Strong roots after all...

The Scania flag

Yesterday Yoram went back to Israel and I stay until next Tuesday to catch up even more aikido. He did less shopping/tourist things this year, but still we passed souvenir shops both in Scania and in Stockholm. He now feels somewhat connected to the Swedish identity and I also feel an urge to maintain mine. It is amazing how your national identity flourishes after moving abroad! We have bought two small flags, one Swedish and one Scanian one, as well as a larger Swedish one. Besides that, we have shot glasses with Swedish flags on, napkins, toothpicks, garlands, stickers etc, enough to give a Swedish party. Yoram has a pillow formed as the traffic warning sign for moose and the kids get more Sweden t-shirts. Quite funny actually and I laugh at myself. However, I still consider myself more of a world citizen, although my Swedish roots are remaining strong. Culture is nice...

Post-Lillsved Syndrome

Lillsved is over for this year and it appeared like the week flew by with the speed of light. It goes on from Sunday until Saturday and on the Monday and Tuesday it feels like you have an eternity ahead of you, but once you blink with your eye it is Friday, seminar party and then the last practice Saturday morning. The weather has been back and forth, but pleasant and according to tradition the sun was shining on the day of departure. It is truly a bitter-sweet feeling with which we are strolling around the beautiful surroundings on the last day.

To borrow a well-known phrase, Lillsved is not a place, it is a state of mind. It is not uncommon that people experience emotional, physical and psychological crises during this week. Hard physical exercise combined with the heavy mental and emotional impact from this large gathering of extraordinarily conscious people, will open up channels and dissolve blockings in people and this often leads to radical cleansings. My first year I experienced an emotional breakdown where I cried for hours, but after I was done I felt brand new. Most often it also takes a few days to really get into Lillsved mode and I guess this also has to do with the necessity to open up before you can really start taking in.

This year the Israeli delegation received some major enlightenment. One of our teachers, Jorma, who I have praised so much, suddenly made sense to them, from previously being a total riddle. This makes the chances for more serious exploration in the Israeli aikido to grow dramatically and I look forward to that. I just hope we will be able to arrange more practice than we have had up until now. Aikido is one of the most important energy sources for me and I will be very unhappy and unfulfilled if we cannot expand the number of occasions per week.

I am fortunate enough to have 10 more days in Stockholm and they are completely dedicated to aikido and everything else has to adapt to the aikido schedule. There will be training at least once a day, but most often twice and the rest of the time I will spend enjoying a Stockholm in summer clothing. The Stockholm Pride is also happening this coming week and I will probably attend something, at least the parade. There will be daily reports from now on. Lillsved bubble is over...

Off-line, but on-ki in Lillsved

Sorry for the long break, but life has been way too intense to allow computer time. The days in Malmö were so nice. Yoram really enjoyed it, everybody got along so smoothly, but the stay was of course way too short. Thursday evening I started to sneeze and my throat swelled upon which I realised that the Swedish bug hit me. I have been completely healthy for quite some time and to be honest I think that this failure from my immune system was a result of all the emotional stress generated concerning coming home to Sweden, with Yoram, meeting everybody, and so on.

On the Saturday we went with my parents around Skåne; Dalby Stenbrott, Simrishamn, Stenshuvud with Kafé Annorlunda and Kåseberga with Ale Stenar. After each stop I was sure that I would not be able to step out of the car again, but I defied the feverish and aching body and hiked around it all, and the best moments was when I could eat, cake buffet or herring burger, any way it made me feel al right for a moment.

When we came home one would imagine that I could go to bed, but no, then we had to mount the night bus to Stockholm. I stuffed myself with medicaments, wrapped myself in blankets and shawls and kind-of-slept all the way. After arriving we went straight to Lillsved for the aikido week we have been waiting for during the whole year, and I think merely arriving here did something beneficial to me and I immediately felt both healthier and refilled with energy. Now we have been here for two days and life is as it should be all the time. Fantastic food, wonderful friends and the best aikido. But as always, the energy is so strong that it is also emotionally undressing you which presents you with a great opportunity to cleanse the system.

Short life sign...

Too much to do to sit and blog, but we have a wonderful time and my parents and Yoram love each other. I will sum up everything as soon as I have time, possibly not until next time I sit on the bus with WiFi. This evening Yoram will make Shakshouka for my closest friends...

Landed in Svea, surfing to Malmö...

Another flight with Sabra Sxpress went by, smooth as a silk. Sabra Express is like the unofficial airline company for all the intercultural Swedish/Israeli families, accompanied by occasional tourists. The plane is full of beautiful bilingual kids with blond hair and amber eyes, or brown skin and blue eyes or whatever now the nature has created from the Swedish/Israeli combination. And with the risk of sounding a bit race-oriented, which I am not, we still concluded that it is a very good mix, both when it comes to mentality and appearance.

I was extremely worried that we would miss the bus to Malmö, since the flight was put forward one hour, but getting out from Arlanda went by in less than 10 minutes, all-in-all, and after the bus ride from the airport we even had time to buy some food at Sky City before we entered the night bus. We ended up with great seats and they even have WiFi on the bus and thereof this blog post. It is surprisingly warm outside although it is almost midnight, still above 15 degrees, which feels promising. The sky was almost clear. I still have the feeling that I am on a holiday, which of course is correct, but it also tells me that I have mentally and emotionally moved away from Sweden...

Report from the packing chaos...

I will bring my Mac, of course. Now I cannot comprehend how I could even consider to leave it behind for three weeks. Yoram is probably still determined to also bring the red devil, even though I have explained how unnecessary it is. My suitcase is remarkably lighter than when I left Sweden, although we bring both wine, other food stuff and gifts. I am almost done packing, while Yoram haven't even started. On top of that we have the kids here tonight, so I guess I will have to step in and steer things up, because I think he is getting a bit sweaty about everything that needs to be fixed. Gotta go...

Preparing for Sweden

I have started to plan my packing for Sweden since we are leaving on Tuesday. There is not much things I am bringing for myself, really, some aikido gear and summer clothes. The rest of the suitcase will be filled up with stuff for the Swedes. Then on the way back that space will be filled up with some "winter" stuff for myself, my indoor sheepskin slippers, warmer shawls and a jacket that I love very much. The real winter jacket I can tuck away way back in the folks storage.

My largest concern is whether to bring the Mac or not. Yoram insists on us bringing only his 13" notebook, or the red devil as we call it. It is very convenient and tiny and I could keep it also the last week when I stay alone, but I am not sure that I will survive with Windows for three weeks and not having my Mac. Bringing the Mac involves also bringing my computer rucksack instead of travelling lightly to Sweden and then bringing another rucksack with things from Sweden, but honestly I think I can manage anyway. I want my whole iTunes library, I want to empty the camera in my own machine and I want to be able to charge my iPod. And there is even room for the red devil in the Mac sack if Yoram insists.

We will only stay in Malmö for four days and one of the days I am planning a road trip around Skåne. There are so many places I want to show Yoram, but I also have to be realistic with how much we can reach. We have of course also a full schedule with family and friends and it will be some intense days. Luckily we will have aikido holidays in Lillsved right after. I cannot wait to see everybody and get some serious fluffy soft-beating...

Kabbalat Shabbat with Avraham Tal

Yesterday I went to Haifa together with Hadar to see and hear Avraham Tal perform. When I had just met Yoram about one year ago, one of my best friends in Malmö, Malin, lend me the first album from Shotey HaNevoa, the group that Avraham at that time was a central figure in. Malin had required that CD during her period in Israel several years earlier. This was my first serious contact with Israeli music and I was immediately enthralled with the brilliant music they created. Listening to Shotey HaNevoa became my channel to Israel, and consequently also to Yoram, and I listened to it 24/7. Sitting on the train to the university every day I dreamed myself away to the warm and vibrating country far away, where my lover was, and the music soothed me from the painful knowledge that I had several months before me before I would see him again. It was also a natural way to get used to the Hebrew language. When I started to study some Hebrew, I started to identify words in the lyrics and this made me love the songs even more. Soon I found Shotey HaNevoa's second album and when I was in Israel during the winter I got my hands on Avraham's solo album. The music he makes is highly creative and intelligent and an amazing mix of various influences and this makes it very unique and genuine.

Yesterday we arrived quite early during the sound check, and walking towards the scene with Avraham standing there singing, sun shining and almost no people around, was an almost magical experience, just as if it was all for me. I got goose bumps all over. The concert was amazing, the atmosphere was still remarkably familiar and there was not more people than you could walk around freely also just in front of the stage. He played new songs, as well as old Shotey HaNevoa songs and people were dancing and singing, children as well as grownups. It was a true folk fest!

As the last number he did Kol Galgal, probably one of his most famous songs, although the lyrics in this case is not his own. These words are found in the Zohar, one of the most important spiritual scriptures in the Kabbalah, or the Jewish mysticism. The Zohar is a commentary on the Torah and it contains a mystical discussion of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, good and evil, and the relationship between God and man.

Not only is Avraham Tal a brilliant artist. He is also a totally humble and genuine person, which is not always easily found among artists, who often are reticent and filled with an inch too much of megalomania. No matter how I have been in contact with Avraham, he is always the same person, ready to share his good energy, and this is highly honourable. This was the first time I saw him perform live, but certainly not the last. It was just a pity that I could not bring Yoram, who was busy. This concert gave me one more of those unexplainable feelings of a natural and self-evident belonging here in Israel. I am home...

Ignorant dog owners vs smart dogs

It is easy to get the idea that small dogs have a minority complex, but the answer is unfortunately not that simple, or amusing for that matter. It is rather depressing to think of all those small dogs, whose owners have completely neglected giving them at least a basic education in social manners and obedience. Just because a dog is handy enough to be held on a leash with less effort, or even carried on the arm when the shit hits the fan, does not mean that he is happier since he is released from attending the canine elementary school. Instead you will end up with a dog that is insecure, unhappy and restless. He does not know who is the leader in the family, which means that he feels obliged to take that responsibility himself and this is what causes the severe barking and possessive behaviour in many dogs. The fact that he is rarely allowed to socialise with other dogs also makes him insecure, sceptic, and because of that either very reserved and frightened, or outspoken aggressive.

What made me think of this was my longer walk with Goshen yesterday afternoon. We pass so many small dogs on every walk, free ones moping around their houses, as well as leashed ones, on walks with their owners, and most of them are barking and charging, pulling on the leash and making drama. The owners sometimes cross over to the other side of the street when they see that they meet us, not because of Goshen, but to avoid too much hustle from their own dog. Goshen couldn't care less and just quietly walks by my side. I cannot see the logic in being so lazy that you avoid educating your dog, but instead you end up with a furry piraña that causes trouble all the time.

Today I cut up some of the dog food in smaller pieces to see if I could enhance the training a little bit, and Goshen was so enthusiastic that she did all things at once, dropped the treats and couldn't care less... When I get a clicker for her, I will be able to teach her to make a seven-course dinner!

PhD in Israel - for real..?

Today I visited the experimental farm Newe Ya'ar in Ramat Yishay, only 5 minutes from Tivon. Newe Ya'ar belongs to the Volcani Centre in Bet Dagan, which is the head quarter of The Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), the research arm of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Israel. I had a meeting with the head of the facility and she was very impressed with my CV and my MSc thesis, which I had sent her previously, and they have already started to overview what possibilities they have to offer me a project. When I explained that I might be able to pull out a full PhD scholarship from Copenhagen University she was already shining like the sun on the Israeli sky and there was not much more to say than that we will try to exploit all options available to make this happen.

I also got a tour around the facilities that looked no less than how I was imagining the optimal conditions in my dreams about the future. A very familiar and quiet feeling, with research fields and greenhouses and a fully equipped molecular lab, even with their own DNA sequencing machine, and everything imbedded in the most beautiful green scenery. There are merely around 25 researchers and about 70 staff members in total. After having commuting during 6 years, 90 minutes door-to-door, to a huge and busy university, it is extremely appealing for me to find my spot in a small facility, so close to home.

Now we just have to raise the money! The story of our lives...

Time to show off...

Today I went to Tel Aviv beach for the first time since I came back. I met Anna at Bugrashov beach for a few hours and it was nice. However, being spoilt with having the most amazing beach almost by ourselves up North, I got pretty tired of all the people after a while. Kids yelling, youngsters running by so close that you get sand in your eyes, and all the stupid tourists that behave like tourists always do. When Anna left I sat down in solitude at the beach bar, ordered a glass of red wine and some water, all in functional Hebrew, and enjoyed it until my personal driver arrived and drove me home. One day in Tel Aviv once in a while is perfectly enough.

When I arrived at home and opened the Mac I found a mail that confirmed that I have an interview tomorrow at the experimental farm, 9 am sharp. Papers are ready and I am all exited to see their head researcher, who I have corresponded with by e-mail. Of course there are many aspects involved in forming the outcome, but I feel confident enough that she at least will find me interesting enough to make an effort to arrange some kind of project. Cross your fingers!

Original vs forgazy...

Being able to buy food products directly from local producers is always preferable. You have much more insight when it comes to the quality and you care for the environment by not adding to long-distance transportation. We buy olive oil from the religious moshav Sde Ya'akov, close to Tivon. They have a large olive grove with olive trees of many different cultivars, and consequently they produce olive oil of different character, mild and mature ones, as well as more spicy and distinctively grassy ones. In their little shop you can taste all their different oils before you decide and they happily consult you to get the best oil for your purpose. We always buy a 5 litre can which cost 180 ILS, which is something like 70 SEK per litre, for the absolute top quality organic virgin olive oil you can possibly get your hands on. Today we bought one that makes you feel like you dip your nose in a newly-cut grass lawn.

This was clearly a road trip day and after Sde Ya'akov, we went to find one of the best ice cream places in Israel. After being here now for a while I can safely say that I have never got such delicious ice cream anywhere else in the world like in Israel. All honour to "Rönneholmsglass" and "Lejonet & Björnen" and other places in Sweden, and Italian ice cream for that matter - the ice cream here beats everything, no matter if it is made by Jews or Arabs or whatever. We went to the Arab town Shefa-'Amr, a while North from Tivon. Shefa-'Amr is most famous for its mastic-flavored ice cream (another species of Pistachio), "Bozet Shefa-'Amr", and also the Nakhleh Coffee Company, the leading coffee producer in Israel's Arab community. Only finding the ice cream bar was a project since Arab cities always seem to be built following some strange chaos theory. They neither put names on the streets, but albeit they have numbers on the houses. Everybody has post boxes instead to receive their mail, since without them nothing would find its destination. After having asked a few different persons we finally found it and this day they served three flavours, the Pistachio one, vanilla and lemon. We had all three and it tasted heavenly. Then we bought a big box half with Pistachio and half with Vanilla, to take home.

Before we left we went in next door and got ourselves two shawarma. I have told Yoram about the Swedish Arab food joints and with a glimmer in his eyes he calls them fake Arabs. Nevertheless, even if the Arabs are authentic, the food is not. It is only a shadow of the real thing, but fortunately we have a protective system that keeps us in a state of bliss by being able to forget the quality of the real stuff when we only have access to the forgazy... Without this it would be safe to say that I will never eat shawarma, falafel or hummous, or anything Middle Eastern, in Sweden never again.

In the afternoon we drove to Daliyat al-Karmel, the Druze town also close to Tivon. This is one of the top tourist traps in Israel, with a market, museums and guided tours. We crossed between American youth on a Jewish exchange trip and listened with great joy to the extremely sharp Druze sales men and women. Here you are ripped off if you don't bargain and of course most of the tourists don't. Yoram is ruthless and all the stuff we bought went for a good prize and it is still not bad business for the Druze. This is a quality I have to develop a bit further. I am still way too timid for this culture...

Vegetables - Kids, 1 - 0

Kids are learning that the world does not spin around them and that food is more than white rice, schnitzel and pita. My beautiful man is so brave, determined and patient and I am helping out as far as I might with my sparse Hebrew. I guess they will be decent before going to the army...

Israeli politics is more like some comic episode than ever. Ultra-orthodox Housing and Construction Minister Ariel Atias wants to create a society where even religious Jews are segregated from secular ones - even more than what is already developing spontaneously. Then you can only imagine how he perceives the Arab citizens of Israel! Luckily he is one of an extreme minority that never will get these appalling suggestions passed, even though he is part of the government. No minister in any other Western democracy would stay in their seat after delivering such statements. Foreign Minister Lieberman is assisted on just about every matter by Barak and Peres and today he also said that he had deliberately chosen to avoid taking part in the debate over West Bank settlements, as his own residence in a settlement would pose a conflict of interest. Maybe since he is an Israeli, he should stop negotiating matters that relate to Israel all-in-all..? It would be a great relief for Israeli politics. On the other side of the fence Hamas' leader Haniyeh accuses Abbas and Fatha for spying in Gaza on Israel's account. No wonder we cannot get peace when the behaviour on both sides have sunk lower than sand box level...

Food, food and food...

Certain foods are essential in our kitchen. The freezer always contains fresh full-grain pita to just put in the oven for a few minutes before serving. The Hummous we buy is topped with whole chickpeas, pine nuts and olive oil and every time when we open a new can there is a battle going on because everybody wants their share of the topping, which is truly delicious. In contrast to the pine nuts that are imported to Sweden, the pine nuts you get to taste here actually have a taste of pine! When the topping is gone we drizzle ground sweet pepper on and some more olive oil. Labane is the other dip besides hummous. We buy a ready-made thick one, topple it with Za'atar and olive oil. We also make Tahina dip pretty often and then we also use a full-grain Tahina, stirr with lots of lemon juice and some water and then top it with chopped parsley. Olives are of course important and we get a green version and a black dried and wrinkled version, both in a slightly spicy marinade.

When I lived in Sweden I always had red and black berries in the freezer, or fresh during season, since it is such a great source of extremely healthy antioxidants. When I arrived here I was contemplating over what to add instead, since raspberries and blueberries are quite expensive import items here. Then I realised that what is expensive here is cheap there and the other way around and now I eat dried cranberries like candy, on the yoghurt or just on the run, together with some walnuts.

Vegetables is really a separate chapter and everything is multiple size of what you find in Sweden. If you have more or less an avocado fetish like me, it is heavenly to have perfectly ripe huge avocados available all the time. The broccoli heads at home are like one sub branch of the heads here and one head is enough for a weeks consumption.

We have a butcher close by, Samir, who makes the best meat balls I think I have ever tasted. He mixes minced veal with lamb fat, spices and herbs. When you fry them the fat melts off, but leaves the most exquisite taste in the meat. He also makes spicy, fresh sausages that you also fry in a pan.

Now I got hungry from writing... Better eat something before aikido. Pita with hummous?

Jelly of the sea - Nice ones and not so nice

Todays innocent, but unidentified, catch

In Sweden we are only used to see moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita), but in these waters this wobbly fauna is a bit more diverse. We have stingy ones that destroy the bathing enthusiasm, there are very invasive ones that destroy the eco system, and there are some quite innocent ones. Today both Yoram and Ziv felt that they got a bit stung at some point in the sea, but we never identified the perpetrator. However, we found this other character that has no long tentacles, thus, it cannot sting. I have not been able to put a species name on it yet. It was very beautiful, though, with a clear sky blue colour and quite big. The one in the picture was not the biggest one. We saw one that probably was 20-30 cm in circumference.

Mauve stinger (Pelagia noctiluca)

This is what to watch out for if you want to avoid being stung. This mauve creature has long tentacles which secretes a biological poison that causes severe burning pain on the skin and if large surfaces is stung it can be critical.

Warty comb jelly (Mnemiopsis leidyi)

On the other hand, when you see this bugger, you make the sea a favour by eliminating the devastating invader. It is originally native to Western Atlantic waters, but has spread to other waters.

In the 80s it was introduced to the Black Sea, perhaps deliberate, to deal with a rampant proliferation of phytoplankton. By 1989, the population had reached some 400 specimens per cubic metre, and this caused a dramatic drop in fish populations, by competing for the same food sources and eating the young and the eggs. In 1999 it destroyed the food chain after being introduced in the Caspian Sea.

Since then, it has also spread throughout the Mediterranean basin and the North West Atlantic, most likely carried by ships, and then further into the Baltic Sea. In the latter case its presence and spreading is considered alarming due to the limited circulation caused by the shape of the sea, and the already extremely stressed ecosystem. The Baltic Sea is definitely more sensitive to such a species than Mediterranean waters, but nevertheless, it does not belong in neither and might cause great damage to fish populations.

שבוע סוף...

Ziv was at a birthday party and the rest of us took turns on having a terrible mood. At first he kids made me go crazy with their chaos and nagging in the morning. I have developed something I never had before, a poor morning mood - or was it merely never provoked before..? Anyhow, then we went to Acre, me Yoram and Gal. While we walked Acre, everything Gal could say was "no" or " I don't want..." and there was a slight stressful feeling during our whole adventure. Nevertheless, I bought some things for my sweet ones in Sweden. When we came home it was Yoram's turn to crash and I kept the boys away from him so he could rest for a few hours. Now it is evening, the boys are safe asleep and we drink lukewarm red wine and watch "Shavua Sof" on TV...

My canine princess

Me and Goshen at the beach

I must admit that I have been a bit prejudicial against German Shepherds previously. Not that they should be poor dogs in any way, but merely a bit boring and too easy, with their extremely well developed willingness to learn and eagerness to have a purpose. That was of course until I met Goshen. I think it is safe to say that the breed has a new fan. However, Goshen is something out of the ordinary and it takes more than good dog training skills to get such a pleasurable dog as her. Her solid mentality is a natural quality of hers, that only was helped to bloom through a wise education from her daddy. We never put a leash on her and she could not care less about surrounding humans or dogs. If any of the irritating neighbour terrorist dogs tries to provoke her, she walks past them like they did not exist. She is fascinated by all the cats, though, and occasionally goes after one, but most of the time it ends by the cat chasing the dog and I get a good laugh.

It is sad to remember that she had quite a boring life for so long, but it is heart-warming to see the change in her today. I always do stuff with her, ask her things, make her run and pick up things, search for hidden things and regular obedience stuff and she really confirms the Shepherd's eagerness to please. I thought I wanted a bit more personality in the form of independence and "mind-of-their-own" in my dog, but Goshen has proven that hard-headedness is not a prerequisite for a strong personality.

She has bonded strongly with me since I am the one that spends most time with her and she follows me around the house. When I am studying or writing during daytime when we are alone, she occasionally comes up to me, digs her head in my lap, gives me a few kisses and then goes back to her place, just as if to check in on me. She knows her limits around the house. She knows that she is not allowed in the bedroom and she would never go in there when she is alone in the house. Only time is when we have gone to bed and she looks around the corner as if to ask for permission. Then I say OK, she comes in, walks around the bed to say good night to both me and Yoram and then she leaves, without us having to ask her.

She is great with the kids too and has the patience of an angel. Ziv is very nice to her but Gal is still so young so we have to watch him, because sometimes he can get pretty rough on her, and my tolerance with that is zero. I will miss her like crazy when we go to Sweden...

Goshen enjoying the beach with mummy and daddy

Hot, hot, hot, and it is only July 1!

Today it was 37 degrees in the afternoon and now at 22.00 in the evening it is still 31. Aikido was sweaty, to say it lightly. I never thought I would complain about the cold water running out in the shower! When you turn it on, you get cooling water for a short moment, but then all of a sudden it turns warm. I guess our water pipes are situated in the sun somewhere along the way, which seems amazingly stupid. Anyhow it helps us taking fast showers, since the last thing you want is to stand under warm water! Tomorrow the summer fee on the water starts, which makes it much more expensive, which helps us even more to be conscious about the usage. Every drop is precious!