Who wants to go for a ride in the car?
Well, my blogger mentor over at Anglosaxy suggested this morning that I throw in some personal vignettes, and when I mentioned to him what we'd done over the weekend, he gave an enthusiastic endorsement that it should be the subject of my next entry.
So, here it goes...
I escaped from pregnancy house arrest yesterday, and we took a drive up to the Druze town of Daliat Il-Carmel with some friends. The streets were packed with Israeli Jews, taking advantage of the good weather to spend the day combining two of the activities that Israelis seem to enjoy the most - being outside on sunny days and shopping. Daliat Il-Carmel is known for its shopping, and given that we've spent the last three to four weeks fixing up our home, picking out some new knick-knacks seemed in order.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Druze, check out the following Website: http://www.geocities.com/Baja/Outback/9277/d1.htm. It provides a basic explanation of the Druze community in Israel. While their bloodline is Arab, the Druze religion differs from Islam. And, unlike other ethnic groups, they tend to not have national aspirations and are usually loyal to the country in which they live (the one exception I can think of being the Druze living on the Golan Heights, who are loyal to Syria). Many members of the Druze community volunteer to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, and a number have lost their lives in doing so. Clearly, many Israeli Jews do not see the Druze as Arabs, and the current Intifada does not seem to have had an impact on these sojourns into the Druze towns that dot the Galilee. The same cannot be said of the Israeli Arab and West Bank cities and towns that were bustling centers of commerce prior to the Intifada, when Israeli Jews would flock to these areas for bargains unheard of in the Israeli shops. With any luck, those times will return.
Anyway, back to Daliat Il-Carmel. Following an amazing meal at a restaurant on the main shopping street (if I could remember the name, I'd be sharing it here - the food was outstanding and the service was wonderful), we began to wander in and out of the shops lining the street. I was hoping to find some inexpensive, comfortable clothing that would help to get me and my ever-expanding stomach through the remainder of the pregnancy, and together, we were hoping to come up with some unusual pieces of artwork to hang on our freshly-painted walls. While the inexpensive maternity shirts remain decidedly elusive, I'm happy to say that luck was definitely on our side when it came to artwork. I won't bore you with the mundane details (though I will mention that the main reason why we didn't get a print for our bedroom wall was because I couldn't seem to make the saleswoman understand that I just wasn't interested in pictures with either a long-haired woman in some kind of backless nightgown and a "come hither" look, or pictures of a man and a woman together, having "slipped into something more comfortable" and flashing that same come hither look at each other...), but we managed to leave the shop with three large framed prints after my husband successfully bargained (as is the custom) 80 shekels off the total asking price.
Tired and poorer, we made our way back to the car and headed for home with our new treasures, which, I must say, look fabulous on our wall. I always enjoy such outings, especially these days, seeing as I rarely leave the house. Sadly, it's gotten to the point where, if my husband were to suddenly call out, "who wants to go for a ride in the car," I'm not sure who would show more excitement, me or the dog...
So, here it goes...
I escaped from pregnancy house arrest yesterday, and we took a drive up to the Druze town of Daliat Il-Carmel with some friends. The streets were packed with Israeli Jews, taking advantage of the good weather to spend the day combining two of the activities that Israelis seem to enjoy the most - being outside on sunny days and shopping. Daliat Il-Carmel is known for its shopping, and given that we've spent the last three to four weeks fixing up our home, picking out some new knick-knacks seemed in order.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Druze, check out the following Website: http://www.geocities.com/Baja/Outback/9277/d1.htm. It provides a basic explanation of the Druze community in Israel. While their bloodline is Arab, the Druze religion differs from Islam. And, unlike other ethnic groups, they tend to not have national aspirations and are usually loyal to the country in which they live (the one exception I can think of being the Druze living on the Golan Heights, who are loyal to Syria). Many members of the Druze community volunteer to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, and a number have lost their lives in doing so. Clearly, many Israeli Jews do not see the Druze as Arabs, and the current Intifada does not seem to have had an impact on these sojourns into the Druze towns that dot the Galilee. The same cannot be said of the Israeli Arab and West Bank cities and towns that were bustling centers of commerce prior to the Intifada, when Israeli Jews would flock to these areas for bargains unheard of in the Israeli shops. With any luck, those times will return.
Anyway, back to Daliat Il-Carmel. Following an amazing meal at a restaurant on the main shopping street (if I could remember the name, I'd be sharing it here - the food was outstanding and the service was wonderful), we began to wander in and out of the shops lining the street. I was hoping to find some inexpensive, comfortable clothing that would help to get me and my ever-expanding stomach through the remainder of the pregnancy, and together, we were hoping to come up with some unusual pieces of artwork to hang on our freshly-painted walls. While the inexpensive maternity shirts remain decidedly elusive, I'm happy to say that luck was definitely on our side when it came to artwork. I won't bore you with the mundane details (though I will mention that the main reason why we didn't get a print for our bedroom wall was because I couldn't seem to make the saleswoman understand that I just wasn't interested in pictures with either a long-haired woman in some kind of backless nightgown and a "come hither" look, or pictures of a man and a woman together, having "slipped into something more comfortable" and flashing that same come hither look at each other...), but we managed to leave the shop with three large framed prints after my husband successfully bargained (as is the custom) 80 shekels off the total asking price.
Tired and poorer, we made our way back to the car and headed for home with our new treasures, which, I must say, look fabulous on our wall. I always enjoy such outings, especially these days, seeing as I rarely leave the house. Sadly, it's gotten to the point where, if my husband were to suddenly call out, "who wants to go for a ride in the car," I'm not sure who would show more excitement, me or the dog...
posted by Liza @ 5:34:00 PM
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