Skyping with Virtual Friends...Really
...Or should it be the other way around, as in 'Skyping with Real Friends, Virtually...? My new Ladies' Group in Israel which I had met on Facebook had another F2F, or 'face to face,' where they get together-rather infrequently, unfortunately-because they have busy lives and live in various cities, towns and "settlements" (I hate the fact that that word has a negative connotation to much of the world) all around the country, and traveling in Israel is not as easy as in the States where almost everyone owns or leases a car. As a matter of fact, their previous F2F--I'd like to say, "our previous," because I was fortunate enough to Skype with them then, as well--was as long ago as April. I posted about it then, too, here.
This time I was able to see the beautiful jewelry they were beading, necklaces, bracelets and earrings of all shapes and colors. I wish I could post photos, but it was just after 6:00 a.m. my time and I was barely awake, let alone ready to photograph anything. I managed to run downstairs (well, hobble) to get my Coffee Mug (this one has capital letters, and you'll see why, below) with coffee to perk me up, pun intended--although our coffee is French Pressed. You may have seen this mug before on my blog; it is one of my favorites...
So I virtually "met" and re-met five ladies, those who were able to make it to the get-together (and were still there at about 3:23 Israel time) out of the many more-there might be around 30 or so in the group, which is just my guess (the rest had other obligations and were unable to come)-whose first names I will publish here: Leah, Risa, Batya, Hadassah and Paula--several of whom are avid (and well-known) bloggers, putting me and my sparse blogging efforts to shame...
But it was a pleasure to be with them, even virtually. And it had the added bonus of getting me out of bed at 6:23 a.m.....
This time I was able to see the beautiful jewelry they were beading, necklaces, bracelets and earrings of all shapes and colors. I wish I could post photos, but it was just after 6:00 a.m. my time and I was barely awake, let alone ready to photograph anything. I managed to run downstairs (well, hobble) to get my Coffee Mug (this one has capital letters, and you'll see why, below) with coffee to perk me up, pun intended--although our coffee is French Pressed. You may have seen this mug before on my blog; it is one of my favorites...
So I virtually "met" and re-met five ladies, those who were able to make it to the get-together (and were still there at about 3:23 Israel time) out of the many more-there might be around 30 or so in the group, which is just my guess (the rest had other obligations and were unable to come)-whose first names I will publish here: Leah, Risa, Batya, Hadassah and Paula--several of whom are avid (and well-known) bloggers, putting me and my sparse blogging efforts to shame...
But it was a pleasure to be with them, even virtually. And it had the added bonus of getting me out of bed at 6:23 a.m.....
Comments
regarding the Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria, I usually describe them in the way I just wrote instead of "settlement" which has become a negative term (for no reason, I should add; it's not that the term was originally negative, but that the negative attitude of the news media towards Jews in Judea and Samaria has *turned* the word "settlement" into a negative term). so in your article, I would have worded it as follows: "they have busy lives and live in various cities and towns throughout Israel, including some in Judea and Samaria".
can you imagine the US govt refusing to allow Jews to live e.g. in Shiloh, Georgia or Hebron, Indiana? housing discrimination, right? yet nobody blinks an eye when the US govt refuses to allow Jews to build homes in the *real* Shilo or Hevron. go figure!
also you might be interested in this article that Paula wrote: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/meeting-bbc-on-my-terms/. enjoy!
It was nice to "meet" you. And yes, please let us know when you'll be in Israel.