More aikido would be nice...

Me throwing Josefin in Vanadis dojo, 2008

I have been juggling in my mind whether I would stay for another aikido week in Stockholm after the seminar in Lillsved, to really get a boost that will last for a good while. When I bought the ticket to come here in May I also bought the return ticket for Sweden in July, but never any return ticket back to Israel after Sweden. Yoram claims that he is on trial but I guess I have now finally proven that I am committed since I today bought that ticket - but a ticket that gives me nine extra days in Stockholm after the Lillsved seminar is over!

However, he has also promised me more aikido than we get at the moment and that is something we have to settle when we get back home in August. Anati has only classes twice a week here and I am used to at least four times a week, but would really want even more, so right now I am quite unfulfilled. We can go to Tel Aviv now and then, but it is way too big of a project to make it routine enough to fill the deficit. I want it easily accessible, spontaneous and a part of the daily life. My teacher Jorma in Stockholm has got me used to a very regular routine of practising as good as every day of the week. It does not have to be hard and sweaty practice every time, but at least some softening aiki exercises and a few ukemi to keep the flow in the body. I know that we could get a few mats to have at home, but the problem is where to store them. The tenants have a storage room that belongs to the flat, but it is filled with their crap that will never be used anyway, so unfortunately we cannot use it for storing stuff of our own. I hope we can find a solution. The aikido is essential life energy for me...

Unwanted summer break...

I got to join the Hebrew classes for the last few weeks of the spring semester and right now as things are starting to make more sense, it is time for summer break! Fortunately I have my excellent books (עברית מבראשית) to keep on working with. I love these books and I highly recommend them to anyone who needs some structure in their Hebrew learning. From them I learn reading and writing, grammar and structure, which is also what I yearned for. I need to speak more, though, and not only with the kids! How do I make people have patience enough in everyday life..?

Today I went to the beach with Hadar and right as we arrived I realised how stupid I had been to forget the camera, because we were completely alone, as long as you could see in both directions. The waves were perfect and not a cloud on the sky, and still merely around comfortable 31 degrees. It does not get much better than that. It was a heavenly imagery...

What is so shameful about God's creation?

Adam and Eve prior to the oppressing fig leaves

My parents brought me up to have a relaxed attitude towards my naked body. No one ever went and hid to change clothes, or locked the door to take a shower. This followed me to adulthood and in Sweden I regularly enjoyed naturist beaches together with friends sharing my liberated view, men as well as women. The body is to me our natural state of creation and wearing clothes to merely cover it up is a social construction that originates in the twisted idea that our sexuality is a sin that needs to be controlled. No doubt, the more the sexuality is suppressed, the more perverted and uncontrolled the people get. The world is full of examples and each and one of the world religions expresses the highest rates of sexual neuroticism in their most orthodox communities. On the other hand, I have never been exposed to any adverse behaviour in a naturist setting.

Alas, moving to Israel was not a step forward for me in this context. Even the secular Israelis are panic-struck as soon as they happen to show a little too much skin and men almost jump out of their pants if they see a woman who shows a little bit more than they are used to. For me, this is quite pathetic and immature behaviour, but at the same time I cannot blame them. This is the world as they know it and I can only feel pity. However, I know that I have sympathisers also in Israel, who organises venues at several beaches, and at some point I have to try to look them up to at least occasionally be able to feel free and natural...

Lazy Shabbat...

Enjoying the marvellous beach

I cannot say more than that I had the most wonderful day. Me and Yoram took Goshen with us to the beach for a few hours and the waves were enormous, so it was fun to play in the water. The weather was a little cooler, only around 31, and it was windy with lots of clouds on the sky. Nevertheless, both of us got nice colour from the sun. Goshen was like a puppy and bounced around like a rubber ball. The shawarma in Haifa on the way home has become routine and the afternoon was spent in bed, fan on high speed, watching the excellent movie "Synecdoche, New York", by Charlie Kaufman, who also was involved in "Being John Malkovich" and "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind". "Synecdoche, New York", which is his debut as a director, is an intriguing masterpiece and I happily recommend it...

One month in my new home

Today it is one month since I returned to Israel to live here. It has been a dance on roses with occasional thorns, but all spite the challenges and strong emotions, nothing has ever felt more natural and true, and this is a feeling that grows every day. This might sound a bit corny, but as long as I can remember, I imagined that I would end up in a place with a warm climate, and I always had a strong fascination for the Middle East. Then all of a sudden I bump in to a man during the Swedish summer, who enamored me on the spot. Within one year I have found love, a new home and a new life, one that feels more inspiring than ever... In two and a half weeks we will leave for a two-week summer holiday in Sweden and I am filled with anticipation over how I will perceive coming home, only for a short visit. As it feels now, I think I will be home-sick. I will miss my home, my house, my dog and my warm climate... And my warm lively culture.

Today we picked Yoram's mother up in Carmiel and drove to Tiberias to see Yoram's Grannie. She is 92 years old, but the last 4-5 years her mental sharpness has deteriorated and her memory fails her and she is pretty much introvert. She was born in Tiberias in 1917, which means that Yoram is the 3rd generation of sabras on his mothers side. His grannie still gets her hair dyed black and has not a wrinkle on her face! Occasionally she glimmers with a comment and you can see that she was a remarkable woman. It was also her that I told you about in an earlier post, who swam over Lake Kinneret on numerous occasions. According to Yoram and his mother, Grannie spoke the most beautiful Arabic, because when she grew up, Arabs and Jews lived together in Tiberias and its surroundings, and almost all people were bilingual at the time. Later on world politics started to intervene and all of that was over. The longer time I spend here I understand more of how much the people have been striving to work this land and the more I see, the more I realise why they are ready to fight for it, Jews, as well as Arabs, Druze, Christians, or whatever... even though it is mostly greater forces that incite conflict... It is all so extremely complex, but plain truth and this is the life we live. All of a sudden, the quasi-intellectuals in Sweden that like to have so much ideas and arguments about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, seem more pathetic and ignorant than ever.

Today my blog past 1000 visitors, amusingly enough on the same day as I mark one month in Israel. I am so happy that so many people visit, and I also know that many people have got used to visiting me on a regular basis, which is even more inspiring. People have not started to make so much comments, though, and I want to encourage you to do that. It makes it even more fun for me to actually get some input on my experiences, thoughts and ideas. After all, two-way communication is more lively than one-way...

Star children...

Last night we had a major electricity breakdown in the whole neighbourhood that lasted for a few hours. I just came out from the after-aikido shower when everything went black. Yoram was on his way home from Tel Aviv after meeting up with his army buddies and I had just managed to find and lit some candles when he arrived. Also the street lights went out so it was completely black everywhere. We took Goshen out for her evening pee pee ride and it was quite romantic to walk in the dark and watching the amazing night sky that was revealed when the urban lights were gone.

This evening we have the kids here, but from tomorrow morning we have another weekend off to spend on each other and we will start that morning off by going to the pool again for a swim. I was never a "kids person" - you know that kind of person that always end up on all four as soon as there are kids around. I never figured them out, and I did not really bother either. During my 20s I experienced what is called the "biological clock", but it manifested itself only by a desire to be pregnant and giving birth, but never really having the kid! It was not until well over 30 that I seriously started to even consider having a child of my own. Here I am, all of a sudden living with two bonus kids, and as if that was not enough, we don't even have a mutual language yet! Nevertheless, these kids are my first guinea pigs to use my Hebrew on. In any way, they are training my patience and parenting skills, while at the same time I learn how I want, and not want, to raise my own future offspring. Bottom line is, that we are quite happy and exhausted when we have time off from the boys and that is a sign that it is not time for common reproduction just yet...

Me and Gal on Midsummer day

All we need is love...

No one can say that life in Israel ever gets boring. It is the #1 country of contrast, for good and bad. What other country ceases public transport on the Shabbat, while at the same time sending a transsexual contestant to Eurovision Song Contest (Dana International, who won in 1998)? The society is strongly polarised when it comes to expression of peoples identity, and while you will never see anyone as orthodox in Sweden as the Israeli haredim, the drag queens and transsexuals in Israel are far more extravagant than the ones in Sweden. However, the masses are still swimming around in this pond of strong ideas, conventions and moral obligations, and considering the Israel/Palestine conflict, which they simultaneously have to wade through, it is safe to say that it is a tough journey to develop a selfless heart and a blooming open mind! Like in any part of the world, the individual revolution and struggle for freedom of expression is concentrated to the largest cities, and in the case of Israel, the epicentre is Tel Aviv. You don't have to go far away, though, to find rigid ideas built on ignorance and fear, much created by segregative structures in the society.

In Rehovot, some 20 km South from Tel Aviv, they are about to decide this week whether to approve a planned eviction of a hostel for mentally disabled adults from the Marmorek neighbourhood. Both the municipality and the Marmorek residents want to shutter the hostel - in the residents' case, because they would prefer neighbors without disabilities. A recent survey found that half of Israelis would not want to live in the same building as a mentally disabled person, and the same number would not want their children to have any contact with such people in school. This is a battle over the social and human values that a modern society needs and there is a constant striving to get rid of prejudices and integrate these mentally disabled people into the society, community and areas of life that have thus far been closed to them. Neighbourhood residents where throwing Molotov cocktails and burning tires, while showing signs with slogans such as "blood will be shed" and "you've brought explosives into the neighborhood." This behaviour have no place in a civilised society and is no better than any other violent and hostile act.

A much better example is Kfar Tikva, which is a scenic, kibbutz-like community belonging to Kiryat Tivon. Kfar Tikva is the home to approximately 190 disabled adults. Now you might think that they are safely contained there, well separated from the rest of us "normal" people, but that is not the case. Its members are well integrated in Tivon as well. Many of the members work and shop here, and various programs are offered that bring the members of both communities together on equal footing. Additionally, approximately 50 of Kfar Tikva’s members choose to live outside of the village, in residences supervised by staff in the heart of Tivon. We have members of Kfar Tikva living in a flat in our own house. In Kfar Tikva they have a dog kennel, where most of the work is performed by members of the community, and the kennel is owned by our very own vet. When we go to Sweden for two weeks in July we will let them take care of Goshen for us. With the progress she has made during the last few weeks, we don't want to see her falling into old patterns and in this place we are certain that she will get all the attention that she needs, by very loveable people.

This is not the only example of truly virtuous initiatives in Tivon. We also have Ein Bustan close by, which is an integrated Jewish/Arab Waldorf kindergarten. The founders of Ein Bustan share a vision of a society in which Jews and Arabs live together peacefully in equality and understanding, and what way can be better than to foster the new generation with tolerance and unity? An educational system that separates children by their religion and nationality fails to take into consideration the widening gap between the two communities, which will take years to bridge and generations to mend. This is one of the (still way too few) bicultural/bilingual education initiatives in Israel and the enthusiasts responsible for these projects are true heroes.

Harmonious relations are built by tearing down imaginary walls between people. The personal meeting is the fundamental basis for removing feelings of fear and emotional distance. Homophobes should be sentenced to volunteering at the Gay Pride, and people who are afraid of mentally disabled people should get a chance to interact with them. Same goes for different ethnicities, like Jews and Arabs... This is where the project "Aikido without borders" also contributes, by building bridges between people of different background. I know that I will be called a hippie now again, but it is OK. I take it with pride!

Universal love...

Right-wing activists have decided to protest coming Thursday's Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem, by staging a march of their own – in various Arab towns. They are protesting the fact that the capital's police are allowing the Gay Pride Parade, despite the fact that its religious community sees it as offensive. These are the same people who organised right-wing rallies in Arab towns, such as Umm al-Fahm, prior to the general elections not so long ago. The main object is to provoke and create hustle and the behaviour is a great example of severe intolerance and narrow-mindedness, spiced up with way too much oppressing aspects of religion. Why do the Arabs have to deal with these stupid morons in the first place? They have nothing to do with the Gay Pride Parade. They are only being exploited in the most despising way by these provocative troublemakers. These people are a disgrace to Israel and one of the main obstacles against bringing more freedom, justice and peace to the region. I know that the question about staging the Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem is a very delicate matter and even some normally open-minded persons I know, have expressed an attitude against allowing it, with the argument that Jerusalem is such a holy city. It is sad to see that so many people still hide intolerance and discriminative ideas behind a polished surface of political correctness...

Roaches, monkeys and other bugs...

An unwanted guest

Bug season has started, but the fellow on the picture is harmless. Nevertheless, it created some chilling fascination when it bumped around on our window the other evening. It sounded like someone was throwing rocks on the window and the light in the room kept it just trying to enter into our cosiness. Half of the window was open but the bug net prevented it from coming further. It was about 10 cm long and the largest beetle in Sweden, the Ekoxe (Lucanus cervus), looks quite ridiculous compared to this monster.

However, this bug is quite loveable compared to the famous #1 pest, the cockroach. I have seen three so far, all of them dead. A week ago Yoram sprayed the floor outside our front door and I don't even want to know what this spray contains, because as far as I know, roaches are almost unkillable... I know that the roach season merely started and I am happy that I am not particularly neurotic when it comes to bugs because it does not matter how clean you keep the house - they will enter anyhow. Especially here, living in a quite old house with lots of ventilation holes everywhere and a very vibrant nature just outside. I know many Swedes that never would be able to get used to this...

Khamenei's favourite puppet wearing his illusionary goggles

Just a few days after the fake presidential election in Iran, I discussed the protests with Yoram and he thought that the riots would end soon and that the mullas would bring their oppressing theocracy back to order in no-time. Now 10 days have passed and there is no signs of surrender from the Iranians and it is all very thrilling to follow. No matter whether Mousavi is much different from Ahmadinejad or not, that is not the point. This is a protest against the regime as a whole and I hope that we are merely watching the beginning of a major change in Iran. There have now been reports that voter turnout exceeded 100% in some 50 cities...

Frogs jumping around the phallus

Yesterday was quite an intense day and I was too tired to write when we came home, thereof the delay of my blogging. We left early to go to the beach in HaBonim, which is a nature reserve. People go there to camp on the beach for several days and the atmosphere is just great. Both the boys, Yoram and me went about like four fish, playing around in the water, from the moment we arrived to when we left. The water is soon not cooling anymore, whatsoever. Sun is strong though! My burn from last week had settled and turned into melanin, so yesterdays 3 hours improved my tan quite a bit without getting burned. Yoram on the other hand got quite red, since he has been completely blocked before. Later in the evening he was mad as a wasp and was convinced that he is one step closer to melanoma and there is no way I can get through with my point of view. I think after this, he will wear a t-shirt forever...

Midsummer pole made with troll dough

We drove back home, changed gear and moved on down to Tel Aviv, passed Zikhron Ya'akov to buy Tishbi wine, but it was closed. Of course, it was Shabbat, which I also commented on the day before, but Yoram was convinced that it was open. We bought a bottle of wine on a road stop instead. We met up with more than 20 people in Park HaYarkon, Israeli Swedes, with partners, kids and friends. It was a great gathering, we devoured Swedish food, herring, smörgåstårta, potatoes with dill and drank wine and beer. Almost all the kids wore blue and yellow, either football shirts or cute baby dresses with crowns on. After the meal we sang songs and danced around the miniature Midsummer pole, together with the kids. Jumping frogs, crows and carousels, all included! Kids fell asleep pronto as soon as they sat down in the car.

Smörgåstårta!

Today I met Miles again in Tel Aviv and we worked a bit on the webpage for "Aikido Without Borders". We are trying to set a date to go to Bethlehem before I leave for Sweden in July. In Bethlehem AWB holds aikido classes for the Palestinian kids at the SOS Children's Village and this is only one of the projects that has been started by this organisation. Next new idea to manifest will be aikido for the Palestinian women that works with these kids in the Village. I cannot wait to come and meet them. Other than that we are working on promotion material aimed at fund-raising, to empower our resources. Even though this is a bumpy road, it is a road that leads somewhere...

Happy Midsummer eve to all pagans...

After having left the kids to school vs kindergarten, me and Yoram started the morning off with a few laps over in the pool. Sun was rising on the clear blue sky and it was still merely equal to the best of the best Swedish summer days in temperature. I don't think there are much better ways to start a morning. The latest project Yoram has is to make me into a swimmer. He says that I have the body of a swimmer, although I still swim more like a dog than anything close to human. If I get a proper pair of swimmer's goggles maybe we can start talking.

Sunflower on a field in Beit She'an valley

Later on we went for a drive down Beit She'an valley, close to Jordan river, North from the West Bank border. Over there it is hot as in Grannies oven, already now in mid June, and you reluctantly step out from the cooling AC in the car. In August it is like all the hot air in Israel is accumulating right here... However, the scenery is something out of the ordinary and there are many amazing hiking paths on the hill sides for fit hikers and while driving past them we planned some future trips, but rather later in the fall when the weather is more allowing.

Beit She'an valley, with the "BMW field", seen from Mount Gilboa

I thought I would make a Swedish midsummer wreath to put on my head for tomorrows Swede gathering, but it does not seem like the flowers that I have seen in the valley behind our house felt the same way. It might be that the increasing temperature during the last few days finally ended flower season because this afternoon when I took Goshen for a flower hunt I ended up with something that will remind more of the crown of thorns Jesus wore, than a colourful Swedish flower bomb, but who am I to complain. In Sweden it is 15 degrees and a very unpredictable sky and that is something I don't miss in any kind of way. I hardly remember how a cloud looks like! However, I guess I will be reminded of that when we go to Sweden for two weeks in a months time...

עברית מבראשית

Today Yoram stayed at home and we cleaned the house for the weekend and went grocery shopping. Both of us woke up more or less on the wrong side of the bed and what to do when two persons lack patience and humour? Let it be... Pray for time to fly!

Shula, my Hebrew teacher, recommended a Hebrew learning book in two parts, which we bought yesterday. You start from scratch, but the books does not contain any English at all, or any other language than Hebrew. You read and write, repeat and answer questions. I think that after completing these exercises I will be pretty good at reading and writing, both hand writing and printed letters. However, I need to use the language verbally more than I do now. It is so easy for us to constantly use English, although I have really asked repeatedly for Yoram to address me more in Hebrew. I guess, the progress will look somewhat like it did with my Danish. A long time went by with me only listening and reading, and speaking internally of course, and then one day I just started to talk.

Better study some Hebrew... Soon Gal is home and then we have High Chaparral in the house.

Amazing flow...

If anywhere in the world, Israel is the place where contacts and networking is what renders you the VIP entrance card to wherever you want to go and now that also happened to me. One day Yoram told me that he recalled that a daddy from his sons school had a brother who worked at some experimental farm close by, so we decided to check it up. It turns out that the Israeli Agricultural Research Organisation has an experimental farm merely a few kilometres from our home and we smoothly arranged getting in contact with the head of the facilities, through the back door. I sent her a mail with my CV yesterday and she will happily meet me in two weeks time when she will be back from a visit abroad. My background is certainly appropriate for their projects and I also find their research quite fascinating. I am also very confident that my record is appealing to whomever gets it in their hands. I passed everything with honour grades and I have collected some excellent recommendation letters so I know that I make a good impression.

All-in-all, it is slightly too good to be true and I still keep my emotions down a bit until I have actually met her and have a better feel of the possibilities. The bottom line is that I commuted 1.5 hours door-to-door almost every day for 6 years during my studies in Copenhagen and finding an opening this close to my home could be a dream coming true. Up until now, I have felt a slight reluctancy to start looking for projects for the mere reason that most of the big institutes are situated on a fair commuting distance, but now I feel that my hunger for brain work is still there and that is a comforting feeling. Not only is it close to home, it is a smaller facility, which is also something that is very appealing for me, after having spent 6 years in a huge institute. Let us see what might come out of it, and please cross your fingers for me...

Bibi walks the line...

There! Bibi held his anticipated speech, he endorsed the two-state solution and agreed to stop settlement construction. However, he demanded a demilitarised Palestinian state and limited natural growth in already established settlements. Obama is quite satisfied, while the Arabs and lefties are mad, as well as the orthodox Jews and righties on the other side, and this aligns very well with their common inability to widen the perspective and incorporate a few crucial ingredients; compromise, generosity and empathy. A little more of this, complemented with a decent ass whooping for both Arab and Jewish extremists, then we might actually be heading somewhere...

Quotation of the day...

"The situation in the country is in a very good condition. Iran is the most stable country in the world, and there’s the rule of law in this country, and all the people are equal before the law"

(Mahmoud Ahmadinejad)

Sunscreen and Midsummer flowers

The other day we stopped by the small supermarket to get some stuff and on the way out from the parking lot we saw a terrified cat bouncing from one side to the other. After it, came a furious bird one meter above the ground. We hardly understood what was going on until the cat once more bounced in front of us, now in the other direction, once more chased by the bird. We almost wet our pants in laughter because it looked so funny! Up until now, I have considered the mostly wild cats in Israel as very tough creatures that basically run the show, but now I know better. Always be aware of the furious Magpie...

I did burn my back the other day, I admit it, but it is not worse than it will be gone in a few days! However, aikido yesterday was characterised by a long turmoil, created by the fact that each time I landed on my back it felt like someone poured napalm all over it. On Saturday we will go to the beach in the morning with Yoram's nephew and his family (Yoram and his nephew are almost the same age - complex family) and then I promise to be good with the sun screen, but... There are some new findings to consider before you choose to constantly apply these products, like:

1. Skin cancer (melanoma) is most common where there is little sunshine especially in high latitudes and industrial countries where most people lead an indoor life
   
2. The white populations of Australia and Hawaii have astoundingly high rates of melanoma and both use large amounts of UVB blocking photochemical sunscreens
   
3. The most important source of vitamin D is sunlight and vitamin D inhibits the growth of melanoma by 60%
   
4. Sun exposure is associated with a 60% increase in survival in patients with malignant melanoma
   
5. Sunburn is significantly inversely associated with death from melanoma
   
6. Higher vitamin D (more sun exposure) = lower melanoma
   
7. People who use sunscreen are more susceptible to melanoma
   
8. UVB light (the rays that burn) produces melanin which makes you tan. The ability to tan is highly protective against melanoma. Suncreen inhibits this
   
9. UVA light (deep penetrating) is a potent carcinogen (cancer causing) in humans as it generates free radicals and causes oxidative stress
   
10. UVA is the main cause of malignant melanoma
    
11. Most chemical filters found in sunscreens absorb UVB but not UVA so they do more harm than good by reducing vitamin D production and increasing the risk of cancer
    

This information was borrowed from http://www.natural-organic-sunscreen.com where you furthermore can learn more about which chemical substances should be avoided. If you want to know even more, listen to this research lecture about Skin Cancer/Sunscreen - The Dilemma. Clearly, as with so many other things, sunscreen is a product that has been marketed by a powerful propaganda machinery, which scares people and encourages them to buy expensive products, based on inaccurate information. So people, get out there in the sun, but initially only for short moments, and build your natural defence up by forming melanin, instead of applying dangerous chemicals to your skin!

Saturday afternoon I will bring Yoram and the kids to a Swedish Midsummer gathering with some other Swedes in Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv. I have not met any of these people in person yet, but it will be loads of fun! We will all bring some food and drinks and have a huge picnic. I might even make a Midsummer flower decoration for my hair, hippie as I am... Incredible how your national identity flourishes as soon as you leave your home country. Even for me, who is more of a world citizen than anything else... I thought!

Freedom to Iran - Insha'Allah

Iran is headed for civil war and Tehran is on fire. Ahmadinejad von with 62.6% after an 85% participation at the polls, and anyone using more than one brain cell realises that this is a fraudulent charade, set up by the clergy, run by the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Thousands and thousands are now protesting in the worst riots since the revolution in 1979, while both Ahmadinejad and Khamenei sound just like a delirious Baghdad Bob.

During the last few days, communication media used by the opposition to reach voters, such as Facebook and Youtube, but also mobile phone networks, have been blocked by the regime. Over 100 Ahmadinejad opponents have been arrested and supposedly also his biggest rival, the reformist Mousavi. The waves of demonstrators are not chanting "Death to America" or "Death to Israel", but instead "Death to the Government". During nighttime the rooftops of Tehran are filled with people shouting the Takbir "Allahu Akbar" in protest of the government and election results.

First ones to congratulate the victory were the Syrian dictator Bashir Assad and the increasingly almighty Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. That speaks for itself.

Michael Totten covers the development in Iran in an excellent manner. There is no use for me to use more words from him, but instead I redirect you... His blog is one of my top favourites.

Just like in heaven...

Strolling in Acre

Yesterday morning we went to Acre (Akko) and we arrived early enough to be able to park without too much hustle or waiting. Acre is a coastal city situated on a low promontory at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay, and the old city is a World Heritage Site, mostly inhabited by Arabs. There are many ancient buildings and ruins to visit, but I prefer just wandering the narrow streets and look at life and people and the market of course, the Shouk! You can buy loads of tourist stuff, but of course also food. And since this is a coastal city, the delicacies from the sea are predominant. Fish of all kinds, and seafood in the form of shrimps in different sizes, small lobsters and squids. However, a warning is in place here! Always investigate the catch you want to buy very thoroughly with your eyes, as well as nose, since you can have bad luck and come out for a scam. Like we did yesterday! We wanted shrimps, looked briefly at them and paid and left. When I was about to prepare them last night and opened the bag they stank of ammonia, which is a clear sign of severe deterioration. Maybe we just looked too much like stupid tourists, what do I know..? Next time we know better, and this seller will get to know that he lost a potential regular customer.

Before we left we had hummous at "Humus Said", which is widely recognised as the best hummous in Israel, and I must agree. They open at 5 in the morning and close at 14, 7 days a week, and the pace with which the staff is working is amazing. Same goes for the guests, who are in and out within 10 minutes! Stuffed to the point where you never think you will eat anything ever again.

After this we drove to Tel Aviv to join Shlomo's Friday aikido class. Yoram was about to explode from the hummous and I was also stuffed to the brim, and if Anat's class is a good workout, then this is elite boot camp. Already in the warmup both of us were afraid to paint the place in hummous colour, but we succeeded to keep ourselves together, both body and intestinal contents. I practised mostly with Yoram and Anat, and when the time came for jyu waza, which also Shlomo is very fond of, I paired up with O, a guy I know already from January. He is strong, heavy and very powerful, but still very flexible and athletic and therefore a joy to work with. We gave each other a series of serious ass whopping and as grand finale Shlomo came himself and sucked the last life out of me. All the above in 30 degrees temperature... Contemplate that!

Last night before we went to bed we took Goshen for a night pee and all of a sudden she charges away after a cat. We know that she never really does them any harm and we were just looking at these two animals standing face to face in the light of a street lamp. Yoram could tell that it was a young cat and we called Goshen in. Although she was gone, the cat did not move but instead stayed like paralysed in its footsteps. I therefore went up to it and it turned out to be not only young, but tiny. Probably not more than 8-10 weeks and a beautiful grey tabby colour. I approached it and it did not run away, so I picked it up and it immediately started to purr. At this moment both me and Yoram found ourselves in the dilemma of being animal lovers with two big bleeding hearts and for a moment we even considered taking it home. Fortunately we did not. It was not skinny and probably had a home, even though me myself would never let a tiny kitten like that be strolling around outside all alone that late in the evening. This was the first time I experienced this here, but certainly not the last, since like in all other Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries people are not valuing animals as people do in Sweden. That is one back side of the coin and something I have to get used to seeing.

Happy dog and happy man

Today we packed ourselves, including Goshen, in the car and went to the beach. Goshen was so excited she was jumping all around the place all morning during preparation and at the beach I think she felt that she was in heaven. Water was great and we had large and fun waves. Today I used less sunscreen, so this evening I have to use some of the Aloe vera gel we bought, but as I said to Yoram, for me, there is no way around the red if I want to reach the brown... Or golden, which is a more appropriate term for the colour I achieve... However, we had the most romantic, fun and relaxing day and I still haven't completely got used to the thought that this is not only a holiday...

Shorty...

Had a great day, first strolling in Acre, aka Akko, and then we went for aikido with Shlomo's group in Tel Aviv. I will give a full report later on. This is our weekend without kids, which means quality time with my man, which means less time for blogging... ;)

Water crisis and clean floors

Earlier today we cleaned the house for the weekend! Yoram is even more anal retentive than I am, especially with the floor. When we clean the house he really washes the floor, something we could never do in Sweden, since you have nowhere to push the water out. Here we just open the door and push it outside. But other than that, as I have said before, since we got Goshen, Yoram brushes the floor about three times a day, and I have told him that he will never see me doing it more than once a day!

As you probably know, we have a water crisis in Israel, and in contrast to what most Swedish people think (due to the biased media), we are actually very conscious and caring about it, all of us. Successive years of drought from 1998-2002 had dramatically lowered water levels in all of the main reservoirs. 1998/1999 was the worst drought year in Israel for the past 100 years. Me and Yoram complement each other very good. When I have the water running a tiny bit too long, Yoram yells "Water crisis!", while when he uses unnecessary cups and plates and stuff (which then needs to be washed), I yell "Water crisis!". All-in-all, we know all the tricks to use as less water as we possibly can.

We went to the new supermarket again today, close to Haifa, where they sell the cheap chicken. It is completely crazy in there and nowhere comparable to even the most busy Swedish supermarket, but fortunately we had our own charming road paver with us, Gal. He was sitting in the shopping cart screaming "Yalla, anachim!" which means something like "Move it, people!"...

First free weekend, just the two of us...

Goshen is such a great dog and I have really fallen for her. She is my baby and we have bonded so well. She is getting better in the skin everyday, and when she was at the vet the other day he could not see any parasites, so we hope that it is only the infection left. She is also happier and looks like a complete different dog than when I met her for the first time two weeks ago.

I have started to do some simple obedience training with her on our walks, both for the sake of bonding, but also to give her some mental stimulation. Yoram used to work with her at the dog club, but I guess that was years ago. You can tell that she has it in her, although she is a bit rusty. However, she is very attentive and a joy to work with, so I see some nice progress coming ahead.

Aikido this evening was great. I think my body is starting to get used to exercising in this climate and I don't get as tired anymore. Anat used me for the jyu waza in the end and although I was over and out when the class was over, I felt much better than the last occasions. My mood was better too and that might have something to do with it...

Friday we head for Acre in the morning and for aikido class with Shlomo in Tel Aviv in the afternoon. Weekend without kids! Hooray!

Sipping espresso in Sheinkin area...

Today I caught a ride to Tel Aviv with Yoram. His office is on Mazeh street, close to the Sheinkin area, which is quite convenient. I found a very nice Eng-Heb/Heb-Eng dictionary in the Steimatzky bookstore, in a very handy size, and to an excellent price. There is the annual book week coming up and I paid about 100 SEK for the book! That was a nice surprise since I expected to have to pay several hundreds for a decent dictionary.

Then I met up with Miles and we roamed the Ha-Carmel market and the Shouk for several hours. We found a hummous joint deep down in the Shouk and that's the way you like it! The hip places along Ha-Carmel street can keep on serving people that don't know better.

We talked about life and love and everything, but most of all aikido. Miles has started a project called "Aikido Without Borders". AWB is dedicated to empowering people in areas of conflict in Israel/Palestine by initiating adult, youth and women’s training programs in the martial art of aikido. As a unique Japanese martial art based on the principles of harmony and transforming negative energy into positive, aikido has been proven as an effective means of change in environments of intolerance, hatred, and hostility. The objective of AWB is to create sustainable aikido learning communities in Israel and Palestine that foster new perspectives on conflict resolution, create cross-cultural ties, and nurture common values. AWB has been evolving for quite some time, but it is a sensitive process that has to be developed with care. However, it gives me goose bumps just thinking about it, just like it always does when you touch something that is cosmically correct...

If I lived in Tel Aviv, I wonder if I would ever learn Hebrew. People immediately catch that you are not Israeli, even though you initiate with something in Hebrew, and then they address you back in English. Israel, and Tel Aviv in particular, is very internationalised, and everybody speaks good English, and happily! So, for my Hebrew, I guess that living in Tivon is a very good thing.

Today Ziv came home and admitted that he ate sweet pepper and tomatoes when he was served food at his friends place. Is it not amazing that it sometimes takes someone from outside of the family to break silly ideas like these? This evening we have the kids here and we had a nice quiet family dinner, all sitting around the table, and we ate vegetables. Broccoli, sweet pepper, tomatoes, avocado, coriander and boiled sweet corn. Kids also got some chicken sausage. Ziv tasted of everything and even said that he really liked raw carrot, but that he never ever tried it before! Gal is a tougher nut to crack, but one thing at a time. He had already gone through a serious discussion with daddy about constantly demanding 100% attention from everyone and everything around him! Oy vey...

Equine suicide bombers..?

The extreme Islamists are not known to value life very highly. They don't hesitate to use their women and children as human shields and kids grow up indoctrinated with the terrible idea that dying the martyr death is the greatest thing you can do with your precious life. This strategy has now spread to using even more innocent creatures. Yesterday a major terror attack was thwarted South of the Karni crossing in the Gaza Strip, where the gunmen arrived at the crossing with several trucks and at least five horses loaded with explosive devices and mines. I am afraid that there were no more 72 virgin mares waiting for those poor beasts, than there are 72 virgin women waiting for human terrorists...

Bibi between hay stacks

Although official election results in Lebanon are expected later this afternoon, pro-Western coalition is already celebrating triumph. This is good news for all the pro-Western Lebanese people who want to live in freedom and peace, both among themselves and with their neighbours. Let us just hope that the new government will work hard towards ensuring that Lebanon will not be used as a base for violence against the State of Israel and against Israelis. Paradoxically, had the Hezbollah coalition taken power, they would no longer be able to hide behind the Lebanese state’s apron and this would have forced the organization to carefully weigh its offensive moves, while now, they will remain as an underground resistance movement. When you are dealing with an underground group, it can distinguish itself from the state in which it acts, and when it attacks there is a moral problem with retaliating at a government that is not responsible for such group’s actions, even if it lacks the power to restrain it...

Yisrael Beiteinu's ministers were absent from a vote on a civil marriage bill on Sunday, despite having promoted the issue as one of the cornerstones of their campaign for office. If passed, the bill would have allowed citizens of Israel to marry without obtaining a religious license. The Ministerial Committee on Legislation rejected the bill, proposed by Kadima, in the absence of Yisrael Beiteinu's ministers. Yisrael Beiteinu's true face has been exposed and the party's representatives have been revealed as opportunists who betray their voters the first chance they get.

Next week Benjamin Netanyahu will deliver an official address, detailing his governments policy on peace and security, and we are waiting in anticipation. Bibi realises that we have arrived to the moment of action, but parts of his government will be a tough nut to crack, including members that still work actively to pursue and facilitate further expansion of settlements in the territories, like Shas' Eli Yishai. Hillary Clinton mentioned that every Israeli leader she has personally known, or investigated, has sooner or later come to the same conclusion about what is best for Israel and this is not more than the logical evolution following when the full image is revealed. Imagine if every person could achieve the same overview and enlightenment...

Open both eyes, please...

Even the US president Obama realises how biased the news broadcasts are around the world. Following his speech in Kairo, in the press conference with the French president Sarkozy yesterday, he felt the need to re-emphasise that he had not only discussed the importance of cessation of settlement construction, but also that the Palestinians must renounce violence and incitement. I wonder when the rest of the world will realise that the system is one-eyed...

Today Lebanon goes to the poll. Hezbollah has worked hard on washing the terror brand away, by promising willingness to create a national unity government together with the pro-Western coalition, as well as claiming that they don't want Iran style theocracy in Lebanon. Sadly enough it is too reminiscent of the lies with which Hamas took power in the Gaza strip in 2006, and if we have held both our eyes open, we know how that ended. We hold our breath!

Sharkiya in the kitchen

Lake Kinneret when you approach from the North East side

Yet another time I had the privilege to meet her. When you climb over the hills and she all of a sudden reveals herself it is a breathtaking view. She looks quiet and innocent at first glance, but she is unpredictable and deceivable. Lake Kinneret (aka Sea of Gallilee, Lake of Gennesaret or Sea of Tiberias) lies 200 m below sea level. It is bounded by hills, especially on the East side where they reach 600 m high. These heights are a source of cool, dry air. In contrast, the climate directly around the sea is semi-tropical with warm, moist air. The large difference in height between surrounding land and the sea causes large changes in temperature and pressure. This results in strong winds dropping to the sea, funneling through the hills. Lake Kinneret is small, and these winds may descend directly to the center of the lake with violent results. When these contrasting air masses meet, a storm can arise quickly and without warning, and small boats caught out on the sea are in immediate danger.

A young woman, native from Tiberias, drowned not so long ago. Both she and a few friends were driven out towards the middle of the sea by the strong wind. They managed to save her friends, but she was the last one and when the wind even ripped her from her air mattress she had with her, she was lost, and her body was found a few days later. She was not even a tourist, but could be expected to be aware of the dangers... Yoram is brought up in Tiberias and his grandmother has crossed the lake swimming numerous times in the old days, but you have to know how the wind moves. In the morning an East wind called "Sharkiya" moves down from the Golan side and moves over towards Tiberias, and in the afternoon the wind turns the other way. So it is a crucial choice on what side you go into the water!

A friend of ours that also practices aikido lives with his family in Kibbutz Ortal in the Golan Heights. The Kibbutz is beautifully situated on the plateau with Mount Hermon in the background, still with some snow on the top. We were invited for a barbecue and some cherry picking, since they are ripe now. We put chicken wings, steaks, meat balls, sausages and skewers on the grill and had potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad and more on the side... Simple, but delicious and A LOT of food! After eating and drinking we took a stroll around the kibbutz and went to the cherry orchard and filled a bag with huge, red and sweet cherries.

Both kids ate properly for once. They are both extreme picky eaters and even though that is a phase every kid goes through (or at least tries), in this case the boys are spoilt. Both mum and dad asks them what they want to eat for every meal, and don't hesitate to prepare two different meals for grownups and kids, which of course results in them wanting nothing. They are also stuffed with crappy snacks in between meals, like sweet yoghurt drinks, chocolate desserts and candy. When they get some real food down it is only some meat and white carbohydrates. I don't know when they saw a green vegetable the last time and according to rumours they don't "like" fish...

I know Yoram might kill me for writing this on the blog, but he knows my attitude and I believe that he sees that things need to change quite a bit, and I don't mind helping him by being the "evil" bitch. I also told him that whenever we get kids of our own, I will never accept such food routines. So, might as well get used to it now!

Today Yoram left Goshen to the vet on his way to work for a makeover. They will go through her skin and clean her ears clinically and give her more Ivermectin. She looks better in the fur and she is happier, so I think we are on the right track. We have found a cheap hypo-allergenic feed that we will get for her. It is so hot today, also indoors, but I don't want to use the air-condition just yet, since I hate the dry air it creates. However, I am drinking water like a horse. I am completely alone at home today which is very nice after an intense weekend with the kids. I think I will have a fresh salad for lunch, without complaints!

Back home, exhausted - more tomorrow!

Me, Yoram and the kids spent the day at Kibbutz Ortal in the Golan Heights. We barbecued until we were stuffed and we picked cherries. There will come a long review of the day but not until tomorrow because now I am completely exhausted...

Callus between the toes request

Today we took Goshen to the vet. He is a very prominent vet, quite expensive, but the best around. He is also a very widely thinking man, who is very good at perceiving signs of things that might be the origin to the particular disorder and he always prefers the most natural treatment, going for the cause rather than the symptoms. Poor Goshen both has a stress/allergy-related dermatitis, as well as a skin parasite that causes infection. This combined disorder is very difficult to treat and takes time and patience. An allergy can in a very acute stage be treated with some cortisone. I could even agree to that if the case was severe, but in this case it is inappropriate and I am happy for that. On the other hand antibiotics are necessary to fight the infection in the skin. Most importantly though, we are changing into a hypo-allergenic feed and we will see to that she will become happy and free from stress again by lots of activation and quality time with us. Because as I have said before, the poor thing is a divorce child with no means to communicate her despair, in comparison with the kids, and she has been somewhat neglected in the process.

I cannot wear any shoes right now. My new flip flops gave me blisters both on the side and between the toes (soooo sensitive in the beginning of flip flop season) and to squeeze these wounded feet into whole shoes in this heat is torture. So, I am barefoot for a few days until I get callus between my toes...

Body parts and parking strategies

When you look at the driving and parking routines here, there is no doubt that we are in the Middle East. Möllevången in Malmö, where I moved from, is of course like a Middle East Light, but this is the real thing! If you don't have any guts, you will never leave your spot. You have to demand space on the road and all cars have bumps and scratches here and there. I guess my father would never survive, since every little flaw on his vehicles drives him crazy and needs to be fixed immediately. The passenger is often used to block a parking spot until the driver can get there with the car and you have to look as big and intimidating as possible so people respect you standing there waiting. I don't know why they have painted white markings on the parking lots in the first place, since no one gives a damn anyway and stand in all different orientations...

Today we went to a new supermarket where they have a drive on chicken and we bought them for 31 Agurot per kilo, which is about two thirds of a Swedish Corona. After a major butching session we now have the whole freezer full of legs, wings, and chests, as well as leftover carcasses for making soup.

This weekend we have the kids and on Saturday we will visit a kibbutz in Golan Heights where an aikidoka we know lives. We will join for their cherry harvest and enjoy a big barbecue! Tomorrow we will take Goshen to the vet and I will join, because I want to talk to him. He clearly had found some parasite and the medicine she gets is Ivermectin, which is a broad-spectrum antiparasitic medication. However, it is not relieving her from all her discomfort, so some other strategy has to be added to the picture! I hope the vet is a reasonable and open-minded man...

Finding the real daily routines

I can tell that my work with the Hebrew before I arrived is paying off! Even though I haven't had anyone to speak to, I have built quite a vocabulary. Now I just have to start building settings and filling the gaps. My Hebrew teacher is, as I said before, a prominent teacher who has been (or still are, I am not sure) a supervisor for the Educational Ministry in the Northern District of Israel. Today was my regular class, and even though I am not really where the other students are, who has been studying the whole spring semester, I am following pretty good. I have no idea what I proved during my first lesson last week, since I did not say that much, but after the class my teacher told me to join another group she has on Monday evenings, where most of the students have been living in Israel for a year or more. They read without niqqud (vowel signs) of course, which I still very much depend on, and they discuss news and present events in a very free manner. I am far from speaking like them, but it is extremely fruitful to listen too, since the language is still very articulate and slow and continuously corrected and discussed. That is also, I guess, what my teacher thought would benefit me in a nice way. I just need to buy a decent dictionary with a good grammar section, so I am not always dependent on internet to check up language questions.

I will visit Anati later today and stay until it is time for aikido tonight. I need to get out of the house a bit and also talk to someone else than Yoram. This first week has been quite intense. I have been quite emotional while adjusting, more than I expected, and Yoram has been stressed over his test, so we have pretty much been climbing on top of each other one spoonful too much. Now the test is over and Yoram is also back working (in Tel Aviv), which means that I will take a hike with him a day now and then and spend the day there. I have some people I want to meet and some things I want to check out, plus spend some hours on the beach of course.

Now it is time to go out and brush Goshen. Yoram did it also this morning, but we do it at every walk, to get it over with as soon as possible. Then I might eat some late lunch, sprinkled with Shepherd wool...

By the way, I am living in the 4th most dangerous country in the world, according to the Global Peace Index. Even Sudan and Congo are considered safer. Yeah, right! They can take their anti-Israeli lobby activity and shove it up somewhere where the sun does not shine...