Main page | March 2007 »

You must have courage...

“You must have courage. It is not so difficult.”
These are the words of my mother-in-law. She recently turned 94. She lost most her family in the Holocaust. She has seen and experienced more than I can imagine. So when she advises me to have courage, I listen.

What is the challenge I face? Why do I need such encouragement? She is teaching me French and I am having a very hard time. Once a week, I walk to her apartment on Palmach Street. We sit together and she patiently listens to my sad pronunciation of her beautiful language. She moved from France to Israel over twenty years ago and although she is fluent in four languages, neither Hebrew nor English is among them. Maybe this is part of the reason she is so patient with my language issues.

We talk to each other in a combination of English and Hebrew, muddling through, finding the words we both understand. We gesticulate quite a bit. We both have fun communicating in creative fragments of languages. Perhaps this is how new languages form. Perhaps we will create some strange new hybrid language.

In addition to teaching me French, she is a marvelous artist and has been so since she was a teenager. Her paintings are of her children and grandchildren, of Europe, of Israel, and flowers, and trees. Once a week, she goes to a club where other people of an advanced age create art. I went with her once. Everyone greeted her as we walked in. Everyone greeted her in a different language. Hebrew is the national language here. But there are people all over piecing together words of many languages and creating new languages.

Sketching the Jerusalem Hills from Sataf.

She takes a break from her painting when Elie and I stop by to say hello.

Posted by Ilene Weismehl  at 8:01 AM | Permalink | Comments 1

Happy just to sit here

A Friday morning concert at Ticho House is a beautiful thing.

We enter the front door of the house, walk up a few stairs to pay 40 shekels (about $10) for a ticket. We then ascend the gracefully spiraled wooden staircase to reach the second floor. We look around for a few moments and find a seat. It's a good thing we arrived early because the room fills up quickly.

The sun streams through the windows; the drawings of Anna Ticho surround us with visions of Jerusalem’s natural beauty. We are happy just to sit here and the concert has not even started yet. After all, to get here we had to navigate through crowds of Jerusalemites completing their last minute shopping before the stores close for Shabbat. It is the storm before the calm. But, we are one step ahead.

Finally, the concert begins. The room fills with strains of Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin. Isn’t it completely beautiful? Didn’t I tell you?

The concert begins.

Outside Ticho House.

Posted by Ilene Weismehl  at 5:45 AM | Permalink | Comments 1

Just call this number

This is how it all began.

I arrived in Israel five months ago on a three-month tourist visa. In October, a month before my visa expired, I called the Ministry of Interior to make an appointment, only to hear a brief message, some cheerful music, a click, then nothing. I tried again, again, again. More message, more cheerful, more click, more nothing.

I walked downtown to the Ministry of Interior, stood in line and told the gum-chewing child behind the window that I needed to extend my visa. She said I had to call for an appointment. I told her the number didn’t work.

"Of course the number works," she said.
“Have you ever called the number?” I asked in a tone approximating assertiveness.
“Why would I call the number?” responded the gum-chewer in a tone approximating an apathetic shrug.
“It doesn’t work,” I asserted.
“Yes it does,” she shrugged.

I returned home and tried calling again. Message, cheerful, click, nothing.

Several weeks later, I returned to the office.
“The number doesn’t work.”
“Yes it does.”
“Have you tried calling?”
“Fine, give me your number and we’ll call you.”

I gave her my phone number and returned home, feeling foreign and gullible. But, a day later, I received a call advising me to come in on November 21 at 8:30 a.m. the day the visa was to expire.

A month later, I walked up to the Ministry of Interior's door, which was closed and surrounded by people speaking every language but Hebrew. What’s happening? The Ministry of Interior is on strike--AGAIN. What are we to do? Call this number to make an appointment.

I let some time pass and returned to the office. I stand in line and find the same gum-chewer. I tell her I need to renew my visa. She tells me I have to call for an appointment. I tell her the number doesn’t work. Yes it does. No it doesn’t. She tells me if I walk to the right and right again and then left I’ll find a list of names on a door. I should add my name and phone number to the list and someone will call me.

By the time I returned home, someone had called to give me an appointment on February 6. This morning, I filled in a form handed over 145 shekel (about $36) and my visa was renewed. Easy!

Bus stop on Yaffo Street.

Posted by Ilene Weismehl  at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments 0