Busy start to May!

To carry on from where I left off last blog (which was exactly 1 week ago! GO me for keeping upto date!), I went out with Shir last Saturday night to one of the best clubs I have ever been to. There were 4 big DJ's, at one stage all playing at the same time together. The atmosphere was unique- kind of like a big major event gig (like The Big Day Out tent or an expensive concert in a club) but really small. And not so expensive. It was underground. And everyone there was just cool. Lots of Rastas. Maybe that's what did it. There was an exciting vibe to be dancing there I guess, and not once did I put up with a single song that I didn't like!

Anyway, last Tuesday it was Yom Hazikaron- Israel's national memorial day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror. This is a holiday which, in my opinion, has been paid too little attention in Australia (and possibly other diaspora countries as well). I guess it is an Israeli National holiday rather than a Jewish holiday, but still... Everyone here gets the day off work. It's a very somber day, as was Holocaust Rememberance Day which was only the week before (and another day off work). On both days people don't listen to music. And if you do, the radios are all playing very nationalistic songs. Last week, Eli and I went to a very moving ceremony with lots of Holocaust survivors and also the chief Rabbi of Israel. In fact, one of the survivors there, was the reallife character in the Schindler's List film who gets married. I forget his name.... anyway, A lot of people around me were crying. It was difficult for me to follow everything in such formal Hebrew, so I admit, I didn't feel as moved as I possibly would've had I understood everything, and I did nod off for a little bit, but the parts that I was awake for were definitely very interesting. Especially the end bit when the anthem was sung- or more correctly, belted out with intense feeling. Everyone, I mean EVERYONE was singing the anthem, and very loudly. I guess it was the first time I felt some kind of patriotism to this strange land. I think I've always felt connected, but that ceremony really did something.

Anyway, as with that holiday, there was what I'd call a very loud 'air raid siren' which sounded on Yom Hazikaron too, for I think, 1 minute. Upon hearing the siren, every Israeli stops what they're doing and stands in silence. Even people in their cars stop driving and actually get out. I witnessed that when I was standing outside my laundromat at the time, which is at a particularly busy intersection in Florentine. Most surreal.

Everyone here seems to know someone who died and is remembered on this day, and people attend memorial ceremonies. Eli went to the North to visit the grave and family of his best friend who died when he was 20 whilst serving in the army. I didn't go. Interestingly, Israel purposefully decided to put Yom Hazikaron one day before Yom Ha'atsmaut -Independence Day-, which means 2 days off work. A lot of people found it awkward to put such a sad day next to a celebratory holiday, but by doing so I think the government made it clear: without the soldiers who gave their lives, there would be no Israeli independence to celebrate. It's kind of like the crushing of the glass under the Jewish wedding canopy; In times of great happiness we remember sadness, and vice versa.
(Pretty much an exact replica of my above photo appeared in the front page of the newspapers here the next day! Yay to me and my amazing photographic abilities! You know how hard it is to capture fireworks?!)

So anyway, Independence Day is just about THE biggest day of the year here. The night before (which, in the Jewish calendar, is actually the start of the day ahead) is celebrated with lots of BBQ's, music, parties and fireworks- every hour on the hour! Eli had a gig in a hall somewhere up North near Haifa, which I didn't want to go to, so I ended up with some mates from work at Rabin Square (the square which marks the place where past prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated) in a big big crowd, which I don't really like being in here, watching the fireworks and dancing with strangers to Israeli music, then going to a bar. My primary school Israeli dancing lessons really paid off...

The next day Eli and I took a stroll to the old port of Jaffa. I didn't realise it was basically Tel Aviv. Nor did I realise we were only a 15 min. walk away! So this was a very pleasant surprise, and nice thinking of Eli. I think I've discovered a new jogging route! This: Jaffa is really nice. It was particularly busy the day we went (for obvious reasons). There were horses riding on the sand! And the seafood restaurants boasting gorgeous views of the water were overfilling. We found a great restaurant away from the hustle and bustle of the beach, and closer to where many boats and yachts were moored. It was called The Fishermen's Restaurant, and it's actually run by fishermen (d'ah). Inside there were amazing photos of the fishermen and their catches. I found these pictures really amazing anyway. Also, as Eli and I were ating our delicious meal, exhibit a----> I couldn't help noticing everyone stopping to gawk at this shark which was placed on the ground at the entrance of the restaurant. It was similar to what I remember people would take photos of standing next to in Sea World or something... Like some kind of mascot, statue thing... It was about 1.5 metres or so. So after watching everyone else look so intently at this shark, I also went over to have a look at it. It felt rough to the touch, like some kind of mesh net over the skin, which I didn't expect, because to the naked eye it looked as though it would definitely feel soft. Then I marvelled at how fake the eyes looked, and poked them a bit. They seemed like cheap marbles or stickers. I tried to see if it was actually attached to the ground so I tried pinching the point of the tail to lift it, and oddly enough it was able to move from side to side a bit but of course not up. Then I thought to myself about how clever it was that there was a bit of blood next to it. I wondered if it was red cordial. I was inspecting this shark along with a little girl, perhaps 5 yrs old, who had both her hands tucked under her chin, held tightly against her, as though she was too terrified to touch the shark, but at the same time she edged closer to me, fascinated to just look at it and watch me touch it. I was trying to tell her it wasn't real, that it was dead... and that she should have a go touching it. I was like, "you can try look inside the mouth, it's fake, see?" and my curiosity got the better of me as I lifted up its snout wide open to reveal a very large mouth with lots of sharp teeth and gums and more plausibly realistic-looking blood. The little girl shrieked with delight when I did this and someone else took a photo of me and her. Anyway, I resolved myself to thinking that this restaurant was very clever, because this was an excellent way to attract people. Then I joined Eli for dessert. Then, just when I thought I should probably take a photo of that cool shark, I saw a man come out of the kitchen with a big hook and he just took the shark away, then mopped up the wet blotch that remained in its place. I asked a waitress what were they doing with the shark, and she laughed at me and said "Steakim" -which is funny in itself because it's another one of those dreaded English words which made it into the Hebrew vocab, but got pluralled in the Hebrew way, much like "sandvichim"... anyway. So that was that. I can't believe I didn't get a photo goddamnit!

Yesterday I went over to Pini's place to play with the kittens. To refresh all your collective memories, Pini and Tzvika are our neighbours (well they live 5 doors away) Pini is the one on the right and Tzvika is on the left. Anyway, they've given one kitten away now so they're down to 4+ the mummy (who has recently had a name change from Dolly to Nefertiti.) They're at the stage now where they chase toilet paper rolls and scrunched up newspaper and shoelaces and toes and tails and basically anything else that moves. In short, they are just adorable. But Eli is still adamant that we can't have one. Booooooo :(

Today I ventured to go jetskiing. Eli stayed home because he had lots of work to do, so I went with his cousin and his friends, all in 4x4's jeeps... There was a big group of us and we went to a beach which was packed with jeeps and jet skis- strange reality I've never belonged to before. I liked it- everyone brought beers and we had little BBQ's and we sat under beach umbrellas and there were nice dogs playing around and we played matkot (a beach game very popular here- similar to ping pong but with a heavier ball and slightly bigger bats and no table) and I went for a swim in my t-shirt. Yay. The jet ski wasn't working so that was a bit of a disappointment, but otherwise, it was very enjoyable. I met a guy who spent the last 2 yrs in Canada. He's a blacksmith ferrier (I think that's how he called it?). "What?" I hear you ask.... Yeah, that's exactly what i said. He's basically a horse man. He makes horse shoes and fits horses with them, and does everything else related to horses and metal. Anyway, he ran a ranch here when he was 21. And in canada he was living on a ranch and went to some special horse school. Now he's just started a business here, and he happens to be the brother of Nitzan's best friend (Notzan being Eli's cousin who took me today). So he invited me (and Eli) to go horse riding with him thru the golan heights next wk. He seems like such a cowboy. Really western-like. Just Israeli at the same time. Cool.
Another guy I met is really into fishing and said we'll go next Friday. So I think I'm going fishing and horseriding next weekend which I'm very much looking forward to! So today was a good day for making good connections for me. In Hebrew, this is called a 'kombina' (someone who is a good connection for whatver reason...)

Anyway, I think that's enough for one day,
I hope you all have a good week.
yalla
xxx