Month: May 2011

  • Coming to Israel? Things to do.

    Recently wrote up some off-the-top-of-my-head Israel tourism ideas for a friend coming in the summer (with a 6-month-old baby). So, while I’m at it, why not share, right? Short-term rentals There are quite often short-term rentals of apartments in Jerusalem and elsewhere, which is probably a better bet than hotel if you’re coming for a…

  • Was it you?

    Cooped up in my office tower these last months, I’ve missed wandering the streets and stumbling upon Israeli/Jerusalem street art/graffiti. And for a while now, I too have been wondering: Who moved my chair?

  • Street art sadness.

    Getting out more means seeing more. And remembering more, since the streets of Jerusalem tend to be fairly expressive. Captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, spotted yesterday on Emek Refaim. Paint reads: please save me. Shouldn’t he be out of uniform by now?

  • Good bras, good nursing.

    Since having children, I have been on a journey. It’s not quite spiritual, but certainly challenging. It’s about… finding the best nursing bras. Seriously, what’s the deal? At least half the women in this country breastfeed, yet it’s fairly difficult to find good quality nursing bras here. Forget the malls – Intima and the like have…

  • Surviving Israeli mortgage hell: a checklist.

    Buying your first home in Israel? Welcome to Israeli mortgage hell! (As opposed to anywhere-else-mortgage hell). Here are some points about the process that might be helpful to you if you’re going through it now too. Note that we bought our apartment from our landlady, so there was no issue of real estate agency, moving…

  • The new American consulate in Jerusalem (now with room to breathe!)

    Let’s hear it for American consulate 2.0! Had to go back to ze Fatherland territory to register new baby’s citizenship, get her passport (1/3) and apply for her Social Security number. For a while now, Jerusalem and Jerusalem-area American-Israeli residents have been going to the shiny new consulate in ‘west’ Jerusalem (is Arnona not a…

  • Big plans for Tzur Hadassah.

    Build it, and they will come. In our case, many already did, but I’m sure that attracting more is part of the plan. Walking through the yishuv this week I noticed the sign declaring what we all thought were just rumors and faraway promises: a major community center in the middle of Tzur Hadassah, servicing…

  • Thank you, Beit Shemesh fire fighters.

    Very appreciative, very uncharacteristic.

  • Free to be… sixty three.

    Had a great day, especially since Park Begin wasn’t a disheveled, polluted mess by the time it ended! I love how a bunch of immigrant friends can get together, no local family aside, and have a great time of a national holiday. To the %#@! asshole who let his Doberman Pinscher run loose through groups…

  • Israeli flag protekzia.

    Someone is watching over us. Taking care that we do right by our adopted citizenhood. And that someone… is our mortgage bank representative. She happens to live in Tzur Hadassah, and her home happens to be located at the bottom of the hill our apartment overlooks. And now that she knows exactly where we live…

  • Still here.

    It confuses me that about one half of myself can’t believe we’re still here, and can’t believe things will continue the way they are – growing, productive, surviving… and the other half of myself thinks, look at the progress! Look at how far we’ve come, and how far we’re poised to go! We build buildings…

  • Family outing, Memorial Day, contributing, Israel.

    Proud that we managed to dress, pack up, and transport the kids to the Yom HaZicaron tekes in Tzur Hadassah tonight. And that my two-year-old stayed silent and un-startled throughout the siren. And that we managed to stay for the first 15 minutes. Watching all those kids socialize up until they suddenly stopped for the…