Jerusalem Film Festival

This year's festival will be held from July 6th to July 15th. Films will be shown over Jerusalem such as, Beit Shmuel, The Sultan's Pool, Jerusalem Cinematheque, Begin Center, Khan Theater, The Old Train Station, The Kahn and The Jerusalem Theater. Tickets can be purchased at the theaters and all the main ticket agencies. Today's ha'aretz has a special supplement full of details. For more details and tickets, call 02-565-4350 or www.jff.org.il

110V vs. 220V

With all the olim that are expected to come this summer, there has been lots of talk about what electric appliances to bring.
Concerns over voltage and hertz differences are heard throughout the various aliyah forums and groups throughout the internet.
To help shed some light on the matter, Megavolt, has just added a few articles to their large archive of information, that explain the whole 110V/220V issue. The site also includes other helpful articles, tips, and FAQs to help both the olim and "vatikim".

Summer's here

Artists from England, Brazil, Mexico and Spain will be among the performers at World Music 2006, a festival scheduled July 13 to 15 in the greater Tel Aviv area.

Highlighting the festival will be flamenco duo Diego el Cigala and Bebo Valdes. The pair has earned a considerable following in Israel as well, and will be joined for the festival by Afro-Brazilian group Olodum and Mexican-American singer Lila Downs, a performer on the Oscar-winning soundtrack to 2002's Frida.

Concerts will take place at venues including the Ra'anana Amphipark and Tel Aviv's Zappa Club. Tickets to individual shows priced between NIS 149 and 298. Discounted prices will be offered to those buying tickets to more than once concert.

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School is ending and parents are beginning to pull their hair out even before the summer vacation begins. Two good summer camps listing for kids could save your sanity.
You can receive an email list from the Association of Americans & Canadians in Israel by writing to info@aaci.org.il
or check Nefesh B'Nefesh http://www.nbn.org.il/resources/camp.htm
The Jerusalem Post: http://info.jpost.com/C006/Supplements/summer.programs/

Electrical Exhibitions Aren't Only for Electricians

I'm off to the RAX exhibition today. For those not familiar with this yearly event, RAX is the Israel International Exhibition for Electrical Engineering, located in the Tel Aviv fairgrounds. Organized by "Stier Group", one of Israel's leading trade fair organizations, the RAX sports over 400 booths and exhibits from around the country and the world. Among all the exhibitions, some of which would probably only interest those who work in this field, you can find the newest lighting solutions and electrical solutions these companies have to offer. Whether it's a special light fixture you are looking for or the latest energy saving solar/electric water boiler, there is always something new at the RAX.

One would think that only electricians, engineers, builders, and designers would show up to this exhibition, but many other "common folk" show up as well. Those planning to build or renovate their home in the near future would probably find all sorts of things that they did not know were available in Israel, and get new ideas to boot.

The exhibition will be held June 13-15- 2006 in the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds.

For more information go to: http://www.stier.co.il/english/fair_rax.htm

Stier Group organizes many other exhibitions as well. Next week I hope to be going to the Computax - International Exhibition in Israel on Computer Systems, Hardware & Software. More about that at another time.

Hike Or Belly Dancing

• Finished one of those standard tours of Israel and looking for something a little more down to earth and meaningful? Why not explore this holy land up close and personal, while experiencing some spiritual self-discovery. Livnot Sea to Sea Hike takes you though the land where you'll learn all about the places, the plants and the animals, and be given an opportunity to ask all your questions about Israel. It's a "spectacular 3 day hike that begins near the Kinneret and finishes at the Mediterranean". For more information check out http://www.livnot.com/Pages/sea-to-sea-hike/sea-to-sea.htm


• This year, AACI (Association of Americans & Canadians in Israel) is holding a joint Fourth of July picnic, arts and crafts fair PLUS yard sale together at the Kraft Family Stadium which is located next to Gan Sacher and Beit HaChayal in Jerusalem. Both very popular events are brought together for the first time this year. There are lots of fun activities arranged for the entire family plus a great concert to end off the event. (For more information check their website: http://www.aaci.org.il/pa/jeractivities.htm#fourth


• The Jerusalem Municipality has a listing of different tours around Jerusalem. Some are free of charge and others are inexpensive and caters to the English speaking population. In fact, their website is full of useful information and is easy to navigate. http://jeru.huji.ac.il/jeru/general_info1.html

• For those who haven't heard, a spanking new deluxe bowling alley "StriKing" has opened up in Mishor Adumim a few weeks ago. Located in the industrial center, in the same building (Supa 1) as the new wedding hall which opened it's doors about the same time. They boast 10 bowling lanes, bar/pub in the bowling hall, a food court to buy some munchies, and LCD TV screens to see the latest sport event or music video. Those who enjoy belly dancing, can make a point of being there on Tuesday night (13.06.06) at 21:30, when Ofra Zakai will be entertaining, along with an evening of dancing.
  NOTE: The bowling alley is open on Shabbat so I doubt that the food has a kashrut certificate.
  

First Blog Post

Well... we finally decided to start a blog. I wonder if this is the only husband and wife blog team in cyberspace. I suppose not. Either way, to start off, it might be a good idea to just let everyone know just what they can expect to find here. Yeah..well we don't exactly know ourselves. It will probably include a bit of everything - especially interesting things that are happening around Israel that are not well advertised. Interesting trips, aliyah advice, events, helpful information, or in short - things that are happening around Israel. Being that we live in the Jerusalem area, I suppose that that'll be the area that we'll cover the most. Therefore, we would appreciate all those around Israel to be our eyes and ears, and let us know what's going on around the country, especially less advertised events and "happenings".
So here we go.........