Blogs from Israel, Middle East - page 140

As the sun sets, and Israel's 60th anniversary officially draws to an end, my sunburned self and friends sit on our upstairs mirpeset (patio) and sing and dance our hearts out to 80s music. Perhaps not a "normal" way to bring this momentous day to a close, it seems a fitting end...dancing and singing...for a day most of the world never dreamed could happen. And on this day, which began in the night with a tekes (ceremony), after a national day of mourning those who had the courage to stand and fight, and were killed in doing so, we celebrate. But, the real question is...what exactly are we celebrating? In the Jewish tradition we are fastidious about marking occasions, events, lives, deaths, and time periods. 30 days after a death is considered the "shloshim" the time ... read more

I love finding other English speaking bloggers in Israel. It's like a game of hide and seek and makes me feel slightly less crazy when something happens to me in this country and I look around and happen to be the old non-Hebrew speaking person on the planet at the moment. Saying this, I have my few favorites. What War Zone?? is this hilarious guy Benji Lovett's blog. I had the very interesting and somewhat stalkerish experience of getting to meet him at the Taglit Purim party held in Tel Aviv this year. Not only have I been following this guys blog for just about a year, but I actually got to meet him. I recognized him because everytime I log into his blog, I see his picture so that when the time actually came to ... read more

“Then Moses went up to Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab and climbed Pisgah Peak, which is across from Jericho. And the Lord showed him the whole land from Gilead as far as Dan; all the land of Naphtali; the land of Ephraim and Manasseh; all of the land of Judah, extending to the Mediterranean Sea; the Negev; the Jordan Valley with Jericho, the city of palms, as far as Zoar. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said I will give it to your descendents.’” - Deuteronomy 34: 1-4. As I read through the passage, I thought back to the previous day when I stood on that very same peak and looked out over the Promised Land just as Moses ... read more

Hey y'all. I do realize that is has a been a while since my last post, hence the title giving everyone my current status. And of course, a fair bit has happened since I last spoke. First and perhaps most importantly, I shaved off my beard, as well as most of the hair on my head. That happened on the 30th of March. I had it cut at the barber on campus. That turned out to be a learning experience. I learned, for instance, that a #2 on electric clippers in Israel is very different than a #2 in the US. I came out damn near bald. But I had fun with that. For instance, I got my haircut right after my Arabic class, and upon returning to the dorms, I saw one of the girls ... read more

Iris atropurpurea, a huge, gorgeous, purple iris, is endemic to the Mediterranean coast of Israel. The remaining populations are scattered among a couple of dozen nature reserves, most of them tiny (less than 2 acres), but a couple of them large (probably 200 acres). These reserves were established specially for protection of the irises, but although they protect the iris plants themselves, they may not be big enough because of a peculiarity about the ecological interactions between the irises and their pollinators. Unlike most plants, the irises offer no nectar to reward their pollinators for visiting. They do have pollen that several insect species, including honeybees, collect, and these pollen collectors may pollinate the iris flowers occasionally. However, the main pollinators are the males of several species of Eucera bees that don’t collect pollen or nectar; ... read more