Cathing Up Updates

Eeek!  It has been a really long time since I've written an update.  Here is a really quick rundown of whats on our plate here.

1.  Christmas in the Holy Land:  We hosted a really fun Christmas cocktail party again this year!  Because new people are always coming here for work and everyone (our friends) stays for only 2-3 years there is a lot of turnover at work and in your friends.  A bunch of our friends who were at the part last year have moved on or were on vacation this time around; but we also have a bunch of friends who weren't even here last year.  It was great.  Although we were sad not to be in the States on Christmas we weren't bored or lonely.  In fact, we had so much going on we were juggling invitations and schedules. 

The two highlights of Christmas were Bethlehem and our tree.  Yes - we were in Bethlehem at the site of the crime.  We were at the Church of the Nativity on Christmas eve.  It was packed!  And there was a parade of the local boy scout groups (imagine Arab boy scouts dressed in kilts, playing American Christmas carols on bag pipes.  That could be an entire post on its own...but I'll have to let this suffice.)  The other highlight was opening our gifts.  We had a lot of gifts from each other, from friends here and from family - and we enjoyed every last minute (hour) of that time.

2. Visitors!!  Yeah!  By far the highlight of the year is Jill and Mitch's visit!  I cannot believe how much we walked and how much we did and saw.  In one day (I kid you not) we were at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and the Treasury at Petra!!!  The Dome is almost never open to tourists and it is quite a journey to get from the Old City in Jerusalem to the Treasury at Petra in one day.  We all had our first Turkish baths too!  I'm not sure if you could find them in the States, but it is based on the concept of an old public bath house where you come out cleaner than you've ever been in your life!  Scrubbed down and massaged!  I think it was well deserved after hiking 17 kilometers up and down mountains in Petra all day....yes, mountains - these were much bigger than hills.  Next week Paul's parents will be here and shortly thereafter Paul's brother and our sister-in-law.  We can hardly wait!  We're making lists of all of the things we want to show them (and mostly all of the places we want to take them to eat!).  We also had two other visitors this week - friends who happened to be in Israel for some other reason and we were lucky enough to make their busy itineraries.  It was great to see that with both of them we were so excited to talk and listen that there was barely a moment to take a breathe or get a word in.

3.  Friends  One of my best friends here is pregnant!! I'm so excited for her!  Hopefully I'll get to throw a baby shower for her in a few months.  I hosted my first baby shower in December for a colleague who is due any day now.  She said I can come to the hospital to see the baby which will make her son the youngest baby we've ever seen (can I say held?  Will she let me hold him?!).

4. The Departure So we have a tour year assignment here which ends Feb. 26th.  We were all set to pack our things and fly out the first week in March....we were.....but now we're looking forward to more time with our Tel Aviv friends, camping and hiking in the warm spring, having the freshest produce of the year, a bonfire holiday party, and a very-well planned out and organized departure in May.  While we are really looking forward to some down time in the States (especially with those adorable babies!), it is the nicest time of year here, we have great friends here who are excited we're staying, and Katie's having a baby - so I'll be around to do the shower!!

I think that is all for now.

To the Party...or is it a Protest?

What to wear…what to wear.  The events email I got this week talked about all the bands that would be playing concerts tonight in support of the protest.  They are protesting the cost of living in Tel Aviv.  Actually, this is like ten small protests all coming together and the binding thread is the cost of living. 


It all started with a young orthodox guy who created a facebook page to protest cottage cheese (there is only 1 or 2 producers and it is really expensive!  Like $4 or $5 for a 10oz container).  Then a 26 year old girl who mad at her landlord did the same thing for rent prices.  
 
 This snowballed into a “tent city” on the most popular street in the city, then a 50,000 protest two weeks ago, 150,000 last week, and 300,000 this weekend.  Before you start to get a wave of anxious fear, the papers are saying the protests are more like street parties than protests.

So…the dangly earrings?  These seem a bit too party-ish for a protest.  Hmm…how about a casual dressed up look that looks effortless (but really takes me 45 minutes).  A casual cotton T-shirt with a touch of sparkle, hair pulled back, small earrings, and the obligatory across the shoulder crunchy protest purse (packed with an id, enough money for a cab home, a camera and two beers – there is no open container law here).

When we walk out of the house there are 6 tour buses parked on our corner.  There is a band playing from the second story balcony.  I’d stay to listen but it is in Hebrew and I want to see the main event.  The general crowd is moving towards the city center like a swarm of bees towards honey.  Most of them look like they are about to go grocery shopping, no signs, no hippy clothes…just normal people. 
 As we get close we can feel the excitement rising with the beating of drums.  We squeeze past the groups of young adults chatting with their friends (one of them brought a sign), past the strollers, the dad with his 6 year old daughter on his shoulder, past the families who just came to watch.  There are as many people marching as there are watching.

The march is the exciting part.  It is moving slowly – like an unorganized parade that got really scrunched up.  Each group has a banner or poster and some even have people in costumes, group T-shirts, or instruments.  We can’t really read the signs, most of them are in Hebrew.  The chants are in Hebrew as well, also very unorganized, but supposedly they are saying something like “the people demand social justice.”  We see one sign in Arabic and one in English.  We see a guy on stilts, some orthodox guys, guys with drums, a Che Guevara shirts…mostly just normal people aged 20-50. 

Looking around we can see that the walls lining the sidewalks have become benches for supporters with cameras and every other rooftop and window facing the street is packed.  “Jen, Paul.  How are you guys?”  Who would have thought, a crowd of 300,000 and we run into someone we know.  He is actually one of the two big wine experts in the country and – lucky for us! – he is carrying wine! J  The march is winding down so we head towards this great pizza place downtown and share a pizza that tasted like it had been dipped in truffle!  Of course, paired perfectly with a great bottle of wine.  We probably wouldn’t have gotten a table if we hadn’t been with the wine guy as the place was packed with hungry “protesters” (catch the irony here – the protest is on the cost of living in Tel Aviv, and they are going straight from the protest to the pizza place to enjoy $24 pizza).

It was fun.  And if the government doesn’t do something I am sure we’ll have the opportunity go again next weekend. 

Christmas Cocktail in the Holy Land

I must apologize to all of you who checked back on Sunday to see if our Christmas Cocktail Party was a flop...and shame on you for thinking I would let a party flop!  It was awesome!  People were SO happy to have a Christmas event to mark the season and a reason to dress up and time to hang out with friends!  As surprising at it is...there is no Christmas in the Holy Land. At least not as we know it and not in the place where we can go.  Throughout Palestine there are Christmas tree lightings and peace choirs singing - but not here in Israel.  Anyway... enough of that sad story - on to the spectacular Christmas Cocktail!

The duty free alcohol for the party showed up, as predicted, the day after the party.  We ran to a local store and picked up the necessities to make our creative cocktails with festive names like "Father Christmas" (Bourbon, orange, bitters and powdered sugar) and "Holiday Cheer" (A fruity martini). And wow did our friends ever take the cocktail part seriously!  I set out little red and green notecards for everyone to write their cocktail recipe on...and the bar was littered with these cards!  The drinks were delicious, all but 4 of my cookies were eaten, the appetizers brought by friends were devoured! And most of all, people LOVED the Christmas decorations in our house which actually felt (and smelled) like Christmas!

My Christmas piano books were out but I'm too much of a chicken to play for everyone.  Lucky for me, one of the guests is a "trained in classic piano."  She happy browsed through the books and played the favorites while everyone stood around sipping cocktails and singing from the caroling books I'd saved from a Christmas cruise.  The surprising and touching and magical part of this is that my Jewish friends (some of whom have never heard these carols) were singing along! 

Another surprising thing here is the "Happy Holiday" versus "Merry Christmas."  Take the trend towards "Holiday" vs. "Christmas" and add in the complex cultural dynamic of Christians, Muslims and Jews, pair that with the fact that most people don't celebrate Christmas here, and the fact that we work for a politically correct government entity...and you get lots of Happy Holidays.  But not at our party.  All of our friends said Merry Christmas and it really meant a lot to us. 

Our tree and the many ornaments from my childhood were the highlight of the party.  And the make-shift advent wreath and the beautiful stockings I made. (Not really but I was proud of them and I want to put the picture on top!)

In short, it was a fabulous time!  Now that we have done Christmas here, it's time to go back to the States!!!  I probably won't post for the next three weeks (sorry), but we'll be on whirlwind tour of the States (at least the Midwest and the East Coast) and we'll be so busy seeing friends and doing everyday things we probably won't have time to write. (You can't possibly understand how excited I am to drive go grocery shopping.  Driving there without traffic, parking in a free parking lot with large spaces, paying in US dollars!!) 

How the Grinch Stole My Christmas Cocktail Party...

Twas the night before the night before the Vaca Christmas Cocktail party...(I think that is the wrong story...but we're going to go with it)....and all the Young Dips down in tel aviv were preparing for the Christmas party of the year.  "Cocktail Attire, no children please." The cookies were made, decorations on the trees.  The only thing missing for the Cocktail Party was alcohol purchased at duty free.

On Tuesday they called "I'll send it tomorrow," replied the warehouse man who had to approve.  "You'll have it by Friday! Don't you worry, my friend." on Wednesday...and Thursday brought even worse news.


Invitation by Jen: Can I get this published as an eSilver Card?

 The Grinch in the customs dept. surely knew that this holiday request was for more than two.  More than a request for alcohol and food, this order meant an evening of home, holiday and good moods.  It wasn't just the event of the season, it was the event that created the season!  Closer than ever to the true Christmas of ole, the kids in Tel Aviv didn't know that the countdown to Christmas was coming to a close!  Though just a few miles away from Bethlehems manger, no lights and no carols - it couldn't have been stranger.  Now the only event to mark the Christmas miracle, is a Christmas cocktail party - and they aren't going to get us the "Cocktails" in time!!!

Now I watched the Grinch just a few days ago, and I know that Christmas isn't about the ribbons and bows.  So surely it isn't about cocktail drinking, but is there a way to keep my party from sinking?!? I have to save Christmas, not just for me, but for all of my friends who are hoping to see - decorations and lights and holiday cheer,  cookies and candies and hope for the new year..... (Check back on Sunday....)

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. :)