Dr. Shakshuka

I ate at the well-known Dr. Shakshuka in Yafo.  Shakshuka is eggs poached in a tomato/onion bath, along with whatever you want, or have on hand.  We got a salad assortment that was great. It included three harissas, eggplant salad, traditional Israeli salad, tahini, and a preserved lemon salad that is wonderful.  I will learn how to make that.  The waiter took pity on us and sent us home with an extra container of it.  I did I omit to mention the Turkish coffees, too?

Leadership workshop (women graduate students)

I presented my first leadership workshop at Ben Gurion University.  There was just one problem -- I had lost my voice.  But my slides and handouts were ready, and the event had been scheduled for two months.  The show would go on.  I distributed most of my remaining light-up pens from my ADVANCE workshops in 2003-2005 (with new batteries), and we had refreshments provided by the dean.  My colleague's computer, however, would not talk to my flashdrive, but luckily one of the students had a laptop that did.  I did two assessments - one learning style, and one quick leadership assessment.  I did a first crack at translating the questions in the assessments, so that they could be completed quickly, and my faculty colleague made final corrections.  My Powerpoint slides and talk were in English, and the graduate students are expected to know English fairly well, but I didn't want the students to labor over the questions.  I made some on-the-fly amendments to my presentation, and managed to end precisely at 10:30 - the announced end time.

They are working in groups of two on some questions I posed.

Yom HaShoah at Ben Gurion University

I attended the Holocaust remembrance event at Ben Gurion University.  There were at least 1000 people there, many standing through the hour-long event.

It began with the two-minute national siren when everyone stood in silence.  The program was all in Hebrew, but I certainly knew generally what was being discussed in general.  University dance and choir groups participated, along with speakers, and the traditional lighting of six lights in honor of the 6,000,000 Jews lost in the Holocaust.

The design is a modified BGU logo.

Source: BGU Facebook page

There was an original dance performed by the university dance troup that was very moving, titled "Barefoot." These photos are from the BGU Facebook page (I didn't take them).  The dancers came out one at a time and left their shoes neatly in one corner of the stage.  Once I saw shoes, I knew this would be a wrenching performance.  It was. One of the dancers had to leave the platform in tears.

At the end of the dance, one dancer just randomly piled up all the shoes, and stared at them.

Oh my.

Surprise at Masada

I went to Masada with a friend.  We finished up on the mount late, but not too late to catch the cable car, but late enough that when we were through at the gift shop and eating a little, that Masada was closed (at 17:00).

Luckily the walkway from the lunch area is outside, so we were able to leave easily.  But we saw a curious site that we didn't see on our walk up the hill from the bus stop earlier.

The ibex was standing and looking at us on some of the masonry of the entry way.  And was kind enough to allow us to take all the photos we wanted.  It's not a tall animal, but the horns are impressive, aren't they?  So, maybe it wasn't so bad that we closed the place down.  Still caught the last bus to Beer Sheva, so I call it a win.

While we were up top, we heard helicopters, and saw these two in formation.

IDF swearing-in at the Kotel

A friend and I were in Jerusalem at the Kotel, and were surprised to see A LOT OF PEOPLE there, including a lot of soldiers.  And chairs set up, and a dais.  Apparently, the new infantry soldiers take their official oath of service at the Western Wall (tank soldiers take theirs at Masada, etc.)

UMKC alumnus and train ride

 I met with one of our ECE BS/MS/TBP alumni in Jerusalem and met his family.

Then took the train from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.  It was a spectular ride (and very affordable).  The train goes through the valley of נחל רפאים which is lovely (sorry that website is in Hebrew).  Then the train got to the tidy, agricultural fields of Bet Shemesh, and then the landscape became increasingly industrial in Lod and Tel Aviv.  But Nahal Rafaim Park is great.  Here are my photos.

Malha train station

I have a grocery store card!

It took forever, but my Sufersal red card showed up today.  I guess it just takes forever.  Now, I can take advantage of coupons (!) and in-store specials.  Yeah!!!

I'm official!

יום טוב לכולם!!

Passover in Israel

So what's different in Israel?

1. Kids (K-12) get two weeks off from school.  Universities get a week+ off.
2. A number of businesses are closed for the entire period.  Other businesses are only closed for the Yom Tov days.
3. The buses and trains are on Shabbat schedules for the Yom Tov days.
4. The bakeries are closed (who was surprised by that???), but some of them have tables outside their shop with kosher-for-Passover foods, including pizza.
5. Some of the falafel/schwarma shops have kosher-for-Passover wraps and are selling sandwiches (I'm not sure if they're selling falafel).
6. The stores and shops have drapes over the shelves that have packaged items that are not kosher-for-Passover.
   

Wind, but no rain here

It was hot and very windy today.  The kind of wind that blows my furniture off my porch at home.  It looks like it rained some places in Israel.  We're moving out of the season when rain is likely, so even this little bit is a good thing.

San Simon neighborhood

I was in Jerusalem visiting friends on Friday.  This is a lovely neighborhood in south Jerusalem. Sorry, these photos are from my cell phone.  Might have been a little too bright for it.  But you'll get the idea.

I made a HD sound recording of the birds' singing in the area, but I'm having trouble posting it.

Beduoin shuk (שוק הבדואי)

Ok, everyone has been checking that I went to the Bedouin shuk, that is held on Thursday mornings.  So, today was to be the day.  Even remembering to take the camera.  But there was a schedule derailment - my older friend, for whom I have walked the dog, was locked in her bedroom with a door lock malfunction.  She asked me to come up and help.  We passed keys and tools through her ground level window, but eventually had to call a locksmith.  Thankfully, they spoke a little English, and assured her that he would come.  Well, lucky for all of us, he arrived in about 20 min.  It ultimately involved a sharp strike with a hammer, but the door opened, and then he repaired the lock.  His bill was only NIS200.

But I was still determined to go to the Bedouin shuk.  I went downtown to catch bus #17 (but that only runs once an hour).  My problem was that I wasn't certain where the shuk is located, and I knew there was a stop on this bus for it.  I got off the bus on Derech Eilat, which is a big road, but managed to cross it safely (obviously-I'm writing this).  However, the shuk was not the exotic locale I expected.  There were lots of shoes, and kids' clothes, and housewares - just like in the big shuk in Beer Sheva.  There was one artist, and one stall selling classic Bedouin dresses, but that was it.  I don't know what all the excitement is about.  I was expecting camels or chickens or baskets.  I saw no Bedouin crafts, not even a hookah.

Another view of Givat Ze'ev

On Tuesday, Margalit, Agnes and I walked over to the other side of Givat Ze'ev.

The Friedmans' apartment is in this area.

This year in Jerusalem (השנה הזה בירושלים)

Here's the report from Passover almost in Jerusalem: Givat Ze'ev is technically in the West Bank, but is a Jewish bedroom commuter community for Jerusalem.  Rabbi David Friedman hosted a seder which I attended, along with a number of people from Bridges for Peace, where Margalit works.   There were also four Polish women, one of whom was my roommate at the Friedmans' apartment.

Rabbi David prepared a number of short midrashic remarks which were inserted occasionally in the seder.  Those of us who read and speak English helped with the seder readings.  Margalit led the songs (I was surprised at how many I knew, but I really got tongue-tied at the end of "Echad Ani Yodeah"!).  So what was different (about the seder, not the classic question about the night :)

1. We had a fifth cup, that symbolizes the return of Jews to the land of Israel.  Rabbi had some comments along these lines.
2. We sang "HaTikvah" at the close of the seder.
3. We chanted "השנה העוד בירושלים (another year in Jerusalem)"

I heard a compelling explanation for dipping twice in the seder, although it is a Sephardic understanding, not accepted by Ashkenazi:  they symbolize the dipping of Joseph's coat in blood (when he was sold to the caravan) to trick Jacob, and the dipping of the hyssop in blood to mark the doorways.

P.S. I brought purchased macaroons, a glass bottle of grape juice, a walnut-honey-soaked flourless cake, and matzah-vegetable patties up to Givat Ze'ev.  Understand that this involved an inter-city bus, an intra-city bus, a backpack, a paper shopping bag and my overnight case.  I'm amazed the bottle of grape juice made it.  All arrived safe and unspilled.  I think that was a Passover miracle.

Holiday greetings

I went running this morning in Beer Sheva River Park (פארק נהל באר שבע) as usual.  The lavender still scented my path, as did the geraniums.  There were goats, a few sheep and two horses grazing in the river bottom, and there's still water in the river.  I saw two groups of birds on the wall above me, who were fairly unimpressed with my presence.  I think they were Spur-winged lapwings (Vanellus spinosus) - common in Israel, and waders.  They were near the river, but I saw them on the wall.  You'll note in the Wikipedia link that there's even a photo from the Beer Sheva area.

Traffic was terrible today (again I was grateful that I'm not driving).  It's like the Wednesday before Thankgiving, since Passover begins tomorrow.  Everybody was out.  And in preparing my contributions to the seder meal at R. Friedman's, I did miss my kitchen and its accoutrements.  But I did prevail (with lots of elbow grease).  It's hard whisking egg whites to medium peaks in a plastic storage container.  But I really wanted to make the walnut/coffee flourless cake.  So I whipped.  And whipped.  It's out of the toaster oven now, and smells wonderful.  Next is the coffee/honey syrup that soaks into it.  Mmm.

I hope you had a nice Palm Sunday or Passover, whatever your tradition is.

Beer Sheva market

I finally got down to the Friday morning open market in the old city of Beer Sheva.  It's much bigger than I expected, and mostly had mass-produced jewelry, housewares and chachkas (knick-nacks).

I was able to procure fresh flowers (there were lots of silk flowers) and escape without any impulse purchases.  I think I'll walk over in my neighborhood to get my last falafel sandwich before Passover.  Just need to mop the floors, and I'll call it good. שבת שלום.

Cleaning, cleaning

Today was the day to clean my tiny kitchen so that I could start prepping food for Passover.  If you're wondering why, please consult Exodus 12:43-49, which states clearly "This is the law of the Passover-meal: ...Now when a sojourner sojourns with you, and would make the Passover-meal to HaShem, every male with him must be circumcised, then he may come-near to make it, and will be regarded as a native of the land... One Instruction shall there be for the native and for the sojourner that sojourns in your midst".  I am nothing if not a sojourner here in the land of Israel.  So I've been cleaning, buying replacement food, checking labels, and having sore feet (from standing to clean).  I will be going to a suburb of Jerusalem for the seder meal on Monday.

Look carefully.  You can tell I purchased this here in Israel (where everything's metric).

In the wilderness (במדבר)

I had a research meeting today down at the Sde Boqer (שדה בוקר) campus of Ben Gurion University.  It's about 30 miles due south of Beer Sheva.  Once the bus was really outside of Beer Sheva, there are rolling hills and patches of scrubby bushes, and that's all.  I was glad to be on a bus, and not stranded on the road.  The bus stopped at two kibutzim, which are tidy, green spaces in the midst of nothing.  And then dropped me at Sde Boqer Midreshet.  Ok.  I was expecting a university gate, or at least a university sign.  Two grad students in the shade helped me get my bearings, and I did find my meeting place.  I met with Pedro Berliner and Naftali Lazarovitch, who are agriculture professors in the dryland institute.  Naftali showed me his current experiment in the greenhouse.  It's a carousel arrangement, where he's really got a tight control on his water balance.  Very clever.  I also met with Ofer Dahan, who has collected some amazing data on water movements in the vadose zone.  His data have really challenged conventional thinking about the vadose zone, and has had difficulty publishing, because the reviewers couldn't believe it.  Oh, and Naftali just published an article on how intensive organic farming causes more pollution than traditional farming, because of the overuse of manure.  I told him not to come to the States with that information!

I never did see any security.  The main campus in Beer Sheva has tight security, but like where I live in Creighton, distance has its own security.  In fact, while I was sure to bring my university ID card, there was no one to check it.  Since it's the week before Pesach, it was very quiet.  And this is the same bus stop for Ben Gurion's gravesite.  I just caught a glimpse of the canyon.  Wow.  It will require a return trip with a proper camera.  And I need another research visit anyway.  Of course, it's a very new campus.  Very pretty.  The university buildings are all architect buildings.  I was able to score a ride back to Beer Sheva with a woman professor I've met a few times (she's a physicist with the solar energy group).  I liked this walkway.

I promise to go back with the good camera, and do the tourist thing.  Today was work.

A not-surprise birthday party

I was invited to Margalit Friedman's 60th surprise birthday party.  I checked with her son, Beni, if I could arrive early because, as a rider of public transportation, I don't have total control over my arrival times.  He said, sure.  I found a flower vendor near the Jerusalem bus station, so with flowers (and my briefcase) in hand, I proceeded to Givat Ze'ev and the Friedman's apartment.  Walked down the 51 steps, knocked on the door.  A middle-aged woman answered the door.  My first thought was a friend or sister setting up the party, and I was prepared to identify myself.  But she said - you look so familiar...  I knew I had a problem then, because who would know me?  Thinking fast - coming up with nothing.  Then she says - "I know you, you're Deb.  I didn't know you were coming."  Crap.  Now, I know it's Margalit.  What do I do now?  I could have bluffed something except for the flowers, so I shoved them at her and came in.  Just tried to act natural.  Yeah, right.  Beni was in the kitchen (he's a trained chef), and he confesses that it's not a surprise party anymore.  But it wasn't my fault.  So then I told her "Happy Birthday."

It was quite the gathering.  David and Martha Stern (Complete Jewish Bible), various retired rabbis who have made aliyah, and the director of Bridges for Peace (Rebecca Brimmer).  And a bunch of other lovely human beings.  Beni made great appetizers, which all disappeared.  And one of the attendees played a couple songs on the piano.  She's really good.

Kay Wilson (jazz pianist & terrorism survivor)

I caught a different bus back to Jerusalem because it was chilly, and I was pretty sure it went back to the central bus station.  Within Jerusalem, it went through the Mea Sharim (100 gates) neighborhood, and I saw lots of orthodox men on the sidewalks and no women.  The timing was good for me, because the next bus to Beer Sheva was in 2 minutes.

It's not a hummingbird

As I walked home from walking the dog on Saturday morning, I saw a small bird hovering and sipping out of a bank of hibiscus flowers.  It was a little bigger than a hummingbird, iridescent black, and just beautiful.  But hummingbirds are a Western Hemisphere bird, so it must have been a sunbird.

Visited Sarah and Nachum

I traveled to Tel Aviv to visit Sarah and Nachum Ben-Chorim who were part of the original Israel Spirit Committee in Kansas City.  Nachum designed our logo and Sarah designed our booth facade.  They were kind enough to pick me up a Savidor station, and then Nachum drove us around to show me the Tel Aviv harbor.  For someone over 85, he is a great driver.

We were in Jafo, with Tel Aviv in the background

We went to their lovely apartment, and Nachum regaled me with fascinating stories from the war of independence (he was in the navy) and other wonderful stories.

Garden entrance to their apartment.  These are Sarah's plants.

We went out for supper at קקאו in Ramat Gan.  Sarah ordered the breakfast for two, and Nachum had "fish and chips."  The breakfast was a nice assortment of this and that, including scrambled eggs, guacamole, sour cream, bread, etc.

Then they dropped me off at the train and I returned to Beer Sheva.

Visa renewed

Today I picked up my renewed visa from the university visa coordinator.

And I found the BGU camel logo - it's for student activities.

Graduate student panel 3/31/14

I was invited to a panel for women engineering graduate students that featured women engineering faculty at different stages of their careers.  Thankfully, the event was in English (for me and two graduate students), so I actually understood everything that was said (a nice change!).

Nava is a full professor in industrial engineering

Ronit is an assistant professor in chemical engineering

We took a break with lovely refreshments, then a woman faculty and her non-faculty husband shared some frank remarks.

Tal is a recently-tenured associate professor in industrial engineering

I was also introduced and got a plug for my up-coming leadership workshop.  They talked about children, the pressure of academia, two-career families - the whole back story.

Dan to Beersheba bike trip

The UMJC bike trip started at Tel Dan in the north, and ended this morning at Tel Beer Sheva, here in the south.  I had promised to meet them at the park, so I got going earlier than usual and walked the dog around 0730.  My friend lives by a neighborhood center, where there are usually lots of cabs available, so I went there instead of calling.  Many of the cabs on the street were busy taking people to work or somewhere, but finally a cab pulled up.  I said that I needed to go to the Tel Beer Sheva Park (אני צריכה לנסוע לפארק תל באר שבע), and he waved me off.  The next cab did the same thing.  And then there weren't any for a few minutes.  I was getting ready to call one of the cab companies, when a few cabs pulled up.  I thought I'd try again, and this cabbie was happy for the fare.  We confirmed that I wanted to go to the park (there is an Arab town named Tel Sheva), exchanged greetings (בוקר טוב, בוקר אור), and entered the traffic.  I had only a vague idea of where it was.  The cab ride was only NIS45.  A bargain.  I arrived at 0815.  It turns out that I could have taken an intercity bus to Tel Sheva - there's a stop right at the park entrance.  Good to know.

The team was supposed arrive at 1100, but I didn't want to miss them, so I was there early.  And properly equipped:  hat, sunscreen, layered clothing, camera, water, snacks (apricots and halvah), and my Kindle book on my phone.  Found a good part of a stone wall to sit on and read my book.  Time passed, and I've got to say that it was a busier national park than I would have thought.  Eight tour buses arrived between 0815 and 1030.  Wow.

I put my book down at 1030 and started actively watching for the bike group.  I hoped to grab some action photos of their last km on their trip.  Sure enough, I caught sight of them at 1120 (my camera is not on DST).  Here are a couple from the sequence:

Am I ready for Sports Illustrated??  I'm really pleased that the long-distance shot turned out.

I served as a videographer for their medal presentation, and caught a ride back to Beer Sheva with one of the drivers.  Then I was pooped.