In Defense...

Tonight I am participating in a negotiation simulation. For those of you that don't know, I've been studying negotiation/international relations and the Middle East for about four years. I should know my sh*t by now. Seriously.

So, tonight I play the role of a Syrian negotiator. It's in contrast to my Israeli roots. I've had to remind my group several times that we're Syrian for the purpose of this simulation. This simulation comes at an awesome time as gossip-blogger Perez Hilton is visiting my favorite country in the world - Israel. What Israeli or Jew doesn't like gossiping! Seriously. It's in our blood. (Welcome to Israe, Perez)

Anyway, in light of his recent posts, I've read a few comments on how he should "keep it real" and show how awful we are and how we beat on the Arabs every chance we get. PULEEEEZE!

So, due to these comments, I'm going to give a bit of insight and try to clear the air a bit about Israel. Many people have these horrible images of buses burning, and Israelis beating Palestinians - but that's not reality. I recently made friends with a wandering traveler named Earl. He's been to places that I cannot visit because of my Israeli passport. He's been to Syria and Lebanon - Iraq, too! I can't go. I'm a Jew with Israeli citizenship. So, I learn from his experiences.

Here's what I can do:

- visit my local mall and see a plethora of Israelis and Arabs walking around with anyone being assaulted.

- eat lunch at the Herzliya marina and watch Israeli and Arab kids play together on the promenade.

- grab a chicken sandwich at the sandwich stand by my office in Israel and chat with the Arab guy cooking my food. Our discussions: family, work, and how there doesn't seem to be a winter coming this year.

This is Israel. That is the reality. My friends that live in the West Bank have little to no interaction with most of their Arab neighbors aside from pleasant encounters with the Arabs who live closer to them.

I am an Israeli. I have never:

- hit an Arab (I've gotten into my fair share of bar fights, though)

- thrown a stone at anyone

- spit on anyone

- discriminated against anyone for being anything more than a horrible human being

We're just like any other normal country. I promise.

In defense of Israel, don't read what the media has to say about us - visit on your own and make your own decision.

Still in High School?

Once upon a time, when I was far enough away from my high school years, a person I thought was my friend took something I said the wrong way and started a journey to destroy me. Needless to say, she lost but at the start of her journey she ranted to me that I don't have "real" friends - my only friends are on the internet.

At 24 years-young I stepped back and thought "she has a partial point." I had "real" friends - people I hung out with and friends who make an effort to interact with even though we may not be so close in proximity. I also had my internet friends - they were (and still are) people that I call on for advice or a pick me up (the same as I do my "real" friends) but they are also people who understand another side of my life that my "real" friends don't. I type out my thoughts and experiences. I type them out for the world to read. I don't hold back.

This is one of those not-holding-back moments.

I don't regret my decision to never speak to that "friend" ever again. I was also friends with her husband and lost him in the friendship "divorce". In hindsight, it's all good because I don't want to be friends with people who don't have my back when they know I'd have theirs.

Regardless, I spend most of my day on the internet making new connections and new internet friends. It's part of my job but it's an aspect of my job that I LOVE because I become friends with people I may not have been in contact with in real life. One thing that strikes me is I'm still that kid looking at the "cool kids" table while being stuck on the outside.

I feel like I'm still in high school when I was "known" but not "cool enough" to avoid being made fun of or told I don't quite have what it takes to be in their "group".

It's a weird realization.

The majority of the people I come in contact with are men and women with children who are usually married. I'm married but the only kids I have are of the four legged variety that shed hair through my apartment.

There's not many people like me out there that I can find - women trying to get pregnant but having a hard time. If there are, I can't find them. Most of my blogging buddies are either young single women or married women with kids.

I'm not in either realm.

Is there ever an end to the high school phase?

Thankful Thursday - Almost Christmas Edition

It's almost Christmas - can you believe it? While I'm not Christian and am most certainly Jewish - I am still appreciative for the Christmas holiday. Not for the whole birth of Christ thing - more for the fact that it's an excuse for families to get together.

Even the Jewish ones.

Today, I'm thankful that my parents instilled in us the Jewish-American tradition of Chinese food on Christmas. Without that tradition (that many of my friends partake in), Christmas would be a lonely holiday for a lot of us.

So, this Thursday, I am thankful to the Christmas Holiday for forcing my family to get together on a non-Jewish holiday.

Guest Post - Jo Says It ALL!

I have a treat for you all! My friend Jo is taking my spot today so you're in for a literary treat! I'm blogging for her and she's blogging for me! YAY! Get to know her and be sure to visit her blog Notes from a Lab Princess! Be sure to leave her some love at the end of the post!

Hi there all readers of Mrs. Hilly G's blog! I have to say I am SO excited to be here guest posting. We've been talking back and forth through emails now for a few days and I have to say it's incredible to meet such an amazing and nice person! So thank you for being such a gracious hostess to me on here!

Now, I'm not going to lie, this is my very first guest blog post! So from the beginning I had absolutely no idea what to even expect, or what to write about, and how was that going to fit into another blog outside of my own, and oh my goodness what will her readers think of me? What should I wear? How long should I wait before calling after the date, do we kiss or just hug? What if we don't like the same wine?

Seriously, I fell like I'm going on a first date. And I haven't had one of those in years. I'm rusty.

So hi everyone, my name is Jo, I'm a Gemini who likes to watch the sunset on the beach, singing, watching copious amounts of Grey's Anatomy (and then comparing my life to it...or rather they get their ideas from me), and dissecting organs.

So I'm a little weird. Please like me, I really think that we have a special thing going for us. Maybe I shouldn't have lead with the organs thing.

I cook a spanking good homemade pasta and sauce. Hooray for being Italian.

Yes, and I've scored the second date!

Well, now that I've sufficiently made myself seem crazy, I have been presented with a topic from the blogging gods about what to write about on this swap. And that topic would be "Action: What am I going to be doing this year that I've been putting off for too long."

Now it may seem strange that I might hear the word "action" and immediately think of the word "bygones". But here's the thing, what I need to do in this new year is learn to relax, not stress so much, and think of bygones. And I-Dots (and yes that name was come up withEONS before the whole iPod, iTouch, iPad, iHavetoomuchmoney...you get the drift).

When I was younger, my mum and I used to watch Ally McBeal. And there is a character (Richard), who is always saying "Bygones". Any time someone seems offended by something he says, whenever he gets in a fight with someone, you name it, the end result is "Bygones". It really is the word to live by. And when I was younger, my mum and I came up with the term I-Dots (we were so clever really, it's a play on the word "idiot". So I wasn't the most creative in middle school. And she's a science teacher, we're not exactly creatively gifted.). But I-dots was the name of the bar we were going to open. And it was also an award we gave out every week: The I-Dot of the Week Award. We had this written on a dry-erase board in our kitchen, so any time we had a bad day, or someone was being an idiot, we would write their name up and know that they are an idiot. There was no reason to be upset. Bygones. Instantly my day would be better.

Needless to say, I've become jaded since then. I've grown up. I've seen a lot of the world. I've had to deal with a lot of terrible people and situations, some that no one (not even just my age) should ever have to deal with. Lifetime movies have got nothing on me. So I've become jaded, and bitter, and cynical, and to be honest, a bitch. And I've started letting people get to me, and chip bits of me off. My mum used to say that people don't make us feel bad, we let people make us feel bad. And I've slipped. That's happened.

So my action that I need to take is now for my own mental (and physical) health. I need to learn to be genuinely nice again. Smile at strangers (trust me, live in Paris for any length of time and re-learning that it's ok to smile at strangers is the hardest thing to do!), and remember "Bygones". People are idiots, it's in our nature. It's also in our nature to be defensive and not to trust others. But take it from me, live your life like that for too long and it gets exhausting! My body is sick and tired of being on edge all the time, and getting so worked up over things, and people that really don't matter.

What matters is this: I have my health (ish), my grandmother is cancer free, I have a roof over my head, the best (and most dysfunctional) family ever, a loving boyfriend that I get to go to bed with every night and wake up with every morning, friends who get me even when I don't get me, and never cease to put a smile on my face, and I have my school, my career, something I am so incredibly passionate about. I am going to save lives one day, and that can only start by saving my own. These are the things that matter most to me.

So what if some girl tries to start drama. So what if a guy runs into you while you're walking and doesn't think twice about it, so God has made you slip and fall on the ice so many times you're used to laying on your back cold yelling "SERIOUSLY?!" at the heavens. All you can control is yourself, your actions, and your thoughts.

Don't let the world win! Bygones.

Enjoy this holiday season everyone! And start the new year off with a smile and happiness!

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Thankful Thursday - Hungarian Potato Soup Recipe

This Thursday, I'm thankful that the temps are low enough for me to justify eating soup.

I LOVE SOUP!

Ever since Craig and I returned from Prague, I've been craving potato soup. As a kid, I used to eat my Bubba's potato soup by the bucket loads (seriously). When I moved to Israel, I called her as winter started and begged for her recipe. Apparently, my grandmother's recipe is insanely easy.

Bubba's Potato Soup

3-5 potatoes (doesn't matter what kind) - cubed

2 onions (vidalia or white - NOT purple) - diced

1 tbsp. olive oil (you can use canola oil/butter/1/4 cup of vegetable broth)

Large pinch of salt and pepper

1 cup of water for every potato you use

In a large pot, warm up the oil and sautee the onions.

Once the onions are nice and brown, add the potatoes and coat them with the oil. Sprinkle the salt and pepper into the mixture. When the potatoes start to cook a bit - add the water. Cook until the potatoes are tender.

DO NOT FREEZE. I did this once and it was a horrible idea. Horrible.

I told you it was easy.

I noticed when we were in Prague that the soup tasted a little differently from my grandmother's soup - apparently their soup has cheese and cream. Then I called my Gram and asked her for her potato soup recipe. She told me that Hungarian and Czech soups are very similar. So, what did I add to my Bubba's soup? Carrots, cooking cream, and sharp cheddar cheese. What did I forget to add? flour.

Take the recipe above, add 3 carrots - cubed. Add the carrots to the onions and sautee together. Once you've added the water to the mixture, let it cook.

When the potatoes are just about done, take out a separate pot and add a half-cup of cream. Do not let the cream burn - boil it on a low fire/heat. When the cream is starting to boil, add one cup of sharp cheddar. It can be cubed or shredded. Let the cheddar melt.

Go back to your potato pot and add 1/8 of a cup of flour to the mixture. Then gently fold in the creamed mixture.

Take off the heat and eat!

Betayavon!

Married Life is Hard...

Being married is hard. Not like doing your homework hard or making any kind of French food hard... just hard. Sometimes, you don't want to ask if it's OK if you skip date night and go out with your friends instead BUT you know you have to. Sometimes you don't want to make food for two people - only one BUT you know you have to. AND sometimes you just want to go to sleep... alone... without someone cuddling next to you - but you can't. Unless you have the flu or something.

Like I said, being married is hard. Anyone feel my pain?