Month: January 2008

  • Getting around town.

    Now that I’ve been getting around on only four wheels (as opposed to 4386524 wheels on a bus), I’ve totally forgotten what it’s like to use public transportation. Yes, it’s only been a couple weeks, but somehow, I’ve completely lost the former public transportation patriotism I held so dear. So, for everyone I’ve left behind…

  • Attempting snow in Israel.

    Just went for a drive… sort of. I guess I underestimated the snow; we tried driving to a friend’s and although we didn’t make it far, I did get a dose of nostalgia for snowy days back in upstate New York. Yep, stuck in the house all day, playing in the snow by night… I…

  • Moving update.

    We’ve been hitting snags in the moving process. Like the fact that we didn’t move last week so that we could be cozy in Tzur Hadassah for this snowstorm. Our current landlords are giving us issues and because of the snow, the tenants at our future apartment are having issues getting their kablan to finish…

  • To snow, or not to snow…

    It’s 6 p.m., and all the Israeli news can report about is the impending ‘snow storm’. It’s been hyped about all day, with news reporters actually looking excited as the students who await instruction to stay home from school tomorrow. The sky has been eerie and gray and has given an extra-apocalyptic feel to the…

  • Vote for Jerusalem as property on the Global Monopoly board.

    Check this out from the makers of Monopoly: Have your say in the world’s first global Monopoly! I’m creating the world’s first global Monopoly so I want to know what your favourite cities are! I’ve pre-selected 68 great cities for you to choose from but you can nominate any other city you want – these…

  • For an alternative means of defense.

    It’s some sort of rite of passage that olim go through; the idea of “becoming more Israeli.” In this case, I don’t mean wearing flowy skirts or forgetting grammatically-correct English. I mean the process of becoming overly defensive and jumping to attack at any flare of doubt or wrongness – the process of becoming more…

  • Happy Australia Day!

    Nah, I’m not Australian just because I’m married to one… But the Aussie I’m married to was given Lamingtons today by an Aussie coworker in hono’u’r of Australia Day this Saturday, and he brought one home for lil ole American me. Another benefit to “mixed” marriages. The Lamington is an Australian pastry consisting of sponge…

  • Sahlab! The Israeli winter milkshake.

    It’s been unusually freezing here in Jerusalem the last few weeks… or maybe it’s because we have no heat in our building. Either way, there are tons of way to warm up (piles of blankets? heated argument with Mizrachi neighbor? watching the news?) but my favorite at the moment is Sahlab. It’s a warm, milky…

  • Today's word: שנאת חינם

    Here’s a backup to my last post in case it wasn’t enough to get my point across. I proudly observe my own brand of Jewishness – and consider it great, holy and everything else – if my alternative for spiritual ‘climbing’ is this: U.S. immigrant beaten up in ‘pogrom’ by ultra-Orthodox gang “An American immigrant…

  • On high school reunions, halacha, nostalgia and everything in between.

    Between running into my high school principle, the recent Flatbush fiasco and my friend attending her ten-year reunion couple nights ago, I’ve had high school on the brain in the last few weeks. High school is something I have successfully managed to block from the forefront of my mind. Part of it was my own…

  • Someone has to heal Oren Zarif’s marketing campaign.

    Sometimes, we have to heal the healer. I’m referring, of course, to Oren Zarif. And by healing, I mean help him out with his horribly cheesy marketing schemes. Sounds familiar? Not sure who I’m talking about? Sure, you do! Here’s a clue: There are plenty of healers out there in the world, across cultures. There…

  • Stop playing with my heart.

    Amidst my packing the apartment, my husband calls to me: “Looks like you got too sad too early.” Lecturers’ strike ends “The Coordinating Council of the Faculty Associations and the Treasury have come to an agreement ending the 89-day strike which has threatened the academic school year. After marathonic overnight negotiations, the parties have agreed…