Fun weekend and pictures!

I had a nice weekend. Thursday I went out with our neighborhood Texan. Anthony Youdin moved in recently to our neighborhood. We went out to a bar in Jerusalem and were surprised that a bunch of Israelis were around and not a room full of post High School yeshiva/seminary kids getting drunk… Suzanne was home studying of course.

Friday morning after my stomach cleared up (bad food + alcohol = bad), I took a bus to Afula then a shared taxi to Nazareth Illit. My Aunt and Uncle live there. Friday was nice and simple. My cousin was home from the Army, so we went to a local bar called “Jacob’s.” It was really cool and could have been in the middle of LA, NY or Tel Aviv. I went home from there and he went out with friends until 5 or 6 am… I am old (almost 29). Saturday I went with my Uncle and Aunt to the Ramat Ha Golan, Golan Heights. The Golan Heights is like a mix of Napa Valley, the Hill Country of Texas and parts of Colorado. Wineries, skiing on the Hermon, hiking, Druze villages orchards and much more are availabe in this area. The area was created by some volcanic activity millions of years ago, so it is a beautiful landscape with rich soil.

In one day we drove by or walked around so much. I saw a famous field where the Crusaders lost a major battle that changed the control of the area in 1187. Unfortunately most of the wineries are closed on Saturday to stay kosher (very frustrating), but I saw lots of them. After seeing a cool film at a visitors center I did enjoy some beer at a newly opened brewery, The Golan Brewery (read about beer originating in this area).

I don’t remember where on our drive, but I we saw terraces used for agriculture. They looked just like I saw in Peru, except Peru’s were a lot more amazing. A mountain side that looks insane to climb up was being used for farming in Peru… enough of that. This picture below shows that and part of a small lake that is actually a crater lake.

The next picture (on the left) is Mount Bental. Formerly an army outpost, but now it is a tourist attraction. You can see the trenches in this picture and the restaurant behind them. The sign posts above are from this location. Approximately 37 miles to Damascus and 450 miles to Baghdad give or take.

From here we went to Kibbutz El Rom and saw a film about one of the greatest tank battles since world war II. It took place in 1973, at the beginning of the Yom Kippur war. The short version is a story of a how a few men stood long enough for re-enforcements to arrive against a large Syrian force. I couldn't find a great link, but here is one to check out. The pictures below are of the "Valley of Tears" and a destroyed Syrian tank. Soldiers come here to learn battle history. The tank has a hole in the front from a shell…

I saw some more great and interesting things, but this is enough for today. Hopefully my Uncle, who I must thank will read this and can post some more detail…

The last two pictures… left is a picture of the Hermon where Israel has a ski resort and the right was just for fun – definitely not Brinker’s Macaroni Grill!

Two sinks? Two Microwaves? Two toilet levers? Is it Kosher?

No the two toilet buttons have nothing to do with being kosher, but the microwaves and sinks do... First, the toilet - Did you know that Israel was the only country to enter the 21^st century with a net gain in trees? Check out this innovative toilet… little is 1, big is 2… I’ll let you figure out the rest. I am not sure where this was started/invented, but Israel has had toilets like this, not all so fancy, for many years. Israelis look for ways to save and conserve sometimes. On the other hand, not a day goes by I don’t see someone here throw trash on the ground. From the not so bad like orange peel, to the cigarette butt, plastic wrapping and the cigarette package itself! While people here can be so amazing, they can sometimes have a cavalier disregard for the people/environment around them.

Now that is off my chest, check out these additional pictures at my office. One microwave and sink for meat and the second for milk products. Even if you don’t keep kosher at an insane level, most people here prefer them separate. Fruits, grains and vegis are neither dairy/meat. If you want to know more, try google or your local friendly Rabbi. Most offices have this type of setup.

While Jerusalem is the largest city with the most religious people, you can still find a cheeseburger or bacon. I personally don’t keep kosher and don’t like either of these, but people do wonder. Personally I think the chicken here is better, but the beef not so much. Lamb is popular here and usually tasty as well.

Anyway…Suzanne will be studying this weekend, so please call and bother her. I’ll be going to visit my Aunt/Uncle in Nazareth Illit tomorrow night. Tell me if this is crazy stuff to write?

Apologies to all our great fans…sponsors…friends…ok anyone who still bothers to look here. We have been very busy and sometimes lazy in updating this blog.

Here is a short recap since around Thanksgiving and then I’ll do my best to write some good stuff soon. Also, below are a few pictures.

Thanksgiving was at the Inbal with my old boss and friend Mark Kreditor. His family came to see his daughter here for a year. Great buffet with cranberry out of a can sliced up…just like Mom used to make! The bad news, they ran out of Turkey. I had to suffer eating some delicious Duck.

Suzanne is now heading into finals after her first semester. Group projects, take home tests, papers and the classic essay tests will be on her mind for 3-4 weeks. She has been talking to classmates over yahoo messenger service, “What did you get for the slope on # 4?” Then she goes to Eilat for two nights with the class, while I bring home the bacon, I mean kosher turkey bacon.

Work – I was at a place called IDT for most of December. International company that does many things, one being call centers around the world in places like Jerusalem. I had a simple job, but fancy title. The hours sucked. Training was overnight, and then I worked a shift where I almost never saw Suzanne. That’s all done. I am now at KPMG for almost a month. For those who don’t know, it is one of the big four accounting firms. For those interested in accounting, email me or wait for a future blog. I am working on small Audit clients right now. KPMG’s affiliate in Israel is Somekh Chaikin. Holidays – Thanksgiving is just a normal day here. The direct translation for the Hebrew way to call it is, “day of the Turkey.” Suzanne’s classmates went to Bethlehem on Christmas, she had a day off. We did host a nice classmate of hers on Christmas eve. He missed his family. It was far from traditional, but better than doing nothing. I went to a Hanukkah party at IDT, then gave my notice I was quitting. I also went to a street fair on a hip street in Jerusalem for Hanukkah. There were multiple bands, food, weirdoes, beer/wine and more. It was like a mini festival in Addison. Happy Sylvester! New Years is called Sylvester here because they don’t want Jews to think it is their New Year. It turns out all days have some sort of Saint related to it and Sylvester is the lucky one for December 31^st. Of course there are the party’s and bars, but otherwise it’s just another day here. I still had work the next day and Suzanne got lucky that school started late (which is not normal for NY’s). We just had dinner at an Italian place called Focaccia Bar with friends and came home. Old…boring people…

Well…I’ll save the rest for another day – much sooner though! I’ll talk about the petition in our neighborhood to keep out Haredi’s or nightly gunfire we hear (don’t worry its just some fireworks temporarily).

We miss our family and friends.

Suzanne is eatinig an Israeli borrito - lafa full of vegis, chips and sauces.

Lafa is a cross between a tortilla and pita. Chips are Israeli french fries and instead of salsa there is Humus and Tahini.

Rougalachs mmm... This is probably our favorite pastry here. We get too many pastries, at least we take a walk to get them!

Mark and I kicking it back after Thanksgiving.