lizrael update

Old school.

Lately it seems like so much of old school life is stopping by to visit; I blame the gosh-darn social networks on the inter-thing.

It hit me yesterday that I’m at the stage in life where at any point, I can bump into a kid I was a camp counselor for, 12 years later when they are no longer 4 years old and they are strewn across a Facebook profile littered with txt speak.

Yikes. Old much?

Or I get tagged in photos so old they must have been scanned into the computer because there were no consumer digital cameras in the mid-90s. Standing around with a couple of high school sophomore boy friends on some Brooklyn street.

Then of course, there is getting friend requests from high school classmates I never would have remembered existed if I never went back and skimmed my yearbook (where is that thing, anyway?).

It sure is nice to have it all out there, stopping occasionally for a cyber tap on the shoulder instead of crashing into me at a high school reunion.

Old school Israeli phonage.

Spotted in Ashkelon: Anyone remember these? A little younger than the Asimon-eating public pay phones, the Telecard-eating phones were a classic by the time I first started coming to Israel in 2000.

No, I didn’t bother to see if it still worked. Remember the one-in-a-million magical Telecard that would never run out?

My mini-granates.

Attempting to have green thumbs, and doing what we can to keep them green, part of our little mirpeset garden is a small potted mini-rimon plant. Ok, I have no idea if these are technically pomegranate species or what, but they seem to be some kind of inedible cousin to the native fruit.

Since I’m charged as the main caretaker these days (a running theme for the living things in my life) I just noticed last week they’ve sprouted.

Still got it though.

This morning, my husband dropped me off in front of my office and right before I opened the door to the car, I give him a quick kiss as is the morning routine. After we do this, I usually automatically peek around to see if anyone walking outside happened to see; maybe its modesty or maybe its residual from my teenage years.

I reached into the back seat to grab  my bag and noticed another couple in a car behind us, a guy getting dropped off by his woman… Except instead of a quick morning kiss, they were full-on making out - hands on faces and everything. Nine in the morning. I could almost see the slobber dripping off their faces.  

“Quick, look back there - they’re full-on making out!”

“They really are.”

“I guess we’ve been married a while, huh.”

Favorite kind of Friday.

It hasn’t rained enough in Israel this winter, but when it has rained - it’s really, really rained. Which is just perfect on a Friday when you’re home, cozy, coming off the baby furniture high from the day before, and your husband knows how to make homemade chai lattes. 

Of course, we’re always hoping for snow here in the Jerusalem hills where snow may be just a degree celsius away… But for now, we can boast thick hail:

And nothing goes better with a gray, rainy Friday morning than a crapload of pancakes for just two people: 

The ‘Gap’ in Israeli fashion.

I’ve lived here over four years now, and as a rule, I don’t clothing-shop here. Maybe once a year I’ll buy the odd pair of loose ‘Israeli’ pants or a fun Jerusalem-hippie skirt, but I don’t find that this country’s fashion sense has much to offer me (and I can’t afford the high-end stuff which may be passable). 

So you could say there’s been a ‘gap’ between what Israel has to offer and what I do buy and wear… from the States when I go visit. I’m  not complaining; it works out well. For the same money you’ll pay in the States, you’ll get much better quality that lasts longer in my little European washing machine.

Anyway, for months I’ve been seeing articles here and there about a beacon of American everyday fashion: the Gap is coming to Israel. Some of girlfriends have squealed in delight - “finally! crew neck tees in 24375692437 colors!” - and some have shrugged their shoulders - “the price will be too high anyway.”

Gap has had its ups and downs - with the public, with its bank account and with me. I used to be a dedicated - yet alternative - Gap shopper until probably five or so years ago. So it doesn’t necessarily hurt that it’s coming but I don’t know that it will help.

Here are some of the facts I’ve gathered through articles I’ve seen: 

• Gap is due to open in Israel in August.
• One store in Tel Aviv, one in Jerusalem. 
• Banana Republic is due to arrive in a year and a half from now.
• The NIS prices of the Gap products will  be hiked up %20 from American prices.
• The franchise is being operated by Elbit Imaging. 
• They would bring Old Navy too if they could, but currently the Old Navy chain doesn’t go international. 
• Gap is also branching out into Egypt and Jordan.

Here’s what I haven’t seen a newspaper article address: How exactly does Gap style fit into the Middle East? I never understood how it fits into European style, either.

As a friend said: it’ll be interesting to watch the women match up the pseudo-preppyness with spiked heels and the men buy the jeans 3 sizes too small.

Facing the streets.

I like this. Especially since reading the Israeli news lately has been painful (then again, when is it not?). Look at Barkat being all cultural and whatnot:

Jerusalem streets to put a face to name

Capital’s municipality to replace all street signs named after famous people with new signs featuring personality’s image, story

You’re driving through the city and you pass by all kinds of streets - Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Henrietta Szold, Golda Meir, Yigal Alon. How many of you actually know who these people are and what they look like?

Well, a new Jerusalem initiative will enable passersby to get better acquainted with the personality behind the street name.

Israel’s cities are full of boulevards and streets named after various personalities, both Israeli and foreign. Sometimes you know exactly who the name behind the street is and what they looked like, in other cases you may just have a general idea, and there are times when you have no idea whatsoever who the street is referring to. 

This is why the Jerusalem Municipality has decided to embark on an operation, the first of its kind in Israel, that will allow residents to enrich their general knowledge on significant personalities. (ynet)

The article makes an interesting point at the end: How will the charedi community feel about seeing women’s faces on the streets of Jerusalem? Not like they don’t already with advertisements, but they often get ripped down or spray-painted over. Then again, Golda Meir’s mug is not exactly… womanly.

Rain, rain, come our way.

Jerusalemites are celebrating the rain that began as a lightning show last night. I woke up just now to pleasantly discover that it’s still going.

We’ve had a bad winter so far this year, the kind where everyone - to an annoying degree - talks about how terrible the situation is and starts judging each other over how much water they waste.

You know it’s gotten bad when at least three of your social conversations in the past week have involved a discussion of desalination.

Underground Israel.

Cute tourist attraction for kids… or even adults who miss going on school field trips. We’ve been there twice now in both formats (which, admittedly, is enough).

The stalactite cave at Avshalom Reserve, or Soreq Cave, is located right outside Beit Shemesh. It’s about an hour tour including a slideshow beforehand which will teach you all kinds of new Hebrew words you never considered before.

Tracking Jerusalem.

The light rail project for Jerusalem has been underway for some time, as anyone who has been through town lately can attest. I rarely go to town anymore; last night was the first time in a while, long enough for me to be shocked by seeing Yaffo street covered in braces:

It’s exciting to see an Israeli construction project actually underway and making progress.

Probably not so much for all the shops that had to be closed down because they destroyed an entire building complex on Yaffo… Remember the classic Jerusalem downtown favorites like Kent and Coffee Time? I don’t think that construction is related to the light rail, but is part of the general regentirying of the downtown Yaffo area.

So… dare I ask how public transportation (bus and taxi traffic) will work on this new Yaffo street?