The Worst Wine...Ever

Look closely after you read the post.

Having both spent time in Argentina, Paul and I love good red wine.  This is a pretty common thing for people who stay there an extended period of time in Argentina.  The great meat goes so well with the great wine.  I think it is safe to say my cousin Sara, who spent time there too, understands this. 

So Israel supposedly has this up and coming wine industry.  Much like real estate "Up and Coming" is code for "currently in shambles, but some people are working really hard and sinking money into this area - someday we hope it will be good!"  :)  It isn't the vinegar it used to be known as. (What is the difference between Israeli wine and Israeli vinegar?  The label.) Israeli wine-makers are trying - but they are not Argentinians.

A few weeks ago at the duty free store (one of the perks of Paul's job) we found an escape from Israeli wine, a bottle of Argentine Malbec (A dry red wine from a grape that is really only grown there - yet somehow there is an Israeli Malbec. We haven't tried it.). The label looked good, it is from a specific region in Argentina we know, looks legit.  A little over our price range but we decide to try it.  So last night Paul makes steak (Oh, he is getting good at that!) and we opened this bottle. 

The bottle was very difficult to open and when the cork finally came out it felt like recycled tires.  We poured the wine and let it breathe a few minutes before trying it.  I was not impressed.  The aroma was off, the mouth was weak and there was almost no finish.  This is why at restuarants they have you try the wine before you buy the bottle - in case you have a bad bottle like this one. 

Giving the wine the benefit of the doubt (and because I had already paid for it), I let it breathe for 20 more minutes (wine tastes very different when it is exposed to air. That is why you sometimes spin the glass before you drink).  Still no good.  This did not taste like a Malbec and was definitely not the quality I have come to expect from Argentine wines.  Two glasses into the bottle we agreed that this wine was not worth buying again. 

As we poured out the last glass Paul noticed half a cork and lots of sediment in the bottle (tiny solid particles).  He made fun of my corking skills for having broken the cork...until I showed him the cork, still in tact.  The recycled black rubber cork was in my hand.  The half cork in the bottle was clearly not ours. 

In addition to the horrific half of a rubber cork and the sediment in the bottle, this wine tasted like crap.  Easily the worst I have ever had.  (For the record, we didn't drink those last glasses.) This was worse than Two-Buck-Chuck.  You don't need to be a wine expert to recognize that this was a bad bottle.  I'm telling you a.) because I'm shocked!, b.) because I don't want you to buy this wine, and c.) because it is funny!  I'm glad we didn't intend on sharing this bottle with friends!

Our Balcony Garden

The eternal summer that we're living in poses an interesting question:  can we garden all year round here?!?!  Yes, and no.  Yes, because it doesn't get below freezing so we won't be running out early in the morning to pick every green tomato like we did last year.  No, some plants (and trees) require cold weather, and more importantly, many things stop growing when it is too hot.  This was new for me.  I knew sun and water were factors - but according to my research tomatoes don't turn red below 40 or above 85.





So our garden looked amazing but nothing ripened...until about last week.  Now we have lots of beautiful (but small) red tomatoes!  Our experiment with hanging tomatoes was mixed.  We used one larger black bucket and two recycled bottles.  The main lesson learned here is to put plants under the hanging plants to catch the falling water.  After watering the hanging ones the water drains through very well - and then the patio is soaked and we waste the precious commodity.



Prior to the tomatoes ripening we only had lots and lots of beautiful zucchini flower (the yellow one on the right) and a few eggplant flowers (the pinkish-purple one on the left).   Although you can eat the yellow flowers you usually fry them to eat them...and we didn't try that. The pink flower on the other hand...we are just waiting for that one to turn into a baby eggplant like some of the others have!



In addition to the heat problem we recently found out that our water is super basic....I mean, it has a really high PH level.  Plants don't really like that.  I was worried the acid in the coffee grinds - which constitute a decent portion of our compost - was making the soil too acidic. Turns out we have the opposite problem.

So, to answer our question about gardening in the eternal summer: Yes, and no.  As crazy as it sounds for those of you in the northern United States - there is such a thing as too much summer.  September should be cooler, so the plan is to tear up the garden and start from seed again in August.  We're hoping it works!  Fresh tomatoes to anyone who comes to visit! 

Working Hard - Getting Noticed

Raises, promotions and bonuses - oh my!

In May Paul completed one year at his job! Yeah!! The year went really fast as the first part was waiting to hear where he was going, planning the wedding, waiting to leave and the finally coming here. Anyway, his yearly evaluation went well and Paul got a raise! Yeah!!!!

Both of us have been working really hard (and sometimes long hours) and because of that we've gotten to see and do some really cool things like go to the big 4th of July Parties and to dinner in Ramallah.

Then in June a colleague - with a great job, tons of responsibility and more respect than anyone else in the Mission - found out that he and his wife were moving to Saudi Arabia (that's the foreign service for ya!). So..Paul was asked to step into his position! This is a HUGE promotion as now Paul has 4 people under him and tons of responsibility! And because the guy was so great the team he will be working with is really tight and supportive. What is best is that the guy who is leaving and the guy just below Paul really want him to do great!

Then in July....with our Mission Director leaving and planning for a new director to come, Jen has been working a lot of extra hours. (They think it is because she really cares about the Mission Director, but really - she is trying to get extra vacation time so she can go home at Christmas!). Anyway, the extra effort paid off this week when Jen received an award! Yeah!!! So, here in Tel Aviv, we've been workin' hard and gettin' noticed!

This is why I can't paint my house

The first reason why I shouldn't paint my apartment is evident if you are reading this blog on the website as opposed to an email: I have changed the background and colors again. I just like to change it :)

Second is that I really really don't like the plastic and the mess caused by the process of painting. This week workers have been here to fix a small leak above our window and the house and patio are covered with a light dusting of plaster. The leak wasn't serious - as it only rains 3 times a year for a total of 30 minutes - but still it had to be fixed.

So last Sunday at 8am 5 guys showed up and covered our furniture in plastic and began their work covering the house (and plants) and patio in white dust. My poor plants have gotten the worst of it. The bulk of the work is happening on the patio between the tomato/zucchini/eggplants which act as bookends for the patio. Not only can we not reach all of the plants to water them - but the leaves are covered in dust so they aren't getting light. The downside is that the leaves are dying, the upside is that the tomatoes are turning red!

The first day (Sunday) we were here the whole day while they were working and we left out hummus, meat and crackers for the guys at lunchtime. The next day they were late and we had to leave for work - so we locked them out. The third and fourth day they showed up early, and on the fifth day the boss brought us a really good bottle of wine! He said it was to thank us for the hummus :) I'm telling you, Paul has perfected this hummus! Israeli's and Arabs have agreed that it is good!

Lovely Drive to Ramallah...?

Last week we went out for dinner In Ramallah! We were there for a farewell event for our boss and it was to be the who's who of Palestine (minus the Prime Minister) at the nicest restaurant. It take more coordination than you can image for us to go and about 30 (15%) of our office was there. Dinner was okay and there were ministers and governors, but that didn’t really matter to me because I don’t speak Arabic so I couldn’t really talk to them.

The noteworthy part of the trip was the trip itself – which honestly I’m not sure I can do again.

The first time I remember ever being car sick was with my in-laws. We were about 15 minutes into a 6 hour drive when I started to feel nauseous. I sat up straight, looked out the window and still felt sick. We soon pulled over and after some Dramamine and pizza I was out.

This trip was a million times worse. First because instead of beautiful country roads we were going up and down dessert hills, twisting and turning on an uneven road trying to catch up with the other cars. I wanted so badly to look out the window and take in my first glimpses of Palestine, but I couldn’t. I put my head back and fell asleep.

The way home from dinner was about the same. The sun was setting over Ramallah and I was thinking how badly I wanted to take a picture to share with you all (I didn’t have my camera). We went down a hill, up a hill, around the hill, down the hill, to the right, to the left, more left, down, down , fast, slow, right, up….

When we got to Jerusalem (45 minutes away) I stumbled (no joke) out of the car and quickly grabbed onto the massive potter in front of the U.S. Consulate. My legs were shaking and all I could think of was “don’t throw up in the flowers!” You would think this was the end of my story…but no. Less than 3 minutes after exiting the first car we loaded into the next car to head back to Tel Aviv another hour and half away. Oh geeze…I slowly tossed my purse into the massive Trail Blazer and climbed in on hands and knees. I braced myself for another horrible ride – but was happily surprised when my car sickness went away 20 minutes later.  

We made it home okay (no barf bag necessary) – but I’m not sure my stomach can handle that again, at least not without some Dramamine. But if I took the Dramamine I’d be passed out when we arrived and thus defeat the point of going. We’ll see…

"Holiday Celebrations"

One of the best things about being posted in Israel is that we get to celebrate all of the American holidays (for us), the Israeli/Jewish holidays (for the host country) and the Palestinian/Islamic holidays (for our colleagues). While this usually works to our benefit - like for example in September when the clash of Labor Day, Ramadan, Yom Kippur and Rosh HaShanah collide giving us a grand total of 7 1/2 work days off. That is almost half the month!!!

But the down side of this is the "Holiday Celebrations." Part of my job is to make sure the office follows protocol. Now I am no expert, but I'm reading about the actual protocol and trying to take into account my coursework on culture and religion, etc. I LOVE to plan parties and social events so I was very excited to plan the welcome picnic for the new director and collect money for champagne for a toast for Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year). And then....

Rosh Hashanah is Sept 9th - so we have half a day of work on the 8th. The plan was a toast on the 8th...but some people get really offended at the idea of ANY alcohol at work, even a toast. Fine - sparkling grape juice in desserts. No...that is during Ramadan so the Muslims celebrating Ramadan (one month of fasting - no eating or drinking ANYTHING from sunrise to sunset) would be offended. Okay, so Ramadan ends the 11th of Sept, we'll do it the following Monday - nope, they take off the 3 days after Ramadan ends - so we're looking at the 15th. But the director will be out of the office that day and the next - so the 17th. Ooh, that is Yom Kippur. 

So maybe instead of a toast for Rosh Hashanah on the 8th we'll have a holiday celebration at the end of the month....

Similar complications arise with planning the picnic as some of the staff lives in Ramallah (almost 3 hours away with traffic), some in Jerusalem (1.5 hours away) and some live in Jaffa (15 minutes). Where do you have a picnic? And since they have to get home after work, when do you have it? During work? Okay - then you are back to Ramadan and days off...and the end of the fiscal year.

So it looks as if our new mission director will arrive in mid-August, and we'll have a very neutral inclusive welcome picnic on October. :(  Is it better to be neutral and not offend ANYONE - or have many small celebrations and make the director feel welcomed and the staff more relaxed?  Hmm...

Scooping the Press

I'm sitting on my couch writing the last post about our 4th of July week and our plans to run errands today - thinking about our goal to be out the door in 15 minutes. There is music playing, a few car horns honking and a helicopter in the background. Not so weird - as we live in the city and every once in a while the President or PM give a visiting foreign dignitary a tour. Well they must be touring right around here because as I hit publish I hear the helicopter still, it is pretty loud.

I'm starting to feel a little uneasy by all this helicopter action outside. Today there are protest at our neighbor's house - watch the news. Now - I don't know the full story so I'll let the AP report it, but I would like to scoop the press on this picture:

Back to my story. I'm starting to feel a little uneasy about the noise so I look to my right, out the window, over the balcony and.....  I think my neighbor came by to visit. Funny because I don't know him. I think he was at the party on Thursday - but we aren't friends.

His driver landed his vehicle right in my front yard! (Which is a public park). They shook hands, took a picture and took off. This is the take off - wow! I'm really close in case you can't tell. This doesn't happen in Mansfield. If the New York Times would like this picture that is fine - it will make up for me using your picture earlier this morning :)

You know those pictures where I'm taking a picture of you and you are taking one of me? Well that is the next picture in this series - but I can't show you that because I'm afraid if I do that guy will show everyone the picture of me in my pjs. Off to those chores!

The final days of the 4th

Don't ask me how, but in the midst of celebrating independence we almost forgot it was the 4th. By the time the 4th of July came - we had already done so much celebrating it felt like the day was ages ago. As I mentioned in "Representational" we went to two official representation events. Wednesday we traveled to Jerusalem (J'lem as the papers say) for the event at the U.S. Consulate - a lovely formal garden party with lots of mingling. Thursday we headed north just a bit to the house of the U.S. Ambassador for the official U.S. Embassy event - a huge to do where all of Israel's VIPs are bombarded by freebees from American businesses. Friday was the join 4th of July/"The first anniversary of Jen's 25th birthday" party - a lovely gathering of our new friends who are absolutely the sweetest! Saturday was a night on the town for Jen's birthday! Sunday was relaxing and the beach...opps - and the 4th of July, finally.

We did hang our flag outside and played a few of the good old American songs from Jimmy Hendrix to Aretha Franklin to the Beach Boys - and that was the end of the 4th for us. Although there was another party at the Ambassador's house yesterday for staff and their families (no VIPs or freebees this time) we opted not to make the drive up there. I think we'd had enough socializing and celebrating. Today is the last day of our 4th of July-ing. We are running around Israel getting chores done in the hopes of getting home in time to bbq for dinner :)  Happy Fourth of July everyone!

PS - Just saw this article in the New York Times - another perspective on that little party we went to. :) 

Representational

Like many sub-cultures the U.S. foreign service has its own lingo. One fun sub-culture word is “representational.” We have representational funds, representational events, representational duties. The word refers to official events hosted by the U.S. government for contacts (foreign government officials, other diplomats, CEOs and NGO leaders, etc. – Important people in the host country) with the purpose of enhancing U.S. relations. This usually translates into dinners or parties (we call them receptions) where diplomats mingle pseudo-socially with contacts but with the clear understanding that this is work related and you are REPRESENTING the U.S. government.

Representational events come in all sizes and flavors from small informal dinners to the event of the year – the 4th of July party. So what are we really representing? Well, the primary goal is to represent U.S. foreign policy goals. In one way, we are experts as we work on various aspects of it every day. On the other hand, we aren’t given a formal business pitch or list of talking points so we aren't experts. This is an opportunity for contacts to talk to us about anything – and we answer honestly, keeping in mind we are REPRESENTING the U.S. government.

Guests take different approaches to these events.
First there is that guy that just wants to meet the VIPs (the Ambassador, the host-country President, the UN Ambassador, etc.). Then there is the guest who just wants to enjoy the food and the music. Next there are those who want to promote their NGO or business (human rights organizations, security consulting, etc.). We think their work is very interesting and congratulate them on their success thus far (they are obviously successful if they’ve been invited). If they are seeking information about grants or visas or partnerships we get their information and let them contact us, then we forward this on to the proper U.S. employee.

This is all part of being "diplomatic." Sounds easy enough, but it gets tough when someone wants to talk politics or gets overly social. You really have to remind yourself you are REPRESENTING the U.S. government and by extension..you, the American people too. Here are some examples:

What are your opinions of Israeli democracy? Ehh… I’m a Latin American studies major, I don’t know anything about Israeli democracy! Is this a trick question? Be agreeable, but not insulting (the Minister is right behind you!). Informed and articulate – you are representing the U.S. and you don’t want to let your country down! Democracy comes in many forms and must always adapt to the culture of its people.

I'm from St. Anne’s. I will plan a trip for you to come to mass in my city. Aw dang it! That sounds amazing!!! But there is no way security will let me go there! Too dangerous. That sounds so interesting! How long have you been at St. Anne’s?

We are from the Canadian navy. Canada has a navy? Really?!? Hahaha! Don't say that! Don’t laugh!! Canada? Nice to meet you! Happy Canada Day!

  

(Pool photo by Oded Balilty, New York Times, "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a Fourth of July party at the American ambassador’s home in Israel on Thursday.")