The Pilgrim Notes

The Roti That Wasn't

2008-09-05T23:59:00.007+03:00

A few nights ago we watched a Dutch cooking programme online that followed a somewhat flamboyant (and presumably well-known) TV chef to Suriname to sample the local delights. Idly surfing the Web tonight, I realised how easy rotis (chapatis) are -scratch that- Should Be to make. So it was decided. Tonight was to be Roti Night!

Just to explain: Roti, or Roti met Gevuld, is to a Surinamer (or the husband of a Surinamer) a dish composed of large, thin chapatis and a chicken massala curry (receipe according to a particular Surinamese mix). Eaten with the hands, it's basically enormous fun.

And so the little adventure began. My first attempt at making chapatis. Really quite easy. A little flour, salt, water... mix, roll, throw it in the pan. OK, so I was following an Indian chapati, but we were doing OK. It's not like we have quite the right massala sauce here either, but you make do.

Chicken & potatoes (very important ingredients in roti!), beans... some garlic, onion, chili peppers, tomatoes... It was all bubbling away nicely; we just had 20 minutes to wait.

And then... CRACK!

This happened:

Anyone for pizza?

5 years - 5 ans

2008-04-12T20:23:00.006+03:00

We spent the day at Massada and the Dead Sea with a very good friend of ours on the day of our fifth wedding anniversay. The evening before, we ate sushi and met up with some friends at the pool hall in the Merkaz.

Le jour de notre anniversaire de mariage, on l'a passé à Massada et à la Mer morte avec un très bon ami. La veille on est allé manger des shushis et on a rejoint des amis pour un billard.

Nineteenth day of the Fast – Dix-neuvième jour du jeûne

2008-03-20T23:52:00.000+02:00

Sunrise at 5:43. For the first time since we have been in Haifa, J. and I were together for the end of the Fast. In previous years I had to work on that evening (which is fun too, but obviously not the same as spending the evening of the last day of the Fast with J.).

In honour of the occasion, we went to a steak restaurant with some friends. Steak is not cheap in this country, but when it is a good steak it is worth the price.

Also, to end these 19 days of fasting, I would like to share with you an extract of a prayer that I particularly like to say:

"These are Thy servants, O my Lord, who have entered with Thee in this, the Most Great Prison, who have kept the fast within its walls according to what Thou hadst commanded them in the Tablets of Thy decree and the Books of Thy behest."

In this prayer, Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha’i Faith, mentions "the Most Great Prison", and this refers to the city of Acre, which he designated as such when he arrived in 1868 as a prisoner in the city (the city was a penal colony of the Ottoman Empire). In other revealed Writings, He describes this prison as the worse place of all the places He has ever been emprisoned or sent to in exil.

140 years later, we are in the same place…This place has changed a lot since then: it is pleasant to live here now, but the streets are steeped in history...

Le soleil s’est levé à 5h43 ce matin. Pour la première fois depuis que nous sommes à Haifa, J.et moi finissons le jeûne ensemble. Les années précédentes je devais travailler le soir du dernier jour de jeûne (ce qui était aussi amusant, mais forcément, pas la même chose que passer la soirée avec J.).

Pour ce dernier soir nous sommes allés à un steakhouse avec des amis. Les steaks sont hyper cher ici, mais quand c’est pour un bon steak, ça en vaut la peine !

Egalement pour finir ces 19 jours de jeûne, je voulais partager avec vous un extrait d'une prière que j’aime particulièrement réciter :

"Ô mon Seigneur, voici tes serviteurs qui ont pénétré avec toi dans cette plus grande Prison ; dans ses murs. Ils ont observé le jeûne comme tu leur as ordonné dans les Tablettes de ton décret et les livres de ton commandement."

Baha'u'llah, le fondateur de la foi baha'ie, mentionne dans cette prière "cette plus grande Prison" qui se réfère à la ville de Saint Jean d'Acre qu'il a désigné ainsi lorsqu'il est arrivé ici en août 1868 en tant que prisonnier. Dans d’autres Ecrits que Baha'u'llah a révélé il décrit cette prison (la ville était une colonie pénale de l'empire ottoman) comme l'endroit le pire parmi tous les endroits où il avait été envoyé en exil et emprisonné.

Ca me touche beaucoup qu'aujourd'hui, 140 ans plus tard, nous soyons là dans ce même endroit...Evidement, cet endroit a bien changé depuis, il est agréable à y vivre, mais les rues y sont chargée d’histoire, ça, il n’y a pas de doute à cela.

Finally got myself a egg cup - il vaut mieux tard que jamais.

Spices that we use - certaines de nos épices.

In this Most Great Prison - dans cette plus grande Prison

Le soleil se couche

The end. La fin.

Eighteenth day of the Fast – Dix-huitième jour du jeûne

2008-03-19T20:00:00.004+02:00

Sunrise at 5:44. What do you do when all the photos you took for today didn’t come out well? Not post any photos.

Le soleil s’est levé à 5h44 ce matin. Que faire lorsque toutes les photos que tu as pris pour aujourd’hui ne sont pas terribles et ne valent pas la peine d’être posté ? Ne pas les poster. (Ca se dit ça « poster » ?).

Seventeenth day of the Fast – Dix-spetième jour du jeûne

2008-03-18T21:47:00.006+02:00

Sunrise at 5:45. The khamsin is still here, so no spectacular sunrise or interesting sunset. I thought that the fasting would get easier and easier as the days past, but I have to say it’s not. Every year, I forget how tough the previous fast was (especially the last days). I guess that is precisely one of the reasons we fast! Because we forget how easy and comfortable our life is when we don’t fast. So the fast is a time when we can reflect and get things into perspective, refocus our lives and appreciate what we have.

Le soleil s’est levé à 5h45 ce matin. Le khamsin est toujours la, ce qui veut dire pas de photos de lever de soleil ou d’un coucher de soleil intéressant ! Je pensais que le jeûne deviendrait de plus en plus facile alors que les jours passent, mais je dois dire que ce n’est pas le cas. Chaque année j’oublie comment c’était difficile l’année précédente (surtout les derniers jours). Je suppose que c’est justement une des raisons pour laquelle on fait le jeûne ! Parce qu’on oublie comment notre vie est facile et confortable lorsqu’on ne jeûne pas. Le jeûne est donc un moment qui nous permet de refléchir, de remettre les choses en perspective, de se recentrer sur les choses importantes dans la vie et d'apprécier ce qu'on a.

We have been enjoying chocolate almost everynight!

In the gardens

Going home after an open house for a friend's brother who is visiting

Sixteenth day of the Fast – Seizième jour du jeûne

2008-03-17T20:58:00.000+02:00

Sunrise at 5:47. Exhaustion and a lot of work, that’s actually what has been happening these last few days. Oh, and The Khamsin is Back.

Le soleil s’est levé à 5h47 ce matin. La fatigue et beaucoup de travail ces jours, voilà ce qui, en fait, a été mon quotidien des derniers jours. Oh et autre chose. Le khamsin est de retour.

Nothing to see - Rien à voir

Fifteenth day of the Fast – Quinzième jour du jeûne

2008-03-16T21:00:00.008+02:00

Sunrise at 5:48. Sunset at 5:48. Exactly 12 hours of fasting.

Le soleil s’est levé à 5h48 ce matin et s'est couché à 17h48. 12 heures de jeûne exactement.

Sunrise...

...Sunset.

Sunrise...

...Sunset!

Fiddler on the Roof is playing in my head! J'ai Fiddler on the Roof dans la tête !

Fourteenth day of the Fast – Quatorzième jour du jeûne

2008-03-15T22:08:00.009+02:00

Sunrise at 5:49. This afternoon we went to Bahjí. The weather was nice, the day was clear, the air very pure. It was a perfect afternoon to be there. In the evening, some friends came over to watch the film Fiddler on the Roof and to eat Indian food, from the Indian restaurant that has now become an Indian take-away.

Le soleil s’est levé à 5h49 ce matin. Cet après-midi nous sommes allés à Bahjí. Le temps était bon et l’air était pur. C’est un après-midi parfait pour y être. Quelques amis sont venus chez nous ce soir pour regarder le film Fiddler on the Roof (Un violon sur le toit) et pour manger indien (du restaurant indien qui est maintenant devenu un take-away).

Sunrise

Poppadoms and chutney

Thirteenth day of the Fast – Treizième jour du jeûne

2008-03-14T20:28:00.006+02:00

Sunrise at 5:50. The weather is a bit colder again. As it should be. After all, we are heading toward the spring, but we are not in spring yet. The khamsin is gone; last night it rained and rained. It woke me up and I thought it was already time to wake up for the Fast, but it wasn’t.

Le soleil s’est levé à 5h50 ce matin. Le temps est de nouveau un peu froid. Comme c’est supposé l’être, après tout, ce n’est pas le printemps encore. Le khamsin est parti. Hier soir, il a plu et plu. Ca m’a réveillé et je pensais que c’était l’heure de se lever pour le jeûne, mais ce n’était pas le cas.

Sunrise

Twelfth day of the Fast – Douzième jour du jeûne

2008-03-13T21:25:00.006+02:00

Sunrise at 5:52. Today was a tough day for me. I had a headache all day. I have to admit that I was glad when it was time for the sun to set. Tomorrow is another day.

Le soleil s’est levé à 5h52 ce matin. Aujourd’hi c’était. J’ai eu un mal de tête pendant toute la journée. Je dois avouer que j’étais contente lorsque c’était l’heure du couché du soleil. Demain est un autre jour.

Sunrise

a friend reinvented the avocado tonight (lots of lemon and peper)

Eleventh day of the Fast – Onzième jour du jeûne

2008-03-12T20:35:00.000+02:00

Sunrise at 5:53. Has anybody else who fasts noticed that people who don’t fast and eat around you often feel really bad when doing that? I wondered about that is all day today. So, for those who were wondering, you should know it doesn’t make me feel any more hungry and it doesn’t make me dislike the people who are eating when I am fasting because I am and they aren’t.

Today, I visited three bakeries to look at finger food pastries and free tasters, and I talked about cookies and drinks almost all day for my work. That was quite fun!

Le soleil s’est levé à 5h53 ce matin. Est-ce que quelqu’un d’autre a remarqué que les gens qui ne font pas le jeûne et qui mangent devant toi lorsque toi tu jeûnes se sentient toujours mal de faire ça ? Pendant toute la journée, je me suis demandée pourquoi ces gens ressentent ça. Alors, au cas où vous vous demandiez, ça ne me donne pas plus faim ou ça ne me fait pas moins vous aimer parce que je jeûne et pas vous.

Hier, j’ai visité 3 boulangeries pour chercher des petits fours, j’ai regardé dégustations gratuites et j’ai parlé de gateaux et de boissons pendant presque toute la journée pour mon travail. C’est amusant !

Sunrise - big clouds

A few minutes after sunrise

Finger food

Something to talk about during meals in the dining room

Tenth day of the Fast – Dixième jour du jeûne

2008-03-11T21:21:00.007+02:00

Sunrise at 5:54. Tonight we had a great night of laughter in the dining room. It is truly a unique experience to be fasting with so many people around you who are also fasting. It is like fasting is bringing us closer to each other.

Le soleil s’est levé à 5h54 ce matin. Ce soir nous avons passé une bonne soirée à la cafétéria. C’est vraiment une expérience unique que de faire le jeûne avec autant de personnes autour de soi qui font aussi le jeûne. C’est comme si le jeûne nous rapprochait les uns des autres.

Upon arrival at the dining room we are offered some juice, water or tea to break the Fast

En arrivant à la cafétéria on nous offre du jus, de l'eau ou du thé pour briser le jeûne

Ninth day of the Fast – Neuxième jour du jeûne

2008-03-10T21:47:00.007+02:00

Sunrise at 5:55. It finally rained a little today. At round 9:00 a.m. After that the air was much cooler than expected so most of us were cold! The air is not as clear as it should be and the cars have drops of dried sand on their windows. Had never seen that before coming to Israel. This evening we had an office potluck dinner for a colleague who is moving to another department and two new colleagues who joined us recently from another department.

Le soleil s’est levé à 5h55 ce matin. Il a enfin plu un peu ce matin. A 9h00. Après ça l’air était plus frais du coup beaucoup d’entre nous avions froid ! L’air n'est toujours pas aussi clair que cela devrait l'être et il y a des gouttes de sable sèches sur les fenêtres des voitures. Je n’avais jamais vu ça avant de venir en Israel. Ce soir nous avions une soirée potluck, un de mes collègues va aller travailler dans un autre département et deux collègues nous ont récemment rejoint d’un autre département .

John cooked a curry during lunch break
John a cuisiné un curry pendant la pause déjeuner

On our way to our friends' home

View of the Terraced gardens and the Shrine of the Bab from their flat

View des jardins en terrasses et du Mausolée du Bab depuis leur fenêtre.

Eighth day of the Fast – Huitième jour du jeûne

2008-03-09T21:35:00.006+02:00

Sunrise at 5:57. I didn’t take any photos this morning. I had to concentrate on my eating. The weather is kind of weird these days. It is very warm. Not that I am complaining; it is just that it is unusually warm and therefore we are unusually unprepared for it. For example, we still have our winter bedding, clothes, shoes, etc.! People say it is the usual khamsín (dust storm) and I tend to believe that. Now I am waiting for the rain to come and clear the air.

Le soleil s’est levé à 5h57 ce matin. Je n’ai pris aucune photo ce matin, j’avais vraiment besoin de me concentrer sur le petit-déjeuner. Le temps est bizarre ces jours-ci. Il fait très chaud. C’est pas que je me plaigne, c’est juste qu’on n’est pas preparé pour ! On a toujours notre couette et nos habits d’hiver et nos affaires d’été sont au fin fond du placard ! Les gens disent que c’est le khamsín habituel et j’aurais tendance à les croire. Maintenant j’attend que la pluie vienne et nous ramène de l’air pur et frais.

Two photos taken on my way to the dinning room
Deux photos prises sur le chemin de la cafétéria

Seventh day of the Fast - Septième jour du jeûne

2008-03-08T22:12:00.013+02:00

Sunrise at 5:58. The day was very relaxing today. We spent time at home. In the late afternoon, I went to the Shrine of the Báb, where I saw a white dove sitting on one of the windows. It was the first time that I had seen one there and I wished I had my camera with me! After I got back, John cooked and we went for dinner at some friends’. We had a great time catching up.

Le soleil s’est levé à 5h58 ce matin. Aujourd’hui c’était un jour très relax. On a passé du temps à la maison. Je suis allée au Mausolée du Báb en fin d’après midi. J’y ai vu un pigeon blanc. C’etait la première fois queue j’en voyais un là-bas. Si seulement j’avais eu mon appareil photo avec moi ! A mon retour, John a commencé à cuisiner puis nous sommes allés manger chez des amis. C’était bien de les revoir, ça faisait longtemps.

Sunrise

Kamyar

Sixth day of the Fast – Sixième jour du jeûne

2008-03-07T13:28:00.010+02:00

Sunrise at 5:59 a.m. This morning, I was looking out of the window to see if I could catch a nice sunrise to take photos of while I was eating. The sky was pretty cloudy and I couldn't get a nice shot, so I kept on eating. After the sun rises, I am usually getting ready to say some prayers with John and so I am not concentrating on taking photos anymore or looking outside the window. Well, this time, luckily, I did, because the sun had come up nicely and I was able to take some great shots. Now I wonder whether it has been like that all the time but I never realised!

Today, after work (we work half days on Fridays) we went to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh in Bahjí, near ‘Akká and then we came back to pick up the rest of the girls to go to Herzliya for some food and lots of chocolate (at Max Brenner’s)!

Le soleil s’est levé à 5h59 aujourd’hui. Ce matin je regardais par la fenêtre pour voir s’il y avait des jolies photos à prendre du lever du soleil pendant que je mangeais. Le ciel était assez nuageux et il n’y avait rien à prendre alors je me suis concentrée sur mon petit-déjeuner. Après que le soleil se lève, je me prépare pour faire des prières avec John et je ne me concentre plus sur les photos à prendre ou à regarder par la fenêtre. Cette fois-ci, par hasard, en regardant dehors je me suis aperçu que les couleurs du ciel feraient une jolie photo. Maintenant je me demande combien de fois j’ai loupé une occasion pareille.

Ce soir après le travail (on travaille une demi-journée les vendredis) on est allés au mausolée de Bahá’u’lláh à Bahjí, près de ‘Akká, puis on est revenus à Haïfa pour récupérer les autres filles puis nous sommes allés à Herzliya pour un dîner et beaucoup de chocolat (chez Max Brenner) !

Sunrise

Sunset - leaving Haifa

Asian fusion food

I call it the chocolate factory

Fifth day of the Fast – Cinquième jour du jeûne

2008-03-06T19:54:00.011+02:00

Sunrise at 6:00 a.m. As predicted, I went to bed too late last night because of pottery - I had a great time though - and so things went really slowly this morning...

The weather is getting warmer here. The flowers are blooming. It really feels like we are going towards a New Year. The Baha'i New Year, Naw-Rúz in Farsi, which will be on the first day of spring.

Le soleil s’est levé à 6h00 ce matin. Comme prévu je suis allée trop tard au lit hier soir à cause de la poterie – c’était super pourtant – et du coup les choses allaient vraiment tout doucement ce matin.

Le temps commence à se réchauffer ici. Les fleurs commencent à sortir. On a vraiment l’impression que nous allons vers une nouvelle année. Le nouvel an bahá’í - Naw-Rúz en persan, qui aura lieu le premier jour du printemps.

John eats maple syrup on his pancakes...
John mange du sirop d'érable sur ses crêpes...

...I eat Hagelslag on bread.
...moi, je mange du hagelslag sur du pain.

In the Gardens
Dans les jardins

Fourth day of the Fast - Quatrième jour du jeûne

2008-03-05T13:04:00.012+02:00

Sunrise at 6:01. During the day - at lunch time - John and I come home. John reads and I work on an art project. We feel so lucky to be able to do that.

I am writing this post earlier today because I am going to pottery tonight and will be going straight to bed once I've come back! I cooked pasta this morning to take with me to the class. Luckily I thought to cook it before the sun rose so that I could test whether it was cooked or not!

Le soleil s’est levé à 6h01 ce matin. John et moi rentront à la maison à l'heure du déjeuner. John lit un livre et moi je travaille sur un projet artistique. On se rend bien compte que nous avons de la chance de pouvoir rentrer à la maison comme ça pour une heure.

J'écris ce billet plus tôt aujourd'hui parce que je vais à la poterie ce soir et j'irai directement au lit lorsque je rentrerai. J'ai cuisiné des pâtes ce matin pour prendre avec moi ce soir. Heureusement que j'ai pensé à les cuisiner avant que le soleil ne se lève pour que je puisse les gouter pour voir s'ils sont prêts ou pas !

Other people are also awake at 5 in the morning
On n'est pas les seuls à être debout à 5h du matin

Third day of the Fast - Troisième jour du jeûne

2008-03-04T20:06:00.014+02:00

Sunrise at 6:03. I was standing in the kitchen getting things ready for breakfast when I thought to myself "what if I turned the radio on or maybe put some classical music on" and then I realised that there was already some music on: the birds were singing outside! Needless to say that I won't be turning on any radio during Fast breakfasts. Little things that you discover when you get up before sunrise!

Le soleil s’est levé à 6h03 ce matin. J’étais dans la cuisine ce matin en train de préparer mon petit-déjeuner puis je me suis dit « et si j’allumais la radio ou si je mettais un peu de musique classique » puis je me suis rendue compte qu’il y avait déjà de la musique qui jouait : les oiseaux dehors ! Cela va sans dire que je n’aurais pas besoin d’allumer la radio pendant les petits-déjeuners pendant le jeûne. C'est le genre de petites choses que tu découvres lorsque tu te lèves avant le levée du soleil !

Sunrise. The moon is still with us.
Lever du soleil, la lune est toujours là

I don't have an egg-cup yet. Je n'ai pas encore de coquetier

I made some passion fruit juice
J'ai fait du jus de la fruit de la passion

Second day of the Fast - Deuxième jour du jeûne

2008-03-03T20:50:00.014+02:00

Sunrise at 6:04. It is so special to witness the city waking up. It makes me think of Jacques Dutronc’s song – Il est 5 heures, Paris s’éveille (It is 5 o’clock, Paris is waking up). There is something special about that song.

This morning I drank some coffee because I had to get ride of my headache that has been staying with me for two days now.

Not having to eat gives you more time during the day. It doesn’t mean of course that you don’t get hungry, but you get used to it.

Le soleil s’est levé à 6h04 ce matin. C’est une experience unique de voir la ville se réveiller. Ca me fait penser à la chanson de Jacques Dutronc – Il est 5 heures, Paris s’éveille. J’aime beaucoup cette chanson.

Ce matin j’ai bu du café parce que je voulais me débarrasser d’un mal de tête qui me poursuit depuis 2 jours.

Ne pas manger pendant la journée te donne plus de temps pour faire des choses. Evidemment, ça ne veut pas dire que tu n’as faim, mais au bout d’un moment tu t’y habitues.

passion fruit that I am hoping to eat tomorrow
des fruits de la passion j’espère manger demain

First day of the Fast - Premier jour du jeûne

2008-03-02T20:18:00.003+02:00

Sunrise at 6:05 a.m. it is peaceful outside. We are getting ready to eat and then pray.
In the evening, we ate at the lunch room (which for the next 19 days will be our dining room!).

No pictures from during the day - just one from the Shrine of the Bab...after sunset.

Le soleil s’est levé à 6h05 ce matin. C’est très paisible dehors. On se prepare pour manger puis
prier.

Ce soir on a mangé à la cafeteria (qui pour les 19 prochain jours servira des dinners).

Pas de photos prises pendant cette journée, juste une du Mausolée du Báb prise…après le coucher du soleil…

Best friends - meilleurs amis du monde

2008-02-22T19:36:00.000+02:00

Our local supermarket has become my best friend now. Why? because after two years of searching and searching in different stores in the city, I saw that they are selling this now:

Notre supermarché local est devenu mon meilleur ami. Pourquoi ?! Parce qu’après deux ans de recherche dans tous les magasins de la ville, j’ai vu qu’ils vendaient ça maintenant :

I was starting to wonder if I would ever be able to find this in Israel. I love it!

Je me suis demandée si jamais un jour j’en trouverai ici.

Chaussons aux pommes - apple turnover

2008-02-21T19:29:00.019+02:00

I thought that chaussons aux pommes were something very unique to France. Well, they are not. In English, they know it as apple turnover. I think the difference between these two deserts (the chaussons and the turnovers), is the shape. Chaussons aux pommes are semicircles and turnovers are triangles. Well, my first ever ever homemade chaussons aux pommes were rectangular (don't ask). Those who got a chance to eat them enjoyed them, which is always a good encouragement.

Soon, some more people will be able to try them as well. And that is a promise I made to the girls!

Je pensais que les chaussons aux pommes étaient quelque chose d’unique à la France. Et bien non, ils ne le sont pas. En anglais, on les appelle des apple turnover. Je pense que la différence entre les deux (chaussons et turnover) c’est la forme. Les chaussons sont fait en demi-cercles alors que les turnovers sont fait en triangle. Et bien les tout premiers chaussons aux pommes que moi j’ai fait étaient rectangulaires ! Ceux qui ont eu l’occasion de les gouter ont bien aimé, ce qui est toujours une bonne chose.

D’autres personnes auront bientôt aussi l’occasion de les gouter – je l’ai promis aux filles !

I am ready to sew away!

2008-02-19T18:09:00.013+02:00

This one is for Amy!

I am the proud owner of a sewing machine since yesterday!

I am so excited and I can't wait to start sewing. I know hardly anything about sewing; that is why when some months ago I wanted to start a project (sorry, it is still top secret! But you will hear soon about it!), I waited until my mother came to visit us so that she could help me out! And that is also why my parents-in-law bought me a book on sewing!

Did I mention I am excited? I can't wait to start sewing.

La terre a bougée aujourd'hui - Today the earth moved

2008-02-15T15:06:00.006+02:00

--- Updated on 17 Feb. 2008 - Mise à jour le 17 fev. 2008 ----

An unusual experience, at least for us. I don’t think we knew before coming to live here that Israel was at all related to earthquakes. In fact, as it turns out, the Carmel range is on a major fault line. Today’s was the second in a week, although we hadn’t felt the first one because we were sleeping soundly (exhaustedly?).

John and I were both still at work. The furniture and lights around us shook but nothing so serious as the powerful earthquakes we’ve seen on television.

One thing is for sure, though: These natural phenomena serve to remind us how small and powerless we are in the face of nature!

Une expérience hors du commun. Tout du moins pour nous. Je ne pense pas que nous avions avant de venir vivre ici que des tremblements de terre avaient lieu en Israël. Celui d’aujourd’hui s’était le second en une semaine (on n’a pas senti le premier, c’était pendant la nuit).

John et moi étions toujours au travail lorsque ce tremblement de terre a eu lieu. Les meubles et les lumières ont secoué, mais rien d’effrayant et comparable aux tremblements de terre puissants dont on entend parler à la télé.

Une chose est sûre, les phénomènes naturels comme celui d’aujourd’hui, nous rappellent comment on est tout petit et impuissant face à la nature !

---

First Published:
12:47 , 02.15.08
Latest Update:
16:20 , 02.15.08

Magnitude 5.3 earthquake hits IsraelStrongest earthquake to rock country in a decade felt from Nahariya in the north down to Beersheba; epicenter near Tyre, Lebanon. It is impossible to predict when strong earthquake will take place, says expert

Ynet

An earthquake registering 5.3 on the Richter Scale was felt by residents across Israel at 12:36 pm Friday. The trembling lasted for 19 seconds and shook structures in many major towns and cities.

Reports of shaking were received from Nahariya in the north down to Beersheba. Magen David Adom emergency services said there were no reports of injuries, but several people suffered from shock.

The quake's epicenter was located 15 kilometers (10 miles) northeast of the Lebanese town of Tyre, or 70 km (45 miles) northeast of Haifa.

"It was really cool. The quake was pretty strong," Shahaf Cohen of Haifa told Ynet. "Everything in our house shook; so did the house itself. A few aftershocks followed the initial quake. It lasted for about 20 seconds."

Shai Hadad of Petah Tikva was working at his computer when the quake hit. "The chair and bed moved from side to side. The felt another weaker quake," he said.

The quake was the strongest to hit Israel in a decade.

The earthquake also shook Beirut, other parts of Lebanon and the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Residents in some areas of Beirut left their apartments and went into the street after the first jolt shortly after midday, which lasted a few seconds. A Lebanese man and two Palestinians were injured in Tyre when a balcony fell on top of them, the Lebanese National News Agency reported.

Residents of Damascus, the Syrian capital about a 2-hour drive away, reported feeling the quake as well. There was no word on the magnitude, but it appeared to be a small quake.

On Monday night, a mild earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter Scale was felt across Israel, from Kiryat Shmona in the north to the Jerusalem area. Police and emergency centers in the north were flooded with phone calls from concerned citizens wishing to report the quake.

'Almost nothing being done in Israel'
Despite the recent quakes, experts explain that this does not indicate that a stronger earthquake is expected any time soon.

"This does not testify to an increase or a slowdown. In any case, we must take note of the situation, regardless of what happened," Dr. Dr. Ephraim Laor, who headed the steering committee appointed to prepare for earthquakes, told Ynet on Friday.

Thousands of earthquakes and seismic activities are felt across the world every year, some of them affecting nearby areas. One of them was Friday's quake, whose epicenter was located in southern Lebanon.

Despite the fact that earthquakes have claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people over the past century, it is still impossible to predict when a strong quake will take place.

Dr. Laor presented as an example the earthquake which took place in Iran in 2003, leaving more than 40,000 people dead.

"The quake was in a place where there had not been one movement in more than 2,000 years," he said.

And what is Israel doing in order to prepare for such a quake. According to Dr. Laor, almost nothing.

"Work has been done, but it was almost stopped completely following the Second Lebanon War. It has hardly been resumed, and I hope now it will be resumed," he added.

Dr. Laor noted that apart from reinforcing buildings, Israel must keep in touch with its neighboring countries and international organizations, as a disaster in the country is expected to claim the lives of some 16,000 people.

The Geophysical Institute of Israel reported that several areas in Israel were prone to earthquakes, including the Great Rift Valley which stretches along the Jordanian border.

"There are seismogenic areas in Israel where the likelihood for an earthquake is much greater than in other areas across the country. In general, the area which generates earthquakes is the Dead Sea Rift, but there are also other areas which suffer from quakes from time to time, like the southern Lebanon area," explained Dr. Uri Frieslander, the institute's director-general.

Dr. Frieslander believes that Friday's quake had nothing to do with the 7.3-magnitude quake which took place in Greece on Thursday.

Tal Rabinovsky, Hagai Einav and AP contributed to the report

12:47 , 02.15.08

From Ynet.net

Earthquake felt in Israel

Earthquake felt from Nahariya in the north down to Beersheba at around 12:30 pm; no reports of injuries
Ynet

At 12:38 on Friday morning an earthquake was felt by residents across Israel. The trembling lasted for a few seconds and shook structures.

Reports of shaking were received from Nahariya in the north down to Beersheba. Magen David Adom emergency services said there were no reports of injuries or damage in quake.

"It was really cool. The quake was pretty strong," Shahaf Cohen of Haifa told Ynet. "Everything in our house shook; so did the house itself. A few aftershocks followed the initial quake. It lasted for about 20 seconds."

The earthquake also shook Beirut, other parts of Lebanon and the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Residents in some areas of Beirut left their apartments and went into the street after the first jolt shortly after midday, which lasted a few seconds. Residents of Damascus, the Syrian capital about a 2-hour drive away, reported feeling the quake as well. There was no word on the magnitude, but it appeared to be a small quake.

Associated Press contributed to the report

---

First Published: 12:47 , 02.15.08

Latest Update: 13:14 , 02.15.08

From Ynet.net

Magnitude 5.0 earthquake hits Israel

Earthquake felt from Nahariya in the north down to Beersheba at 12:36 pm; no reports of injuries. Epicenter near Tyre, Lebanon
Ynet

At 12:36 on Friday morning an earthquake that registered 5.0 on the Richter Scale was felt by residents across Israel. The trembling lasted for 19 seconds and shook structures.

Reports of shaking were received from Nahariya in the north down to Beersheba. Magen David Adom emergency services said there were no reports of injuries, but several people suffered from shock.

The quake's epicenter was located 15 kilometers (10 miles) northeast of Tyre Lebanon, or 70 km (45 miles) northeast of Haifa.

The earthquake also shook Beirut, other parts of Lebanon and the Syrian capital of Damascus.

On Monday night a mild earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter Scale was felt across Israel, from Kiryat Shmona in the north to the Jerusalem area.

The quake's epicenter was located about 12.5 miles east of the south Lebanese town of Tyre. No injuries or damage were reported.

Police and emergency centers in the north were flooded with phone calls from concerned citizens wishing to report the quake.

Associated Press contributed to the report

2 years and 4 days - 2 ans et 4 jours

2008-02-14T21:58:00.010+02:00

We moved to Israel 2 years and 4 days ago. Where did the time go?!

On a déménagé en Israel il y a 2 ans et 4 jours.
Où est passé le temps ?

Meet Kermit - Kermit se présente

2008-01-17T23:06:00.007+02:00

Meet the new addition to the household.

Voici le nouveau membre dans le foyer.

Une galette des rois

2008-01-13T11:38:00.001+02:00

Une galette des rois à Haifa, est-ce possible ?! Oui, si un pèlerin bahá’í l'emmène pour vous dans sa valise depuis la France ! C’était vieux d’une semaine et on ;'a mangé froide, est-ce que c’était grave ?! Non, pas du tout. Une galette reste une galette, cela faisait des années qu’on n’en avait pas mangé et puis surtout, c’était le geste super sympa et attentionné de Ivan qui comptait !

A galette des rois (king cake) in Haifa? Can it be? Yes, if a Bahá'í pilgrim slips it in his suitcase for you from France. OK, it was a week old, a bit flat, and we ate it cold. Did that matter? Certainly not! A galette is a galette, and it's been years since we had one. And anyway, it was Ivan's lovely thought that counted.

Un artichaut, un élément de culture - The artichoke, a piece of culture

2007-12-21T15:30:00.008+02:00

L'autre jour il y avait des artichauts à vendre dans notre petit supermarché local. Personne ne semblait vouloir les acheter. Quoiqu'il en soit, n'étant moi-même pas un très grand fan d'artichaut (j'aime bien les feuilles mais pas le cœur d'artichaut !), je me suis demandée pourquoi en acheter mais finalement je l'ai quand même fait puisque je me suis dit que je pouvais introduire ce plat à John (au cas où il ne le connaissait pas encore) et puisque je savais plus ou moins comment les préparer parce que ma mère les a souvent préparés à la maison (après un ou deux coups de fils à ma mere la cuisson s’est bien passée).

John n’était pas très enthousiaste à l'idée de manger des artichauts lorsque je lui ai proposé ce plat pour midi, mais nous avons quand même tenté l'aventure et finalement il a bien aimé (les feuilles et le cœur !). Pour moi en revanche, j'ai de nouveau eu confirmation que je n'aime toujours pas le cœur ! Un pas de plus dans l'introduction de la culture française dans le couple.

The other day there were some artichokes for sale at our small local supermarket. Nobody seemed to want to buy them. Given that I am not a big fan of artichokes myself - I like the leaves but not the heart - I wondered whether I really wanted to buy any, but in the end I decided to give it a try since it was a good opportunity to introduce this new dish to John (in case he hadn’t had it before) and since I knew more or less how to cook it - with one or two calls to my mother, it all went well.

Initially, John wasn’t very enthusiastic about eating them when I suggested them for lunch, but in the end we decided to give them a try and as it turned out, he actually liked them (both the leaves and the heart!). As for me, I decided that I still don’t like the heart!

One step further in introducing French culture in the household!

Akko - 'Akká - Acre - Saint-Jean-d'Acre

2007-11-10T20:30:00.003+02:00

Although we've been here for over a year and a half now, we hadn't really taken the time to get to know the walled city north of the bay of Haifa. This is due in part to the fact that whenever we take the half-hour ride north around the bay, we are generally bound for the holiest spot for Baha'is, the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh, just beyond Acre, so this historic, unique and vibrant Arab town rather misses out on the attention it deserves.

Of course, I am speaking only for us two - many of our friends have been often, and our failure to go until today may simply be down to nothing more than a penchant for Saturday morning lethargy.

Though a mere 15 miles from Haifa and surrounded by Israeli new towns, to enter Acre is to leave the Jewish Isreal behind and submerge oneself in an Arab world; and not a solely Muslim one. We are assured by our sherut (minibus service taxi) driver that Christian and Muslim Arabs get on well together, and this is evidenced by the fact that he, a Muslim, is driving with the taxi firm of a very reputable local Christian.

Akko to the Jews, 'Akká to the Arabs, Acre in English, and Saint-Jean-d'Acre to the crusaders, this city has one of the longest histories in the region. The pleasant, waterfront restaurant where we take our lunch bears the settlement's famous Alexandrian Greek name: Ptolomais. But it first appears even earlier in history, 1500 B.C., listed as Aak by the Egyptians in tribute lists.

Over the centuries it played host to the struggles between various would-be occupiers of this region, until it became, for four hundred years, a quiet backwater of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire, famous only for being the remotest prison available to which to send the worst of the Empire's criminals, and for the foul stench that pervaded it. It was to 'Akká as prison-city that Bahá'u'lláh was sent in 1868, in the Ottoman and Qájár Persian authorities' (clearly vain) hope that he would perish unremembered and the teachings he espoused would lose their influence and fade away.

So what should you see here? Well, the Turkish baths offer a rather short but atmospheric and informative trip back to vibrant eighteenth- and nineteenth-century 'Akká social life (free entry, but don't forget a wallet full of shekels and some valid ID for the mandatory headsets); the al-Jazzar Mosque is certainly worth a visit and cheap at a quarter of the price of the baths; and there's the Ottoman citadel--originally built as a Crusader fortress--where Baháh'u'lláh was imprisoned for two years upon his arrival in Acre, and Jewish Zionist resistence fighters were held and executed during the British mandate period. Other significant excavation work is now taking place there on earlier periods in the complex's history.

Turning 30 / Avoir ses 30 ans

2007-10-18T00:19:00.012+02:00

So, finally my turn came. By pure coincidence, my thirtieth was a 'back to the roots' moment, as we found ourselves staying at the parental home for a short fortnight's holiday in Britain, and on the night I was surrounded by my oldest friends (and some of their new friends).

Alors, c'est enfin mon tour. Par pur hasard, mon trentième anniversaire a été un 'retour aux sources', puisque on s'est retrouvés chez mes parents pour un bref séjour de deux semaines en Grande Bretagne, et le jour même j'étais entourré de mes plus vieux amis (et quelques nouveaux amis à eux) :

And because neither Natascha nor Mum appear on these photos, here's one of them in Cambridge the day before.

Et puisque ni Natascha ni ma mere n'apparaissent sur ces photos, en voici une d'elles la veille à Cambridge :

I finally did it - Je l'ai enfin fait

2007-07-28T14:12:00.001+03:00

Ca fait déjà depuis quelques mois que je cherche, que j’observe, que je lis, que j’etudies, que je recule puis avance (dans les recherches), que je tourne en rond, que je me dis que si je veux le faire, il faut que je le fasse, sinon je ne le ferai jamais, que je regrette (de ne pas l’avoir fait), et enfin, aujourd’hui, je l’ai fait.

Voila… j’ai fabriqué un livre. Ah. Vous vous attendiez à autre chose? Desolée. Il s’agit de livres, rien d’autre.

It has been several months that I scearched, observed, read, studied, took a step forward and then a step backward (in my findings), that I turned round in circles, that I told myself "just dot it", that I had to do it otherwise I would never do it, that I regretted (for not doing it) and today I finally did it.

I made a book. What? What did you think I was talking about? Sorry. It's all about books. Nothing else.

When you start a new project, it has to be messy!

La créativité en ébullition

Ok, so the book is missing a cover...one thing at a time. I was so exhausted after this first try!

Hum, alors, il lui manque une couverture…une chose à la fois ! J’étais trop fatiguée pour continuer après ce premier grand effort !

To be continued...

A suivre...

Sambal Olek

2007-06-07T14:02:00.000+03:00

Hier j'ai enfin fait une chose que je voulais faire depuis des mois: faire mon propre sambal. Je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais j'avais cette envie de le faire moi-même, plutôt que de l’acheter. J'ai suivi une recette que ma mère m'avait envoyé mais je dois dire que je l’ai modifié un peu à la fin parce que le résultat final ne ressemblait pas à ce que l’image que j’avais en tête. Maintenant il faut voir si c’est mangeable…Une chose est sûre ! C'est super pimenté !

En Mai, fais ce qui te plait

2007-05-22T23:16:00.000+03:00

It has been more than a month since we posted something here. Is anybody still checking this blog?!?!

April and beginning of May has been quite busy with our voluntary work (not that it usually isn't).

We took some days off beginning of May to get a chance to explore Israel a bit. It was fun. We went up north (Jordan River Valley park and Safed) to and then we went down south, although not all the way south - "just" to the Dead Sea and Massada. Both these places were great places to visit. We got quite fascinated by the history of Massada and as for the Dead Sea, we had the typical swim (or should we say “flot”) and the mud bath.

Since that, we had the opportunity to go to two other new places: Dor beach and Sachne. We enjoyed both and we look forward to exploring more part of Israel soon!!

Ca fait plus d’un mois qu’on n’a rien écrit ici. Est-ce- que quelqu’un lit encore ce blog ?!?!

Le mois d’avril et le début du mois de mai ont été assez chargé pour nous (non pas que d’habitude ça soit calme à notre travail). Quoiqu’il en soit, nous avons pris quelques jours de conge début mai pour pouvoir aller explorer le pays un peu. Nous sommes allés au nord (le parc de la vallée du fleuve Jourdain et à Safed) puis nous sommes allés au sud à la mer morte et à Massada. Ces deux endroits valaient vraiment le coût d’y aller. L’histoire et la visite de Massada nous ont fasciné, et en ce qui concerne la mer morte, nous avons fait l’incontournable “baignade” puis le “bain” de boue.

Depuis, nous avons également pu aller à deux nouveaux endroits que nous n’avions pas encore visités: Dor beach et Sachne. Nous avons aimé les deux endroits et on espère pouvoir bientôt repartir explorer les alentours !

The Jordan River Park - le parc de la vallée du fleuve Jourdain

Our first barbecue for this year - Notre premier barbecue de l'année

John and a peacock.

Once a Van Kanten (my mum's maiden name), always a Van Kanten. This runs in the family!
C'est de famille.

Our room in Safed. Notre chambre à Safed.

Nice breakfast! Le petit-déjeuner.

Safed. Watch your step. Attention à la marche.

Browsing. J'ai rien acheter.

Street art. Quite impressive if you ask me. Pas mal, non ?

At the Candle shop. Amazin stuff, hilarious stuff, all made from waxe.

Le magasin de bougies.

People in the street. Des gens dans la rue

Massada. Photos courtesy of Taban and Michael.

Wow.
Impressive. Impressionnant.

We walked all this, starting at the green patch you can hardly notice at the top of the photo.

On a marché tout ça (depuis le bout de vert qu’on remarque à peine sur la photo.

A date with the moon. Rendez-vous avec la lune.

The Dead Sea. La mer morte.

La mer recule de jour en jour. Attention, danger de noyade !

La photo typique. On ne pouvait pas y échapper :-) . Photo courtesy of Taban and Michael.

Le produit de beauté typique. Là non plus on ne pouvait pas y échapper !

Dor Beach. On passe maintenant à Dor Beach :

Nice view. Jolie Vue.

Sachne. Et puis Sachne :

Le retour dans le sherut.

Pessah - pesach - pessa'h - passover - a year later - un an après

2007-04-03T22:42:00.000+03:00

It is Passover period again. Amazing how time flies. A year ago, Passover started on our wedding anniversary so we were unable to go to the restaurant we wanted to eat at to celebrate it. This year Passover started last night ( the Jewish calendar is similar to the Bahá’í calendar in that the days begin at sunset on the previous day) and this year's wedding anniversary we will be able to use public transportation (Passover finishes on Monday 9 April after sunset).

A few days ago, we noticed new items on the letterboxes at the entrance of our building. We presume it was in celebration of Passover. Note that our letterbox doesn't have one, which is fair enough because our neighbours know that we are Bahá’ís and that we don't celebrate Passover. Note also - although you might never have known this because we never mentioned it but - it was decided (by the committee that takes care of the building, or our neighbours?) that is was time to have our names on the letterboxes! So they decided to write ours: PILGR [new line] IMS. Which is totally cute.We remain nevertheless the ones who are living in the Deamers’ flat (they are the couple who used to live in our flat a very, very long time ago).

Naw-Rúz - New Year

2007-03-22T07:05:00.000+02:00

The Bahá’í New Year (Naw-Rúz in Farsi) celebrates the new year (obviously!) and the end of the Bahá’í Fast.

The Bahá’í calendar is as follows: 19 months of 19 days. That makes 361 days. I know. The remaining days to make it up to 365 are called the 'intercalary days' or Ayyam-i-Há (in Farsi). The intercalary days are a time to prepare for the month of the Fast which always starts on the 2nd of March, they are also a period of the year when you give presents to your loved ones and you show hospitality to others. It is a joyful period and there are usually a lot of potluck dinners going on here!

The Fast is a period where you enrich yourself spiritually.

In a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States in 1936, we read that:

"The fasting period, which lasts nineteen days starting as a rule from the second of March every year and ending on the twentieth of the same month, involves complete abstention from food and drink from sunrise till sunset. It essentially a period of meditation and prayer, of spiritual recuperation, during which the believer must strive to make the necessary readjustments in his inner life, and to refresh and reinvigorate the spiritual forces latent in his soul. Its significance and purpose are, fundamentally spiritual in character. Fasting is symbolic, and a reminder of abstinence from selfish and carnal desired."

Now, back to the New Year. The Bahá’ís entered the year 164 on the 21st of March. 164 because the Bahá’í calendar started at the time of the Báb – He created the calendar, and the year 1 coincides with the year his mission began, in 1844. It is all a bit more complicated or should I say detailed than what I have just written, but in any case it gives you a bit of an idea…

Happy New Year to you all!!!

Pottery by candle light

2007-03-04T09:42:00.000+02:00

Last Wednesday, the light was cut off for almost our entire pottery class (it came back 15 minutes before the end). Needless to say, we could not throw any pots (on the electric wheels), so we had to be creative.

Mercredi dernier, il y a eu une panne d'électricité qui a duré presque toute la totalité de notre cours de poterie (la lumière est revenue 15 minutes avant la fin du cours). Inutile de vous dire que nous n'avons pas pu utiliser le tour (électique) alors nous avons dû être créatifs.

This photo is courtesy of C.S.

The pursuit of happiness - A la recherche du bonheur

2007-02-19T18:06:00.001+02:00

Nous sommes allés voir le film A la recherche du bonheur avec Will Smith. Le film est tiré d’une histoire vraie qui – je suis sure, pour la plupart des spectateurs probablement traite tout simplement du “rêve américain”.

C’est tout à fait vrai, d’ailleurs, je ne dis même pas le contraire, mais en regardant le film plein d’autres idées et thèmes me sont passés par la tête, et je crois que ça faitlongtemps – pour ne pas dire la première fois – que je me suis surprise à regarder un film sous un autre angle. Il faut dire que je ne suis pas du tout le genre à étudier les films que je regarde, enfin, je ne pense pas. Je suis du genre à regarder un film, à l’aimer ou pas et puis basta. Je sais, c’est triste.

Bref, comme je disais, en regardant ce film, je me suis rendu compte que ce film traitait de beaucoup plus de thèmes que juste celui du “rêve américain”.

Par exemple, le thème de l’amour, de la paternité, l’importance de l’éducation des enfants, le bonheur, la confiance, l’encouragement, les conséquences des extrêmes de richesse et de pauvreté dans la société, comment et pourquoi la consultation entre les gens est importante (parce que sinon bonjour le chaos ) et puis aussi le thème de la confiance en l’autre (l’être humain !)..

En regardant le film, je me suis rendu compte que ces thèmes sont plus que jamais d’actualité – si puis je me suis rendu compte que ces tous thèmes sont largement abordés dans la foi baha’ie… j’ai trouvé que c'était plutôt cool…

We went to watch The Pursuit of Happyness, with Will Smith. The film is based on a true story, which, I am sure, for most viewers just talks about “the American dream”. It is true, I am not denying that, but while watching the film loads of ideas and themes came to my mind, and believe me that doesn’t happen often to me when I watch a film. I am not at all the kind of person that studies films; at least, I don’t think I am. I am kind the kind of person that watches a film, likes it or not, and then that’s it. It is sad, I know.

Anyways, I surprised myself watching this film from another angle and I realized that this film deals with many more themes than just the one of “the American dream”. For example, the theme of love, of paternity, the importance of the education of the children, happiness, trustworthiness, encouragement, consequences of the extremes of wealth and poverty in society, how and why consultation between people is important, and then also the theme of believing in others. So while watching the film, I realized that these themes are more current than ever with regard to our daily lives - and I also realized that all of them are largely addressed in the Bahá’í Faith… Pretty neat actually…

It has been a year - Ca fait un an deja

2007-02-11T12:49:00.000+02:00

It has been a year since we arrived in Israel. A year that we have been at the Bahá'í World Centre. It has truly been a blessing to be able to be here and to serve as volunteers. I know it might not be easy to grasp this for some of our friends or relatives (what is the big deal to be here, you might think), but for us it means a lot and we are enjoying every moment!

For the one year anniversary occasion, some of us decided to organize a brunch for our orientation group. We were more than happy that it happened in our flat. We all had such a good time! It was a perfect day, the weather was nice and sunny, and the company was excellent!

Given that it was a potluck brunch, we all contributed something. We were going to contribute a fruit salad, but in the morning I decided that this occasion would be the perfect one to have crêpes (as in French crêpes, not pancakes). Luckily, my mum had given me the recipe for it and all I had to do was try it out (on my own for the first time in my life)! Well, I think I can say that it was a success! The crêpes came out really well and they tasted good.

PS: It as also the excellent opportunity for some of us to drink or to try for the first time some mate!

John: And Natascha proved to be a truly expert pancake flipper!

Cela fait un an que nous sommes arrivés en Israel. Cela fait un an que nous sommes au Centre mondial bahá’í. Cela a vraiment été une bénidiction de pouvoir être ici et de pouvoir servir ici en tant que volontaires. Je sais que parfois ce n’est pas toujours facile de saisir ça (certains pouraient de demander ce qu'il y a de particulier et génial à ça) mais pour nous être ici compte énormement pour nous et cela signifie aussi beaucoup et on profite de chaque instant!

Etant donne que c’est un brunch potluck, chacun devait amener quelque chose. Nous avions décidé de faire une salade de fruits mais en me réveillant le matin je me suis dit que ce brunch était une occasion parfaite pour des crêpes! (des crêpes françaises, pas des pancakes). Heureusement que ma mere m’avait donne la recette il y a quelques années de ça et tout ce que j’avais à faire c’était de l’essayer (toute seule, comme une grande pour la première fois de ma vie – il y a un début a tout!). Ben, je pense que cela a été un succès! Les crêpes étaient parfaits et très bonnes.

PS: c’était aussi l'occasion parfaite pour certains d'entre nous de boire ou d'essayer pour la première fois du maté.

John: Et Natascha est devenue une pro pour faire sauter les crêpes !

Mate time!

Did he like it? Est-ce qu'il a aimé ?

A crepe and a delicious fresh home made scone from Muna

Standing: Romina, John, me, Harrison, Ee Lynn

Sitting: Allan, Soriah, Viquie, Muna and Jo-Anne

The Art Show

2007-02-03T22:57:00.001+02:00

Today we had the annual Art Show happening at the Baha'i World Centre. We had the chance to be here last year (it happened shortly after we arrived here from France), so this year was our second Art Show. Last year, we did not have anything to display - given that we had just arrived - but this year, I had two or three things! Pottery (and one gourd)! Last year Leili and Edward and Noel had some pottery on display and that is actually how I got all the info needed to go to the same classes with them a month later. Next year, I am hoping to have more pottery for display.

Anyways, this year's show was really nice. It had a very relaxed atmosphere and there was a lot of nice and impressive art. I got very inspired by one form of art that I particularly liked and I have already started investigating the possibility of doing it here. I'll tell you more about it in due course!

Aujourd’hui nous avons eu le festival d’art qui a lieu chaque année au Centre mondial. L’année dernière nous venions juste d’arriver avant que cela n’eu lieu, donc cette année c 'était notre second festival. L’année dernière nous n’avions rien a exposer – vu qu’on venait d’arriver – mais cette année j’avais deux, trois trucs. De la poterie (et une calebasse). L'année dernière Leili et Edward et Noel avaient exposé leurs poteries et c’est d’ailleurs comme ça que j’ai pu avoir toutes les informations nécessaires pour suivre les mêmes cours qu’eux un mois après !

L’année prochaine j’espère avoir plus de poterie à exposer.

En tout cas, le festival de cette année était vraiment bien. Il y avait une atmosphère très relax et il y avait de jolies choses d’exposées ! J’ai vraiment été inspirée par une des choses que j’ai vu et j’ai déjà commencé mes recherches pour savoir si je pourrais commencer cet art ici (pas dans une classe, juste à la maison). J’en reparlerai une fois que ça se concrétise !

The children's corner

Cute!
My gourd and Tricia's in the background

The pottery corner

The end. A l’année prochaine!

Happy anniversary - Joyeux anniversaire

2007-01-28T21:36:00.000+02:00

Mes parents ont fêté leur anniversaire de mariage aujourd'hui, et pour fêter l'occasion ils ont été se déchaîner en boite. Non, je plaisante. Ils ont été à un concert d'Enrico Macias, un chanteur bien connu en France et apprécie des jeunes et des moins-jeunes!

Avant d'aller au concert, je leur avais recommandé de mettre des chaussures plates et de ne pas oublier leurs briquets!

Comme John n'avait jamais entendu parlé d'Enrico, je suis allée le chercher sur le net et j ai aussi trouvé ceci:

My parents' wedding anniversary was today, and to celebrate it they went out clubbing like teenagers! No, I am kidding. They went to an Enrico Macias concert - Enrico is a famous singer in France who is loved by everyone.

Before they headed out to the show, I reminded my parents to wear flat shoes and not to forget their lighters!

As John had never heard about Enrico, I went online and I also found this:

What are the chances of... - Un debut de soirée à Haifa

2007-01-19T15:55:00.000+02:00

Parfois, il faut peu pour se sentir à la maison dans un pays étranger ! Comme par exemple entendre une “vieille” chanson française à la radio, dans un centre commercial à Haifa, Israel, un peu au milieu de nul part…

Pour les Français, je crois qu’il n’y a pas besoin d’en dire plus. Cette chanson devrait amener le sourire aux lèvres (ou pas), tellement c’est « vieux » comme chanson (ça date des années 80/90 seulement – donc en réalité c’est pas SI vieux que ça). Pour les Anglophones, je pari que ça a juste l’air bien dépassé…

Sometimes you need very little to make you feel at home in a foreign country! Like, for example, hearing an “old” French song on the radio, in an shopping mall, in Haifa, Israel…a bit in the middle of nowhere…

For the French, there is no need to say more, I think. This song should bring memories, as it is so “old”! For the English-speaking, I bet this song just sounds very out-of-date which is indeed the case! This song was very popular in the 80’s and the 90’s. The chorus goes like this: And you sing sing sing this chorus you like. And you clap clap clap, that's your way to like it... I know. Nothing to write home about!

http://www.debut-de-soiree.com/index.php

3.0.

2007-01-04T17:48:00.000+02:00

Cette année, je suis passée de la version 2.9 à la version 3.0 et je me porte bien :-)

J’ai vraiment passé une bonne journée. John m’a submergé de cadeaux, les collégues au travail sont venus me chanter joyeux anniversaire et m’ont offert un gateau fait bureau et des jelly beans. Le soir, nous sommes allés manger à Tatami. C’etait vraiment bon, on a apprecié chaque sushi!

On n’a pas tous les jours 30 ans !

This year, I was updated from the 2.9 version to the 3.0 version and I am fine :-)

I had a really nice day. John showeredme with gifts, my colleagues at work sang happy birthday and gave me anofficemade birthday cake and jelly beans. In the evening we went to Tatami. It was really good and we loved every inch of our sushis!

Heureuse ! Happy!

gateau fait maison et jelly beans - officemade cake and jelly beans

soupe miso - miso soup

tempura, parce que mon père l'avait recommandé - tempura, my dad recommended it

Notre super bateau, oh oh oh - our boat

Heureux ! Happy!

A year ago - Il y a un an

2006-12-31T13:54:00.000+02:00

It is amazing how times flies. A year ago at this time of the year we were in French Guiana/Surinam. We were living in French Guiana but were in Surinam for new year's eve. It was the second time we had the opportunity to go to Surinam together and we had a great time.

There was one thing that I wanted John to experience in Surinam (apart from the amazing food!) and that was the New Year’s eve, which is a very big thing over there.

On the day of the 31st, everybody gathers downtown to look and listen (and enjoy?!) the traditional firecrackers. It definitely comes from the Chinese culture that is part of Surinam.

C’est incroyable comment le temps passe vite. Il y a un an, à cette période de l’année nous étions en Guyane française/Surinam. Nous habitions en Guyane mais nous avons passé le nouvel an au Surinam. C’était notre seconde visite ensemble au Surinam et c’était vraiment cool !

S’il y avait bien une chose que je voulais que John vive comme expérience au Surinam (en plus de la nourriture) c’était la veille du nouvel an qui est vraiment un grand évènement là-bas.

Le 31 décembre après-midi, tout le monde se retrouve en ville pour regarder et écouter les pétards traditionnels. Y’a pas de doute que ça, ça vient de la culture chinoise qui fait partie du Surinam.

Roll it out! and let the party begin! Que la fête commence!

Follow the leader!

Bing bang bong

Pirates of the Caribbean with orange ear plugs -

Les pirates des Caraibes avec des bouches oreilles

Why would you want to leave your car on the street on that day?

Pourquoi est ce que quelqu'un laisserait sa voiture dans la rue ce jour-là?

After the big celebration downtown, people go home and have their own celebration (in a much smaller scale!) in the evening.

Après la grande célébration en ville, tout le monde rentre chez-soi et attend le soir pour célébrer le nouvel an

Fireworks before -Feux d'artifice

And After - et après

PS: The Bahá’ì new year is on March 21st - Le nouvel an Bahá’ì c'est le 21 mars :-)...to be continued - à suivre.

Festival of all Festivals

2006-12-25T22:34:00.000+02:00

There is a good article in the Jpost about the festival that is happening at the moment in Haifa. In the Wadi Nismas actually, one of the areas of Haifa. This event which is basically to celebrate Christmas, the end of Ramadan and Hanukkah, (read the JPost artcile to find out why) is VERY popular and is on until the end of December.

Vendeur d'olives (en t-shirt au mois de decembre!)

Tea, Coffee, anyone?

The crowd

The crowd 2

Sticky peanuts?

Some malabi

Fresh pomegranate juice

It's citrus time

The crowd again :-)

Follow me!

I hear it is Christmas...

Okay, go!

2006-11-29T13:36:00.000+02:00

Another YouTube post so soon? Yes, but it's really worth it!

It's been a while since I first saw this, but that time has only served to lead me to the conclusion that this is pretty much the Best Thing Out There. It hits the right spot.

They are called OK Go. Yes, they are real (in case you don't know that yet or you're not quite convinced). And here they go: And there's more of their stuff on YouTube...

« Encore un clip de YouTube ? Déjà ! vous entends-je crier ?
--Effectivement, mais je vous jure que ça vaut la peine ! »

Ça fait quelques mois déjà depuis que j'ai vu ce clip pour la première fois, mais ce temps n'a fait que le confirmer pour moi : c'est carrément la meilleure chose qui se trouve sur Internet ! Ça marrant, tout simplement.

Ce groupe s'appelle « OK Go » (« Ça y est, vas-y ! »), et c'est du vrai ! (au cas où vous le sauriez pas déjà et même si cela semble peu probable à première vue). Ils ont d'autres clips sur YouTube, et leur site Web est ici.

Does nobody really do it better?

2006-11-28T13:52:00.000+02:00

It's been a long time since I wrote anything, and I had promised more from YouTube imminently, without ever actually following up on that promise. And yet, I have something I wish to share.

I recently watched the latest James Bond film, which I enjoyed very much, especially as it reflects the atmosphere and the Bond of the novels--books which I came to appreciate many years ago--much better than any of the recent (post 1960s) films... After all, very early on the films took a quite different course, and it seems Bond has finally come home to roost, so to speak.

But whatever you think of the films, or the books, even if it is in fact, Not Much At All, this post is really about the music. And, more specifically the theme tune of The Spy Who Loved Me, Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better". A song I've enojoyed listening to ever since buying the James Bond 30th anniversary cassette (yes, *cassette*: I didn't yet have a CD player back then). And then I found this little number on YouTube:

Now, what do you think to that, our kid?

JP

Introducing...

2006-11-18T22:19:00.000+02:00

My mum is visiting us at the moment. It is great having her here! I love it that she can be part of the everyday live here for a few weeks. She is volunteering in different ways at the Baha'i World Centre during the day.

This week-end we rented a car... F.R.E.E.D.O.M!!! For the occasion, we went to Netanya to see if the tourist guide and the programme my mum had seen on TV is France were right (Netanya is the French rivieira of Israel). Well, I don't know about the rivieira thing, but it's true that many signs and ads are in French and that you could go by with speaking French to some waiters in some restaurants. We spent some time on the beach, watching the time go by. It was great.

After Netanya we decided to go to Herzliya, because we could(we had a car). We had a delicious hot chocolate at the Chocolate Bar, rested for a while before heading back to Haifa.

The next day, we decided to go to the Sea of Galilee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Galilee)and thus to Tiberias.

We've moved

2006-11-08T23:02:00.000+02:00

...from the pottery workshop back to Rachel's place. The workshop used to be at Rachel's place (the owner of the no-longer-extisting-Castra-mall-pottery-workshop) before they moved to the Castra mall and now we are back to the original place. Last week, we did not have pottery because they were not done with moving all the material but tonight we were able to go again. I think all of us from our group prefer this "new" workshop to the other one as there is more space for everybody. The only down side of this move is that it is a bit further than the Castra mall and also, there is no public transport, but that's alright for now as other potters from our group are kind enough to give us rides.

More space

More clay

The wheels

More space for to wedge the clay

Bright colours, I like that!

Mihal

Special request - my turn to be in denial

Storytelling and drums

2006-11-05T17:50:00.000+02:00

A few days ago, we had some dear friends here telling us about storytelling. They pointed out the importance of drumming in storytelling in Africa and this is how the evening ended!

Buckets of rain, thunder and socks

2006-10-29T22:53:00.000+02:00

L’automne s’installe petit à petit en Israel. Il fait nettement moins chaud qu’il y a quelques semaines et il pleut (comparé à un été qui a été complément sec, pas une goutte d’eau. Rien du tout). Il ne pleut pas tous les jours (heureusement) et quand il pleut, il pleut bien fort pour quelques minutes et puis un beau soleil chaud apparaît. Nous avons aussi beaucoup de tonnerre. Je crois qu’on n’en a pas entendu des comme ça depuis bien des années et en si grande quantité !

Qui dit automne, dit vêtements plus chauds. Nous avons commencé à sortir les petites vestes par-ci par-là, sans oublier les chaussettes. Je ne vous raconte pas l’état des pieds qui ont été à l’air libre pendant des mois et qui doivent maintenant se réhabituer à des chaussettes et des chaussures fermées…

L’appartement commence aussi à se refroidir, et nous avons maintenant sorti la couette (nouvelle acquisition).
L’avantage avec tout ça (le temps) maintenant c’est que forcement on est moins en sueur lorsqu’on marche dans les rues de Haifa !

Just outside our flat building

On Hatzionut Street

Feels like we are back in French Guiana

Haifa fait son cinéma

2006-10-14T22:05:00.000+02:00

Durant toute la semaine dernière, Haifa avait son Festival International de Films. C’est un évènement très populaire qui rassemble chaque année plein de monde dans les rues au Merkaz (en haut de la montagne). Il y a des stands dans le petit parc à coté de la cinémathèque, des concerts, des expositions... C’est vraiment une ambiance bon enfant.

Walking around in the park

Bags

John being caught eating a crepe

When India comes to Haifa

John being Malkovich

99 Luftballons (or: How I Came Round to YouTube)

2006-10-09T07:54:00.000+02:00

A few weeks back we were in a car with friends one morning with the radio on, and a familiar, comforting sound began to drift out at us...99 Luftballons by 80s German pop group "Nena". It was a nostalgic moment for us all, and for me it was the beginning of something else: a love affair with...YouTube!

I've been sent a number of links to videos on YouTube, most frequently by Leila, but until that moment I had not really appreciated its full significance. Now, however, I have a whole list of treasures waiting to be shared with you - and they'll be appearing here over the coming days and weeks.

For now, though, I'd simply like to offer you the song that turned me on to YouTube:

Although I think the original is better, I thought you might like to hear the English version too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14IRDDnEPR4

(JP)

One Raku and a wedding

2006-09-25T09:08:00.000+03:00

Over the last 3/4 weeks I went to France for my very good friends' wedding - Imene and Jerome - and John and I went to a Raku firing with some other good friends.

Jerome and Imene coming out of the townhall. They have just said "I do".

Jerome and Imene posing before getting into Jerome's fancy cabriolet :-)

My other very good friend, Audrey, was also at the wedding.

And my other very good friend, Julien, was also there...

And our other friends were there too...

The was my second raku firing. It was again great fun. This time there were many other people - those from the other classes - and we also had some non-potter guests. Raku is something really unique. It takes a fair amount of time, it gets really hot when you deal with the kiln and the pots and also - I discovered it this time - it can be a bit stressful (maybe stressful is not the right word), but what I mean with this is that it is quite a responsability to take other people's pots out of the kiln WHEN you have to do it fast WITHOUT dropping them during the process AND all this while it is terribly HOT!

I look foward to the next raku.

Check out some of these links as well:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43072845@N00/sets
/72157594306150108/detail/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peisser/sets/
72157594293419113/detail/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leilit/sets/
72157594297394965/detail/

Rosh HaShanah (Head or First of the Year)

2006-09-23T22:18:00.000+03:00

22nd–24th September 2006

FRIDAY WAS A Bahá’í holy day, in the Holy Land, commemorating the Martyrdom of the Báb, the forerunner and herald of Bahá’u’lláh. We attended a beautifully sunlit, but nevertheless solemn, programme in the vicinity of the Shrine of the Báb in Haifa around noon, and then visited the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh in the afternoon.

However, that is not what I am going to talk about here, since others surely have elsewhere; this weekend is a particularly holy weekend in the Holy Land since it sees not only a Bahá’í holy day, but also comes just before the beginning of the Muslim month of Ramadan, and linking the two is the Jewish celebration of Rosh HaShanah, or the New Year.

AFTER A BRIEF interlude, the Jewish festival season is picking up once again, beginning (altogether appropriately, I feel) with the New Year. In fact, the months of September and October this year contain the vast majority of the Jewish holy days, it would seem, and hopefully I’ll be quick enough on my feet to write a little bit about each one.

Rosh HaShanah is a two-day holy day, celebrated on the 1st and 2nd days of the month of Tishri, marking the Jewish New Year. This year (2006 A.D.), it started at nightfall on Friday 22nd September and continues on until dusk on Sunday 24th September. This is because the Jewish day, like the Bahá’í day, starts at sundown the evening before the actual day itself (an interesting fact to note when considering the origin of the practice of recognising various ‘eve’s, like Christmas Eve, in the West).

This year’s Rosh HaShanah marks the beginning of the Jewish year 5767. And you thought anything above 2000 sounded like a big number?! Sorry, but the Jews beat everyone else hands down in the “whose calendar is bigger?” stakes.

Rosh HaShanah is also known as Yom HaZikkaron (Day of Remembrance) or Yom Teruah (Day of the Sounding of the Shofar – the shofar is a large ram’s horn sounded 100 times in the synagogue). For more info on that, go here.

Also, please view this interesting Web page for information about customs and beliefs related to this solemn day, including the judgement of the world for the year to come and the practice of saying a special prayer, the Amidah - Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are two holy days when Jews say different liturgies (prayers and readings) than other days of the year.

The big question, of course, is: Why two days? Well, this apparently has to do with the method of deciding when the new year takes place and the time it used to take to notify everyone: The Jewish calendar, like the Islamic calendar, is essentially lunar (although the Jewish calendar has leap years that put it back in sync with the solar year when it gets too far out, unlike the Islamic calendar, which is purely lunar). Being a lunar calendar means that the timing of major events – holy days and even the beginnings of months – is decided based on when the new moon is ‘spotted’; the New Year is not automatically on a certain date every year, but rather, it depends on when the moon is spotted.

In the case of Jewish events, the timing would be determined at the Temple in Jerusalem and then the news sent out throughout the country. In a time before the advent of telegraph, telephone, radio, television and then Internet, once the date of the holy day was determined, it might take some time for far-away communities to be informed, by runner, that the festival had begun. This could only have become further complicated with the Diaspora in the early years A.D. Thus, the Jews came up with the novel method of having a two-day celebration – thereby ensuring that communities that only heard the good news shortly before the end of the day, or even on the next, would still be able to celebrate the holy day in accordance with Jewish law. This was apparently the case for other holy days, but only with Rosh HaShanah has it stuck.

ONE OTHER INTERESTING point of note is that it appears that the beginning of the Jewish year may have been different earlier in history. For example, whilst Rosh HaShanah is celebrated at the beginning of the month of Tishri, the first month of the Jewish calendar (seems logical, no?), Leviticus 23.5 states that the spring festival of Pesach (Passover) is celebrated in the first month (it is celebrated in Nissan, now the seventh month), implying that the calendar may once have begun with Nissan. It is also interesting that the extra month of Adar II, which is inserted in leap years, comes just before Nissan, possibly at once time the end of the year, rather than being in the middle, as it is now…and the Rabbis apparently discussed all this in the Talmud without resolving the issue entirely…although Passover is considered to be the beginning of the year for festivals. All very intriguing!

IN ANY CASE, returning to the present day, Rosh HaShanah is notable to the non-Jew principally by the fact the streets are empty and everything is closed; we had been thinking of visiting Nazareth today (a Christian town and therefore one we hoped would be open on this Jewish very holy day). Alas! There were no sheruts to be had (we didn’t book one in advance like some others, nor had we hired a car) and so we instead spent a leisurely day in sunny Nahariyyah, up the coast from Acre, from where we could see Rosh HaNiqra, the attractive headland which marks the border with Lebanon.

(Posted by J.)

It's all about childhood / Ah l'enfance !

2006-09-02T14:24:00.000+03:00

A friend of ours went back home (to the US) for holidays and I had made a special request to her hoping that my request wasn't too silly or "so out of date". Anyways, when she came back, I wondered whether she had forgotten about what I had asked for, until I received this in internal mail:

L'une de nos amies est retournée chez elle (aux Etats-Unis) en vacances et je lui avais fait une demande spéciale, en espérant que c'était pas une demande trop bête ni 'dépassé'. En tout cas, lorsqu'elle est revenue, je me demandais si elle avait oublié ma 'commande' ...jusqu'à ce que je reçoive ça par courrier interne :

As I said in the title...it is all about childhood! I used to eat these when I was still in Suriname and I loved them! I think I also had them in France but then they stopped selling them in the shops, which of course broke my heart!

I remember going to the US once and bringing a box back home and enjoying every loop of it! This time I am torn. Should I eat them or should I save them?!

Comme je l'ai dit dans le titre... Ah l'enfance ! Je mangeais ça quand j'étais encore au Surinam, et je les adorais ! Je crois en avoir mangé en France aussi, mais ou bout d'un moment on ne les trouvait plus dans les magasins, ce qui m'a brisé le cœur, bien sûr !

Je me rappelle qu'une fois je suis allée aux Etats-Unis et que j'avais ramené une boîte. J'ai apprécié chaque petit loop ! Mais cette fois je me demande... est-ce que je devrais les manger... ou bien les garder ?

Ramat Hatishbi on Shabbat

2006-09-02T10:45:00.000+03:00

Sitting here at 10.30 a.m. today, idling away another quiet Shabbat morning, I thought I'd show you our tranquil, leafy neighbourhood - Ramat Hatishbi (which, a little scarily, gets a brief mention -here- on Wikipedia). We live at the bottom end of Rekhov Shunamit (Shunamit Street), and from our living room window you can see, opposite and a little to the left, the end of Rekhov Ovadia (Obadiah Street). Shunamit is one-way down, while Ovadia is one-way up, and the bus stops just outside our flat on its way round the loop.

Note the general leafy greenness, and the clear blue sky. Although there's no-one out there right now, if you swap Sunday for Saturday, you'll be unsurprised to hear that one of the popular Shabbat pastimes is...car washing.

As you look down Shunamit to the right, past and over the appartment blocks -- these ones managing to display enough evidence of creativity on the part of the architect to escape the usual accusation levelled at many local residential builings of being 'functional' in appearance -- the line of deep blue that you can see stretching across the bottom of the sky is the Mediterranean Sea.

We actually swam in the Israeli part of the Med for the first time last Shabbat (See previous post). I know, it took us six months to actually get into the water! - but in our defence, it is often full of jellyfish, and last weekend was confirmed Jellyfish-free on Haifa's Carmel Beach (Hof HaCarmel), which is more-or-less the section of sea you're looking at, south-west of the city.

So, that's our little corner of Ramat Hatishbi.

Swim swim swim

2006-08-27T23:01:00.000+03:00

Yesterday we went for a swim at the beach for the first time since we have been here. John and I are not really beach people, especially if it involves laying in a baking sun for hours doing nothing, so going to the beach for a swim was not top top on our priority list. But don’t get us wrong, we love the sea, the sound of the waves, the fresh air and we have been a couple of times to the beach to enjoy that.

After a great deal of fresh air, sun and nice company (we went with a friend), we headed home and we were just in time to enjoy the sunset from our flat!

Back to pottery

2006-08-24T18:04:00.000+03:00

Last evening, Wednesday, we were finally able to go back to pottery! What a treat! Pottery was definitely the thing I missed most during the Israel-Lebanon conflict! Unfortunetaly, not all from our usual group (Baha'is and Israelis) could make it so it was "half a reunion" with Michal, our teacher. It was nice to catch up with her and to get back to our pots that had been sitting there for over a month. I was able to trim my two pots that were waiting for me to take care of them and to make two other (small) ones.

(more of the pottery workshop on our flickr account!)

Holy Pomegranates!

2006-08-24T17:46:00.000+03:00

A few days ago at our local superette at the World Centre, we were able to get some pomegranates from the Baha'i Gardens. Holy Pomegranate! No...not really, just simple, nice fruits that grow on the trees in the Gardens! I like this idea of being able to get these fruits in the superette. They look nice on the trees but we might as well eat them! Why waste them?

There were also some avocados some time ago but I don't have any photos of them. They were as tasty as the pomegranates!

D-Day - Jour J

2006-08-14T18:46:00.000+03:00

So far so good comme on dirait en anglais. Aujourd'hui, premier jour du cessez-le-feu qui a commencé il y a 14 heures. Pas une sirène d'entendu à Haïfa...

So far so good. Today is the first day of the ceasefire, which started 14 hours ago. Since then, we've not heard a single air-raid siren in Haifa...

Sushi Day

2006-08-12T19:36:00.000+03:00

What to do when it is the weekend but you can't really go outside and enjoy the day? Prepare tons of sushi (well almost)!

This is my second attempt and John's first. We both thought it was a success, although we made way too many. We had them for lunch and will probably also have them for dinner (or tea, as the British might also say).

We think we're probably experts on sushi now (yeah, right!) and could make some next time we have to contribute to a potluk or something.

Alors, que faire lorsque c’est le week-end mais que tu peux pas vraiment sortir et profiter de la journée ?! Préparer des tonnes de sushi…enfin presque.

C’était ma seconde tentative et John sa première. On pense tous les deux que c’était une réussite, même si on en a préparé beaucoup trop. On en a eu pour le déjeuner et on en aura probablement aussi pour le dîner.

On pense qu’on est probablement devenu des experts en sushi (que dire !) et qu’on pourrait en préparer la prochaine fois qu’on doit aller à un potluk.

The ingredients

Burning the seaweed and following the recipe

The rice

Almost there

Rolling like a river

Once you've started, you can't stop! They grow naturally.

Enjoying.

ps: we did have them for tea - on les a effectivement eu pour le diner aussi...

6 Months already! - 6 mois déjà !

2006-08-10T21:21:00.000+03:00

It is amazing how time flies when you are enjoying where you are, who you are there with and what you are doing. We arrived in Haifa exactly 6 months ago today. I remember we were picked up at the airport by our friend A. (from sweet home Alabama) along with R. who came from Argentina and R. who came from Germany-USA. We were so excited to get to Haifa and we just couldn’t believe that we were actually going to live in Haifa for a few years and being able to be volunteer at the Bahá’í World Centre.

Adapting to life here went more or less smoothly having had the occasion to live here for 3 weeks in summer 2005. Adapting to our positions was a bit more challenging – but in a GOOD way!

So here we are now. Not quite in the same peaceful country as we used to be 6 months ago given the current situation but still enjoying life (differently) and willing to stay here until the end of our volunteer service!

C’est incroyable comme le temps passe vite lorsque tu aimes un endroit ou tu es, avec qui tu y es et ce que tu y fais. Nous sommes arrivés à Haifa il y a 6 mois aujourd’hui. Je me rappelle, A. notre amie de l’Alabama est venue nous chercher, nous et R. de l’Argentine et R. de l’Allemagne-Etats-Unis. Nous étions tellement excités d’arriver Haifa et on avait du mal à réaliser qu on allait vivre à Haifa pour quelques années et qu’on allait pouvoir faire du volontariat au Centre Mondial Bahá’í.

S’adapter à la vie ici c’est fait plus ou moins sans encombre puisqu’on avait eu la chance de vivre ici pendant 3 semaines pendant l’été 2005. S’adapter à nos boulots etait un peu plus un challenge mais dans le bon sens du terme !

Donc, nous y voilà, pas tout à fait dans le même pays « calme » d’il y a 6 mois vu la situation actuelle mais toujours motivés à rester ici jusqu’à la fin de notre période de volontariat !

our orientation group (Feb. 2006)

Don't have any photo for this posting

2006-08-07T08:15:00.000+03:00

For those who read this blog (!!) and for those who wonder how we are, just a line to say that we are safe. So far so good. Love from both of us.

Pour ceux qui lisent ce blog (!!) et pour ceux qui se demande comment nous allons, ce petit mot pour vous dire que nous allons bien. Bisous de nous deux.

Mangez-moi!

2006-08-03T08:47:00.000+03:00

Fruits that I like and that we have here...

Mangos

Papayas (outside)

Papayas (inside)

Cherries

I was told by our friends from Surinam that there are Surinamese cherries in Bahji but I have yet to find them. Exciting though because I LOVE that kind of cherries!

What John brought back for me / Ce que John m'a ramené

2006-07-21T11:36:00.000+03:00

John went to the UK for 5 days to attend Richard and Biljana's wedding and to see Nain, his grandmother. Look what he brought back for me!

John est parti pendant 5 jours en Grande Bretagne pour aller au mariage de Richard et Biljana et pour voir Nain, sa grand-mère. Regardez ce qu'il m'a ramené !

Richard is a very good friend of John's (and mine!) and we are very happy he got married to such a lovely girl!

Nain is Nain. We love Nain.

Richard est un très bon ami à John (et à moi !) et nous sommes très contents qu'il se soit marié avec une fille aussi sympa !

Nain, c'est Nain. Nous aimons Nain.

Reddy travellers / La vie en rouge

2006-07-01T17:16:00.000+03:00

We've just discovered this fun tool for people who like to travel and see how much of the world they've seen (and show everybody else, of course). Thanks to Manijeh and Vince for the idea.

Nous venons de découvrir cet outil marrant pour les amateurs du voyage qui veulent voir combien de pays ils ont visités (et, bien sûr, le montrer à tout le monde). Merci à nos amis Manijeh et Vince pour l'idée.

create your own visited countries map

As you can see, between us we've covered 42 countries, or 18% of the world. Still a way to go to to catch up with André, then! (His map would be all red).

Comme vous pouvez le voir, nous avons déjà visité 42 pays, soit 18% du monde. Il nous en reste encore beaucoup pour rattraper André ! (on ne verrait que du rouge sur sa carte).

Le 29 mai, 3h du matin - 29th May, 3 in the morning

2006-05-29T17:57:00.000+03:00

The 29th May is a Bahá’í Holy Day. We commemorated the passing of Bahá’u’lláh, the prophet-founder of the Bahá’í Faith. He passed away at 3 a.m. on 29th May in the house where he had spent the last 14 years of his life. The house is called the Mansion of Bahjí and he is laid rest just beside it. Bahá’u’lláh’s tomb is the holiest spot in the world for Bahá’ís.

That evening was wonderful because it was a beautiful clear night and we were there at 3 clock at night in such a tranquil setting.

Le 29 mai est un jour saint bahá’í. Nous avons commémoré l’ascension de Bahá’u’lláh, le prophète-fondateur de la Foi baha’íe. Il est décédé à 3 heures du matin le 29 may dans la maison où il a passé les 14 dernières années de sa vie. La maison s’appelle le manoir de Bahjí et Bahá’u’lláh est enterré pas loin de là. Le tombeau de Bahá’u’lláh est l’endroit le plus saint au monde pour les Bahá’ís.

Cette commémoration était exceptionnelle parce que la nuit était claire et belle et nous étions dans cet endroit unique, dans un décor si tranquille.

Soirée Raku - Raku evening

2006-05-25T08:19:00.000+03:00

Hier, c’était une soirée spéciale… poterie. Notre groupe du mercredi soir était invité chez Rachel, la potière a qui appartient l’atelier pour une soirée raku.

Le raku, pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas, est, et là, je paraphrase Wikipédia, un procédé de cuisson d’origine coréenne qui s’est développée dans le Japon du 16ème siècle. Le raku apparemment est synonyme de cuisson basse température. Les poteries sont sorties du four et rapidement transférées dans un tonneau et recouvertes de matières inflammables naturelles comme de la sciure de bois compactée pour empêcher la combustion en limitant l’apport d’oxygène au contact de l’émail des poteries. Une fois un moment passé dans le tonneau, alors qu’elles sont encore chaudes, elles sont trempées dans l’eau puis nettoyées pour enlever les résidus de suie et de cendre.

C’était une soirée exceptionnelle, tout était parfait. La compagnie (des amis), l’ambiance (décontractée), l’expérience (unique, nouvelle, excitante, presque mystique). J’ai été impatiente d’arriver à ce jour soir pendant des jours, car même si je n’avais jamais participé à un raku, je savais que cela ne pouvait qu’être une expérience extraordinaire.

Même si John ne fait pas poterie avec moi cette année, il est venu aussi au raku car comment lui expliquer l’expérience après ?! Il faut la vivre soit même !

Yesterday evening was a special pottery night for our Wednesday evening group: we were invited to Rachel’s (the potter who owns the workshop) for a raku evening.

Raku, for those who aren’t familiar with it—and here I am paraphrasing Wikipedia—is a firing process originating from Korea and developed in Japan during the 16th century. Raku is apparently a synonym for low temperature firing.

It was an exceptional evening. Everything was perfect. The company (of the friends), the atmosphere (relaxed), the experience (unique, new, exciting, almost mystical), I was impatient for this evening to arrive for weeks, because even though I had never participated in a raku, I knew that it could only be an extraordinary experience.

Even though John isn’t doing pottery with me this year, he came to the raku too. How could I have explained the experience to him afterwards?! You have to live it yourself!

Hartelijk gefeliciteerd met je jaardag tante Clautje

2006-05-18T22:32:00.000+03:00

Aujourd’hui, c’est l’anniversaire de ma tante Clau. Ma mère m’a dit quel age elle allait avoir mais j’ai oublié. 89 ans je crois. Tante Clau habite aux Pays-Bas depuis des années et des années. Elle est comme une mère pour ma mère et comme ma grand-mère pour moi (c’est ma grande tante). Ma mère est allée lui faire un bisous aux Pays-Bas pour son anni. et c’est dommage que je n’aie pas pu y aller avec elle…

Lieve tante Clau. Lieve tante Clau.

Today is the birthday of my tante Clau. My mother told me how old she would be but I forgot. 89 years old I think. Tante Clau has been living in The Netherlands for years and years. She is like a mother to my mother and like a grand mother to me (she is actually my grand-aunt). My mothe went to The Netherlands to give a kiss for her birthday and I wished I could have gone with her.

Lieve tante Clau. Lieve tante Clau.

Recherche de plantes...2 - Desperately seeking...2

2006-05-12T07:32:00.000+03:00

Une amie m’a dit que maintenant que nous étions allés à la pépinière de plantes, nous devions au moins le dire au reste du monde qui a dû rester sur sa fin au sujet de notre recherche désespérée de plantes. Effectivement, nous sommes allés, il y a quelques vendredis à la pépinière avec Anjali et Steven. Nous avions tous une idée précise de ce que nous voulions acheter mais une fois arrivés là-bas, certains d’entre nous sont devenus fous ! Heureusement que et le manque de place dans la voiture et le manque de cash nous a rappelé à la raison !

En tout cas, la pépinière est un endroit bien sympathique, je dirais moins grand que le Truffaut où ma mère et moi avions l’habitude d’aller mais, peu importe ! Nous y avons tous trouvé notre bonheur : des graines pour faire pousser de l’herbe, des pots de fleurs, des plantes etc etc.

A friend told me that now we have been to the nursery, we should tell everyone who is waiting to hear how our desperate search for plants has got on. So, we went one Friday a few weeks ago with Anjali and Steven. We each knew precisely what we wanted but, once we got there, some of us went a bit mad! Luckily, the lack of space in the car and a shortage of cash brought us back down to earth!

Anyway, the nursery is a lovely place, smaller than the Truffaut nursery where I used to go with my Mum back in France, but certainly big enough. We all found what we were looking for: grass seeds, flowerpots, plants (yes, plants!), etc.

Fish face :-)

Recherche plantes désespérément - Desperately seeking plants

2006-04-27T18:16:00.000+03:00

John et moi voulons embellir notre appartement. Pour le moment, nous avons changé les meubles de place, ce qui fait déjà une immense différence dans le salon. Nous voulons aussi mettre des photos avec cadres aux murs et acheter des bougies mais ça prend du temps. Le temps de trouver ce qu’on aime…Une autre chose qu’on veut avoir dans la maison, ce sont des plantes…Ah des plantes ! Je suis en train de cultiver une plante à mon travail en ce moment, le temps de lui trouver de la terre et un pot (voir ci-dessous) et j’espère aller bientôt avec Katherine et Steven (http://www.laylalee.blogspot.com/) à une pépinière qu'ils connaissent...

John and I want to beautify our flat. For the moment we have moved the furniture and that already makes a big difference in the living room. We also want to put photos in frames on the walls and buy candles but it takes time to find what we like...Another thing that we want to have in the flat are plants...I am cultivating a plant at work at the moment until I find some soil and a pot for it (see below) and I am hoping to go soon with Katherine and Steven (http://www.laylalee.blogspot.com) to a plant nursery they know of...

Pessah - pesach - pessa'h - passover

2006-04-17T17:59:00.000+03:00

En ce moment c’est pesach en Israël. Enfin, c’est bientôt finit. Je ne savais pas ce que c’était et peut-être que je ne devrais pas afficher mon ignorance au grand jour comme ça ! Mais bon, on en apprend tous les jours. J’ai cherché sur le net quelque chose en français sur pesach justement et j’ai trouvé que ce que Wikipedia a intéressant et pas compliqué à comprendre. Bien sur, il y a aussi beaucoup plus d’informations que ce que je recherchais et je ne sais pas si elles sont correctes mais bon. En tout cas, voici le lien en français http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pessah
(et en anglais, pour lorsque John traduira ceci en anglais… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover )

Alors, si vous jetez un coup d’œil sur le lien, vous comprendrez mieux la photo du hamburger que j’ai prise cette semaine au MacDo. C’est un hamburger spécial pesach (donc, pain spécial, pas de levure). Beurk !

These days it is pessach in Israel. Well, it is actually almost over now. I didn't know what it was and maybe I should publicly state my ignorance, but we learn everyday more. I looked on the Internet for information in French on pessach and I founds that Wikipedia had was interesting and not too complicated to understand. There is of course far more information then what I was looking for and I don't know if it is all correct. In any case, here is the link in French http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/pessah (and in Englsih for when John will translate this into Eglish... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover). NOTE: Eventually, I translated it myself, John being on strike!!.

So if you have a look at the link, you will understand the photo of the hamburger I took this week in Mac Donald's. It is a special hamburger for passover (with special bread with no yeast). Yeuk!

Et de 3 - 3 years already!

2006-04-13T15:40:00.000+03:00

Le 12 avril, c’était notre 3ème anniversaire de mariage. C’était aussi le premier jour de Pâques...Nous avions prévu d’aller manger japonais mais nous ne sommes jamais arrivé à notre destination. Nous n’avons même pas essayé car il n’y avait plus de bus, ni de sherut et le trajet en taxi allait nous coûter cher, surtout ne nous ne savions pas si le restaurant était ouvert. Alors nous avons décidé de marcher jusqu’au merkaz et voir si par le plus grand des hasards il y aurait un restaurant d’ouvert…Arrivés au merkaz, tout était bien calme, même le MacDo était fermé ! Nous avons quand même trouve un café (Gregs) qui était ouvert. J’ai envoyé John en éclaireur car j ‘avais du mal à croire qu’il était vraiment ouvert. J’ai rejoint John pour apprendre que le cuisiner arriverait à 23h (il était presque 20h) mais qu’il (le serveur) pouvait nous faire 2 sandwichs. On s’est regardé avec John, c’était pas vraiment comme ça que nous avions prévu de célébrer notre anniversaire de mariage mais avait-on beaucoup le choix ?...

La suite en images...

The 12th of April was our third wedding anniversary. It was also the first day of Pesach (Passover)... We had been planning to eat out at a Japanese restaurant quite a way from our flat, but we never made it there. In the end we didn't even try, as there were no buses or even sheruts (shared minibus taxis) running and it would have been an expensive ride in a normal taxi, especially for a restaurant that may not even have been open. So, we decided to walk up to the Merkaz (the area on upper Carmel where many restaurants are clustered) and see whether by any chance a restaurant would be open… When we got to the Merkaz, everything was very quiet, and even McDonald's was shut! Still, we found a café (Gregs - think Costa or Café Nero) that was open. I sent John en éclaireur because I couldn't believe it was really open. Once John had made sure, and I joined him, we learned that the cook would be arriving at 11p.m. (it was nearly 8p.m.), but the guy there (who we later learned usually only served the coffees behind the bar) could make us a couple of sandwiches. It wasn't really how we'd been planning to celebrate our anniversary, but what choice did we have...?

So, here are the photos...

Le dîner qui au final était bien bon!

Et la célébration qui a commencé !

The food turned out to be pretty good,
and it put us in a celebratory mood...

Voilà ! Le japonais…ça sera pour une autre fois !

So, it looks like we'll just have to save the Japanese for another time!

Il y a toujours une première fois

2006-04-07T10:18:00.000+03:00

My first clafouti made from scratch! Dankjewel Mam !

L'eclipse à Haifa

2006-04-02T17:31:00.000+03:00

Photo prise par Judy Waller, le jeudi 30 mars 2006

Nous sommes déjà vieux…

2006-03-28T09:13:00.000+02:00

On se rend compte qu’on fait parti des anciens au Centre mondial lorsqu’un nouveau groupe de volontaires arrive pour servir ici…

Cela fait presque deux mois que nous sommes déjà ici. Le temps passe vite, c’est incroyable.