Jet Lag

Asha once described jet lag as having your aura smeared across the ocean along the path of your plane's flight, and that it takes a few days for it to catch up with you again. Isn't that a great description?

We arrived in Tel Aviv three days ago (I think), and stayed in an airBnB a block away from the beach on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. I didn't see much of Tel Aviv because my smeared aura was still trying to catch up with my disoriented soul. Dambara was much more intrepid, and gave himself the task of hunting and gathering our meals from nearby restaurants, bringing them back to our apartment to tempt me into consciousness.

Local yummies

We came a few days early specifically to allow us time to retrieve our smeared auras, to be fresh and alert for the pilgrimage itself. Dambara has been to Israel before, and wanted to spend more time this trip in Tel Aviv. Our apartment was perfectly located for plenty of wandering, but a blustery storm descended, somewhat truncating his outings, so we both ended up spending quite a bit of time inside our apartment, watching movies, being awake during sleeping hours and sleeping during awake hours.

However, we've made great progress toward adjusting to our new time zone, and today heartily accomplished our trek from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Afternoon view from our hotel room

We took a bus, after considering the train option and the taxi option, and it was an enchanting journey, with surprisingly green scenery and plenty of sunshine. The only tricky part was navigating the central bus station in Tel Aviv, a multi-story monstrosity, but we had the invaluable assistance of Ashtara, newly arrived from Ananda Village, resettling in her home town, Tel Aviv!

She texted us about an hour before we were leaving our airBnB, and we quickly organized an impromptu lunch together. After trading stories and munching yummy sandwiches and a chocolatey, flakey concoction, she wisely accompanied us to the bus station, expertly got us through the correct entrance, up to the correct floor (7th!) of the station, coached us through the process of buying the correct tickets, out through the correct departure doorway, and onto the correct bus.

Navigating the Jerusalem bus station was easy peasy, and now we're comfortably ensconced in the beautiful King Solomon Hotel, up on the sixth floor, with a vista that entices us to the window again and again.

Sunset's glow

Dambara is once again out hunting and gathering, a pastime that he thoroughly relishes, and I am putting words together in semi-coherent sentence structures, connecting with all of you while my smeared aura lets me know that 5:09 pm is quite late for any traveler's brain to be expected to function coherently.

My goal is to fend off unconsciousness until 7:00, when Dambara will most likely have returned, dinner in hand, and stories to share. A couple more days, and my aura will surely have coalesced back into its functional whole, and I will be fully equipped to marvel at this wonderful world, Israel.

Vegan AND Gluten-free

I used to silently scoff at people who had food allergies, who couldn't eat this or that. "Get over it," I'd silently judge. "Just eat the food." So of course, I developed health challenges that resulted in all kinds of limitations on what I can and cannot eat.

Somewhat instant karma.

First, I went dairy-free, and felt immensely better. After a few years I went gluten-free and felt better. Then I started eating gluten again and felt pretty good. Then I went vegan and started avoiding nightshades. . . There've been so many permutations that I've definitely lost track of most of them.

Many of the diet-based strategies for improving health have made a difference, so I keep monkeying with it. It's easy to follow specific guidelines when cooking at home, but restaurants or dinners at friends' houses are always a compromise with crossed fingers and optimistic cheerfulness as standard strategies.

Right now I'm concentrating on being vegan and gluten-free. And, I love bread. It's hard to combine those two facts and end up successful. And yet! Success has been achieved!

I grew tired of the crumbly, stale, gluten-free breads I was able to find at grocery stores, and never found a brand that was also vegan. So I ordered a bread maker, a gluten-free cookbook, and probably 20 various ingredients to be able to use the bread-maker and the cookbook.

Adapting the recipes to also be vegan remained a challenge. I tried several egg and dairy substitutes, and the loaves consistently came out dense and gummy. Good flavor, though, which was encouraging. And then I found this recipe online that unlocked the door to success.

Fluffy, soft, vegan, gluten-free, delicious, homemade bread.

The secret, egg-substituting ingredient? Garbanzo bean brine. You know; that thick, unappealing liquid that spills out when you open a can of garbanzo beans. Well. Turns out, it's a great protein for helping gluten-free flours rise into a fluffy, soft bread. Plus, it adds a nice yet subtle flavor to the bread.

So, the world has become even more wonderful, with yummy bread in the morning or for lunch; for avocado toast, or sandwiches, or bread pudding, or all of those other things that are delicious and comforting.

It's another slice of heaven on earth.

Gentle Succor

I spent the morning in a dentist's chair. It was an extended visit, affixing a temporary crown, and in two weeks, she'll affix the permanent crown.

Dental visits can be unpleasant, painful, or, at the very least, anxiety-ridden. At this office, I felt cared for as soon as I walked in the door. A heater was on in the cozy waiting room, an eclectic spread of magazines for early birds to browse, an offer of coffee, tea, or hot apple cider. But more than that, Donna greeted me warmly, by name, and we chatted about Thanksgiving and families and how had we both been since the last visit.

Then Colleen came out and ushered me back to the private room with all of the instruments and dental products and anxiety potential. I told her about the muscle spasms in my shoulder and neck, and she went and heated a lavender pillow for me. Jessica came in and took some notes, and we chatted a different Thanksgiving chat. The heated pillow arrived, Jessica lowered the chair, which had the healing side effect of elevating my feet. Colleen bibbed my neck with terry cloth, Jessica sunglassed my eyes against the bright lights, and they set about their work.

Cheese!

They checked in with me continuously, watched my face, patted my shoulder, and most of all, their gentle murmurings in their dental language, their four hands dancing an orchestrated ballet, wielding tools, ointments, and goo, their professional craftsmanship kept me soothed and safe for two solid hours. After the final biting down, they sat me up, gave me a warm, wet cloth for my perhaps-sprayed face, patted my back, and waved me, smilingly, on my way.

Probably no one enjoys trips to the dentist, but if you have to spend time with one, it's glorious when it's a gentle, soothing, professional, gifted group of caring people, whose main goal is to help you through it the best they can.

And my pearly whites are pearlier and happier than they've been in years.