photo happy

so for those of you who read my last post... i'm feeling more hopeful, mainly because of this: ACTIVISM FESTIVAL!!!
i'm volunteering there with a group called Bikurim, "an Israeli NGO that aims to strengthen the foundations of a pluralistic society in Israel through the use of socially aware children's literature." it's great, the book they are currently aiming to distribute is a lovely story with beuatiful art and i'm proud to peddle it. i love Micka, the one woman i met so far, and i'm sure it can only get better as i meet more people with the project. she's the one i mentioned in my last post... and it was successful. a kinda-friend!

(i realize now that i failed to mention Elisa, a nifty energetic lady with whom i've been spending a ton of time with since i got here. she's from Buffalo, has her degree in baking, likes my cooking, and we are each other's only friend here that we didn't meet through our men. she's been here a while, since doing birthright in august and staying to make Aliyah and hang out for a bit with her taglit-acquired boyfriend. we made tiramisu yesterday. damn, those things take a bitchin' long time to make!)

so i'm going to be at the festival all weekend... and housesitting this week at a friend's gorgeous place in the near-by German colony. it's Shavuot this week, a holiday where you eat dairy and drink wine, so we'll have a garden gathering while we're at this beautiful house. maybe i'll make a cheesefake. pumpkin, or chocolate-peanut butter? oh DAMMIT i need soft tofu and you can't get that anywhere here. :( well, i'm going to plant-based-cheese-making workshop tonight at Ginger, the vegetarian community center, so maybe i'll learn of something i can use. (ohhhhh how i used to devour cheese blintzes. if i could make a "cheese" blintz, i will worship at this workshopper's feet.)

oh here's pictures of our "garden" of tea mints and other herbs. and neighbours. :)

and old pics of our Purim brunch with friends. remember you dress up for Purim? :) we ate lunch then went on an avdenture to find floods from the rainstorms we'd been having, but just ended up goofing off in the desert mountains somewhere on the way to the dead sea. also,
there was a flood at his place so there are some ugly pictures of a wet ceiling.

xo


p.s i started reading the Foer, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." it's awesome. :)