October 19, 2015 tel aviv today - i was picking up kids from nursery schools and trying to take them somewhere fun. I was doing what everyone usually goes, getting gas, getting stuck in traffic, watching people go by. It all looks pretty normal to me. But it isn't. There's no one who doesn't wonder when and where the next attack will be. Arab and Jew are terrified of the person next to them. October 20, 3015 My 11 year old grandson explained to me why we were in a traffic jam. Parents, he said, don't want their kids walking around or taking a bus alone, so everyone is driving places. On the other hand people are not shopping, not browsing, not buying stuff. The little shops are crashing and the big shops are getting more and more protection and having to raise prices even more. Me, I am totally clenched up from sitting in a car for hours, brakes-gas, and i can't move... October 21, 2015 So Bibi has finally let it out of the bag - he's now let the world know he's nuts. I don't know how he has so badly messed up historical facts, but my family was pretty much wiped out before Hitler spoke to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem about the final solution to the jewish problem. so even the though the Mufti is definitely at fault for working together with Hitler, he didn't come up with the idea. snapshot of tel aviv. I'm looking for the shortest line in the supermarket. the first cashier looks like he's finishing with his last customer so I raise my eyebrows at him. He moves his head slightly sideways indicating that the customer is still looking for change in her purse. I empty my armsfull of baked goods onto the counter gratefully and indicate by pushing my hands palms down waist high twice that i have patience and can wait (shwai shwai). When the shekels have been counted, the cashier, whose name plate says Muhamed, opens his arms and raises his hands palms up in delayed welcome. he rings it all up, takes my card, and gives me the receipt. It's only as I say goodbye that we have not exchanged a word. Was it because that we communicate so well by gestures or because he didn't want me to hear his Arabic accent? October 22, 2015 Panic Ensemble. Sorry - our show tonight is sold out. Three days ago. I don't even know if my kids could get in if they want to. Tel Aviv seems to be hopping again. Everyone out on the streets. Sarona was full last night. October 23, 2015 The show was a smash tonight. Actually the whole festival is a smash. The number of people buying tickets - amazing. The free shows in the square - amazing. How wonderful to live in Tel Aviv. We may be totally affected by the political situation but we don't stop living. Period.
October 23, 2015 Panic Ensemble was great last night. another tel aviv vignette. Today Ezi and I made it to the supermarket for serious shopping after well over a year of ordering on line. First time I've been able to push a cart and stand in line and all that. But when we walked out, I realized I wouldn't be able to carry shopping bags to the car. So i waited while Ezi got the car and sat on a rock next to two people sitting on rocks and talking on the phone. The man was speaking Hebrew and the woman was giving enthusiastic instructions in Arabic to her family about getting ready for the weekend. I was too tired to talk. But when the woman finished, the man kept talking and voice got louder and louder. Suddenly the woman barked out "Don't shout at her!" Of course I couldn't go without putting my two cents in. "That's telling him!" I said, "You shouldn't shout at women!" "His wife is my friend," she responded, "I love her like a sister. We women have to stick together." Most people just want to live.
