Sunday, March 27, 2011

The Importance of Tolerance



It is universally acknowledged that Canada, in present times, is a melting pot for so many different people coming from various backgrounds and cultures. If I am sure of anything, it is that I will leave Canada knowing this heartening fact: that heterogeneity can work. 
Of course, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is now more than sixty years old and it is deeply engraved in the souls and hearts of all those who live it. Living in the shadow of the conflict might sometimes mislead you into thinking that there's nothing more important going on in the world. But, quite frankly, nothing can be further from the truth. 
Initially, I was surprised, if not appalled, by how little people here in Canada seem to be acquainted with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or at least by how little they seem to care. At first I was quite enthusiastic to explain about what was really going on back in my homeland, thinking that people here might be dying to know at last, from a first source, what the fighting is all about (as you can see, I was so desperate and firm to tell my story I even sometimes did that on restaurant napkins), but then, as time went on, I got accustomed to the lack of interest of people on the subject and I understood that maybe I was, after all, in my attitude at least, wrong.
My behavior proved that my mindset was in the state that it did not want to accept that my homeland's problems are superficial. But Canada is filled with people like me; people who come from shedload of backgrounds bringing with them the mentality and traditions of their homelands. If each of these people should think that their background story is more important than others', then the cause of creating a untied and strong Canada is lost.
A lot of people perceive Canada as a tolerant country... harmless and quiet. Well, it might be true. But I feel it is important to highlight that Canada is all of these things not because the people here are so friendly that they embrace your foreign culture with closed eyes and welcoming arms, not at all, but rather because you, yourself, learn to put on the side your culture - never forget it, of course - and accept that there are other stories beside yours.
Rethinking all of this reminded me of a sobering fact: if we, Israelis and Palestinians alike, do not learn to implement the Canadian tolerance in our midst, then we are as helpless and doomed as anyone. And in the end of it all, no one seems to care about this as much as we should. 

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Mission Accomplished



The drawing release of iPad2 in Canada evoked interesting phone calls from some of my friends back home. I, however, have always had only remote interest in these things, if any. So, as you might imagine, yesterday on 18:12 Canada time, I was standing like everyone else in the winding line for Apple store. 
One of my very best friends, Dizi, gave me specific instructions on how to pass the day with an iPad2 in my hands before Canada ran out of them. He was so thorough and accurate in his instructions that he almost sounded like a general planning his next military campaign and he demanded his white 16 GB iPad2, only WiFi, with tanned leather cover, now!
The whole experience of buying the iPad2 was a funny one. Some Apple workers were approaching the queuing people, in turn, asking them what are the specifications of their wished iPad2s - colour, size, etc... They might as well have been asking what sort of salad do you want in your falafel sandwich - any humus?
Upon entering the crowded store, each customer was accompanied by a personal Apple employee, in order to quicken the process. And when I eventually stepped out of the store, even though it was not intended for me, I couldn't help but feel a slight guilt for having acquired the iPad to begin with - what could this device hold that a regular computer doesn't?
I guess I will have to wait a little further to discover this troubling crypt. For the time being, the Apple box will sit beside my bed, unopened and unscathed, until it becomes dog-eared and shabby. 
Your good health, Dizi!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Downtown Ottawa



Returning to my apartment after travelling made me appreciate how lovely Ottawa is. Of course, it cannot be compared, in terms of how urban it is, to Montreal or Toronto, but still, this city is very dear to my heart. It reminds me of Haifa a lot (though totally different in looks) - perhaps that's partly the reason.  

Friday, March 18, 2011

Very Big



It just struck me the other day, while looking at this satellite picture, how big Canada is and how wrong I am if I say that I saw Canada; clearly there are parts of Canada that are so distant that I will obviously not see in this trip and might never see in my whole life.
Some of the Canadians who study with me are from British Columbia or Alberta, both are in the far west of Canada. It seems incomprehensible, but in order to attend Carleton University they had to take a five-hour flight to Ottawa! And, just in order to put the flesh on the bones, it's as far as England or France are from Tel-Aviv. Doesn't that make them as much international students as I am?         

Friday, March 11, 2011

Ascending Temperatures



It feels different to walk outside these days compared to what it was like before. It's defiantly getting warmer to the extent that you sometimes no longer need a hat or gloves. Birds and ravens cross the sky, twittering and calling. Slight green starts emerging and as the snow melts, wonderful puddles and routes of water are created. People no longer retreat to their warm homes but rather prefer to dawdle on the streets outside for fresh air. Spring is nearly here.       

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Mid-Critics



The middle presentation took place today. I presented my project in front of my tutor, two guest architects and the rest of the class. 
The project is starting to take shape and form. There's no denying that I understand things in it that I didn't understand before, like the structure and the spaces hierarchy. As for now, we are a month away from the finale critics. I hope the rainbow that came across my sketch book while working means that the project will progress in the right direction. 



Tuesday, March 8, 2011

French Montreal



Montreal is located in Quebec (Ottawa being in Ontario). Quebec is a French province.
Montreal is a very young city. It is very funky as well. Many people are with tattoos and a lot smoke and it is less clean than Ottawa.




The food is magnificent, as you can probably imagine. I dined in a French restaurant and it was exceptional. In this particular restaurant the recipe of the meal I took is said to be so good that they keep the recipe secretly. And the bread... oh, the bread...





Montreal has striking architecture, very constructive. Also, you see many different styles dispersed higgledy-piggledy all over the city. One famous building there is Moshi Sadfdi's (him again) Habitat 67 dwellings. The building imitates the form of a vernacular village. Obviously, Safdi grew in Haifa, and one can't really mistake the inspiration for his project.






In Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal) there are many galleries and nice restaurants. The city in this area is so alive. During the day some activities for children took place and during the night there was what the locals call "White Night", which  basically means that at nightfall, all across the city at the different subway stations, night activities take place and people can take the subway, free of charge for one exclusive night, and have a look at what's happening in the different stations. It was surprising to see how people, despite the cold, go out and dance and have fun.              


Pre-Presentation


Thursday, March 3, 2011

Playing With Food




Chef's meal of today: Sea food with cheese and spinach ravioli and mushrooms under cream dressing. Wine: Jackson Triggs 2008. 




Following Frank: Update



The Martin House in Buffalo, yet another Wright building. Unlike other Wright buildings I saw, this one is going under major restoration work intending to bring it back to its original splendour. In this building you can very clearly see Wright's transition from his initial prairie house traditional design approach to a more modern one. It's a hybrid made of tradition and innovation.


The Falls




86 million litters, that's the amount of water falling in Niagara Falls per minute! It's obviously an astounding sight (although I imagined it would be bigger). Words can fail to describe the intensity of the falling water, but so can still pictures; luckily enough video technology exists.




DC




If New York is the city then Washington is the museum. Everything about Washington seems to have been thoroughly designed; from the magnificent boulevards and the illustrious buildings, to the street benches and lamps. All the ingredients of the city sit in perfect harmony and absolute formality, celebrating the capital of the United States. Everything is so clean and polished. The subway stations are much more representative than those of New York. Even the people seem prettier and more finely-dressed.





The National Mall is the main open public space in the city. It can be said that the National Mall is a miniature Central Park. However, if the Central Park is designed so as to imitate nature, following the English tradition of landscape design, then the National Mall is designed with formal axises, according to the French tradition. Majestic and distinct buildings define the National Mall, engulfing it: museums, galleries and important governmental and historical buildings, such as the Lincoln Temple, the Capitol and the White House. In short, one can hardly visit everything (even if, like me, you're staying for three days) because there is so many of these buildings.








Following the footsteps of a local friend I managed to visit a special place in Washington which tourists normally don't find and are hardly interested in. Near the Washington airport there's a small park in which people mysteriously, regularly though, gather. These people don't trouble to go out of their cars. They stay inside, to keep from the cold, and wait until... 
as if coming out of nowhere, you see a huge airplane, few tens of meters floating above you - it just took off (video soon)!