shabbat shalom 12.01.08

Hi everyone,

It's been a nice week. I escaped from the chill of Jerusalem (and the traffic chaos due to Bush's visit) by spending three days at Ein Gedi.

It was for work, in fact; I'm doing a case study for the Delos Initiative to put Ein Gedi on the list of "sacred landscapes". But the first day was spent relaxing in the hot mineral springs and enjoying the oxygen rich desert air of the Dead Sea. It is calming and invigorating; I've gone here before when feeling a bit peaked.

My friend Susanna Nasser also came along, in more need of a break than me perhaps. I could see how even just one day at the Dead Sea does a person good; she visibly relaxed within hours.

We explored the kibbutz botanical garden (weird stuff like baobabs and banyans; the oasis is tropical and has plants and animals you do not see elsewhere in Israel). She went back the morning after we arrived, and I buckled down to work collecting information.

It was the first time I had taken my new Mazda on a long road trip and the car was impressive. Usually I arrive at my destination exhausted. The Lantis was built for long hauls, and sailed along like a cruiser with better kilometrage too. I was able to go straight to the office when I got back to Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Miserable weather, rain for several days. I've had laundry drying since last Sunday and it still isn't dry. At last we have sun although it is cold (about 9oC) and I hope laundry will finish this weekend.

I will be hustling today, won't write much. I stood down from the chair in AA (too much on my plate this year with the EU grant, I'm pulling in my horns elsewhere). To my amusement, we elected a Muslim Turkish lady to chair in my place. She's good; it's just that originally this meeting was to prepare the Orthodox Jews for shabbat, and over the last year's I've chaired it (a Christian) now handing over to Alith (a Muslim). AA is ecumenical, if nothing else in Jerusalem is.

Anway, Alith is a Turkish news reporter and has to go up to Galilee today to cover Bush's visit to the Christian sites, so she asked me to chair for her. No problem. Looks like the Friday pre-shabbat AA meeting will be alternatively chaired by a Muslim or a Christian. (And if you want to know why we've been elected over the years, it's because we both take the service work seriously. The young Orthodox Jewish yeshiva students who are most of our Friday meeting are rather flaky and unreliable, so during the periods they ran the shop, they made a mess. When a kid makes a mess, he calls for mom. Doesn't matter if Mom is a Muslim....)

That's about it. I've got to start my special diet for the upcoming gastroscopy on Monday. Meat and potatoes, no vegetables or fruits. Gosh, that part of it isn't too bad. It's the fasting on Sunday that is gonna do me in.....

By the way, no comments on the Bush visit. Personally I don't think the man has the good sense God gave lettuce, but I still have to catch up with the newspaper, so I've nothing to say at this point.

shabbat shalom,
Linda
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