What I have been up to

Hello folks. Sorry for not writing in a very long time. I will update everything that has happened so far.

Pretty much I have been running around and about. I have visited family and had a chance to catch in a few sites. Also went to a few soccer games (more on that in just a bit).

The first weekend I was here I picked up my niece and nephew from their grandmother and went back to Ashdod. I took them to the beach and then to a soccer game between Sports Club Ashdod and Maccabi Herzliyya. This game was the first of the season for both clubs. The Herzliyya team is a team that was just promoted this year from the second division and they played with a lot of heart. Ashdod was absorbing a lot of pressure all game long and then they scored an 82nd minute goal that was quite exciting. My niece and nephew jumped out of their seats as well.

The next day I took the kids back to their parents by train. It took quite long with a train switch in-between. About 5 hours because someone got hit in the train station just ahead of Ashdod. Resulted in a 1.5 hour delay. Some things are slow in Israel.

After taking them back, I caught up with my nephew in Tel Aviv and we went to a game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem. We sat in the section devoted to the most hardcore fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv. They had co-ordinated cheers, flags, drums, flares, etc. It was quite something. Here is a photo:


The Jerusalem fans were no less co-ordinated and news reports claim there were 7,000 away fans in all. That must have put our number at around 9,000 (Tel Aviv fans).

All in all it was a good game. The visitors struck first midway into the 1st half. But the fans in my section did not relent. They just sang louder and all game too.

Jubilation as around the 60th minute, Tel Aviv tied it up and looked like they could have another. But alas, Jerusalem got a winning goal around the 70th minute that ripped the hearts out of all the Tel Aviv fans. The final whistle came and Beitar Jerusalem had its first victory in Bloomfield Stadium (Maccabi's home) since 1987. Guess you can say they were due. At least it was only the first week of the season. 32 games left for Maccabi to erase this loss.

The next day I went back to central Israel with my brother in law. I finally got to see my sister and her new home. She bought a house in a place called Tel Mond. It is a quaint little settlement about 25 minutes in good traffic from central Tel Aviv. Anybody who is familiar with Kfar Saba or Raanana.. it is just 10 minutes up the road with a sign clearly marked.

Here are some photos from the new house:

















She doesn't have grass yet but I am sure she will soon. Neither does she have a kitchen which will be a bigger chore. But no sweats, she has a mother in-law who will gladly cook for her.

This is the view looking outside. As you can see, there is much space to fill but no worries since all their stuff came from Canada the same day.

That particular day the painters were still painting the house and everyone was put to work. I had to chip paint off floor tiles and walls in the bathrooms and on the main floor. It wasn't particularly pleasant, but when family needs you, you roll up your sleeves and work.





Here is where the kitchen is supposed to be:


It will get there I am sure.














Next post will be about northern Israel where I am right now.