Things I've learned about Jerusalem (part 1)
It didn't take long for a few things to impress themselves upon me pretty firmly, In no particular order, these are some of the things I've learned about Jerusalem (part 1):
1. Jerusalem is LOUD. The people are loud, the sirens are loud, the traffic is loud, the music is loud. It's like someone cranked up the volume on everyday life.
2. Jerusalem is loud except on Shabbat (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown) when everything closes down, certainly in West Jerusalem which is mainly Jewish.
3. All the shop signs, road signs, street signs, shampoo bottles, bags of beans and boxes of cereal, menus, forms that need filling in, everything is written in Hebrew lettering which, to make things extra confusing, reads from right to left. Of course it is all in Hebrew, I hear you say, this is Israel and Hebrew is the main language, so you should have expected this. You're right. I should have. Anyway, Hebrew looks cool (like this: הכל כתוב עברית) but obviously I can't read it. However, fortunately for me...
...4. some stuff is also written in English and everyone speaks English. This is a massive relief as, whilst I want to learn Hebrew and am starting to try out a few words and phrases, it's chuffing difficult.
5. The traffic is truly mental and the streets (certainly the ones round where I'm living) all seem to be rammed most of the time, both with cars and with all kinds of people. People are not afraid to use their car horns to annoy the guy in front, to get someone's attention, to add to the ruckus, whatever.
6. People don't jaywalk. They really don't. They wait for the little man to turn from red to green before they cross the road. This can take ages on some of the busier streets. I want to jaywalk but am restraining myself because I'm scared someone in a uniform will stop me. Which brings me on to my next point.
7. There are soldiers in uniform everywhere. All Isarelis are conscripted into the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) for two to three years, usually at a pretty young age, so there are teenagers (and some older faces) in combat fatigues, with their guns casualy slung over their shoulders and hanging off their hips. There are police and security everywhere too. This is understandable - security is paramount in a city that has been subject to terror attacks for decades - but when an entire squadron passes by it can be a little un-nerving.
8. There are also cats everywhere, most of them feral and pretty unkempt. They are not indigenous to Jerusalem and were introduced by someone well-meaning (probably British) in an attempt to deal with a rat problem and now of course they are the problem. Last night my housemate woke up to the sound of two cats fighting over some flat bread we'd left out in our kitchen; they'd come in through her open balcony windown, headed downstairs ("cats, no less liquid than their shadows, offer no angles to the wind") and made themselves at home. Poor, bleeding-heart animal-lover that I am, I find it slightly heart-breaking, especially when you see kittens running around.
9. The law states that all buildings must be made of Jerusalem stone, which is a beautiful sandy colour and very pleasing to the eye, especially at sunset. It is, however, slippery as a greased pig so great care must be taken when walking in a hurry down streets paved with its sandy beauty.
10. No one is in a hurry. This law extends to: cab and nesher drivers, bus drivers, truck drivers, waiters in restaurants, baristas in coffee shops, people shopping in the shuk, the people at the till of any shop, the guy at the fast-food pita outlet and the children at my school when arriving to lesson (though that last is of course not unique to Jerusalem).
More on this topic at a later date. Kol tuv!
1. Jerusalem is LOUD. The people are loud, the sirens are loud, the traffic is loud, the music is loud. It's like someone cranked up the volume on everyday life.
2. Jerusalem is loud except on Shabbat (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown) when everything closes down, certainly in West Jerusalem which is mainly Jewish.
3. All the shop signs, road signs, street signs, shampoo bottles, bags of beans and boxes of cereal, menus, forms that need filling in, everything is written in Hebrew lettering which, to make things extra confusing, reads from right to left. Of course it is all in Hebrew, I hear you say, this is Israel and Hebrew is the main language, so you should have expected this. You're right. I should have. Anyway, Hebrew looks cool (like this: הכל כתוב עברית) but obviously I can't read it. However, fortunately for me...
...4. some stuff is also written in English and everyone speaks English. This is a massive relief as, whilst I want to learn Hebrew and am starting to try out a few words and phrases, it's chuffing difficult.
5. The traffic is truly mental and the streets (certainly the ones round where I'm living) all seem to be rammed most of the time, both with cars and with all kinds of people. People are not afraid to use their car horns to annoy the guy in front, to get someone's attention, to add to the ruckus, whatever.
6. People don't jaywalk. They really don't. They wait for the little man to turn from red to green before they cross the road. This can take ages on some of the busier streets. I want to jaywalk but am restraining myself because I'm scared someone in a uniform will stop me. Which brings me on to my next point.
7. There are soldiers in uniform everywhere. All Isarelis are conscripted into the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) for two to three years, usually at a pretty young age, so there are teenagers (and some older faces) in combat fatigues, with their guns casualy slung over their shoulders and hanging off their hips. There are police and security everywhere too. This is understandable - security is paramount in a city that has been subject to terror attacks for decades - but when an entire squadron passes by it can be a little un-nerving.
8. There are also cats everywhere, most of them feral and pretty unkempt. They are not indigenous to Jerusalem and were introduced by someone well-meaning (probably British) in an attempt to deal with a rat problem and now of course they are the problem. Last night my housemate woke up to the sound of two cats fighting over some flat bread we'd left out in our kitchen; they'd come in through her open balcony windown, headed downstairs ("cats, no less liquid than their shadows, offer no angles to the wind") and made themselves at home. Poor, bleeding-heart animal-lover that I am, I find it slightly heart-breaking, especially when you see kittens running around.
9. The law states that all buildings must be made of Jerusalem stone, which is a beautiful sandy colour and very pleasing to the eye, especially at sunset. It is, however, slippery as a greased pig so great care must be taken when walking in a hurry down streets paved with its sandy beauty.
10. No one is in a hurry. This law extends to: cab and nesher drivers, bus drivers, truck drivers, waiters in restaurants, baristas in coffee shops, people shopping in the shuk, the people at the till of any shop, the guy at the fast-food pita outlet and the children at my school when arriving to lesson (though that last is of course not unique to Jerusalem).
More on this topic at a later date. Kol tuv!
oy vey!
ReplyDeleteOi Vey!
ReplyDeleteCareful with the cats - if you start taking in strays it will never stop as there are an infinite number, also be prepared for heartbreak as they may die frequently (as did my kitten in Jordan in 2001)...
ReplyDelete