A-Plus: 2 Days
Israel secretly mastered atomic power forty years ago, and continues to make enormous strides in technology, from manufacturing Intel's Pentium chip to launching spy satellites, but for some reason the country has not yet discovered the concept of the insect screen. The windows here are either open or closed.
It's so incredibly hot and sweaty in Jerualem that last night I left the window open. In came the mosquitoes. Then I closed the windows, and the mosquitoes were trapped in the room with me while I tried to sleep, and I started cooking in my own heat. I would turn on the lights, hunt for half an hour and kill one, then try to sleep, only to hear the annoying buzz again as they swarmed and harmonized over my head, swooping down from time to time to steal a sip of my blood.
The combination of Jetlag, heat, and mosquitoes kept me up all night. I finally managed to kill the last one at 3:30 AM, and tried hard to sleep, but by this time I was cooking in my own heat. And I wasn't about to re-open the window. Eventually I gave in and broke a promise to myself not to take a sleeping pill. But I forced myself to wake up at 9:30 AM instead of noon like yesterday. I HAVE to get on schedule as fast as possible here. So now I'm exhausted, but I got some telework, so at least I'm busy.
This morning I talked to Leah about the mosquitoes. She said that they weren't a problem until three months ago, but the Palestinian Authority is no longer treating its sewage, which is now a mosquito breeding ground, so they all fly in from Ramallah. I suppose this has something to do with the Arabs' decision to elect Hamas and their "kill-all-the-Jews" platform, which forced the rest of the civilized world to withhold financial support, thus bankrupting public agencies.
4 comments:
Evan,
I, for one, have no doubt at all that you actually had a minyan. You strike me as a man who is relatively competent in counting to ten. :) ha ha
As I'm currently reading Golda Meir's autobiography, I thought you'd like to know that you're in good company when it comes to the question of why people don't use screens in Israel! If you have her book _My Life_, you can read her comments (page 79 in my copy).
Oh my gosh, Evan! Have you seen Bagel Blogger's post from Thursday?? Here's what I found when doing a blogsearch:
Meet the Newest Israeli in Town!
17 Aug 2006 by Bagel Blogger
Technorati: * Aliyah * Evan Goldstein * Walnut Creek * Jewish immigrants * Nefesh b'Nefesh * Planet Israel * Olmert * Rabbi Yehoshua Fass * California * PlanetIsrael * Hot Jewish Guy * Good Jewish Boy * The Eagle has landed * Jewish ...
Bagel Blogger - http://bagelblogger.blogspot.com
_______________________________
Well, welcome to Israel indeed!
Baruch HaShem,Just found your blog and we are so excited about you returning to the land.We have much to tell you.When we sell our house we will will be coming to see you!Love knishes,
UncleZusa&Rachel Cutsler
Dave,
"Some" does not mean 4, it means "Some."
I recognized the Yemenites from their traditional dress and distinctive features.
The Morrocan I recognize from his chazzanut.
I recognized the Americans as American tourists because they spoke with an American accent and carried cameras (of course, so did I.)
Of course, I'm no anthropologist, and I could be mistaken about all of them, but the assumptions are reasonable.
At the Kotel, you'll realize that a minyan grows and grows as it goes along, so it can start with 10 and end with 50.
As far as my own ethnic background, well, I don't care how people perceive me.
Yaakova,
:) Yes, I saw bagel blogger's post. I guess I'm famous now!
Cutslers,
Glad you found the site! I hope to update it as regularl as possible. Keep in touch.
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