Olives at the Carmel Market
Last Sunday morning, we walked up to the outdoor Carmel Market, full of fruits, vegetables, olives, cheese, spices, clothes, etc. It was colorful and a lot of fun. Click for more photos from the market.
At noon, Jen picked us up, along with another new officer, Jessica, and took us up the coast to the north to Caesarea, an old Roman port, now a national park. We had a nice lunch at a restaurant overlooking the water, and wandered around the old ruins. Click for photos from Caesarea.
Monday, we joined an Embassy outing to the Armenian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem.We were allowed to go inside their ornate church, library and school. John and I skipped the church service and walked through a small part of the Old City, including the market.
Getting in and out of Jerusalem was a tangle of winding roads, hills and traffic. From the hilltop, we could see the snaking separation wall, the Mount of Olives, and the controversial settlement neighborhood of Silwan. Click for photos from Jerusalem.
Yesterday, John and I explored our neighborhood east of us for a few hours. We found some neat parts of town, and stopped at Wolf Nights for a great hamburger. Because it was Shabbat, pretty much everything was closed except for some cafes and restaurants; there wasn’t a lot of traffic because many folks don’t drive on Shabbat. Lots of people out walking down the promenade with family. Some stores look really old and out of date (with creepy mannequins), while others would look at home in NYC.
We continued to get settled in at work this week. We finished up our check-in, which included courtesy calls to the Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission. We’re interviewing visa applicants on our own, albeit with lots of questions for our co-workers.
John got us set up with cable this week, so we are able to watch some American movies, which I took full advantage of yesterday afternoon after our walk.
And this week, I finished a great book called “Nudge,” a book John recommended. It’s about how public or private policy can “nudge” people to make better choices about “health, wealth, and happiness.” Very interesting and a fun read.
For years, I have been carrying around a small 8mm tape that I found at Mom’s house. I finally sent it to a guy to put on DVD. There was only two minutes of footage on it: about a minute taken at Marineland, glimpses of Sandi, Annette, Jimmy Ray and Granny Morris, and two small children I didn’t recognize (let me know if you do!). Here is a link to the footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgtnnQ7zAII. Enjoy!
Israeli Cat