Monday, August 21, 2006

Introducing Chica

The Gliksman Family Proudly introduces CHICA can you guess where the name stems from? We are just SOOO original, it is pronounced Chika (as in spanish) Chica was born on July 1st 2006 and Joined our family yesterday, August 20th2006. She spent the first 24 hours greatly disappointing the girls because... She slept for most of them. This afternoon, she suddenly came to life, starting running around, startled the girls by barking :-) She is absolutely adorable and in our opinion the most beautiful ;-).

We drove close to an hour to pick her up, she is of a litter of 11 (!) 7 of which were still there. The girls insisted on a female, saying that we are now a family of girls. There were only 2 females of the seven puppies (only 3 of 11 isn't that strange). Chica was the first one Maya picked up (and dropped) So under the policy of you drop 'em you buy 'em we did! Just kidding, we really did fall in love. Maya insisted all her siblings are brought back in after we picked her so she can say good bye. She was almost in tears thinking of separating her from her mommy and siblings. (I'll take that as a sign of her liking her own family - I don't get to many of those lately, no one told me about the terrible 9's but that a different post :-).

Well Chica made it home all right, we were concerned about her reaction to the car ride, but she was an ace. We were warned that she will have a difficult couple of days, but she slept through the night, no crying at all. The only sign of depression was her sleeping most of the day, but even that is better.

I have to really thank her, school starts on September third. The girls need to be in the classroom by 8:00AM. My girls are NOT early risers... since we arrived they slowly moved their bed time to around 10:30, and made every effort to get their required 12 hour beauty sleep (does anyone see the problem?) I kept wondering how I would get them back on a normal schedule... Well thank you Chica! They alternate days of being responsible for her needs. Guess when she woke up today? 6:30 AM!!! Maya was out walking her before 7:00! And Danielle was with her! YOU GO GIRL! I would have to spit blood before I could get these two out of bed at this hour!

My brother in law said I should be prepared that in two weeks the only ones alternating care days would be me myself and I. I told him that was the reason I chose a Golden Retriever Puppy :-)

Well I will try to post some pictures. My laptop is a little wacky lately so here's to hoping.

Good Night to all!

Ronit

Comment on comment :-)

After reading reactions on "Israel is nothing...." I sensed a misconception, and I would like to clarify :-)

I have no intention of using this blog to rally support for Israel, those who know me are very aware of my feelings and opinions. This blog was created to keep anyone who is interested updated on US. However, if I come across a piece that I find interesting I will post it. I love the place I am at with its many short comings. I am very aware of them, I am sure I will complain about the ones that will directly affect our lives. BUT I am also very proud of everything Israel has accomplished in what is a short time in historical perspective.

That is it for now, I promise to stick to the Gliksman girls from now on (there is a new addition as of last night-she will be formally introduced as soon as I download some pictures) so stay tuned.

love,

Ronit

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Some information on Israel's accomplishments

This is a "cut and paste" from an email I received a while back. I thought some of you might enjoy this :-)




The Middle East has been growing date palms for centuries. The average tree is about 18-20 feet tall and yields about 38 pounds of dates a year.
>
Israeli date trees are now yielding 400 pounds/year and are short enough to be harvested from the ground or a short ladder.
>
Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, can lay claim to the following:
The cell phonewas developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.
>
Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.
>
The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel.
>
Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel.
>
The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel.
>
Voice mailtechnology was developed in Israel.
>
Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel.
>
The technology for the AOL Instant MessengerICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.
>
Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world (after the U.S, Russia and China). In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel's air force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16's. This is the largest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the U. S.
>
Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.
>
Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.
>
According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry's most impenetrable flight security. US officials now look (finally) to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.
>
Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.
>
Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people --as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.
>
In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the U.S. (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).
>
With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world -- apart from the Silicon Valley, U. S.
>
Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the U. S.
>
Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.
>
Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East.
>
The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.
>
On a per capita basis, Israel has the largestnumber of biotech startups.
>
Twenty-four per cent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.
>
Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.
>
In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews (Operation Solomon) at Risk in Ethiopia, to safety in Israel.
>
When Golda Meir was elected PrimeMinister of Israel in 1969, she became the world's second elected female leader in modern times.
>
When the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day -- and saved three victims from the rubble.
>
Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship -- and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.
>
Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of
> democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. (Hundreds of thousands from the former Soviet Union)
>
Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict free."
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Israel has the world's second highest per capita of new books.
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Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.
>
Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.
>
Medicine... Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.
>
An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment. Every year in U. S. hospitals 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.
>
Israel's Givun Imaging developed the first ingestible videocamera, so small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside, cancer and digestive disorders.
>
Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with heart failure. The new device is synchronized with the camera helps doctors diagnoseheart's mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.
>
Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U. S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well.
>
A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the Clear Light device, produces a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne bacteria to self-destruct -- all without damaging surrounding skin or tissue.
>
An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California's Mojave desert.
The Gliksman Family: We had a blast

We had a blast


And Lior is 5!!

I was abit apprehensive about the whole thing... the drive... 2 hours in the car does not bring the best out of my girls... not to mention that the minivan princesses are now crowded in to small rented sedan (a Mitsubishi mirage) until I finally buy a car... between Lior in a car seat, Danielle in a booster and Maya in the middle... well the sound affects are far from pleasant.

BUT we made it; they even noticed the change in scenery! It never ceases to amaze me how such a small country can have such a great variety in scenery. We took a 2 hour drive and WALLA we were in the middle of the desert, at the lowest point on earth, how coo is it to actually be at a place you learn about!?

We arrived at around
5:30 in the afternoon. my cousin was there, as was his cousin (other side) with 2 daughters, and his brother in law with his family, when we all finally checked in there were 26(!) of us, 16 of which... were children between the ages of 3-14. The amazing thing, they all got along!

we bummed around the first evening Anita (my cousin) gave us a yoga lesson, that was pretty painful, but it was that good kind of pain if you know what I mean :-)

The kids ran around until 4:00 AM no I didn't make a mistake... we stayed at a Kibbutz guest house, our rooms were lined next to each other and we had a common yard. We occupied the whole row of rooms so we didn't need to worry about bothering anyone. It was great. The next day, some people had problems waking up (no names will be mentioned- suffice it to say I had 3 sleeping beauties and no prince in sight...) at 5:00Pm we went down to the dead sea, some of us did some mud, others were floating, others were busy examining scabs and scratches they were not aware existed (not pleasant :-)

The following day was Lior's birthday, since the tradition of staying up late was well established, the kids threw her a spontaneous birthday party at midnight, with a count down and everything. She was thrilled. We (the adults) were pretty impressed since they did it all on their own.

The following day we went to a nature preserve that has natural sweet water pools and streams. We spent the day there in the shade, sitting at picnic tables that are in the water and played all sorts of games. Card games,(we determined which of my cousins is the worse cry baby/sore loser - I think it's the 50 year old, definitely a man-all the contenders for the title are...), backgammon, fun. We then went back to the guest house, sat out and had a great discussion about whether or not there is a god... we also had an official birthday celebration for Lior.

The following day we wanted to take a short track but it was SO hot we decided to spend a few hours at the pool before heading back.

We got home beyond exhausted, but a great time was had by all. I have some great pictures and I will try to load them, but I wanted to get all of this down before more new and exciting things come our way... HINT we are planning to get a puppy tomorrow. Tune in for more details!

Love to all and to all good night,
Ronit

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Off to see the...

Dead Sea

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we are doing well. We woke up to sirens yesterday, were in the secured room for a while, but it was all over in about 30 minutes, and life has been back to normal since.

I meant to update but today was crazy... There were a ton of people over throughout the day (they came in shifts :-) and I never got a chance to update...

The girls and I are off to the dead sea Sunday-Wednesday. SO do not worry, there will be no updates but know that we are far from all the "action" and safe. Hopefully, by the time we get back the cease fire will be in affect and this insanity will be behind us.

Thanks for checking in,
love & Peace,
Ronit

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Food for thought

The Gliksman Family

Well, this is the philosophical post… So after I let you know that we are all OK I will think/talk/write about things that have been coming up in personal correspondence. First and fore most, why are we here? Why did we leave a very good, peaceful and comfortable life in Highland Park

Maya asked why we came to live in a country that's at war. Hard to explain it to them, not even clear to us... go tell them that this is "our home" these are clichés that they didn't grow up with, we "nursed on them"

There is something about this country that makes you completely committed to it. “You can get the Israeli out of Israel, but you can’t get Israel out of the Israeli” How else can you explain that EVERY 18 year old serves in the army for 3 years, putting their lives on hold? Or that the men serve an average of 30 days a year on reserve duty until they are in their mid forties? Sure everyone complains, but in time of need you have people coming back from abroad to serve with their units…

I spoke to a friend a couple of years ago, an Israeli married to an American woman living in Chicago, he said life in Israel is just too hard and stressful (SO true) I agreed. But then I told him that I believe that if we believe it is important for the state of Israel to exist, than we, Israelis have a commitment/duty to live here. There so many good things about living here. This is SUCH a beautiful spot on earth, people still seem to “care” the news is on the radio every hour on the hour, and people listen. When people get together they discuss the education system, the minister of security and the performance of the commander in chief (and everyone, I mean EVERYONE can do any job better than who ever is in office at the moment J). We know the names of the cabinet members, we have very personal opinions about anything and everything… got to admit it’s never boring.

In times of trouble this whole country pulls together. People are complaining that the administration did not take care of the people living up north who have been in bomb shelters for the past month. However, individuals did step up, everyday there are lists in the paper of people asking to host families who want to get away from the war. Lists of names and numbers and an open invitation to call. I know of people who spent over 2 weeks with families they never met before.

Within 24 hours of last Fridays sirens I got numerous phone calls making sure we were all right, and 4 different invitations to come stay with friends and family (we’re staying put for the time being ).

I am adding this link someone sent me, it really exemplifies how “the army is everyone” in this country… It also shows some beautiful sites from Israel. For those of you who are not local if you catch the picture of the Roman arches (Aquaduq-no idea how to spell it) this is the beach which is practically walking distance from our house… http://www.gamla.org.il/english/news/brothers.htm

I am going to sign off for now… I am sure there will be more on this topic as time passes.. As everyone, I have my opinions on the situation, but they will wait for now. Below is a poem written by a very dear virtual friend. I know her through a Neuroblastma support list she has a way with words… well, I asked her permission to post this… Thank you Carrie.

In spite of the fact that this is a beautiful world
it is imperfect
 
and thankfully because it is imperfect
beauty can be found 
even in the most miserable places
 
as i listen to mums 
remember finding joy and fun
in the midst of horror and chaos
and abject soul pain 
 
little pranks played
while there was still health enough to enjoy them
 
how fortunate we are 
that all goes along 
in spite of 
 
in spite of the fact 
that i do not know how to be a mum
i'm managing
 
in spite of the fact 
that i feel angry alot of the time 
about the disease 
the expectations on me
 
etc etc 
 
i was given the job
 
in spite of the fact that 
there is much to be sad about 
somehow 
that makes 
little things more obviously joyful
 
sorrow seems to be a microscope
for beauty somehow
 
queer
how the world keeps turning 
in spite of 
 
and sometimes 
one just wishes it would stop
 
lives are being lost 
in lebanon
in israel
 
i wonder if the world slowed down enough 
to take it in 
would it stop
 
in spite of the fact 
that our loved ones fight so hard to live
there are others 
who hold life lightly
and dance on the graves of the ones they kill
 
 

Thank you all for checking in on us

Love & Peace,

Ronit

Sunday, August 06, 2006

And today was...

Sunny and warm :-) I always told my non Jewish friends that what I loved about the Israeli summer is... It's SO predictable :-) Maya is bummed, she has all these capris that she can't wear because... it is TOO hot. These should be our problems... It is quiet around here, so far we haven't had a repeat of Friday night's episode, the girls are calm during the day but when it is time to go to bed, Lior is very afraid (of course this kid is afraid of her own shaddow, but we can't dismiss ALL of her fears. We are headed to Jerusalem tomorrow, my friends son is celebrating his Bar-Mitzvah at the wall. Last time I was there for such an occasion was on my brothers Bar Mitzvah, that was 24 years ago... I think I'll make a day of it and explore the city with the girls. I have to get a feel of the place though I haven't felt comfortable walking around Jerusalem for years... Sad. When I first came back to Israel in 1983 I was a student at Tel-Aviv U. and we used to go up to Jerusalem for the afternoon... just to walk around the Arab market, eat good inexpenssive food... I miss those days.

So... a bit of "humor" a friend just sent this to me, I have to admit it's a bit one sided but hey, sometimes you want to be a little one sided so bear with me and try to enjoy.


Food for Thought:

Regardless of your feelings about the crisis between Israel and the Palestinians and Arab neighbors, even if you believe for whatever reason that there is more culpability on Israel's part, the following two sentences really say it all:

If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence.
If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dennis Miller at his best

For those of you who don't like Dennis Miller, who is not Jewish, you may want to reconsider after reading his brilliant comments that follow. Please pass it on to your friends. For those who don't know, Dennis Miller is a comedian who has a show called Dennis Miller Live on HBO. Although he is not Jewish, he recently had the following to say about the Middle East situation:


Dennis Miller's rant on the Middle East crisis.

"A brief overview of the situation is always valuable, so as a service to all Americans who still don't get it, I now offer you the story of the Middle East in just a few paragraphs, which is all you really need. Don't thank me. I'm a giver. Here we go:

The Palestinians want their own country. There's just one thing about that: There are no Palestinians. It's a made up word. Israel was called Palestine for two thousand years. Like "Wiccan," "Palestinian" sounds ancient but is really a modern invention.

Before the Israelis won the land in war, Gaza was owned by Egypt, and there were no "Palestinians" then, and the West Bank was owned by Jordan, and there were no "Palestinians" then. As soon as the Jews took over and started growing oranges as big as basketballs, what do you know, say hello to the "Palestinians," weeping for their deep bond with their lost "land" and "nation."

So for the sake of honesty, let's not use the word "Palestinian" any more to describe these delightful folks, who dance for joy at our deaths until someone points out they're being taped. Instead, let's call them what they are: "Other Arabs Accomplish Anything In Life And Would Rather Wrap Themselves In The Seductive Melodrama Of Eternal Struggle And Death." I know that's a bit unwieldy to expect to see on CNN. How about this, then: "Adjacent Jew-Haters."

Okay, so the Adjacent Jew-Haters want their own country. Oops, just one more thing. No, they don't. They could've had their own country any time in the last thirty years, especially two years ago at Camp David. But if you have your own country, you have to have traffic lights and garbage trucks and Chambers of Commerce, and, worse, you actually have to figure out some way to make a living. That's no fun. No, they want what all the other Jew-Haters in the region want: Israel. They also want a big pile of dead Jews, of course-that's where the real fun is-but mostly they want Israel. Why?

For one thing, trying to destroy Israel — or "The Zionist Entity" as their textbooks call it — for the last fifty years has allowed the rulers of Arab countries to divert the attention of their own people away from the fact that they're the blue-ribbon most illiterate, poorest, and tribally backward on G-d's Earth, and if you've ever been around G-d's Earth, you know that's really saying something.

It makes me roll my eyes every time one of our pundits waxes poetic about the great history and culture of the Muslim Mideast. Unless I'm missing something, the Arabs haven't given anything to the world since Algebra, and, by the way, thanks a hell of a lot for that one.

Chew this around and spit it out: Five hundred million Arabs; five million Jews. Think of all the Arab countries as a football field, and Israel as a pack of matches sitting in the middle of it. And now these same folks swear that if Israel gives them half of that pack of matches, everyone will be pals. Really? Wow, what neat news. Hey, but what about the string of wars to obliterate the tiny country and the constant din of rabid blood oaths to drive every Jew into the sea? Oh, that? We were just kidding.

My friend Kevin Rooney made a gorgeous point the other day: Just reverse the numbers. Imagine five hundred million Jews and five million Arabs. I was stunned at the simple brilliance of it. Can anyone picture the Jews strapping belts of razor blades and dynamite to themselves? Of course not. Or marshalling every fiber and force at their disposal for generations to drive a tiny Arab state into the sea? Nonsense. Or dancing for joy at the murder of innocents? Impossible. Or spreading and believing horrible lies about the Arabs baking their bread with the blood of children? Disgusting. No, as you know, left to themselves in a world of peace, the worst Jews would ever do to people is debate them to death.

Mr. Bush, G-d bless him, is walking a tightrope. I understand that with vital operations coming up against Iraq and others, it's in our interest, as Americans, to try to stabilize our Arab allies as much as possible, and, after all, that can't be much harder than stabilizing a roomful of super-models who've just had their drugs taken away. However, in any big-picture strategy, there's always a danger of losing moral weight. We've already lost some. After September 11 our president told us and the world he was going to root out all terrorists and the countries that supported them. Beautiful. Then the Israelis, after months and months of having the equivalent of an Oklahoma City every week (and then every day) start to do the same thing we did, and we tell them to show restraint.

If America were being attacked with an Oklahoma City every day, we would all very shortly be screaming for the administration to just be done with it and kill everything south of the Mediterranean and east of the Jordan. (Hey, wait a minute, that's actually not such a bad id ... uh, that is, what a horrible thought, yeah, horrible.)"

Friday, August 04, 2006

Much too much excitement...

The Gliksman Family

I was going to update and give all the details of the house, what worked and what didn’t (quite a bit didn’t). I wanted to share the L O N G process of finding closets that could fit the girls’ rooms as well as have them delivered in a timely manner… I was even going to share which bathroom flooded what area of the house, what areas had no electricity (kitchen) which appliances didn’t work (all except the washer and dryer) and in which rooms the air-conditioning didn’t work (my bedroom and the living room). As all of this was happening and I was trying to handle it (without a phone line or internet connection), I kept telling myself and all around that in a couple of weeks these will all be faint if annoying memories…

I have to say today’s experience makes all past ones pale… at around 6:00PM tonight we had our first experience hearing the air raid sirens… my cousin came over with his three children to spend the weekend, his wife needed some time to complete a project she’s working on. He came in and asked if I minded if he ran to get his hair cut, I said sure no problem… there I was with 6 children under the age of 10 when I heard this strange if vaguely familiar sound (haven’t heard this since I was 8 years old…) one of the girls came running in screaming siren… earlier today I heard that the sirens were on at a neighboring town, so the girls and I went through a drill of what needs to be done.. I never thought we would actually go through the process… all 5 girls ran to the secured room. I ran and grabbed my little cousin (3) who was sleeping on the couch and ran in with him… Lior was hysterical… Danielle kept trying to shut the door that wouldn’t close properly, and I realized that I didn’t have my cell phone on…

I tried to calm them down by telling them about the 73 war and where I was when the first siren was heard. All went pretty well, we waited and left the room after realizing that all was quiet my cousin arrived and told us the siren was from a neighboring town and no rockets fell. We went out, had dinner hung around all was well. The kids were having a blast together. At around 9:00 PM my cousin took his son upstairs to watch some TV suddenly I saw them rushing down and hurrying everyone into the room, I looked at him blankly, and he said come on the Sirens are on and I heard the rocket fall… Maya heard him and started crying, Lior followed. Mika (my cousin’s 7 year old) declared that she wanted to go home NOW, we were welcome to come… Danielle and the other two were very calm. Well the phones started ringing… the rockets (3) fell about a mile away… we have received two invitations to come stay with friends…

It is just past midnight, all is relatively calm except that no one is sleeping in their bed… Danielle decided to sleep in the secured room (just in case) Lior is sleeping with me, and the rest of the kids are sleeping in the living room with my cousin… Aren’t we glad I bought everyone a bed with a trundle in case of guests…

Well this is it for now… I’ll sign off wishing us all a peaceful night. Let’s hope this madness is over soon.

Thanks for cking in,

Love,

Ronit