A week on Broad Street November 8, 2008
Posted by Jennifer in : politics , 5 commentsI will remember November 4, 11 PM, 2008 for the rest of my life, and I have the photos to remind me of the details.
After watching the election results come in at a party in Fairmount, I walked down the Parkway, which was was disappointingly quiet with just occasional "wooooo"’s in the distance. Tens of thousands of Philadelphians had taken the day off on Halloween to celebrate the Phillies World Series victory but where was the Obama Love? As I approached Broad Street, it became clear that Philly was ready to do it up again, in the same street. Thousands of Obamafans took over both sides of the street, with cops lining the intersections. The party was still on when I left at 1 AM, and although it was boisterous and passionate, there were few signs of alcohol or belligerence. It was a wonderful experience to see strangers hugging and kissing each other, and people who had probably never considered themselves patriotic wrapping themselves in and waving in the air American flags.
Combined with my joy was a measure of caution during the Halloween, Phillies and Obama celebrations. My negative side wonders, will this be the best week ever for Philadelphia? Will Obama live up to his promise? I think that even if Obama does not prove to be a great president, the patriotism and connection that he engendered in so many millions of America will remain. Obama did not so much create new love for America as unearth it…. I definitely feel like a different person, more connected and curious about the future.
Because my last photo quiz was criticized for being too difficult, I present a very easy challenge. Which of the following photos were from the November 4 midnight celebration on Broad Street, and which were from the October 31 Phillies celebration?
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The last photo was taken just minutes after 11 PM, Nov.4 with author and letter writer Samara O’Shea. We were at a party with delicious blue cupcakes, and upon arrival I vowed to indulge only when Obama was declared #44, but of course I resisted temptation for about… 44 seconds. I felt a lot better when I read an interview with a cake artist in Buffalo who sketched our president elect with 1240 cupcakes. Clearly, Obama had all the cupcake karma he needed.
China Photography Quiz October 23, 2008
Posted by Jennifer in : travel , 9 commentsI took literally thousands of photographs on my trip to China, (which I blogged on extensively for uschess.org). I wasn’t happy with my ratio of great to forgettable photos. In the digital age, taking hundreds of photos may not batter my wallet, the environment or take up space in dusty boxes. But snapping away costs time and energy, plus I had to delete or store hundreds of crappy pictures. China has inspired me to get my lens checked out and commit to being a better photographer so perhaps I can get 5 good photos out of 100 shots, rather than 5 out of 1000.
Here’s a quiz for photo geeks: I took two cameras with me to China, my trusty and lunky Nikon D70, valued at about $1000 and my tiny $150 Casio. Can you guess which of the following photos were taken by which camera? Four were by the Nikon, four by the Canon. I will post the answers in a comment to this blog.
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Obama Plays Chess Against McCain September 23, 2008
Posted by Jennifer in : chess, politics , 60 comments.jpg)
Four years ago, GM Pascal Charbonneau, John Fernandez and I created a fictional chess game between John Kerry and George W. Bush. Here we go again…
September Surprise! Instead of tonight’s scheduled debate, Barack Obama and John McCain will face off in a chess game. And what a match up it will be! Barack Obama just defeated an overly aggressive World Women’s Champion. McCain lost his last World Championship Candidates match to a two-time champ consumed by fears of exploding rooks, but just made his comeback against a bishop-obsessed candidate. McCain’s greatest strength is fighting spirit: No one can stop talking about how he defended a pawn down rook endgame for seven years straight. Critics of Obama site his lack of experience on the international circuit, but his talent is indisputable. We have over 225 million opinions on the relative strengths of Obama and McCain, but tonight, chess seems a more appropriate decider than democrazy.
Barack Obama- John McCain
1.e4
I am Barack Obama and I am the future winner of this game. I stand on the shoulders of my great American Chess predecessors who favored 1.e4. Who would have thought that a young boy from Brooklyn, without any ties to the Russian chess elite, brought up by a single Jewish mother would one day stand in front of the American public as World Champion? And that 150 years before the levees broke, a self-taught New Orleans genius would claim the first unofficial World Championship? But on the other side of American triumph is American tragedy. Paul Morphy went crazy and died alone in his bathtub while Bobby Fischer was exiled from America for tax evasion and became a raving Anti-American and Anti-Semite. Too many on the fringes of our society, the sick and mentally ill as well as the brilliant are promoted as strong pawns on the top of their game but discarded as isolanis when past their prime. Under my presidency, no pawn will be left behind, and in contrast to my not so great predecessor, I am not talking about more standardized tests, underpaid teachers and uninsured children. I want to help pawns before they even arrive at the board. We’re not talking under-promotion, we’re talking pre-promotion. With 1.e4, I promise you I will not let America down.
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1…. c6
I am John McCain, and I am the future winner of this game. I will restore economic vitality to this country so that all pawns will have a merry Christmas. Meanwhile, my opponent has made one move, but said 100 words. Typical of a man who owns all of Dvoretsky’s books but hasn’t solved any problems. For my first move, can you expect me to play any other opening than the Maverick Variation of the Sicilian? Oops, I played the Caro. My eyesight is not what it used to be. (McCain excuses himself and returns) Gata Kamsky plays the Caro Kann, so with 1…c6 I profess my undying support for America’s troops. If you currently support Obama, I urge you to consider the Iranian Attack. Unlike my passive opponent, I have an immediate tactical refutation.
2.d4
Obama: I don’t need to play with a queen. This may be the most important decision of the game, but I’m going to replace the most powerful piece on the board- with another rook, a talkative straight shooter who won’t try any sneaky moves on me after we win the game. (Barack takes his queen away, and replaces it with a rook on d1.)
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2…Qa5+
McCain: The difference between pushing pawns and moving your queen is that a queen has actual responsibilities.
3. c3
McCain: Under a McCain presidency, every pawn will be powered at the rate of $2.22 a square. And not only that, the standing on a square tax will be reduced for all Americans.
3…e5
Obama: Pawns should pay no more than $2.21 to push a square, and only the king and queen should pay more for square rental. The people of America can’t afford more expenses at this time of crisis, but we do need to rollback some of the cuts that allow the top 1% gold encrusted borders.
4.f4
McCain: Did you hear what he just said? Obama wants to raise taxes on hard-working Americans!
4….exf4
Obama: I think you need to work on your hearing as well as your eyesight, Senator McCain.
5.Bxf4 Ke7 6.Bd6+
McCain: After abandoning your bishops and Jeremiahs, what will you do next? Pray five times a day that you’ll beat me?
6…Kxd6
Obama: This is a tight race and I think it’s high time I follow the textbook advice, "invite everyone to the party", including my g1 knight. We once had disagreements, in fact, some said that the king’s knight and I were dividing the party. But now, we must pull together. KNO McCain, KNO How.
7.Nf3 Na6 8.Bc4 Ne7 9.0-0 b5 10.Bb3 Nc7
Obama: I’d like to thank my opponent for a tough fight. Moreover, I’d like to recognize all 305 million pawns including those who are too young to vote, incarcerated or even voted against me. Without you, I’d never be able to say this: Checkmate, John McCain.
11.e5#
Also see my Chess Life Online post where I solicit more fictional games, and Jonathan Rowson’s take on Elizabeth Vicary’s blog.
Atlantic City Lesson, Part II September 19, 2008
Posted by Jennifer in : poker, travel , 5 comments
My boyfriend and I arrived in Atlantic City for our post Labor Day vacation just before the height of Hanna’s aftermath rage on the Northeast. We dropped off our bags at the Borgata, took the jitney to the Boardwalk, and then sprinted through the storm to arrive at the Piers Ceaser, a ritzy new mall with floor to ceiling windows. Pockets of people watched as huge waves crashed right into the glass, scary and surreal. We sat in the AC Continental, an offshoot of a trendy Philly restaurant and ordered wasabi mashed potatoes and drinks. Our waiter gave us a pitcher of martini for the price of just one. The sloshing and the splashing was good for an apocalyptic high.
The storm however washed away just before sunset and the rest of the excitement would wait for the next morning, where I played in the Fall Borgata (NL Texas Hold Em) Ladies Poker Open. I didn’t win too many big pots, but clawed my way up close to the bubble with my usual superiority at blind and ante stealing. About seven hours in, I got a chance to use some advice from Gus Hansen’s entertaining and honest book, Every Hand Revealed:, where he many times mentions stepping up his agression pre-break: "Last hand before the break. Another excellent opportunity to pick up 8k! Three guys are looking for the bathroom, two guys are looking for their girlfriends, leaving just little ‘ol me to steal the blinds and antes." In ladies events, where there’s usually quite a few brand new players, I think there’s another reason to push harder before the break. In my first tournaments, I was very excited to get to the dinner break, as it usually meant not only a free dinner, but that I was close to being in the money and could call all my friends and tell them I was still in! So in the hand before dinner, I had J9s with 9x the BB (plus enough antes to make my effective stack size more like 6x) Pushing there in third seat is a tad too aggressive/desperate for my normal standards, but the dinner break theory and one prefolder tipped me in favor of saying "All in." A woman who kept complaining about how awful and boring poker tournaments were, called and beat me on the cutoff with 33. Later I saw her woman in line for prize money. First she told me she had called because she read that 33 is a good hand heads-up. I explained that she was probably reading about battle of the blind situations. She responded with a great line: "You keep talking to me like I want to get good at poker"! I gotta tuck that quote away, because when I play in mixed tournaments, there is always at least one guy at my table ready to break out a mini-blackboard and chalk.
In the second Borgata Fall poker Open event I played in, the professor du jour was a quiet suited man to my left, who didn’t speak or look up for two hours….until he won a race against me! I was two off the button and raised with AK, he re-raised on the CO and I re-raised him all in. I don’t remember the exact stack sizes, but it was a trivially obvious play on my part unless he’s the tightest player ever- he obviously wasn’t since he had 99. Someone else at the table asked why I went all in, and I muttered something vague, "I don’t mind gambling." My opponent from the hand said, "That’s not the right way to think about it. The correct way to think about it is to put me on a range of hands." He continued to talk about pot-odds, pokerbots, bubble play, etc, etc. It was as if he didn’t feel he had a license to speak with a short stack but after doubling up, the words overflowed. It was funny and he was a nice guy so I forgave him for assuming I was unaware of the concept of "range of hands." But next time I’ll know what to say: "You’re talking to me like I want to get good at poker!"
The most dramatic scene of my fall AC trip was in a "Survivor tournament" in which the top 15 get $1500 each, creating one of the ugliest bubble spots I’ve ever encountered. I was not playing but had 20% of my dad, who is a beast in live poker. When it got to 16, most people wanted to make a deal and split the pot evenly, with everyone getting $1400. One woman refused despite the fact that one of the players offered to pay her $100 out of his pocket, which would have guaranteed her the max prize, $1500, anyway. Normally I’m an all for poker deal refusals- my strongest area in poker is in the endgame, so I am often annoyed by premature pressure to chop. But this was silly, cause there was no value in her continuing to play. Her explanation for refusal, ""No one was ever there for me on the bubble." The quote depressed me cause it could be applied to so many more important things than poker. Just because no one was there for you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be there for your beautiful human beings trying to grind out a cash in the Survivor tournament! In the end, the deal was forced through but not without much screaming, stacks being shoved blind, and hundred dollar bills thrown across the table. If someone’s going to attack me, I hope it’s with a hundred dollar bill too.
Atlantic City Lesson September 14, 2008
Posted by Jennifer in : poker , 3 comments
My most interesting hand from the three Borgata Fall Open events I played was sadly, one that I lost. I was 45 minutes into a $400 buy-in with a relatively deep, no ante structure, and I woke up with a pair of kings. I’d already increased my stack from 7000 to 8500 so I was feeling good. A dude in early position raised to 150: he had been very aggressive and involved in a lot of huge pots, especially considering this was just the first level with 25 50 blinds. I re-raised to 500 and he called. The flop came out 669 with two spades and one club. He checked, which immediately caught me off guard because I hadn’t seen him check any flops up to that point. I bet 700, he insta-called. The turn was annoying, an 8 of clubs. He fired out with 1500. I had a bad feeling but decided there was a high % chance he had nothing, so I called, figuring I’d go to the river unless something disgusting popped up. Also maybe he would just give up and check the river. The river was an icky 7 of spades. He bet 2500 instantly: definitely not what I wanted to see, So many things beat me. 99,88,77, AA any ten, any six, any two spades, any 5. Pretty much the only two reasonable hands I can beat are JJ or QQ so without too much thought, I threw away my cowboys. He then gleefully turned over AK…of HEARTS. Stone cold bluff. I was even more upset at myself when he barely played a hand for the next two hours.
If I’d known he was a tight player who just happened to play the first 30 minutes like a maniac, I probably would have called the river or even better, I would have pushed the turn. If you’re not really into poker, you might be wondering: Why would you be MORE likely to think a tight player was bluffing than a loose player? Well no one is as tight as you think they are, first of all. More importantly, in that spot, a crazy player could potentially have hands as weak as A6s or A5s or ATo – they all beat me, but a tight player would almost certainly throw them away based on the preflop action. So I folded because I thought he was loose….seems counterintuive but actually makes a lot of sense. Of course I was disgusted at being bluffed like that, but also grateful he had shown me the hand so I could better analyze it. After losing this demoralizing hand, I lost two races with AK vs. pairs and was out in a flash in the second chance. Not my lucky day in AC!
Chocolate Chess Boxing September 4, 2008
Posted by Jennifer in : chess , 2 comments
As a present for my brother Greg for his work on chessvideos.com, an artist from Denmark, Carina Jørgensen created this web illustration of a game between my brother and me. Some of the details from the photo come from a match that I played against Greg three years ago, in a psycho-geography event organized by an artist I met in Brooklyn, Sharilyn Neidhardt. Greg and I played a normal game (a draw), while our moves were transmitted via cell-phone to 32 adults and children who stood on a grid of street corners, waiting to be told where to move.
Check out Carina’s website: In addition to chess and art, she also trains in martial arts, and is pictured in boxing gloves on her bio page.
Many of my hybrid chess and promotional ideas like chess-spinning (integrated chess/music competitions), chess gambling and marathon chess, have yet to happen. Meanwhile, the chessboxing people truly have their act together- there is a World Chess Boxing Organization based in Berlin and a chessboxing newswire. I’m shocked they haven’t contacted me yet- I am from Philly like Rocky, I wrote Chess Bitch, and the only reason I ever won two U.S. women’s titles is because my fighting spirit trumped my poor calculating skills. Isn’t it obvious that I’d be a great chess-boxer with practice on quick mates and how to protect myself from blows to the brain? I’m going to start training soon– I’ll see you on the steps.
Science-in-Motion August 8, 2008
Posted by Jennifer in : Uncategorized , add a commentMy mom, a chemistry professor at Drexel University, founded a cool program called Science-in-Motion. SIM, for short, brings top of the line science equipment to Philadelphia public schools that can’t afford it. This video shows a demonstration she gave at a recent summer camp. The goal of SIM, the show and the video is to get kids excited about science. It works: While waiting for the presentation start, most of the kids were texting or zoning out, but by the end everyone was totally fixated on the show.
I was there to help film and to my surprise, I saw a Girls High student from my 9Queens’ Academies sitting in the second row. There are many cliches about what it means to sit in the first-row, but I think there’s something to be said about the second-row too: enthusiastic but self-conscious about it, and in this case, missing out on the thrill of getting your sneakers drenched in liquid nitrogen.
Fear and Fire in Belize August 4, 2008
Posted by Jennifer in : travel , 5 comments.jpg)
My excitement for a Belizean jungle adventure was tempered by an eerie feeling. The night before departing to volunteer at an all girls’ chess camp in Belize, I told my mother and boyfriend: "I don’t know, I just feel I may die on this trip." In the end we all dismissed it as melodrama, but I am not afraid of flying, so I had no idea where the fear came from.
On my way to Belize, I stopped over for an opening party at the Saint Louis Chess and Scholastic Center. The chess club is the most beautiful I’ve seen in America, and I also got a chance to see the Pullitzer Museum and the Saint Louis Museum of Art. The trip was off to a great start, and when I met my 9queens partner in Houston to travel on to Belize, my fear of dying had subsided. Upon arriving at the Caves Branch jungle lodge, we were greeted with tropical drinks, nachos and screaming monkeys: This was getting better and better! Then I started teaching at chess camp in the middle of the jungle for talented girls aged 9 to 12, from all over Belize. Read more on that at 9queens.org, uschess.org and the Belize National Youth Chess Foundation site.
Two nights after settling into Belize, I woke up at 2 AM in my jungle cabin to a raging fire. The fire had been set off by a combination of wind and an oil lamp. I’ll never know what exactly I did wrong—the cabin encouraged the use of the oil lamps, since there was no electricity, but they’ve never had a fire in the past so I’m guessing that most people don’t sleep with them on. Luckily, the cabin was about 300 square feet, and I was on the right end of the square footage. I screamed "fire" and a hotel guest came running to help me extinguish the fire. Somehow, the fire, which was pretty big, about the size of a small car, only destroyed a small mattress and a DVD. A lot of things could have gone wrong: I could have a third glass of wine (that may have knocked me out) or chosen that evening to experiment with sleeping pills. I usually hate to wake up in the middle of the night to meaningless noises, but now I am grateful for any and all survival instincts, no matter how annoying.
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After the fire, I sensed the danger had passed. The rest of the week I conquered other fears: I jumped off a 20 feet cave waterfall; rocks in front of and behind the deep landing spot scared me into good aim. I went tubing, urged along by a 12-year-old who I’d just taught King and pawn vs. King. My courage almost ran out when faced with rappelling gear and a 100 feet cliff. My fear of falling backwards is so extreme that I used to be unable to play "Trust" with anyone, even boyfriends. I mustered the courage not only because of two fit and attractive guides encouraging me but mostly because of the group of 9 and 10-year girls below me who had already jumped. If I hadn’t done it, and just walked back down 100 feet through the jungle, I’d have to change my moniker from Chess Bitch to Chess Chicken. Yes, the latter is worse.
Despite traveling to over 20 countries, I was blown away by the new things I saw and did in Belize. I’ve never seen the rainforest landscape or felt the moisture of the jungle make my skin like butter. That’s why I chose Belize for my friends Mike and Gretchen’s "Honeymoon Lottery" later this month. Every wedding guest chooses a place for Mike and Gretchen’s to honeymoon. The winning destination will be chosen at random, with my brother presiding with a microphone and bingo balls. I’m rooting for Belize because I can’t imagine anything more romantic than kissing your newlywed at the top of a cliff you’re terrified to jump off of or rappel down. First, you’d kiss him out of paranoia and then again at the bottom, you’d kiss him out of relief.
On my magnet collection at home, I have my favorite cheesy quote, by Eleanor Roosevelt: "Do One Thing Every Day That Scares You." Belize should take care of my quota for the rest of the year.
Belize Gallery July 28, 2008
Posted by Jennifer in : chess, travel , 4 commentsHere is a photo gallery from my trip to Belize, where I explored the jungle and taught at a girls chess camp.
The odds in Vegas and Israel June 26, 2008
Posted by Jennifer in : poker, travel , add a comment
About 30 hours after start time, the Ladies World Series of Poker ($1000 buy-in), was down from 1190 players to 34. Under the gun, I looked down at two black kings. I raised; I was re-raised by a serious Russian girl in middle position; I re-raised all in and she called. I was happy to get all my money in preflop. She turned over one of a few hands I expected (I knew she didn’t have aces cause she asked for a count after my re-raise), a pair of queens. A queen came on the flop; my stomach turned but straightened up again when a king popped on the turn. The river was the yuckiest heart I’ve ever seen, which gave a flush to my enemy in the hand, Svetlana Gromenkova. My melodramatic father said it was the worst moment of my life. Assuming for a second there’s some merit in this declaration, does that mean it was a particularly terrible moment or that I’ve had a great life? My brother and backers said things like, "gruesome but nice run,” “that’s poker but you did great.” Weeks later, my boyfriend admitted that in his heart, he felt I should have played tighter in that spot—an excusable comment from someone who doesn’t know about the ranking of poker hands.
There was one person I wanted to clock: the tournament director came up to me after the hand and started raving about how wonderful it was that I came in 33rd out of 1190 players. Although I was not crying, he turned on the "I’m talking to a small child voice." and repeated himself cooing, "You came ahead of over 1100 women. That’s amazing!" At the time, I was more focused on losing $60,000 of value to a 4:1 shot than on my poker talent or the luck it took me to get that far. I wish I had punched him cause then the KK vs. QQ moment would speedily be replaced by a worst moment: being carried out of the Rio in handcuffs.
Svetlana ended up winning the event and the $224,702 prize. She was one of the best players I saw at the tournament so I can’t argue with the result. I tried making small talk with her early in the tournament about the Borgata, Brooklyn and trying to learn Russian, but she couldn’t have been less interested. I’ve mentioned in a previous blog that women poker players too often shun math in poker. Svetlana and various other professionals in the tournament (Kathy Leibert and the "first lady of poker" Linda Johnson played at my table for a while) were definitely exceptions.
One player that impressed a lot of people was Shavonne Mitchell, who finished in 22nd. I sat down at her table and the women started whispering to me: "She’s such a bitch", "She sucks all the air from the table.", “She wins at the biggest NL Hold Em games at AC,” "Don’t get involved with her." Well, I played with her for about 5-6 hours total and I can say definitively that she was NOT nasty. For instance, when I went all in with 10 4 off from the button with 6x the BB plus antes, I easily defeated AJ in the BB by rivering a wheel. 
Shavonne was one of a few at the table who didn’t complain about how there is "no justice in poker" and she reacted in a similar way when she suffered a bad beat of her own. So, Shavvone clearly had enviable table presence and instincts, but IMO, there were just way too many instances in which she committed 1/3 of her stack with preflop raises and then folded to all in re-raises. Her style definitely made an impression; I wish white women would step up like she did and behave and dress like divas at size 10, size 12, whatever.
As for my play, I’m happy to say I played my worst hand of the weekend in a 100$ buy in warm-up tournament at Binion’s in downtown Las Vegas, a day before the main ladies event began. I had about 20x the BB (there were antes) and min-raised from EP with KQs. I got one caller — a pretty tight woman who had me covered, just to my left. The flop came JT5 rainbow, and I idiotically did not push the flop. I then convinced myself to fold after my opponent’s bet. I was burning for a couple hours…it feels awful to play too tight. After this, I decided I was rusty and needed to focus on two personal goals for the big ladies event: not to play too tight if I got to the bubble and not to commit too much of my stack preflop without deciding whether or not to call or make an all in bet. I’m happy to say that I think in 15+ hours of play, I succeeded pretty well in these goals, although there were obviously a few hands I’m still not sure about. At some point early in the tournament, I was probably the chip leader (hard to tell for sure with so many players.) That was exciting because there was another big stack at my table, and I got heads-up with her a couple times, which gave me a glimpse into the never-never land of deep-stacked poker. I even bluffed on the river once against her with absolutely nothing, my proudest moment of the tournament. River bluffs rarely seem profitable enough to me in my usual short-stacked scinerios, because a reasonable bluff usually represents too large % of my stack and I’d rather save it for a situation where my opponent is even less likely to have something. I think I have the talent for deep-stack poker, although I’d need experience to tell how good I could get at it. I had little time to muse on my success and failure, as three days after Vegas, I was off on my second trip to Israel.
Upon my arrival in Israel, I was placed for about an hour in a holding area with Muslim and Arab familes. Of course this is because my last name is Shahade, a Lebanese name: when you google it, besides the chess accomplishments of my family, you’ll find some entries about fundamentalist Muslims. In the holding pen I was slightly scared yet exhiliarated by the thrill of being in something similar to a jail. I struck up a conversation with a beautiful Palestinian-Californian college student, Leena. It turns out she is blogging about her experiences in Palestine, and managed to pass the interrogation by feigning lack of political thoughts- "Jessica Simpson couldn’t match up to my apparent ignorance." I had an easier time. After an hour waiting for the interrogation, I was done in two minutes after explaining that my mother is Jewish and showing off my “Learn Hebrew in 10 minutes a day” book.
Less than an hour after the ordeal at the airport, I was eating amazing falafel and hummus in a neighborhood called Abu Ghosh, at a place named, funnily enough, The Lebanese Restaurant. Hummus has remained a staple on my trip, while eggplant, grape leaves and halva ice cream are also fighting over my stomach.
The people have been very nice despite repeated warnings from Israelis back in America that I should expect lots of shoving and gratuitous bumping, mockery of my crude attempts to speak Hebrew, and my thighs that are naturally smaller than in the winter, but between which you still can’t stick two magnetized 1 shekel coins. True, I have encountered Israeli men with big eyes, who will hit on you when your boyfriend goes to the bathroom and an Israeli-Palestinian boy who screamed “Muslims Only” when I tried to approach the Dome of the Rock, just to photograph it. But I found all these experiences telling or funny, not traumatic.
July will be a stressful but fun month as I’ll take my tiny pink laptop on the road for events in Philly, Chelsea, NY, Camden, St. Louis and Belize. Air-conditioning is not as popular in Israel and that doesn’t bother me. Back home, I sometimes forget to enjoy the heat.
Shalom, Jennifer
