criplomats

Christmas morning Sea of Galilee

Merry Christmas, everyone! It’s such an odd feeling since Israel by nature doesn’t celebrate Christmas. The weather is still pretty warm, people are still playing in the ocean and walking on the beach and the sun is shining – hard to believe that family and friends are bundled up back home!

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in the Galil – we stayed at our favorite Vered Hagalil cabin overlooking the Sea of Galilee. We had lunch at Doris, our favorite steak house in Rosh Pina, then checked in the hotel. We enjoyed our newest Christmas tradition – watching “Love Actually,” just a great holiday movie.

We really enjoyed the thunderstorm that crossed Israel last night – it was such a treat to wake  up to hear rain pouring down on the rooftop of our cabin. Here’s another shot of the Sea of Galilee – the light was beautiful and changed repeatedly due to the rain.

Sea of Galilee

The week leading up to the holiday was fun. Last Sunday, my photography class did a walk-about around Rothschild Avenue, photographing historic buildings and other goodies, like this cute puppy sitting outside at a cafe.

Puppy -n- boots

Work was pretty low-key, and we got off early on Friday. We had our annual “stairwell party” at the Embassy, where each floor hosts goodies in the stairwell.

And again, we’ve been enjoying having the kitten down to visit us this week – she is such a doll! Here she is helping John read!

John and Tikka

With Tikka

Dome of the Rock

John and I were very lucky to go on a tour inside the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Muslim quarter of the Old City, something that most non-Muslims don’t get to do. They are both very ornate and beautiful. After the tour, we walked through the Old City with a couple of friends and stopped to have lunch at a well-known little diner – we were squeezed into one of the four tables in the tiny space, and really enjoyed our hummus and pita bread. Click to see more photos.

On the way back from Tel Aviv, we stopped in Abu Ghosh for lunch at Rama’s Kitchen, a place that our Jerusalem friends rave about. It was delicious and a very pleasant environment. It’s basically an outdoor restaurant out in the country on a hilltop with a gravel floor, winterized with space heaters and temporary walls. Neighborhood dogs mingled with guests’ dogs under the table, and yummy dishes were scooped out of the open oven.

On Wednesday, the American Citizen Services group took a road trip to Bet Shemesh for a passport outreach. There’s a large American community there (almost 5000 people), and they were so happy for us to be there. It was a good trip and nice to get out of the office.

While we were on the road, the Embassy held its semi-annual awards ceremony, and I am happy to report that John got a Meritorious Honor Award for his outstanding work as the Ambassador’s staff aide! I was especially proud because he has only been in that role for five months, and already has improved the constant and complicated workflow of information for the Ambassador. Good job! We went out to dinner to celebrate.

Thursday night we went to the Ambassador’s holiday party at the Residence – John and I volunteered to tend bar again this year. The house was brimming with people; when we arrived, there were kids running all over the place, then the party transitioned into an adult’s cocktail party after the kids went to bed. The Ambassador and his family do an excellent job of making folks feel very welcome in their home, and this party was no exception.

This week has been a lot of fun because we have been helping to cat sit our neighbor’s kitten. She  is so cute and playful, and just makes us laugh with her tumbling and running. I’ve been bringing her to our house in the evenings and on the weekends – she is just a hoot. (Flavia is not so thrilled and appears to be intimidated by her – she pretty much runs to hide when she sees the kitten.) Here she is in a quieter moment:

Tikka in a quiet moment

Tel Aviv Bicycle

It’s hard to believe we are almost two weeks into December. Aside from a few rainy days, the weather here is still gorgeous. I went out this morning for a manicure and to do some shopping and almost got hot in my sweater before I got home. It was a beautiful day.

Last Sunday, I felt a little bit more  like it was fall or winter because we went to a chili party – yum! I had a delicious bowl of chili that the hostess said was made with ground beef and Pace picante sauce. It was yummy.

After the party, John and I watched a National Geographic movie, “Arctic Tale,” a beautiful movie that chronicled the life of polar bears and walruses in the Arctic.

Tuesday after work, we rode the shuttle to Jerusalem to meet the Assistant Secretary for our regional bureau, a very personable fellow. The reception was held in the Consul General’s residence, which is really old and beautiful.

I was glad to have my boss return to work on Wednesday – he had been on vacation for a week or so. He arrived in Israel in August, and I am really enjoying working for him. He’s smart, does things by the book and is super-nice, to boot!

Yesterday morning John did a coffee roasting demo for Emily, a friend of ours. Afterwards we had an omelette and talked for a while. Last night, we went out to dinner with Howard and Petite – always good to visit with them.

Synagogue cat on Bialik Street

After having so much company in November, December seems a little lonely! It’s hard to believe we are at the end of the year, especially since it is pretty warm here and you don’t see any signs of the holidays.

I started taking a photography class, and last Sunday morning our little group went for an outing to practice taking pictures. It was a beautiful morning and we had a fun time.

Thursday night was book club at our apartment. We had a big crowd and the author of  this month’s pick, “The Israel Lobby,” Skyped in for the discussion.

Friday night was dinner at Whitehall with John, then home for a movie.

Yesterday was busy – I spent the afternoon at Petit’s for a baby shower for Rosa, then John and I went down the hall to Bill and Diane’s for a party/piano concert. The pianist is a woman who actually works in our cafeteria at the Embassy and who plays the piano beautifully – nice evening!

With TFran and Miguel

We were so excited to have our good friends and neighbors from Juarez, TFran and Miguel come to visit for the Thanksgiving holidays! They arrived Thursday morning, and we spent the day exploring old Jaffa, including lunch at Dr. Shakshuka. That evening we went to Ben and Jen’s for Thanksgiving dinner – they had almost 20 people – lots of fun and really good food. So nice of them to include us in the festivities again this year.

Friday morning, we set off for Jerusalem. While TFran and Miguel explored the Old City, John and I walked around downtown Jerusalem, just enjoying the sites and sitting at a sidewalk cafe. That night back in Tel Aviv, we had a great dinner down the beach at Manta Ray with Petit – we had a great time together.

With Miguel, Petit and TFran at Manta Ray

Saturday the four of us drove to the Dead Sea (stopping outside of Jerusalem for camel photos, of course). The Dead Sea is really pretty. It was blue blue blue, that beautiful aquamarine shade. It’s even more breathtaking because of the huge desert mountains that come so close to the shoreline. We made a stop at a funky beach where Miguel was the only one of us brave enough to get in the water and load up on mud.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Masada – wow! It was really incredible and the view is out of this world. The cable car ride up was fun, too. It’s hard to imagine a whole city of people living up on top of this mountain.

At Masada with Dead Sea in background

Back in Tel Aviv, we grabbed take out schwarma for dinner, then went over to the beach to stick our toes in the Mediterranean, the last chance we had to do it, since TFran and Miguel headed out before sunrise this morning. We sure had a great visit with them. Click for more photos.

Earlier in the week, we saw another of our A100 classmates, Rubani, who was in the country visiting our friends in Jerusalem. He took the train over Monday night, and we stayed up late drinking wine and yakking with him.

Beach cat waiting for his dinner, on the way to Jaffa

Backgammon on the beach