#143 - Dog Walkers

...and every now and then you see something absolutely delightful!

#142 Back to the beach!

 Back to the beach today, free of sirens, rockets and anxiety. My brain totally shut down and I felt my body relax.

I forgot how much being at the beach is an escape. It is how I got through the first awful semester in Abu Dhabi (the beach and crying every night). Sadiyaat Beach was 75 AED ($20) for a chair under an umbrella and worth every penny. The best bargain in Tel Aviv I've found is the beach chair - 12 NIS (4 USD) and 6 NIS for an umbrella- that's only 2 USD!

#141 Anxiety-free outing!

 Today was the first day I have driven in two weeks and it felt great to leave the 'hood, free of anxiety (although every siren-type sound sends a shock through my body)! Six of us met up North to do a hike. It was a full-day-extravaganza: 1.5 hour drive both ways and we were on the trail for about 4 hours total.

I am discovering that the spring here looks and feels a lot fall in some parts of the United States. The  highs are near 80°F, it is slightly cool at night, lots of things are blooming beautiful colors and leaves are falling off of other trees after also changing colors. 

The smell of the forest alone was worth the drive! Here's where we were: 

 

Let's go!

Yoad, Olivia's husband who came prepared with Turkish Coffee

Coffee break!

Finished!

#98 Getting My Car Towed

 I found the BEST parking spot two nights ago! Parking in Tel Aviv is a big deal and when you find a good one it is hard to give up. This one was less than a block from my apartment, no one else parked near me.

When I went to go to work two mornings later, there was nothing there but space! I saw that the curb is not blue and white (legal parking), just blue (loading zone). It didn't take long to figure out what happened.

How far I've come! There was a time when this would have completely incensed me and ruined my day. But on this day all I could do is laugh.

Here's where the gratitude really kicks in. My friend Jessie was halfway to school but Melanie had just walked out the door and was able to give me a lift. 

Now, there is no phone number on the "no parking" sign to call if you get towed and I didn't think to look on the Tel Aviv Municipality website for English, so I asked a very nice guy in administration at school to call for me. He did and got the address of the tow lot and the amount owed which I am also grateful to be able to afford (By the way, it seems way cheaper than getting a car out of tow-jail in the U.S.).

My plan was to walk to the tow lot after my gym class at 7PM. I told two ladies at the gym about getting my car towed (which they both said has happened to them) and a delightful woman name Nira offered to go to the tow lot with me to rescue my vehicle.

Of we went after class across the river to the tow lot. Thank goodness for Nira! Even though signs were also in English and a button to push to call a live person, it would have taken me 3 times as long and not nearly as much fun. Instead, Nira basically did all the work to figure out what to do, pressed the human button and talked to the operator then made sure I got out of the gate before she left.

Me and Nira and the Ticket Machine

Finally, after I drove around for 30 minutes I found a legit parking space, in blue and white, very close to my building.

All in all, getting my car towed was a great way for God to show of how many kind and helpful people I have in my life today.

I thought this was my car until I got right up to it and it didn't respond to the clicker! Mine was to the left.

The sign that I now know says "don't park here" for two days in a row!

#83 Attending my first symphony performance in over a year

After a wait of over a year, I attended my first symphonic performance tonight of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra! I was so delighted to get lost for an hour in beautiful classical music.  Jessie and I walked about 25 minutes to the theatre during which I said about 63 times "I can't believe I live overseas!" 

I couldn't resist a picture of the absolutely massive ladies room

#82 Dinner at a new friend's house

 I just returned from dinner with a new friend! She invited me over to her house and we had a lovely evening just hanging out. Just me, her, her toddler and her husband when he came home from work.

It was wonderful to be in the company of a family and with people I felt so comfortable with. Furthermore, and more importantly, I returned home with a corrected perspective on my life. My soul lately has been troubled and I have been clouded with bouts of loneliness and self-pity, but tonight I realized (and you are welcome to remind me of this later) that really I have a great life, even here in Israel, and that it is the "by myself" parts that really get to me. I feel so left out so much of the time, but when I have these beautiful, nourishing connections with others, my heart is refilled and I see from afar that my troubles are mostly inside my own soul. Much of the time I spend alone is so tormented that it feels like forever. In truth, I am being cared for by God every second and He hasn't forgotten about me (Please remind me of this next time I'm putting up decorations for a pity party).

I'm also grateful I am vaccinated. I took the bus to her house and it was crazy town! The bus came at least 30 minutes late so there was a large gathering of people waiting for the 66 when it finally arrived. I was on it for about 40 minutes. My first spot was by the door but eventually I got a spot sitting on the steps and finally upgraded to a seat. I even had the courage to tell a guy near me to put his mask on!

Crazy town!

Finally I got a seat about 30 minutes in.

#79 ANU Museum of the Jewish People

Today my museum buddy Olivia and I went to the newly renovated the ANU Museum of the Jewish People at Tel Aviv University. It was stunning! And thorough--super thorough. After two hours our brains were filled and we called it a day. 

I don't know how to describe it accept all-encompassing. No aspect of Jews in modern culture is left out. The top floor covers movies, arts, music, literature and more. The middle floor is a brief (although still thorough) history of the Jewish people. This is the one where we reached our limit and skipped to the first floor--what appeared to be some exhibits about Judaism in general.

It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. If you get to Tel Aviv after this pandemic is over, I highly recommend it!

E.T. was directed by Stephen Spielberg.

 

This exhibit showcases different Jews from all over the world.

A beautiful painting of the Jewish year.

This map is so cool! It tells the spread of the Jewish people over time. Super helpful!

There was a short film highlighting Jewish participation in the Golden Age of Hollywood.

#63 My quaint apartment

The "Big 5". I only saw 4 (Leopard, I'm coming back for you!)

 Yes, yes. This IS in almost direct contrast with my post from two days ago.  

Same Joy, same apartment. 

After I awoke I was shocked at how nice everything looked. 

Here's what's changed:

1. I washed the dishes

2. I cleaned the rugs

3. I scrubbed the sinks and counters

4. I had the girls over for Wolt Wednesday and they filled my house with love

5. The recycling is out

6. I made a gratitude list (see yesterday's post)

7. I hung up my tapestry from Tanzania that I love

8. I slept 7 hours last night

Basically, I got into action and got busy caring for and tending to the things that are mine to do.

Put another way, the only thing that really changed...is me. 

#60 My Crappy Apartment

In the process of moving to Israel, the school the coordinates our visas, the bank, utilities and housing (among many other things). Housing is on my mind today. We sent a list of our "cannot live without's"--on my list was a balcony and two bedrooms. 

She sent me pictures of the first place and I listened to my gut, saying no thank you. She sent another picture of a two bedroom, ground floor apartment that looked sketchy at best. I said no thank you again.

And then I did something I have done a million times before--I went back. This time is wasn't to a man or the grocery store but to the first apartment. I felt anxiety building as I only had two apartments to look at but didn't like either of them. The same of lie came back....if I don't pick one of these, nothing better will come along. I also felt guilty about not liking the two she sent. Also, and I cannot emphasize this enough, I am not good at saying no or speaking up for myself. 

Long story slightly shorter, I am living in the first apartment. 

New bedding is one of the first changes I made to feel more comfortable in my apartment.

About 37 seconds after the door closed the first day I stepped into it, I burst into tears and kept crying for about a week. Slowly slowly it got better...I bought a bunch of rugs at Ikea, I replaced some of the furniture with new Ikea pieces and eventually my shipment from Abu Dhabi arrived. Immediately I found someone to hang up my artwork and that helped even more.

Yet still it is an old, grimy apartment with office-building tile throughout on a really loud street. For the first 3 months I avoided going to bed because the room felt so icky and I could hear everything through the walls and from the neighbors upstairs. I complained constantly to all who would listen about how crappy this apartment is.

Then something magical happened when I was in Africa over winter break--I'm not sure what but I had a change of attitude.

Why am I grateful for this less-than-ideal apartment?

For one thing, I needed to change my outlook and attitude. This is a spiritual daily practice. I am here and there isn't anything I can do about it today, so there are two choices: accept it and make the best of it or keep complaining and chase people away. I got tired of chasing people away.

The more important reason for my gratitude has come upon me gradually over the last few weeks. It is a tangible reminder of how so many times I create my own misery simply by not speaking up. I let the fear of what people will think of me or the fear of confrontation keep me from asking for what I want or saying no. When I start to complain (internally or externally!) about the apartment, I think to myself, this may be the lesson I came to Israel to learn. I remind myself that me and what I want matters. I deserve better than what I have at times settled for in life. 

It encourages me to speak up about the things right in front of me that need attention, and I'm talking about little things and big things: sending packages on time for birthdays, filing insurance claims right after a visit, making that phone call to the credit card company I've been avoiding, doing the dishes, responding to that uncomfortable text I received.  

The apartment also reminds me to accept life as it is right now with the best possible attitude. This is where I live and it isn't changing any time before June, if I decide to move. I take the apartment as a challenge to look at the good things that are right here, right now; and to care for what I have, myself and the people in my life. 

So for today, I am so grateful for my little apartment in Tel Aviv in a super location super close to friends, which has given me the opportunity to exercise my muscles of speaking up, asking for what I want, fighting for what I know needs to be done, all in an apartment that I cannot forget is paid for by my employer.

#44 Wasting a Saturday!

 Angie, the science teacher on my same team (Blue Wave) at North Junior High taught me about "wasting Saturdays". One Monday when discussing our weekends I reported that I had sat around all day doing nothing but watching football in my pajamas. 

She replied, "I love wasting Saturdays!"

Today I wasted a Saturday! It wasn't a PJ's-and-Netflix sort of day, but a wasted Saturday nonetheless. I slept in until 9:30 then lingered until a gym class at 10:30. The weather was so gorgeous I had to stay outside. I stopped for an almond milk latte then asked my friend Jessie (also from Abu Dhabi) out for a walk. The sunshine felt amazing! 

After a quick lunch break at home I ran (literally--it was a run day) back to Habina Square, listened to some music then ran back home, and now I've been sitting on the couch watching The Big Bang Theory for hours.

I'm so grateful I took a break from work and they never-ending "To Do" list to "waste a Saturday"!

#43 Live music after work on a Friday

It's Friday! Although most of Israel began their weekend last night, at our school we go Monday to Friday. So after class three of us went down to Habima Square to watch one friend's boyfriend play with some friends. The weather was gorgeous! Seventy degrees and clear skies. 

Since the most severe lockdown restrictions started to lift this past Sunday people have been going out! We are allowed farther than 1 km from home for any reason now; therefore people are everywhere. It felt absolutely wonderful to have somewhere to go after work on Friday other than the same walk through the park and port I do most every day. Afterwards Jo and I went to Susu and Sons for a burger which we ate on a bench, since restaurants are only open for takeaway currently (which is a step up from delivery only we had since December).

We rode our bikes to the square

Habina Square

#30 Perfect Timing (or: French Fries for a Grieving Soul)

 Today was a grief day. I don't know why, some days are just like that. I cried on and off all day. What was great was that I wasn't full of self-pity and I didn't try to distract myself from feeling the feelings.

Knowing being around someone could be good for me, asked my friend Jessie, who also moved this this school from an American school in Abu Dhabi, if we could have a work party today.

I didn't go over in time to work, but after a run at 5 I stopped over for a visit. She immediately offered a hug ❤. As we chatted she mentioned the amazing french fries she had for dinner. I instantly went to the delivery app to get my own when she said she had an extra order! She hadn't realized the sandwich she got came with fries so ordered some, so she had two! Apparently she was pre-ordering for me.

Don't you love it when you think something is an accident but turns out to be for a reason you couldn't foresee? This happens with presents all the time for me: I buy gifts from my travels (well, I used to) and the person I am buying it for always appears later.

They were just as delicious as they look and yes, that is Heinz Ketchup. 

By the time we got to french fries the grief had passed, but I got to enjoy dinner with a good friend that I know is there for me. (Who also lent me a fuzzy sweatshirt for my walk home!)

#29 The perfect desk

 I'm digging deep today. As with many of us, today was pretty much like yesterday and the day before that and the week before that and...well, you know. And the idea of the daily gratitude is no repeats.

So today I am grateful for my desk. Here it is:

This desk is perfect for teaching at home. I've got the shelves that are perfect for organizing my work stuff; plenty of room on top for the document camera and I don't have to sit at the kitchen table or on the couch to teach.

What I really happy about with the desk, however, is that I bought it off of someone that was leaving the school last spring. I was very unhappy with my choice in apartments (there were a lot of tears) BUT I had this great desk that was moved into my apartment before I arrived so it, along with all the other stuff I bought off other people, was already moved in and ready to go when I got to Israel. It was one of the few things that was initially perfect about my move over here!

It was originally in the bedroom. Next to the "bedding" left for us ;)

Also good for scrapbooking

#24 The scrapbook stuff is back out

 The scrapbook stuff is out! Finally I encountered a moment where the only thing to do was not work or exercise or cleaning, but something for pure pleasure.

I didn't finish any pages yet, but at least the dust is off, the Nepal trip pictures are organized chronologically and the materials are ready for creativity to take ahold...

#23 Yoga (or "trying something new")

I've been thinking a lot of about yoga lately. 

When I was living with Kelli during coronavirus in Abu Dhabi I attended a couple of classes with my friend Mandy from the UK; before that it has been ages since I did hot yoga in Boise on Broadway pretty diligently. Before that it was a stint of Vinyasa Flow with Jenny L. (I think?) at Gold's on Park Center in Boise. 

Here in Tel Aviv I've been going to my great little gym Subterra consistently 3 times a week for about 2 months (the Friday class is only possible because we are working from home). I have a habit of feeling less than in many areas and in the physique department that has been exacerbated in this city. Everyone has the body of a supermodel. Perhaps it is coming from America (where I heard today 2/3 of the population is overweight or obese) to the UAE (where one study found 70% of adults overweight or obese) to Israel, where this report says only 50% are overweight or obese in Israel but all the other reports say it is just like America. Anyways, in my part of Tel Aviv, it's supermodels as far as the eye can see. All of this just supports my case for the day. 

Here we go. After 2+ months of consistent yoga-going I have had the following experiences and epiphanies:

• When I went to the first class the teacher, Talia, walked straight up to me, introduced herself and asked me what my level of ability was, totally shattering the stereotype in my head about stuffy, elitist yoga teachers. She also teaches in English, which is super helpful for those of us who do not speak Hebrew.

• One day after I had been going for a while a new woman came to the class. On her first day she tried some stuff that she was able to do. On her second day she tried a headstand and was successful! Now I've been attending class after class, by passing the headstand parts because "I can't do it." I know that part of yoga is not comparing yourself to anyone else, but that small episode turned on this little voice....why haven't you tried it?  It's a valid question. It isn't like I was saying, I need to be as good as her, I just wondered why I hadn't tried at all after all these classes. Not even just putting my head down and trying to balance. When I looked for the answer I found excuses and fear. I'm afraid I'll fall and crack my head. I'm afraid no one will help me. I'm afraid I'll hurt my knee. After that, I tried. I even asked Talia for help and, to my unwarranted surprise, she came over and coached me through it until I got as far as I could. No judgement or name calling. Just coaching. 

• I began to notice little things that Talia would say, like "keep your abs tight here," or "engage your quads here," and I began to hear them. Then I began to apply them. This is when it all started to come together. Before this I was going through the motions, putting my feet where they were supposed to be at the right time, but I wasn't having the same experience I heard Talia describe. When I really started engaging ALL of me I began to have a better experience. I didn't feel like I was just moving my body around in a sequence of movements but instead began to see each pose as its own task. 

• Consequently, I also began to "get" some of the poses and get to confront a whole new set of obstacles. Crow pose, for example. I can now get into it and am beginning to stay in it for 5 or 6 seconds at a time. Now I am confronted with a new issue: trusting myself. Do I trust my wrists to hold me up? Do I trust that if I fall on my face I will be okay? 

These minor epiphanies in yoga are extending out into the rest of my life. Take the trusting the wrists thing. At work I am trying a different way of planning and when I find myself procrastinating one of the things I asked myself is, do I trust that I know what I'm doing? After all, I am in my 10th year of teaching. Just like my wrists are strong and can hold me up, my experience and training have prepared me to create a good plan. 

Another example is with running. My trainer Kenny years ago told me how I carry myself while walking can help train my body to stay in good form while I run. Did I listen? Not so much. But now that I see the connection in yoga with keeping my core engaged to better do something I thought I was doing pretty well--downward dog. Listening to Talia I realized that I wasn't engaging all of my--my shoulders were relaxed and my core was kinda limp. When I corrected it became a whole different experience. Now as I run I engage those same core muscles and guess what? My knee doesn't hurt as much during of afterwards.

A final example is with work--am I engaging my entire "body"? I wasn't before break, but I am now! I am "all in" at my job these days. I don't want to just muddle through, I want to excel. I am going the extra mile that somewhere along the line I stopped doing. It wasn't that I did a bad job, but I wasn't aiming for my absolutely best. Turns out, I feel way better when I engage my everything. In work, yoga and most of life.

#22 There IS enough (or: Getting rid of more stuff)

Before I moved abroad I "Spark-Joyed" my house. It took the entire school year, but I did it just like Marie Kondo suggested: beginning with the clothes, I put them all in a pile on the bed, then held up each one  and asked myself, "does this bring me joy?". Yes: keep. No: donate. Then there were the papers, the books, etc.

One of the benefits of the perspective change I had during winter vacation in Africa and Dubai has been the revelation that I was creating my own misery. Not just by complaining and self-pitying, but by clinging. I have too much stuff.  Even after living here just 5 months, Marie Kondo was right. When I moved here I was so afraid of not having enough that I bought up things from people leaving the school so that I wouldn't have to go without anything. The result has been that I arrived to a bunch of more or less crap in my house. 

What a good lesson it has been to realize that while I do advocate reusing and buying second-hand, I did not need to compulsively buy things that were kinda or not at all close to what I would really use out of a desperate attempt to overcome scarcity thinking. You see, when you move to an international school, they generally provide you with the essentials for living, which includes not only furniture and a basic set of towels and sheets, but a new set of dishes and cookware. 

I, on the other hand, had about 4 boxes full of someone's old stuff that was well, well used and too much. Of all of that stuff I have basically kept an iron, a few kitchen utensils, a towel and a space heater. Today I took my final batch of stuff outside: this is the equivalent of donating to Idaho Youth Ranch or Goodwill, except there is no tax deduction for leaving it on a bench outside!

So tonight my kitchen and my heart are a little less crowded. 

The bend I take stuff I don't want or need anymore. I forgot to take a picture of the stuff when I put it out before my run but when I came back 1 1/2 hours later to get a snapshot, the stuff was already gone.

The last of the stuff I currently realize I don't need anymore.

#21 Flowers and Soup to Warm My Soul. And My Body!

I am FREEZING!! Laugh at me all you want, Boise people, I don't care. I CAN'T GET WARM! 

So I took my freezing self wrapped in enough layers to run in on a long walk. A long, fast walk. For a couple of hours. I stopped at the equivalent of the Boise Coop to get cooca to make vegan hot chocolate with and got some flowers as well. Who doesn't like flowers to brighten the day?

When I went outside again I was EVEN colder! But on the way home is a super little restaurant called Zuppa that sells great soups and happens to be right around the corner from my house. So now I am home in my warm-ish house (that's a lie--I'm freezing in here, too) eating warm, yummy soup with flowers decorating the table. 

I don't really like pictures of food unless I'm cooking from a recipe, but since it was the main gratitude of the day I just had to.

Today this blog saved my perspective in a way. I woke up feeling a bit lonely and battled it all day. However I knew I had to come up with something to write about so I had to be on the lookout for the treasures of the day. Here's what came up.

#18 First cold weather run of the year (and last year, too)

It is COLD here!  Like 50 degrees F (shut up, Boise people, I've acclimated to living in the Middle East). Consequently I have been avoiding going out to run. Also, there is this thing here called rain, and I have completely forgotten how to function when water falls from the sky.

I dug out gear I haven't run in in years--well, since I left Boise. It felt strange to be cold on a run but exhilarating! When fully dressed I looked overall like a slightly less poofy Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and once I started running I passed a bunch of people running in shorts and sleeveless shirts, but I didn't care. 

You know that feeling you get when you finally start working out again and you're motivated to keep doing the good things for yourself?  That's how I feel.

Oh, and when I walked into the vegetable stand after the run, the guy working there that knows me said, "HI" really loud (which I thought was just about me but turns out he was saying that to everybody that walked in) but then he said, "WOW" with a big smile looking straight at me. I assumed it was a compliment but I didn't clarify.  Don't burst my bubble.

#14 Rain

 It rained today in Tel Aviv! A couple of things about this make me happy.

1. When it rains I often think of the 5th grade trip (I think it was 5th, can anyone verify that?) to the LBJ Ranch in Johnson City, Texas, the beloved home of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. I remember riding on the little shuttle and hearing "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" while the tour guide told us it was LBJ's favorite song. I also remember this little scene 3 or 4 times--it's one of those field trips you do over and over again if you grow up in Austin. [Disclaimer: It could have only been once, the memories kind of run together after a while]

2. In three years in the UAE it rained a total maybe 5 times. The rain here is great! It is torrential and loud and accompanied by thunder and lighting. One strike was so loud this morning while I was teaching I visibly jumped in my chair.

3. Because it rains the plants I was gifted on Halloween (thanks Brittany) are actually growing since they are not dependent on my for their survival. 

4. You can go walking in the rain with the proper equipment. I don't know why but I absolutely love walking around in the rain in my raincoat! My raincoat, by the way, which I love. I bought the best raincoat ever in Ireland during the first year of my Masters but then left it in Bucharest at a friend's house. But...in France in 2019 on the 75th anniversary of D-Day I found an equally awesome one at a Decathalon. All of that is to say that I love the rain because then I wear my awesome raincoat in which I am in the rain but not getting wet and remember all the great times I had in the rain in that raincoat (or one exactly like it).

#12 FREEDOM!

 While I am definitely happy for my freedom as an American, today I am grateful for my personal freedom. 

I'm out of quarantine!  Here's some pictures I took from my first walk of freedom down to the beach in Tel Aviv, just in time for the sunset.  

All pictures by Joy