The Lost Jews of Jaipur

September 7, 2008

I was walking across the street in the Old City of Jaipur on the third day of our trip to India. I had just bought a bag of ladoo, a sticky Indian sweet shaped like a small yellow golf ball. As I focused my attention on searching for a store sign in English in order to bargain my […]

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Jambo! Our Tanzanian Adventure

September 5, 2008

The thing that will stick with me the most from our recent 12-day safari in Tanzania is the dirt. An ever-present coat of red dust settles over the entire countryside and soaks into everything – the tasteful khaki safari clothes we bought that are not supposed to display such discoloration, the insides of your shoes […]

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Off to Tanzania

August 14, 2008

This Normal Life is taking a two week break. The Blum family is heading off on a trip of a lifetime: 12 days of safari in Tanzania! I’ll write about it when we return, so keep checking the blog, your RSS feed or email inbox.

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Alone Again (Not) Naturally

August 7, 2008

The week didn’t go at all as I expected. When Jody made plans for her and Amir to go to Cleveland for Jody’s grandmother’s 90th birthday at the same time as Merav and Aviv were to be in sleep away camp, I thought: this is great. I get the house all to myself. Peace and […]

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New TV Show Attempts to Bridge the Religious Secular Divide

July 31, 2008

A new TV show that debuted earlier this month on the Israeli satellite company YES is the talk of the town across certain sectors of southern Jerusalem. “Srugim” (in English: “knitted kippas”) is an extraordinarily accurate depiction of the religious singles scene in Jerusalem. Set in our own neighborhood (Katamon and the German Colony in […]

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Bureaucracy

July 25, 2008

It was supposed to be a simple process. 16-year-old Amir had lost his teudat zehut – his identity card – when it fell out of his pocket on a bus a few months back. By Israeli law, once you turn 16, you’re supposed to carry your ID with you at all times. Getting a replacement […]

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Bulldozer Copycat Attack: On the Scene

July 22, 2008

Amir and I were downtown when the police cars and ambulances started zooming past us, their sirens blaring. We had just finished an ice coffee at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and were waiting at a bus stop to go home. One after another, the police sped down Jaffa Road. There must have been […]

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Alexander the Great

July 18, 2008

For the last several months, I’ve been seeing a lovely Chilean woman named Anchela. Now before you get all up in arms, it’s purely platonic. Anchela is my Alexander Technique therapist. As part of the tikkun for my new office chair (see my previous post here), I’ve started a regimen to address my aching back. […]

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Bridge of Strings: Monstrosity or Beauty?

July 10, 2008

Some have called it a monstrosity. To others it’s a thing of beauty. One thing’s for sure: the new Bridge of Strings at the entrance to Jerusalem, which was formally dedicated two weeks ago in a multi-million dollar ceremony, has generated a huge amount of controversy both online and with the general public at large. […]

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What a Dump!

June 27, 2008

Here’s a Friday morning outing you’ve probably never considered: A trip to the dump. But not just any dump. The Hiria dump – an 80-meter high blight on the landscape that no commuter traveling on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway could miss. Now Hiria is being transformed from its formerly stinky state into the Ariel Sharon […]

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