My days are filled with boxes and good byes. I've been doing some yoga to release the tension in my chest. It is terribly sad to leave this place and these people. I do not know if I will ever return but I believe that I am doing the right thing by leaving now. I've been incredibly touched by the love and support friends and family have shown me.

I met with my 5th grader this evening. For the past year, it's been my delight to work with her each week, sometimes in Arabic but mostly in English. When I came around this evening, she was focused on a report she was writing about the adventures of her grandmother from Syria. After the lesson, she gave me a poem and an amulet.



Jewish amulets are difficult to read at best. For instance, the names of the five angels, Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel, Michael, and Nuriel might be invoked but, either in order to save space or to somehow concentrate the power and so increase the efficacy of the amulet, the five names would usually expressed in the single word, Argaman, constructed from the first letters of their Hebrew names: ארגמן aleph-resh-gimmel-mem-nun, which also means 'purple.' There is a butte behind Kibbutz Elifaz called אַרְגָּמָן  Argaman because it turns purple at sunset. The one my student gave me comes from a Kabbalistic formula by which 72 names are created by combining the letters of the aleph-bet. This one, mem-hey-shen, is for healing and health.

Go for the throat.jpg

When I used to go for acupuncture, I would study the wall chart of points while I was getting needled. I marveled how anyone could possibly remember them all, let alone what each one did and how they worked in concert. I do not think I am a particularly superstitious person, but I began asking myself if it were the amulet or all that yoga that was working its charm on my chest. Then, I looked at the second photo and wondered what acupuncture point was beneath the amulet that I have been fingering all evening as my thumb massaged the notch underneath. I think that it is a point on the Conception Vessel Meridian, CV 22, which is for chest tightness!



This is my new 'orange amulet' which bikelovejones built for me. It was love at first sight! Tears rolled down my face when I first saw it. Yesterday, gas prices went up in Tel Aviv. A gallon of premium now costs US$9.00 and a gallon of diesel is $11.50. Incredible.

Tags: acupuncture, amulets, boxes, yoga
Current Mood: touched
Current Music: גלעד שגב: עכשיו טוב

The day dawned sunny.  
Nevertheless, I donned a sweater and ran out for some acupuncture.  
Who knew that in January a sweater would constitute 'overly dressed?'  
We'll pay, come July, I suppose.  

After getting shish kebabbed, I walked to the university and read at the library.  
It didn't feel like a proper Wednesday since I didn't get to hang out with my buddy, Mashav.  
I jumped over to the synagogue on campus to daven Mincha.  
Then, left campus and walked down to the train with ambitions of going to the co-op for ingredients so I could bake bread.  

On the platform, an elderly Moroccan woman stepped up to me and asked in French if she could borrow my phone.  
When she finished her call, we chatted in a mix of Arabic and French, depending on the subject,  for about 20 minutes until the train arrived. 
These are some of the everyday delights of living in Israel.  

Tags: acupuncture, andras schiff, chance meetings, daily delights, mashav, sweaters, unbaked bread, zlatko
Current Mood: mellow
Current Music: Beethoven: Piano Sonata in E Major, Op. 14, No. 1

I haven't written much of late, but that's mostly because I feel so darn good.  With fibromyalgia (chronic pain, chronic fatigue), I usually manage just 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night.  Now, getting some help with pain management - yeah, acupuncture! - I am sleeping like a baby.  

I forgot to mention that the scaffolding and workmen are gone and the face lift of my building is finished.  I'm not sure if the photos aren't doing it justice or what, but it really is a big improvement.  I was sceptical about closing in the balcony with levered shutters, but it seems to help with street noise and makes the balcony more useful.  Now, I'm envisioning a small jungle growing out there.


Before


This a.m.


In between bouts of marathon sleeping, I read three incredible books by Aryeh Lev Stollman:  

The Far Euphrates (a novel)
The Illuminated Soul (a novel)
The Dialogues of Time and Entropy (short stories)

And, now, back to bed!  לילה טוב

Tags: acupuncture, aryeh lev stollman, fibromyalgia
Current Music: Souad Massi: ya kelbi