April 9, 2016
It was a littler harder to get from Tel Aviv to New York this time. We flew El Al, and there was a delay of 3 1/2 hours because of a leak somewhere. As soon as we boarded I realized it wasn't surprising there was a mechanical problem. The plane seemed a little old, a little worn, a little overloaded. But dayenu. It wouldn't have been such a problem were it not for a very large proportion of Haredi men who had to get other passengers reseated so they could not sit next to women. I was boiling - had i been in charge they would have been removed from the plane. But they must have slipped the stewards a big tip or something because the staff was happily scurrying around for what these guys called "putting things in order." Most of the black hatted men spoke Yiddish, but their vocabularies were limited and they kept switching back to English. Their Yiddish isn't updated to include modern appliances and conveniences.
These guys were also light on their feet and got to the customs line before us. But I was pleased to see that their luggage came in at the same time as ours, and a number of round suitcases containing hats kept going round and round the luggage belt.
April 10, 2016
The more I see of the US nowadays the more I'm sorry. In Israel at least I feel I can help improve the situation. Here it seems helpless. Especially outside the city.
April 11, 2016
you missed last night - but maybe you can see it today.
April 12, 2016
Frank Langella in "The Father" disturbed, unnerved, and upset me. He is so good and everything else was so bad, including the sound, the lights. I couldn't help but think that the level - not of theater but of humanity - really was crass. Not low, but crass - as if it didn't respect the characters or the audience. How sad. i wasn't bored for a moment but there were times i was offended - especially by the lights blinking at me which were meant to simulate the feeling of dementia but make me feel like i was getting an epileptic fit. Maybe if i had known in advance...
April 13, 2016
Hold everything. Ezi is feeling sick again. everything is cancelled.
We set out for Woodlawn Cemetery to see Melville's grave, with a whole lot of other graves like Miles Davis and Irving Berlin on the list. We got into a cab and started moving but the driver had no idea where the cemetery was and our GPS didn't work. So we got out of the cab and got into another cab where the driver said he didn't know the Bronx at all and asked us to leave. Ezi saw that our GPS is not working so we went into a t-mobile store and they replaced the sym card. By then we were far from the hotel and Ezi had to use a bathroom. So we stepped into a cafe and ordered clam chowder (soup of the day). I could see that our early dinner plans were not going to work so I called our friend to postpone. He sent over a car that took us for the afternoon, but Ezi started to feel sick and unsteady, and as soon as we found Melville he wanted to go home. We were well on our way when he realized he lost his phone. So we turned back and searched the graves. Nothing. Searched the car again and found the phone. Raced back to the hotel - he went to lie down while i went out for coke. Finally alka-seltzer seemed to help the clam chowder find its way out. but all plans are cancelled for today and tomorrow.