Thursday, July 27, 2006

A good connection and motley pics

After nearly a month in Israel, we finally have our own aDSL internet connection! All the paperwork finally got properly processed by the phone company, and after a few hours tinkering with the newly acquired modem, we are up and running. No more need for the neighbor's "GAL;" now I've got my own! ;-)

To celebrate the occasion, here are some long overdue pictures of recent exploits:

Just before officially registering at HUC in Jerusalem. Donna calls this "The Eager Student."


With Donna's baby cousin Ben in Kfar Sabe, north of Tel Aviv, when he took a break from sucking on my hand.


Thanks to my classmate Mara Judd, here is evidence that I examined Warren's Shaft, not to be confused with anything belonging to my good friend Mitch.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Echoing guffaws

"Guffaw," like "gesture," is one of those words I've read many times in books but have never used in conversation. Since I moved to Jerusalem, though, I'm tempted to use just that word to describe the laughter of a neighbor across the courtyard.

The apartment is on the top floor of the building and I usually keep all the windows open to let in the breeze. In so doing, I also let in the surrounding city noises, but this man's guffawing is no noise. It's of the deep, rumbling, from-your-belly variety that echoes across the courtyard and probably throughout the whole Yemin Moshe neighborhood. There's a slightly malicious twang to it, verging on the cackle - but I've never heard of a villain who cackled so much, not even Gargamel. He guffaws during the day and during the night, no matter what the hour.

We have no idea what this man finds so amusing, but, like crickets after sunset. it's become rather reassuring to hear his resounding voice. When mingled with the area cats in throes of passion (see the post "Caterwauling in Rehovot"), the resulting cacaphony transcends any description I could offer.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Field trip

Classes continue and I feel like I'm progressing! I've settled into a routine these past few days that essentially looks like this:

6:00a - Arise
6:30a - Breakfast
7:45a - Tefilah (prayer service)
8:30a - Ulpan I
10:00a - Snack break
10:30a - Ulpan II
12:00p - Break
12:15p - Ulpan III
1:00p - Lunch
2:00p - Choir/music theory/some meeting
4:00p - Errands
6:00p - Home
6:30p - Dinner
7:00p - Study
10:00p - Bedtime

I'm always grateful to be able to crawl into bed at night after a packed day. Today, however, the trend is broken by our first of three "Jerusalem Days." We will explore the City of David, which is actually the oldest continually habitated part of Jerusalem - and it's outside the Old City! Highlights will include tefilah on the Haas Promenade overlooking the entire city and wading through Hezekiah's tunnel (mentioned in the Bible) and its 3-4' of water. Luckily Donna and her folks stopped by for dinner last night, bearing me a pair of Keen hybrids (sneaker + sandal = ingenious).

This week will culminate in a trip to Rehovot for Shabbat with the extended Bareket clan. Thanks to all for your continued good wishes!

Sunday, July 16, 2006

First day of school

I just collapsed at my desk after a full morning of ulpan (Hebrew immersion class), kita gimel (level 3 out of 5). Each of the dozen students in the class had to introduce themselves and speak of their background. Then we dove into a short story by Yosel Bierstein about an illiterate, long-suffering woman who can only express herself through crying (much to the annoyance of her neighbors), and who finally learns her 'alef-bet' after attending a funeral, where crying is the norm.

It will not be a walk in the park, but I think the level is right for me. My major aim will be to increase my vocabulary and bring my speaking ability up to my reading comprehension. The instructor is calm but insistent, and today she was dressed in flowing white garments that made her look something like a swan.

It was an enjoyable, restful Shabbat, made even better by Donna's visit. I am definitely coming to appreciate the benefits of completely abstaining from work for a day! This week will be long and full of work, but the thought of Shabbat at its end is sweet indeed.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Reassurance

I'm okay, folks.

Here's my reaction to Israel's latest military actions: Jerusalem is the same as it was yesterday, the day before, and the week before. Obviously my colleagues and I are concerned, but just as we were reassured repeatedly today to use caution and that HUC has our back, so let me reassure my readers that I feel as safe as ever. Today I walked past the Central Bus Station, through the Shuk (marketplace), and down the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall - all places swarming with crowds while military, police, and security officers strolled around ever vigiliantly. Not once did I feel insecure of myself, and if I didn't know any better, I would never have suspected of being in a land now warring on two fronts.

Since the state of Israel's birth nearly 60 years ago, Israelis have been living their lives the same way Americans have since 9/11: as normally as they can, while relying on common sense and trusting their instincts. I intend to do the same.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

A Breather

Pant, pant, pant...

Orientation formally began today and it's been non-stop sessions since an 8:30 prayer service this morning. We are getting loads of information lobbed at us from all directions, and then we are reassured that since we're not going to remember any of it anyway, we shouldn't take it too seriously. Refreshing!

On the whole the process is going remarkably practically and smoothly. The cantorial students have been issued a piece to sing en masse this Shabbat, a heavy binder of High Holiday music to be rehearsed throughout the summer, and weekly music theory classes and 'regular' (semimonthly) voice lessons. I can tell already my work will be neatly cut out for me!

Tonight the president of HUC is hosting an open house, and tomorrow begins bright and early again with an 8:30 service. This time, I'll remember to bring my prayer shawl!

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Flying Solo

This evening, my betrothed went off to Tel Aviv to begin her four week opera program, and our apartment in Jerusalem is now a bachelor pad. She will be in and out sporadically, but for most of the next month I will have the place to myself, for better or for worse...

It was sad to part ways, especially after having spent virtually every moment together as of late. I didn't think it was possible for two people so in love to grow even closer, but as Donna remarked the other day, we understand each other so well now that sometimes it feels like we share the same mind. I will miss our intimate connection. I hope our respective schedules will keep us too busy to dwell on our distance!

I also hope I don't become too reclusive. While living in Boston I had a tendency to shut myself up in the Nest for days at a time, with the cold weather and digital cable only partly to blame. It was mostly my fear of trying new things in a new place. Having already met several of my colleagues, however, I am starting to feel very comfortable here, and the beautiful warm weather makes it all but impossible to resist venturing out!

Flying solo tonight, though, meant having some pita, hummus and grapes for dinner (well-stocked fridge courtesy Savta) and listening to our beloved NPR on "Gal," the WiFi network I'm borrowing for the time being which I can only receive at the very back corner of the desk. We'll soon have our own aDSL line, but I'm grateful for even a tenuous link to the world at large.

Tomorrow I mean to take care of some worldly matters like meeting our landlord's handyman friend, paying an electricity bill over the phone (most likely with an all-Hebrew menu system), and possibly paying another trip to Supersol (supermarket around the corner) for more pita, produce and yogurt, which I neglected to get today. Then comes a week of orientation activities, followed immediately by the beginning of ulpan. I'll bet I get put in Bet (level 2 out of 5); we shall see...

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Shabbat on the Beach

For Erev Shabbat this week we went with Donna's aunt, uncle, and cousins to a popular beach near Herzliyah, where we found hoards of people and minimal parking spaces. The name of the restaurant there loosely translates to "Edge of the Cliff," and they serve all sorts of the usual Israeli fare plus a few less traditional delicacies (i.e. shrimp, calamari, and ham & cheese sandwiches).

After a quiet morning in Rehovot spent poring over the crossword and Tchaikovsky music (guess who did what), we are planning to visit Donna's cousin Lital and her new baby Ben, who live north of Tel Aviv. Tonight we go back to Jerusalem to drop me off and so Donna can return to Rehovot on Sunday with Savta's car and begin her opera program on Monday morning. It will be sad to be apart for most of the next four weeks (we hope to spend Shabbats together), but it will also be good for me to fly solo, especially since I'll have to anyway for the six weeks Donna spends stateside this August-September.

We suffered another loss in our latest battle with Israeli bureaucracy. Yesterday we went to the Bezeq (telephone company) office to pick up our DSL modem, only to be told that (1) there was no record of our order and (2) we had to have written permission from our landlord allowing us to obtain a DSL modem for use with her apartment's telephone line. Borrowing the neighbor's wireless connection is working for the time being, but I suspect I'll have to go legit sooner or later.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Crow Eats Pizza

We've met many of my future classmates in the last couple of days at various lectures and get-togethers, and they all seem like wonderful people.

As we walked up toward Ben Yehuda Street today, we passed through Independence Park, just a few minutes from our apartment. On the side of the road, we witnessed a crow struggling to fly with what appeared to be a slice of pizza in its beak.

Later, after browsing through the many shops in the area, we too put slices of pizza in our beaks.

Have to go put money in the parking meter...

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

A Bit of Bureaucracy

This morning we awoke for the first time in the new apartment and set out to City Hall to inquire about a residential parking permit for Savta's car. As it turns out, City Hall is actually multiple buildings in a square at the foot of Jaffa St, which makes sense since the actual Hebrew translation of where we were is "municipality."

After being initially misdirected to a tourism hotline, we were sent to the building containing the parking office. The man at the desk sat calmly with stone-cut features and spiky grey hair while he informed us we could not obtain a parking permit unless the car was registered in either our name or a parent's name. I left feeling a bit defeated, though Donna remarked that she had only needed to claim she was the daughter of Yehoshua Bareket (Saba), and the bureaucrat wouldn't have known the difference.

Oh well. In the words of a wounded soldier, "I'll lay me down and bleed a while, then up to fight again..."

Sunday, July 02, 2006

The Russians of Rishon LeTzion

Tonight we went with Savta and her friends to an operetta in Rishon LeTzion, north of Rehovot. The show was Die Csárdásfürstin, composed by Emmerich Kálmán , a Hungarian Jew who flourished in the early 20th century. Since Donna and I sing as well, this might have proven to be an enjoyable evening indeed...were it not for the fact that the libretto, the performers, and the majority of the audience were all Russian!

The house was loud, the people's cell phones noisy, and they sang and clapped along with virtually every song. For Donna it was a nuisance; for me it was another charming novelty. I especially enjoyed the leading lady's sunburnt back and obvious tanlines.

Tomorrow we go back to Jerusalem, this time for a more extended stay as I tend to more registration duties and Donna tends to her music.