First off, we have a new camera (though I've only taken 4 pictures on it, compared to Mark's 400), but anyway, for all who'd like to check out pictures of our visit to Scotland, as well as Haifa, he has a gallery here.
I've been reading quite a bit lately. Nothing profound, of course. It's been wonderful not to have to read something that was assigned to me! Plus, good, English-language novels aren't exactly falling off trees here, so when I got my hands on some, I devoured them. Yummy. :-)
And yes, this is a cry for good books, namely fiction.
First I read Amy Tan's "The Hundred Secret Senses". Divine, wonderful, and very, very, very well-written. Now I've just finished reading the Bridget Jones' Diary books. I must admit, I feel a bit dirtier after having read them. Not that they're smutty or anything, just so ... shallow. A bit scary to think that so many people relate to her, really. Of course, I can relate in some ways - but then, wow, I'm not sure I want to relate to her, either. Perhaps that's the point? Whatever.
Different subject altogether.
Sometimes the one thing that freaks me out the most about living in Israel is that until I moved here it was a strange, foreign, even exotic locale, but now, well, it's so ... the same. People have "Baby on Board" stickers on their cars (granted it's in Hebrew, but I think it's a safe assumption considering the Gerber baby on it), they have cell phones, wear unreasonably high-heeled uncomfortable shoes when they live on the side of a mountain (!?), they renovate their homes, stare on the bus, go grocery shopping on Saturday, swim at the beach (even though they know it's polluted). That sort of thing. Then I think "I'm living in the Middle East", and that is somehow surprising to me - even after 10 months.
[Insert smooth transition]
We got a dishwasher recently. It's such a luxury I almost feel obscene having it. Fortunately, we got it for a steal, so even if we give it away at when we leave (which I imagine will not happen), it'd still be fine. We do use it, especially with guests, and it means Mark and I are not constantly saying "I think it's your turn to wash the dishes." We also use a lot less plasticware with guests, which is good -- I could see the environment going to pot before my very eyes with all the plastic plates and cups we used sometimes! Of course, it's a portable one, so we move it out of it's corner, hook it up to the sink ... then we have to be there and awake an hour or two later when it gets to the rinse cycle to turn the hot water on, then to turn the hot water off. Bit of a pain. [see, I wanted to get a washer & dryer set ... carrying laundry up and down a mountain once a week is much more of a pain] Ah well. C'est la vie. It's not like I will not use the dishwasher out of spite or anything!
On another note, lots of good things are going on in my family:
Mendon has returned from a year in the Gambia. He'll be starting university in 2 weeks.
My father is also going to be going back to school soon - to study respiratory therapy! I'm so excited and happy for him! It seems like this is a really good path for him. He's had great responses from hospitals just waiting for him to be employable. Cool! He's also been talking to me about him and my mom consulting about future plans. That always makes me happy!
My grandparents have sold their home, which is a HUGE burden off their shoulders (if all goes through), and my gramma is busy convalescing, which, again, is good news.
Okay, there might be more good news, but that's as much as I know. :-) And it makes me happy. :-)
Hey, Mara, we got a new dishwasher, too! Not that I wanted to replace the old one; it seemed just fine, except that one day it didn't. Didn't seem fine. It filled with water, but the water didn't go anywhere. I had to take it all out with the turkey baster. One way to make phone time productive. So we got a new built in Maytag. I was hoping that it would be quiet enough that if I needed to run it during feast, that I could without disturbing things. Not quite, but a bit qieter than our last one, so at least we can watch TV with it running. One thing it does have is a delayed start, so we can watch TV and set it to run while we are a sleep, or at work, or whatever.
Good books. Do you have access to English language books? I also love Hundred Secret Senses. I read her next one, The Bone Setter's Daughter, and was less impressed. I think now that her mother is dead, she has quelled her demons and moved on in her life, and her writing has lost its edge. See, we're good for something!
I also read the Bridget Jones Diary and was unimpressed. Our book club read it and everyone (except me) loved it. I just thought I was too old and no longer in touch with those feelings. I can't remember what she referred to the married couples as, but I have been married for so long that I hardly remember (and certainly not fondly) being single.
BTW, I also posted to my site, if you want to take a peek.
I remember reading and hating Bridget Jones' Diary as well. I just thought it was DEPRESSING in a major way. I totally came away from the book convinced that Bridget was anorexic and just absolutely hated herself. I also hated it for associating itself with the whole Pride and Prejudice thing, which I adore. I can't bring myself to watch the movies.
THe dishwasher thing is kind of funny cause we have one and NEVER use it.
To Maman: the overwhelming majority of the English-lang. books here are:
1) Baha'i books
2) Tourist books
or 3) ANCIENT, BAD FICTION (so what's the point?) - like people who came to settle in Israel brought it with them and then 30 years later decided to junk it...
Oh, by the way, it was: Smug Marrieds & Singletons.
Yeah, that's me -- Smug Married! ;-)