Thick as a brick

The kids have been here this weekend and we have also had Swedish aikido guests, so my packing could not practically start until today Sunday, and tonight Yoram will take me to the airport for a flight at 5.30 tomorrow morning. I am a list-writing person and the list for preparations and packing was prepared since a few days back, which just lets me follow it today. Last night I had a pounding pain over my right eye and I suspect a sinusitis, which of course is something of the worst to combine with a flight, but what can you do? Nasal decongestion drops in masses to relieve the pressure-induced pain and then I will have to see if I have to take more serious measures when I arrive in Sweden.

Both dogs follow me around like two curious shadows since they sense that something is about to happen. Some moments it feels more painful to leave them than to leave Yoram. Yoram can after all reason, he knows that I will be back and we will talk and chat and so on, but for the dogs, Mummy just disappears for four weeks. Maybe I will be ridiculous enough to ask to talk to them through the phone at some point. They are after all my babies...

Malmö Jews can blame themselves..?

Malmö's Social-Democratic mayor Ilmar Reepalu has again displayed his ignorance and musty views. In a local newspaper he was interviewed (in Swedish) about the galloping anti-Semitism in Malmö and the fact that the Jewish population is fleeing the city. In present situation the activities in the Malmö Synagogue needs protection by security forces and sometimes police. Jews are advised against visiting the Jewish cemetery alone, and Jews are afraid to wear Jewish symbols like Star of David and Kippah in public.

Reepalu claims to believe that these threats come exclusively from extreme rightist groups and he pretends to be completely unaware of the fact that fundamentalist Islamist groups and the extreme left are the ones that are mainly responsible for spreading anti-Semitic propaganda today.

On the question whether he has considered doing something, he answered (free translation):

We neither accept Zionism, nor anti-Semitism. They are both extremes that put themselves above other groups, considering them less worthy.

This literally means that he denies the state of Israel its right to exist, as well as defining any supporter of Israel as being a racist. These are no light accusations.

Operation Cast Lead, which was initiated after 8 years of terror attacks on Israeli civilians, created a "furuncle" according to Reepalu, of which the responsibility lays completely on Israel. He concludes by laying over the responsibility for the anti-Semitic harassments on the Malmö Jews themselves (free translation):

I wish that the Jewish congregation would publicly condemn Israel's violations on the civilians in Gaza. Instead they chose to arrange a rally on Stortorget, which can send the wrong signals.

This literally means that he suggests that every Jewish person, no matter how strong connection to Israel they have (or not), can be held personally responsible for Israeli national business, and if they don't speak up against it, they can blame themselves for being harassed.

Very strange and rotten logic - and very 30's style...

Aikido fix

It is an amazing privilege to guide people into new realms of aikido and to step on new ground together, building new confidence, but one of the compromises has been that I have not had anyone that could really throw me the way that I am used to be thrown. Luckily Jan has provided that during these couple of days and I can happily conclude that I have not lost it. During these six months I have neither had anyone who could give a full feedback to the people throwing me - it is hard to see all details yourself while in the air - but also that aspect has got some substantial attention.

Tonight is the last day with Jan here in Israel and I have this melancholic feeling already, but it soothes me a lot to know that I have 10 whole days with these guys in Stockholm during my visit in Sweden. That fix will then have to last until the summer when it is time for Lillsved again. Back in Israel we are stuffed with things to work on for the meantime...

Almost private session with Jan in Tivon

Yesterday the classes were here in Tivon, which means that most of the people from the Tel Aviv bubble will not make the effort to come, which is their loss and our gain. We do the one-hour drive four days out of five, but they cannot do it even one day out of five. Anyway, we were only 20 people on the mat, which resulted in the best practice during the whole seminar. It was almost like a private lesson where Jan focused exactly on the things where we felt that we needed some good feedback to proceed in the right direction.

Jan praised the progress that our group has made in their ability to move freely and take nice high falls and much to my humble delight he several times acknowledged my contribution to this noticeable development. The feedback we now got was that the way we throw is very care-taking and helping. It is natural that the nage carries a lot of weight when most of the people are in the initiation phase, but from now on it is time to start throwing with less aid - still supportive of course, but the uke's need to develop more independence.

After the amazing aikido we gathered at Anati's house and ate all the food people had brought. The buffet was least to say international, with typical Middle-Eastern stuff like hummous and tahina, but also Kurdish kubbeh and stuffed vine leafs, Anati's famous leek latkes, Japanese sushi, Latin-American ceviche, together with a bunch of salads, pies, bread, and of course wine, desserts, coffee and tea... We slept nicely after that. Today we are up for another few hours of aikido treats...

The most amazing ceviche

Mediterranean Hake aka Merluza

I have figured out that the white fish must be a Mediterranean Hake (Merluccius merluccius), aka Merluza or Merliza (sic). The fish was so fresh still today that it almost rattled out of the fridge and did not smell fishy at all. Now he is sliced in small pieces and marinated in lemon juice, and in in a few hours when the meat has been "cooked" and whitened (the lemon denatures the protein in the fish), I will remove the excessive juice and add salt, chopped chili and coriander to the fish. Ready.

A modest evening snack...

Bonito filet

We stopped by in the Arab town Fureidis today on the way home from the aikido seminar, to buy fish for the dinner at Anati's place tomorrow evening. I have offered to make a ceviche from white fish, and a bunch of maki rolls. In Fureidis, there is a fish shop that is famous throughout Israel. All big chefs and food critics honour this guy. The place is a hole in the wall, and all the fish lay in drawers in a closed fridge and he asks you what you are interested in. We said that we wanted a white fish for ceviche and one with red meat for sushi. In Sweden I would have bought cod and salmon for these two dishes (maybe tuna, if the price was not too high), but none of them are available here, so in my new life I enjoy getting acquainted with completely new species, with funny new names.

He quickly took two whole fish out of the fridge, told us about them and weighed them. Then he filleted them very skilfully. I already forgot the name of the white one, but the one with red meat is called Palamide, but the English name is Bonito. Bonito is a small mackerel-related species, but the meat is red and meaty, just like tuna.

This evening we did not any need dinner, since we went for a nice afternoon meal with Jan in Herzliya. However, around 21 we felt an urge for something, and we had already figured out that I will not use both big Bonito filets in the sushi tomorrow, so I added black pepper and salt and sautéed one of them quickly in olive oil. Then we ate it straight up, no accessories. That's life quality...

Aiki and poo...

Two days with Jan has passed and we are all euphoric. We realise now that our hard work has paid off. Since I moved here people are suddenly taking high ukemi just like people at home - something they never did here before they met Jan (and the rest of us Jan & Jorma nerds). Now Jan has more to work with when people can move more freely... We have three days left with him, and then I go to Sweden for some even deeper infusion.

To not let the euphoria go to our heads, Barak decided to become stomach sick. This morning Yoram walked out half asleep into the living room to get the newspaper and suddenly slipped into a pile of shit. It was not only one pile, but faeces in all different forms spread all over the floor, including the rug. Yoram cleaned it before I awoke, to my great appreciation. Around lunch we had agreed with the kids mother to come and take the dogs out to pee and poo, but in addition to that she also had to clean poo from the floor - again. When we came home in the evening, he had not pooed, but instead puked on several places. Now he is empty, and he will stay that way until he possibly gets over-cooked rice tomorrow...

Jan is here!

Today we are heading off for the first day of the aikido seminar with Jan Nevelius. Many people here have waited a whole year, but for a few of us it has been "merely" six months, which for me feels like forever, since I am used to more frequent meetings. Anyway, more about it later.

In the meantime you can enjoy the progress we have made with the feeding procedures with Barak. Seven weeks ago he launched himself at you at feeding time and you physically had to keep him off of you until the food was on the floor.

Pea brains all over the world...

What amazing ignorance and naivety makes people join conspicuously fraudulent groups on Facebook, claiming to donate money to Haiti, just to later turn in to a necrophile prank? Is it the same stupidity harboured by the Israelis that travel to the South to watch the dangerous floods, and subsequently get caught in them..? Sometimes I despair over humanity...

Life is about to accumulate in a good way

Wow, blogging has really been difficult for me the last few weeks! I don't know if it is because my life has been so boring or if I just did not feel like drowning you in too much stories about dogs. I am not too keen on writing charming anecdotes about domestic house shores either, so consider yourselves spared, rather than neglected.

Dogs

Anyway, I started a Youtube channel with the adventures of Goshen and Barak. Shortly I can say that if you panic from some occasional harsh arguments between dogs, you should probably avoid getting two big dogs. Goshen is getting more and more bitchy and controlling which has caused some quarrels between the dogs, and she is now under strict surveillance. Barak got a small bite wound on his cheek the other day, but luckily they both cool down very fast and always kiss and make up. However, we need to take the energy level down for a while to make sure that both of them understand that this behaviour is not wanted.

Aikido

The light in the end of the tunnel for me right now consists of two things. First, I have a week of Jan Nevelius aikido ahead of me! He is coming to Israel for his annual seminar and we are all very excited. I have not seen him since July, which probably is the longest break from Vanadis aikido since I started practising with them years ago. When I lived in Sweden I covered Northern Europe to practice with Jan and his dojo partner Jorma Lyly at least every other month or so, and before I met Yoram I even considered moving to Stockholm to get closer to these guys. However, destiny works in mysterious ways and I sacrificed that strong desire for other purposes.

But... The light does not stop shining there. Second reason for my excitement is that I will spend the entire February in Sweden. Meeting my family and friends is one thing, but the trip also involves almost two weeks in Stockholm, aikido seminar with Endo Sensei, Jorma and Jan fluff included. The rest of the time will be spent in Malmö, where I will try to reach a few sessions with my first aikido teacher, Stefan Stenudd, who according to (official) rumours has been appointed Shihan by Hombu dojo this year. Congratulations to Stefan! For you Swedish-speaking friends, Stefan writes a terrific blog about what occupies his brilliant mind.

Family

I have not seen my parents either for six months and that is the longest time I have been away from them. I cannot wait for Mum's food and Dad's single malt collection... We are also going to visit my Grandmother in Västervik and I am afraid to say that I cannot even remember when I was there the last time. So you see, I have a lot to look forward to, and most likely I will also blog about it.

Now I have to take the dogs out in the thundery rain. Again, Israel is during the next few days about to become flooded in more water than it is able to cope with. How come they never learn..? Build more dams for Gods sake! Do you remember the dry summer at all..? Water crisis..? Ring a bell..?

On my mind...

Before I arrived in Israel, I read the news about the tensions in the region as if there was no tomorrow, and my emotions was doomed to ride on a roller coaster in a constant loop. Yoram told me that after a while you will realise that there are not any news coming, really. Things are just repeating themselves and to keep sane it is a good idea not to drown yourself too much in the media storm. He was right. I did cool down on the news surveillance, but that is not the same thing as stop caring or becoming blasé. I have not. However, I have realised that bashing to left and right and banging your head in various walls with ingenious arguments maybe can rock an attitude here and there, if you are lucky, but it will not make a change for the day-to-day life in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

This is probably the reason for not writing so many blog posts about these things lately. That does not mean that it will never happen again. Surely it will. In the meantime I want to direct you to my two favourite writers on the Mideast subject. Michael J. Totten writes on his own English blog, as well as articles for other publications; and Roy B. Alterman, who writes on the Swedish blog Al Hamatzav. In my opinion they both provide balanced reflections of the complexities in which we live. These guys get bashed from left and right too of course and I guess that is just something that is unavoidable if you intend to express some kind of opinion. At least they both match my opinion very well and they write in a witty and bright language.

Our police dog - Deputy Goshen Shanir

Goshen is nowadays the police officer in the family. If Barak tries to get too close to us when we eat, she goes in between and nips him. If he is too rough with the kids, she nips him. If he takes off too far when he is unleashed she runs after him and nips him when she catches up. We are laughing our heads off, because it is quite entertaining, but of course we don't let it get out of hand. After all, she is not supposed to be an alpha either, and it is not her job to educate Barak - it is mainly ours. But I don't mind a little assistance. It occurs also in a wild wolf pack that the subordinates educate their younger family members.

I am pleased to see that we do not see so many strong expressions of dominance from him anymore, but to get there we had to be very consistent with controlling his access to attention, movement, food, and so on, plus an occasional alpha roll from my part now and then when he has been very bad. He is a very dominant dog and it takes quite some energy to match his behaviour, but we're slowly getting him back to where he belongs.

Their play is more balanced now and characterised by mutual confidence and they play out their gender roles amusingly well. He is like a big clumsy teddy bear who uses his big size straight forward, while she is fast and more tactic. Goshen moves like an agile Quarter Horse, while Barak's movement pattern more resembles a heavy buffalo. He thinks he is the one ruling the play, but that is just her letting him on believing that this is the case. If she wants the bone, she will end up getting it, but she also lets him take it now and then, with a priceless, lenient expression on her face.

He devours everything organic that is not attached to the ground as if there was no tomorrow, while she eats slowly and methodically, chewing her food with care. This most often puts her in a situation where he, after finishing his own food, puts all his energy into getting a bite from Goshen's share, but she regularly shows enough teeth (and gums) to deter him from even trying.

Sunny weekend

Yesterday we met up with Yoram's colleague from work, Ran, and his girlfriend Daphna. We went to Zikhron Ya'akov and had a nice lunch at Tishbi's, filled up the bottles and continued for some ice cream at the Aldo ice cream bar before we returned home and took a nice afternoon nap. In the evening we were invited to an aikidoka friend of ours, Itzhik, and his wife Tamar, and would you believe that they served us the most beautiful tournedo's made from tenderloin bought in Samir's shop! We had planned to arrange some nice meat for the weekend, but instead we found ourselves treated with both excellent meat and the most exquisite company.

The weather has been just lovely the last couple of days so it was sleeve-less top and sunglasses on the menu for our Shabbat excursion today. We drove to Shfar'am (aka Shefa-'Amr) to buy ice cream. I have mentioned Shfar'am before both concerning their special ice cream, and the town in general. We took a walk through the winding streets and came back home with not only the excellent ice cream, but also ridiculously cheap kanafeh and our bellies full of falafel. It does not matter what modest falafel joint you go in to around here, you will always get better falafel than in any falafel joint in Sweden. During my approaching visit to Sweden I have to remember that to avoid any disappointing experiences.

Concerning my last post about keffiyeh's, I know that some people probably think of me both as being naive and possibly offensive and I don't know what else, but as long as I get spanked from both directions, as I most often do, I know that I am still on the right track. I am an idealist and an incurable optimist and that is something that I am proud of. There is enough of cynicism and polarisation in this world.

Reclaim the keffiyeh!

The bus from Tivon to Nazareth takes less than 30 minutes and cost 11 ILS (about 20 SEK). The other day I went there on my own just to wander the market streets of the Old City for a while and to do some shopping. Last time I was there with Yoram I saw a keffiyeh-like shawl that I for some reason never bought, but never found anywhere else, so now I had to go back for it. I found the store with the shawls and was quickly out with a bunch of keffiyeh's in different colours.

In Sweden and in other countries of the Western world the keffiyeh has become a fashion item. However, it still has a strong symbolic value of Arab nationalism in general, but Palestinian solidarity in particular. It has also become tightly associated with the extreme left, with their notorious anti-Israeli incitements and anti-Semite tendencies. However, just because Yasser Arafat constantly wore a keffiyeh, does not make it exclusive to him and his cause. The keffiyeh has been used in the Mideast by both Arabs and Jews since ancient Mesopotamian times.

Yemenite Jew in the early 20th century

wearing keffiyeh wrapped like a turban.

Hence, I bring unique keffiyeh's home to Malmö to give to friends that I know like them. I also wear them myself. They are beautiful and cosy and deserve to be reclaimed from the people that exploit them as a symbol of hate and segregation.

Nazareth is an Arab town with mostly Muslims in spite of its Christian heritage. I walked the narrow streets listening to the adhan (call for prayer) from the nearby mosque and I was watching all the people I met. There were religious women in hijab as well as extravagant ladies swaying by on high stiletto heals and wearing very exposing clothes, and I thought to myself in how many Arab countries you would see that multifariousness and freedom of expression. Unfortunately Arabs do experience discrimination in the Israeli society, I will not deny that, but not nearly as much as Jews living in Arab countries do, and when it comes to women's rights I do not think I need to say much about the situation in many Arab countries. Why do you never hear the leftist "freedom for the people"-fighters protest against the theocratic dictatorships in Syria or Yemen or Iran or Sudan, or Gaza for that matter?

I proudly wear my keffiyeh in support for freedom and justice for all people in the Mideast, not against Israel or the Jews. Reclaim!

Beauty and the beast

Goshen and Barak cuddling

My new baby boy is the most loveable dog. He has the softest nose that I love to squeeze and kiss and play with. The kids can do pretty much anything to him without any protests. At the same time he is a powerful guardian who would not hesitate one second to defend his family, and people cross the street when they meet this intimidating beast.

He has never shown any aggressive behaviour in his attempts to dominate and we can even take raw bones out from his mouth without any fuss. There is no problem there. Nevertheless, he makes me dream wet dreams about e-collars and pinch collars when he notoriously steal and eat our socks, or when he pulls frantically on the leash and completely ignores me when we are outdoors.

His previous owners did not educate him and he was allowed to grow a strong dominance and independence. It shows most clearly when we are outdoors. He has no sense of the pack when we are on walks and if there is something I really miss, then it is my walks with unleashed dogs. Goshen never leaves my side and I never have her leashed, but with this boy unleashing only works far out in the fields, where we not go every day.

If a dog grows up and get the taste for independence it can be very tough to get him to step back in line again and stay with his group. Since he also has a cat obsession, it is pretty much impossible right now to work on having him unleashed around the houses where we live, since there are so many cats. I tried to let him go for a while last week, down in the valley below the houses, but it turned out to be too close. He ran off, up towards the houses and on the way he scared the neighbours kids who was on a walk with their two cocky Pekinese dogs, who I have mentioned previously. Barak was back with me in a matter of minutes, since he always runs back to the house. The kids made a big hustle about it and I had a visit later in the afternoon from the father and another guy who thought that he had really attacked the kids. However, I know Barak, and I know that he probably only barked at them a bit to scare them, since he is not aggressive when he is loose. His only interest is to run after cats. That is no defence though, and we have to be even more cautious in the future.

Then his sock fetish. In the beginning he only picked them up, carried them around and dropped them again. Then socks started to disappear and we realised that he also eats them. Proof came when he started to throw up partly digested socks. What comes out is not particularly yummy, but it is instead rather obvious that the content has travelled all the way down to the poop section of the tummy, and back again, concluding from the smell of it. In spite of the nasty condition of the mess, he always wants to re-eat it, so we need to be fast to remove it from him. If Goshen shows an interest, she is harshly growled at. It is his puke, and his alone.

I had forgotten how simple things were with only Goshen around. She follows me like a shadow and she reads my mind in the daily routines around the house. Barak instead needs guidance all the time. The most beautiful thing is the friendship that has developed between the dogs. It is obvious that the confidence between them is growing. We have less and less arguments over bones and toys and they allow more and more from each other in the play. They always sleep bundled up together and that is so cute that it nips my heart a bit.

Guns N' Roses five days a week

The high school that is basically just across the street from us has the intro to Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child of Mine" instead of a conventional school bell. This means that I hear this guitar riff every time a class starts and ends. I can totally sympathise with the schools initiative to become a bit "cooler", but come on... I don't get a chance to ever remove the riff from my head!