Sand in my scarf

I took up knitting last week because it was cold and because I needed a new hobby.  A few days ago (the day after writing about how cold and wet it has been) it was 21C and sunny - so I went to the beach.  And I brought my knitting - it was a great way to spend the afternoon :)

These guys were hopping to the water's edge and then hop/flying away every time a wave came - it was pretty entertaining

A revolution in mornings..and all day really

When we decided to move to Israel there were a lot of things swirling around in my mind.  It's not everyday that you move to a new country with a new language, new culture and new community.  A lot of unknown things can be positively anticipated with the promise of "it's an adventure!" or "this will make a great story to tell the kids one day" or "well at least we can laugh about it later" type statements.  However, there was one unknown that I couldn't quite do away with that easily.

I had heard from some fairly reliable sources that although I was entering into the land flowing with milk and honey, this land did not flow with something else.  Something that I considered relatively essential to my daily life.  My morning coffee.  Now I don't need coffee for the caffeine fix (if I keep saying it, it makes it true, right?) but I like it for the taste/feelings it evokes; so a substitute (like instant or espresso) doesn't really do it for me. It was in Israel that I discovered that I'm not the coffee connoisseur I always like to think I am ;)  I just really don't like espresso or espresso based coffee.  I tried.  I've tried to embrace the cappuccino and latte (way too much milk) and have come pretty close to liking an americano, all of which you can get here and are pretty fantastic according to people who like Italian based coffees.

Side note: I love these types of coffee for dessert or special occasions, just not as my morning coffee. For that I like the plain old, roasted bean, drip, filter coffee.  

The closest to drip coffee here is instant (which I tried to like but failed) and botz which literally means "mud".  Botz is Turkish coffee that is made like instant coffee, except that it doesn't dissolve so you let the grounds settle to the bottom and then avoid drinking them.  This is the type of coffee that Zach has come to enjoy.  But I just couldn't do it.  So I had settled for instant and americanos.  Then something glorious happened.  My dear brother got me a large supply of coffee beans and I found a little french press here (which I've seen used mainly for loose tea), and voila!!  My life is changed - or well, at least back to some kind of normal :)

Happy Drinking!

(coffee.org)

another side note - it's quite possible that you can get this type of coffee here but that I haven't been able to find where to buy it, or what it is called, or what its name looks like in Hebrew.  For now I'm loving my imported stuff :)

Winter

When we moved this fall I pretty much only packed warm weather clothes.  Even though I had looked into the weather, and know that 8C isn't exactly sundress temperature, there is just something about moving to the Middle East (especially in November) that makes you think - nah, it'll be super hot.  Haha.  Well seeing how cold places are back in Canada right now, I suppose 8 seems pretty warm...

Winter in Tel Aviv means rain.  A lot of rain.  Because it only rains for a few months each year, the streets aren't really designed to take it all that well.  So since today is our 3rd consecutive day of intense downpour, the streets are a little flooded (perfect for puddle jumping if you're into shin deep puddles).  I remembered just before lunch that we didn't have any food...so I ran out to get some during a lull in the storm.  During this lull the sewers had caught up a bit and the streets weren't so flooded.  However, when I left the store the rain had come back with a vengeance, and the streets were once again flooded.  I was going to take some pictures because it looked awesome, but I was too busy running (and trying to keep the pita dry)

The good news is that I love rain and it makes it very cozy inside.  Here are a few pictures from around our flat:

View from our bedroom window overlooking the front garden and Tagore St.

This is the building next to ours. You can just sort of see that the downspout is disconnected near the roof, giving us a very nice waterfall to walk under when we leave the building

This is the waterfall leading out to Tagore - it also creates a nice pond/river along the walkway. It's hard to see but it is the entire length of that building overhanging the sidewalk - in a lovely sheet. I've found it best to just duck my head, run and jump over the massive puddle, while trying not to slip in the sand. It's pretty sweet to watch other people do it... especially when they don't quite clear the puddle.

This is kitty corner to the last picture (to the left) of our back/side garden.  I love these bushes which are everywhere.  The flowers are bright red and long and never unfold, so they look sort of like a rolled up hibiscus flower.  The rain is nice because it makes everything beautiful and green.  When we moved here in  November both of these yards were just dirt.

Israeli Museum and Canadian Hockey

Today Zach and I made our first long overdue foray into Jerusalem!  We took a day trip to the Israel museum and managed to make it there and back before Shabbat! (which was a score because public transit stops at about 3:30pm this time of year on Shabbat) so no cabs or super long walks :)

This is a great country to get to different places pretty cheaply.  The bus to Jerusalem is only about $10 round-trip so it makes it easy to see different parts of the country.  Another awesome thing is that everything is so close - Jerusalem is only about an hour away - and the farthest part of the country from us is about 5 hours.

The museum is pretty good - it's a lot different to see the thousand(s)-year-old exhibits and realize that you could drive just a few km and see where they found the stuff.  It somehow makes history seem a lot more real. I wanted to take pictures of the scale model they have of Old Jerusalem but they were very "discouragey" about taking pictures in the museum so I decided not to :)  The other exhibit that the museum is famous for is Shrine of the Book which has the dead sea scrolls and the Aleppo Codex display. Can I just say that the name Aleppo Codex sounds ridiculously awesome and if I did another degree I'd study that just so I could say it often.

I just finished reading a book called The Dovekeepers (Hoffman) that was set in 70CE which taught me a lot of the history (and/or lore..it's disputed) around Masada during the fall of Jerusalem. I love it when historic books that I've read coincide with going to the places mentioned or seeing them in a museum (yes I am that dorky - but I love it :)) because it makes me appreciate them a lot more.  Side note - I highly recommend this book.  It is a really interesting account of that time and place told from four different women's perspectives and written (I thought) beautifully.  Thanks Julia!!

We spent the second half of our day in classic Canadian fashion - pizza and hockey.  We finally tried the Dominoes up the street (which tastes surprisingly similar to Dominoes back home) and is non-kosher, and thus, allows meat and cheese on their pizza! (some things are hard to give up....) We have a subscription to NHL games online so we've been keeping up with the Jets.  This has been a surprisingly comforting/homey activity.  I like hockey - but I've never really followed it on TV voluntarily unless it's the playoffs.  But it's actually pretty fun and reminds me of home and I like that :)  Too bad we probably won't be seeing the Jets in the playoffs anytime soon......

-----------------------------------------

This is the Bridge of Strings built for the new light rail in Jerusalem (just opened a few months ago).   I like pictures of bridges :) 

Challah

After my first attempt at baking Challah turned disastrous, I decided (with some apprehension) to try it again. I mean, when it takes me an entire day to make something...

Challah is sweet bread (made with eggs and sugar) that is traditionally eaten on Shabbat and other Jewish holidays.  It is also delicious.  Zach's prof calls it "fat bread" which might explain why it's so good. Another thing I like about it is the name.  You pronounce it with the Hebrew ch which sounds like you're hacking up a cough - sort of like an H with some spit behind it.  A good sound right?  I haven't really mastered it yet and get funny looks for it, but then I get funny looks for a lot of things I say so... this isn't really new.

I tried to make this a while ago, but due to some unfortunate timing issues (i.e. I let it rise WAY too long) and the fact that our oven is completely ridiculous, it was too doughy in the middle to eat.  Luckily attempt number two worked out better.  This time I just left it in the oven forever (like more than 2 hours) and it baked all the way through...well sort of...  at least enough to eat it :)  And it tasted pretty good!  I will figure out this oven someday!

I finally found some real measuring cups!  Yes, I am a little too excited about this, but they made me happy.

I think that this might be more successful if I split it into two loaves, or even buns.  But it just looks so cool when it's huge.

Success!!  I put cinnamon sugar on the outside because if it's already bad for you, you might as well go nuts.  Also it made the apartment smell fantastic :)

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

by Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
...
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
...
Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored.  There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.

I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.
...
And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go...
...
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will  you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!