Chapter 1, In The Army

1957

    Uncle Rone, dad’s younger brother, gave me a big toy gun for my second birthday. The next day he took me with him to the army camp. It was his last day of his military service. Uncle Rone and his friend, Uncle Simon, decided to take me with them to Tel Aviv to celebrate their discharge and my birthday.

Art by Sarah Tibi

    We drove in Uncle Simon's used new car, a secondhand Studebaker. I know because Uncle Simon let me drive it. I sat on his lap and held the wheel all the way from Beer Sheva to Tel Aviv. (I was a good driver. I could drive and eat at the same time. Sometimes I let go of the wheel and the car drives straight without my help.) Uncle Rone bought me for the road a “Choco” drink and “Yoffy-Yoffy” - a delicious fried dough dipped in sugar, and I love it.

    On the way, (which was a long way, because we left when the small hand was on 9 and the big hand was on 12, and we got to Tel Aviv when the small hand was at 11 and the big hand was at 9) we saw the new “Moshavim” - new farm settlements with small white houses and big backyards. They were scattered all along the semi desert dry land of Israel’s south part. I saw the tall sprinklers spraying water, chick, chick, chick, chick, thrrrrr, to wet the land. I saw the farmers planting fruit trees that will give fruit in five years. (I don't know if I could wait so long.) 

 "Look!” I said “Ducks!"
 "You look at the road when you drive!" Uncle Rone said smiling.
They were so cute, a mother duck and many baby duckies walking behind her in a long line, all waddling from side to side. (I wish we had ducks. All we had were chickens, but Uncle Robert, mom’s brother, had ducks, and sometimes, he let me play with them when I went to visit Meme (grandma) Julie.)

Art By Sarah Tibi

 

    Then we saw the Bedouins. Now, these are very interesting people. They live in big tents, made out of thick wool, which they move with them anywhere they go. They fold the tents and load them on their tall camels and go to a new grazing ground for their goats and sheep. You can tell a Bedouin by his clothing. The men wear “Galabia” - a long plane cotton robe and a “Kaffia” on their head with a black rope around it to hold it down. They call it “Aaggal”. The women wear black dresses covering them from head to toe. I don't know how they see anything through that.

    When we arrived to Tel Aviv, we stopped for “falafel,” - fried crushed chickpea balls in a pita with salad. I was a good boy and ate the whole half pita. From there we went to the army camp.

    At the camp I saw the big army trucks, a cannon, and a very big tank.
"They're here only for display" explained Uncle Rone. "This is not a fighting camp. We come here to enlist or to be dismissed."
We entered a big room where I saw many solders waiting in lines, very long lines in front of a few counters where military clerks were sitting, very seriously.

 "Uncle Rone," I said in French after a long time waiting.
 "What, Nanou?"
 "When are we going home?"
 "Soon, after those three people, then it'll be our turn and we can go."
 "But I have to go to the bathroom."
 "You're a big boy now. You can go by yourself. It's right at the end of the hall."
 "O.K."

    I went, like a big boy, by myself. But when I entered the bathroom, I didn't know what to do. The toilet seat was not there. Instead, there was an odd - looking porcelain plate with a hole in the back and two raised ovals, one on each side. It was all dirty and scary. I couldn't go there, and I just remembered that I didn't exactly know how to wipe. It was always Mom who helped me with that.  I returned to my uncle and said in French, "I can't go there. It's dirty, and I'm afraid I'll fall in the hole."

    Now Uncle Rone was next in line, and he didn't want to lose the spot, so he said, "Why don't you ask Uncle Simon to go with you? He's done now and he can help you."
Uncle Simon didn't speak French, so I had to tell him in Hebrew. "Uncle Simon," I said. By now my stomach really hurt and I felt that if I didn't hurry, I'd make in my pants. "You have to come with me now to the bathroom to clean it and help me out because I have to go right now. Come on, let's go, please, I can't hold it anymore." I guess I was talking a little too loud because I saw everybody turning to look at us.

    Uncle Simon was very embarrassed and said, "Shush, not so loud. Everybody is listening. “Well, if you think that Uncle Simon was embarrassed, you have no idea what being embarrassed really is! I couldn't hold it anymore and I had that terrible accident.
Uncle Simon not only had to clean the bathroom, but he also had to help me get cleaned, and Uncle Rone had to buy me a new pair of underwear.

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“Yoffy Yoffy” (Sfinge / Kondeila)

  The poor people’s dessert. A north African popular dessert called “Sfinge by the Moroccans or Kondeila by the Tunisians. I called it “Yoffy Yoffy” because that's what the peddler selling them was yelling, it means wonderful, wonderful. This recipe is one of the simplest I have ever tried, yet it is so good that it is also very fattening. Therefore, we will be making only a small portion to feed 2 people.

Ingredients:

 1 Cup of flour
 2/3 Cup of water
1TBSP Sugar
 ½ tsp of salt
 ½ tsp of yeast

Preparation:
  Pour the flour in a bowl and create a small hill with a volcano indent at the top. pour the 1 TBSP sugar and 1/4 tsp of yeast in the crater. Add a TBSP of water and let it sit for 5 minutes. Slowly add the 2/3 cup of water and 1/4 tsp of salt, fold in the mixture and knead the dough with wet hands. The dough should feel sticky and pull like chewing gum. Keep kneading for about 5 minutes and let it sit under a wet towel for about 2 hours. It will rise a little.
  Heat up 2 cups of vegetable oil in a 4-quart pot. when you see the oil starts to move slowly in the pot, pull small (about 1″ size) balls and stretch them to flat circles and dunk them in the hot oil, about 3 or 4 each time. Let it fry until you see the dough turn golden brown. Flip them over to get an even color on both sides. pull them out and let it dry a few moments on a paper towel. Sprinkle confection sugar and serve (or eat).

  my little secret to frying, almost every time I deep fry. I found it to be a boost to the flavor. 
I add a tsp of rough salt to the frying oil.

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