Anna

(NB: I will not be discussing politics or The Situation here and any comments related to such will be summarily deleted.)

Geography

Israel is a small country. It's about the size of New Jersey, and like the Garden State possesses a number of unique microclimates - accounting for the variety and success in Israeli agriculture. There's a misconception that it's all desert, which is complete bollocks. I live in the desert now, but before that I lived in the Central District, which is quite green and forested. Before that I lived in Jerusalem, which is hilly and whose outskirts serves as one of Israel's prime districts for viticulture.

Part of this compact nature? Everywhere is a short (by American standards) journey away. Hence why it's not so much of a big deal that we live in Beersheva and have family and friends in Jerusalem and the Central District.

Language

Hebrew is an interesting language. Speaking Hebrew makes me very happy. I am not perfect at it, but my ability to understand and be understood has grown by leaps and bounds. I only speak Hebrew with most of my in-laws.

I do speak with an accent, but thankfully it's not a very thick American accent. Because I can pronounce the two consonant sounds that trip up most English speakers (the hard "ch" and gargled "r") my accent is usually taken as generically foreign. Occasionally I get taken for Russian, but that's due more to my appearance (Russians in Israel are stereotyped as being light-skinned, light-eyed, and light-haired - and I hit the trifecta.) I don't have the grammatical difficulties and pronunciation peculiarities that Russians have, so people who hear me speak first don't take me for a Russian.

Mind you, I have my own grammar difficulties. Matching the correct object pronoun to the correct verb (it's not the endings, which are consistent, but the prefixes, which change depending on the verb) is a nightmare. I'm still learning verbs (I have most present tense verbs down, and a lot of past tense - but future and imperative are still tough). Vocabulary isn't too hard. I've got a lot of important stuff memorized, especially the ones that you want to be loanwords but aren't (computer, car, taxi, sandwich, e-mail, post office, doctor, clinic, pharmacy, medication, prescription).

Media

Israel has some excellent films and television and literature and journalism.

However.

Israel also has crummy reality television, stupid movies, trashy books, and escapist magazines.

Big Brother is primetime viewing here. That's depressing.

As for films...well, I know that my American friends are embarrassed about the teen movies of the late seventies going well into the eighties. Let me introduce you to a little film from 1978 called Eskimo Limon, a raunchy teen comedy set in the '50s about three horny teenage boys: the bad boy, the good boy, and the fat comic relief. It was a smash hit and inspired no fewer than seven sequels and a 2001 reboot. Shit, even Porky's only had two sequels before it was put out of its misery.

I'm not going to get into the newspapers, except that I stick with the centrist Yediot Acharonot and stay away from the far-left Ha'aretz and Bibi-worshiping Yisrael Hayom. For English coverage I'll read The Jerusalem Post, the oldest continuously printed English language paper in Israel.

I will mention a few Hebrew language magazines. None of the larger men's or women's magazines publishes a Hebrew edition, so local magazines have sprung up to fill the gap. For the ladies, there's At ("You," in the feminine grammatical form) and LaIsha ("To The Woman"). These contain fashion, beauty tips, agony aunts, sex, quizzes, and sex quizzes. For the guys there's Blazer: cars, gadgets, sport, travel, clothes, grooming, and not a few scantily clad models.

That being said, there are quite a few literary journals in Israel for writers, and our friend Robbie has been making his name as a writer of some note these days in said journals as part of Israel's "Generation 1.5," the children who came from the former Soviet Union and grew up with, as Robbie put it, a foot in both worlds (and now a viable literary movement).

Beauty Standards

It's complicated. Basically, if you're not required to dress up, you can dress down and no one will judge you. But if dressing up is required, you better be on your A-game.

You'd think this would fill me with rage. But I like a challenge, and I've found the effort to look my best actually makes me feel better. Besides, I enjoy the fact that I can go to the makolet (think a bodega) in sweats and a t-shirt and Crocs and no one blinks an eye just as much as I enjoy the compliments I get on knee-high boots or a red lip.

I saw my therapist yesterday. I told him that - despite having action plans and timetables - I was feeling a distinct letdown after finishing CELTA. And I also told him that I knew it was going to happen, dammit!

He reassured me that it was perfectly natural. And he encouraged me to give myself exactly one week of grace, to feel the letdown. During that time, keep up with household chores and work on writing up a weekly structured schedule, but nothing else. Give myself time to feel.

After that week, take action.

Strangely, I felt heartened. Something about allowing myself to feel something instead of just trying to plow through it.

****

I've been on a cooking kick to cheer myself up. Eyal is indulging it...not that it isn't to his advantage. He recently sanctioned the purchase of cake pans, a lemon zester, a double boiler, and a set of whisks. He's also agreed to a KitchenAid Stand Mixer and a new air fryer (the latter is a necessity, as our current air fryer is five years old and on its last legs), to be purchased on Sunday, along with (finally!) a new television.

See, Eyal loves my cooking. No matter what. Not that I've ever fucked up too horribly, but he loves all my creations. And I've never thought of myself as a good cook. Good baker, yes - I have an instinctive touch with baking and I've been turning out tasty baked goods since my teenage years. But cook? I've always thought of myself as merely adequate as a cook - good enough, but not outstanding.

But lately I'm realizing that I'm pretty good. I make my own spice blends. I can think on my feet and problem-solve. I don't mind the tedious repetitive jobs, as long as I have good music playing. And I get genuine pleasure from Eyal's enjoyment of my creations. Maybe that's what makes a good cook.

****

Next week: shopping trip to Big (that's literally the name of the shopping center) for kitchen gadgets and television, gaming night Wednesday, and Friday morning to Tel Aviv to take my father-in-law to the Israel Philharmonic. On the program: Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart. The latter two are his favorite composers, and the Mozart piece (Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter") is Eyal's favorite. It's also a nice call back for me, as I saw Emanuel Ax perform the same piece he's performing (Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3) in 1992 with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood. Mind you, at the time he was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt (summer in the Berkshires can be a wee bit chilly at times, and it was a rehearsal), but it was no less magical for all that.

And by next Thursday I'll have a weekly schedule ready to hash out with my therapist.

Right now the cleaner is downstairs. We always schedule a deep clean right before going on vacation, because nothing can kill the good vibes of coming home from a vacay - even just a long weekend away - more than coming home to a house that desperately needs a good cleaning. Also, it's just polite to have a nice house for Alex, our catsitter. Alex takes good care of the boys - not only feeding and watering, but taking care of litter box duty and playing with them. She also makes sure to take pictures and text them to us. Cheddar in particular loves her to bits, and she has a special love for orange cats. Last year she lost her beloved orange boy Garfield at the age of 16, and she adores our two orange himbos.

Today I finally did a clear-out of my wardrobe, filling two large trash bags. Eyal's wardrobe is scheduled for a similar clear-out. I'm glad I did it, because I found my other bathing suit and my two beach coverups, both of which I'll need for our vacation on Thursday.

Yesterday I did two loads of laundry, after my stomach quit its revolt. I'm still staying non-adventurous with my food choices (I ventured a bowl of cornflakes this morning), but so far so quiet.

Eyal got his new pair of Crocs, and happily passed his current pair onto me - and even more joyously dumped my old pair of Crocs in the trash. They had to go - the strap was broken, and frankly, they were just ugly. I know, I know, Crocs are already ugly. These were bright yellow. My current pair? Black. Far less offensive. Eyal's new Crocs are light grey. If you're gonna wear ugly shoes, at least wear them in inoffensive neutral colors, I guess.

Tomorrow I'll start packing for vacation.

Oh, yes, the cake is real. I baked it from scratch. I made the icing from scratch. And today we presented it to my father-in-law, whose birthday is tomorrow. He's turning 82.

We also told him about his present - in April, we're taking him to see the Israel Philharmonic, followed by lunch at the restaurant of his choice. He was delighted. We had an excellent afternoon, eating the cake (it turned out amazingly well) and drinking coffee.

It wasn't easy to make. I don't have a mixer (and I told Eyal that if he wants me to bake again, there will be a KitchenAid stand mixer - I said I'd go halfsies, and he finally agreed when I promised challah every week). So the butter and sugar for both cake and icing were creamed by hand, which is not impossible but is a tremendous workout.

That being said, both cake and icing are fairly simple as recipes go - a yellow cake with chocolate buttercream icing. Including recipe here.

( Yellow Cake With Chocolate Buttercream Frosting )

1. Tuesday's lesson went better than I expected, though not as well I'd hoped. Constructive feedback from Sezgi afterward helped a lot, as did our 1.30 pm input session with Marisa, the director of our CELTA center in Athens. I took a lot of notes. Sure, Marisa recorded the input session, but I remember better if I write things down. I'm hopelessly old fashioned in some ways (I also prefer reading physical books, and have kept my notes from ulpan to review when I want to polish my Hebrew). At any rate, I felt good...and things improved immensely when I got my resubmitted paper back. I passed on resubmission. Yay!

2. Today I worked on my third paper, designing a reading lesson in three parts: an initial task, a subsequent task, and a productive skills (i.e., writing or speaking) task. I didn't finish, but I designed the first two tasks (complete with answer keys) and wrote my justification for the text (an article about using music for stress management) as well as my justification for the first task. Tomorrow I'll design the third task, write up the justifications for the last two tasks, polish the paper, and send it off to Sezgi.

3. I think I've downloaded just about all the resource books from the CELTA website. While I do prefer physical books, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I only have four resource books in dead tree format. While one of them is absolutely crucial to the course (seriously, I've cited it a lot), I've also been seriously hitting the PDFs. Some of them are out of print or would be very hard to obtain in Israel.

4. Non-CELTA: I have done laundry every day this week. Usually I alternate my clothes with Eyal's. However, Monday I did towels. Tuesday I did Eyal's clothing. Today I also did Eyal's clothing, as he complained about having nothing to wear to the office today (he did have what to wear, don't worry). However, I saw his point: he has fewer options than I do, and he goes out in public more often (whereas I, since CELTA began, have rarely left the house, thus I wear mostly sweatpants/pajama bottoms and fun t-shirts). When he got home from work I suggested a trip to his favorite menswear store, Celio. He was amenable. I also ordered him a snarky t-shirt and a snarky hoodie. He rather worriedly asked if I needed new clothes. I said no, I was just fine, but if he didn't mind, I'd like to do a clear out of my stuff. The relief was palpable. I also suggested a clear out of his stuff, and he agreed.

5. Non-CELTA: I switched body lotion recently. Until the beginning of this year I'd been using Curél Hydratherapy In-Shower Lotion. However, I was still having issues with dry skin. Disappointing, but not a total surprise. While the colder season in Beersheva is allegedly the rainy season, the air is still a good bit dryer than even Jerusalem. I decided, after doing some research and reading reviews, that maybe what was good enough for Grandma (literally, it's what my Grandma used) was good enough for me. I got a big bottle of Jergens Original Scent Dry Skin Moisturizer. Hey, the price was right. And it's fantastic. The texture is light and non-greasy. It absorbs quickly. A little goes a long way. The smell is divine. And the price is awesome. So sometimes you just have to go back to basics. Grandma knew her stuff; because of her, I remove my makeup with Pond's Cold Cream and put Vaseline on my lips at night. I love Cherries In The Snow lipstick from Revlon. I draw the line at blue eyeshadow, though. Grandma wasn't right about everything.

6. Non-CELTA: Related to Item 4. While I don't dress up much lately, when I do put in the effort, Eyal praises it. He likes it when I choose an outfit carefully, put on jewelry, apply makeup, and spritz on perfume. And he notices little things, like how my cardigan matches the print on my blouse, and my shoes match my watch band. He has his preferences, of course. He does love a bold red lip, and seems mildly turned on by my tall boots. He also prefers very femme, floral perfume to unisex scents. For him, I compliment him on his outfits. He has a good instinct for colors that flatter him, and for what colors go well together. He usually wears his "Eyal in the streets" cologne, but occasionally he'll wear his "Eyal in the sheets" cologne. He always looks amazing. I started calling him shu'al kasuf - Hebrew for "silver fox." He enjoys that.

7. Plans for tomorrow: other than the paper writing? Observe my last lesson for CELTA, wash a load of my clothes, therapy. Friday is lesson planning, then Shabbat. And rest.

Preparations started at 12.30. True, the concert (Toscanini String Quartet) started at 17.00, but we wanted to have a leisurely meal first. So we both took showers, then retreated to our separate dressing quarters and getting-ready-routines. I picked out my outfit first: tan wide-leg pants, floral tee, green cardigan, black loafers. I picked out the accessories then - and wore only my anniversary gifts from Eyal in addition to my wedding set (matching malachite pendant and earrings set in silver, and simple watch on a black leather band). After that, the shower.

Of course, I put my face on then. Date nights require a nice face.

Primer: L'Oréal Age Perfect Blurring Face Primer in 00 Rosy
Mascara: L'Oréal Voluminous Original Mascara in Black Brown
Eyebrow gel: L'Oréal Infallible Brows in Blonde
Highlighter: L'Oréal Lumi Glotion in Fair
Tinted Moisturizer: L'Oréal Lumi Le Glow Tint in Fair
Concealers: Milani Conceal + Perfect in 01 Rose and Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser in 95
Blush: L'Oréal Lumi Le Liquid Blush in 605 Dewy Bright Pink
Lip Pencil: Rimmel Lasting Finish Lip Liner in Nude
Lipstick: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in 778 Pink Promise

Quick spritzing of Jo Malone London White Moss & Snowdrop. Then I dressed and was ready.

Eyal was looking quite dapper: burgundy long sleeved polo shirt, muted green slacks, and brown jacket. He also smelled lovely, with the addition of my early birthday present, Jo Malone London English Oak & Hazelnut.

We were off. We made good time to the restaurant (Indira), and had a scrumptious late lunch. After that we headed to HaTarbut, the home of the Israel Philharmonic. The concert took place in the smaller auditorium, and we had seats right on the stage. There are advantages to purchasing tickets well in advance.

The quartet had amazing chemistry, and when they added a guest violist for Mozart's String Quintet, the chemistry stayed strong. Late Beethoven - the first piece was one of his late quartets - is not for everyone, so the Mozart quintet served as a nice palate cleanser. Afterward we managed to find the car and get out of the parking garage without too much trouble.

We visited my father-in-law next. He was very glad to see us. We chatted about music, movies, and my teaching course. He served us cake and coffee, and after an hour and a half, we hugged him, said goodbye, and headed home.

A most satisfactory day. My makeup is off now - Pond's Cold Cream is a godsend - and I've done my evening routine. Bed soon. Back to the grind tomorrow, but all in all, a great anniversary date.

Class started on Tuesday. At 8.30 am.

I am decidedly not a morning person, but it's once a week. I can manage. And I did, though this Tuesday I'll be getting up a bit earlier to get a decent breakfast in my stomach and a cup of coffee. That will keep me level until class is over at 1.30 pm. Yes, they do give us breaks, but they aren't overly long.

For Tuesday's class I had to plan an icebreaker for the students. Our tutor gave us a list of 21 suggestions for icebreakers, and I chose what I thought was a simple one. (More on that later.)

First our tutor went over the expectations he had of us, technical stuff, the usual - anything Marisa (the director of the program) hadn't covered at our Orientation session. He did mention that there were some bugs in the Moodle, but they expected to have them worked out the next day.

After that, we observed him teaching, and took notes. He was an excellent teacher; he managed the students well, kept them engaged, kept them on task, used a variety of tasks to keep their interest, and had a great sense of humor. I noted all these things.

After that, we went over what we noticed about his teaching and what we thought was important to our own teaching styles.

A half hour break, then we did our icebreakers with the students.

I went first. My icebreaker was for the students to find three links relating to their favorite hobby, post them on the class whiteboard, and the rest of us would guess the hobby. It went okay. Two of the students had technical issues, so I simply had them talk about their hobbies. I went first, posting three links about embroidery. One student didn't even know the word embroidery. Maybe I should have gone with baking or writing.

After that I observed my two other classmates doing their icebreakers, then we reconvened - only student teachers and our tutor - to discuss how it had gone.

Since then, they have fixed Moodle, so I've been able to complete two units of the four assigned for this week. After that I'll write up my lesson plan for Tuesday. Yes, I'm teaching a lesson on Tuesday! Wish me luck.

Oh, and I haven't slacked on chores. I've done laundry (still have more to do), scooped the litter boxes, kept up with the dishes, and decluttered the living and dining room because the cleaner is coming tomorrow.

Also, I got a clean bill of health from the cardiologist on Monday. I will be starting an exercise program - twice a week at the gym, and a couple of times a week doing yoga at home.

And that's it.

Tonight we went to a poetry reading and discussion as guests of our friend Robbie, who was reading poetry and participating in the discussion. I was prepared not to understand much. We were there, after all, strictly as moral support for Robbie. It can be tough going, getting people to support your literary ambitions.

To my utter astonishment, I understood nearly the whole thing. And even better, I found it extremely interesting.

Generation 1.5 is a literary movement in Israel that's been emerging over the past decade. Its members were born in the former Soviet Union but came to Israel as young children. Because the Russian immigrant community in Israel formed very strong ties and is very close knit, most of them grew up in that bubble, with a foot in both worlds - speaking Hebrew at school but Russian with family. Some still write in Russian (though not exclusively). As an immigrant myself, I found the discussion very relevant.

More to the point, I am incredibly surprised that I followed so well.

When the reading was over we retired to Beersheva's fringe theater for an afterparty that started out intellectual in tone and devolved into gushing over British TV shows. It was heaven.

Now we're home. Plans for the weekend include a trip to Tel Aviv to visit my father-in-law. Next week is game night with Eyal's coworkers Peter and Regev. Regev is bringing his girlfriend, so thankfully it won't be a total sausagefest.

Chanukah starts a week from tomorrow night. During Chanukah we'll celebrate one night with family in the Central District, probably coinciding with Eyal's birthday.

And that's all for now.

1. I don't like it when people are too certain. They have a tendency to make the facts fit their certainties. Which is uncomfortable if you're one of those facts, as the Fourth Doctor pointed out. Personally, I find it a great relief to be able to say, "I don't know." I know things that I would like to be true. I know things that I hope will happen. But I try very hard not to confuse them with the way things are.

2. Interview for CELTA tomorrow. Wish me luck.

3. Cardiologist appointment Tuesday. Also wish me luck. But hey, if I need a stent, Eyal can do it! (Seriously, I'm kidding...but he did design the software to train cardiologists in how to put in stents. And pacemakers. Also how to do cardiac ablations and angioplasty.)

4. My nephews Yosef and Avraham called me last night to sing me Happy Birthday (it was my birthday on the Hebrew calendar) and tell me how much they loved me. If anything could heal my heart instantly, that would be it. I love those boys to bits.

5. I have replaced the hair dryer that shat the bed last week. I am slowly ticking off the items on my to-do list.