Tel Aviv Diary - December 3-7, 2008 - Karen Alkalay-Gut
December 3, 2008
I was planning to vote somehow in the Labor primaries yesterday, despite all my misgivings. How could I let Bibi take over without some sort of attempt at defense? Despite the weakness of Labor, despite the dislike most of us feel for Barak, despite my affection for the Kadima leader....But while I was thinking about it, their computers broke down and the elections were cancelled. Postponed. Until Thursday. So on Thursday it will be even more than ever a mercy vote. Something like a mercy screw but with even less anticipation for the future.With the confidence of someone who has been running a diary on the web for six and a half years, I opened a blog on this site. It turned out I had done it before almost two years ago, but I didn't like it. Anyway I tried again, but now I can't find out where I put it. Maybe it was on the corner of this street.
Alexandria is the city most of the local Egyptians come from. Surely those people noticed the stupidity of modern tel aviv twinkling out of the sign.
December 4, 2008
Didn't vote in the end. But LAbor does have a nice list of candidates. I just had too much to do.
December 5,2008
I'm going to try this blog thing - put this entry there. If it works, I'm moving over to a standard blog format.
Last night everyone was talking about the farmers market at the port on Friday mornings. "You have to get there early," Carol said, "before the crowds. And they have the best vegetables! I just drive over to Reading, park, cross the pedestrian bridge, and then in five minutes I'm there. I buy my vegetables and I'm out of there within an hour." My family all chimed in and agreed. Yes. Early. Gets you to kick-start the morning!
So at eight this morning, I turned over in bed with a special glee, thinking about all my friends who would meet at the market and shlep their vegetables to the car. It made my morning nap so much richer.
And then Tami called telling me about the lecture about Israeli movies in Cinemateque she was going to. For a second I considered going too. Then I turned over again.
I can't avoid the previous committments, the dinners, the lunches, the physiotherapy, the papers I'm still correcting, but otherwise I'm taking the weekend off.
Anyway I did enough for one day. While reading Haaretz, I discovered that I had given my opinion on Tel Aviv Horses. I read the article and agreed with myself. Then I went out to leave water for some of the feral cats outside. It is so hot and dry outside the animals are parched.
December 7, 2008
Let's see, I promised you Tel Aviv. Everyone was eating out today. When we went into a tiny restaurant on Lillienblum named Assif, there were some good friends - friends with good taste I might add - with the family - babies and all. We got a table in the opposite corner of the 'balcony' and were seperated by a table of five people with four dogs. The five of us ordered completely different things - I was still into breakfast and everyone else was into lunch. But it was all interesting, and very cool. We watched a photo session across the street, a few dialogues between cats and enthusiastic people, and many interesting diners.
Now I hope we're finally going to see Waltz with Bashir. We may be the last people in Tel Aviv to see it.
December 7, 2008
They were out of tickets - and we ran up and down the stairs at Dizengoff Center looking for books (there are at least 3 book stores there) and then DVDs and then coffee. It's a confusing place, with many levels and few attractions.
Do me a favor. Check out these poems about the Galapagos and tell me what you think.
Really
I've finally started putting my readings online again. Of course it's just the skeleton, but you might want to check out the readings link. here . There will probably be some in the US late January.
The kassams are back up to their usual number - somewhere around 10 a day. Everyone says it is unacceptable but I kind of like Haim Rimon's responses - forceful reactions to each kassam. Except the thought of the Gazans getting hurt stops me. How do you prevent one citizenry from getting hurt without hurting the other? I don't see an option.
