Blog/November 2007/November 2nd

November 2nd (See this week's devar torah)
Send Ron feedback on this blog

Shalom everyone:

This past Sunday I started work. It's amazing how much I had become used to staying relatively idle at home! The work week is a typical Israeli Sunday-Thursday. The company is really small, which I like a lot (though part of my job is to help make it a bigger company). One of the "perks" is a car, so I can get to work and back without having to try to match the bus schedule... which is, I think, exactly the reason they give such a benefit. Now, if traffic is cooperative, I can get to work in 20 minutes, though in the morning the traffic is not usually cooperative and it has taken as long as 45 minutes for me to get there.

Fun fact: you can "get tanked" while driving here. That's right, it's not so unusual to tell your boss "I would have been earlier, but there was a tank in front of me...", and he'll accept it as a real excuse. Happened to me twice so far (usually on the way back from work, though).

One very cool thing is that there is a real shul at work. So every day people take 15 minutes out of their work schedule, and come pray the minchah (afternoon) prayer.

Fun fact: you can do anything in Israel. Literally. Don't have enough room to parallel park? Just pull in perpendicular! Don't like the sidewalk? Walk in the street! Do you feel that the supermarket charges too much for those apples? Bargain with them! Do you have an opinion? Share it vociferously with anyone who passes by. I've taken "we're in Israel, I can do whatever I like" as my personal motto now...

And as an example of that, the other day my wife and daughter were in the park close to our house. There were other people about, among them a couple women with kids. Suddenly one of them walks over to the bushes and executes a squatting maneuver which those of you who like the Great Outdoors will understand. But this was in the middle of a public park, in the city. Hey, it's Israel - you can do anything!

There's a phrase in the Bible to the effect that one should rise before the elderly. It's even posted as a sign in most buses. You know you're old, when people on the bus get up to give you a seat... happened to both Esther and I at different times - and neither of us qualifies as 'elderly', I think.

Sarah had a field-trip with her class this week, to somewhere south of Ashkelon. There they apparently helped farmers pot plants (not "pot plants", but "place plants in pots" - just to clarify). Since the winter is reluctant to arrive, she had to have the usual hat and bottle of water with her. She did not report that she enjoyed it, but she also didn't complain about it... so I guess it was ok. She did, however, get a shipment of books which she's been waiting for, so now she's quite happy.

During the week we met up with Daniela. Since she didn't have much time, we met her close to her school, in a place called "Emek Refaim" (Valley of the Spirits, or just the "emek"). I hate the emek, really I do. There is no parking, the restaurants are extremely expensive. It is polluted with Americans and tourists... it just grates on me all over. However, it's good to see my daughter, so I was willing to shlep out there for a couple hours. She's doing well, I think; this shabbat she'll be in Alon Shevut, which is south of Jerusalem, about halfway to Chevron. A very nice place, we were thinking of moving there once upon a time.

That's all for this week. Shabbat shalom!

---

Top: Blog

Prev: Oct 26th

Next: Nov 9th

---