Where is the love?

So far I am surviving March Madness, we haven't filed for a divorce yet and Phil had a quiet birthday evening at home watching basketball while I cooked his birthday dinner. Complete with brownies that came out almost raw. I blame the ghetto oven but Phil blames my bad math skills used to convert the temp from Fahrenheit to Celsius. In any case, raw brownies are actually quite delicious. Phil is now quite sleep deprived from watching games at 2 in the morning before getting up for work at 5:30, so I took this opportunity to steal the computer and sneak in a blog.

We did manage to get out a little over the weekend and had brunch with some friends at a really great restaurant. A restaurant that serves bacon and some seriously delicious eggs benedict. Although the servers were wearing their pajamas. And by pajamas, I mean ratty old boxer shorts and tank tops. The kind of out-fit most people would not let anyone seem them in except for their significant other. One of the girls completed her stellar outfit with some Ugg Boots. Not sure if that was an everyday occurance at the restaurant or if it was just because of the holiday. This weekend was Purim and although I am not completely sure of the historical significance of the day, I do know that it gives people the excuse to swarm the streets dressed up in crazy costumes. Even the quite premature summer heat did not deter people.

Yes, it is officially H-O-T. Really, really, really, really hot. Um.....I'm sorry, but last time I checked I thought it was March, not July. According to one weather report it was supposed to top out at 100 degrees on Sunday. (Like I said before, not too good with the Celsius yet. Grams and Liters I've got down. But temperature still eludes me.) But the other weather report said it was only supposed to be 90. So we checked a third report and wouldn't you know, it spilt the difference down the middle and predicted 95. Apparently it is seriously difficult to predict the weather here because they always vary by up to 10 degrees. What the heck? There is a huge difference between 90 and 100. 90=hot but tolerable, 100=heat stroke. In any case, I think I have to say that it was most likely pushing 100 on Sunday. And as I was so NOT expecting this kind of weather in March, most of my cute summer skirts/tanktops and flipflops are on a ship right now moving slowly through the Atlantic. Or it's quite possible they are actually in the Mediterranean by now. And if the customs officers don't go on strike again, we may actually get our stuff in the next two weeks. Of course that's a long time to wait for some cute but comfortable sandals so I went out and bought some the other day. :) Happy Birthday to me!

So the other morning I got up early, although not as early as I had planned, in order to take a walk before the heat set in for the day. I was super tired thanks to our lovely downstairs neighbor who decided it would be fun to listen to American Idol at full volume at one o'clock in the morning. If I can actually hear Simon's crude but often quite truthful criticism, then you know it is too damn loud. But I got up any way, grabbed my ipod and set out for a walk along the beach. I've never lived by the beach before and always thought it would be fun to take nice long walks along the water. So I set out on my walk with visions of clear blue water and soft sandy beaches only to come face to face with reality. The beach was completely littered with trash. There were empty plastic (and glass!) bottles strewn everywhere and of course my favorite, millions of little cigarette butts littered in the sand. And people were actually walking barefoot through all of this!

Now I had obviously seen the beaches here before, so I don't know if I was just oblivious the other times or what. All I know is that it completely shattered my visions of lazing away the afternoons lying on the beach sipping lemonade with mint (very commom here and quite delicious) while engrossed in a good book. However, I did find out later from one of my new friends (somehow I already have more friends here than I did in Oregon) that because it is still winter here (yes, apparently even at 100 degrees it is still considered winter) that they just don't clean the beach regularly in the winter time. Well that makes me feel a teensy weensy bit better but not really. Because I will always know in my mind what kind of filthy mess the beach was before I got there and will be thinking about all the nasty cigarette butts that once littered the sand that my toes are now sinking into. I figured that in such a small country with such a turbulent history (and present for that matter) people would have a little more respect for the land they call home. But apparently not because most of the city is littered with trash too. One of mine, and Phil's, serious pet peeves, is littering. Cannot stand it at all.

And yes, I do realize I am a little bit complainy today! (That's why I have this blog though--free therapy!) I realized today that I am just not feeling the love. We were told by many people before we moved over here that we were just going to absolutely love it here, and so maybe I had this place completely built up in my mind and now it is failing to live up to those expectations. Granted we have not been out of the city yet, which I am sure is a completely different experience. Unfortunately because Phil is about to get super busy at work, we may not have the opportunity for weekend excursions for a while. So while I do "like" it here, I definitely cannot say that I "love" it here.....yet. Maybe it will come eventually, maybe not. It will certainly be interesting to see how we feel (Phil's not feeling the love yet either) in another 6 months or so after most of the daily frustrations have subsided and we settle into a more normal life and have had the opportunity to travel and get out of the city. Until then I shall be working on my Hebrew (I start my tutoring tomorrow!) and my temperature converting skills and waiting to feel the love......