The Big Felafel


The 74? That seems logical

When it’s all color coded and has diamonds behind it, I could almost get excited about the new Egged bus lines. New bus lines? Well, Jerusalem has been planning a light rail for many years now, but only now are they actually dealing with the traffic nightmares it could possibly cause. It’s not that I’m disrespecting their efforts, I can’t wait to get from one end of Herzl street to the other, it’s just that I get a little confused when I see the 74 bus stop show up. Sorry to readers not living in Jerusalem, this may not be all that riveting…

Here’s what I find funny. The 14 bus has turned into the 21(more or less) and the 21 turned into the 74 (more or less)… so the real question is… why not keep the original bus numbers and just have a slight change of route!

Brian from This Normal Life quotes the Jerusalem Post article which really demonstrates the lack of communication among the city’s transportation units.


7 months of funny search terms

Some people check their blog stats for duration of visit, referring sites, or most popular content. I prefer to check mine for search terms of how people findthe big felafel. Some are the usual like “misrad hapnim Jerusalem” or “book stores Jerusalem” but some are pretty hilarious and fall into the following categories.

Seeking Philosophical answers I really wonder if anybody can ever explain these wonders of the world

  • Is ahmadedejad evil
  • Assigned seats in movie theater
  • Are there 50 or 52 states
  • Are there movie theaters in Israel

Religiouis oh Jews… always looking to make fun of themselves

  • Shemittah jokes
  • yom kippur funny

Weird um

  • And a pile of bandaids, thank you
  • Make friends with salad
  • Poo fight faceback

Random things I would never, ever, ever think of looking up but maybe now I will

  • Tushy police
  • How to dump your facebook friends
  • My tushy is too large
  • 3 things that happened during the invention chocolate

Vague Even if these people found the answers they were looking for, I still don’t think they’d be happy with the answer. I recommend these people use Google’s advanced search feature.

  • Make falafel game
  • Why do you know that they are boys
  • Location or place where the book sells
  • How big is a parking spot
  • The cost of stuff in Israel
  • How much do groceries cost in Israel
  • calories in falafel
  • How many shekels is food in Israel
  • how much do things cost in israeli shekels

Cut the crap – give me the low down

  • How much is a falafel in Israel
  • Price of chicken in Israel
  • how do people make a living in israel

Mad Libs For Peace

I think that anyone who starts an initiative for peace in the middle east probably has good intentions maybe a little naive, but a good heart none the less. Although a noble cause, many times these groups for peace use a formula that amounts to no more than: noun + for peace = organization name. I’ve compiled a list of the groups that have most amused me most from ukuleles (I just learned how to spell that) to sex.

We had written about Salsa for Peace, only to learn that there are tons more creative ideas to bring peace for the middle east. Recently in Janglo, I noticed none other than Ukuleles for Peace(upcoming concert) and Drummers For Peace In the Middle East(looking for a drummer).

Other For Peace organization names that amused me:

The real proposals for peace…

What will they think of next?


Don’t Listen to Beilin’s Broken Record

beilin.JPGThis is an Opinion Piece in response to Beilin’s Ynet Article, Don’t repeat mistake of 2000, on March 8, 2008.

Mr.Beilin it is hard to take you seriously when your advice seems to end with a punch line rather than a message. It is you, and your past that has brought the Israeli people to the current situation, and not, as you claimed, “The IDF’s harsh response to Palestinian violence in 2000.”

In your article, you had the audacity to ask that we do not “repeat mistakes” again. Your request is a joke because it is the mistakes we made during Oslo that we are now repeating. During the Oslo Accords our country was made to believe that shootings were not “real terrorist attacks.” Shootings became like roadblocks; somehow it was believed that we needed them in order to obtain peace. According to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from the signing of the Declaration of Principles between Israel and the PLO (the Oslo Accords) on September 13, 1993, until September 2000, 256 civilians and soldiers were killed in terrorist attacks in Israel.

The quiet that you spoke of in 2007, was nothing more than a waiting period until the next uprising, war, or whatever term fits the crime. It was not as though in 2007, Fatah, Hamas and other terrorist groups thought to themselves, “You know the Jews aren’t that bad. This living side-by-side thing seems like a great idea. Let’s give peace a chance.” In fact, it is embracing the quiet of 2007, rather than interpreting its silence that has brought the days of relentless rocket fire to the South, and the Yeshiva shooting to Jerusalem (not to mention the other terrorist attacks that have happened in the past few years). Continue reading this entry »


Are Israeli mopeds made of legos? [photos]

I have started to take my camera with me everywhere so here is my first photo observation:

Israeli mopeds are made of legos

Lego moped

Continue reading this entry »


Netflix arrives Israeli style at DVD Yashir, plus 12 Movie mini-reviews

dvdyashir1.png

Slowly, but surely, Israel is catching up with the convenient services available in America like supermarket deliveries, second-hand marketplaces, and most recently, unlimited movie rentals through the mail with DVD Yashir.

In the notorious style of Hebrew websites, DVD Yashir sports the required scrolling text and flashing images, but at least it works in Firefox.

If you can get past the distractions and navigate your way through the site, you’ll learn that they sell and rent movies, and claim to be offering video rental in the “American style” with different fixed monthly rental plans. The cheapest plan costs 19 shekels for the first month and then 59 shekels for every month after that but doesn’t seem to include new releases. They let you keep a movie as long as you like and request new movies as often as you like, and like Netflix, it runs through the mail. But, let’s play this scenario out logistically in Israel. Just thinking about finding the nearest mailbox that would fit a dvd or attempting to go to the post office at a time when it’s open is starting to give me an anxiety attack.

While this service does seem to be promising, I’m a little skeptical of the reliability and convenience of the Israeli post office/mailbox thing and 59 shekels seems like quite a lot to shell out each month considering the dvd machine near my house is 16 shekels. So only if I rent more than 4 movies a month does it start to become worth it. I think I’ll stick to watching movies online for free.

Mini Movie Reviews

If you decide to try out the service, here are some mini movie reviews to give you some ideas of what to rent — or what not to rent. Continue reading this entry »


Sderot or Your City? The Click To Care Campaign

sderotThe barrage of rockets continues to hit Sderot, and have now made their way to Ashkelon. While I worry about where and when the next rocket will hit, I can’t help but wonder if I am the only one. It is clear that we can not leave it up to the government to effectively run this country or military operations-but I still have faith in the people.The below video is a part of a Click to Care Campaign that I hope all of your will participate in. By clicking on this video and passing it on to friends and family, I hope we can get the word out about Sderot. We must educate the world in order to be heard.

Watch the video- click to care- and pass it on. Below, you will also find a list of organizations dedicated to helping Sderot and victims of terror. There are many ways to support Sderot: volunteer, donate, speak out, and make your voice heard with the click of a video.

HELP!
Sderot in our Hearts: http://www.sderotinourhearts.com/
Being run by a number of organization including OU Israel and Nefesh B’Nefesh, Sderot in our Hearts is dedicated to bringing Purim joy to the traumatized children of Sderot.

Challot from Sderot by Standing Together: www.stogether.org/sderotchallot
Standing Together is dedicated to helping brighten the day of a soldier. This project allows Israelis to order challot and other baked goods directly from bakeries in Sderot for pick-up at different locations in Yerushalyim (and elsewhere) on Friday mornings.

One Family Fund:www.onefamilyfund.org
Raises money for victims of terror.

Connections Israel: www.connectionsisrael.comsderot
This Purim, Connections Israel plans to deliver a holiday gift basket to every family in Sderot (10,000 families in total) with a letter of support from a Jewish family overseas. This project will connect families and communities in a major expression of Jewish unity.

Amit: http://www.amitchildren.org/sup2n.asp
Amit’s Campaign for Sderot has helped hundreds of children to advance in their studies, to continue their education, and to succeed in school despite tremendous obstacles.

Table to Table: www.tabletotable.org.il
Table to Table with the assistance of private donors is bolstering Sderot’s food industry through the purchase of food from local caterers, bakeries, butchers and grocers.

Chabad of Sderot: http://www.helpsderot.com/

Sderot Media Center: www.sderot-media.com
SMC aims to convey the Kassam rocket reality in Sderot and Western Negev to the Israeli and international community through media documentation and investigative journalism.

The Israel Project: http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.3831671/

israel project
The Israel Project is providing journalists with royalty free pictures of Sderot, in order to promote Sderot’s image in the media. They also have informative links about the current situation and history.

Children of Sderot Summer Relief Projecthttp://www.SderotKids.org

The directors of 11 large Jewish summer camps from Boston to Montreal to California have joined together to create this ambitious project to airlift 110 children out of missile-bombarded Sderot and bring them to North America to experience the summer of their lives at these camps.

Continue reading this entry »


Where’s the Mexican food?

About a month ago, Rebecca (my co-blogger and skinny friend), exposed the sushi take-over in Jerusalem. Like a lot of people, she was happy to see Jerusalem swimming in seaweed. But me-I am still waiting for the Mexicans to cross the border.mexican.jpg

Did you know that there are no Mexican restaurants in Jerusalem? Some may want to argue that the restaurant Poyo Loco in Talpiot is Mexican, but they would be wrong. First of all, I don’t think a Mexican restaurant menu should offer salsa, spaghetti and hummus. And it doesn’t matter now anyways because the restaurant closed down.

And don’t even go there with, “La Boca is Mexican,” because what you want to say is, “La Boca is a strange and expensive restaurant. They claim to serve Spanish food, yet all I could find in my tiny portion was an Israeli salad wrapped in a tortilla.” So don’t go there.

Here’s the deal. I am originally from Los Angeles, so baby food came in a taco. Continue reading this entry »


Where to go dancing in Jerusalem: Salsa, Israeli, Clubs, Belly, and more

salsa dancer

Thank goodness there are places in Jerusalem to let go of my pent-up energy after long days spent staring at a computer screen. Unfortunately, I felt like the information for different kinds of dancing in Jerusalem like salsa, Israeli/folk dancing, clubs, belly dancing, and others was all over the place. So, I sat myself down and gathered what I could into one central, organized place (I love lists, what can I say?). Make sure to call the person or venue to verify any information below. If you would like to add any dance venues, please leave a comment below.

In related Salsa news, while I was searching for everything Salsa and Israel, I came across the 7th Annual Mediterranean Salsa Congress’ , which is hoping to create peace in Israel through salsa. If you’re still skeptical, just watch this clip. How come no one thought of this before?!

Salsa

  • Merkaz Hamagshimim
    Tuesdays at 8pm
    Includes: Salsa, Marengue, Roueda, Cha Cha and Kumbia and Bacheta.
    Cost: 25 NIS
    Location: The Merkaz, 7a Dor Dor VeDorshav St.
    Phone: Dudu 050-856-3117
  • Candela Club
    Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays:
    21:00-22:30 – Learning Salsa LA style
    22:30-02:00 – Salsa Party
    Cost: 40 NIS
    Location: Rav Chen Mall, 16 Haoman St. Talpiot
    Phone: 050-565-3997
  • Mirage Club (really nice teachers, and even if you’re just learning, lots of good people to watch)
    Note: I heard this club moved to the Malha area (updated Mar 2009)
    Thursdays: Continue reading this entry »

An Israeli Errand…Not Just a Stop at the Dry Cleaners!

The Israeli lifestyle often involves lots of errands. Unlike the errands most of us are used to: dry cleaning, grocery shopping, post office and the bank in Israel you can add bureaucratic government offices to your list.

A typical stop at your local health office, municipality or tax authority means you are stuck in lines without ropes, rude tellers and paper work you can’t understand. Sometimes you might even get stuck with a bill!

But for me, last Thursday at the Television Tax Authority was so much more than that! I can’t even put it into words luckily I had my video camera with me and taped the eventful errand!