Period pain can be “almost as bad as a heart attack.” Why aren’t we researching how to treat it? Before I had my MRI scans, I told my primary care doctor that the pain seemed to be triggered by my period. He didn’t think this was relevant and ignored the comment. Later, when scans showed my discs were in place, the specialist said my pain was likely due to nerve...
Sometimes the easiest way to get out of Jerusalem on the weekends is just to inform Bertrand that I’m going, grab a kid, and go. A few weeks ago, Jasmine and I took advantage of a beautiful Saturday to drive down to Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv. oth Old City Jaffa and Jaffa Port are beautiful. I was delighted to find several art galleries and jewelers, and Jasmine was...
It’s been hard to write about Jerusalem lately, but last night we spent a lovely and peaceful evening in the Old City, and for the first time in a long time, I felt hopeful. If you haven’t been following the news out of Jerusalem for the past few months, and perhaps even if you have been, you might not be aware of the deep divisions in the city as Palestinians...
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the privilege of seeing several Israeli and Palestinian interpretations and explorations of the conflict (what a terrible and passionless word) through their art. None of the artists pretend to present any solutions, but it’s been eye-opening to me to see how each of them sees the pain, the peace process, and ultimately, the need to find a way to coexist through the lens of...
Ramle is famous for its Wednesday market. Although we’d visited the small town before to visit a friend, we wanted to return to visit the market and Ramle’s 1300 year old underground cistern. I’d heard that the cistern was large enough to row a boat in, and wanted to see it for myself. Our friend met us at the market, which, in addition to being an amazing fruit and vegetable...
One of the most amazing things about living in Jerusalem is living within spitting distance of thousands of years of history. Caesarea (pronounced Keh-sar-ee-ya) is an old Roman town on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. It’s about an hour North of Tel Aviv, and about 90 minutes from Jerusalem. On the first official day of my “staycation,” we loaded the kids into the car and headed to Caesarea bright and early,...
The Year I Embraced Minimalism and Completed a Yearlong Shopping Ban I also added takeout coffee to the list of things I was not allowed to purchase. I’ve been drinking coffee for 15 years and, by the time I started the ban, I was buying $5 lattes at least 4-5 days/week ($80-100/month). That’s not a lot of money, in the grand scheme of things, but it was still money I...
West Jerusalem has some really great playgrounds. The Israelis have a strong culture of outdoors and activity, and we are taking advantage of it while we’re here. Last weekend was jam packed, but somehow, my husband carved out a couple of hours to head down to a local playground and let the kids run around like maniacs. Our goal was to wear the kids out so that they’d both take...
The day after Bertrand returned from Cotonou with the girls, the monks from the monastery where Bertrand attends services called to remind us that we were baptizing Grace on Pentecost. We hadn’t yet found godparents, we hadn’t made any plans for a reception. Hell, we didn’t even have a dress for Grace to wear. The brothers, however, were firm. Grace would be baptized on Pentecost, and the monastery would host...
Old City Akko is a tiny fishing village slash crusader fort, about half an hour outside of Haifa. Over the past thousand years, there has understandably been a great deal of development outside of the ancient walls, but the tourist attractions are all in the Old City itself. I rose bright and early to walk the rampart walls before the city woke up. Like many cities in Israel, Old Akko...
I am an expat, logistician, traveler, writer, paper crafter, lover of books and coffee, and occasionally doting mother. I am occasionally foul-mouthed, not nearly as diplomatic as my professional would imply, and fiercely feminist.
Disclaimers:
The opinions expressed here on SVO are my own and do not reflect the opinions of the Department of State or the USG.
While I frequently link to services and products I like, I receive no renumeration, financial or otherwise, for doing so.
