Tel Aviv Diary: Karen Alkalay-Gut

I had a catscan today. I thought it might be a big deal, so i decided to go ’small’ and chose the little clinic in Rishon Lezion. I was right – it took me less than a week to get an appointment, and as soon as i walked in I was called in to fill out the papers. Within 20 minutes we were on the way home with the disk in hand. How was the experience? There was a man and a woman in the room – i didn’t have time to see much about them. The man held my hand and the woman told me to clench my fist. Then he said to release, and I released his hand. “Don’t let go of Me!” he said, “You have the magic touch!” The little touch of gratuitous humor was so relaxing that the five minutes or so i spent inside the machine seemed like nothing.

You can’t tell me that the medical system here is primitive. And the humanity of the staff always improves everything.

Does it sound like I eat out all the time? I don’t tell you about half of it. It is impossible for me to think about cooking in this weather, and I’ve got a big backlog on seeing old friends, so I’m visiting restaurants like crazy. Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised by the cafe Einstein at the Ramat Aviv mall. I’ve been there before but wouldn’t think of eating anything besides coffee, partly because I think I’ve been had a few upset stomachs at their neighbor, Art Cafe. Maybe that projected fear is the reason I can’t eat at the cafe at the entrance to the university either, but I have sat down there more than once and decided to pass up lunch and just have coffee.