Tel Aviv Diary May 14-18, 2016 - Karen Alkalay-Gut

Tel -Aviv Diary - May 14-18, 2016 - Karen Alkalay-Gut

May 14, 2016

heat wave. it shouldn't be unbearable but it is so early in the season. we were the only ones in the playground except for an autistic boy and his caregiver. The grandchildren seemed not to care and climbed up all the way up to the highest peaks while I brought water to the crows. Why not? Every one is parched, especially the creatures. A crow came up to the plastic container I had filled, dipped his beak in and raised his head to swallow, than turned over the container. I thought it might be some mistake so I filled it up again. The crow looked at me, called another crow to drink, and then when the second crow had finished, turned the container over again. I wonder whether it is universal, this conscious self-destructive behavior, or whether it is unique to the Middle-East.

May 15, 2016

Everyone is talking to me about the weather, from my neighbors sweltering in the heat to my friends in Canada, suffering from extended winter snows. I ventured out to make a disk (nah - just an x-ray that they gave to me 10 minutes later in preparation for my pre-op examination), and it didn't seem too bad, but the temperature was up to 41 degrees centigrade.

The big problem is that the heat makes arson easy. And there are people who would be happy to burn down their own land if it could destroy this country. So the firefighters are very busy.

And of course the heat doesn't stop the politicians from manipulating their little deals. i don't think it is bad that Herzog is bargaining to get into the government. the government as it is is unbearable. a change of some ministers might well get us out of our stalemate.

or not.

Tonight Defense Minister Ayalon urged army generals not to stop saying what is in their hearts.

May 17, 2016

it was an amazing afternoon. the Cameri theater in the British Ambassadors garden celebrating Shakespeare. Mira Awad singing "Come Away" from Twelfth Night in English, but with Arabic melody, Ali Suleiman and Itai Tiran doing Othello in Arabic and Iago in Hebrew. Yonit Levy talking about the universality of the Bard. Next year they are going to perform Othello both in Hebrew and Arabic. The power of art may be just a dream, but here it felt possible. so very possible.

the only problem for me was that i wore a sleeveless dress and it was ... just a tiny bit chilly. Furthermore I barely understood a word of the Shakespearean Arabic.

And all this with the background of the Egyptian Prime Minister Sissi urging Israel and Palestine to get together and talk, with the Knesset on the verge of major shifts, and with Isis sneaking into Gaza. It's just too complicated for me.

May 18, 2016

Didn't I warn you guys to let Herzog join the government? Didn't I warn you? NOW look what we've got.

And to take an analogy from my life. I changed hair dressers a few months ago after my beloved Tania turned me into a red-orange-fading monster. I went back to my original neighborhood Noam. He promised to restore my dry thinning locks to their original beauty and give me a less grandmotherly cut. if i bought all this expensive stuff and didn't cut my hair for 3 months. the time passed and i returned today to get the same cut i had 3 months ago and my hair looks a little better just because i believe in it.

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