game of the ball used with the foot

i didn't take very many photos during behrang's visit, but here are some from a soccer game we went to between tel aviv hapoel and some team calling itself "orange hell" or officially i think it was bnei yehuda. when is someone gonna tell these people around the world that the names they use in english don't sound very tough at all? there's a band here called "infected mushroom." that's not tough! it's just nasty sounding!

the game was good fun, nevertheless. quite different than soccer games i'd seen in the u.s., france, and argentina... well, they didn't play so well and second, the fans were really rowdy and mean, but with their own team! i hate to re-enforce stereotypes, but i'm going to anyway. it was like a bunch of jewish mothers yelling out directions or better yet, recommendations on plays that should have been made. like, hey you retard, you shouldn't have let the ball get away! or, you son of bitch, didn't you see number 22 coming up behind you? maybe it happens everywhere, what do i know, but that loud?

new beginnings, again

I started working this week at Gisha, the legal center for freedom of movement. I feel very lucky to have found a job that is so relevant and important and so related to what I’m interested in and what I came here to learn about. The organization mainly provides legal assistance and does advocacy on movement issues related to Gaza and Gaza ID card holders in the West Bank. I’m replacing an exceedingly sweet girl while she goes on maternity leave so most likely the job will just be temporary, maybe four months, but already in just a few days I feel like I’ve learned more than at all my other jobs combined. Ok, so I haven’t worked that much, but still.

At work, I think often of this little boy I met in Ramallah who arrived from Gaza just weeks ago with his mother. I asked him how old he was and he shyly held up 4 fingers but then later on the dance floor he was the life of the party, dancing coyly with one hand on the back of his head and the other at his waist.

I also found a temporary place to live right on the park Ha-Yarkon, near all kinds of lovely shops, cafes, and bars. I went on a walk this evening to the port. Gila, my closest pal here, is taking me out for my birthday on Friday (ahem!) and Behrangy arrives on Tuesday.