Flag Wars

it's monday afternoon in the holy city of zefat. since last thursday, the neighbors were all hussling to raise as many flags as possible this year. my neighbor to the right of me, put up a good fight this year. however, our neighbor, shlomo, once again, beat everyone out. this year, one flag was simply, not enough. i hung up a string of small flags over my gate but i was very tempted to hang up another one. talk about your peer pressure!

last night began memorial day in israel. all television programming was once again, suspended. all you can watch is home videos of the fallen soldiers. these are really heartbreaking. the majority of these fallen soldiers were aged 18 to 22. being a t.v. addict, i watched them until 2:00 a.m. and i was completely, spent. it's one thing to watch modern, hollywood holocaust films, but these videos are the real deal and most touching. dozens of israeli war songs are being played all day long. i find them very hard to listen to.

memorial day ends tonight and independence day begins. that means live music tonight and a mass exit tomorrow for the national parks and barbecues. the country literally, closes. everything shuts down including public transportation. i went to the supermarket yesterday to buy the coals, drinks, chumus, marshmallows, burgers, hotdogs, kebabs and pitas. they were all out of steaks and lambchops, not that i could afford them. i think the clan is coming over tomorrow. i'm never really sure of anything.

never mind! whoever shows up, shows up. my friend wanted to join us with her two dogs but i couldn't deal with any more dogs. especially, if all ten of the clan come over. three females and two male dogs is still way, too many dogs to have to deal with.

out of desparation, i rented a movie last night. i saw, 'the wrestler' with mickey rouke. what a bleak film that was. i really found it hard to deal with. the videos of the soldiers were sad but that film was downright, depressing. i wouldn't mind renting another film now.

yesterday, i felt better and finally made it to yoga in the neighborhood. it was so good to get out. i'm a bit sore today but nonetheless, feel okay. when i got home i went upstairs to see sahar. i spent shabbat with gal's family but didn't really get a chance to connect with him. so i volunteered to take him downstairs for awhile so gal could rest. she really looked ragged. i ended up having him for about 4 hours. we had a nice time, too.

gal was very apologetic that she slept that much, but i was glad to have been able to help her out. now that sahar eats solids and drinks from a bottle, it's so much easier to deal with him. we were crawling around the grass together and took a stroll to the super. we were both very mellow yesterday.

tonight the kids are planning to go out for the festivites. i wonder if they're planning to leave the baby here. i wouldn't mind. i don't go out on independence day. i continue to take a remedy for my face. there has been some slight nerve damage but not as bad as the first attack. so far, so good.