Report of grocery store for Pesach

I did my Pesach shopping today. There was the usual assortment of cookies and macaroons, and matzot, of course.  I had a lot of trouble finding the matzah meal, because we get it in little barrels in the States.  I wasn't looking for bags of matzah meal.  And they sell baking powder (and baking soda) in little packets (like yeast packets), so it took time to find that, too.  But in the end, I found everything I need.

As for the store, of course there's still bread and hametz, because there are still 15 days before Passover.  But the nuts/bulk candy deli was empty and closed down.  And luckily there were both signs for what was kosher for Passover, and sales on a number of those items.  Yeah.  And they don't have mixes for Passover cakes, like we can get from Manischevitz.  Only a couple matzah ball soup kits.  Now I have to get the requisite many eggs.  If you haven't seen this video, watch it!  You'll love the usefulness of this methodology, especially if you do baking for Passover.

Back on dog-walking duty

My friend is back in the hospital, so I'm back on dog-walking duty, but the buses don't run on Shabbat, so I had to walk up there and back several times.  I was able to take the bus back home tonight (yeah!).  Trying to be of service....

Camels (גמלים)

I got up and about early on Friday (יום ששי) to go running.  Much to my surprise and delight, there were camels grazing in the river bottom today.  Those are the first camels I've seen except for the BGU logo (I'll post that when I can find a digital version).

And we're finally on daylight savings time.  Now, I get to recalculate the times in the States all over again.  Shabbat shalom (שבת שלום).

P.S. I just heard about this abomination:  really, Ritz crackers???

Last package arrived

I was able to track a package that my husband sent, so I knew it was in Beer Sheva.  I printed off  the tracking email and successfully battled the post office staff.  Hopefully, that's that end of packages through the mail.  Everything that was sent has been received.

The tagline says "in all places, for all people"

Visit to Ariel University

I went from Tel Aviv to Ariel, pretty elegantly with the Moovit app.  The bus to Ariel was a local, and I took a few photos on Highway 5.  The bus fare surprised me because it was so low (NIS 11).  My receipt was marked "50%", so I thought I got the senior discount by mistake, but all the fares past the green line are 50%.  Hmm.  Once we got past Petach Tikvah, the traffic thinned, but there was more than I expected.  There is no security check going east, only westbound.  It is very quick and efficient.

The fence

Olive trees along Highway 5

Rivka planned to meet me at the last stop (that's a stop I can definitely find), which is on the edge of the Ariel University campus.  I got to meet Chancellor Yigal Cohen Orgad (a former MK and one of the founders of Ariel University).

Ariel is on top of a mountain, and campus and town housing cascades down the side.  Civil engineering department head Yuri Ribakov took me up to large balcony off the President's reception area that has a wonderful view of the campus.

View to east (most of the houses are not campus)

View of the lower campus

New library under construction

View to west

I didn't get any photos of the upper campus, where engineering is.  The elevation of the city is 600 m.  My colleague, Dr. Rivka Gilat took me to dinner in Tel Aviv, after she taught class and I met with a few professors and saw the CE labs.  I caught a late train back to Beer Sheva, luckily got a cab in Beer Sheva, and went to bed.

Tel Aviv 03/25/14

I took my good camera so that I could share the experience with you.  So get ready.  Tuesday, I planned to go to Tel Aviv, check out Nachalot Binyamin craft market, and go to the opera ("Tales of Hoffman").  The Moovit app was great:  I caught a local Tel Aviv bus from the HaShalom rail station, and the app told me when to ring for the next stop.  The walk was moderate to the hotel, which was lovely.  The Diagalev Hotel is one of the original Bauhaus buildings in Tel Aviv, and it is a "live art" hotel, which means it rotates art work through the hotel, and hosts art events.

View of Diagalev Hotel from the street.  I think my room had the balcony on the top of the white section.

This was some of the art in my room - I guessed that it was not a coat rack.

I walked over to the Nacholat Binyamin craft fair, but walked into the Carmel Market by mistake.  It's only a little bigger than the shuk in Beer Sheva, but it has a greater variety of goods, and nicer dry goods than the one in Beer Sheva.  Lots of tourists.  I found a cheese vendor, we don't have in Beer Sheva, so I got some semi-firm cheeses to enjoy at home.  Got a requisite falafel sandwich for lunch.

Entrance to Carmel Market from the non-parking lot side.

I wandered into the Nachalot Binyamin fair by mistake, but was glad to have found it.  Lots of silver smiths, wood carvers, puzzle makers, jewelers.  I found (big surprise) some earrings worth purchasing, even a glass pair.

Later, I walked over the opera, and got a ticket for a backstage tour, which was great fun.

Observations 03/23/14

I went running today and the lavender was still marvelous.  A shepherd had a flock of goats and sheep in the Beer Sheva River bottom.  My cell phone didn't do it justice, but I did stop and take a photo for you.

I run on the lower walkway by the small trees.  It's unlikely that I'll get to run in any 5Ks.  They just don't do that much here.  They just had marathons in Tel Aviv, and another in Jerusalem recently, but that's not my race.  Imagine the hills in Jerusalem.  Really not my race.

פרחי השבת (This shabbat's flowers)

The flower vendors were few and far between today.  But the little Friday morning shuk inside the mall included a flower lady, so I purchased a small bouquet.    שבת שלום(Shabbat shalom).

More visits to senior design partners

Today was another trip to Tel Aviv to meet with students and their professional partners.  I took the train to Savidor Station and we went to the first site.

 

Dr. Igal Shochat and Itay Yacovi with his project site in the background.

We met with Amir Nahum, the president of Ortam-Malibu Group (major construction company) who announced he is giving BGU three scholarships.  Then we went to the last site, which is a high-rise apartment building under construction.  We went up in the construction lift, and then walked up another five flights of increasingly difficult stairs.  The last set, I needed a hand because the footing was so unsteady.  We were up on the present top of the building, on the 14th floor, standing on rebar or whatever.

Igal, the professional (in black), student blocked by Igal.  The background shows part of the Bat Yam cemetery, which is huge.

View to the east - you can see the Mediterranean in the background.

While Igal was driving, I snapped a photo of the site we were up on two weeks ago.  We were up on the floor by the higher safety netting.

The return trip was from Bat Yam (Komemiyyut) north to Tel Aviv (HaHagana), then change to the train south to Beer Sheva (Center).

Books have arrived

The last package that I sent 12/31/13 is safely in my apartment.  I had sent a bunch of printed materials as book/media rate in an M-bag (see blog of 12/31/13), and we figured that it probably should be here by now.  A young woman, Tal, offered to go to the post office with me to check on it.  I forgot to bring my original shipping paperwork and the trip to the post office was going south.  Then I asked her to ask the clerk about a "mail bag" and pointed to some in use near the clerk.  The clerk, who was in a surprising good mood, had a look of "that makes sense..." and went into the room where packages are stored until they're called for.  She dragged out a mail bag!  And it was my mail bag.  Now, right now, I don't have my passport because the visa is being renewed, and my ID situation today is iffy, so, would she let me take it?  At least, I knew it was in Beer Sheva.  Well, she was so glad to get it out from underfoot, that she didn't card me, and thanked us for coming.  Why was she so happy?  It had arrived on 6 January 2014.  She's been working around it for two months.  The address on the package wasn't perfect, so it just sat there.  Safe and dry.  It actually arrived before my other packages that I paid a lot more per pound to ship.  Whatever.  And Tal had driven to the post office, so she gave me a lift to my apartment with the heavy books.

And now that we're on the other side of Purim, I knew that the grocery store would start changing over for Passover.  It's a kosher grocery store, so I'm interested to see the impact and transformation.  It has started, in one aisle. I'll keep you updated.  I know how the Hen House does it on Roe, but that's just a little corner of the store.  My store will be the whole store.

Giving feedback in Hebrew-first installment

I had volunteered to help some of the students improve their powerpoint presentations, because a few that I saw last month needed work, and they have to give another presentation at the end-of-semester.  So I began.  I was lucky because the first one I chose was in good shape, so all my feedback was affirmative.  I wrote up my notes in Hebrew, printed it, made a bunch of changes, checked spelling and sent it on to my colleague.  He said that he would correct the Hebrew and send it on.  Rats.  On the other hand, I forwarded my original version to my Hebrew tutor, Orit, and she was pleased with it.  I promised to send her the final, corrected version.  Anyway, at least I have a vocabulary set for these evaluations.  Things like "north arrow," "significant digits," "clear annotations," and other things I don't use at the shuk or on the bus!

Ah, the announcements at the beginning of the semester...

You know I had to get one of the emails sooner or later (preferably sooner).  Here's the intent (I won't restate all the specifics):  בעקבות ירי הטילים מרצועת עזה, ברצוננו לרענן כללי התנהגות למצב ירי לעבר העיר (Following the firing of rockets in the Gaza Strip, we would like to remind you of the procedures).  If you read Hebrew a little, you will notice that "Gaza" isn't obvious (I noticed): it's עזה.  Hmm.  But you midwesterners are probably getting similar reminders about tornado season from the TV meteorologists.  Not so different.  I don't have to go to the basement, just away from windows, which is surprisingly easily in my postage stamp-sized apartment.

Flower photos

OK, I know flower photos are a chick weakness, but ....

Walkway along Ben Gurion Blvd (the university is on the left)

I think this is a caper bush, but whatever it is, it's pretty.

And while I'm musing botanically, the park that I run in is great.  Most of the downstream section is below the road grade with a retaining wall on the right.  Much of it is planted with lavender, and I get to run through scent-clouds of lavender that is trapped in that space.  There are also lots of flowers climbing on the walls (I posted those earlier), so it's just grand.  But the lavender is great.  I wonder how long it will last.  Have a good week (שבוע טוב).

Hag Purim

Happy Purim.  I enjoyed and marveled again reading the book of Esther.  There have been celebrations all over Israel, mostly for the young.  The shopping areas had lots and lots of costumes and accouterments for kids and young people.  The Israelis do love chocolate, and I was surprised to see how many chocolate hamentaschen varieties were available.  I found some poppyseed ones for me.  If you want to hear a funny song, check out Humentaschen.

Yom Shishi rain and sun

This storm rolled through while I was walking downtown to buy flowers.  I did have my raincoat with me, and put it on.  There was thunder and a cold rain for 15-20 minutes.  The rain and wind transformed a lot of umbrellas into giant bowls on sticks.  Ahh, wind.  It drove the street flower vendor off the street corner (somewhere?), so I bought red carnations from a vendor inside the bus station.

But the sky is blue now, and my windows are open.  Now it's time to get ready for shabbat.  Shabbat shalom (שבת שלום).


Beer Sheva rain summary:

Accumulated rainfall (from 01/08/2013 to 13/03/2014): 210 mm  (8.25 in)

Percent of same period normal (from 01/08/2013 to 13/03/2014): 128%

Percent of annual normal: 108%

Annual normal: 195 mm

Looks like another noisy night

And more rain

Look at this great radar (don't worry, I won't be blogging as a weather junkie much longer).  It is cold (sort of) and rainy and wet feet and splashy traffic, but the rain is coming at a good rate and lots of it should soak in and replenish the groundwater.  I'm just glad I have a bus pass now, so that I can ride with abandon on days like this.

Jerusalem Post report on rain

The best butter

I went to the shuk in the rain yesterday (it has roofs), and bought cheese and butter from the dairy guy.  I had purchased butter from him in January, and was surprised that it doesn't get hard in the refrigerator.  I had purchased a brick of butter from the grocery store after that, and it was fine.  But I went back to him, and he even assured me that it was very fresh.  He had a huge brick that he cut 0.5 kg for me.  Anyway, that's my butter source now.  הכי טוב! (the best)

BTW, the butter from the dairy guy comes roughly wrapped in wax paper, in a plastic bag.  Only roughly a rectangle, and very soft!

More rumbles of thunder

Who could be homesick with thunderstorms about?

A real rainy day

A cold and rainy day in the desert - isn't it grand?  We actually had thunderstorms rolling through, and I found this radar image that looks a lot like our midwest squall lines.  And like the midwest, there was wind, so my raincoat was more helpful than my umbrella (but I had both).  Of course, the raincoat dripped down on my trousers, but I bought them to be quick-dry for laundry, but it works for rain, too.  Tomorrow is supposed to be similar.  Everyone, except the people who have been doused by traffic, is grateful for the rain.

BGU Hias Campus

And since I took my camera, I took the opportunity to photograph the Hias Campus, where the Structural Engineering and I are housed.  It's the original campus of BGU.

My building (H3) is in the center of the photo.

Students hang out and eat lunch in this area.

Seminar in structural engineering

Today was my departmental seminar.  I spoke about the raingarden project that just finished, my radio show (past tense), and UMKC's senior design class.  There were spirited discussions about engineering liability and a joke I made:  cranes should be the national bird of Israel (because there are construction cranes everywhere).  I was arguing with someone just like me that's just too d--- literal about jokes.  So here's the first photo of me on the blog (I guess I'm getting tan).

And some of you wanted to see my BGU office:

And (see what happens when I take my camera with me?) here's a photo of my apartment building, with a lovely blue sky.  The rain washed the dust out of the air.  And, BTW, I did get to use my umbrella on Sunday evening!

15 Jacob Cohen St is the bldg on the right

Actual rain

Today was an actual umbrella-carrying (but did I have mine??), puddle-dodging (this I did do) day in Beer Sheva.  It started raining after I had left the house, and I had thought, "sure, it'll rain - hmff" so it didn't even occur to me to take my umbrella.  It might have been the only chance to use it!!  But I did have to take off my sweater to dry when I got home.  And I've got big, Texas-kinda hair from the humidity.  Keep up your prayers for rain in the land -- it's five weeks to Pesach (Passover) that mark the end of the rainy season.

Thunder

Yesterday, I heard thunder.  Yes, meteorological thunder.  Atmospheric thunder.  Not just the low frequency rumble of IDF fighter planes.  It resulted in a shower that ended quickly.  But it's sort of a rainy day today.  I hope it washes the dust out of the air, so that the sky is blue again.