Long way from auld reekie

Kia Ora, Howdy and a Happy Christmas to you!

2009-12-21T17:30:00.000-08:00

Since the holidays and end of 2009 seem to be getting away from me and the prospect of sending out Christmas cards has faded, I have decided to post my annual Christmas letter online for my friends far and wide...

2009 has been a bit of a roller coaster year! I started the year with walking pneumonia, followed by the flu, then exhaustion and finished out the academic year by getting my final wisdom tooth extracted. In late summer the roots of some of my health issues were revealed when I was diagnosed with notable TX-based allergies and Chronic Fatigue. Not surprisingly the result has been some significant lifestyle changes, as my body has forced me to learn to say “no” and slow down. In the fall I was blessed with 3 month research leave from TAMU and had the privilege of being a visiting scholar at Vaughn Park Anglican Retreat Center in New Zealand, just north of Auckland. I enjoyed being well looked after and a slower pace of life with daily walks on the beach, participating in daily prayers, having maid service and all my meals taken care of (it was like living at home again without the curfew!) On top of this for the time in about five years I had space to really pray, reflect on my life and calling and let God heal my soul. I came back to the USA a few weeks ago feeling much stronger, healthier and happier. So this place of much joy and a grateful heart I am wishing you a very blessed Christmas!

Heidi’s 2009:

January- Taught my largest semester class to date, 145 students in Communication in Popular Culture

February- Did my first conference keynote on Virtual Worlds at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas

March- My co-edited book A Science & Religion Primer was published (Baker Academic)

April- Spent lots of time at the doctor and undergoing medical tests

May- End of another academic year, more medical tests, attended a communication conference in Chicago

June- Survived my final wisdom tooth extraction; commissioned as a Spiritual Director by the TX Episcopal Diocese

July- Worked with an Israeli colleague interviewing Orthodox rabbis & webmasters on beliefs about the internet in Jerusalem.

August- Finally after 5 years finished When Religion Meets New Media (Routledge), visited my sister in Florida for our Bday

September- Arrived in New Zealand and discovered a new love for beach walks on windy days, date scones & Pavlova.

October- Visited friends in Australia, welcomed a new beautiful niece (via email)--Hopeful Jean Grace Elmatti

November- Gave my first public lecture on my new book at Univ. of Otago (NZ), enjoyed the beauty of NZ

December- Back in the USA and looking forward to Christmas with my whole family in Florida (first time in almost a decade!)

May you know true joy and peace from above in 2010!

Cheers, Heidi

Shabbat Shalom--Time Flies in JLM

2009-07-24T20:55:00.000-07:00

Only 4 days left in Israel. As usualy the trip has gone by fast but overall has been worthwhile. This has been my best and most productive visit by fa, but will be glad to get back to my TX to get caught up on sleep in my own bed.

Last week was spent in an intensive writing and resting retreat. I spent my mornings reading, praying and taking naps. My afternoons were spent writing the lit review draft of the research article I am here to work on and writing a grant application I am working on with another Israeli colleague from Hebrew. I was put up in a Hermitage which was a lovely cottage over looking the valley of Ein Karem and from my balcony could see the hills outside JLM and the church of the visitation and a Russian Orthodox Cathedral with its sparling gold onion domes. It was one of the most beautiful retreat spots I have ever been to. Over the course of the week I went to Vespers, prayers and Mass in Italian, Hebrew and French. The nuns were lovely and I would definitely recommend this spot from a most excellent retreat and space for contemplations.

However, since my research collegue picked me up last Shabbat (saturday) it has been all go. Saturday we met up with his cousin Katya who was visiting from Belgium for a quick tour of the north to see their relatives and visit Jaffa and Casearea. Then from Sunday I have done a total of 8 research interview and had 3 other meetings with Israeli scholars. It seems all my first hand research stuff all got schedule in week 3 as it is hard to pin down many of the Israeli webmaster and rabbis I had contacted. The phrase of week was "just 5 mins" as people often reschedule interviews at the last minute or when I tried to call to pin them down they asked me to call back again, and again. Blessed are the flexible. A highlight of the week for me was meeting Eli the Torah scribe in the old city. I wrote in my most recent book some details about Jewish law and craft of writing religious text so it was great to sit down with an trained scribe for over and hour and speak with him about his trade and verify what I had learned from books about the art and requirements. He was also a lovely man so who hand wrote me a beautiful mezzuah scroll and commissioned him to bible verse that I will take home to remember this meeting and experience.

So all in all I have been busy with not much time to blog!

Last night I got to go to synagogue with a new friend & reserach colleague and her family. It was a "modern" orthodox synagogue and one of the most moving services I have ever been in. The whole service is mostly sung led alternatively by a male then female cantors (which is unusual) followed by the while congregations singing. My biblical hebrew kicked in about 40 mins into the service so I was able to join in singing the Psalms (esp. 95-98 which I really love) in Hebrew during the 2.5 hour service. At times it felt even like a pentecostal service (like the "singing" in tongues part one often sees) as the cantor would sing part of a prayer like the shema and then the whole congregation would sing sponteneously in their own tune another part of the prayer.It is the closest thing I have gotten to a proper church service since being here and was grateful for a the space for worship.

Today am off with Oren to Tel Aviv, he is going to a family event and I will meet up with a friend for coffee, then it is back to work as we try to get the article drafted before I leave on Tues pm/Wed am.

Sunday is a workday

2009-07-12T04:38:00.000-07:00

I always find it a bit difficult to retraining myself to the fact that Sunday is a work day in Israel. The weekend is basically noon on Friday through Saturday, covering shabbat from sun-up to sun down on fri-sat. My shabbat was spent doing a lot of sleeping sat am and then a lot of work with my collaborator on our research project sat afternoon. I really miss the chance to go to church when I am in Israel, though I do sometimes go to synagogue but since my hebrew is limited am not able to join in as much as I would like.

After spending sat afternoon analyzing and doing some thematic graphs on the 8 interviews my collaborator and I have done so far it was time for a few chores since his maid has quit. Casa de Oren has a lovely view of southern JLM and is comfortable, but is definitely a bachelor pad. Main contents of the refrigerator are chocolate bars and pepsi max. There is no washer/dryer as he sends his laundry out so I got to use an old fashioned brush and board to wash my clothes.

The JLM film festival is going strong and Oren's cousin Katiya is a journalist visiting from Belgium to cover the event. We picked her up at 8pm and headed outside the city to the Arab village of Abu Gosh for dinner. The village is known for its monestary which tradition says Jesus will visit before his triumphan return to JLM. Why, I don't know, but it must be for the food because they have some of the best hummus, taboleh and home-made pita in Israel IMHO. We visited a new place and sat outside to enjoy the night air and stories of all our travel in Israel. Then we headed to a local sweet shop for kanafe and mint tea, surrounded by the swirling smoke of nargila pipes.

It was now 10:30 but the night was still young (at least for Oren & Katiya) so we headed into town and the German colony which is a bustling hot spot esp. post shabbat. Shops stay open till midnight so we broused in artisan stores and visited a well known video shop calle d the Third ear where Katiya could rent some movies for her research. We dropped her back to the JLM YMCA where she was staying and got back to Oren's after midnight. I was shattered but nocternal Oren wanted to watch movies...I opted out.

So now we are at Hebrew Uni where I am sitting a grad student office, supposedly working on a draft outline of our article. Tonight is dinner with a visiting Scholar from Cambridge also now at HU who studies Jewish Diasporic communities. Tommorrow I have another research meeting with an Israeli scholar that studies Haredi women and the internet before heading to Ein Kerem to the Sister of Sion Monestary for a writing and prayer retreat for 4 days. Am looking forward to this as my mind is full and soul feels dry after a hectic few months back in the states. Not sure what kind of net access I will have so there may be a gap in my posts.

Good morning JLM

2009-07-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to jet lag I have been waking up at 5-6am so have gotten to see some fab sunrises over JLM. I am staying in my friend's study cum guest room and since he is nocternal have not been getting to bed till about 1am which has made for very short nights. I do hope my body regulates soon.

Am enjoying but, am not use to urban dwelling life. Most of Oren and his friends don't go out till at least 9pm so last night that meant eating dinner at around 10:30 pm. We went with his friends Ariel, an Israeli tour guide, and his lovely fiance Patty from Brazil to a restaurant at the Artist house. I did not want something heavy so I went for baked St Peter's Fish and a side salad which was delicious but less than settling for my funny tummy. But it was nice to be out in the night air taking in the art and learning more about local culture. I am so enjoying the refreshing breezes and reprive from the heat here (it has only been in the low 90s and at night it cools down to low 70s to high 60s...even the Judean Desert has had cooler temperature than where I live in TX since I have been here).

Today after some work this am and errands I am hitting the Jerusalem Film Festival to see a film called Eyes Wide Open, a feature film with a story about negotiating life and sexuality in the ultra Orthodox community which should be interesting.

Old friends and new places

2009-07-09T07:05:00.000-07:00

I have officially been in Israel for 48 hours. This is my 6th visit to Israel since 2003 and if you add up my trip have spent over 6 months here. While I wouldn't say I feel like a local or completely at home, I have made enough friends and spent enough time traveling around the contry for things to feel very familiar which makes it an easy place to visit.

Update on the food poisoning: the nausea subsided after the first 24 hours so no longer feel wretched. My tummy is still a bit funny when it comes to milk so am sticking to veg, liquids and bread but on the whole am much improved.

In the past 2 days I have been able to connect f2f with a number of research colleagues who are becoming friends. I am staying with my friend and research collaborator Oren Golan in Jerusalem. Together we met up with Batia Siebzhner for coffee to discuss her current work on the Jewish diaspora in Latin American. Yesterday I got to visit Beit Berl College North of Tel Aviv and spent time in the library reading an interesting book on Yeshiva Fundamentalism written by Oren's friend Nurit Stadler while he gave his student in his Internet Culture class their final exam. (I hope to connect with Nurit soon to learn more about her ethnograpic methods).

Afterwards we went birthday gift shopping for Oren's friend, we bought a coffee and then a suit case. Then we headed for a quick visit to Herzilla to see my friends Omri and Marianna Ruah Midbar who are also scholars in Internet studies. Marianna studies new age religion online Omri work in the philosophy of technology related to music online. They also have a cute and playful daughter named Thea Magia who has an impressive vocabulary for a 2 years old in 3 different languages (Russian, Hebrew & English).

Today Batia invited Oren and I to join a group from a conference she was attending at Yad Vashem, Israels main holocaust memorial. It is one of the few places I have not visited in Jerusalem and found it to be a powerful and melancholy experience, especially the Children's memorial paying tribute to the children who died in the camps. Now I am at Hebrew University, relaxing in the library after networking with Menahem Blondheim over lunch an a possible project on the "Peoples of the Book and New Media" we are looking at pursuing 2 years down the road. I have learned much from Menahem about Jewish views of communication and the media through reading and learning about his work over the numerous interactions since 2004.

So my stay is off the a full start, but so things will slow down as shabbat approaches and the need to get down to the business of why I am here analyzing research, doing interviews and writing about Orthodox views of the internet .

Back in Israel 2009, a new adventure begins

2009-07-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

To my friends who are interested wanted to let you know that I have arrived safe and somewhat sound. As usual my travels were memorable and if it is an indication of things to come it should be an interesting month.

On my Houston to Frankfurt leg I sat next to a nice elderly Bulgarian couple who spoke no English. I tried out some of my rusty Russian on them and they assumed I was fluent and continued to chat with me throughout the trip most of which I did not understand....But I did get to see over 70 pictures of their American Holiday and new faternal twin grandbabies.

A word to the wise, when flying Luftansa note the food in Economy class seems a bit suspect and you would be wise to avoid the breakfast omlet they offer....I sure wish I had. I started to regret partaking of it about 90 mins afterwards. By the time I made it to my next flight with a tight connection in Frankfurt I was far from well, and soon as they took off the fasten seat belt sign on the trip to Tel Aviv I had to rush to the plane bathrooms. I spend the next 3.5 hours going between my seat and various bathrooms emptying my stomach's contents before coming to the conclusion I must have food poisioning. When I contacted the stewardess to inform her of my condition she smiled and said she was sorry but there was nothing she could do for me., and for me to hold on till I could contact a Doctor for advice when entering Israel.

Well it is 5 hours later and food still sounds less than appealing. I feel quite weak still but the nausea is subsiding, thanks to some rest and sprite and saltines supplied by my friend and host Oren. I think the worst is over and hope to be back on proper food tommorrow. Am a bit frustrated by my body and this latest episode of of rebellion in my health, but there you go.

Jerusalem is a refreshing 94ish with a gentle breeze, which is a great reprive from the TX heat. Am looking forward to be post jetlag and for 3 weeks of adventures!

After the Storm

2008-09-14T20:15:00.001-07:00

All is quite now in College Station. It is hard to believe that 48 hours all was chaos weather wise. I spent part of the afternoon raking my yard for fallen leaves and branches and moving my patio plants from my garage to back outside. Some of my friends in Houston are still without power and water but we here in BCS are back to business as usual. I am thankful for God's protection this past weekend and that the storm is long gone, though I fear some will be dealing with the aftermath of days to come.

Outside the Eye

2008-09-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Ike moved north and greeted Brazos County early this morning (sometime after 6am but I am not exactly sure as I was asleep). Fortunate for us, and not so fortunate for others, the eye of the storm shifted east and so missed us. We have had some significant gusting winds and quite a bit of rain but all is well besides that. And we still have power, yeah!

I spent the night in my closet so was as snug as bug in a rug and able to sleep through the night. I awoked a bit before 9am to some howling winds and lots of leaves and a few branches down but beside that all is well. The only slight concern I have is that the creek behind my has flooded,which is actually quite typical. The walking path (next to the tree in the pic) is under water and I had to take picture because the city want to put a paved & lighted biking and foot path right there which would turn my lawn into a swimming pool as the creek usually rises and often overflows during a storm.

We're not in the clear yet, high winds and pounding rain are expected for the next 4 hours but so far I feel safe and blessed!

Waiting for Ike

2008-09-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Ike has made landfall, though the eye of the storm is not expected till about midnight. One blessing is that is has been downgraded from a category 3 to a 2 and should only be a 1 by the time it reaches college station. I have had several calls today from friends worried about me being on my own. But the idea of being with 5 other crammed in a bathroom and panicing sounds about as much fun as being refugee in a bomb shelter staying with a stressed out family during the war in 2006 in Israel. I plan to sleep the night in my walk in closet and have set up a nice little bed an survial pack of snacks, water, flashlight and a radio. The storm will hit around 4am or so and I pray all will be able and that I will sleep safely through it. Am praying the winds die down and that the storm moves through quickly. So off to my closet...

Hurrican Ike Watch is on!

2008-09-11T22:15:00.000-07:00

Hiya. I am sending out a call to my praying friends to remember Texas (and me) in your prayers the next few days.

The Southeast of Texas is hunkering down for a category 3 hurricane...Who would have thought I would have to deal with hurricanes when I moved to Texas! At this point the storm is larger (aapx. 350 miles long) and stronger (winds up to 100mph) than Katrina which hit New Orleans in 2005. This one is expected to hit the Texas shore and Houston straight on tommorrow pm and the eye of the storm is now aimed to pass right through my town in the early hours of Saturday am. They are predicting 30-50 mph winds, lots of rain and chance of tornados.

I have done my prepping (got extra batteries, flashlights, lots of bottle water and tinned food) but would also appreciate your prayer that Hurricane Ike dispates and its winds slow down and heads east of College Station where I live. Though we could really use the rain (we have been in a drought since June) the idea of things flying around and possibly penetrating mine or my neighboors windows is a bit scary. Also there are predicting a 90% change of power outages in my area, and with the temp today reaching around 100 degree F the thought of being withoug A/C for even 24 hours sounds quite grim!

I know and believe God can intervene in all of these circumstance so would appreciate your prayers in this matter. Will keep you posted on my blog, as long as I have power!

JLM if I forget you

2008-07-15T00:42:00.001-07:00

Am finishing up things in JLM today and head back to Haifa this afternoon. In my travels the last 2 weeks I think I have discovered a secret that will help facilitate peace in the middle east. In the words of an old advertisement, I would like to buy the Middle East...a deodrant! I am confident that the small gesture of buying everyon one in Israel and the greater Levant region a stick and require them to shower and use it daily would greatly help faciliate an air of cooperation and greater tolerance. If you have ever sat on a public bus in Israel, Turkey or behind the green line uin the summer time, you know what I mean! But I digress.

Yesterday was Hebrew Univ. day for me where I spent the day meeting with Several Profs in the Comm department to talk about my research and academic life in Israel. Also spent time in the library and working with my friend Oren and exploring Orthodox use of the Internet. Last night we ended the day with some of Oren's friends watching a very silly movie and eating non-kosher pizza (the pepperoni is made of beef as pigs are not able to live on israeli soil). Now it is off to meet with an Israeli Scholar who works on Shas & Sephardic Judaism. More later

Back in Eretz Yisrael

2008-07-13T22:36:00.001-07:00

So I have now been back in Israel for a week and it has been a full one at that. Landed in TLV July 5 and spent 24 hours with a friend in JLM mostly visiting the mall for some esentials and then doing a facinating interview with the editor in chief of Aish.com. Sunday night I headed to Herzylia and visited friends there for a few days while attending a conference at IDC on Communicating Across Borders. On Wednesday I headed to Haifa an settled into the dorms in CRI so Thursday I could get down to work. On Friday I headed back to JLM for a working shabbat with my friend Oren as we together are trying to explore the Jewish Orthodox use of the internet. Yesterday I headed to the UltraOrthodox neighboorhood of Rama Eskhkol for another interview with a couple who are religious web designers and then to the old city to meet a dear friend Ina from Scotland visiting Israel this week. We had a good catch up after not seeign eachother for 1.5 years, wandered the old city together and visited her favourite artist Motke Blum and slurgged and bought art! Today I head to Hebrew Univ for meetings while my friend Oren lectures on fandom in a class on internet culture. So as you can see never a dull moment!

What I learned in Turkey

2008-07-13T22:23:00.000-07:00

Well due to computer filtering issues I wasn't able to blog in Turkey and have been so busy my first full week in Israel that I am way behind in blogging, so this is a catch up entry on my time in Istanbul.

What I learned in Turkey:

- My name Heidi sounds like the Turkish phrase for let's go, so when I was introduced to new people, they took much joy in saying, "Heidi, Heidi"!
- I love the Asian side of Istanbul, which has a much slower pace of life, but the European side though it has the history and grander architecture is too crowded for me.
- Come to Turkey to eat great meat and salads, but for those with a sweet tooth the selection of deserts is somewhat disappointing.
- I love Turkish coffee, but can live without Turkish delight!
- The Turkish people are very friendly and helpful esp. to people like me with no Turkish and a deficient sense of directions.
-Having a cell phone and a local friend to call for help is essential when travelling!

I successfully managed to navigate public transport in Istanbul on my own on several occasions and excet for getting lost in the new town for 2 hours on the 4th of July manag4ed to get aroudn quite successfully. Some of my trip highlights were:

-A Bosphorus cruise with my friend Rebekah (who I knew in Scotland) and her 3 month old Emily.
-Visiting the Haya Sophia and marveling at the grand architecture and mosaics.
-Eating dinner with Nuri's family and learning about the Muslim celebration surrounding the conception of Muhammed.
-Attending a concert of a Band led by Rebakah's husband Charles at a coffee shop in a 7th story bulding and watching the sun set over the Bosphorous.
-Getting lots of writing done in the ISAM library!

All in all it was a full be great week in Turkey!

Day 3...posted a week and a bit later

2008-07-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

I am wrıtıng thıs at the end of day 3 (though ıt probably won,t get posted tıll tommorrow as I am stıll lımıted by thıs Turkısh keyboard where I can,t get the at symbol to work
. The call to prayer ıs echoıgn aroudn the cıty lıke th drone of bees busy wıth actıvıty and ınternet For 15 mıns the world ıs a hum wıth the call to prayer and then settles back ınto a quıte dull rum of traffıc.

Thıngs I have learned so far on my trıp
-Turks are very frıendly and ıf you are not careful you wıll overdose on caffıne from the constant offers of Turkısh coffee
-Just because the restaurant has a pıcture menu doesnşt mean what you get wıll be anythıng you ımagıned from the pıcture but thıs ıs often a pleasant surprıse
- Most Turks on the European sıde do not speak Englısh so ıf you get lost and need to stop and ask for dırectıons good luck aka I have done a lot of out of my way walkıng so far

Today was spent travelıng around the cıty for ıntervıews. My research collegues Nurı and Yusuf Devan from Yedepte have been so kınd as to help me make connectıons wıth some religıous medıa outlets and esp. 2 TV channels that have ınterestıng connectıosn wıth relıgıon. Today they served as tour guıdes and translators on thıs medıa tour. . Nurı and I met Yusuf at the Uksdar port early thıs am for a travel across the Bosphorsu to the European sıde to vısıt Chanel 7 whıch was started by a Muslım but has not morphed ınto a commercıal maınstream chanel. I got a tour and even almost made ıt onto TV when I walked ınto theır 24-hours newroom not realızıng they were fılmıng but luckıly the camera at that angle was not lıve. I learned so much ın our 1 hour vısıt about the medıa ın Turkey and dıd an ıntervıew wıth the Genreal news dırector. We then headed back to ISAM for lunch and a short break before headıng off to 2 hours at STV run by the Gullen movment (a group connected to moderate Islam) another tour and a very useful ıntervıew later I am now ready to start wrıtıng tommorrow am.

As you can see thıs ıs not a holıday so far but I am do have 1 and a half days of sıghtseeıng hopfully to come. I am looıng forward to momorrow and a trıp to see my old frıend Rebekah (a Canadıan I met ın Scotland that marrıed a Kıwı wıth whom she now lıves ın Turkey... gotta love ınternatıonal frıends) for a bosphorus cruıse and some turkısh cuısıne. Also all beıng well I wıll head to the old cıty on my own for some tourıst tıme on Frıday.

Day 2 in Istanbul

2008-06-30T00:25:00.000-07:00

I actually wrote this post yesterday but was having trouble posting from the Turkish based key board so here it is a day late.

Well ıt ıs offıcal I am totally knackered and totally fed up with this Turkish keyboard...

I have been in Istanbul for 7 hours and have been up for 31 hours without rest and feel a desperate need for a nap. After a whirlwind day in JLM I got on a sherut taxi and headed for my Turkish adventure. I receive what I like to call as the Israeli "hotel california treatment" when trying to exit the country (aka you can check in easily but we will give you hell when you try to check out) which included a personal escort to my gate by security, well that says something though what I do not know!

anyways I landed just before 8am into Istanbul and after an slow but no hassled entry was greeted by my colleague Nuri Tinaz and his wife at arrival who picked me up at the airport
My first 7 hours were spent moving into ISAM and then joining Nuri and his extended family for a breakfast brunch a lovely restaurant right on the Bosporus sea. Nuri said it would be a 3 hour brunch and I though he was joking but in the end we did have a lovely and very leisurely 3 hour breakfast of chatting staring out across the sea and going back to the buffet again and again for wonderful cheese to die for fresh fruit and veg and breads and even a straight from the hive slab of honey comb which I enjoyed generous portions of spread on chunky wheat bread.

On the way back to ISAM Nuri pointed out a number of religious sites such as a synagogue an armenian church and a mosque and then he said we will now visit a most sacred secular site as his wife pulled into a large modern shopping maul His wife daughter niece and sister in law all went to a dress shop while he helped me get cash form a Turkish ATM and buy a Turkish sim card for my phone Am now back at ISAM typing this and realizing I need to rest before I fall asleep here at his computer more later...

well day 1 was great, I even ventured out on my own for dinner and treated my self to a donner kebab dinner (thank god for menus with pictures on them) before retiring for the evening. Got a startling 4am wake-up call and am now aware that there is a mosque right next to the institute whose loud speaker for the call to prayer seem to face directly at my window. Today it is down to business, with meetings scheduled with potential research colleagues and articles to read.

shabbat shalom from JLM

2008-06-28T10:16:00.000-07:00

Well I arrived safely in Israel at about 1am this morning. I had a pleasantly uneventful flight and my friend Oren was waiting for me with a smiling face at Ben Gurion. I have a 24 hour stop in Israel before heading to Istambul tommorrow am.

It has been a great day, actually quite healing for me...as I left Israel about 2 years ago under much more unpleasant circumstance, having to leave much of my things and reserach in Haifa when the conflict with Hezbollah broke out. After a long lie in till after 11am Oren and I went out for a quiet day in JLM. We revisited many of the local spots I toured in 2006. We took in some modern art and saw the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum. Went to Abu Gosh for Lebanese food, and then headed for a walk in Ein Karem. It was nice to feel the cool breeze in the air and the peace in my soul. In Ein Karem we got to visit the Church of St John, which supposedly houses the place where John the Baptist was born. While Oren chatted to one of the Franscicans outside I was able to take a few moments to pray inside. Much was on my mind, friend battling illness, news of a research colleagues death by email this am, my family and memories of stress and strain in 2006. It was great to lay those all down before God in prayer.

After a short stop for sorbet/iced cafe we visited The Levanons, the parents of my friend who housed be during my 2 and abit weeks as a refugee from Haifa. I had brought them a gift from Aggieland and they graciously invited us in for some fresh fruit from their garden and tea and we chatted. It was strange and yet freeing to walk into their house again with it all so familiar views.

Now I am back Oren's falt watching the shabbat sun set and getting ready to re-pack my bags for Turkey. I pray the rest of my trip is filled with such peace and grace as today.

Howdy from Charles de Gaul: Off on another adventure...

2008-06-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, well it has been months since my last post but I am on the verge of another adventure so though it was time to blog again. I am headed to Israel and Turkey for a month and already it has been quite a trip.

I left Texas late yesterday afternoon, and late being the operative word.

The airport shuttle I had booked online weeks ago was over 45 mins late picking me up. The driver had only been on the job for one month and was nice, but well let's just say less than professional. At one point she was talking on 2 cell phones at the same time and I kept thinking, where are her hands...?!?!not on the wheel that was for sure!

About 30 mins from the airport, the van started to sway and make funny noises. Moments later our driver got a phone call that somoene had called the number on the van to say we had a very flat tire, mins later we had blow out, but made it safely to the side of 290 with whizzing cars around us. We sat there for 20 mins till another shuttle could come and help change our tire.

The drive did haul it after tha I made it to check in with less than 5mins before they cut off check in. Had not eaten since 2pm and it 8:45pm ran to wendy's grabbed a burger and ate it while running to my gate. When I got there they were half way through board...I just pray this is not a sing of things to come on this trip. The flight here was thankfully uneventful, so though I would blow my euros on net time to let you know the full story.

All being well I will be in Israel in 7 hours..and with that said...More posts to come...

Gettin' Elfed!

2007-12-10T17:52:00.000-08:00

The Elmatti's have just been Elfed! And SO have I! (I always wondered what it would have been like to be a triplet.)

I even Scrooged myself, just for the fun of it! Oh, the wonders of tech!

Hey good lookin', what ya got cookin'!

2007-10-14T19:26:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest adorable photo for Faith Ann, my lovely new niece. Eat your heart out Jamie Oliver and Martha Stewart, our Faith is going to be star in the kitchen!

We ought to be in picture...

2007-08-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

...and we are. Here are some of my favorite pics taken from the 3 hour picture taking fest last saturday of the Elmatti & Campbell clan. A pretty nice looking bunch of folks I think!

Meeting the Family

2007-08-25T18:04:00.000-07:00

The last three days have been full with Faith Ann getting to meet new members of the Elmatti & Campbell Clan. Thursday night the Elmatti boys gathered together at their grandfather's house and Faith Ann got to meet her other cousin's Noah (8 months) and Nadya (3 mo) together for the first time. On Friday night she met Grandma & Grandpa Campbell (my folks) for the first time. Today we spent 3 hours at the Picture People shop in the Mall of Millenia taking dozens of pictures of the family. We celebrated the accomplishment of having the whole family together and surviving still smiling after many a camera flash with an early b-day celebration for Heather and I at the Cheesecake factory. Above are some choice pics form these meetings.

Time for Tea

2007-08-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

It has become an annual tradition for my twin sister and I to celebrate our Birthday together at a lovely tea room called the Garden Gate. We even have special matching"tea hats" that we wear each time we visit. Today Faith Ann joined us for her first tea party, dressing the part in a pretty lace dress and even having her own wee tea cup. I think she enjoyed herself... even though she slept through most of it. Heather & I enjoyed our 4 course feast of salmon roullade, Jamaican sorbet, assorted tea sandwiches, scones and mini cakes. Above are some pics from our wonderful tea time!

Faith Ann at 3 weeks

2007-08-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

After a 5-hour delay I finally arrived in Florida at 3.40 am, where my weary bro-in-law picked me up at the Orlando airport and we headed north to their home...to meet my new niece. We arrived bright and early, in time for a early morning feed, and I got to say hello to wee Faith Ann and even help give her abottle feed and learn burping techniques. As one might expect the day's events for my sister revolve around Faith Ann's eating, sleeping & changing schedule. Today I got to learn how to change poopy diapers, oh joy! My sister uses olive oil instead of baby oil or cream on Faith Ann so I have started to calling her "bertolli baby" (Robb--the dad--is Italian after all!). The pics above are of my first diaper changing lesson and Faith Ann & Dad taking a sunday afternoon nap.

Off the play Auntie!

2007-08-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

Tommorrow I am leaving to visit my sister and brother-in-law in FL and meet my new niece! Am looking forward to playing peek-a-boo and not looking forward to learning how to change diapers! Hope to provide some new pics as well.

I'm an Auntie

2007-08-06T15:45:00.000-07:00

About 9 days ago I became and Auntie, but I have only just received the pictorial proof from my sister & brother-in-law. Faith Ann made a quick appearance weighting in at a slim 6.2 lbs and at 19in long. Isn't she cute..as far as squishy-faced newborns go!

Some highlights from my trip...

2007-07-31T17:15:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictoral highlight from my trip... a view over hobbitton, and the view from bilbo baggins house, hanging out in Wai-tu thermals-where the devil supposedly lives, enjoying views near St Arnauds, taking a name-sake break in the Lewis Pass, and a photo op near Hamner Springs ...

Saying good bye to Aotearoa

2007-07-31T17:03:00.000-07:00

I have been offline for the last 4 days. My last week in NZ has been full. I gave to opening lecture at a New Perspective in Science & Theology Conference at BCNZ on Friday talking about cyborg and Christian ethics and then flew down to Christchurch to do a seminar called Building Christian Community: What the Internet can teach Offline Church. Both event went well.

I was able to also do a little sightseeing around Christchurch and even hop on the Transalpine railway for a day to visit Arthur's Pass and do a bit of hiking in the Southern Alps. The nice young man at the park office obviously thought I was more fit and adventuresome than I am and sent me on a trek up the side of a mountain that left me scrambling almost 90 degrees in some places (coming down was even more fun!) but when I reached the top near the snow line the views were so worth the challenge! It was even better that it was my spiritual birthday (the day I accepted and committed my life to Christ) and what better way than up a mountain to pray and spend time with God, closer to heaven in many ways.

Now I am busily packing up my bits for my evening flight back to the USA. I will miss the beauty of this place as well as the much needed break, but am looking forward to my own bed & central heat/air.

Freedom and Forgiveness are coming

2007-07-25T18:57:00.000-07:00

Am a bit behind on my blog and hope to catch up later today.

Today I shared in chapel at BCNZ in a very weighty, but powerful meeting. It started in a way different than planned, with prayers led by a South Korean student related to the Koreans which have been kidnapped in Afghanistan and esp. for the Pastor who was killed earlier today. While I did not understand the language of the prayers the emotion behind it definitely gripped me

I had been asked a week ago to share about the SCOT project in the service and before hand and the chapel coordinator had selected a particular tract called 'Forgive". She had asked me to talk about the story of a young girl from northern Ireland who learned a powerful lesson in forgiveness at a young age after watching her dad who was a warden in the Maze Prison in Belfast be gunned down by the IRA. It was amazing how it and her prayer for the freedom which comes from forgiveness fit in so well to the message and theme which emerged in the meeting. This led into a time of community prayer and then prayer for the Korean students in the middle of the room with other laying hands and crying along side them. We ended with a time of singing a South African song "freedom, freedom...is coming..." in beautiful harmonies and heart felt cries. It was heavy but it also seemed to shift something in the spirit of the place which many people have been talking about this morning around the college. Wow, a memorable experience. God is good, all the time.

Hiking the Abel Tasman

2007-07-18T00:20:00.000-07:00

Monday I traveled via Air New Zealand from Auckland to Nelson in the South Island. This was my open week with no travel plans and when I emailed my sister who lived in NZ for 3 years for recommendation about where to go she said, head south. She also put me in touch withsome of her good friends Richard & Kaye Dyer who volunteered to host me during my visit as well as one of her best friend's Pam who for the past 2 days has played tour guide to me as we hiked part of the Abel Tasman together. The Abel Tasman is one of NZ's great walks and was hihgly recommended by my friend Jennifer Cobb who also hiked it 2 years ago. Am still fighting a bit of a cold and full of snot so knew I wasn't up to doing the whole 3-5 day trek, but was very glad Pam had offered to take me on a 1 day hike.

I took the bus to Motueka early Tues am where I met Pam for a nice coffee before heading up to Marahau where we started our hike. We walked the first 5 hr leg of the park past Appletree Beach and Torrent Bay before leaving the trail to bushwack down a private track to emerge at Boundary Bay. We met Pam's friend Terry who has a private batch on this secluded cove and were greeted by a warm fire and cups of tea and bics. The track hugs the edge of seaside cliffs and though it was gray and a bit rainy in bits it was a lovely journey and we worked up quite a sweat. I was glad for a warm shower and sat in awe watching the sun fade over the aqua waters of boundary bay. Pam cooked a lovely summer of stuffed chicken breasts on Terry's wood stove and veg and we listened to the radio chatted late until retiring to proper beds with hot water bottles, a great way to end a day of hiking. The next day we explored a bit of bounday and frenchman bays, had a lovely egg & bcon breakfast overlooking the water, and relished in the rising sun of a bright clear day. I wished we could stay another few days but alas the water taxi arrived at noon and we jouneyed back 30 mins or so to Marahau and then hiked back to the part entrance where we left the car.

The rest of the day was spent talking over tea, eating ice cream, exploring bits of Motueka and sitting in a hot spa overlooking the sea and mountains. Another blessed day that make me appreciate God's great creation and provision.

Hobbiton, Hell & Hotpools

2007-07-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

My 3 days at Vaughn Park passed with me spending most of the time in bed sick in bed with a bad cold, but it says in the good book that "He gives his beloved rest" so I took this to heart. I did manage to emerge for a lovely walk on Long Bay when the sun did decide to emerge and a good spiritual direction session discussing Spiritual Vocation vs. Calling.

I was feeling so rough that I almost turned down my invitation to join a few folks from BCNZ on a tour of Roturra and the East of the South Island. But after some convincing that it was a trip not to miss I broke down and took some heavy duty meds and my fever finally broke and I had the strenght to say yes. And I am so glad I did. We travelled from Auckland to "Middle Earth" to visit Hobbiton, the only set from the Lord of the Rings trilogy left partially undismantled by New Line Cinemas at the end of their filming. The set is 10 acres amidst a large sheep farm and we hugged the party tree, walked through the shire got to look out of Bilbo's home and enjoy the amizing fiew of the rolling hills and even "Mordor" in the distance.

"AH, let's not get coffee, let's just go to Hell!"- Craig Bloomburg on our touring options in Roterrua

After a lovely lunch outside and a quick visit to a dairy farm where I got to pet calves not even a day old we went straight to Hell... via Roterrua that is, a town know for it sulfurous hot springs and thermal spas. We took a quick visit to Hell's gate (so the theologians amongst us could see where the Devil actually lives...) and then checked in for the night to enjoy a lovely meal and evening at the Polynesial Spa warming our weary bones.

The next day we arose early and headed for a Wai-o-Tapu park to see a natural the Lady Knox Geyers (which thought seeded with soap erupted for well over 40 min in front of us) and then do a casual hike around thermal sacred waters where we saw the Devil's home a tick broigh sulfur yell and the Devin's bath's a vivid neo pea green colour. After getting our sulfur fill we then headed to Lake Taupo for a quick visit to the Huka Falls and a late lunch before heading back to Auckland.

Now I am busily packing for a week in the South Island with yet undetermined plans...

And the winds came

2007-07-10T21:27:00.000-07:00

Am back online after 2 1/2 days on the Cormandel Peninsula at Waihi Beach at my friend's aunt's holiday batch. Basic accommodation but a very lovely sea side location. For added excitement we got to go through a semi-hurricane which created 150+ mile per hour winds last night, and left the other side of the Peninsula and the North of the North Island without power today. We tried to drive up to the famous Hot Beaches yesterday afternoon but Nicola's poor little VW was getting quite blown about on the sea front roads so we relented and rented some NZ movies & went back to the cottage to weather out the storm. The power was quite fragile, and the old cottage could only cope with 3 plugs being used at any one time, so we had to decide on what was electrically essential. In the end it was the space heater, the tea kettle and Nicola's computer where we watched In My Father's Den in the dark. (BTW--beautiful cinematography but a very sad and slightly disturbing movie, Nicola says many kiwi made movies hold this theme of slightly dark, twisting narratives...)

I am now on a 2 day retreat at Vaughn Park, an Anglican retreat center on Long Beach just North of Auckland, so will go offline for 48 hours to pray, ponder and seek God.

From the Heights

2007-07-08T01:25:00.000-07:00

At the advice of Stu McGregor I visited Cityside Baptist today, a church known for its alternative and innovative worship pioneered by former Minister Mark Pierson (who I learned has packed his boxes in Mebourn and is headed back soon to NZ). Walking into the church I knew it would be a non-traditional services. Old couches and lounge chairs replaced pews and big pile of cushions was heaped in the center for worshippers and small children to sprawl out on. The service consisted of responsive readings, a member's personal reflection on a Psalm, a reading from "Thus Spake Zaurstra", interactive congregational prayers involving pinning personal concerns on a giant heart and a short sermon on the church's response to modern day slavery augmented by watching a clip from Amazing Grace. I had the opportunity to chat with the minister Brenda for a bit about women in ministry & emerging church issues in NZ which was very enlightening as well.

Afterwards I wandered toward downtown Auckland, had a bit of fishpie at a Squid Row a seafood restaurant not far from the Uni, ahh memories of Scotland (it is even located across the street from a pub called the Edinburgh Castle). Took lots of pics of fun signs & graffiti before meeting up with a few folks from BCNZ to visit the Biotonical Gardens and the Auckland Sky tower, the highest tower in the South Pacific. Am now busy preparing for a trek to Waihi with my friend Nicola tommorrow, for 3 days and a bit of R&R before the next terms starts for her. We will be staying at her aunt's bach in this holiday town so not internet for the next few days

Going to Hell...for Pizza

2007-07-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

Another downpour of a day, though I am slowly adjusting to the damp and the lack of Central heating by layering up and wearing my fleece much of the day. I am also learning other interesting things while here such as:

-dehumidfiers come with a "laundry" setting, and are often used instead of dryer to help dry clothes

-if one wants a milky coffee you ask for a "flat white", or in my case a-- half caf thin flat white

- my life has been greatly enhanced by the aquisition of a hot water bottle to help warm one's bed at night

My friday was spend networking with a few folks. First I met with Stu McGregor for a coffee and a great chat about the Emerging Church and technology here in NZ. Stu is getting ready to move from being a youth pastor with a EC emphasis in worship to a Senior pastor of a small traditional congregation who are in large part Maori so has been doing a lot of reflection on the interaction between emerging and mainline churches. We picked each other's brain's and he gave me much food for thought on the thinking behind using tech in worship, which I suspect will show up in my current book project on religion and new media.

Over lunch I was then finally able to catch up with John Capper and we also had a good chat on theological education, teaching peadagogy and online learning. It is always fun to connect with people and say so what has been going on with you in the last 8 years!

For dinner I got to go to hell, or I should say Hell came to us. Hell Pizza is a NZ chain which has done an interesting job in using a theme to market their product. There different Pizza's are name after different sins or other devilish dervasions...for instance not the picture of me eating a slice of Mordor (spicy chicken). I also tried a slice of Lust (meat lovers) but my personal fav was purgatory (vegtarian with feta). The pizza box can also be punched out and turned into a mini coffin to hold "your remains". Some Christian in NZ have been deliberate about boycotting the chain on principal, and I teased my theologian friend about here support of the chain which she says she does with conflicted emotions...but they do make great pizza. Their marketing is a slick interface of religion with pop culture, and a bit cheeky. For instance at their web site you can particpate in a "hellpoll" which allows you to nominate national leaders for "Who needs a good smack" (i.e. spanking)?! (BTW-- this is also my quote of the day)

More Explorations of Auckland

2007-07-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

My 4th day in NZ I ventured out on my own to explore Auckland. This involved taking a train from the suburbs of Henderson to the downtown of Auckland to explore some Auckland Museum (to see the Maori cultural performance) & Auckland Domain (a park and botanical garden) before heading for a meeting with Luke Goode at the Film & Media Studies Dept at the Univ. of Auckland to talk about New Media studies in New Zealand. I was impressed with myself that I did not get lost at all amidst bus changes and foot wanderings.

Quote of the Day:

"Sweet as..."- clerk at Vodaphone shop using common Kiwi slang
"...sweet as what?"- I asked a bit confused
"...[sigh]...an American?!"- his response

That evening after navigating my way back to BCNZ I joined several American visitors and expats working at the College at a faculty member's home for a 4th of July celebration. We figured by that time even though it was the 5th in NZ,it was technically still the 4th in Hawaii. We feasted on Pizza Hut Pizza, layer salad & homemade salad...along with some interesting NZ snack such as Lamb & Mint flavoured chips and L&P, which tastes like fizzy elderflower cordial. We also shared stories about our states of origin, sang patriotic songs and lit off some fireworks and sparklers our hosts had save over from Guy Fawkes night (which we later learned was illegal.

Conferencing, Exploring Auckland & More Rain

2007-07-04T01:26:00.000-07:00

"It's time to shut up...and enjoy this holy space." -Donna Dinsmore

Building on yesterdays worship session our worship leader exhorted us to enter into communal worship, esp. the space created by silence, and to enjoy being before God. This really struck me as I feel as I have spent much of the last 5 years of full throtle go, and have to work hard to carve out space to be and esp. be before God. This is space is something I am trying hard to allow space for on this trip.

Today I was on a panel on Religion & Theological Education with Paul Saunders who is based in Lebanon as director of ICETE & Alex Awad a professor at Bethelehem Bible College. I wasn't sure what to expect but the panel went well and was even fun. I learned some interesting bits about the challenges of Arab Christians living in the Middle East and was able to my own experience working with Muslims & Jews in Israel. I also found out I shared an experience with Paul, his being in Beruit while I was in Haifa during the bombings last summer.

This afternoon I joined members of the SPABC conference on an outing to Devenport, which involved a 12 min ferry ride to a small community on a penninsula in Auckland Harbour (note pic above). We enjoyed a a hike up mount Victoria before getting caught in a bucketing downpour where we hurried down to the closest coffee shop we could find for a quick cuppa and to dry out. I had several interesting conversations on on Emerging Church & theological education in Australia with several particpants.

Overall as the above picture indicates, it was a g'(ood) day!

Welcome to Aotearoa!

2007-07-03T02:29:00.000-07:00

Today was a early start as I gather with other members from the SPABC conference for powhiri. This is a traditional Maori welcome ceremony of mihi (exchanged greetings between hosts and visitors), waiata (song) and even hongi (pressing of noses with all of your hosts which signifies the mingling together of the sacred breath of life) and then ending with hakari (sharing food together). Our powhiri was a bit abreviated (45mins, where they typically last 3-5 hours) but still a great experience to get to know a bit about Maori culture.

At breakfast I got introduced to other members of the SPABC conference (the South Pacific Association of Bible College) which made up of principals and leaders of different theological schools from across NZ & Australia. So far I have met people from Brisborn, Queensland, Perth and Sydney. I was also surprised to see a familiar face from my past in the bunch, John Capper, whom I met in 1999 in Edinburgh at an international conference of Media, Religion & Culture. At the time we were both PhD students and gave papers together on the same panel on religion online (which was memorable as it was one of my first academic conference presentations). He is now Academic Dean at Tabor College in Victoria (AU). Am looking forward to catching up a bit more with him tommorrow.

I sat in on a few sessions today of the conference and tommorrow I will be on a panel talking about religion and education in the Middle East. Though the rain subsided today, I spent much of the afternoon resting, still recovering from jet lag.

Quote of the day:

"Selah...it basically means shut up!"

-Donna Dinsmore, worship leader at the SPABC conference explaining the possible meaning of the term found frequently in the book of Psalms

Day 2: Ode to Rain

2007-07-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

Am still a bit jet-lagged but I think this is partly from the lack of sleep I had the week before I arrived here. Day 2 as day 1, was a dreak day, much like Edinburgh in the early winter: cold, rainy & gray. Great weather for consuming much tea, and I also got introduced to "Milo" the kiwi version of ovaltine. I spent much of the day with my friend Nicola doing various errands and visiting her work place, Bible College of New Zealand (BCNZ). Above is a picture of Nicola in her office. We've had a great time chatting and catching up with one another, the last time I saw her was Fall 2005 at the AAR annual conference in Philadelphia.

I've decide to institute a "quote of the day" in my blogging of this trip, as I have heard so many amusing comments since I have been here already.

The runner up for day 1 is: "Nicola, behave your self."

- by Solomon, the cheeky Emo 15 year-old friend of Nicola's son Andrew in response to her asking him if his Mother knew where he was after picking him up from an unknown friend's house early Sunday am to take him and her son to Band practice at another friend's home...

And the winner is: "...we don't need anymore 'ghastly evangelicals'... oh, not like Nicola who is a "beautiful evangelical."

-A man putting his foot in his mouth during an announcement made at church of the upcoming Dioesesan-synod election in Auckland.

...Oh to be a beautiful evangelical like my friend!?! Anyways, I did enjoy visiting All Saints Anglican Church Ponsonby on Sunday. Great organ music and as they were short handed I even got invited to help bring the Communion elements forward during the service.

My highlight of Monday was attending my first Pilates class with Nicola at a Country Women's Institute in Titrangi near where Nicola lives. Got some good stretching in and heard a choice quote as well.

"Heidi, you must get in touch with your buttocks!"

- Crystal, the French Pilates instructor on advising me about my posterior position during a back & leg stretch.

Kia Ora from Kiwiland!

2007-06-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

Well I am off on another adventure...I just landed 2 hours ago in Auckland New Zealand, I place I have wanted to visit since my sister showed me pics of her time her in 2002 (she did YWAM and lived in NZ for 3 years).

My trip is a bit of an evolving journey. Initally I was invited by my friend Nicola Hoggard Creegan to speak at conference she is organizing on Science and Religion at Tyndale-Carey Graduate School. We met back in 2002 when we were particpants together on the Templeton Oxford Summer Seminar on Science & Religion. Then more invitation followed to speak at an Emerging Church leaders seminar in Christchurch, a conference called SPAC on a panel on the Middle East and Religion and then a possbile 2nd virtual theology colloquium. Plus I am hoping for a bit of R&R this month while I am here

It is a bit of an evolving journey, so I hope to use my blog to keep my friends and family updated with pics & news.

Have just finished a lovely breakfast of homemade blueberry coffee cake & team and am now off to shower and get ready for church (it's sunday here, I somehow missed saturday while crossing the pacific. More soon...

I've been Tagged!

2007-06-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

John La Grou of the Wikkelsia Project just tagged me on his blog. Well he actually tagged me at my other blog...When Religion Meets New Media, but since I am trying to keep my research and personal life separate I thought I would respond to him here.

The tag at hand is to share “8 Things About Me” and tag eight others. So here we go:

1. I am now less wise...having had 2 wisdom teeth extracted last week. My other one was extracted 2 years ago and invovled a non-english speaking Arab dentist in Israel and then a follow-up with cranky scot in Edinburgh, not a fun experience. A word to the wise, don't wait till you 30s to have your wisdom teeth out.

2. I am soon to be an Auntie! My twin sister is expecting a little girl (Faith Ann) in late July and I am having fun buying her trendy outfits.

3. I collect late 19th-mid 20th century blue & white and green and white tea cups, an addiction that began while doing postdoc work in Oxford.

4. I have a brown thumb, house plants beware!

5. In college I worked as a DJ at a Christian radio station, oh how hip I thought I was.

6. While interning in DC in college I had a brush with the Judicial system. I literally ran into soon-to-be Chief Justice Clarence Thomas in an elevator in a Senate Office building during the Thomas hearings.

7. My favourite flavor of ice cream is double mint brownie which cannot be bought in stores, but can be made personally for you at your local Coldstone creamery.

8. My secret dream is to open a bookstore-coffee house called Puchymunyet (which is roughtly Russian for 'of course, why not').

SO my turn, I tag...

Matt Rees

Al Gordon

Paul Teusner

Louise Connelly

Stephen Garner

Rupert Ward

Heidi Plympton

Lynn Clark

The Prodigal daughter returns

2007-06-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

These are some pics from my beach time in Michigan!

A week ago I returned from week long visit to my home state of Michigan. We had surprisingly lovely weather and I got lots of time on the beach (walking, not swimming). Walking the shores of Lake Michigan has always been a cathartic experience for me...the beach is my cathedral the place where I most easily meet with God. No matter where in the world I am or how I feel if I can find a beach to stroll (preferably barefoot) I am able to return to a place of peace, as the waves that wash over my feet somehow cleanse my soul. This past year I have strolled beaches of the Mediterranean in Israel, the North Sea Beaches of Edinburgh, the Atlantic sands of the Orkney Islands and the East Coast of Florida, but still my favourites are the squeaky sands of my home state!

Heading Home...and Going, Going Gone

2007-05-25T18:39:00.000-07:00

After a 4 year hiatus from my home state I have finally made my way back to the great state of Michigan. For the next 5 days I will be at Wakonse, a conference on University teaching hosted at Camp Miniwanca. It is basically summer camp for professors complete with communal bathrooms, nature hikes and classic camp food. The great thing about this opportunity to relive my summer camp days is that the camp is located on the shores of Lake Michigan, and is just beautiful!

Tonight I joined the 100 faculty and grad students on the shores of the lake to watch a lovely sunset and captured the transistion of the orange ball of the sun melding into the water...going...going...gone!

The Blue Bells of Texas

2007-04-25T22:49:00.000-07:00

Spring is winding down here in Texas, with the summer heat soon to drive us indoors into the refuge of our air-conditioned, climate controlled environments. But before this happens comes the season Blue Bells. Just like the Heather cover the hills of Scotland each Sept with luscious purples, here in Texas we are graced with a month of wild flowers of vivid blue, orange, yellow and pink dotting the fields and road ways in March-April. I was able to take a road trip with a friend Sylvia (fellow PhD survivor from Edinburgh who now living in Houston) to see them in full bloom. Here are a few pics from our day along the winding roads in East Texas.

Back in Texas

2007-04-12T02:57:00.000-07:00

I am back and jetlagged in Texas! It was a busy, exhausting but great trip both professionally and personally. Some of the highlights for me were walking the coast of Orkney on a blustery day, enjoying a day of art with my friend Ina in Glasgow, enjoying multiple cups of tea and coffee with dear friends, adding to my tea cup collection, playing with wee Hannah Senior (daughter of my former flatmate Helen) on a sunny day in her garden and attending a great conference in Oxford on Media & Religion. I came back well stocked up on my fav tea, biscuits and haggis so will be set until I can return to the UK in January (brrrrrr).

Cambridge--Oxford Boat Race 2007...and the winner is...

2007-04-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

the weather was ideal, the water clear and smooth. Oxford was painted as the underdogs, though it has been at least years since Cambridge has one.

and the winner is... CAMBRIDGE

It was a close race, neck and neck at many points. Oxford pulled ahead a bit at Hammersmith, but Cambridge pulled ahead at Chiswick. My personal highlight was point at the hammersmith bridge where it was nearly blade to blade, with oxford getting the upperlead and popping the Cambridge blades out of the water. Two minutes to go, Oxford put on the power( 40 strokes per min) but it was not hard enough. A great race!

THE UK Boat Race 2007

2007-04-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

it's a great day for a boat ride...or in this case a boat race. Helen and I have planted ourselves in front of ITV and if wee Hannah will sit still long enough and stop trying to change the channel we might be able to watch the annual Cambridge--Oxford rowing event of the year...

Hello from the North Downs

2007-04-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

The sun is setting low over the north downs of England. In the distance over a lovely garden scape (complete withh WWII bomb shelter) I see the Ealing Derby grounds and the flickering lights of London. I am staying with my former flatmate Helen for the long Easter weekend. It was a special day,Helen turned the big 4-0, and I had the opportunity to spend it with her, lovelt 15 month old Hannah, her husband David and extended family. We spent most of the day in the garden and had a lovely lunch of venison casserole, salad and chocolate roulade. The wee girls ages 6-15 mo entertained us with a easter egg hunt and a game of sardines. All in all a pleasant day! Sitting here make me more and more feel as if I am living in exile being in Texas, though I know that is where God has planted me for this time.

It's good to be home.

2007-03-31T11:35:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in my friend's Mark & Katie's living room catching up on my BBC watching after a good long week here in EDI. It's been filled with lots of good cups of tea, catching up with friends, long walks and the surprise of no rain during my visit. Tommorrow is my last day in Scotland before heading down to Oxford. It has been a great visit, it definitely feels a bit like coming back home. The highlights have been visiting my favourite thinking spot in edinburgh, coffee at my fav coffee shop, meeting all the wee bairns my friends have been bringing into the world and an awesome trip to the Orkney Islands. My battery is dying so more later...

Auld Reekei Here I come...

2007-03-21T19:05:00.000-07:00

Well after another long delay (both in post and in visiting)...I a headed back to God's Country, aka Scotland. I will be in Scotland for a week for work and pleasure before heading to Oxford for a conference on Sacred Media. Hope I can catch up with some of you while I am in town...

I blinked and it was 2007!

2007-01-23T21:21:00.000-08:00

When last I wrote I was soon off the plane from Israel...and now it is 4 months later and 200&. Needless to say last semester was a bit of whirlwind. I don't think I recovered from my Israel adventure till mid-October when the things I had to leave behind got shipped back to me (well< most of them). By the time I came back to reality it was mid-semester I was deep into teaching an overload of 4 courses, traveling to 3 conference and trying to write 2 articles.

By the end of term in December I was dazed from the flurry of activity. A restful holiday visit to my sister & bro-in-laws in FL brought me back to sanity and reality. Lots of sleep, a day at a spa, swimming with the Manatees and 3 days retreat with some fun Benedictine sister helped restore my brain and soul.

Now I am back in Texas in the beginning throws of Spring Semester. We got a bit of late start as and "ice storm" threw the area in to a panic (as Texas don't know how to drive in inclimate weather) and resulted in 2 extra days off. I am looking forward to getting some major writing done this semester on 2 book projects...and also hope to be a more regular blogger in the coming month. Stay tuned!

Extreme Tourism

2006-08-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a while since I blogged. I am still recovering from my summer and the past week has been a continued comedy of errors including locking my self out of my house while my plumbing was backed up and sewage was filling up my bathtubs and then there was slicing my hand open with a knife and getting to spend 3 hrs in the ER, sigh. My stuff is still in Israel, though now at a friend's apartment in Haifa. She went back to Haifa for 2-3 days during the semi-cease fire but then had to leave for another week due to the intense bombings that resumed. She returned to Haifa yesterday but have not heard how things are. I have become a bit dependent on Haaretz to keep up with the situation over ther and today they ran an interesting article called Extreme travel: Tour guides sell 'Katyusha circuit'. SO check it out, I believe there are some cheap flight deal right now to Israel!

A&M Instructor Remembers Her Time in Haifa

2006-08-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

I have been back in the USA about one week now. While I have recovered from 24 hours of transit and jet lagged I am still pretty wiped emotionally from the past 2 1/2 weeks. I still have lots of emotions and thoughts to process through and I am still praying that I am able to be reunited with my stuff. This week has been a time of telling my story to family, friends, co-workers and local media. I have found this helpful for me in processing the experience, as well as emotionally exhausting.

Below is a story about my time in Israel that appeared on the local news channel tonight (I think it was even one of the lead stories at 10pm, but can't be sure as I still don't have a TV so didn't watch it myself). I though you might find this interesting.

Keep praying for Peace in the Middle East!

====================
A&M Instructor Remembers Her Time in Haifa
9:48 PM Aug 4, 2006
Steve Fullhart

Texas A&M Assistant Professor Heidi Campbell has made five trips to Israel since 2003, including one this summer. Her studies on how religion affects the use of technology took her to the University of Haifa, now a flash point in the world's biggest conflict.
For Campbell, who teaches in A&M's department of communication, her only pictures of her time in Israel are of peaceful surroundings, though she was all too aware of the violent aura of the nation.
"You just get used to that," she said of the citizens there. "You learn to deal with the culture of the tension there. You just absorb it while you're there."
During a brief visit to Sweden, the now infamous kidnappings that preceded this violence happened. Less than 24 hours after her return to Haifa, it was sparked even further.
"Friends kept kidding me at the airport, 'you always pick the best times to go to Israel,'" she said.
"I was just making dinner and listening to the news when an announcement came on over the loud speaker in Hebrew about getting to a safe room," Campbell continued. "My Hebrew's not that great, so I wasn't sure what was going on.
"Finally, I got a hold of a friend in Jerusalem. I asked what do you do if there's a bombing happening and I'm hearing about something happening on the Internet. He said, 'don't worry about it, it'll be fine."
After a few hours in a safe room, Campbell came out and went to her room.
"I just went to bed, finding out later that one rocket had hit three to four miles down the road," she said.
The scenes now in Haifa are anything but what anyone expected. On the advice of her friends, Campbell went two-and-a-half hours up the road to Jerusalem, leaving all her research, as well as reassuring friends and colleagues.
"'It'll be fine," she said they told her "'They won't really target Haifa because that would start a really big conflict or war.'
"I took my computer, a couple of credit cards and three changes of clothes thinking I'll be back on Sunday afternoon, and never was able to get back."
After leaving her research in Haifa for Jerusalem with the first signs of war, Campbell's calls back to friends weren't reassuring.
"She's like, 'Heidi, I can't talk. I'm running to a safe room,'" said one friend to Campbell. "'Don't come back to Haifa. They're bombing. Twenty bombs have fallen' Then, she cut out."
Campbell heeded the warnings. But before returning to Texas A&M, the department of communications professor was able to watch both Israeli and Arab media coverage.
"Israeli television was focusing on what was happening on a local issue," she said. "So they're more focused on the bombings happening in certain areas. Al-Jazeera, obviously, was more focused on the Muslim and Arab communities."
But many times, Campbell says the two outlets with differing coverage would use the same footage. They'd also use the same sound bytes from people like President Bush, including his statement that Israel had a right to defend itself.
"Israel was basically using that in a news story to kind of justify that it's OK what we're doing," Campbell said. "Al-Jazeera was using it as a way to say, the west is interfering in our culture."
And unlike many American journalists who are clad in bulletproof gear, Campbell said regional journalists didn't take as many precautionary steps.
"It's just like it's the nightly news," she said. "This isn't something new and breaking, whereas [for western media] there's a more sensational, 'wow' element about it. It's tension in the Middle East."
But that tension between the Jewish nation and the Muslim world has appeared again, though Campbell believes it's not necessarily the religion that divides them.
"Religion ties into their cultural identity, and so that plays a role, but I see it as more inequities in society and injustice boiling up," she said.
Campbell is still in regular contact with friends and colleagues in Haifa, who tell her the city is a ghost town compared to just weeks ago.

http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/3498386.html

Leavin' on a jet plane

2006-07-26T22:06:00.000-07:00

Well I am currently at the TLV airport waiting for my delayed flight to Paris and then onto TX. I has been a hard, interesting and frustrating 2 weeks. I am glad to leave, but feel bad for my friends still in Haifa and that I had to leave my things. Hopefully one day we will be re-united with both!

Pray for the Peace of Israel and the Middle East!

Headling back to the USA...without my stuff!

2006-07-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

I returned from Jordan late last night. Petra in short, was remarkable, hot but amazing to see bulding 1000s of years old and the wonderful stone carvings and rock formations. It was also good to turn off to things happening in the north of Israel for 24 hours, but we were quickly reminded at the Jordan - israeli border when we were delayed for 1.5 hrs when our car was searched 3 times and they x-rayed up and all my things 2 times (and I wondered was it really necessary for them to swab/inspect even my dirty t-shirts and underware!) Auyways got back to JLM by 1am tired but happy with my adventure. Unfortunatley I had my flight details written down wrong so we missed the small window of opportunity to return to Haifa to get my things. The bombing started early this morning at 8am so it looks like I will return to the USA but without my things (such as keys, clothes, research materials & souviners). I spent today guying a small suit case and a few last minute things and then trying to tie up the rest of my research obligations here. I am sad and glad to leave. I hope I can return next spring to finish up the unfinished research but we will see...

Dead Sea Detour

2006-07-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

Greetings from a hotel somewhere near Petra (it was darkwhen I got here so am not exactly sure of my location)!

A funny thing happened on the way to the dead sea...I ended up in Jordan. We were checking out of the spa and I saw a sign at reception about a 1 day trip to Jordan. I have wanted to visit Petra for the last 3 years and since I had my passport and creditcard with me I jumped at the chance. It is nice to get away for a bit longer from the craziness in Israel for a bit. I should be back in Jerusalem by tommorrow night and back online.

Going offline..going to the dead sea

2006-07-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

Wanted to let you all know I am going off line for the next 36 hrs. I am heading with Yael to En Gedi Spa on the dead sea so will be offline till mon night or tues am. We both need a break away from the 24/7 news coverage and the trip is a substitute to the trip to petra in Jordan I had hoped to take but now it has been advised is not that safe to do, esp for my Jewish friend.

Will be in touch when I return.

Bon Bons for Peace

2006-07-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

That's my new anti-war slogan, or maybe...eat bon bons, don't send bomb bombs!

This was inspired by an afternoon trip to a monestary in the jerusalem mountains with my friend Yael. Beit Gamel is home to a order of nuns take a vow of silence and live a life of prayer and solitude. At the gift store we met a lovey, smiling sister in her 50s who had come to the monestary from France just before the beginning of the second intifada. She was quite talkative for someone who lives a life of silence and she told us a story that at the beginning of the intifada she noticed people who visited the monestary were quite tense and downhearted. She began to make the wondeful dark chocolate truffles to give away and sell in their gift shop. She said chocolate always make people smile and she became known as the sister with the gift of being able to bring people a bit of hapiness through chocolate. Last weekend when the bombings began to intensify her mother superior came to her and said "it is time for you to make your bon bon-truffles again!" I had one and they were wonderful, one of the best I have ever eaten! So I say why don't we send Hezbollah a big box of them and say, if you liked these then lets get together and talk! Yael & I also made a step towards peace with lebanon on our own by getting dinner at a Lebanese restuaruant tonight in the Arab village of Abu Gogsh. The labana cheese with garlic and mint in it was exceptionally nice! So since the saying goes the way to a man's heart is through his stomach why not think of food related strategies for peace...what do you think?

Oopps, Forgot to read the small print

2006-07-21T12:11:00.001-07:00

Yesterday a colleague from TAMU forwarded a notices of the latest travel warning put out on Israel. I scanned the email briefly at my friends house but only after returning to JLM did I read it more carefully. And according to it I have been a bad girl today, doing things Americans have been advised not to do, such as:

(1) Not to use public transport between cities in Israel--Well I guess that would have meant being stuck at my friends home in central Israel. Instead I took the train from Biniyamina to Tel Aviv and the intercity bus from TLV to JLM. Both were back with locals and a few foreigners like myself as it is shabbat. There have been no advisements here about intercity public transport and to my knowledge these buses and the trains have never been bomb targets. the only mishap that occurred is that my bag got knocked over and its contents spilled out and somehow in the commotion I think I lost my nightgown. So somewhere on a number 480 bus someone might be now wearing my purple satin nighty! This is a big issue when one only has 3 t-shirts, 2 pairs of trousers and a skirt to their name...luckily yael's family has lent me some clothes to get by on this account

(2) Don't visit central jerusalem.--Well as the central bus station in JLM is in the center of the town this was a bit hard to avoid. Besides the craziness of shoppers and travellers on shabbat as most store close early afternoon to prepare for family and religious gathering all was fine to day in the city center. Actually today TLV was the place to avoid as 3 potential suicide bombers were caught there this afternoon, only a few hours after I was passing through.

(3) American are advised not to take local buses in Jerusalem--Well that would have meant a very long walk indeed. Esp as I was short on cash for a taxi and too worn out to go in search of an ATM. As it was the buses were running late and I had to wait almost 50 minus to catch one that would take me to my friend's house. By the time I arrived back I was hot and cranky and have decided that I was ever made ruler of the world for the day I would institute an international law making it illegal to enter crowded public transport without wearing deodrant!!

Ah well, tommorrow is another day and I will strive to better adhere to these recommendations.

Day 5 to Day 6...

2006-07-20T21:59:00.000-07:00

Shalom, Saalam Alakom and Good morning from hot and sticky central Israel. A awoke to the sound of my friend Asmaa's girls getting ready for their morning swim, just another day here for them. In the north yesterday many cities were hit quite hard and it seems a new type of rocket is now being used in many places. Only 1 hour from Haifa all is quiet. It is amazing the contrast. My plans to do interviews at several internet cafes got thwarted yesterday due to the 3 local ones all being closed or shut down, one only recently. In a way this is an interesting commentary on the state of Internet diffusion in Israel and the Arab sector. My friend said that due to the price of access coming down more people have net access at home and work and there is not a need for internet cafes like there was 1 or 2 years ago. So instead we did some shopping and I did some browsing at local book and media stores, taking picture for my research. I also ended up going to the graduation ceremony of the college where Asmaa teaches, held outside the college and in the couryard of a local Mosque. About 120 students recieved their teacher training diplomas and the place was heaving with people. I enjoyed the expereince, people-wathcing and taking more pictures and learning a bit more about local arab culture. After the ceremony I went scarf shopping briefly with Asmaa and learned how to put on a haircovering and then the family went for shawarmas at a local restaurant. It was delicious and so far my gut has not reacted negatively to this, like it sometimes does, so I am grateful. Then Asmaa and I had a late night research planning session working on the draft of our first research article from the project on methodology. Will hang out here till some time this morning and then head back to JLM. I smell coffee turkish brewing, yeah... time for my caffeine dose!

Day 5 and travelling to the center

2006-07-20T05:04:00.000-07:00

Hope some of you are enjoying my blog, it is hard to know if people read it or not...

I am well though I hear some of the official and folks at TAMU are a bit nervous on my behalf. I guess I am becomign a bit infamous around certain circles of the college of Liberal Arts. I keep saying I am fine,but I guess with what people are hearing with news statesdie it is a bit hard to believe. But I am staying with locals and good friends who will not let me do anything that would put myself at risk. Plus I have a praying Mum (who just called me on my cell phone and she said she had a peace about my being here and I trust her motherly and spiritual instinct). I still hope to still get to Haifa before I leave to retrieve my stuff but if things aren't settled I am developing a contingency plan.

So I am now using my unplanned free time to do some ethnographic research for my book project in different religious neighboorhoods in the south and central areas of the country. Today travelled from JLM to the center near Biniyamina. I am now with my research colleague Asmaa who has arrange for me to visit a local interent cafe and talk to some local users. We area also using this time to talk about the plans for our data collection. Am also being wonderuflly distracted by her adorable daughters, the youngest is now dressed in fairy wings and running around the the room proudly shouting a version of the new english phrase I taught her " I flying, I the fly". It is great to have a break from watching/listening to the news 24/7, I am getting a bit overwheled by all the coverage.

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, Israel & the Middle East...

Day 4 and venturing outside JLM

2006-07-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

Before all the troubles began I had made an appointment2 weeks ago to visit a colleague from Haifa where she lives in Bnei Brak. As the chaos has not yet reached the Tel Aviv area I decided it would be okay to venture out of the city. It was a very hot and muggy day and I found public transport a bit frustrating (combined with the fact that I am often "directionally-challenged" in new places). But after several missed buses I ended up making it to the 2nd largest UltraOrthodox neighboorhood in Israel. I had a good meeting talking about the current situation as well as my friend kindly answering all my question about UO communities in Israel and helping clarify the difference between the numerous groups and affiliation found here. As she said, 2 Jews, 3 opinions. I then venture into the main shopping area to do some field research on the Kosher phone and found 2 places that were selling them and was able to talk to the phone reps about the marketing and options available with different versions. Then after some browisng in haredi music & book stores and buying a few mezzah for friends I headed back to JLM (but not without waiting for 30 mins at the wrong bus stop and missing my bus). Finally back in JLM I slowly navigated my way home. Despite the break from watching the news the events in the north were in most people's conversation, on the radio in the bus and conversation at the cafe where I stopped to get some cold juice. Things seem not to be settling down as I hoped, some say it could be 1-2 more weeks if not longer. Sigh! I have decided despite this to visit a friend in the center of the country tommorrow to do the last of ethnographic data collection and then will see where to go from there.

A report from Haifa

2006-07-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

Below is an email I recieved from Gustavo Mesch, a colleague and my research sponsor in the Sociology Dept at the University of Haifa. He gives some good insights into what life is currently like in Haifa:

Dear friends-
many of you have send me notes expressing concern and support. During the last five days, all the northern part of Israel, including Haifa, have been under heavy bombing and as many citizens of Israel we are closely following the instructions of the military going to underground shelters according to the indications. In many localities citizens have spent days and nights in shelters only to find their houses destroyed. Haifa University is closed and all the exams and classes have been cancelled. Yet the public is not in panic, anddespite the situation is continuing their routines. My wife is a nurse at one of the major hospitals in Haifa and keeps going to work. I came eveyday to theuniversity and try to finish grading papers and research. From time to time my work is interrrupted by the sound of the alert in all the northern area, i go to the shelter and listen to the bombs falling somewhere in Haifa, Accre, Naharya, Safed. My family from Naharya has temporarily moved to our house, butbeyond sleeping at home they go everyday to work in Naharya and Haifa. All my family and friends are safe and well, there is no panic...only understanding of the magnitude of the danger that the Hezbollah has been building up with theclose support of Syria and Iran and the blindness of the internationalcommunity. As always I appreciate very much your concern and hope that this will be a final round of hostilities, for the well being of the people ofLebanon that had suffered enough since foreign forces and countries have usedtheir country as a battleground and for the well being of our people that wish for a long lasting cease fire.
best regards Gustavo

My 2 shekles on the Israeli Situation

2006-07-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

We have had a quiet day here. I spend the morning with my friend at the Jersualem mall, shopping for more underware and a clean skirt. It was heaving with people and you would have no idea that a war was happening in the north with all the hustle and bustle there.

I just had an email from my Dad who said he was hearing many conflicting messages in the media and was unsure of the details of what was happening here. From the news I have watched in Hebrew and on foreign sattelite what I hear from contacts living in different parts Of Israel here is what I have been able to piece together chronoclogically about the current situation:

1) Hezbelloh is a terrorist organization that seems to have more power than the "official" Lebanese goverment. There are a militant Islamists and anti-Israel and have been generally upset with Israel since the last major conflcit they lost with them in the 1980s (but in all reality this situation goes back farther than that).

2) Things have been tense in Israel for a few weeks due to the conflict in Gaza (basically sinceI arrived in June). The kidnapping of a solider by Hamas in Gaza at the beginning of July put things at a new tense and adviserial level .

3) Hezzblollah crossed the border and kidnapped 2 Israeli solider and killed several others last week (just about the time I returned from my trip to Sweden). Israel responded with some rockets to Hezzbolahs strongholds which happend to be ingrained in residential area of sourthern Lebanon and Beruit. This defintely raise the concern within the ME and put this event on the radar screen for the international community.

4) Hezbelloh uses this as an excuse to then attack northern towns in Israel with rockets.

5) Since then it has a, you hit us we hit you back, response.

6) Haifa got invovled last thursday when the first katusha rocket landed (see my entry: bomb in hiafa and in the safe room) . Some say the media gave too many details of the location of the hit which gave Hezebollah strategy of how to best attack Haifa in the future. The weekend was spent with Hezbelloah hitting towns in the north inluding Akko, Naharyah, Kiriat Shmona and Tiberians in the Galilee. People in the north entered shelter rooms on Shabbat and many have been there or near them ever since.

7) Haifa suffered a major blow on Sunday (which blocked my return to the north). Israel intensified attacks on Souther Lebanon trying to hit strategic targets but obviously innocent getting caught in the crossfire. Hezebollah seems to be randomly hitting civilan towns and targets (like hospital, housing areas, etc). The G8 make public statements about Israel having the right to defend herself, but should execute restraint. Other countries call for a cease fire. Israel comes out and say it must defend itself agains terrorists. People of Lebannon seem caught in the middle with an offical government that is weak and unable to govern the situation. Hezzbellohs leaders are quiet on their long term goals and whether or not they would consider a cease fire or release the prisoners.

8) Today more air raid sirens sound in Hiafa and in the north. My friend was on the phone with a friend 5 mins after a rocket hit an apartment building on her block. She thenc alled a friend in Hiafa who said he coulld not talk as air raid sirens wer esounding and he had to run to the bomb shelter. Foreingers in Beruit Lebanon continue to be evacuated to Syria or Cyprus. (But no mention of evacuating Americans out of the North of Israel yet). International pressures and talks is pronounced but it hard to tell what will happend or what can be done at this point.

Anyways this is my account of the current situation, all is uncertain!

An alternative view

2006-07-18T04:26:00.000-07:00

FYI...My friend Yael recommended to me that anyone looking for an alternative view to mainstream news coverage of the situation here from inside Israel to check out the Debak file website. It leans towards right-wing conservative, conspiracy rhetoric, but they often gets reports out of what is going on before they hit the mainstream news. Though their coverage defintely has to be read as having a distinctive slant.

Day 3 in JLM

2006-07-17T23:43:00.000-07:00

I awoke this morning to hear Israeli radio news reports and see my friend busilyIM-ing with friends in the North. "More bombs in the north" she said. After my shower I sat down infront of Sky news to hear the update. Yael joined me and immediately got on the phones, she wa trying to make a connection between old friends to find soem in Kiyrat Shmon which is right on the border a place of refuge from the onslaught. Many of the people in the norther town like Naharyiha have been in bomb shelters for the past 10 days. Also many are sending their kids now to relatives in the south or central part of the country, away from the bombimg. In many ways it all feels surreal. Yael too said this is surreal for her and unexpected, there have not been a rocket attack like this in Hiafa for some 32 years. But it is close to Lebanon about 25 miles and on a clear day I could see the Lebanese border from my apartment balcony at the university.

Last Thursday after the first rocket fell I called Oren from Jeruslaem while still in my safe room asking on advice on what to do in such circumstances. He has a bit of a sarcastic sense of humour and he said smirkly, "the first thing you must do is put on clean underware, what would your mother say if you got hit in dirty pants". He was trying to be funny obviously...That said, no on ever thought things would escalate to this situation. It is hard to see all the things happenign here and seeing all the innocent in Israle & Lebanon being effected and able to do nothing.

But JLM not a bad place to be stuck. Yael's parent's home is the nicest place I have stayed in Israel, they have a huge house with view overlooking the hills of Yad Vashem and the valley near Ein Karem. Yael's granfather was a well known Israeli artist so the top floor looks more like a gallery than a home, the have a 2 tier garden so it is a beautiful place to take refuge. ALso Yael is one of my research collaborators so we are able to do work here together which is good.

I have had many emails from friends around the world who are a bit concerned about me , it is nice to hear that they care. I promised in the letter I had to write to get leave of TAMU that I would be safe and not do anything silly and I will live to that. It is my 4th trip so I know the country and I am staying with local who are in the know so that is good as well. Besides I have a praying Mum and have seen God's hand move in several times in the last 3 days to protect me and my friends so all is well with my soul.

Will report more later today.

Day 2 as a refugee

2006-07-17T08:18:00.001-07:00

My friend & research colleague Yael arrived safely from Haifa last night (also bearing my laptop computer so most of my reserach is safe, phew!) and we stayed up late watching the news and talking about the situation. It seems Haifa has gone from a feeling of curious about what was going on at the first rocket arrival on Thursday to caution at the weekend to caution yesterday with the 2nd attack to now being in shut down migled with fear. The university is offically closed, and the web site in Hebrew "demands" that everyone should stay away and stay at home. I haerd today that they have closed the unviersity dorms and set peopel home to their families, and the foreign students have been bused to Jerusalem to stay at Hebrew Univ dorms. So I guess no matter what I would be here for the time being.

I have used my time here to build my research social network of Jerusalem contacts. This morning I had coffee with a professor from Aberdeen, Scotland that I have only known online who has invited me to be on a panel at SSSR in October. She suggested we meet in the German Colony at a cafe that was bombed by terrorists during the 2nd Intifada, "they never bomb the same place twice" she said (you gotta love matter of fact Jewish logic!) Our conversation got interrupted by a camera crew who had descended on the cafe to do an interview with some local political figures and foreign commentators on the situation. From my eavesdropping it sounded like they thought Hezzbollah needed to be stopped and if they would not listen to international pressure to stop bombing Israel and hand back the hostages, then Israel had no choice but to respond. And so it goes...

After my friend's expereince yesterday, compounded by 3 weeks of little sleep due to her PhD data collection, her mum had booked up both into a therapist for massages today. In the middle of my massage the 3rd set of rockets fell on Haifa. No one was killed, but an apartment building was destroyed. So it is uncertain when we will return to Haifa at this point, I went underware and toiletery shopping this afternoon for necessary supplies. At least I am a refugee who has a credit card!

The researcher side of me find this a very interesting situation. Especially watching the news coverage. It is interesting that most of the inital picture from many of the bombs sites don't come from TV cameras but from video fooltage capture via video mobile phones. In the background of all the news report standing behind the journlist you will also see people taking camera phone pics or you see them calling their friend and waving, obviously to say "hey I am on TV right now can you see me" (which seems to drive the journalists a bit nuts). Also you see the incorporation of blog commentary into the news reports. Last night they did a news featurein Israel chanel 2 news which had some images that people had emailed into the news station coupled with commentary from a female blogger in Lebanon on the situation there (the report was in Hebrew so I can't be more specific about the details). Also it is interesting that Israeli television also use Al- Jazerra footage in its reports of what is happeing in Lebanon. As far as foreign news goes, Sky has been the best about giving balanced detailsl and more full coverage of the situation. CNN has been too blase and general and the BBC I have found is too keen on making overarching statements like everyone in Haifa is full of fear and locked indoors (not true, yes there is a sense of fear but I've talked with people today and they are very calm though are staying close to buildings) and everyone in Israel is behind the Israeli government's decision to invade & Bomb Lebanon (except they forgot to note the 2000 person demonstartion in Tel Aviv yesterday of people who are calling for Israel to stop their invasion negotiate with Hezzbollah and push for a cease fire).

As far as Jerusalem as a safe place, well this is Israel after all, so all is uncertain. About an hour ago a suicide bomber was discovered (in time Thank God) headed into the center of Jerusalem with a backpack of explosives. But this is an isolated incident and thigns are pretty business as usual, though the security presence on public transport and in shops seesm to be a bit more keen.

Sleep well and I will keep you posted!

Waiting and Praying

2006-07-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

I am settling into my refugee status at my friend's parents home in Jerusalem. I was a bit stressed this morning after getting the news of the situtation from my friend in Haifa and the charge to stay put, especially when hearing sirens and chaos in the background during our mobile phone conversation as she was fleeing her aparatment to the safe room at a friend's house. I have been told the katush rockets that Hezbollahs is using are not as dangerous as compared with other rockets. Most of the people who have been killed have been the result of direct hits and they say they have a loud scream when they are coming your way so you can hear them coming and have at least 5 seconds to respond, which is somewhat comforting. People in Haifa have been instructed to stay in doors, and they say a siren will sounds if other bombs fall and then you will have 1 minute to get to a safe room. Because Israel has a citizenry where most peopel have served in the military they are a bit more matter of fact about the conflict and take things in stride, the idea expressed by several I have spoken to is that we have been here before, we know how to respond. But still from what I hear Haifa is at a bit of a stand still.

I think the not knowing of what is happening is the hardest part. I have been listening to the news reports in Hebrew which give me a sense of what is going on, but as my hebrew is not that good I have had to rely on reports from the Jerusalem Post & Haaretz online to get the spedific details. As far as I can tell no new bombs have hit Haifa since this morning. The few profs I have had contact with this morning that were at the University when all this came down said things are fine there and that the Univ has been unaffected, except for a sense of ugency about it all. Everyone that emailed me said for me to stay put. So who know how long I will be here, only the days ahead will tell. Boy, I wish I had packed more underware for my weekend away.

On a personal note this sure does throw a wrench in my survey data collection and I am guessing my university in the USA is going to be a bit hesitant about letting me come back next year for the follow-up study which is a bummer!

Despite this all I have used my extra time here to connect with a few Hebrew Univ folks, and had a great meeting with Menahem Blondheim today talking about Orthodox Judism and the Media. I learned a lot about the structure of Orthodox synagogues in Israel, like the fact that the sermon does not play a significant role and sermon like commentary shows up in special synaoguge pamplets or newspapers instead. WIll blog more about this in my other blog When religion Meets New Media.

Please keep praying for the peace in Israel and widsom for those in goverment/the military during this time.

A Longer Weekend in Jerusalem

2006-07-16T00:13:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let you know that if you are hearing the news about Haifa that I am still fine. I am still in Jerusalem at a freinds' parents home and looks as if I will be here for another day or so because of the recent rash of bombs. I was getting ready to head to the bust station for haifa when I got a phone call from my friend who was fleeing her apartment, she said she had heard about 20 bombs going off.
They have cancelled all the public transport to the north of the country. She just called me frome a bomb shelter at another freind's house she said the situtation is quite tense and serious here. My thought are ery much for her safety and the other in Haifa...as well as wishing I had packed another pair of underware and my computer with me! Will keep you posted.

Shabbat in Jerusalem

2006-07-14T11:34:00.000-07:00

For those who are reading and concerned I wanted to let you know that I arrived safely in in Jerusalem. Plans to do sightseeing in the golan near Israel's the northern border have changed (though I have always wanted to be a foreign war correspondent...now is probably not the time to try and live that dream). Instaed I am going to do some hiking in the Judean desert with a friend and keep things low key. I'll stay safe and keep you posted Shabbat shalom.

Haifa update...all is currently quiet on the northern front

2006-07-14T01:48:00.000-07:00

Well it sure is an interesting time to be living in the north of Israel. Residents of Haifa have been directed to stay in safe rooms/shelters for today due to the tense situation and bomb treats from Lebanon. The university is quiet, but that is very typical for a friday and the start of shabbat. A friend has invited me to go to see her family in Jerusalem and I am happy to leave haifa for a few days in hope that things calm down a bit here. The atmoshere here is subtly peaceful but uncertain. Amidst it all I am calm and getting a lot of journaling and writing done. Will keep you posted how things develope.

In the safe room

2006-07-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

We have been instructed to go into our apartment safe room. Luckily for me it is my bedroom which is also where I have internet access. Safe rooms are part of the building regulations since the 1990s, and are suppose to be air/gas tight (though I can't figure out how to seal off the outside window with its attached metal cover seal) so I guess I am set. Also my room has views over the central and north half of the city of Haifa so if anything happens I will have a great view! It is strange to hear the CNN report in the background talking about Haifa being a war zone and hear things are strangely calm though uncertain. We keep getting announcements over the dorm intercom system in English, directed I think towards the american students that are studying here for the summer who seem to be a bit freaked out by this all. I am mainly bummed because this has completely blown my concentration for the journal article I am suppose to be finishing tonight! I hope all stays this peaceful!

Bombs in Haifa

2006-07-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

It's 8.40 pm here in Israel, and in case you are listening to the news about the bombing in Haifa I wanted to let you know I am fine. It occurred down town and I am up on the hills in the Univ. Lots of plane are flying overhead, but I was taking a nap when it happened and heard nothing. Honestly I would not have know that it had happened if I had not turned on CNN a few mins ago and just caught the headlines. Things are quiet here at the univ, students are milling around still int he dorm courtyard and someone is even playing tennis courts that my apartment overlooks. Though I think this means my weekend hopes to visit a seaside town near Lebanon are cancelled now! Prayers of protection are appreciated but don't worry. All is fine here for now.

Leaving Sweden

2006-07-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

Hello from the Stockholm airport! I have had a full but great 6 days in Sweden. The conference was in a cute small town on a lake. We had great food and I got to eat Ruldolph (reindeer). The weater was unseasonably warm and a bit stifling at time but hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones made it worthwhile. I jsut spend 2 days with my friend Mia who loves in Stockholm seeing the sites and catching up. I am exhausted but am glad for the opportunity. Oopps their are calling my plane, gotta go!

Hello from...Sweden?!

2006-07-06T00:14:00.000-07:00

Surprise. I have jumped continentas and am now in Northern Europe. I have come to Sweden to attend the 5th International Conference on Media, Religion & Culture. It is being held in the town of Stigtuna, which use to be the residence of the King of Sweden. It is a lovely little town on a lake/loch. I arrive after 13 hrs in transit and met up with a friend and colleague from hailfax, Nova Scotia at the airport. We traveled by taxi to the conference center and then talk a lovely walk around the town and watched the Portugal-France World Cup game (well didn't make it to the end, I ran out of energy and headed to bed). I am actually staying at a hotel which is a 5 min walk from the conference site, but is equally as peaceful and lovely called Stora Brannbo. I am looking forward to cataching up with many international colleages including those I have seen so far from Finland, New Zealand, Britian, Australia and of course the USA.

It's the 4th of July?!

2006-07-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

I honestly forgot it was the 4th of July. It wasn't until an American student I was interviewing at Bar Ilan university wished me 4th of July that I remembered that it was today. I haven't been in the USA on the 4th since 1998 so it is easy for me to forget. Any ways it was not much of a holiday here, but I had a good day. I spent most today at Bar Ilan University interviewing religious Jewish students on their beliefs and uses of the media. After maneuvering through public transport in Tel Aviv to Haifa I decided to treat myself to a special meal at a beach front restaurant. Now I am back at the dorms packing for a trip to a conference in Sweden, I will be off line for a few days but will come back with more stories to share!

One more meal...and you'll be Jewish

2006-07-03T05:57:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting Shabbat. I spent the weekend with a research colleague and his family to see what life is like for an Orthdox family in a religious neighboorhood for shabbat. From the moment the community gates closed at sunset for the next 24 hours life slowed down several notches and the rythmn of the day moved from shaul (attending synagogue) to long family meals and prayer, lots of times to chat and rest, to more food, to shaul, to more food to walk and to still more food. I love how life slowed down and the focus was on family and faith. When I told a secular friend about my experience he said, ah well one more meal in a religious home and you'll truly be Jewish! It was also amazing that minutes after shabbat ended the community was restore to normal busy-ness. We were still singing and lighting the final shabbat candel when the phone rang and car could be heard buzzing outside. It was a great expereince.

Sunsets & Little Jerusalem

2006-06-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

Tommorrow I will make my 3rd trip to Jerusalem. I hadn't planned to spend as much time as I have there on this trip but a combination of friends and research contact keeps bringing my path to the holy city. Today there is an article in Haaretz on the minature version of Jerusalem during the 2nd Temple period which was just moved from another location and which I got to see 2 weeks ago while visiting the Israel Museum & Shrine of the book. (BTW--Mum, did you ever get that postcard?!)

BTW--My beach trip worked wonders, the writer's block seems to have shifted slightly so I was able to get some writing done on Jewish halacha and technology today. Yeah! I think watching the sunset at the ocean front restaurant at dinner helped bring some inspiration. Photo credit for this one goes to Yael Levanon.

Take me to the Beach!

2006-06-29T00:27:00.000-07:00

I had several very frustrating days of writer's block. Have spent much time staring out my dorm window trying to make my mind clear. I gave up yesterday in desperation and called a friend who kindly decided to rescue me from myself and take me for a walk on the beach. Walking along the water's edge I always find bring me back to a place of peace. Here are some pics from our walk.

What a Doll!

2006-06-26T06:02:00.000-07:00

I am now the proud owner of my very own 'Fulla' doll. Also called the Muslim Barbie, she is a beautiful young women who is also modestly covered in a long dress and head covering. I had heard about these a few months ago online and then got to actually see one a few weeks ago. Now, as a thank you for reviewing some of the PhD work of a friend, I have my own.

Signs, Signs, everywhere signs...

2006-06-25T06:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a full day getting lost with my friend in the hills of Judea, exploring Soreq cave and visiting the holy sites of the Ein Karem where Elizabeth and Mary met while pregant and where John the Baptist grew up. Yesterday we also came across some interesting signs, which I though would be fun to share with you as well...

Back in Jerusalem...

2006-06-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

Today has been an adventure and a return to Jerusalem. First our bus broke down 1/2 between Haifa and our destination, we ended up 30 mins later piling on an already full bus. But I arrived safely, and I always enjoy the journey up through the hills into Jerusalem. My friend Oren met me and we had an interesting afternoon exploring Mea Sherem, the city's ultraOrthdox neighboorhood. The trip required a change of wardrobe into a long skirt, long sleeves and putting my hair up, and presto...meet Yeshiva girl. We went in search of religious books & CDs for my research and I enjoyed exploring the shops, the busy-ness of shabbat preparations and the smell of fresh Challah. I also got to see a Kosher cell phone up close, which is exciting as I have written 2 papers about them. After buying many things we went a short distance to East Jerusalem and visited the Garden Tomb. It was a buzz with American tourist and we ran into Oren's friend Ariel who works as a tour guide and was showing a group of Assembly of God pastors around. It was interesting to see the tomb and the garden is built beautifully for reflection and prayer. Finally we escaped the heat and tourist for afternoon tea at the American Colony hotel...which ended up being a shared club sandwich and iced coffee. This is my 7th visit to Jerusalem and each time I am surprised by new images I see of lived faith, religious devotion and multiple and often conflicting interpertations living side by side.

In my room...

2006-06-21T23:41:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in the past few days as I have nothing new to report. I have spent most of this week in my apartment trying to get some writing done and have made some okay promise. I am staying in the dorms in Haifa which is nice. They are on campus so it is only a 7 min walk to my office. But at the dorms I have DSL, sattelite TV, a patio with great views of Haifa and maid service 2xs a week. In fact I am about to get chased out of my room so she can clean my bathroom and change my sheets. In some ways things are better here than my home in TX, I may never want to leave!

Food, glorious food.

2006-06-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in one of my previous entries, the food is one of my favourite things about Israel. While I could eat fresh pita and hummus every day my friend Yael is trying to broaden my culinary experience. Here are some picture of my favourite new dishes. First is
Jacknu & Milawhe 2 Yemen dishes consisting of fried bread eaten with salsa like dips and slow roased eggs which I am told are often eaten on shabbat. Second is a picture of salads which Yael taught me how to make in getting ready for her Dad's retirement party: fresh tomato salad and taboule.

Meet my friends...

2006-06-19T09:54:00.000-07:00

Well it has been almost a week since my last blog. I have been busy attending a conference on Jewish Identity, conducting interview with Muslim student on religious use of the internet, playing tourist in lower Galilee and writing like a mad woman a paper for a conference I was suppose to finish 2 months ago. Phew! I wanted to take this blog to introduce you to my 2 good friends and collaborators on my survey research project.

First say hello to Yael, a lecturer in Sociology here in Haifa and PhD student researching community networks in Israel. This is a picture of her from this past shabbat when we were exploring the ruins of Beit Sheraim.

Now say hello to Asmaa, a lecturer in Computer Science in Al Qasami in Baqa al Garbia and a PhD student studying adoption of the internet in the Arab sector in Israel. This is a picture of her at a taken at night at an outdoor coffee shop in Baqa.

Pics of Jerusalem

2006-06-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

It took me a few days but here are some pics from this past weekend's trip to Jerusalem...
First is a picture of the Church of All Nations, Next is my friend Oren at the Garden of Gethsemane, Then is a picture of me in front of the Valley of Jehosophat & the Mt of Olives and Finally a sunset over Ein Kerem (where John the Baptist use to hang out and where my friend Yael's parent's now live).

And you wonder why they call us "stupid Americans"?

2006-06-12T06:07:00.000-07:00

It seem the past few days have been the time for American young people to do silly things in Israel/West Bank.

First there was the teenager from Michigan who decided to secretly fly to Israel and travel to Jericho (in the West Bank) to meet her online love interest from MySpace.com.

An then the Jewish-American student from Brown University who is interning at the Jerusalem Post who decided to take at day trip to Nabulus (also in the West Bank) who ends up getting kidnapped for 24 hours.

And people wonder why I try and not disclose my nationality while I am traveling?!

BTW--Don't worry Mum & Dad, I have no plans to do any thing like this, traveling alone to unsafe places is defintely not on my intinerary.

I don't know what I ate...

2006-06-11T23:55:00.000-07:00

...but for 24 hours I have not felt so good. I will spare you the details, but let's just say I tried not to be far from a bathroom yesterday! I tried to guess the source of the problem. Was it the baba ganosh in Abu gosh? The pear and prosquito salad at Paradiso in Jerusalem? Or my friend Oren's scrambled eggs? I'm not sure. All I know is yesterday I only ate rice and my cure all for tummy problems, lots of oatmeal.

It is such a shame that I am susceptible to tummy bugs as I love the food in Israel. In fact the when I am introduced to someone new and asked why I was in Israel my friend Yael sometimes responds for me, "she came to eat", which is what I jokingly told her when I landed at the airport. I could eat hummus and fresh pita all day, along with the many salads, soft cheeses and vegetable dishes they serve. I also never knew that cucumbers and tomatoes could have taste, until I visited Israel for the first time in 2003. All that said, I hope my stomach settles soon so I can go back to enjoying these things.

Going up to Jerusalem

2006-06-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Jerusalem! I am playing tourist for a few days visiting friend in the holy city. The first landmark my friends insisted on taking me to was the famous...Jerusalem Mall. When we entered the mall one friend jokingly said, oh this is holy ground, we must pray. We then went and paid hommage to "aroma" Israel's answer to Starbuck.

I have been to J'salem 5 times but there are still many thing I haven't seen, so later I went with my friend Oren to the old city. I wanted to go on the stations of the cross pilgrimage led by the francisans each Friday. Somehow we missed the beginning of the tour but still manage to walk the via Dolorssa, visit the Garden of Gessamane, the burial place of Mary & walk near the valley of Jehosphat & Mount of Olives, which was lovely. We made a brief stop at the western wall where I had some time to pray and then manage to catch the last 5 stations of the cross pilgrimage at the end at the Church of the Holy Sepulucre.

One thing I hadn't noticed before is the religious furvour of many of the pilgrims who come to visit the city. This especially noticable at the church where people would kneel, carees & kiss the place where Christ's body was supposedly laid when it was taken off the cross. Some would even lay necklace, cangles or other momentos on the stone slab thinking they might be made holy or absorb some blessing from. "Isn't this like paganism?", commented my secular Jewish friend. I thought, you're right, its kind of idolatorus to focus on anicon or image and treat it as an object ofo worship rather than seeing it as symbol pointing to God.

The rest of the weekend included visits to the Shrine of the Book & Israel Museum, dinner out at the Arab village of Abu Gosh, watching the latest X-men movie at the cinema'teque. Stay tuned for pictures...

3 Things you won't see in aggieland...

2006-06-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

I moved into University housing last night and am now fully a part of the University of Haifa community for the next 2 month. Here are some of the things I had forgotten about that you won't see in aggieland...

1) Guns in the classroom. Yes, we have to Corp, but they don't carry guns to class. Here students who are on duty soldiers in the special forces are issued guns that they must have with them at all times. That mean they take it to class, the library, that bathroon, etc. I asked my friend if she thought it was okay to take a picture of one of them. She said yes, but that then they would have to kill me. I wasn't sure if she was joking, so no picture today.

2) Security check points. To enter any building on campus you must go to a check point where a guard will search your bag and use a metal detector wand to swipe you to make sure you are not carrying explosives. This is not only on campus, but in most public building, malls, and even grocery stores.

3) Smoking...everywhere. Israel is not as militant as the USA when it comes to non-smoking policies. Of course there are no smoking areas, but there are also smoking lounges in many of the building. I passed one professor office today and saw what smelled like cigarette smoke coming out from under their door!

An Office with a View

2006-06-05T04:21:00.000-07:00

I moved into my temporary research home at the The Caesarea Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Foundation Institute for Interdisciplinary Applications of Computer Science (C.R.I.) today. I was so excited to see that I have a window (my office in Aggieland is nice, but feels like an enclosed box). If you look out the window one direction you can see the Mediterranian on the other direction you see the Carmel National forest stretching out below.

What do you think of my view?

Lost...not in translation!

2006-06-04T07:19:00.000-07:00

This is my second attempt to type this entry!

Today was my day at Haifa University. I spent 2 months here in the spring of 2004, so it was nice to get reintroduced to my memories of the sights and sounds. I had forgotten how strong the coffee was at the campus café (it makes an espresso from Starbucks in the states seem very weak, wow!) and how beautiful the views are from the university grounds on the first peak of Mt Carmel, overlooking the city of Haifa and the Mediterranean Sea.

Though my Hebrew has slightly improved since my last visit, I still spent the day not understanding 95% of the conversation that was happening around me. I spent 4 hours of my day in my friend Yael's pol sci Research methods class for 2nd year students. While I could identify the concepts she was discussing, such as the difference between validity & reliability in survey as how to form a Letcher scale question, the nuance of the student's discussion and her explanations were totally lost to me. In the 2nd half of the class they even discussed the research survey I had drafted on religiosity and patterns of technology use, my reason for coming to Israel, I was still lost 80% of the time.

Nonetheless it was a great time for people watching. Israeli students are much different than their American counterparts. Most are in their mid-20s or older, having survived 2-3 years of compulsory military service required as soon as they graduate from high school. So on the outside they appear more mature and reflective.

Now I am sitting at a computer that insists on translating blogger.com all into Russian. And though my Russian is definitely better than my Hebrew (1/12 years of study during my BA) still I am at a loss. Couple that with a Hebrew key board that insists on typing right to left and I am unsure how this will all type out in the end.

Ach well, that's the fun part about traveling and researching internationally, being willing to give up control and the need to totally comprehend your communicative surroundings!

Hello from Haifa!

2006-06-03T11:24:00.000-07:00

Well its been 6 months since my last blog, so about time to update everyone on what's going on. I survived my first academic year in Texas and am still smiling which is important.

The school year ended 2 weeks ago and now I am sitting in my friend Yael's flat in Haifa, Israel. I will be in Israel for 2 months for a research project on religion & new media. I arrived on the eve of Shavout so we have had a 3 day holiday. Shavout fesitval of first fruits and the giving of the Torah. Though as I was staying with a secular friend we had more of a postmodern celebration. On Shavout night we ate much cheese (which is something everyone does I take it at this time) and had a 8 episode marthon session of watching Deperate Housewives. Over the hoilday I also helped my friend clean and decorate her new flat, visited a Druze village and a wonderful carpenter/artist shop, had a lovely walk over a suspended bridge in the Carmel mountains, ate much hummus and was treated tonight to kanafe (a version of bakalva with layered with melted cheese and swimming in syrup) in the Wadi-Arab neighboorhood of Haifa.

Tommorrow will be my first day at the University of Haifa! Will keep u posted on my work and adventures.

The Big Freeze

2005-12-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

I just got into my office to find the university is a deserted frozen wasteland. Apparently because of "hazardous weather outlook" issued by the national weather service due to a "freeze warning" the university is officially closed today. I heard nothing on the radio this morning to this effect and immediately went into typical Scottish winter weather mode, bundled up and went on with business as normal. Okay, is it is only in the high 20s- upper 30s just now outside and most of the trees are drapped in icesicles but come-on. I know most of my friend in Edinburgh would not have called this a "VERY COLD ARCTIC AIRMASS" like the local weather, rather it would be called "FRESH!"

Here's the email I sent in response to the notice that from the department head that "absolutely no one is expected to come to work today":

I just got in to office (and as I still don't have email access at home had no idea we would be shutting up shop today). And the reason I should have stayed home is...'cause there's ice on the trees????

As a friend of mine in Scotland would say...

"Ach, there 'ne bad weather, only folk no' ready for what is there!"

Hit & Miss Teaching

2005-12-05T15:09:00.000-08:00

Today was my last day of lecturing for the term. Many a tired face was found in my 2 classes, probably from pulling several days late nights trying to finish their final papers. To reward their efforts I decided to bake cookie's for both of my 2 classes last night. However, the christening of my new Teflon cookie sheet resulted in one batch being more of a burnt offering than edible. So, for my second class I decided to create a sort of game/quiz to help them review for the final with person with the correctly answer a review questions being rewarded candy bar. Sounds like a great idea, eh. One problem...I forgot I can't throw.

So after the first person answered a question I attempted to throw a candy bar across the room to them. I missed and almost hit a wall. With my second attempt I hit the ceiling in the middle of the room. The next throw fell very short, so I mustered up a bit more power to toss the next one...and with that one I hit a quiet student diligently taking notes on the study sheet smack in the middle of the forehead with a Reese’s peanut butter cup. The class erupted with laughter. The poor student was startled, disoriented and embarrassed. I felt really stupid!! I decided to hand the candy passing out task to one of the other students. Needless to say at the end of the class many of the student were milling around laughing and commenting about their teacher lack of throwing ability. So after a whole semester of trying to teach them about media development and organizations, I fear they will only remember this last class and the chaos of flying candy!

I've been blogged.

2005-11-16T12:51:00.000-08:00

Most of my days are full of teaching and writing. But last week I got a phone call from a PR person at my undergraduate alma mater saying they wanted to learn more about my research and recent book project. I always find it a bit strange to be on the other end of an interview, after starting my career as a nosey journalist asking people I didn't know many questions. The results of this conversation emerged in blog form.

Check out:
http://www.arbor.edu/news/archives/2005/11/15/alum_publishes_scholarly_book_about_religious_community_online/index.php

Coming soon to this blog... a tale of surprise and woe...cross-cultural adventures in churches in Texas!

Frontpage news

2005-11-02T09:40:00.000-08:00

I am famous...or am I infamous. Anyways I made front page news on the student newspaper today after attending "Faculty Fish Camp", a shortened version of the orientation Freshman go through which introduces them to all they myths and ritual associated with A&M culture and the aggie spirit.

Check it out at:
http://www.thebatt.com/media/paper657/news/2005/11/02/News/Faculty.Fish.Camp.Teaches.Traditions.Spirit-1041843.shtml

If you look really close in the right hand corner of the picture you will even see me attempting to "hump it" during the "yell practice" (I know it sounds bad, but that's what they call it when you bend over and then cheer for the home team!)

My first post!

2005-10-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

After a decade of researching online life and culture I am finally entering into a new phase on online existence...my first blog! This is the week of my second month anniversary being in Texas. The weather has finally cooled down to be comfortable outside. My new home is still spartan as far as furnture, but I have several photos of Edinburgh donning my walls that I look at each night with fond memories, and a hint of saddness. Texas in no way feel like home yet. But I know it is where I am suppose to be!