Valentines day is rolling up, and here in Israel, that pretty much means it's like every other day, except there are some stores with some tacky signs. For those with a special someone they are trying to woo, the following might interest you:
"Smell evolved for finding both food and mates, and much research has
found that body odor plays a powerful role in human attraction.
Food cravings act a lot like lust in the pleasure center of the brain,
and it also mimics the neurological activity that occurs when addicts
yearn for alcohol or drugs.
In one small experiment on sexual
response to food scents, vaginal and penile blood flow was measured in
31 men and women who wore masks emitting various food aromas. This was
the study that found men susceptible to the scent of doughnuts mingled
with licorice. For women, first place for most arousing was a tie
between baby powder and the combination of Good & Plenty candy with
cucumber. Coming in second was a combination of Good & Plenty and
banana nut bread."
- NYTimes Article
I would love to know all the different food combinations that they tested.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Jonathan's tea recipe and Dinner for one
I had the comment earlier in person, "your blog is like a minute by minute discussion of what happened each day" and yet I have been missing the thing that comprises most of my time - and it's not cooking, or studying unfortunately.
I spend most of the day cooking or purchasing food for cooking. Above is a picture of one of my many accomplishments (you'd have to taste it, to know it), it tastes much better than it looks. When I started, I paired it with a nice Carmel Ridge Red, 2007 (an apt decision considering it was the only bottle I had on hand). When that ran out pouring my first glass, I had a 2006 Argentinian Cabernet Sauvignon (I ran across the street for that one to the little corner store - it's a pretty boring wine all in all).
No picture on this one, but earlier I had a first course of some pasta, cooked al dente (of course, best way to have pasta!) with some homemade pasta sauce using the tomatoes I bought at the shouk earlier this week. Also had mushrooms, onions, garlic, spinach, olive oil, and a few other small things. I have some garlic as well that was roasting, and will probably finish up with some tea. My tea recipe is below (in the morning, I prefer some milk, though having only bought chocolate milk while here,there hasn't been much milk and tea while in Isreal):
A perfect cup of tea (at least how Jonathan likes it!)
1 spoon full of loose black tea
1 lemon wedge, squeezed into the mug - I like a clear mug so I can watch it all mix up - reminds me of an engineering lab from Swarthmore on fluid mechanics and dynamics
1 sprig of fresh mint
1 small spoonful of sugar, preferably brown, but we have white at the moment, alternatively try some honey.
a teacup of boiling water. Mix with spoon, let tea settle, enjoy (preferably with something like chocolate or a biscuit and of course, most importantly, in good company.)
Evening Walk and some classroom experience
I went for a walk around Ramla last night. When I got back, the apartment was quiet. I walked into our room, and it was a sauna. I turned off the heat, moved the electric heater away from my bed, and went to sleep shortly after. When I got up this morning, I plugged the heater back in and turned it on for Izy. Hopefully he wasn't cold during the night when it was off.
Breakfast at the bakery across the street. Nothing is that exciting there I have decided, have tried most of the croissants and leave every time disappointed. I think the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Teaching was a mixed experience. The first teacher asked us to work individually with students. Turns out, mine lived in the United States previously, so english was not difficult for her at all. We were taken to a second classroom after. It was chaos. The teacher had no presence, and little control. They like to yell - the teachers - which doesn't work. The kids are sensitized. I catch their eyes, stare them down until they are quiet.
At one point, the teacher just walked out of the classroom on the phone, it's an emergency she said, and walked off. I know enough hebrew to understand she was not dealing with an emergency when she was talking then. She kept checking for messages and making calls. I thought it was rude, and I am beginning to see where the classroom behavioral issues come from.
Ben and I left a bit early since we weren't thrilled entirely with wasting our time or babysitting while the teacher takes personal phones calls during class . Food shopping and back to the apartment for a glass of wine.
Breakfast at the bakery across the street. Nothing is that exciting there I have decided, have tried most of the croissants and leave every time disappointed. I think the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Teaching was a mixed experience. The first teacher asked us to work individually with students. Turns out, mine lived in the United States previously, so english was not difficult for her at all. We were taken to a second classroom after. It was chaos. The teacher had no presence, and little control. They like to yell - the teachers - which doesn't work. The kids are sensitized. I catch their eyes, stare them down until they are quiet.
At one point, the teacher just walked out of the classroom on the phone, it's an emergency she said, and walked off. I know enough hebrew to understand she was not dealing with an emergency when she was talking then. She kept checking for messages and making calls. I thought it was rude, and I am beginning to see where the classroom behavioral issues come from.
Ben and I left a bit early since we weren't thrilled entirely with wasting our time or babysitting while the teacher takes personal phones calls during class . Food shopping and back to the apartment for a glass of wine.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
I love Ulpan
Michal is great (she teaches the beginner Ulpan). I greatly enjoy our ulpan teacher, there is this dry underlying humor that creeps into her teaching at times, a little wit that you catch when you listen closely.
Ulpan at 8:30 this morning. When Nir decided to show up and interrupt, Michal sat down looking frustrated that he was taking up our time. I got Nir's attention and asked him to come back when the lesson was done, he was interrupting our study time. I had mentioned to him the day before that the Ulpan was really important to us, for me it is the most important part at this juncture. He said yes, but it is also a time when he can speak with the whole group. In retrospect, that's not a valid point since a portion of the group is in the other class for advanced speakers. But Ulpan is not a time for announcements, it's a time for Hebrew, doing anything else during that time would be an abuse of the system in my opinion.
Off to Ahva school, where I was asked to work with kids on English - another lord of the flies experience, Arielle was a natural - when we left they almost tackled her with a group hug. I stood alone as one student kept coming over and giving me high fives between joining in on the group hug. Arielle and I haven't spent much time together, so we went for lunch at the Burrito place. It was good, I just wouldn't call it a burrito. It's the old analogy, if you told me you were giving me chicken, but it tasted like good chocolate cake, I might be disappointed. I went in with the mentality of trying something entirely new, and left pleased. On the way back, we talked about things after like jobs, and travel during Pesach - it's the big question for everyone, where to during the break.
I ran into Alisabeth and Nicole coming from the post office with a package receipt. It was closed, so I agreed to meet them back there at 3:30 when it opened. In the meantime, I went to the library. En route, I stopped for chocolate milk, which comes in little bags. You bite off some of the plastic, and suck out the milk. I stopped outside the grocery store as a white truck swerved through, followed in hot pursuit by a few cop cars. They drove up on the sidewalk, spun through the light, and kept following the truck as it weaved it's way towards the school. I asked someone on the street, and they said they didn't know what had happened, but that there were gun shots earlier down the street. Very exciting, later, I saw the police drive back much slower, with a few people cuffed in the back of the car.
I went into the Library.
Hadeel and Noor have been looking for you, Mira told me, the librarian in the children's section. They were my friends from the first week. I decided to wait and see if they would come today, and did some work in Hebrew while I was waiting.
My phone arrived! I am reconnected with the world, I have google maps. It's very exciting, no longer carrying around dead weight.
Back to the library, and then Hadeel showed up, with a different sister. We worked together on things (there was some confusion, angry parents because we said we couldn't translate english to hebrew for their kids in the middle) and they taught me some arabic. I should study arabic like I study hebrew the kids told me. I tried to say I want to, but my hebrew is still not that great. Arabic is their first language, Hebrew their second and English their third. In some respects the education here in Israel is far more intense and superior in nature to what is offered in the states.
Walked home with Dan from the other group, mentioned the party and talked about playing some cards later. We shall see.
Ulpan at 8:30 this morning. When Nir decided to show up and interrupt, Michal sat down looking frustrated that he was taking up our time. I got Nir's attention and asked him to come back when the lesson was done, he was interrupting our study time. I had mentioned to him the day before that the Ulpan was really important to us, for me it is the most important part at this juncture. He said yes, but it is also a time when he can speak with the whole group. In retrospect, that's not a valid point since a portion of the group is in the other class for advanced speakers. But Ulpan is not a time for announcements, it's a time for Hebrew, doing anything else during that time would be an abuse of the system in my opinion.
Off to Ahva school, where I was asked to work with kids on English - another lord of the flies experience, Arielle was a natural - when we left they almost tackled her with a group hug. I stood alone as one student kept coming over and giving me high fives between joining in on the group hug. Arielle and I haven't spent much time together, so we went for lunch at the Burrito place. It was good, I just wouldn't call it a burrito. It's the old analogy, if you told me you were giving me chicken, but it tasted like good chocolate cake, I might be disappointed. I went in with the mentality of trying something entirely new, and left pleased. On the way back, we talked about things after like jobs, and travel during Pesach - it's the big question for everyone, where to during the break.
I ran into Alisabeth and Nicole coming from the post office with a package receipt. It was closed, so I agreed to meet them back there at 3:30 when it opened. In the meantime, I went to the library. En route, I stopped for chocolate milk, which comes in little bags. You bite off some of the plastic, and suck out the milk. I stopped outside the grocery store as a white truck swerved through, followed in hot pursuit by a few cop cars. They drove up on the sidewalk, spun through the light, and kept following the truck as it weaved it's way towards the school. I asked someone on the street, and they said they didn't know what had happened, but that there were gun shots earlier down the street. Very exciting, later, I saw the police drive back much slower, with a few people cuffed in the back of the car.
I went into the Library.
Hadeel and Noor have been looking for you, Mira told me, the librarian in the children's section. They were my friends from the first week. I decided to wait and see if they would come today, and did some work in Hebrew while I was waiting.
My phone arrived! I am reconnected with the world, I have google maps. It's very exciting, no longer carrying around dead weight.
Back to the library, and then Hadeel showed up, with a different sister. We worked together on things (there was some confusion, angry parents because we said we couldn't translate english to hebrew for their kids in the middle) and they taught me some arabic. I should study arabic like I study hebrew the kids told me. I tried to say I want to, but my hebrew is still not that great. Arabic is their first language, Hebrew their second and English their third. In some respects the education here in Israel is far more intense and superior in nature to what is offered in the states.
Walked home with Dan from the other group, mentioned the party and talked about playing some cards later. We shall see.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Bouncing around Ramla
Woke up for day 2 of volunteering. There was some miscommunication between Nir and I, so I woke up earlier than I needed to be.
Arrived at the school, and was asked to work with a student. She was nice, very zionist, told me I must come home (make Aliyah) and live here in Israel. We need young people here. Her enthusiasm died slightly upon hearing that I am in fact above the age for army, but she still pressed me to consider staying. We continued working on english stuff.
Bell rang.
I returned to the classroom, and asked how I could help the teacher next. She seemed uncertain, and just yelled at some kids across the courtyard to come over, gave me worksheets, and sent us back to the library. They didn't want to be there, refused to work in english and were a nuisance. After a few attempts at getting them to read, I took back the worksheets. This startled them, and then I gave them silent treatment. This scared the hell out of them I think. They are used to screaming and yelling, but no one every silently stared at them with a look of disappointment. They looked visibly concerned and freaked out. I slowly explained that I was here to help, but I would treat them as adults. No one was forcing them to stay. I will not waste their time, and they had better not intend on wasting mine. Someone translated to make sure the message was clear.
At that point, I had the attention of those that remained completely, we went over some passages on polar bears (odd) and then I had them each talk about themselves for a minute or two. Afterwards, some students stayed to translate the passage to hebrew for me, and help me out a bit.
Nir picked me up, and we went to where we do Ulpan. We met with a teacher - Ilana, Izy and other Jonathan - who asked us to become teachers. She asked them to teach french and spanish, Ilana made it clear that even composing a simple sentence correctly with understanding takes time and a lot of grammatical knowledge. Not something you can learn in a reasonable amount of time when meeting only weekly. When it got to me, I explained that I had no ideas for "teaching english" as I didn't know what we were even doing until moments before. I also made it clear that it was a trial week, and we hadn't decided to stay. I am worried that Jonathan and Izy will be tied down, just as Ilana will be, as the only speakers of those languages with fluency who can teach as native speakers. It might be better that the program is not publicized until after they decide what they want to do.
Went back there at 5 this evening for a lecture on politics by Ofer. My mind wandered quite a bit. After ten days of birthright, I have been inundated with lectures on politics and other cultural aspects of Israel. We spoke afterwards for a few minutes.
Waiting to cook dinner and decide if I will subscribe to Lost or not via itunes, going to try to proxy into the US and watch lost over ABC, but am worried it will lag a lot.
Arrived at the school, and was asked to work with a student. She was nice, very zionist, told me I must come home (make Aliyah) and live here in Israel. We need young people here. Her enthusiasm died slightly upon hearing that I am in fact above the age for army, but she still pressed me to consider staying. We continued working on english stuff.
Bell rang.
I returned to the classroom, and asked how I could help the teacher next. She seemed uncertain, and just yelled at some kids across the courtyard to come over, gave me worksheets, and sent us back to the library. They didn't want to be there, refused to work in english and were a nuisance. After a few attempts at getting them to read, I took back the worksheets. This startled them, and then I gave them silent treatment. This scared the hell out of them I think. They are used to screaming and yelling, but no one every silently stared at them with a look of disappointment. They looked visibly concerned and freaked out. I slowly explained that I was here to help, but I would treat them as adults. No one was forcing them to stay. I will not waste their time, and they had better not intend on wasting mine. Someone translated to make sure the message was clear.
At that point, I had the attention of those that remained completely, we went over some passages on polar bears (odd) and then I had them each talk about themselves for a minute or two. Afterwards, some students stayed to translate the passage to hebrew for me, and help me out a bit.
Nir picked me up, and we went to where we do Ulpan. We met with a teacher - Ilana, Izy and other Jonathan - who asked us to become teachers. She asked them to teach french and spanish, Ilana made it clear that even composing a simple sentence correctly with understanding takes time and a lot of grammatical knowledge. Not something you can learn in a reasonable amount of time when meeting only weekly. When it got to me, I explained that I had no ideas for "teaching english" as I didn't know what we were even doing until moments before. I also made it clear that it was a trial week, and we hadn't decided to stay. I am worried that Jonathan and Izy will be tied down, just as Ilana will be, as the only speakers of those languages with fluency who can teach as native speakers. It might be better that the program is not publicized until after they decide what they want to do.
Went back there at 5 this evening for a lecture on politics by Ofer. My mind wandered quite a bit. After ten days of birthright, I have been inundated with lectures on politics and other cultural aspects of Israel. We spoke afterwards for a few minutes.
Waiting to cook dinner and decide if I will subscribe to Lost or not via itunes, going to try to proxy into the US and watch lost over ABC, but am worried it will lag a lot.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
First day: Lord of the Flies
I am sitting back in the apartment, drinking some very strong tea, and reflecting on the first day of volunteering, the activities which will comprise the bulk of my time for the remainder of my time here.
After getting in last night around 4, and going to sleep sometime after 5, I decided to sleep in. Well, tried to sleep in - it was another cold morning in the apartment, which I don't mind typically, except that occasionally the shivering wakes me up in the middle of the night and then it can be hard to fall asleep again.
I made breakfast (I accidentally purchased small eggs, so my 4 egg omelet was closer to a two egg omelet with large eggs, and then headed to a meeting at the first school. I feel like us focused on just teaching english is an under utilization of our collective skills. I am in complete agreement with Feynman that when you are a stuck on a difficult problem, you should return to the basics - whenever he was working on a difficult physics problem, he would go back and teach basic physics and many times going over the fundamentals helped clarify something in the deeper problems. But as a trained electrical engineer, and trained sociologist / anthropologist with experience in business, consulting, and many other things, teaching english is an under utilization of our potential. I could be helping these kids minds grow, working with them on understanding from a different perspective some of the tensions that exist in this country from an outsiders perspective. There is so much I could do (once I have a better command of the language) in broadening their horizons more than helping them with english. It's just a tool, english. Thinking doesn't require a language.
But, I was respectful throughout the meeting and didn't say anything about working in other departments.
Afterwards, I went to check mail with Ben and then it was to the Arab Kadima. They were playing my favorite game, Lord of the Flies. Chaos ensued, but it was controlled chaos. I think the kids were a little more energetic than normal because we were there. I worked with some kids on some english, and then asked them to show me the arabic alphabet. The kadima is an after school program for kids that come rough familes, or facing other problems at home. Building self confidence is really important, so letting the students teach me something, and showing them that I am really interested in what they know is a great way to do that. And, I get to learn some arabic - though I better study, i think they have high expectations of their student!
I had a Lafa on the way home - I ordered it entirely in Hebrew which was very cool. And, come to think of it, it was cheaper than when I got it the first time and did it in english. It's like I am gaining membership to a secret society, and they have a great group discount at a falafel place near you!
I have been trying to watch Lost, but can't find a good site - I saw most of the recap, but then youtube took down the last section. If I proxy into the US, I can get to the official website and watch it, but the connection is really slow. I will have to figure out what I am going to do so I don't go into withdrawal.
After getting in last night around 4, and going to sleep sometime after 5, I decided to sleep in. Well, tried to sleep in - it was another cold morning in the apartment, which I don't mind typically, except that occasionally the shivering wakes me up in the middle of the night and then it can be hard to fall asleep again.
I made breakfast (I accidentally purchased small eggs, so my 4 egg omelet was closer to a two egg omelet with large eggs, and then headed to a meeting at the first school. I feel like us focused on just teaching english is an under utilization of our collective skills. I am in complete agreement with Feynman that when you are a stuck on a difficult problem, you should return to the basics - whenever he was working on a difficult physics problem, he would go back and teach basic physics and many times going over the fundamentals helped clarify something in the deeper problems. But as a trained electrical engineer, and trained sociologist / anthropologist with experience in business, consulting, and many other things, teaching english is an under utilization of our potential. I could be helping these kids minds grow, working with them on understanding from a different perspective some of the tensions that exist in this country from an outsiders perspective. There is so much I could do (once I have a better command of the language) in broadening their horizons more than helping them with english. It's just a tool, english. Thinking doesn't require a language.
But, I was respectful throughout the meeting and didn't say anything about working in other departments.
Afterwards, I went to check mail with Ben and then it was to the Arab Kadima. They were playing my favorite game, Lord of the Flies. Chaos ensued, but it was controlled chaos. I think the kids were a little more energetic than normal because we were there. I worked with some kids on some english, and then asked them to show me the arabic alphabet. The kadima is an after school program for kids that come rough familes, or facing other problems at home. Building self confidence is really important, so letting the students teach me something, and showing them that I am really interested in what they know is a great way to do that. And, I get to learn some arabic - though I better study, i think they have high expectations of their student!
I had a Lafa on the way home - I ordered it entirely in Hebrew which was very cool. And, come to think of it, it was cheaper than when I got it the first time and did it in english. It's like I am gaining membership to a secret society, and they have a great group discount at a falafel place near you!
I have been trying to watch Lost, but can't find a good site - I saw most of the recap, but then youtube took down the last section. If I proxy into the US, I can get to the official website and watch it, but the connection is really slow. I will have to figure out what I am going to do so I don't go into withdrawal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)