shabbat shalom 15.05.08

Hi everyone,

Phew, what a week. I got an infected hand from a cat bite last Tuesday, which became quite nasty by the weekend. Since my doctor didn't work on Independence Day (ours in Israel ), I scrounged some antibiotics from a hospital nurse friend of mine. This saved the hassle of going to the hospital emergency unit and spending hours, when I knew darn well my problem and the fix. Foolishly, I stopped taking the antibiotics after three days when my hand started healing, and of course the infection came right back. So I'm just now getting over it. Lesson one: watch out for cat bites; Lesson two: do the full course of antibiotic even when you don't think you need it. Rebbe geld.

As for the cat who bit me - he was new. Poor little street cat who was rescued with a severe facial wound, diabetes, and FIV. He was kept in a bathroom for two months while the rescuer tried to find him a home. He's a sweet little kitty who just wanted a home of his own, and is perfectly tame and gentle. He ws just frightened that first night, and now is friendly and happy, and can hardly believe his luck, in fact. He hops on my bed and steals my breakfast like he's been doing this all his life. Another hard luck case who just found heaven.....

Went off to Mt. Carmel on Monday, a site visit to decide on monitoring protocol for several areas of forest thinning in our reserves. (After all these years, real forestry work.) Although I was still in pain from the hand infection and wobbly from the antibiotics, it was great to get on the mountain and see the forestry in action, felling and hauling trees with a donkey engine, chipping and so forth. We did a dry run on the monitoring methods. About four hours in the field, and then my colleague and I were turned loose to go home, having lunch on the way in the Druse town of Daliyat HaCarmel .

Druse are an odd people. They keep themselves to themselves. A Druse is born a Druse, there is no conversion to become one. Druse only marry other Druse, and it has been that way for 800 years. So they look different from other people in the area. More Central Asian, perhaps. Genetic studies on Druse show them quite different also, more closely related to the people of prehistoric South Asia . They have roots in Persia . Their religion is an offshoot of Ismaili Islam, peculiar in some ways such as belief in reincarnation. Probably as a result of persecution and massacres in the tenth century, they closed their religion to outsiders and became secretive about its tenents. To this day, only the elders over 40 are inducted into its details. They do not identify themselves as Arab, which makes sense in view of their history. They are full citizens in Israel , including men doing regular army service. They also are powerful in Lebanon . In all, a respected minority in Israel , and Daliyat HaCarmel looks like it. Although perched on the mountain, the town is prospering and is a popular attraction for other Israelis who like the Druse food and craft work. But they go far beyond the "ethnic" businesses; I have known a few respected Druse scientists and my office, our department head in charge of environmental education is a Druse.

Weather has continued fine. This time of year it is a pleasure to be outdoors, until the intense heat of summer begins in late June. We are Mediterranean , so all the annuals have turned brown now, but most trees are broadleaved evergreen and afford some shade. The barley and wheat have been harvested and the land will be fairly dormant until the rains begin again in November.

Bush is in town and driving us all crazy. Not so much because of what he is doing, but the traffic in the city is totally disrupted. Jerusalem is congested anyway; now bus lines have been cancelled and entire roads in central Jerusalem are closed. People cannot get to work at the university. What a mess, and all for one person….I hope what he delivers makes it worth the trouble.

Not much more to mention. I have my head in my work. Must buckle down and finish two articles before the end of summer and the conference circuit starts up again. I've been flitting around with the European project and not getting my own work done, so now is the time to switch gears.

Still, the next few months should be quiet and time to make steady progress.

Shabbat shalom,
Linda

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