Tel Aviv Diary - October 28-November 1, 2009 Karen Alkalay-Gut
October 28, 2009
My ears hurt, my shoulder hurt, my eyes hurt, my teeth hurt, my stomach hurts, and I myself don't feel so great. My California friend, who uses an inhaler, says that it doesn't seem logical - if she uses the inhaler it opens her throat that enables her to breathe in the dirty air that her throat is closing against for protection.... Any way I don't think I have the swine flu but maybe i did catch a virus from my computer. I wasn't worried when Turkey was throwing all kinds of insults at us, but now, that they are talking peace while sitting in Iran, I'm worried. Last nights' katyusha was only a little reminder - something is going to break out soon, and i had better not be stuck in bed when everyone is racing to the shelter. What am I worried about? Nothing can get through my quilt. October 29, 2009 As if the skies had been waiting for Rabin's memorial, they opened today in full force. I sat in a traffic jam on the way back from the doctors for almost an hour listening to the radio - Ehud Barak on Rabin - feeling sad. Then Bill Clinton's elegy for Rabin came on and I found myself weeping. Just like that. As I shook out my umbrella I joined some neighbors in praising the rain - Even the old lady did a little dance. Then they opened their water bill for the month - the new tax law on water is enormous, it doesn't even go to water conservation directly, and I think I'm going to protest it. But first, a bath. October 30, 2009 How does everyone manage the sudden transition from summer to winter? In Tel Aviv I notice every person passing by is well dressed for the long-delayed downpour. From one day to the next - sweaters, jackets, boots, everyone elegantly
stepping around the rivers suddenly appearing in the streets. Of course Shusha spent the night in terror of the thunder and lightning. Funny, she hasn't reacted at all to all the planes flying overheard for the past weeks. Does she realize what is more dangerous? In any case, it looks like we're in for a Noah-like winter. But, as everyone tells me, the drought tax is probably here to stay, no matter how much rain falls. November 1, 2009 Would you have guessed it? Our mysterious serial murderer is an American. The secretiveness and the variety of the murders - Arabs, leftist Jews, homosexuals, police protecting a type he didn't like... The most important part of all this is the fact the profiling sometimes lets the bad guys go. When I think that this man has been around for 12 years, almost invisible, I realize again how we see what we want to see. I know countless people who could be murderers, but because i like them, or work with them, i would never suspect them. But then again, did you ever suspect me? (as you can see I'm still on pills)