Last night, just before departing back to Israel, I had a unique experience. My friend Dan, is very much into flying. Last year when we visited the bay area before going back to Israel, we all got a ride on a small airplane (the popular Bay Tour, see http://picasaweb.google.com/AnatGiora/SanFranciscoBayArea#).
But flying only airplanes is apparently not enough for Dan, and in the last few years he's into flying helicpters as well. So yesterday, we went on a short night flight in a tiny chopper. While flying in a small plane was very nice, flying in a helicopter is a whole new thing. The visibility was fantastic, and seeing the vast Bay Area, lit at night and expanded from San-Francisco 'till San-Jose is magnificent. Gliding 4 feet above the ground, before takeoff and after landing is somewhat freaky and mostly very enjoyable.
I had a great time, which was definitely better than the laternative, of catching some sleep before my flight back home...
Thank you Dan!!!
Giora
Saturday, October 24
Friday, October 23
Mighty Yosemite!
About a year ago, as part of our 3-months family travels in the western US, we spent 5 days in Yosemite. Not sure if we blogged about it back then, but the beauty of the park was shaded, to some extent, by the masses of people who flooded it. It just didn't feel like nature. Granted, part of the problem was that as a family it's very hard to get away from the most crowded spots.
So fixing that impression was high on my list for this visit. Together with Dan, a good friend I stayed with, and Tamar (a new friend) we went hiking in Yosemite over the last weekend. We embarked on an ambitious and difficult hike: from Yosemite Valley, through the Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls, past the Half Dome and all the way to Lake Merced. About 20 km in a day, including circa 4000 feet (more than 1.3 KM) of elevation gain. We camped near the lake, in what most normal people would consider non-camping temperatures (just a bit above zero celsius in the cool of the night). Both Dan and Tamar are what you'd call hard-core hikers; to put things in perspective, while for me it was a challenging adventure, Tamar didn't even bother to sleep in a tent, and mostly seemed as if she went on a short stroll...
Along the lines of my recent "Getting Old" posting, I had some doubts whether my back and body in general will be happy with such an adventure. But I did just fine physically, and had an astounding weekend. Like many others, I think Yosemite is one of the most beautiful pieces of nature on our globe. The powerful waterfalls surrounded by mighty tree-less granite cliffs generate a scene which is impossible to describe. Once you get into the wilderness, away from the mass of visitors, the nature you're immersed in is awe-inspiring in a way no photograph can capture.
Combined with fabulous company, fascinating conversations and friendly whether (well, it hardly rained and certainly didn't snow!) I had such a wonderful weekend, that for a short while I almost forgot how much I missed Anat and the girls :-)
Giora
So fixing that impression was high on my list for this visit. Together with Dan, a good friend I stayed with, and Tamar (a new friend) we went hiking in Yosemite over the last weekend. We embarked on an ambitious and difficult hike: from Yosemite Valley, through the Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls, past the Half Dome and all the way to Lake Merced. About 20 km in a day, including circa 4000 feet (more than 1.3 KM) of elevation gain. We camped near the lake, in what most normal people would consider non-camping temperatures (just a bit above zero celsius in the cool of the night). Both Dan and Tamar are what you'd call hard-core hikers; to put things in perspective, while for me it was a challenging adventure, Tamar didn't even bother to sleep in a tent, and mostly seemed as if she went on a short stroll...
Along the lines of my recent "Getting Old" posting, I had some doubts whether my back and body in general will be happy with such an adventure. But I did just fine physically, and had an astounding weekend. Like many others, I think Yosemite is one of the most beautiful pieces of nature on our globe. The powerful waterfalls surrounded by mighty tree-less granite cliffs generate a scene which is impossible to describe. Once you get into the wilderness, away from the mass of visitors, the nature you're immersed in is awe-inspiring in a way no photograph can capture.
Combined with fabulous company, fascinating conversations and friendly whether (well, it hardly rained and certainly didn't snow!) I had such a wonderful weekend, that for a short while I almost forgot how much I missed Anat and the girls :-)
Giora
Driving a Toyota Prius
Ever since we moved to Pittsburgh, in 2005, I wanted to own a Toyota Prius. I was literally fascinated with the Hybrid technology, and liked a lot the energy-efficient direction.
However, the car was so much more expensive from our used $5K Dodge Neon, and it made little sense to spend so much money on something that needs to get me from point A to point B. Even the subsidies Google used to grant for Prius purchasing in the US, when I worked for Google Pittsburgh, didn't make it a reasonable investment for us.
During my visit to California in the past two weeks, I came as close as it gets to owning a Prius (well, short of buying one). The rental company had them, for practically the same rate as the regular Chevies, and I was delighted! The sweet car drove smoothly and flawlessly around the Bay Area, to Berkeley (twice) and to Yosemite over the weekend. The vehicle is very quiet, the concept of pressing a button to ignite the car is neat and it felt like the gas it used for the whole period was equivalent to a daily commute of the average American Guzzler...
I'm tempted to consider buying a Prius in Israel :-)
Giora
However, the car was so much more expensive from our used $5K Dodge Neon, and it made little sense to spend so much money on something that needs to get me from point A to point B. Even the subsidies Google used to grant for Prius purchasing in the US, when I worked for Google Pittsburgh, didn't make it a reasonable investment for us.
During my visit to California in the past two weeks, I came as close as it gets to owning a Prius (well, short of buying one). The rental company had them, for practically the same rate as the regular Chevies, and I was delighted! The sweet car drove smoothly and flawlessly around the Bay Area, to Berkeley (twice) and to Yosemite over the weekend. The vehicle is very quiet, the concept of pressing a button to ignite the car is neat and it felt like the gas it used for the whole period was equivalent to a daily commute of the average American Guzzler...
I'm tempted to consider buying a Prius in Israel :-)
Giora
Sunday, October 11
Getting Old
I'm not getting any younger. Gotta face it and admit it.
While I'd like to think of myself as young in spirit, my body has clearly started signaling that it's no longer as strong as it used to be. One immediate implication is that I might need to give up playing basketball. Very sad, but probably the right thing for me to do. I threw out my back badly not too long ago, sending me to several painful days in bed, hardly able to sit, not to mention stand or walk. It used to happen every 5 years or so, but in the last couple years it became more like every 5 months. I should note that I'm very aware of my back problems, and I get Shiatsu treatments every week. I also tried Pilates for several months, with no obvious success. At the end of the day, I guess the violent nature of playing basketball, including sharp turns and sudden shocks is something I should be avoiding. But I need the exercise, and I loath swimming :-( We'll see, maybe I'll try football (the real game, not the American fake version :-)
This seems to be typical for my biological age (37), but it's hardly comforting.
Two weeks ago, I went on a "boys hike" with my two good friends, Tal and Ziv. That's sort of a tradition that was put on hold for several years, during which we didn't all live in Israel. We are experienced hikers. We chose one of the most challenging trails in Israel - the black canyon in the Zavitan creek in the Golan. It requires rappelling down high waterfalls, jumping into pools and swimming with your backpack soaked with water, and being very careful of slippery rocks. We hiked the trail easily, but kept laughing at ourselves: here we are, with 3 kids each, by our own standards out of shape, no longer reckless youngsters capable of everything. The sentiment of getting old and having less energy was definitely something we all shared...
But they say that with years comes wisdom, right?!
Giora
While I'd like to think of myself as young in spirit, my body has clearly started signaling that it's no longer as strong as it used to be. One immediate implication is that I might need to give up playing basketball. Very sad, but probably the right thing for me to do. I threw out my back badly not too long ago, sending me to several painful days in bed, hardly able to sit, not to mention stand or walk. It used to happen every 5 years or so, but in the last couple years it became more like every 5 months. I should note that I'm very aware of my back problems, and I get Shiatsu treatments every week. I also tried Pilates for several months, with no obvious success. At the end of the day, I guess the violent nature of playing basketball, including sharp turns and sudden shocks is something I should be avoiding. But I need the exercise, and I loath swimming :-( We'll see, maybe I'll try football (the real game, not the American fake version :-)
This seems to be typical for my biological age (37), but it's hardly comforting.
Two weeks ago, I went on a "boys hike" with my two good friends, Tal and Ziv. That's sort of a tradition that was put on hold for several years, during which we didn't all live in Israel. We are experienced hikers. We chose one of the most challenging trails in Israel - the black canyon in the Zavitan creek in the Golan. It requires rappelling down high waterfalls, jumping into pools and swimming with your backpack soaked with water, and being very careful of slippery rocks. We hiked the trail easily, but kept laughing at ourselves: here we are, with 3 kids each, by our own standards out of shape, no longer reckless youngsters capable of everything. The sentiment of getting old and having less energy was definitely something we all shared...
But they say that with years comes wisdom, right?!
Giora
New Beginnings
Dear family and friends,
Writing infrequently doesn't leave much room for sharing fine-grained thoughts and impressions. So I'll try to sustain more frequent updates.
Raising our magnificent daughters renders our days eventful. There's never a dull moment. Beyond the daily routine, however, I'd like to share two new beginnings I am particularly excited about.
Hadas started first grade this year. I didn't think I'd be as excited as I was when Noga did, but I was completely wrong. Experiencing the transition to school with her was (and is) fascinating. There are some difficulties of migrating from playing all day to studying, but for the most part she's very happy with her new environment. Most notably, watching her learning to read is unbelievable. I spend a lot of time reading books with her. Hadas reads aloud, and observing her rapid progress is simply astounding. A bright kid, she's already familiar with all the Hebrew letters, as well as the pronunciation marks ("nikud"). All of a sudden, letters combine into syllables, which then turn into words, which in turn are formed into full sentences. A brave new world is being opened for her and you can literally see and feel the wheels in her brain. You can almost touch her sense of accomplishment and joy in light of the new capability she is acquiring. Fantastic!
Noga, as I previously wrote, is going to attend a gifted program this year. Once a week, instead of school, she'll be going to "Oranim College", not too far from Haifa, for a full day where she will take several interesting classes with other gifted kids. A few months ago I went with her to an introduction day. The program, fully supported and partially funded by the Ministry of Education, looks very promising. The classes are very small in Israeli standards (at most 20 pupils per class), the teachers seem to be proficient and caring, and the subjects are diverse and intriguing, including art, juggling, aeronautics, zoology and more. It's no news that Noga is an extremely smart girl, but still, listening to the program director explaining that they accept only the top 1% of kids made me proud. Even more rewarding is seeing how excited Noga is towards the program, which is likely to alleviate the fact that at school, how to gently say, she's not being constantly challenged.
As the famous Israeli song goes: ילדים (ילדות, אצלנו...) זה שמחה
(translation: kids are happiness :-)
Giora
Writing infrequently doesn't leave much room for sharing fine-grained thoughts and impressions. So I'll try to sustain more frequent updates.
Raising our magnificent daughters renders our days eventful. There's never a dull moment. Beyond the daily routine, however, I'd like to share two new beginnings I am particularly excited about.
Hadas started first grade this year. I didn't think I'd be as excited as I was when Noga did, but I was completely wrong. Experiencing the transition to school with her was (and is) fascinating. There are some difficulties of migrating from playing all day to studying, but for the most part she's very happy with her new environment. Most notably, watching her learning to read is unbelievable. I spend a lot of time reading books with her. Hadas reads aloud, and observing her rapid progress is simply astounding. A bright kid, she's already familiar with all the Hebrew letters, as well as the pronunciation marks ("nikud"). All of a sudden, letters combine into syllables, which then turn into words, which in turn are formed into full sentences. A brave new world is being opened for her and you can literally see and feel the wheels in her brain. You can almost touch her sense of accomplishment and joy in light of the new capability she is acquiring. Fantastic!
Noga, as I previously wrote, is going to attend a gifted program this year. Once a week, instead of school, she'll be going to "Oranim College", not too far from Haifa, for a full day where she will take several interesting classes with other gifted kids. A few months ago I went with her to an introduction day. The program, fully supported and partially funded by the Ministry of Education, looks very promising. The classes are very small in Israeli standards (at most 20 pupils per class), the teachers seem to be proficient and caring, and the subjects are diverse and intriguing, including art, juggling, aeronautics, zoology and more. It's no news that Noga is an extremely smart girl, but still, listening to the program director explaining that they accept only the top 1% of kids made me proud. Even more rewarding is seeing how excited Noga is towards the program, which is likely to alleviate the fact that at school, how to gently say, she's not being constantly challenged.
As the famous Israeli song goes: ילדים (ילדות, אצלנו...) זה שמחה
(translation: kids are happiness :-)
Giora
Recommending a book: "In Defense Of Food"
Dear family and friends,
I'm currently sitting onboard a flight from Tel-Aviv to Los-Angeles, en-route to the bay area (Mountain View, CA), where Google's main office is located. At almost 15 hours, it's the longest lag I've ever flew. It's also the first trans-atlantic flight for me, with no kids, for more than a decade! And being lousy at sleeping in planes, I do have some time to write...
This is my first visit to the US since we returned to Israel. It'll be my first entrance into the land of unlimited opportunities, as a US citizen. It dawned on me when I had to present my US passport in the airport. Weird. Quite naturally, and as I wrote in my previous posting, I feel less American today than I did a year ago.Those of you who have been following this blog in the past few years know that I have strong sentiments for the US. While I do have quite some criticism, I value many important aspects of the society, culture and way of life.
Talking about the American way of life, I'd like to warmly recommend a book I recently read - "In Defense Of Food" (http://www.michaelpollan.com/indefense.php). I found this short book (about 200 pages; if you're really lazy, you can check the 1 hour video of the author, Michael Pollan, talking about the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-t-7lTw6mA), strikingly enlightening and eye-opening. A follow-up on Pollan's ecology-focused "The Omnivore Dilemma" (which I didn't read), this book discusses nutrition, the "Western Diet" and the dangers to one's health stemming from the plethora of processed foods in the US, and from the American way of eating in general.
The book is full of fascinating information. I learned a lot from reading it, and I believe many of you may similarly benefit. Want an example? I grew up believing that saturated fats were bad, and should be avoided as much as possible. The book convincingly explains and demonstrates why this is believed today to be a fallacy. Few books can make you change the way you do things in your daily life, let alone the way you're eating. This one is such a rare book. I would recommend it to any curious person, and for those of you who live in the US, I think it's a must-read.
For those who live in Israel, I have a copy I'll be happy to lend.
Take care,
Giora
I'm currently sitting onboard a flight from Tel-Aviv to Los-Angeles, en-route to the bay area (Mountain View, CA), where Google's main office is located. At almost 15 hours, it's the longest lag I've ever flew. It's also the first trans-atlantic flight for me, with no kids, for more than a decade! And being lousy at sleeping in planes, I do have some time to write...
This is my first visit to the US since we returned to Israel. It'll be my first entrance into the land of unlimited opportunities, as a US citizen. It dawned on me when I had to present my US passport in the airport. Weird. Quite naturally, and as I wrote in my previous posting, I feel less American today than I did a year ago.Those of you who have been following this blog in the past few years know that I have strong sentiments for the US. While I do have quite some criticism, I value many important aspects of the society, culture and way of life.
Talking about the American way of life, I'd like to warmly recommend a book I recently read - "In Defense Of Food" (http://www.michaelpollan.com/indefense.php). I found this short book (about 200 pages; if you're really lazy, you can check the 1 hour video of the author, Michael Pollan, talking about the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-t-7lTw6mA), strikingly enlightening and eye-opening. A follow-up on Pollan's ecology-focused "The Omnivore Dilemma" (which I didn't read), this book discusses nutrition, the "Western Diet" and the dangers to one's health stemming from the plethora of processed foods in the US, and from the American way of eating in general.
The book is full of fascinating information. I learned a lot from reading it, and I believe many of you may similarly benefit. Want an example? I grew up believing that saturated fats were bad, and should be avoided as much as possible. The book convincingly explains and demonstrates why this is believed today to be a fallacy. Few books can make you change the way you do things in your daily life, let alone the way you're eating. This one is such a rare book. I would recommend it to any curious person, and for those of you who live in the US, I think it's a must-read.
For those who live in Israel, I have a copy I'll be happy to lend.
Take care,
Giora
Saturday, October 3
Life is great!
Dear family and friends,
I didn’t forget about this blog. It’s just that at any point in the last 10 months, either time or muse were missing...
Long story short, life is great!
We found Haifa to be a fantastic city for us, and we’re enjoying it a lot – the beaches, the climate and the social environment. In general, living in Israel appears to have been a very good decision for us, with the proximity to our families, as well as the culture and way of life. There are still, of course, disadvantages when compared to our life in the US, but we’ve been pretty good at offsetting or ignoring them. For example, we rarely read the newspaper; we never watch the news on TV. I’m not sure we’re being the most responsible citizens by doing this, but it buys us a lot of peace of mind.
The girls are simply amazing, and it is a pleasure watching them grow up:
Maayan, just a tad older than 2.5 years, thinks she’s a 5 year old, and acts accordingly. She’s pretty much constantly happy. It’s extremely hard to resist her charm, and her ability to hug and express affection is unusual and very enjoyable for me. A third daughter, she’s as assertive as it takes for her to get all the attention she wants, at times to the dismay of her older sisters. But, she adores Hadas and Noga and very often, for extended periods of time, they peacefully play together.
Hadas just started school (first grade. Unlike the US, in Israel kindergarten is for playing, not for studying). Fortunately, the elementary school in our neighborhood is excellent, and was one of the main reasons we chose to rent a place in the area. Naturally, Hadas, and us, were very excited about it. She’s one of those kids that love school, and love to study (well, not very surprising considering her parents...).
She’s mature, very curious and magnificently lively. Having a conversation with her often reveals a surprisingly deep understanding of her surroundings and insights about life in general. Her schedule is fairly busy, with after-school program, gymnastics, art class and many playdates, accommodating the flood of new friends she’s instantly acquired.
I sometimes watch her walking to school (hand-in-hand with Noga), and find it hard to believe she grew up so quickly.
Noga is already over 9, which sounds astonishing to me. My daughter is going to be a teenager soon?! But luckily her behavior is still not (yet) that of a teenager, and we’re enjoying a smart, happy and wonderful child. She’s a classic book worm, reading (mostly in English) every moment she can spare. And there’s many such moments, since she’s extremely busy – gymnastics, very frequent playdates, girl-scouts (“Zofim”) and soon a gifted-program school-substitute once a week, for a full day. That program seems terrific for Noga, and she’s can’t wait for it to start.
Other than that, as a family, we have many activities on weekends. Pretty much every weekend we get together with friends and/or family. We go hiking and camping fairly often and enjoy the beach as frequently as we can. We also make sure to have some time for the parents alone. These lines, for example, are written in Tel-Aviv where Anat and I are having a lovely weekend (museum, dinner, movie, sleeping with no interruptions). Mayyan finally got to spend a day with her grandparents without her sisters, and her sisters got to watch a performance and spend the Sukkoth holiday with the other set of grandparents. In a few minutes we’ll get going to Binyamina for a big family gathering.
Did I mention proximity to our families was an advantage?!
So, as I said, life is great. No complaints.
Kisses and hugs to everybody, and those outside of Israel - please do write!
Giora
I didn’t forget about this blog. It’s just that at any point in the last 10 months, either time or muse were missing...
Long story short, life is great!
We found Haifa to be a fantastic city for us, and we’re enjoying it a lot – the beaches, the climate and the social environment. In general, living in Israel appears to have been a very good decision for us, with the proximity to our families, as well as the culture and way of life. There are still, of course, disadvantages when compared to our life in the US, but we’ve been pretty good at offsetting or ignoring them. For example, we rarely read the newspaper; we never watch the news on TV. I’m not sure we’re being the most responsible citizens by doing this, but it buys us a lot of peace of mind.
The girls are simply amazing, and it is a pleasure watching them grow up:
Maayan, just a tad older than 2.5 years, thinks she’s a 5 year old, and acts accordingly. She’s pretty much constantly happy. It’s extremely hard to resist her charm, and her ability to hug and express affection is unusual and very enjoyable for me. A third daughter, she’s as assertive as it takes for her to get all the attention she wants, at times to the dismay of her older sisters. But, she adores Hadas and Noga and very often, for extended periods of time, they peacefully play together.
Hadas just started school (first grade. Unlike the US, in Israel kindergarten is for playing, not for studying). Fortunately, the elementary school in our neighborhood is excellent, and was one of the main reasons we chose to rent a place in the area. Naturally, Hadas, and us, were very excited about it. She’s one of those kids that love school, and love to study (well, not very surprising considering her parents...).
She’s mature, very curious and magnificently lively. Having a conversation with her often reveals a surprisingly deep understanding of her surroundings and insights about life in general. Her schedule is fairly busy, with after-school program, gymnastics, art class and many playdates, accommodating the flood of new friends she’s instantly acquired.
I sometimes watch her walking to school (hand-in-hand with Noga), and find it hard to believe she grew up so quickly.
Noga is already over 9, which sounds astonishing to me. My daughter is going to be a teenager soon?! But luckily her behavior is still not (yet) that of a teenager, and we’re enjoying a smart, happy and wonderful child. She’s a classic book worm, reading (mostly in English) every moment she can spare. And there’s many such moments, since she’s extremely busy – gymnastics, very frequent playdates, girl-scouts (“Zofim”) and soon a gifted-program school-substitute once a week, for a full day. That program seems terrific for Noga, and she’s can’t wait for it to start.
Other than that, as a family, we have many activities on weekends. Pretty much every weekend we get together with friends and/or family. We go hiking and camping fairly often and enjoy the beach as frequently as we can. We also make sure to have some time for the parents alone. These lines, for example, are written in Tel-Aviv where Anat and I are having a lovely weekend (museum, dinner, movie, sleeping with no interruptions). Mayyan finally got to spend a day with her grandparents without her sisters, and her sisters got to watch a performance and spend the Sukkoth holiday with the other set of grandparents. In a few minutes we’ll get going to Binyamina for a big family gathering.
Did I mention proximity to our families was an advantage?!
So, as I said, life is great. No complaints.
Kisses and hugs to everybody, and those outside of Israel - please do write!
Giora
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