The Golan Home

When I just started on this journey, I didn’t imagine things would progress so slowly. Not even the slightest idea.

But guess what, the local committee has finally met and decided on my submission – with a whole host of new questions! It’s beyond me why they didn’t pose all their questions at once – and then simply approve or reject or answers.

Any way, I went down there to try to understand what they are asking for. The experience was so tiring that it’s hard to muster the energy to write about it.

The bureaucracy is unbelievable. No way for them to track a case through the system in an efficient or central way, folders with original paperwork are misplaced, no one really knows who you are or verifies your identity – so anyone can alter any information they want posing as whoever they want, and many answers you get are completely disconnected from reality! It was frustrating to see.

Shimon and I spent four and a half hours waiting, talking with seven different officials/clerks (some of them more than once), looking around for papers (they had no idea where my file was…), tracking down problems and trying to resolve them.

One woman, responsible for the Even-Yehuda applications, is the one that came up with list of additional info and papers. Another simply crossed some of them off…

The whole thing was nutty. No wonder everything is so slow. If you are not there on a regular basis to nudge them it doesn’t move forward.

So, a couple of more documents are needed. What a bunch of boneheads – How come they didn’t ask for everything all at once? While waiting on that, they agreed to run my papers through the appraises.

In Israel we call it ‘balagan’, from the Russian word for chaos.

I know a 1,000 mile journey starts with a single step, followed by a bunch of more steps. Never realized that some of them will feel like walking barefoot on broken glass.

Luminarias, Adobe Architecture, Santa Fe, New Mexico, originally uploaded by bridgepix. (Click here to see this building in day light)

Flickr is It on a stick! I love browsing it by topic, ideas, or photographers. It’s a constant source of inspiration, and helps keep my eyes on our target – a beautiful and warm home that will improve with time.

Everyone loves my dad’s backyard. When I was a kid it was nice. Now, after living there for more then 30 years, it’s gorgeous. One friend even asked me if our own backyard is planned to look like it.

He has a stone covered ground, many trees – mostly citruses, walls covered with vines and the eastern side of the yard has a fully covered canopy from the trees (macadamia, lemon, pitango, etc). Beneath it he has a full size table and during the summer we sit out there every weekend for our weekly family gathering (it’s largely about food). My friends love coming over and spending a lazy afternoon with us there.

Santa Fe Style, originally uploaded by Splintar.

This is a beautiful example of the Santa Fe style that I love so much. Note the wood above the door. I love the colors too and the stucco work.

See a large version here.

You can also check out Jörg Dauerer’s photography at www.dauerer.de/nam_/santa_fe/index.html