I'm back
on 30/5/09
No, I haven't given up on this blog. I will probably be updating it less often than I used to, as my everyday life in a new country now brings less and less of the unexpected. But I will also try to learn how to write shorter posts (brevity has never forte), which will allow me to update every few days.
What's been going on? Long weekend this weekend due to the Shavuot holiday. Shavuot is the celebration of the grain harvest, in contrast to better well-known (at least in Temple Shaaray Tefila circles) to Sukkot, which celebrates the fruit harvest. In spite of Shavuot celebrating the grain, the holiday food (did you expect me to focus on anything else?) is oriented around white cheeses, such as this cheesecake topped with white chocolate. Those pictures and more are from our work's outing to celebrate the holiday. We had a picnic by a river with live music, which was really nice and a lot of fun. The set includes a few recent pictures of me.
Wednesday night, also known as White Night (you'll see that many of us at teh Shavuot picnic were wearing white to recognize of the tradition) when the holiday started, there were parties all over Tel Aviv. Irena and I were out on Rothschild Boulevard, one of the more happening streets in Tel Aviv even on more normal nights, until 2am. The parties on the beach, hosted by the city, go until 4am, which goes to show how late people go out here. The celebrations across the city were augmented by the fact that this is Tel Aviv's 100-year anniversary, as you saw with the large "100" in lights in the photo of Rothschild. Much of the White Night parties were inspired by the anniversary - along Rothschild Boulevard there were many playful, recreated scenes of life in Tel Aviv through the years.
We were invited to a Shavuoth party at a kibbutz on Thursday night, which I would have loved to go to, but I had other plans that night (Do you see how well I'm advancing here in Israel? I already have "other plans"). Tamar, a friend of mine from Joost, was in Tel Aviv for the night and during the day Friday, where she is visiting with her family. I don't have the pictures uploaded yet but I'll be sure to post them. We had a great time going out on Rothschild Thursday night, followed by a Friday stroll along the beach's promenade in Tel Aviv. After dipping our feet in the water on a beach near my apartment, Tamar wondered aloud, "Why don't we all live here?", to which her brother, nodding toward Irena and I, responded, "They do". Of course Tamar was being tongue-in-cheek, but life is good here and if you're under 27 and haven't gone on Birthright yet, there's a free ticket waiting for you.
Last night Irena and I made Shabbat dinner for the Novosolok's in my apartment. They had been such gracious and generous hosts to me during the month that I lived there that I was very eager to return the favor, if only for a night. Irena and I made Bloody Mary's (new to the Novosolok's), my famed salad (diced tomato, cucumber, onion and Israeli pickle with dill, parsley, hummus, tart mustard, olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon), along with garlic bread and pasta with two sauces: Irena's shrimp scampi and my red sauce with meatballs. Irena's came out much better, and Dan Tino would be having fits if he saw how I butchered the recipe he gave to me. The meatballs were lukewarm by the time I served them, as this was the first time I've cooked a full meal for five. You'll notice that there aren't any pictures, which goes to show that I was too busy and exhausted to take my camera out. Cooking for five is tiring and requires a lot of coordination! In preparing the pasta sauces, we left the garlic bread in the oven for too long and forgot to serve the endive and Roquefort. Perhaps some further practice would help, but it did grow my appreciation for everyone (you know who you are) whose family dinners I have enjoyed for years and years.