From two weeks ago

I love to sleep.

I hate being woken up.

These were two weeks full of reasons for hatred.

The worst thing is the missile alarm. Enough to wake up the dead. Actually, no, not enough...

What drives you nuts is that usually it just whales away, but no explosion comes.

It means, that it flew off to somewhere else.

Explosions may fail to wake me up. They are rather hushed, especially when a house is hit.

Also, friends and relatives are calling. That's OK, that's actually nice. The first few days - the cell networks went down, could not cope with the load. Now it works fine. Those who live further south - call me to come over. I don't know how to explain, that I don't want to come. Just don't. There are lots like me. Many have left. That's understandable: children.

It's not as if there was work: many factories are shut down. Small businesses are going up in flames. No, not figuratively speaking. The stores are open, but for a few hours a day. Both the shop keepers and the buyers are mostly russian speaking. One can notice, how unnatural for them to speak of "Katyushas" (that's how all ground to ground rockets are dubbed here). Different connotations.
Too bad father's not here. We could have swapped impressions about being under fire. There's no fear, just the heart going up and down.

Granny's eyes lighten up during the alarms with a strange fire: "Just like in '41..."

The ethiopians are quite afraid. Run around in amok.

Went off for some cigarettes. Alarm went off. Behind the window there's an aged ethiopean woman in a custom dress. She's uncomfortable. The shop keeper: "are you here to buy or to watch?"

A rough native. Bad manners. But never fails to open up his little shop.

So does Tanya from the flowers shop.

No shell lands twice in a same spot - bullshit. 150 meters from my house, twice in a same spot - precisely between the golden age club and a kindergarden.

Appartments torn up by an explosion looks like horror.

A 18 year old Lesha can't be forced to stay put. Goes off for some basketball, and never fails to appease his curiosity as well. Recently visited a ruined house, reported back with lots of emotions: "They killed a cat, the bustards!" He's a very polite boy, and shys away from profanities...

Soon he will be drafted...

From the balcony one can see - the explosion site raises that kind of cigarette smoke.

The fires in the city are immediately put down.

If the forrest is hit - it takes much longer.

There go the places where we used to collect mushrooms during the winter.

It will grow back probably.

And the houses will be rebuilt.

There goes another one...

For your information: there are about 50,000 people in Carmiel

100 missiles landed in the city and its vicinity in 14 days.

Translated by: dimrub
Link to the original post: here

stellkind, 2006-08-06.
The day was wonderful. In the morning I got into the car and went to get new textbooks for the kid. Adar was crowded - in a peaceful, busy way appropriate for a shopping center.

Then I dropped at the marketplace. It's a relaxing a colorful view. We were desperately starving for fruits: for two weeks I sat glued to the computer working on my translation. I was lucky - they had plenty of fresh figs. Bright purple, with light green tails [pedicels], bright red and dripping sweet juice when torn. We had a discussion with an elderly Arab, why don't the "Russians" like figs, and that I am the first "Russians" to buy it from him. Filled the car up with onions, huge tomatoes, black eggplants, mushrooms, peppers.

Sellers behind their counters did their usual screaming for buyers and flirting and advertising. All the stress of the last weeks went away while I was discussing the right way to consume tomatoes (with olive oil and cumin).

I exchanged my modem for some sort of a super-duper one, walked by a pile of laced skirts to the school supplies store, got the textbooks, and went back to Carmel in my car, surrounded by the green and peachy smells.

People are craving for normal life. It is felt in the faces of the ladies, walking their disgusting little doggies. Taking a deep breath, I went into a barber shop. A fascinating feeling of normalcy: current events are being discussed in the best parliamentary style, clients in the armchairs, trying to guess how they will look like after the haircut. I realised that there was no escape, sat down and got my haircut. I made an appointment with a hairdresser named Jalal that I will bring the kid tomorrow. Across the barber shop there was a tailor shop, and a book store named "Peterburg". Everything is summer-like, vacation-style, and a blue surfing board with dolphins in my trunk.
There was an alarm in the evening. We sat in the shelter and listened for the falling rockets. Cats refused to go to the shelter.

Then the emergency vehicles screamed by. And again - it was just a summer evening. The smell of coffee and roasted meat from the nearest restaurant. I have some brioche and ciabbata with sweet pepper in my fridge. Finally it's dark outside.

Silence - till the morning comes.

translated aphar
link to the original here

Sad journal post in the middle of the night :)

OK, so let's eat cornflakes and go to bed. Ok, we are out of cornflakes. It means that I will eat kefir (Russian-style diary drink) and drink tea. With sugar. Ok, we are out of sugar too. It means tea without sugar… But with biscuits. Ok, we are out of biscuits too. And we are out of bread. Butter without bread – it’s ridiculous.
To put it in milder terms – there’s an urgent need for a food parcel to the North :) For example, one kilogram of Russian candy bars :)

No, please understand me correctly. We can easily go to the store and buy all needed food items. Shops are open and we have money. It’s different. I keep on asking myself – do I really need to buy this? What do I really need to get from the store? It’s like a line from a movie – “there’s nothing in the world that is worth sacrificing your life " :)))
And let me explain it again – rocket attacks are not so frequent in our town. It’s much worse in Nahariya. And I go to work without any problems – half an hour to get there, half an hour to get back home. But I have strong desire to cut back on my “going outside” trips :) Of course, according to the possibilities...
To make a long story short – today I will finish all the food in the fridge and then I would have a “food time of my life” :)))

translation by lesoto

link to the original post here

sid75

This Is A Must Read!

I had decided at a point that I would no longer engage in publicism and simply continue writing my personal impressions from the war. But then I read this: http://www.sedmoykanal.com/news.php3?id=211981 and I could not stop myself.

A few quotes from the article of Lebanese journalist Michael Behe (the rest you can read yourself if you follow the link [in Russian])

"Every Iranian or Syrian citadel destroyed by Jerusalem, every Islamic fighter that they kill, brings a new life to Lebanon! Once again the Israeli soldiers are doing our job for us. Again, as in 1982, we are cowardly watching from aside, with our heads low, insulting them bitterly along the way - for their heroic sacrifice, which allows us to keep our hope. Without them, we would never even dare hope for the restoration of our independence. If, after this war is over, the Lebanese army again takes control over its own territory and get rid of the state within a state, that would only be due to what Tsahal has done. And all of our flabby politicians, from the thief Fouad Siniora to Saad Hariri and general Aoun, all of them are fully aware of this."

"Roads to the airport have been destroyed: they had served Hizballah as supply routes for weapons and ammunition. Other than that, Tsahal has not destroyed a thing, and anyone who is cying over "the destruction of Beirut" is either a liar, or Iranian, or anti-semite, or simply has not been here. Even buildings located across the street from the targets have remained untouched, with not even a scratch left on them. Seeing this, you begin to understand what the words "surgical attack" really mean and admire the precision of the Jewish pilots."

"In the rest of Beirut, life has been going on just like it used to. Anyone who had not supported terrorists knows that they have no reason to fear the Israeli planes - in fact, the opposite is true!"

"Like the vast majority of the Lebanese people, I pray that nobody puts an end to the Israeli attacks before Tsahal has finished its job and completed the destruction of Hizballah. As the vast majority of the Lebanese people, I keep a bottle of champaigne in my fridge, waiting for the time celebrate the Israelis' victory!
But, unlike many, I understand that they are fighting for our freedom not just here, but also where we are not. From the name of my people, I would like to express the eternal gratitude to the families of the Israeli victims, both civil and military, whose loved ones have fallen so that I could start living standing tall. They must know that I mourn and pray with them."

ORIGINAL ARTICLE http://www.menapress.com/article.php?sid=1475
(in French) - via catsail

translated by muchnik
link to original post here