Horowitz Travel-Israel-Jerusalem-Scut work-
January 17, 2017
Weather warmed up to the high 50's today. Tomorrow we may hit 60's. A veritable heat wave.
Today was to be laundry/cleaning day. We put it off by walking to lunch then doing light grocery shopping in one of many neighborhood stores. We walked through our neighborhood on a street parallel to Emek Refaim, the main drag. Probably all the buildings we saw were apartments. Private houses are for the wealthy. Lots are small, but most have citrus trees bearing fruit. I even saw a kumquat tree. Haven't seen one of those since I was a kid in Orlando walking home from school. There's not much in the way of flowers this time of year, and most of the greenery looks untamed.
We ordered our falafel & I asked about a platter of crisp round things on the counter. The guy looked at me as if I was nuts. He said, "Latkes." I said, "But it's not Chanukah." He probably groaned inwardly, but sold us one for dinner.
David spent a good part of the afternoon trying to find an ATM that would take his Ameriprise VISA card. We were warned that this could be an issue, but were advised to keep trying different machines. This is the second day of being told, "no service to this card." He dropped me off with the groceries then went out in search. He meandered a good 5 minutes away until he found a bank with two ATMs next to each other. The first didn't work; the second did. When he came home, another chunk of time was spent trying to locate the switch to turn on the lights he needed for reading.
I did general housekeeping & was not happy with what I found. It didn't seem as if anyone thoroughly cleaned before we came. I plowed through dust & schmutz that shouldn't have accumulated in the one week we've been here (including long brown hairs). I emailed the rental agent. She replied with GREAT news. They hired a new cleaning service. No benefit to us.
The latke was enjoyed by David at dinner. It heated up well & was crispy. He also liked his hot dogs. I know. Boring. I finished up last night's dinner. I forgot to tell you that I'd ordered a focaccia with egg, eggplant, lettuce, tomatoes, humus, onions. I pictured a sandwich. What came was what looked like a 16" size pizza. Odd.
We've been hearing lots of sirens tonight, which is unusual. Police cars & motorcycles are always everywhere & easy to spot. They ride with their blue lights flashing all the time.
I omitted a fact from our trip to Yad Vshem yesterday. After the liberation of the concentration camps by the allies, Jews who tried to return to their towns in Poland and Russia were persecuted as they had been before the war. The majority ended up in displaced persons camps until they could be relocated. This was difficult since most countries didn't want them including the United States.
Friends of ours posted this on Facebook. It is poignant, prescient & frightening as hell. Keep it in mind as you make your way through the ordeal of January 20, 2017.
H. L. MENCKEN, WRITER, JULY 26, 1920:
"AS DEMOCRACY IS PERFECTED, THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT REPRESENTS MORE & MORE CLOSELY,
THE INNER SOUL OF THE PEOPLE. ON SOME GREAT & GLORIOUS DAY,
THE PLAIN FOLKS OF THE LAND WILL REACH THEIR HEART'S DESIRE AT LAST,
AND THE WHITE HOUSE WILL BE OCCUPIED BY A DOWNRIGHT FOOL & A COMPLETE NARCISSISTIC MORON."
To those of you going to Washington, DC or to other demonstrations, be alert. Stay safe. Be strong.
Tomorrow we're meeting Chaim Shalom, of Hebrew Union College, Israel, for a tour of the campus. That's the Jerusalem campus of the seminary in Cincinnati from where David was ordained.
Toby
Weather warmed up to the high 50's today. Tomorrow we may hit 60's. A veritable heat wave.
Today was to be laundry/cleaning day. We put it off by walking to lunch then doing light grocery shopping in one of many neighborhood stores. We walked through our neighborhood on a street parallel to Emek Refaim, the main drag. Probably all the buildings we saw were apartments. Private houses are for the wealthy. Lots are small, but most have citrus trees bearing fruit. I even saw a kumquat tree. Haven't seen one of those since I was a kid in Orlando walking home from school. There's not much in the way of flowers this time of year, and most of the greenery looks untamed.
We ordered our falafel & I asked about a platter of crisp round things on the counter. The guy looked at me as if I was nuts. He said, "Latkes." I said, "But it's not Chanukah." He probably groaned inwardly, but sold us one for dinner.
David spent a good part of the afternoon trying to find an ATM that would take his Ameriprise VISA card. We were warned that this could be an issue, but were advised to keep trying different machines. This is the second day of being told, "no service to this card." He dropped me off with the groceries then went out in search. He meandered a good 5 minutes away until he found a bank with two ATMs next to each other. The first didn't work; the second did. When he came home, another chunk of time was spent trying to locate the switch to turn on the lights he needed for reading.
I did general housekeeping & was not happy with what I found. It didn't seem as if anyone thoroughly cleaned before we came. I plowed through dust & schmutz that shouldn't have accumulated in the one week we've been here (including long brown hairs). I emailed the rental agent. She replied with GREAT news. They hired a new cleaning service. No benefit to us.
The latke was enjoyed by David at dinner. It heated up well & was crispy. He also liked his hot dogs. I know. Boring. I finished up last night's dinner. I forgot to tell you that I'd ordered a focaccia with egg, eggplant, lettuce, tomatoes, humus, onions. I pictured a sandwich. What came was what looked like a 16" size pizza. Odd.
We've been hearing lots of sirens tonight, which is unusual. Police cars & motorcycles are always everywhere & easy to spot. They ride with their blue lights flashing all the time.
I omitted a fact from our trip to Yad Vshem yesterday. After the liberation of the concentration camps by the allies, Jews who tried to return to their towns in Poland and Russia were persecuted as they had been before the war. The majority ended up in displaced persons camps until they could be relocated. This was difficult since most countries didn't want them including the United States.
Friends of ours posted this on Facebook. It is poignant, prescient & frightening as hell. Keep it in mind as you make your way through the ordeal of January 20, 2017.
H. L. MENCKEN, WRITER, JULY 26, 1920:
"AS DEMOCRACY IS PERFECTED, THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT REPRESENTS MORE & MORE CLOSELY,
THE INNER SOUL OF THE PEOPLE. ON SOME GREAT & GLORIOUS DAY,
THE PLAIN FOLKS OF THE LAND WILL REACH THEIR HEART'S DESIRE AT LAST,
AND THE WHITE HOUSE WILL BE OCCUPIED BY A DOWNRIGHT FOOL & A COMPLETE NARCISSISTIC MORON."
To those of you going to Washington, DC or to other demonstrations, be alert. Stay safe. Be strong.
Tomorrow we're meeting Chaim Shalom, of Hebrew Union College, Israel, for a tour of the campus. That's the Jerusalem campus of the seminary in Cincinnati from where David was ordained.
Toby
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| Orange tree in yard |
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