November 19, 2016
This week I'll be a bit absent maybe. Bear with me. I'm looking for a place to hide from politics for a few days. Trump's denunciation of the actor Dixon in Hamilton who chided the vice president in the audience last night explaining the fears of his people, was more than I can bear. to tweet "Apologize!" is far too reminiscent of my nightmares of big brother.
Spent last evening with the family of linguist Ruvik Rosenthal, who introduced me to an entire library of etymology in Hebrew. Hebrew which seems like a simple language, is so flexible and full of possibilities. i so wish i could play with it the way i'd like to. We were explaining to our six-year old grandson about how things sound alike but may or may not be connected, like the word for wealth and the word for happiness. he loved the language games but i'm not sure that he bought the distinction.
November 20, 2016
Spent the morning scrambling to secure our apartment and our neighbors and our security system and our refrigerator's leftovers for our departure. then the afternoon getting to the airport and the endless lines and then the evening flying to Barcelona. Ole' . The night was for exploring the university square where the students skateboard and picnicking even though the weather was threatening. We ate at a place called 'fidel' that served wonderful sandwiches even though they really wanted to close down after midnight. The owner had been on his feet for 13 hours and I didn't figure out how to sympathize with him in Catalonian.
November 21, 2016
With our wonderful alternative adopted children, we see completely different Barcelona. macrobiotic zen restauranton c/muntaner 12. There was also a cafe on some avenue that serves coffee with quaker instead of milk. The museums are closed and it is a bit rainy, so what we see is not what the tourists usually envision.
At the port in the evening we visited a friend who took us to a tiny restaurant while we hear about how the entire fishing industry has disappeared and the area has been gentrified.
November 23, 2016
Days are too full - the Miro Museum devoured me, and we walked down the hill to the city afterward with amazing sights at every different turns. Dinner at Theresa's was magnificent, just as lunch as some small Argentinian cafe was lovely in its own way. Ah, Barcelona is a wonderful place to visit - it opens your mind. But it's time to go home.
November 24, 2016
We returned to the fires of Israel. In the cab on the way home I invited my cousins from the north to take refuge at our place. It's clear some of the fires are arson, and i keep thinking how I used to type up the certificates for trees planted in Israel - my mother kept the records and I typed them out - in honor of the birth of... in memory of the your beloved grandmother - those trees are long gone now. We're saving the people, we're good at that, but the trees, the trees - how long have we been working at sowing and growing these trees - and now this whole idea of reclaiming the land is in danger. how terrible...
November 25, 2016
Yes, there are arsonists. Yes, they are Arab. Yes, there are Arab villages inviting displaced Jews to stay with them. Yes, there are many homeless - but no one was killed - the injuries are mostly smoke inhalation and they are being treated.
I invited friends from the north to stay with us, but they all pooh-poohed my invitation and claimed to have better and closer friends on kibbutzim.