think they’re looking at me.

Rockers

Sholeh and Kamyar, 14 Weeks Old

Sholeh took a day off last week, so we spent a couple of hours just sitting on her balcony in the afternoon sunlight, talking, being. She is awesome with Kamyar.

Goodbye, Anthony Minghella

I love Anthony Minghella films. Sort of remarkable that he passed away on the same day we finally watched Breaking and Entering.

The whole film had such a sad quality to it, too. Just right for mourning.

Welcome to the Neighborhood

The residents of our building gathered for dinner last week. It was so nice to get to know them, but their warnings about the neighborhood scared us.

“Unplug your electronics or they might blow in a storm.”
“Even though you’re on the top floor, you might get thieves.”
“Don’t leave the windows open at night or rats will gnaw their way through the screens.”
“Oh, and you’ll probably get rats on your balcony too, so watch out.”

Um, yeah. Can we move back to our posh neighborhood?

Anyway, Kamyar was the star of the evening:

Not even four months old and already eying the dessert:

And confiding his innermost thoughts to Zekre:

Me and the Little Guy, 14 Weeks Old

It’s Been Over 20 Years

Yet I woke up this morning with a seriously intense craving for Lucky Charms.

Guarded

We’re so used to life in this country that I often forget to mention the details that make it interesting.

Take security, for example. There isn’t a public space without a guard. Restaurants, shopping malls, hospitals -- you always stop at the door to show the contents of your bag to the guard and, in some cases, get searched. Metal detectors are routine, too.

Restaurants actually charge an extra shekel per patron, which basically pays for the guard at the door (and even if the guard doesn’t seem to do anything but chew gum and stare at the women, you still pay for the service).

If you have a car, you become intimately acquainted with the button that pops the trunk, because every time you drive into a parking garage, the first thing the guard does is check the trunk.

Until recently, even buses had guards. They only stayed on for a few stops -- just long enough to get a good look at passengers and check seats and trash cans for unidentified objects. But funding for that service has been eliminated in Haifa.

Lastly, I’m a huge fan of the question asked at every entrance: “Do you have a weapon?” I’m curious if anyone actually says yes. (Though, come to think of it, off-duty soldiers probably say yes. Hm.)

Interacting with Dad, 91 Days Old

Houman and Damineh’s Visit

Aaron and Alissa, David and Halleh

On February 23, we had a dinner party even though we’d barely moved in to our new apartment. Still, we forced ourselves to tidy up and get cooking, since we had friends in town that we wanted to see and introduce to others.

On the party roster were Aaron and Alissa from D.C., David and Halleh from L.A., and locals John, Nancy, Natascha, and PJ.

Please ignore my awful hair. When you don’t get a haircut for over a year, every day is a hair disaster.

Food Poisoning

I just had the most horrific bout of food poisoning. For two days I couldn’t hold any food down, then on the third day I was only able to eat a little bread and rice, and today, though I’m eating more, I have absolutely no energy and just want to sleep all day.

(FYI, You know you’re tired when you’re sleeping next to your baby, and when he starts to fuss, you stick a pacifier IN HIS EAR. Sweetie, HERE’S YOUR PACIFIER, why are you still fussing?)

Anyway, it all brings me back to the first trimester of pregnancy. Next time I tell you how much I loved being pregnant, remind me that my first trimester was like having food poisoning every single day for three whole months.

Mobility

It’s scary how mobile Kamyar is becoming. I put him in the crib, and he rolls all over the place. Guess I’ve gotta keep an eye on him from now on.

It’s also scary how anything that comes within 10 inches of his face goes straight into his mouth. That’s another thing I’ve gotta watch closely.

Fortunately the more I get to know him, the more I like him -- thus watching him closely is not such a bad thing.

Advice for the Under-18 Set

List 6 actions or achievements you think every person should accomplish before turning 18 (Delara tagged me):

1. Go Outside Your Comfort Zone. Forget Prozac! When I feel depressed or hopeless, the best remedy is to face my fears. At my lowest point I went hangliding, but in everyday life this can translate into so much: going to the movies alone, cooking a complicated dish, exploring a strange neighborhood, or striking up a conversation with a cute stranger, for example. Use common sense, of course -- I mean, just because you’re afraid of the staple gun it doesn’t mean you should try it out on your hand.

2. Master a Dish. You don’t need to be a top chef, but you should know one recipe really well. Even if it’s simple, like mashed potatoes, or a cold dish, like a good salad, I promise you it will come in handy many, many times. Plus, as you get faster and more confident making it, you will feel like a top chef.

3. Go Away. If you feel directionless in making a career choice, take some time to explore a corner of the world -- where you’re relieved from the people and things pressuring you to choose a path. I’m not talking about Spring Break in Daytona Beach; this is the kind of journey that forces you to discover your strengths and weaknesses, and usually this is best done away from people who think they know you.

4. Focus on Your Strengths. Stop thinking about how So-And-So is great at This-And-That and how you wish you could be, too. You won’t get anywhere thinking about someone else’s strengths. Just be happy for So-And-So, and then focus on your own strengths. Note that Marcus Buckingham has made a killing by giving out this kind of advice. Yup. Good ol’ Marcus Buckingham. I’m happy for him, really.

5. Be Confident. It’s unfortunate that so many kids believe they’d be happy if they had what others have. True confidence is when you’re happy being different.

6. Stand Up for a Cause. In my day, kids went crazy writing petitions to keep My So-Called Life on the air, but I think you can do better than this. Find a cause greater than yourself and support it passionately.

Nighttime Delirium

Me: (Crawling back into bed after putting Kamyar to sleep in his crib.)

Eric: (Waking up.)

Me: Hi.

Eric: I’m still holding Kamyar.

Me: You are?

Eric: Aren’t I?

Me: No. (Giggling.)

Eric: Oh. (Rolling over and collapsing into pillow.)

My First Haircut in 1.25 Years!

It’s true, I haven’t had my hair cut since I lived in Chicago. That was one year and three months ago.

Not that I didn’t want a haircut. I did. But for one, I’ve been distracted -- new continent, then pregnant, then baby -- and two, I was afraid that no stylist would ever measure up to Gil, my hero at Art+Science.

Anyway, tonight I took the leap, and I’m so glad I did. Roi cut my hair, and he did an awesome job. I love it.

Too bad the fanciest place I’m going in the next couple of days is the doctor’s office.

Progress, Regress

I am so tired! (Note that I plan to mention this in every blog entry from now on.)

You know, I’m the type of person who, once something is done, I never want to look at it again. I like a project DONE. And once it is, then BYE-BYE.

This makes Baby Stuff a little frustrating. As soon as we’ve made progress on something, I want to kiss that issue goodbye, but nope, we always regress. Progress, regress, progress, regress.

Take the last two nights, for example. The night before last, Kamyar went to sleep at 9:30 pm (after one hour of coaxing). He woke up once at 3:00 am, but I gave him a pacifier, and he went back to sleep immediately without waking up again until 6:00 am. Eric and I were so excited that he basically slept through the night. We probably got too excited.

Because last night was a completely different story. Kamyar finally slept at 11:00 pm (after two and-a-half hours of coaxing), but he woke up pretty much every hour after that. So to avoid the tiring process of going back and forth all night, I eventually just crashed in his room and held him in my arms until morning.

I’m scratching my head at what happened, but the answer is probably a simple: HE’S A BABY.

AND he’s going to be a baby for a while.