Last trip to the shuk (שוק העירוני בבאר שבע)

Let me begin with a confession.  I really wanted to take some photos of the shuk, but I didn't want to look like a dweeb.  The big shuks in Jerusalem (Mahane Yehuda) and Tel Aviv (Carmel Market) are always full of tourists with cameras, so it's been easy to blend in there with a camera.  But this is my home shuk, and we don't have tourists with cameras there.  Just civilians of every color and creed.  But this was my last chance, and if I looked stupid, well, they might not see me again.

Now one of the things I like so much about the shuk, besides the fresh produce, is that it's intensely personal.  So, I photographed my regular vendors today.  I haven't been loyal to the same egg seller and only have purchased olives and spices once or twice, but these five vendors are my regular go-to people on just about a weekly basis.

First, my poor Russian dairyman.  I think he just shudders when I walk up, because my Hebrew is so rough.  But I'm always polite and patient and don't argue.  Today, I thought I finally learned the name of the cheese I like, which I have defaulted to call the 'tall cheese' (גבינה גבוהה) because it is the tallest cheese (I can point it out in the photo!) he has, but a friend said it's probably called Safed cheese (גבינה צפתית).  So I confidently asked for that and he pointed to something that wasn't what I wanted.  We worked out our last transaction in the usual way - pointing.

Then I went to my nuts and gummi bear (for Anna F.) vendor (פיצוחי באסם) and bought some snacks for the plane.  When I took the photo, he (in the black shirt) waved me back, poured me a glass of Coke, and wanted to talk.  So we talked as well as I could participate.  One guy in the shop asked if I was from the newspaper (a word I know!!), to which I replied, they're just for me.  It was great.

Then I went to my green grocer lady who has always been so friendly to me (lettuce, broccoli, scallions, mint, microgreens, cabbage, etc.).  I didn't need things from her today, but explained that I was leaving and wanted to say goodbye.  I learned that her name is Olga.  And she asked me when I would return, and I said I didn't know when.

I have been loyal to this fruit vendor the whole time (מרכז הפירות), but I didn't need any fruit today.

And then there's the tomato/cucumber/onions/etc. guy, from whom I did procur tomatoes and cucumbers today.

I'm so glad I was brave and brought my camera.  It even spurred some conversations, not rancor.  I hope you like the photos, too.

Last shabbat in Israel

I was invited for shabbat in Jerusalem at my friend Anna's house.  This is a haredi family with five children. I have no photographs because turning my camera on would have violated the rules for shabbat. I got to practice some aspects of shabbat that I only knew in theory, and learned some rules for the first time.  I, of course, slept over on Friday night because there are no buses or trains that operate on shabbat.  Anna prepared a Saturday lunch as a bit of a send-off for me, and invited some of my other friends (Gershon and Rina).  Her husband, Avi, gave some insights on the weekly Torah reading after lunch.  We had a peaceful visit, my friends left, and then Anna and I walked over to see her friend Susan, who is also leaving for the States.  On the return walk (with frequent stops to favor my poor foot), we found Avi and the kids in the park.  Anna babied me and gave me supper on the sofa with a tray so that I could rest my foot, the kids returned, shabbat ended, Avi conducted havdalah, and Anna took me to the bus station in Avi's hybrid car.  I caught the 22:30 bus to Beer Sheva, and was so happy to be able to depart the bus near my apartment, because the local buses had ceased running in Beer Sheva, and it's so much simpler to just walk a block home (especially with a sore ankle).  I chatted briefly with the woman sitting next to me on the bus, who is married to a civil engineer!

Shutting down the apartment

Well, it's time to fit all that I'm taking home back into the two suitcases and carry-on.  Here is the disposition of some things:

• silverware and knives to BGU Structural Engineering kitchen on 25 June 2014
• some clothes to BGU thrift store on 17 June 2013
• most kitchen hardware/dishes to BGU thrift store (including Turkish coffee cups)
• decent office supplies to BGU thrift store
• books and files shipped home on 24 June 2014
• LPI leadership materials to Prof. Iris Cohen-Kaner at BGU Business School on 26 June 2014
• inflatable guest bed and pump to a friend in Jerusalem on 27 June 2014
• all UMKC/Wizard of Oz gifts have been given away
• four books to a used book shop in Beer Sheva

As of 25 June, I'm on disposable plates/cups and my one good knife.  I still have a cutting board because it will just go in the trash (I bought a pack of those thin, colored polyethylene cutting boards).  The meat side of my kitchen is shut down (no more guests expected).

A test check on one suitcase revealed that I've got lots of headroom in its weight.  I'm going to buy more halvah! Halvah Kingdom in Mahane Yehuda is AMAZING!

Holiday in Acco

The trip to Acco began on the train.  BTW, Beer Sheva Center is the southernmost stop on the main line, and Acco is next to last on the north (Nahariya is the northernmost stop).  Anna F's host made a last minute transportation change, but she found me on the train, and all was well.

We walked to our hotel (Acco Beach Hotel - right on the Mediterranean) from the train station, but along the way, I missed a step, fell, and sprained my ankle.  Rats.  I limped, only complaining a little comparing to how I felt.  We took a cab to the old city, on account of my new, impaired condition, to explore a little.  We had an inadequate map, and were able to procure a proper, aerial-photo-derived map, but they were out of the English version, and we opted for Hebrew.  Good practice, right?  Anna was a good navigator, but Acco is an old city, like Yafo or the old city of Jerusalem.  Nothing's orthogonal or straight.  But it was daylight and we were together.  It's good to have a buddy.

Really?  Drive here?

We found where my concert would be the next night, had dinner at a restaurant my secretary suggested (Abu Kristo), and then found our way to a cab that took us to the hotel.

On Friday, we purposed ourselves to explore some of the museum sites.  My ankle felt marginally better, so we walked over.

Crusaders' tunnel - if Anna had to hunch over, imagine what it was for me!

Turkish bath house

We bought some snacks for Shabbat, and got a cab back to the hotel.  I took a dip in the sea before supper.

View of old city of Acco from the hotel beach

Our hotel.

Anna headed back to Jerusalem Sunday evening, and took possession of the blue backpack that I purchased here, and didn't want to take back to the States.

Rosh HaNikra

Anna really wanted to go to Rosh HaNikra, so I assented.  I'm glad I did.  We took the train one stop to Nahariya (we couldn't buy round-trip tickets from Acco!), and took a cab from the train station.  The dispatcher cited us NIS50 (which seemed like a bargain to me), and the assigned driver high-fived the other guys, so I guess it's a choice fare.  This park is the farthest north you can go on Israel's coastline.  We were able to buy the tickets in Acco, when we bought other museum tickets.  It has a short, but adrenaline-invoking, cable car ride from the parking area to the caverns.

View from the bottom

View from the cable car

 These photos show just how close we were to Lebanon.

These buoys mark the marine border.

We were closer to Beirut than Jerusalem!!

This was a really cool trip, that I didn't think was accessible without a car.  I'm so glad Anna wanted to go.  I kept saying "This...is fluid mechanics."  You can take the Ph.D. out of the country, but you can't really take her anywhere.

Anna was on the ball, and noticed a taxi dropping someone off at Rosh HaNikra, and secured our return trip to Nahariya.

Mozart Requiem in Acco

I got a ticket to the Mozart Requiem, that was sponsored by the Israel Opera.  It was held in the Knights Hall.  This photo was very helpful for my taxi driver to understand my destination.  We were able to wander around part of the citadel site, although, not being familiar with it, I had some concerns of getting lost and missing the concert, so I was careful.

The black is the night sky.  The chorus was set up on the bluish risers, and the orchestra pit is in the foreground.

Ok, so the concert is an outdoor venue in a mixed-culture city.  Of course, Mozart's Requiem is in seven parts, so the chorus and orchestra pause briefly, as they do in symphonic pieces between movements.  They had just finished "Recordare"  with the translated words, "Grant me a place among Thy sheep, and separate me from the goats, setting me upon Thy right hand."  End of section.  Pause.  Evening Moslem call to prayer began.  Luckily for the performance, it's a shorter call to prayer than at noon.  I'm sure they were prepared for this.  The performance resumed with the "Confutatis" which begins: "When the accursed are confounded, and consigned to the fierce flames, call me among the blessed."  I found that a little ironic.

Anyway, the concert was lovely, and the setting was marvelous.  My seat was good, and my foot didn't bother me too much.  Catching a cab was a little challenging, but I did it.

Senior design poster presentation

(Structural engineering department - EE was close by)

All the seniors (n=98 this year) do an oral presentation in February and poster presentation in June.  The posters were set up in the shade under a building on campus.

I talked with 4 of 6 students whose projects I visited with Prof. Igal Shochat.  They, of course, remembered me coming to their construction sites earlier in the semester.

אור שמש

איתי יעקבי

דניאל בן-אשר ופרופ יגאל שוחט

ניר לופז

They have their last semester exams in the next two weeks, and then they are done.  But they don't receive their diplomae until next June.

Festival of Light in Jerusalem

Anna F. invited me to see the Festival of Light at the Old City.  Of course, it's an evening event, so returning home to Beer Sheva needed to be carefully organized.  The whole Jaffa Gate area (immediately outside the gate) has been beautifully redone.  They made a plaza and a new tony shopping area with a walkway from the light rail.  It's all in Jerusalem stone, and looks like it's been there for years (but not from antiquity).  Here's a "before" photo:

and after

She took some of her hostel friends to the Kotel, and as we walked back to get supper, some of the displays were turned on.

After supper, Anna and I decided to walk the red route (because it was shorter, and I needed to catch the last bus at 2300), but we had to walk through part of the white route to get to the start of the red route at Zion Gate (all the routes were one-way -- there were lots of people, and that was a good idea).

 Along the white route, we saw the projected cuckoo clock

Look for the clock gears on the left side of the building

and the pinwheels

We finally (!) turned onto the red route, which included this interactive display

and then this one

a few more, and then we were out.

and then a final view back as Anna walked me to the light rail:

I'm glad I went.  As you can see on the festival website, there was lots more to see, but not when you sleep in Beer Sheva!