Fighting fires.

He sleeps with a 457 under his companion pillow, well he told me he didn't anymore but I saw him showing it off with the rest of his guns. He still has the line of old telephones lining the wall against where the couch sits. When I was little I didn't realize they were only for show and thought my grandpa must be a very important person to have so many phones and I bet he got so many calls. Not only was he important for the many phones he had but he was a firefighter. I pictured him busting down doors and saving children as flames engulfed him, coming home smelling of smoke, taking off his boots and waiting for one of the lines to ring, to be a hero for another day. The knowledge of him that I severely lacked, I compensated with make believe stories. The one I do remember, and tell often, is when I was 6 or 7, going for a Fire Truck ride in an old vintage engine around the streets of Madison. The bells ringing, riding in the open summer air, like we were the only ones in a special day parade. He was always special to me growing up, but later in life I began to think less of him a hero and more just a retired grandfather.
This past summer I found out he had cancer and I prayed the hero would return. He was going through treatment and didn't want visitors. I was overseas and didn't know what was going on. The updates showed his progress and eventually he began to feel better. I never knew the extent of his sickness until a few days ago, when I finally got the chance to cross state lines to see him. He said he was in the hospital for four weeks. He had a PICC line. A colostomy. Radiation. Weeks and weeks of nausea, vomiting. Extreme weight loss. As a nurse, I can picture all of this, I know how sick he means when he says sick. At one point, he was almost sure he was going to die. But he said he came to terms at that point that he had lived a good life. He has done what he wanted to do. Had good memories. He did his best to overcome.
He is telling me this over coffee at a Greek diner down the street from my hotel. I look at him and see the hero, emerging from the fire.

Lately.

I read about the Gulabi gang in Bust Magazine the other day. They are a group of women in India who consider themselves vigilantes who take direct action against violence and injustices not just against women but the disadvantaged citizens of local towns and villages in India. Read about them..http://www.gulabigang.org/index.html

Just watched "Wristcutters: A Love Story"after a classmate mentioned that Tom Waits is in it. To add to my delight I find out that it is based on a book (Knellers Happy Campers) by one of my favorite Israeli authors, Etgar Keret. It was amazing and I would really recommend watching it.

http://shemspeed.com/store.php : Nice tunes
http://www.brooklynindustries.com : Nice shirts

XO

Choosing the Chosen, Chapter 1

As I am getting ready in the bathroom this morning I begin to say the Shema. I close my eyes and think of Jerusalem. Throughout the day the song that I remember from Friday night service that goes with the T’filah goes through my head “nanananana Adonai/nanananana s’fatai tiftach/nanananana u’fi yagid/u’fi yagid t’hilatecha”. I begin to laugh as I think of where this all came from, when did I memorize the Shema? See, I am not Jewish.
I am becoming Jewish.
When this comes out from my mouth, I am most often met with a “huh??”, or often another frequent three letter word, “why?”. One of my favorite response: “You can do that?”
A women at Hillel where I live said, “I’m always curious about converts, because this is such a hard religion, it’s a lot to take on”. She couldn’t put it in better terms.
It has been a two year process, this converting business. The journey has paralleled other profound events in my life. I guess I could say the events in my life have propelled my search for truth and for God. Events that landed me in my bathroom, in the morning, saying the Shema*

*Sh'ma Yis'ra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.
"Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One"

Life as a Nursing Student..

My patient today spoke Spanish only. I know hardly any Spanish.
"Como estas?" (emphasising the question mark not because its a question but because I'm sure Im screwing up the simplest phrase almost everyone knows)
She smiles and waves her hand back and forth.
I palpate her abdomen and she winches. I glance at my notebook that I conveniently wrote down a few words.
"dolor?"
"si"
I'm wishing I had paid attention to Dora the Explorer some more, surely my niece would know more Spanish than me. As she is speaking Spanish to me, I keep thinking of the response in Hebrew because that is the only other language I know. I almost respond "ani lo mayveena" (I do not understand) this will not help.
"Gracias" I say as I finish the exam
"Thank you.." She says very proudly
I smile and nod.
Time to learn some Spanish!

My favorite Sandwich..

Haloumi (Halumi) cheese

Cream Cheese

Pickles

Tomato

Lettuce=

Delicious

I had this sandwich for the first time at Israel's famous espresso bar Aroma. It tastes especially good with an ice Aroma, which is a whole different great thing. I've been making these sandwiches since I've been back and have had request about the making of them, so its simple here it is..

You will need these things. The cheese is imported from Cyprus, check your local markets (and Meijer also carries it)

Get everything ready: 2 slices tomato, lettuce to cover bread slices, 2 kosher dill slices (I put on a cloth to get extra juices out) and some cream cheese in a little dish. Slice the Haloumi cheese (it breaks easily so be careful), slice about 1/4 inch.

Put a splash of olive oil in a hot pan, put the cheese in and let it grill about 45 seconds on each side. It will start to get brown and bubbly. This is good :)

The layering is important. First spread softened cream cheese on wheat bread, lay down the lettuce on top of cream cheese, tomato and pickles (place vertical), then the Haloumi on top also vertically.

Classy and Smart.

Browsing through the bookselves the other day, one in particular caught my eye, "The Scarlet Letter". Looking at the cover I thought maybe it was a remake, like Pride Prejudice and Zombies, but nope it was the original but with a fantastic cover. Artist Ruben Toledo has revamped some classics from Penguin books with beauuuutiful covers!

The Couture Classics have arrived. Daily Candy joins the blog buzz over the new Ruben Toledo-designed Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions of Wuthering Heights, The Scarlet Letter, and Pride and Prejudice. Toledo, an award-winning fashion illustrator, contributes his couture-inspired artwork to Penguin's long history of excellence in book design- Penguin Books

Alef.

The uniform hangs there. An Olive ghost. It has hung there all day Saturday, a cruel reminder that tomorrow it will be possessed again, no longer lifeless. It is clean and perfectly pressed, a glimmering pin and light blue ribbons on the sleeves softens the harshness of the Army tone. He stands in front of it and stares, hoping maybe he can scare it into submission and it will tuck itself away back in the closet. But it's Sunday, the cruelest day for soldiers, and the uniform will not be defeated. So, slowly he puts it on.

Pants. Belt. Tourniquet in the pocket. Shirt. Beret. Gun.

And he says goodybe to his family. The elevator takes us down to the street where we walk quietly to the stop. And we go separate ways and wait until the next time when the ghost returns.