backtotheroots

Last week end was Jewish new year - Rosh Hashana. Friday evening we went to my cousins in Beer Sheva, Saturday evening to our friend Nira in Hod Hasharon and Sunday to my cousins in Herzlia. And all we did all weekend was... eat!  This week end it is Yom Kippur. This is the most important day in the Jewish tradition. Even Tel Aviv stops. At least this is what everyone told me. Tomorrow will be my first Yom Kippur in Israel. More about it in my next blog.... Meanwhile I want to share with you the great day I had yesterday. Perfect weather - 27 degrees, no wind, crisp blue sky. I went first to the beach for a few hours and around 2.30pm Stephane picked me up for a ride (bike ride of course) to Yaffo. We visited an amazing photo exhibition. It was not so much the photos that impressed me but rather the location of the exhibition: large sheds that were probably used by the fishermen either to store their boats or to sell their fish. Anyway, it looked amazing! We biked further and discovered a beautiful infrastructure: parks and green areas along the seashore going up to Batyam. Next time we might plan a bike ride till Batyam! From Yaffo we also have an amazing view of Tel Aviv. Look at the pictures and judge yourselves! 

Something I do not particularly enjoy. I have not done it very often in my life.. although... often is relative. Some people never move at all! I did not move within cities / countries like friends of mine who have moved about 15 times in 10 years!!! No,  I have moved around the globe. This time however, after just one year at Frug street in Tel Aviv, I have to move. The appartment has been sold - says the owner, here you never really know the truth... So I started looking for a new place. Something at least as nice as this appartment. Something in the center. Something renovated. With lots of light and if possible for the same price or less than what we're paying now. After visiting the first 2, 3 appartments I got really depressed! What I saw was dirty, in a very poor state and at ridiculous prices. Fortunately I decided that being depressed will not help my search. I looked for other real estate websites and made many appointments. I kept seeing horrible places but I also saw some OK places. Until I found it: the one, the appartment I actually had in mind. New in a new building in one of my favorite neighborhoods - Neve Tsedek - 300 meters from the shuk (market), with a balcony and a nice view. I saw it last thursday and agreed to come back with Stephane after the weekend, on Sunday (remember it's Israel - weekend is friday/saturday :-)). Needless to say that Stephane felt exactly as I did. YES! That's the one. So now we are waiting for the rental contract from their lawyers, which we will submit to our lawyer.. .Because we are in Israel. You can never be too careful. I doubt though there will be trouble. I already spoke to the owner a nice lady who also happens to be the CEO of one of Israel's major holding cies (MAPAL). She has built this appartment for her 22 year daughter who decided after all that she did not want to live there.... Thank you! So for now pictures of Frug street so you can see what we leave behind. I will only make pictures of the new one after the contract has been signed...

It is only a twenty minute bus ride but a world of difference! Batyam - in hebrew means 'daughter of the sea '  is a coastal (beach) town that suffered some socio-economical problems and had to wait until the 90's before reconstructing both its reputation and its sites. Now it is a place where some Tel Avivians also choose to live because it is cheaper than Tel Aviv and still real close to the city. During the last few years the entire promenade along the beach has been renovated and it is a pretty sight! However, I do not go to Batyam for the sightseeing but for sculpture! This is where my atelier is or more exactly the atelier I share with 10 other israeli sculptors. I was lucky to be invited to join them after one of them (Dror) visited my exhibit at the gallery and really liked my work. All of us are figurative artists and every Wednesday we have a model sitting for us. The nice part is that it costs nothing -or almost - we each pay a monthly fee of about 25 euros and this covers the costs for model, coffee, tea, cookies... I feel a bit like being back in Haarlem where I used to work in the same sort of environment.  I spend all my Wednesdays in Batyam at the atelier and I love it!

I woke up this morning with a bit of a headache.... Not really surprised about this: last night I had maybe one too many mojito's.....
Yesterday afternoon I went to the movies with my friend Sissy. Sissy made Alyah from Belgium about 2 years ago. The funny thing is that her brother went out with my sister (long, long time ago...) Sissy and I did not know each other. However we knew about each other and my sister had told me about her being in Tel Aviv. So a few months ago I called her. We had lunch and since then there is hardly a day we do not at least speak over the phone. More or less at the same time that I met Sissy, I also met Freddy. Also from Belgium, Freddy used to go to the same high school as me in Brussels. He is a few years older though and therefore we never really spent time together. I met Freddy here at the Ulpan and the funny thing is that Freddy and Sissy are really good friends. So here we are now, the 4 of us: Freddy & Sissy & Stephane & me! all new immigrants encountering the same problems but also understanding why we are here and why we like it so much. Creates an amazing bond! Moreover, we really like each other, have common interests one of them being having fun! So after the movies yesterday we met Stephane at the Namal (port of tel Aviv) for drinks. The nice bar we chose serves excellent cocktails, their Mojito's are delicious! So we ordered.... later in the evening Freddy joined us. He had just returned from a trip to Monaco for his daughter's engagement. A few mojito's, some nice pasta and lot's of laughter! It was definitely worth the slight headache this morning....

Normally a blog is a chronological "thing". This time I will write about something that actually took place before my last blog (my visit at the Tel Aviv museum). Reason is: pictures! I just found the pictures of the last evening we spent with our friends Brigitte & Doron - before they left again for Brussels - it was also Stephane's birthday, real date,,, 26th of August.
We went to the "Namal" to one of the best restaurants in Tel Aviv called 'Julia' - at least this is what the 4 of us think. What we like is that they serve lot's of vegetables - other than salad - and this is not common in Israel. This is actually strange when you see the fantastic variety and high quality vegetables here! No idea what people do with them... Anyway we enjoyed a great meal and especially great company. Brigitte & doron are now in Brussels they will be back at the end of October.