Ask AnswerWoman

Some of you have left questions and comments after recent posts. Some answers I tried to email to you, but I honestly haven’t figured out a good way to respond. This post is an attempt to answer a few of those items. For those who might be curious, I’ve inserted links to the original posts which provoked the comments/questions.

• No, Golda hasn’t arrived yet, but we did look last weekend. Farida decided that Mohammed, Jesus, Krishna and Buddha would eat Golda, and that wouldn’t be a good thing. But I guess that’s actually not too far from reality, is it?  The Druze, the Jain and the Bahai are probably going to take even longer.

• Yes, I admit I could have vacuumed in the time it took to write the post. But I had fun writing. I wouldn’t have had fun schlepping the Rainbow all over the house.

• The only reason I know this part of the English language is because I have children and a grandchild who are technologically savvy.

• Yes, you really can transfer Tivo recordings to your iPhone or iTouch, take them with you and watch them anywhere. And the only reason I know this is because I have children who are technologically savvy.

• You really can’t expect me to feel sorry for you, now can you? You who are not gainfully employed at the moment should revel in the opportunity to read all these outstanding blogs that I have scouted out for you. I did all the work. You get to have all the fun.

• Yes, it’s surprising how much Abid looks like his mother, but what would really surprise you is how much Nasreen looks like the aunt she was named after. At Christmas she complained about a photo that made her look “too ethnic,” and we thought she was joking–until she brought out the photo of Auntie Safia. The resemblance is uncanny.

• I am amazed and thrilled that you would try out the recipe. I will bring you the garam masala on Tuesday.

• Definitely yes to the cuppa once the big storm which is supposed to pound us this week gets over with and there are no chain restrictions to get to the valley. I don’t do chains.

• I have been too cheap to buy Grey Eagle an automatic feeder until now. But at 20 he definitely deserves it.

• Call me slow or naive or whatever. You are right that in many areas (Afghanistan particularly comes to mind) women are considered second-class citizens. To Abid’s family’s credit (or my ignorance), I never got the feeling that the men in his family looked down on the women of the family at all. Quite the contrary. Many are quite well educated, highly-respected physicians, which is a tribute to the men who encouraged their education and careers. This does not imply that this is necessarily the norm with other families. Yet at the time I was in Pakistan, all of the women of Abid's family still observed the custom of segregating the sexes at social gatherings. The women would also wear burqa when prudence dictated, although it was not the norm for them. They did it by choice, not by obligation. Abid’s family also nominally observed the “arranged marriage” custom although I know of several cases where the couple knew each other and wanted to marry but had the families make the arrangements.

• Yes, I noticed this endearing trait of your son-in-law and grandson at your birthday party.

• Getting published was the result of having a great writing teacher, fantastic co-authors, perserverence, several years of classes–and a certain amount of luck.

• I miss you, too. Yes, Arkansas is a lot closer than the Jordan Valley.

Whew! I thought this would be a quick post, but it’s now an hour and a half in the writing. But I think I’ve caught up with everybody.

Open Letter to Betty F.S.H. in Israel

Dearest Betty!

You just made my day.

You can’t imagine how happy your comment to my post of January 17 made me. For a variety of reasons.

First off, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to urge, coerce, wheedle, whine, and beg you to start a blog. But I felt guilty about doing so because writing is not everyone’s thing, even though you and shared the inspiring words of Mrs. Ohlsen lo! those many years ago in the hallowed halls of Cal State L.A. And that, my friend, is a run-on sentence the likes of which Mrs. Ohlsen would be appalled at. Also ending a sentence with a preposition. Also sentence fragments.

But consider this:

* How many of us have abandoned the ideal job as an insurance adjuster in Southern California for the wilds of a kibbutz at the tail-end of the Sea of Galilee just three miles from the Golan Heights?

* How many of us spent six months as a volunteer on said kibbutz willingly mucking out cow stalls and peeling bushels of potatoes (not at the same time, of course).

* How many of us then came back to the states and converted to Judaism (even though she has a Jewish father) so she could make Aliyah?

* How many of us hid in the bathroom as Saddam rained scud missiles overhead?

* How many of us have photos of ourselves wearing gas masks in said bathroom?

* Who among us spent years working as an administrative assistant in a valve factory in said kibbutz?

* Who else is married to a lovable Bear?

You have tales to tell, my dearest pal, and little enough time to tell them. Please get started now.

And those are just the bare-bones stories I know. I, for one, want to hear those stories again from you and all the rest that I haven’t heard.

Think of all the adventures we had before you left for Israel? I’d like to hear your side of those.

So, pal of mine, by now you should have received an email in which I’ve told you how to get started on your blogging career. From there it’s up to you.

I can’t wait!

Love, meeeeeeeee