Last night there was hail storm in Jerusalem, in the midst of a heavy rain with thunder and lightning. Tuesday I experienced a small earthquake in Ein Gedi. Last month I experienced a tornado in Majorca. What's next?
The next couple of weeks are going to be filled with quality time sitting around airports, train stations, and bus stops. 4 countries in 3 days (two done today). Then "real life" starts. I am starting to get more and more excited. Hopefully the scary part it over now. At least for a while now.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
Just thinking...
(my new "street", sideways for some reason)
...seems like things keep getting better everyday. This is really happening. I am really going to live here. It may not be a mistake, after all. For the first time in a while - Yay.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
On public transport
London has spoiled me. I have grown tired of its girth and anonymity, but it is huge and there all always new neighborhoods to explore. After only 24 hours I am feeling the opposite in Jerusalem - there are only so many places to go where you constantly run into the same of people. I am being negative and pessimistic, at a time when my life is full of promise and possibility. I need to get rid of this "grass-is-greener" syndrome, and be open to new things and new opportunities. It's old and familiar, but I am really scared and don't know how to articulate this. I want to make a commitment. I want to be here. I've wanted to do this for a long time now. I don't want to be afraid anymore.
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Public Service Announcement to the people who ride the 3, 16, 59, 133, and 159 buses in central London:
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The ride from the airport was slightly appalling. I couldn't help but think about a friend in Jordan who was born in Lod, but left when he was a child. A number of years ago he got a visa to Israel and came to visit his childhood home. He could see it but was not allowed near it, because his home was now in the "security" area around the airport.
There is not much traffic at 5:30 am. The sherut was moving very fast as the sun came up.
I noticed a chain-link fence along the side of the road. Then some Arab houses with black water tanks on their flat roofs. Lots of men standing by the side of the road, like migrants workers waiting for a construction job, but they were in their OWN country, or at least what was once their country...
Then came a bigger wall with a nice stone decoration near the top. It was almost 'pretty', like the wall being built along the road to Hebron, not like the cement monstrosity around Ramallah or Bethlehem. The wall running near the houses suddenly turns and stops. On the other side? Half a dozen houses with red roofs. With special access roads and overpasses. None of the Arab areas we passed had that.
Around 6am we reached a settlement just north of Beit Iksah where the first passengers were dropped off. The sherut then made its way to the center of the city, to my new apartment, to my new life.
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Public Service Announcement to the people who ride the 3, 16, 59, 133, and 159 buses in central London:
The bus is not your bedroom. Please do not snog quietly in the in the front, make out loudly in the back, or shout across the aisle at each other if your relationship is in trouble. The bus is not you bathroom. Please do not cut your nails leaving the scraps on the floor, pluck hairs from your chin, or spit on the floor after a coughing fit. The bus is not your kitchen. Please do not dump chicken bones and yogurt containers on the floor, or leave your empty beer bottles to roll around, then fall down the stairs. /end of rant
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The ride from the airport was slightly appalling. I couldn't help but think about a friend in Jordan who was born in Lod, but left when he was a child. A number of years ago he got a visa to Israel and came to visit his childhood home. He could see it but was not allowed near it, because his home was now in the "security" area around the airport.
There is not much traffic at 5:30 am. The sherut was moving very fast as the sun came up.
I noticed a chain-link fence along the side of the road. Then some Arab houses with black water tanks on their flat roofs. Lots of men standing by the side of the road, like migrants workers waiting for a construction job, but they were in their OWN country, or at least what was once their country...
Then came a bigger wall with a nice stone decoration near the top. It was almost 'pretty', like the wall being built along the road to Hebron, not like the cement monstrosity around Ramallah or Bethlehem. The wall running near the houses suddenly turns and stops. On the other side? Half a dozen houses with red roofs. With special access roads and overpasses. None of the Arab areas we passed had that.
Around 6am we reached a settlement just north of Beit Iksah where the first passengers were dropped off. The sherut then made its way to the center of the city, to my new apartment, to my new life.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Jordanian movies
The arts are expanding rapidly in Jordan. In addition to the National gallery and Darat al Fanun there are many art galleries popping up around Jebel Weibda and Jebel Amman. There are concerts in Roman ruins - in Amman in the amphitheater downtown and on the castle on the hill. Ever year thousands of visitors flock to Jerash to enjoy local music and dance from Jordan, the region, and the entire world. The Royal Cultural Center and King Hussein Cultural Center host movie and theater festivals. Many embassies have week long celebrations with music and film. Coffee shops occasionally have live bands. Tiesto had a concert in mini Petra. Who knows what else will come.
I went to see this movie 2 years ago, as part of a film festival. I think it's even funnier now that I have had some distance. You don't need to understand the Arabic to enjoy.
I went to see this movie 2 years ago, as part of a film festival. I think it's even funnier now that I have had some distance. You don't need to understand the Arabic to enjoy.
