Tel Aviv Diary - July 17-21, 2010 Karen Alkalay-Gut
July 17, 2010 I'm not sure what made me collapse yesterday - i think it was the biking in hot weather, the surfeit of caffeine (1 1/2 liters of diet coke) and the exhaustion of a day without rest. But anyway the ride along the beach was magnificent, the sunset fiery, and this is my man and the pier he helped his father build when he was a child.
Later maybe I'll put up the picture he took of me as I recovered on the grass.
July 19, 2010 Where has the time gone? The summer, my dehydration, the waiting for a call to action from Orit, the errands, the endless errands, etc.etc. Here's a video that makes me feel that every moment not spent in R and D is a national betrayal
It's true what they say there about asking questions - we're always questioning everything, especially about our own actions. But the feeling that we may always ask questions sometimes make us ignore whole areas that should be questioned.
July 20, 2010 Tisha B'Av. So should we be mourning the destruction of the second temple and the exile of the Jewish People, or should we be celebrating the renewal of the Jewish homeland? Should we re-integrate our history every year, incorporating the tragedy of the past in present mourning, or rejoicing in the re-creation? Me, I'm rejoicing. A new baby in our family came into our lives today. A lovely, shlob of a boy. And he promises new beginnings for all. It isn't the first time I've been involved in a birth, but this one was the most unconventional in terms of standard procedure, with all kinds of surprises that promise an innovative personality.
July 21, 2010 Every experience I've had with hospitals here were amazing - efficient, innovative, upbeat. Except in maternity wards. There it is like Faulty Towers. Figure it out for yourselves. For example, if you are pregnant with your first child and you go to a maternity ward, and they ask you how bad is the pain on a scale from one to ten, how are you going to orient yourself? How will you know what pain is?
