"Our troubles are all the same"

I love routine.  Change makes me nervous.  I never understood the people who love new things.  I don't get people who complain that they are in a rut.   I LOVE being in a rut.  Ruts are safe.  I'm a friendly person, but I can't grasp the need to meet new people. 

If I was on a TV show, I'd be on Cheers.  I'd be at a bar where everybody knows my name every night.  I'd sit at the bar with the same people and have the same drink.  And I'd have fun.

My Dad and I have the same running jokes for years now.  Tell him your back hurts and he will always answer the same way- "When did you get it?".  The correct response is "Oh..about a week back"(this is when you laugh out loud).  

I have watched repeats of Seinfeld and Friends a lot!

Like I said, rut is great!

So when my parents' said, "We're moving to Israel", it wasn't the happiest day of my life.  I didn't know the people, I didn't know the country, and I didn't know the language.  How was I supposed to survive in this strange place?

Luckily my parents' picked the one country where everybody knows your name.  If they don't know your name, then they know somebody who knows your name.  I found a bar where I walk in and people yell out "SAM"(well, pretty close).  There's a channel that runs reruns of Seinfeld and Friends.  And when all the seasons end, the next episode will be the first episode ever. 

I can live here no problem.  These people love rut too.  If we're not in a rut that means there is a war, and who wants that?  

Christmas in July

Let me first describe what July means in Israel.  I live in the Jordan Valley up north near Tiberias.  It's so hot that if Satan was walking around here, he'd complain he was shvitzing too much.  It's that hot.  If I dare to open the window while the sun is still up, I'd be greeted by a nice hot wind, the kind that makes you think "huh, so this is what a turkey feels like in the oven".  It's that hot.  And when the sun finally goes down, Satan is thankful, finally a temperature he's used to.  It's that hot.

I live in a desert.  I get that.  It gets hot in a desert.  I get that.  July and August are like the high noons of summer.  I get that.   But each year I'm surprised at how hot is.  And every year I'm confused as to why there are so many Christmas movies and shows on TV during July and August.

Any given hour, and any given day there will be at least one Christmas movie or show on TV.  I never knew there were so many people who were Santa's children and had to take over for him and save Christmas.  Who knew that turning into Santa or any other Christmas character was such a popular occurrence.  I think it might be different if they were to show "It's a Wonderful Life" or "Miracle on 34^th Street".  But, the movies that they show here in Israel just aren't good.

It's not that Israel doesn't get seasonal movies.  "The Ten Commandments" is shown every year on Passover.

 I don't think Israel gets Christmas.  Snow confuses Israel.  The one day a year it does snow in Jerusalem, the whole city is closed down.  I'm not talking about 10 feet of snow, no; I'm talking about maybe an inch.  Israel sees those white cold flakes and freaks.  

Or maybe they know something that the Christian world doesn’t.  Maybe Christmas is actually in July.  Maybe it's the world that is confused.

Or, maybe Israel just likes to torture us simple citizens with snow and below zero weather, while we are sweating in front of the tv.

I guess I'll never know and just have to chalk it up to one of the many mysteries that is the Holy Land!