Archives for February, 2008

Where’s the Mexican food?

by: Molly

About a month ago, Rebecca (my co-blogger and skinny friend), exposed the sushi take-over in Jerusalem. Like a lot of people, she was happy to see Jerusalem swimming in seaweed. But me-I am still waiting for the Mexicans to cross the border.mexican.jpg

Did you know that there are no Mexican restaurants in Jerusalem? Some may want to argue that the restaurant Poyo Loco in Talpiot is Mexican, but they would be wrong. First of all, I don’t think a Mexican restaurant menu should offer salsa, spaghetti and hummus. And it doesn’t matter now anyways because the restaurant closed down.

And don’t even go there with, “La Boca is Mexican,” because what you want to say is, “La Boca is a strange and expensive restaurant. They claim to serve Spanish food, yet all I could find in my tiny portion was an Israeli salad wrapped in a tortilla.” So don’t go there.

Here’s the deal. I am originally from Los Angeles, so baby food came in a taco. Continue »

February 27, 2008 | Easily Amused, If I ran Israel | 11 Comments

Where to go dancing in Jerusalem: Salsa, Israeli, Clubs, Belly, and more

by: Rebecca

salsa dancer

Thank goodness there are places in Jerusalem to let go of my pent-up energy after long days spent staring at a computer screen. Unfortunately, I felt like the information for different kinds of dancing in Jerusalem like salsa, Israeli/folk dancing, clubs, belly dancing, and others was all over the place. So, I sat myself down and gathered what I could into one central, organized place (I love lists, what can I say?). Make sure to call the person or venue to verify any information below. If you would like to add any dance venues, please leave a comment below.

In related Salsa news, while I was searching for everything Salsa and Israel, I came across the 7th Annual Mediterranean Salsa Congress’ , which is hoping to create peace in Israel through salsa. If you’re still skeptical, just watch this clip. How come no one thought of this before?!

Salsa

  • Merkaz Hamagshimim
    Tuesdays at 8pm
    Includes: Salsa, Marengue, Roueda, Cha Cha and Kumbia and Bacheta.
    Cost: 25 NIS
    Location: The Merkaz, 7a Dor Dor VeDorshav St.
    Phone: Dudu 050-856-3117
  • Candela Club
    Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays:
    21:00-22:30 - Learning Salsa LA style
    22:30-02:00 - Salsa Party
    Cost: 40 NIS
    Location: Rav Chen Mall, 16 Haoman St. Talpiot
    Phone: 050-565-3997
  • Mirage Club (really nice teachers, and even if you’re just learning, lots of good people to watch)
    Thursdays: Continue »

    February 25, 2008 | Essentials, Wisdom Gained | 10 Comments

    An Israeli Errand…Not Just a Stop at the Dry Cleaners!

    by: Molly

    The Israeli lifestyle often involves lots of errands. Unlike the errands most of us are used to: dry cleaning, grocery shopping, post office and the bank—in Israel you can add bureaucratic government offices to your list.

    A typical stop at your local health office, municipality or tax authority means you are stuck in lines without ropes, rude tellers and paper work you can’t understand. Sometimes you might even get stuck with a bill!

    But for me, last Thursday at the Television Tax Authority was so much more than that! I can’t even put it into words…luckily I had my video camera with me and taped the eventful errand!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwpUJJ-KdX8

    February 17, 2008 | Easily Amused, Videos, funnnny | 5 Comments

    Another Lesson Learned: Just be a Crybaby

    by: Molly

    When you are an American attempting to live in Israel life can feel like a smashed banana. It is a feeling of knowing that something beautifully bright and ripe can turn into a mushy dark shriveled mess. And that is exactly how I feel when I lose a battle in Israel.These battles that new immigrants are sometimes forced to learn become vital lessons for survival in Israel. I would like to share my lesson with you in hopes that you can gain something from my horrible experience, without having to actually experience it.

    Lesson 239: Don’t be a Tough Guy…Just be a Cry Baby

    My parents taught me to always stand up for myself. However, it is difficult to keep that goal in Israel. Whether it is at the municipality, tax authority, social services or at the bank, it seems like everyone is out to screw me.

    Case in point is my most recent battle with Bank Leumi. In November my improv group performed for a Jewish Agency Internship group. We were told we would be paid as long as we provided an invoice to the sponsor of the night’s event, Bank Leumi. We gave the invoice to the Jewish Agency before the show and they informed us it would be passed along to Bank Leumi and we should be paid two weeks after the show.

    Of course you and I both know that two weeks came and went and we were not paid. After another two weeks I was in contact with the Jewish Agency to check up on our payment. And that is when I went from ripe banana to black mush. I was bounced back and forth between the Jewish Agency, Bank Leumi and our bank, Discount, for the next two months. First the Jewish Agency said we still needed an accountant number and then Bank Leumi told us that we needed another document. When we would go to Bank Discount they insisted we had already given the proper information and it was ridiculous for Bank Leumi (or any client) to insist for more info in order to pay us. Continue »

    February 14, 2008 | The fights | 8 Comments

    Jerusalem supermarket price wars target caffeine-addicted, chicken-lovin’, messy babies

    by: Rebecca

    I am no official Hebrew translator, but I do believe Ynet is telling me there is a massive price war happening between the Talpiot supermarkets Mega and Rami Levi. It was probably my post about ridiculous supermarket prices that really got things moving. Ha!

    The price wars are centered around the price of chicken, which is at an all time low at Rami Levi for 89 agurot a kilo (if you spend over 200 shekels). At Mega, it’s now 99 agurot a kilo ( if you spend over 150 shekels).

    I went to Mega firsthand tonight to see for myself. There was in fact 99 agurot a kilo chicken as well as hour long lines to take any joy and fun away. It was also Tuesday, Mega’s shuk night where fruit and veggies are very cheap.

    I’m still trying to figure out what all the items featured in the price war have in common, but I can’t exactly put my finger on it. The items are

    • Chicken: 89 agurot/kilo at Rami Levi; 99 agurot/kilo at Mega
    • Elite Coffee: 9.99 NIS at Mega
    • Pampers Diapers - 33.90 NIS at Rami Levi, 39.99 NIS atMega
    • Colon Clothing Detergent - 34.99 NIS at Mega
    • CocaCola 6 bottles - 19.99 NIS at Mega
    • Soft Toilet Paper 32 rolls - 19.99 NIS at Mega

    I guess they figure there must be a lot of caffeine-addicted, chicken-lovin’ messy babies crawling around out there. Anyone got any better ideas?Mega has declared that it wants the Mega in Talpiot to be the cheapest in Israel. Truly amazing. I wonder if people will come in all the way from Haifa…

    Thanks for the tip, Ari.

    Update Feb 15: Rami Levy ain’t chickening out, and at 0.79 per kilo, everyone’s fleeing

    February 13, 2008 | Jerusalem Scene, Tips on saving NIS, Wisdom Gained | 2 Comments

    Free Rice - addictive, davka

    by: Rebecca

    I recently discovered the website FreeRice.com and it takes me back to my studying-for-the-SAT days.  Weeee! FreeRice.com is a very simple concept - for every vocab question you get right, they donate rice to Africa, thanks to the advertisers.

    I never thought it would happen to me, but it seems I’ve become like other anglos in Israel who can’t seem to keep their languages separate. I’m starting to notice that I’m slowly losing my vocabulary and every once in a while words like davka, matim, and lahefech creep into my conversations without even noticing.

    Sometimes I even click my tongue to say no. No, Gd forbid I should ever start doing that. But I don’t think Free Rice could help much with that anyway…

    I am so happy I found this site as a way to refresh my vocab. And how cool to know that by improving my vocab, I’m donating rice. Who thinks of these things? Genius.

    February 12, 2008 | Wisdom Gained | Leave a Comment

    Are you a member of this Facebook group?

    by: Molly

    sderot-face-book-groups.JPGIf you thought that Facebook was just a website for your random friends and photo albums, then you are sorely mistaken. If you have ever joined a Facebook group then you know that there are a lot of strange and wonderful things happening in cyberspace.Perhaps you have an interest in toes, well don’t worry because there are over 500 groups that are willing and ready to accept you and your foot fetish. There are just as many groups for cookie monster lovers too. And somewhere in between all that you can find a new group urging Sderot residents to learn how to build kassams.

    It might sound random but for many this group is a desperate last resort to end the barrage of kassams. I think it is time to admit that if we wait for the government’s response we will all be as bald as Olmert before there is any retaliation. Therefore it is left up to the citizens to end the rocket fire.

    There are many ways to try to get your message out there. Continue »

    February 11, 2008 | Easily Amused | 3 Comments

    Top 6 Bargains in Israel (and the runner-ups)

    by: Rebecca

    Shuk Mahane Yehuda Jerusalem Israel

    After being in Israel for over 3 years, I think I have established the top 6 bargains in Israel. But please, if I forgot any, leave a comment and tell me all about it.

    1. Tablecloths for 18 shekels
       I found pretty Shabbat tablecloths that just about everyone seems to have for 18 shek. This deal is so good, it turns out, that every time my mom comes to visit, it is the only thing she stocks up on.
      Where: Agrippas St in Jerusalem, coming up from King George toward the Mahane Yehuda shuk. It is on the left hand side and they usually have the tablecloths displayed on the street.
    2. Haircut for 35 shekels
      We previously wrote about how you can get a 35 shekel haircut by a hair-cutting student at Shuki Zukri Diri in downtown Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
      Phone: 02-624-0171
    3. Nesher Shared Taxi Sherut for 45 shekels
      For 45 shekels you get door-to-door service from anywhere in Jerusalem to the airport. My friend said he had a hard time finding Nesher’s phone number online so I thought I’d post them. Make sure to call a day or two before to reserve a spot. Here’s a Nesher-specific “Did you know”. Did you know that they don’t have Nesher in Tel Aviv? I mean, I guess it makes sense since it’s so close to the airport but… how do they survive?
      Phone numbers: 02-623-1231, 02-625-7227
    4. Iced Coffee for 5 shekel
      Personally, I like the smooth iced coffee without the icy chunks. But the Iced Coffee from Marzipan in the shuk is so cheap that I just wait for it to melt.
      Where: The Legendary Marzipan bakery is on Agrippas St. but you probably already knew that and just got up to check the fridge to see if you have any rugalech left over.
    5. Autenti clothes 20-50 shekels.
      Autenti sells hippie-ish clothes between 20 and 50 shekels and usually have cute skirts.
      Where: Stores on Yaffo St. and Agrippas St.
    6. 30 pitas for 10 shekels
      Stop by the shuk at night around 8-9:30 as it’s closing to find good deals on pita and other stuff they’re trying to get rid of.
      Where: Try on Yaffo St by the entrance.

    Runner-ups

    • Stove Lighters for 5 shekels from the dollar store. Obviously the conversion rate of the dollar needs a little update.
    • Duvsheinit Challah for 6 shekels from the shuk
    • Soup Festival at the David Citadel for 48 shekels. The all-you-can-eat soup is from 10am to 11pm every day until the end of March for 48 Shekels. They also have wireless internet, so you can pretty much just move in and set up your office right next to the soup buffet.

    These deals are updated as of February 5, 2008, so they are likely to change due to inflation. No guarantees.

    February 6, 2008 | Essentials, Tips on saving NIS, Wisdom Gained | 8 Comments

    Funny falafel sign on Ben Yehuda St.

    by: Rebecca

    You may have seen this sign in a felafel store on Ben Yehuda St. in downtown Jerusalem. But if not, it’s pretty amusing. And I especially like the apostrophe in the word “buy’s”.  I’m still trying to figure out what it could mean.

    felafel store sign on Ben Yehuda St.

    February 4, 2008 | Easily Amused | 1 Comment

    Is the cost of living in Israel going up?

    by: Rebecca

    SuperSol Deal

    Every time I go to the supermarket (usually Super Sol Deal) and nervously approach the soymilk, unsure of how much it will cost, it turns out that sure enough the price is higher than the previous week. Same with cheese, charif, teas, wine, and I’m sure plenty of other stuff. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can even spot a higher sticker price slapped on over the previous one, the cheaper one sticking out just enough to taunt you and say haha. My salary isn’t tied to the escalating price of soy milk and tea and I have a feeling that other people’s aren’t either- so how do people afford to feed their families?

    dollar exchange rate

    I really don’t know much about how the economy works, but my own logic would say that since the dollar is so low (~3.7) , prices would stay the same since people are getting less for their dollar and our economy is pretty strong. Recently however, I heard it explained so eloquently, “In Israel, the prices go up in a good economy and the prices go up in a bad economy. ” So true.

    Let’s go back to discussing Super Sol or shall I say ShuferSal, which is how it’s spelled on their website and sounds quite ridiculous. It turns out that SuperSol Deal has been fined for ‘price gouging’ or manipulating and cheating their customers. Continue »

    February 2, 2008 | The fights | 8 Comments

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