While you were away...

Back in Israel, summer has arrived. The daytime highs are pushing at 30C and I cannot say I mind. After a chilly and wet bit of spring in Vancouver, I'm quite enjoying drying out and warming up!

While I was away, the holidays were coming fast and furious in Israel. As you may recall, I left Israel the first night of Pesach. About two weeks of holiday follow on Pesach...university is closed, Jews from around the world visit Israel, Passover being one of the pilgrimage holidays in the Jewish calendar. Between Passover and Shavuot (Pentecost) is a period of semi-mourning in the Jewish calendar. From Wikipedia (ah, wikipedia, what did we do before you?):

The 49 days of the Omer [counting from the first night of Passover] correspond both to the time between physical emancipation from Egypt and the spiritual liberation of the giving of the Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai on Shavuot [7 weeks, 49 days after Passover], as well as the time between the barley harvest and the wheat harvest in ancient Israel.

In this stretch of 7 weeks there are several holidays, but few of them are joyful. Three of them occurred while I was in Canada:

Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaSho'ah) 7-8 April 2013 (sunset to sunset)
This is self-explanatory: It's a day to remember the six million Jews that died in the Holocaust. Across the country at 10am sirens sound and Israelis stand silently at attention.
I am sorry to have missed this day because of its solemnity and also because seeing Israelis stand still and silent would be an amazing thing.

Memorial Day (Yom HaZikaron) 14-15 April 2013
This is less obvious. It's a day to commemorate the soldiers who fell defending Israel and the victims of terrorism. The sirens sound at 8pm and 11am and again, Israelis stand silently at attention wherever they may be. This day I'd really like to have seen as it offers the benefit of seeing a normally very active culture stop and stand still, but it also highlights divisions in Israeli society--not everyone wants to celebrate this day. I've been told that when the sirens sound the Haredim and Arabs don't stop, but keep going about their day.

Israel Independence Day (Yom Ha'Atzma'ut) 16 April 2013
Celebrates Israel's declaration of independence in 1948.

And then last night was the fourth holiday...considered a break in the mourning period.

Bonfire Day - Lag BaOmer 27-28 April 2013
Most Israelis I've asked about this day are a bit fuzzy on its meaning. Something to do with commemoration of the fall of the 2nd temple and something to do with the kabbalah. Today it is mostly a children's holiday: A chance to build a bonfire and roast marshmallows and potatoes and stay up late. Lag BaOmer is the 33rd day between Passover and Pentecost, so it should only be one night, but this year it's being celebrated two nights in a row (something about shifting it because yesterday was shabbat). I have no idea about any of this but I can report that the air quality is not improving tonight. I walked home along a road with a park on one side of it (Dor Dor Vedorshev) and the park slope was blanketed in bonfires. Smokey the Bear would be appalled -- it's awfully dry out there, the humidity is about 10% right now (we have a heat wave -- Red Sea Trough -- which thankfully doesn't have high winds) and the daytime highs are 30C. Yikes!

Meanwhile, I'm settling back into life here. It's good to be back and I look forward to getting caught up on my postings (and work)!

Packing up

Greetings!

Since the trip to LA, I have been busy in Vancouver -- seeing friends and family, running errands, and helping out with some housepainting! Egad...where does the time go?


I've been to Granville Island, where I walked a bit of the seawall

Looking up False Creek

and, I listened to my favourite busker at Granville Island (coincidence)

Le chanteur francais

while avoiding the curious fellow that feeds the pigeons from his lap (um...maybe he could do that where folks aren't trying to eat their lunch?).

I've been to UBC campus...

On theme: UBC's Hillel House (the home of Jewish life on campus)

I've walked Jericho Beach to Spanish Banks. I've been to the Apple Store at Pacific Centre Mall, where the "genius" dude did me the favour of blowing the dust out of my keyboard...my MBA is almost like new.

The big news in BC is that the writ for the provincial election has been dropped and the parties - there are two contenders to form the government, the Liberals and the NDP - are hard on the trail, voting is May 14.

And, although there's been plenty of rain and it's been quite cool, it's always easy to admire the glorious cherry trees in Vancouver when just a bit of sunshine graces the grey lower mainland.
 

Cherry blossoms on Yew Street

Thanks for your patience with my irregular posting this month. I'll be back in Israel next week where I look forward to blogging more regularly.

Life in NA

It seems the pace of life in North America is fast. I feel like I've been running since I stepped of the plane at YVR. I have managed to attend to several errands and see lots of folks (if you are in Vancouver and haven't seen or heard from me, it's not because I haven't thought of you, it's that I cannot drink that much coffee!).

I've managed to spend time on my bike and on my skis. Skiing on the last weekend of the season at Hollyburn was amazing -- great weather, good snow, and an egg unit at the lodge to wrap it all up. I'm not exactly in "end of season" form, but my ski buddy still let me set the pace (thanks Jane!).

The blogger on skis

Now I'm in LA attending the Association of American Geographers Annual Conference -- a bizarre event where some 8000 academics gather for 5 days to discuss all sorts of things under the broad umbrella of 'geography'. There are physical geographers - those that study rivers and map stuff - and human geographers - those that study things like political economy, representations of the state, and the political geographies of waste.  I've been to some great and not-so-great presentations, but the highlight is definitely seeing good friends that are now scattered across the continent (or world).

These trips rarely afford much time for sightseeing but I did go to see the Frank Gehry-designed Disney Hall -- a walk by since I couldn't stay for a tour.  And, I've seen the Westin Bonaventure, the Biltmore Hotel, the LA Hotel, and the LA Public Library. A weak showing when downtown LA really deserves more time!

Must run, off to another session here.

Easter and buses

Greetings from Vancouver. After a long, but uneventful trip (which included a great ride in the Nesher sherut to the airport: great because the Nesher driver was polite, didn't smoke and didn't scream at anyone!) I arrived in Vancouver.  So far it's been nonstop visiting -- catching up with friends and family and eating all my favourite Vannie foods (xiao long bao topping the list), not to mention Easter turkey.  I'm having a great time. (The sun and cherry blossoms are also amazing!)

On Thursday I was riding the bus and train to midtown to meet friends for coffee and lunch.  Events on the bus gave me a chance to compare life here and there.  In Jerusalem the buses are frequently packed. And, I mean packed: there is no space left for anyone to squish anywhere. Here are a couple of examples:

On the bus to Mt Scopus (No. 19)

On the bus (No 19)

 
And, here's how you get on:

Loading the bus from Mt. Scopus

Israelis don't line up for the bus, at least not in the way your average Anglo-Saxon mannered North American would. The queue isn't long and skinny, it's short and fat and functions more like a funnel. You learn that coming in at the side of the line works as well as, or better than, going to the back of the line. And, you learn to take up space, subtly, but solidly so as to secure your entry to the bus. (I learned this  last October by missing 2 buses in a row and finally 'winging' my way into the 3rd.)

Anyway, none of these new manners are really necessary in Vancouver. People mostly queue in the long skinny sense. But, more importantly, and more comically to me on Thursday, the bus won't ever be filled to its physical capacity (as distinguished from its assigned capacity) in Vancouver.  The driver announced that if anyone couldn't get behind the red line they'd have to get off the bus! The red line marks off the space of the front of the bus that gives the driver clear sight lines. In Jerusalem, the driver often pulls away from the stop when 3 or 4 people are standing in the door (you have to squeeze in to be sure to not get caught in the closing doors) and proceeds to process payment (you can still get change on the bus in Jerusalem) while he drives down the road navigating traffic.