Pictures from today

Here are edited versions (Photo Shop for iPhone) of 4 pictures I snapped today in and around the hospital.

I hiked all the to the top of the main stairwell, and all the way to the bottom. At the top were 2 doors. The locked one obviously led to the elevator mechanism room. The other door was wide open to the room you can see in the 2nd picture. The 1st pic shows a close-up of the floor-tile pattern, the same one used throughout the hospital wards.

Since the door at the other end of the room led directly out onto the roof, it was, of course, locked. But the window right next to it was wide open with no screen. I could easily have climbed through it out onto the roof, but I restrained myself. Instead, I reached out through it with my phone held as high as possible and snapped the 3rd pic you see here, a sweeping view of most of the Kinneret (the "Sea of Galilee") with the rim of the hospital roof in the foreground.

The last picture shows the sunset behind הר מרון Mt. Meron. I took it just a few minutes ago, from the balcony next to my unit's dining room, but it's essentially the view from my room!

Har Meron from the hospital

Here's the view of הר מרון Har Meron, the highest point in Israel west of the Jordan River, as seen from the balcony on the other side of my hospital unit's dining room.

The Kinneret from the hospital

On both sides of the dining room of my unit at the hospital there are outdoor balconies. The post and the next show the views from these balconies. In this view you can see Akhbara and the cliffs behind it. Further away is the Kinneret (the "Sea of Galilee"), including Tverya ("Tiberias") on the right.

A totally new adventure

I'm on a totally new adventure. It really all started a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't know then what a different experience it was going to be.

For some reason, my left elbow tends to get really dry. I try to remember to put moistening cream on it, but the cream is greasy, of course, so I often put off doing it, even for days! I think I'll be more diligent from now on.

Here's what happened. The skin cracked, and some nasty little germs managed to get established in there. I noticed, of course, that it was infected, but I figured it would heal up shortly. Boy, was I wrong!

Last Wednesday, I finally made an appointment and went to see the doctor. Our regular family doctor isn't in on Wednesdays, so I saw Dr Darmon instead. We communicated quite nicely in Hebrew, he scolded me for not coming in sooner (which I deserved!), he gave me a prescription for Augmentin (a strong antibiotic), and he told me to make an appointment with the surgeon on Sunday.

By Thursday morning, I had taken 3 doses of the antibiotics, 2 on Wednesday and 1 Thursday morning. As I was having Internet connection issues while trying to teach my 1st student (such timing!), I saw a drop of yellow pus on my desk. A quick look at my elbow confirmed the problem -- the skin had broken. As soon as possible I put alcohol on it and continued to do so repeatedly throughout the day.

I realized that the danger of an even more serious infection had now increased. In the evening, at a time when I knew the nurses' clinic at the Maccabi (out HMO) office in town would be open, I had a 3-hour break between classes. So I drove into town, parked on Palmach Street (where it's free), walked down to the Maccabi office, and waited my turn to see the nurse.

As soon as the nurse saw my elbow, she immediately said I must see the surgeon. I had to wait a while until he was free, but I passed the time pleasantly enough thanks to my iPhone. ;-) As soon as the surgeon saw my elbow, he said he was sending me to the hospital!

The ER wasn't very busy, so I moved through pretty quickly. They admitted me to the hospital and told me I'd probably be having surgery the next day. The doctor also told me not to eat anything after midnight.

So, late Friday morning, wearing nothing but a hospital robe (even my earrings and wedding ring had to be removed!), I was wheeled down surgery. The surgeon triple-verified my identity (of course I know my 9-digit ID number by heart since it's used EVERYWHERE here!), the anesthesiologist had me sign giving my permission for general anesthesia, they wheeled me into the operating room, and I scooted myself over onto the narrow operating table. They hooked up the IV, put the plastic mask over my nose and mouth, and after a few deep breaths I was out!

When I woke up, I was lying comfortably on my bed in the recovery room. I felt like I had just awakened from a long, refreshing, deep sleep. Of course there was some pain in my elbow, but Ruti, the nice nurse who was there, gave me some liquid Optalgin (a common pain-reliever here in Israel). I had a fairly long and pleasant conversation with Ruti, mostly in Hebrew. Then the guy from hospital transportation took me back up to my room.

I felt just fine and was, of course, hungry. But they told me I should just drink a little water first, which I did. I later ate a little fruit but didn't eat a full meal until dinner, which I enjoyed thoroughly. I have always liked the hospital food here (having eaten a lot of David's food when he has been hospitalized here). Of course, I liked the cafeteria food when I was in college, too, so it figures.

Today (Shabbat) I'm also feeling fine and typing all this on my iPhone! Breakfast was also good.

This may not seem like such an adventure to some of you out there, but it marks a couple of important milestones for me personally. This is the very 1st time I have been hospitalized since I was born (in a hospital) more than half a century ago. It's also my 1st time under general anesthesia since I had my tonsils out (NOT in a hospital but in the doctor's office) when I was only 3 years old.

An interesting concert

Saturday night, there was a concert at our synagogue. Two great singers, our rabbi, Israel Horovitz, and a former student of his from way back in Argentina, both sang for us. The room was packed with people, and the music was varied. Included were traditional Yiddish melodies, modern Israeli favorites, and several others. For example, we heard "If I Were a Rich Man" (from "Fiddler on the Roof") -- sung in Yiddish, which seemed somehow appropriate, even though the song was certainly originally written in English. We also heard "I Did It My Way" -- in Spanish! How's that for cross-cultural?! There was even a combination of a song about a Yiddish mama and an Italian mama song! Anyway, it was an enjoyable evening.

An interesting film

Last Shabbat afternoon, David and I went down to the Cinematheque in Rosh Pinna to see an Israeli movie. The title of the movie was כלת הים, which means literally "Bride of the Sea". I suspect, though, that there's some allusion that I'm missing. At any rate, according to the Cinematheque website, the movie was in Hebrew and Arabic, with English subtitles. In fact, it was mostly in Hebrew, with some Arabic, and the subtitles were in French! Nevertheless, we were able to follow the story quite well.

The story was about a secular Jewish family in Jaffa, the mixed Jewish-Arabic part of Tel Aviv-Yafo. The family owned a car-repair shop and employed an Arab man and his son, who was 21. The family's daughter also worked there as the desk person. Without getting into too much detail, let's just say that it was a rather dysfunctional family, and that a mixed romantic relationship was a pivotal part of the plot. Add in the Jewish-Arab question and it's hardly surprising that you get a pretty sad story.

The movie was very good. The acting was great, the story was gripping, the characterizations were real and human, and the pace was well controlled. We enjoyed the movie, and I felt that the ending was appropriate, realistic, and hopeful. If you get the chance to see it, I highly recommend it!

The perils of English

This is about something I actually saw a week and a half ago. We were at the Golani Junction (between highways 77 and 65, west of Tiberias), waiting to turn left (north) onto highway 65. The car right in front of us was a rental car from some small company that I had never heard of before (and whose name I also, mercifully, don't remember!). The reason I knew this was their sign, which was in Hebrew and English. In English, their slogan was -- I kid you not! -- "In your way!" :-)

Medicine against homophobia

While I was walking up and down, exploring the Gay Pride Festival yesterday in Tel Aviv (see my previous post for more details on that), someone handed me a box. I put it into my backpack and only checked it out after we got home.

The picture below shows the flyer that was inside the box. The big picture in the middle shows you what the box looks like. It's about the size of a medicine box. In English it says: "GAYvil: Liqui-Gels", as you can see. Below that, it says, in Hebrew "a new medicine against homophobia". On the green strip, the Hebrew says "contains 20 capsules full of pride". In the green circle on the left, it says (again in Hebrew) "Is homophobia making you nauseated? 2 capsules a day and this will pass." On the lower left, it says "For details, peruse the flyer inside the package."

On the other side of the box, the title and slogan in the same English-Hebrew combination is repeated but smaller. In addition, there are the following words (my translation):

Warnings:

* It is recommended to take it out of the closet (or the cabinet) carefully.

* Do not use the gel capsules as a lubricating material.

* Side effects: the medicine can cause good taste (especially in clothes).

* It's OK to combine this medicine with OptalGay.

That last one is referring to their other "medicine", OptalGay, a play on "Optalgin", a popular pain medicine here. You can see a picture of its box at the top of the flyer shown above.

On another side of the box, the Hebrew translates to "capsules with unique homo-empathetic qualities".

And what, you may ask, was in the box besides the flyer? A variety of brightly colored jelly-beans, of course! :-)

It wasn't until I looked at the BACK side of the flyer that I saw who was sponsoring this. It's Clalit, one of the major HMOs here in Israel (we're not members of this one, but of Maccabi). They have apparently recently opened a new especially gay-friendly clinic right there beside the park where the festival was taking place. Here's a picture of the back side of the flyer -- my translation is below:

Clalit is proud to present:

Meir Park Clinic

The most equal clinic in the City

New! a clinic friendly to the gay community, in cooperation

with the Center in Meir Park. Come to receive health care in a different atmosphere.

In the clinic, you will find an attentive, open, and understanding doctor.

Meir Park Clinic. Feeling good. Feeling at home.

The clinic is open Sunday through Thursday

until the late evening hours

and on Friday until noon.

Come to visit us in the Gay Center.

For appointment scheduling, dial: 057-9900328

E-mail address for all questions: ganmeir@clalit.org.il

For additional details:

clalit.co.il/20plus

Clalit

Best for the community

Tel Aviv Gay Pride 2010

Although we've been here in Israel for four and a half years, we had never before attended the Gay Pride Festival in Tel Aviv. This year, we decided it was about time. So I arranged well in advance to take the day off from Berlitz (even though Friday is generally part of the weekend here, I am normally required to work Fridays). I got up in the morning just in time to capture this gorgeous sunrise over the Golan (taken from my study window!):

I had learned from Facebook friends that the parade would begin at גן מאיר Meir Park, a few blocks from the huge Diezengoff Center (really TWO large malls on opposite sides of the street connected by two indoor bridges across the street!). They told me I could park in the large parking lot at the central railway station and take the #18 bus from there, which is what we did. As soon as we got on the bus and I told the driver we were together (since I was paying for both of us), he asked if we were going to the מצעד "mitzad" (parade or march) and gave us a big grin!

We had to walk a few block to Meir Park, but we had no trouble, thanks to the trusty GPS on my iPhone! When we got there, we discovered that the Festival was happening there, at the beginning of the parade route, rather than at the end (although I think there was probably also a big party after the parade, too). So, we proceeded to explore the Festival. Here are some pictures that I took there. First, a broad view to give you a feel of the atmosphere:

This guy all in green was doing various poses. I couldn't resist taking some pictures. Here's one of them:
There were several people on stilts. Here's a picture of a couple of them:
And here's another one, in a beautiful gown that went nearly all the way to the ground. Although it's not so easy to see in this view, this is actually a man!

I love this guy's shirt (it says: The IDF is defending OUR values) because it's so TRUE. The IDF (the Israel Defense Force) really IS defending OUR values. Gays and lesbians have always served openly in the Israeli military. We've even had at least one openly gay general. More importantly, our rights is this country are VASTLY better than among ANY of our enemies, where GLBT people are seriously persecuted and even in mortal danger.

When we asked for more details, we learned that the parade was not scheduled to begin until 1:30 (and we had gotten there about 11:30). After exploring the Festival and sitting on a park bench there to watch people go by, we were both a rather tired, especially since it was quite hot, even in the shade. So, we decided NOT to march in the parade (we had planned to march with the bears' group) and to call it a day. We walked a few blocks to Diezengoff Center, a HUGE mall (really, TWO malls, one on either side of the street, connected by 2 enclosed pedestrian bridges over the street). We found a Greg's Cafe there, managed to get a table, and enjoyed a nice lunch in the coolness.

After eating, we took a bus back to where our car was parked and headed home. I guess we're getting old! LOL Anyway, although we wore ourselves out, we had a good time and were both glad that we had gone.

Construction update

The construction project across the street (and down a little) is proceeding rapidly. Here are a couple of pictures. This first one shows the entire upper row (along the street -- there's another row of lots behind that they're also building on):

This second picture shows just the first building (2 apartments upstairs, visible in the picture, and 2 downstairs, underneath these, facing the other way):

Newly re-opened now one-way street

Here's an update on the connection road to our neighborhood that was closed. It has been re-opened now, but, as they told us, as a one-way street (uphill ONLY!). Before re-opening it, they put in a curb and a paved side walk on the right side, and repaved the street. Here's a picture:

A perfect celebration -- the culmination of years of education

Last night, David and I celebrated our 14th anniversary (which was actually June 1). The fact that this may seem quite unremarkable to many readers is, in itself, a small miracle.

Let me unpeel the layers a bit. We'll start in the early 1970's, when gay people were generally considered depraved, sick, immoral, and undesirable people by all religious groups. The best one could hope for might be condescending pity. Gay and lesbian people at that time were usually deep in the closet, for obvious reasons. Those that weren't were hardly inclined to attend the religious institutions of any religion. In a way, David and I represent these 2 groups. He was very out at that time, and I was very deep in the closet.

A few from Christian backgrounds who did not want to abandon faith completely had formed their own denomination, the Metropolitan Community Churches. In 1972, with some help from MCC, the world's first GLBT synagogue, Beth Chayim Chadashim, was formed in Los Angeles. After some controversy, BCC was accepted as a member congregation in the Reform movement of Judaism. More GLBT synagogues followed. Much hard work was done by these pioneers, gradually opening the Reform movement to greater acceptance of queer people in all aspects of community life. We're proud to say that we were members of BCC until we moved to Israel!

Fast forward to 2010, in Nahariya, a lovely but hardly central and perhaps somewhat provincial city on the Mediterranean Sea, in northwestern Israel. David and I had talked to our rabbi, Israel Horovitz, some weeks before, letting him know that we wanted to celebrate our 14th anniversary with our congregation, and showing him our wedding pictures.

Last night was the big night, and it could hardly have been better. At the point during (or really mostly AFTER) the prayers, at which celebrations and announcements are done. Rabbi asked us to stand. He then gave a short speech in Hebrew and Spanish (the majority of the congregants, including rabbi himself, are from South America). I think I picked up most of the Hebrew. These were his main points. He told the people that David and I had decided to form a family (a powerful concept here in Israel!) 14 years ago. He said that we were an example for the congregation. And he urged us to continue our path.

Everyone congratulated us afterwards, including visitors (who were dear friends of the rabbi and his wife). I detected not one iota of animosity or avoidance whatsoever. People there were truly happy for us, and expressed their love and affection for us openly. We could not have felt more supported!

After the kiddush (wine, bread, and refreshments following the prayers), our friends Egonne and Yehudit (a couple, and the only other non-straight people in the congregation) had invited us to their house and told us that we could invite several others among our closest friends. In all, there were 9 of us, ranging from a straight couple in their late 30's or early 40's to a survivor of Auschwitz who is in her mid-80's. It was one of the best parties I've ever been to, with delicious food and lively and fun conversation! Thanks, Egonne and Yehudit!

Now, take a deep breath, and try to tie this all together. Could the people nearly 40 years ago have ever imagined such a possibility: a gay couple being honored by a mainline congregation in a small city on the fringes of Israel?

They say that the personal is political, and this story could hardly illustrate it better. And there's yet one more point that must be made. Many on the left of the political spectrum have expressed solidarity with the enemies of Israel and have been very quick to villify the world's only Jewish country. I'd like to remind all of you about the state of our GLBT sisters and brothers in the rest of the Middle East, including all of the countries that our trying to destroy Israel and, especially, in the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. These unfortunate folks are in an even worse situation than the gays in the U.S. were in in the 1970's. These people are in constant and real danger of being murdered, not only by their governments, but even by their own families. Many have actually fled (or attempted to flee) to Israel, the great enemy according to all that they have been taught, rather than face death in their own communities.

The same governments and other entities (such as the PA and Hamas) who are trying to destroy Israel are the very ones who also actively promote this extreme persecution of gays and lesbians. They are NOT friends of the queer community in any sense and certainly deserve no support whatsoever from the GLBT community. Please remember this!

For more information, check out this link:

http://www.gaymiddleeast.com/