Hebrew University Plants

I am told this is called Brugmansia. It's in the Solanum family, same as the horse nettle we had in Indiana, which was small and ugly. Other Solanum get 15 feet high. A "family" in the plant world is a pretty broad family.


Al took this picture in November.


And I took this one in January, after the rose bushes had been pruned. Nobody prunes cactus, as far as I know.


This is a cyclamen, also called a rock plant, because they love to grow amid rocks. They bloom in white and in shades of pink and red.

Mandel

At the University is also the Mandel Institute:



If you want to know what they do there you can look on the internet. But the internet won't tell you about this nice hanging sculpture with beautiful greenish glass rocks--the photo doesn't show how translucent they really were. Ok, I know some people think I have rocks in my head, but I think's it's pretty neat.

I suppose there's no right way to take a picture of stairs. Maybe not take one at all? Why take a picture of stairs? Because they're there?

This mosaic has on it the words, "I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?" and "God did send me before you to preserve life."

Hebrew University

Here is where Al goes to school.
And here is what he studies:



Just kidding. Even if he took Legos 101, or 909, I don't think he would come up with this:


Here is an amazing sight--clean walks. The University is probably the cleanest place in all of Israel.


Rothberg likes the pomegranate symbol, for some reason:



The pomegranate is said buy some to symbolize righteousness because it contains 613 seeds, and there are, in the Jewish religion, according to some, 613 commandments. This shows a misunderstanding of pomegranates and of the law. It depends on where you buy your pomegranates. The ones in South America are smaller, and other countries have various sizes. (There is a guy that actually counts seeds in pomegranates, and he says the average is 613, but obviously he doesn't count too many from Venezuela, or that would skew the figures.) And as for the law of God, how can it be limited to a certain number--"Thy commandment is exceeding broad." The best explanation of the law I read in a book by John Bunyan. If I had a copy of that book, I would post that chapter.

Lambs and Bougainvillea

Since most of our lambs were white, a black lamb seemed really special. But you can imagine that if most sheep were black, a white lamb would be really special.
It's the same with bougainvillea. Since it is usually red, pink, or magenta, a white or peach one really gets my attention.



And sometimes the morning glories join in. These aren't quite like U.S. morning glories, though. They're bigger and purpler than Heavenly Blue, and not quite as pretty, but they bloom most of the day instead of closing by 10 a.m.

February

Four weeks since I posted. That doesn't mean nothing is happening. Three weeks of that were "vacation." Which only means that there were no classes--Al had to work as much as ever. Do you know what it's like to be married to a work-a-holic? But in spite of that, we managed to do lots of good things--pictures to come.
Today is sunny and I must get out of the house. The last two weeks have been full of complicated thoughts. There's nothing like warm sunshine to soothe them all away.

Grocery shopping can be colorful.

Another street cat--wild, of course. There are hundreds of them. I have petted one tame cat since I've been here. I also saw a tame cat in a little restaurant, a pure white one. He sat indifferently on the floor and didn't beg or jump on the counter. Even so, it seems odd to see a cat in a restaurant. Nice, in a way, that people aren't so obsessed with "health."

I started to write a story about a Booh and a Rabbit. It was plain enough what kind of character Booh was going to be, but I wasn't sure about Rabbit, and since he got kidnapped the very first page, I didn't have to think about it, but I'll have to get back to him. In many books I have read, you can tell which character the author most identifies with. I identify with Booh, so Rabbit will have to be styled after someone else, or maybe a different side of myself. Ah, I think I've got it--Booh is the present and Rabbit is the past. Rabbit finds an olivine--do you know what an olivine is?
But I have more important things to do. Like think complicated thoughts. I'd rather not, actually, but sometimes life gets complicated. Then I have to remember, "Consider the lilies---they toil not, neither do they spin." And they don't make long lists and complicated charts and schedules, either. One reason for doing that is to get a feeling that things are somehow in control, and that I am somehow making progress. Which means that 99% of the time I feel that everything is out of control and I am making no progress.
Well, Booh and Rabbit and thinking and making lists and feeling accomplished will have to stay in the bacground. My task right now is to learn some Psalms in Hebrew. No small task.
Correction--learn ONE Psalm in Hebrew. That's enough for today, or maybe a week. Read it, look up all the words, figure out the grammar, listen to it read.

People

I think people are fascinating. However I've never quite understood what you are supposed to do with them.
At the bus stop there are a man and a woman with a small child (makes me miss children and grandchildren). The man speaks Hebrew and Russian and the woman speaks Hebrew and English, and the child understands all three.
Always a few interesting characters on the bus. A woman with two hu-u-ge bags of popcorn. Another woman with a long-handled squeegie. Then there's an intense-looking young woman dressed conservatively and chewing gum vigorously. And a man wearing silver-studded black clothes and air-shoes with lavendar soles-- reminds me a bit of those cars that have lights underneath that shine down on the pavement.
Then there's a man with an unforgettable face who looks like the younger taller brother of the unforgettable face I saw yesterday.
The woman behind me I think is planning a family get-together and I catch the words "my daughter," "my brother", "my sister," "her husband."
Besides Hebrew I often hear Russian and French and Spanish. I wish I knew more languages, but if I did it wouldn't help me communicate, it would just make me a better eavesdro.... excuse me... listener.
My favorite character is a man who wanders the neighborhood humming to himself--if you can call it humming. I think he lives in a home for the retarded though I doubt that he himself is retarded. He is very small and has a crooked back and is so thin he has to hold his pants up. He wanders slowly around several blocks. I think he is really cool.
Then there is a man whom I have seen more than once wearing bright turquoise trousers and sandals with light green socks. It just so happens that I love combinations of blue and green.
Next door there is a small child that I hear once every day. He knows one word-- "Marn! Marn!" which is what he says every time he comes out the door with his family. ("Marn" is two-year-old's English for "Mine.") I'll be glad when he learns another word.
Well, anyway.

OLD POSTS

Summing up the routine of the last several months. Reason being, it's all over and it will never happen again. "It's over, it's over!...."

"Every now and then I read various blogs and come away with a sense of inferiority--why don't I have a life, I never do anything or can't, no ideas, no experience, no time, no opportunities, etc. No cat, no dog, no children, no garden-- should be easy, right? Nothing to do but take care of my husband who does quite well taking care of himself, so what am I here for? I constantly wonder that, but I have no doubt that I am supposed to be here, so I guess I just do what I do. And anyway why do I complain when I'm not even interested in doing a lot of the things other people do. I like what I do, as far as it goes.

Well here's today, for what it's worth (this was November actually):

Wake up so hungry I feel almost faint, but after a big cup of super-weak coffee I feel like fixing sweet potatoes for breakfast, which revives me quite a bit. We have worship and Al goes to school, which is a relief because now I can concentrate on getting away on time, have to leave at 8:02 to catch the early bus--why do I need to catch the early bus, not sure. I iron my favorite skirt, which somehow now has three ink stains on it, put it on and realize the elastic is all stretched out so I guess it's ready for the rag bag unless I someday get around to fixing it. So now I go through my wardrobe again, don't want to wear black or brown because I did yesterday (but black goes with everything and brown is so cozy) and I can't decide so I won't make the early bus--I'll plan on planning ahead better after this. The blue skirt works, doesn't need ironing---oh, whoops, I just remembered a homework assignment I didn't do, I'll do half now and half on the bus. Fortunately it's an easy assignment, but now I won't make the middle bus, either. The late bus is just right, really, and I get to class early enough to go up the stairs twice (70 steps each time) for the exercise. They say front-row-sitters never fail, but I'm not currently in danger so I sit in the back to relax.

Some days I wonder if I'll ever learn Hebrew. I guess everybody has those days. An Italian girl in my class, who is usually sweet, kind, and patient, and who speaks Hebrew very well, from my point of view, comes in frustrated one day saying, "I just wish all Israelis would learn Italian!"

At break time I drink a small cappuccino, which always makes me think I feel better, but really it just tastes good, and is one of the few things that consistently does. After break, more verbs--after you think you are starting to get the regular verbs they start on irregular ones, and there are so many you wonder what they mean by "regular." The teachers are good at explaining things, but sometimes when we ask "why" the answer is "it just is."

Once a week I attend a conversation class, which wouldn't be easy for me even if it were in English, but I am slightly comforted by the fact that I can understand what's going on around me, and sometimes can supply a missing word that someone is fumbling for.

After class one day the bus is delayed for almost an hour because there is a breast cancer march going on. Thousands of women and hundreds of men are marching. Everybody just waits patiently. Nobody is even honking his horn, which is practically a miracle.

On the way to the bus I pass a few beggars, some of whom I've seen before, and give my small change to a woman who must be at least 80, and pass up one of the regulars who is looking really bad. Can a person starve to death with hundreds of people around? What is my responsibility? They say that noone needs to beg in Israel but I'm not entirely sure. I watch one old woman sitting on the sidewalk stirring sugar into a coffee that someone bought her. I wish I could sit on the sidewalk, but I sit properly on a bench if I can find one, otherwise I just keep walking.

When I get home I meet the usual dilemma of what to eat and end up with pickles, more sweet potatoes, bread and butter with onions, yogurt, and a carrot.
Time for a nap and I'm just about asleep when the phone rings and it's Al and he thinks he's locked out but he's not but I'm awake now so whatever. I bring in the clothes that I hung out yesterday. It's nice and sunny and the air is a bit cool and I've seen one mosquito in three days and he bit me good.

I look haphazardly at my notes and try to get organized, without success, and somehow the rest of the afternoon passes and then I fix a good supper with tuna and lots of vegetables and we have worship and I try again to study but I'm too sleepy so it's off to bed."

That's how it's been for some time, but today I took the final test for level Gimmel and that's as far as I'm going for now. What I will do with my time I have no idea and I am really worried that I will fall into a deep depression. After all, it's the only logical thing to do.

I know-- I'll write a story. A story about a rabbit and a booh. (A booh resembles a small bear, in case you didn't know.) Was it Frog or Toad that wanted to drink some tea so he made some out of tears? You can get Frog and Toad in Hebrew. They are good stories, but I don't like the artwork. I don't think there's any way you can make frogs and toads look good. Although really, real live ones aren't too bad.