Tick Tock (orignially published 04 November)

And we're off: I rise at 4:20 on Friday. I'm so bleary-eyed that it takes three tries before I can negotiate something as complex as removing the cap from the toothpaste tube. At this unspeakably early hour, neither Gill nor Nadine even stirs, so I have the house to myself. By 5:15, I'm out the door and heading to Akko to catch the train. It's the first session with a new semester in Tel Aviv. Now that we are back on the winter schedule, the trip home is complex: walk to the train station in Tel Aviv, train to Haifa Mercaz, get a ride back to Akko, pick up my car, drive home. I'm back home around 17:00. I just want to plotz, but I can hear the relentless ticking in the background; time is running out before I leave, and there is still way too much to do.

During the day I have a chance to experience swift and decisive retribution for my sins (however unintentional). As I'm heading toward our training center in the morning, I'm approached by a young woman asking for directions to Kikar haMedina. It is the day before the 11th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin z'l, and for days there have been speeches, documentaries, and media events. So my mind is focused on Kikar Rabin (formerly Kikar Malachei Yisroel, but renamed after Rabin was assassinated there on 4 November 1995 during a peace rally). And that’s where I send her. It is in the opposite direction of Kikar haMedina. I don’t realize my mistake until she has disappeared. Within 15 minutes, I arrive at the classroom, only to find that another trainer has left the place looking like a frat house after a particularly wild Saturday night. An early student assesses the damage with me, and, without waiting for any shameful pleading on my part, grabs a broom. Between us, we get the classroom back into a habitable condition before the rest of the students arrive. Let’s hope that her good deed gives her positive payback soon!