Lizrael Update

Lizrael Update: babbling about the expat life since 2004

  • The sweetness of milk and honey.

    Like a good American, I love cereal. Itty bits of stuff you can pick at in milk and eat with a spoon? Awesome. I bought Honey Nut Cheerios in Israel for the first time, and when I took my first crunch of the stuff this morning, you know what I got a mouthful of? Milk…

  • Ode to the Hebrew-English dictionary.

    If you are an oleh in university, feel free to identify with me right now. Today I took (what was hopefully) my very last final ever. It was arbitration law, it was in Hebrew legalese, it was painful, and now, barring any failure, I can look back and say thank you to my closest academic…

  • The parrot's back.

    The crazy, stoned, alcoholic, balding Bezeq parrot is back and bringing its habit of bad marketing with it. It reads: Who will try to liquidate the parrot? Finally! Bezeq is coming to its senses. I wonder what will destroy this creature… Will he succumb to the alcohol? The crystal meth? Look in the mirror and…

  • Academic coffee on Emek Refaim.

    I just came back from a successful study session with myself. Those only happen when I’ve waited until the last minute. Looking back over the last two years of school, I realize something: I’ve taken to studying in cawffee shops. Throughout American university, I had many places to study and work, depending on the nature…

  • Am I a Mac or am I a PC?

    The last time I entered this debate was in 2001. It was my sophomore year of college and it was time to buy my first laptop. I had been using a 5-year-old Compaq desktop, donated by my father for the greater academic cause. I chose the iBook – it, too, was a sophomore (at least,…

  • City feature: Akko

    Akko, Acre, call it what you want. It’s a strange little city in my opinion, a strange little city that’s been through a lot: Canaanite, Phonician, Greek, Roman, Persian, Arab, Turkish, Crusader, Ottoman, British and Israeli rule. It was also the burial place of the founder of the Bahai faith (source). And, of course, here…

  • Living here is taxing.

    Ah, the Israeli workforce. It can be quite taxing. Literally. My aliyah counselor-husband came to my rescue and found this site (put together by MLL PayWay, apparently), that calculates for Israeli wage-earners what you get paid and what kinds of taxes, and how much of it, your money is being sucked into. It definitely helps…

  • The date I'll never forget.

    We’re not the types for anniversaries but this one begs to be recognized, as we did mutually choose to get married on Tu B’Av. Which is lucky because if we hadn’t, we probably wouldn’t remember. We’ve been married a year (technically tomorrow at around 7 or so) and they say that the first year is…

  • The hi-tech-ization of Israeli me.

    If I hadn’t moved to Israel, I wonder if I would have ended up working in an internet company. I get shocked when I think about the fact that the most experience I have now in anything is probably my day job (internet marketing for a healthy-sized website). But let’s face it: I’m a writer.…

  • 'It's time to act.'

    My newly-YNet-columnist husband presents us with his account of our Sederot volunteer day a month or so ago. One day of painting a bomb shelter doesn’t make anyone holier-than-thou, but it’s funny to see our words on ynetnews.com: ‘It’s time to act’ Ronen and Elisheva, a young couple who immigrated to Israel two years ago,…

  • Harry Potter in the Holy Land.

    Buying the newest copy of Harry Potter is just not the same in Israel. In America, the book stores were buzzing with customers chatting to each other on long lines… Everyone was filled with delicious, fluffy hype, the kind that I guess is only available in the capitalist of capitalist societies. The two book stores…

  • Recipe: Homemade lazy lemonana.

    Heat’s on the rise, and it can mean a few things, but one in particular that I’m excited about: my homemade lazy lemonana. How to, you ask? It’s very simple. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t do it (read the recipe title again). 1. Grow nana (mint) plants in your windowsill. Since this is the lazy…

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