backtotheroots

My bags are ready. The taxi will pick me up at 1am. Horrible time to fly 3.30 in the morning.. night I should say! I will not be able to sleep before the flight and I doubt whether I will be able to sleep in the plane. This means: I'll be dead tomorrow! But that's ok. I'll sleep for some hours in the morning before meeting with my friend Ingrid in Amsterdam. We might even go for a few hours to the sauna. That should bring me back to life! I must be rested on Saturday. Because then it is Charlotte's birthday. I will do some shopping and help her prepare the party. I must feel good (and look) good! Charlotte will be 20. Amazing how time goes by... I am very happy I will be there to celebrate with her and all her friends. Next week will also be my last week at Hunkemoller. Feels strange....

Today we had the honour to be invited at a general rehearsal of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra! Arele, Michele's cousin, plays the viola in the Philharmonic and thought Stephane and I might enjoy attending the rehearsal this morning. He was right! At the program today: music and contemporary dance. Conductor: Yoel Levi. 

Program:
Glinka: Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture,

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto no. 2 performed by Anna Vinnitskaya

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, music performed by the orchestra and danced by the Klipa Dance Theatre. 

Stephane and I both enjoyed the concert very much. Stephane who is not used to going to dance performances had a bit of a hard time with the dancing. I simply loved it!  It made me think at all the great dance performances I saw with my daughter Charlotte. I cannot wait for her to come to Tel Aviv so that we can go together to some dance performances here, at the Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance for example. As for the music, I hope Arele will invite us again...... 

 

This is how I felt today: summertime! The beach was packed. And there are not many tourists at the moment, mostly local israeli's enjoying a beautiful shabbat at the beach. So did I. Read the newspaper, my book and got a nice suntan! Exactly what I had hoped for. 

She is 84, lives on her own in a first floor appartment in the center of Tel Aviv, cleans her house herzelf, goes to souk hacarmel for food shopping, meets three times a week with her girlfriends in town for coffee, loves to talk politics and cooks the most delicious pastries, my aunt Rosi. Sometimes very stubborn. A bit old fashion. A heart of gold. Lately she has not felt so good. Bit of pain here, bit of pain there... actually not really her style. She hardly ever complaints! She avoids doctors and creates her own medecine and therapies. I wish sometimes she would go and do some check-up. However, why force her into doing something she does not want? Convinced that a simple check-up might actually make her sick, she cancels her appointments every time with another excuse. At the beginning I was a bit angry and worried. Now I laugh and joke about it. And so does she. Today she came for lunch. She had expected us to go out to some place but we surprised her with home made cooking. First she felt embarrassed. Always afraid to be in the way. But then after a while she relaxed and really enjoyed the food and our company. We ate, talked, laughed and at 4pm Stephane and I  took her to the bus station. She wanted to walk home - it's a 30 minutes walk - but we convinced her not to. Believe me... it was not easy!

 I love going to the souk HaCarmel, the main market in Tel Aviv where you find absolutely everything: vegetables, fruits, olives, cheese, bread, fish, meat... But also clothing, soap, flowers, carpets, DVD's, CD's.... I love the colours, the smells, the voices of people promoting their products as being best and cheapest.... We filled our bags and quickly biked back home thinking already at the lovely salad we would prepare as soon as we would arrive. So, if you're hungry do not look at the pictures. They're mouth watering... of course only if you like fruits and vegetables!

I know: this blog is not about politics. However, living in Israel it is impossible not to write something about the elections. Are they different from anywhere else? No. Whoever wins - Livni in this case - has still not really won until they succeed in forming a stable coalition. So now starts the time for deals, agreements, concessions. Just like in many western countries with democratic governments. The stakes here are high: no one wants war, every one wants safety. However, the road to these goals varies from party to party, from leader to leader. So let's all wait and hope....

I have worked today all day outside in a new much quieter cafe in the sun. Now I am getting ready for a second day at the gym. This time I will try the fitball class.... never done that before but sounds good. Stephane will go swimming.

Our newly found cafe around the corner where we can quietly work... WIFI and plugs outside... no complaints!

Exercising the right to vote is the basis of every democracy. In israel they do a lot to encourage people to vote. For example: when you show your voting card in public transportation your ride is free. As my cousin Netania explained it is a "shabaton". Offices and schools are closed the entire day. Shops, restaurants and cafes are open. At least most of them. Even though they have to pay their staff double salary on such a day. I have not decided yet what to do. I have not lived here long enough to understand the candidates programs. Except for their views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which they often expressed during the Gaza war, I know nothing about their ideas and plans on social and economic issues. So should I vote or note? And if I do for who? Yesterday while at the absorption center for questions I had about my recent request to obtain the status of returning minor I picked up a paper in French that explains the election system in Israel. Definitely helpful so that if and when I go I know what to expect. I have a few more hours to think about this and read all sites - in English or French - about the candidates.

I had lunch with my cousin Netania and her husband Roni. They drove in heavy traffic from Herzlia to Tel Aviv. Stephane wanted to finish some work and did not accompany us. We ate at restaurant Sdera - 5 minutes from our house. Food there is great and very cheap. The weather though was horrendous! I do not remember having experienced such climate in Israel before. I felt as if I were back in the Netherlands. Wind, rain, cold.... when I came home and saw the news, I understood that there it was the same and worse. Difference is: I expect this weather here not to last for more than a day, whereas in the Netherlands.... 

Stephane and I ended up not voting. I felt a bit guilty about it but at the same time I really did not feel I had yet a right to vote. What do I know about Israeli politics and about what is happening here? Next time, I will. That's for sure.

This is how my day started: feet up, good book, sunshine and blue sky! What a contrast with the week I just spent in the Netherlands where I only encountered dark skies, cold weather... It snowed for 2 days on a row and I even got sick. Probably caught some virus. Everyone told me that the flu had already made many victims! I must have been one of them. And it was a busy week at work since my successor started and with her my handover. I must admit that leaving the office on Thursday afternoon gave me a strange, ambivalent feeling. I felt sad and happy at the same time. A bit as I feel while reading the last lines of an excellent book. Happy to have read it and at the same time sad and hungry for more. I felt sad at the thought of not being able to see Ger and Lot every other week anymore. And all my friends in the Netherlands. Even some of my colleagues. Happy and relieved because finally able and allowed to let go of the enormous pressure I have felt during  the last year as Internet Manager at Hunkemoller. Excited at the idea of starting my life in Tel Aviv. Thrilled at the thought of sunshine, warmth and most importantly of sharing all this with Stephane. Every day. Not every other week. And we did not wait a second too long. This morning, I first headed towards the beach, sat there on my own for an hour or so, reading Murakami, feet up... Stephane joined me for breakfast. Cigal, a friend of Stephane from his days at Kibbutz Amiad, happened to be there with a friend. We ended up sitting together for a few hours, talking, observing the crowd around us on the beach, ear dropping on a French couple having a serious fight.... At 3pm it became a bit chilly and we headed back home. No plans for tonight but we might just bike to Florentine for some life music, some food and some wine..... It is really good to be back home!