Tel Aviv Diary - February 26-March 2, 2013 - Karen Alkalay-Gut
February 26, 2013
"Busy day, busy day, busy work, busy play.." that was a jello commercial in the fifties but it comes to mind now. I've been trying to get in some medical maintenance before the shite hits the fan. I mean the rockets are beginning to fall already and school is starting again and who knows what will happen tomorrow. And if I'm hysterical about getting everything together before a catastrophe, imagine all the other women in this area.
Amazingly sexist, isn't it? February 27, 2013 This weather can't last forever, but just a few days is nice.
I was looking out the window when i was doing a radio poem this afteroon and thinking of the gorgeoua weather and was talking about Sylvia Plath heating the frozen partment with gas. February 28, 2013 Yes, the warm weather is clearly a mood changer. The decision of the department of education to distribute vegetables and fruits to children at break time a few weeks ago also helps my mood. When I came to Israel the diet was incredibly healthy, but has descended into junk food in recent years. It is therefore a great pleasure to me that my grandchildren eat peppers and apples and cucumbers and oranges. At least something is clear in this country. I'm not happy about the political uncertainty in this country and the military chaos in this part of the world.
It never leaves my mind - what do the children in Syria eat?
March 1, 2013 Three aunts and three uncles in this photograph posted by my cousin Susan who has arranged a reunion on children of Holocaust survivors in the Holocaust Museum in New York this Sunday at 1.
These are people who survived the murder of 5600 people on May 6, 1942. These aunts were my father's sisters. On my mother's side some of them survived but were murdered later in the war at different camps, and other circumstances. These were survivors but had little joy left for the survival. That they managed to climb out of their grief and trauma is amazing to me. March 2, 2013 For a change and a diversion we went to Manta Ray (a restaurant on the beach) today. It's got such a great reputation and even though my last visit resulted in a stomach ache, the view is so great and the ambiance spectacular. So we started with a cocktail to clean out and strengthen the lining of our intestines. So far so good. We've been doing a lot of the local sights lately - Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the Yarkon Park, watching the boats, the ducks, and the children, breathing in the barbecues of all the Arab families who have enormous picnics on Fridays. On Saturdays the Jews come.