How IS Jerusalem?

Way back in November of 2010, when TJ and I had just arrived at our very first overseas job assignment, I posted a blog entry entitled "How IS Guadalajara?" in which I did a brief tour around the neighborhood, discussed potential security concerns, and generally just tried to put family and friends at ease over any concerns they may have had about our making such a huge transition out of our previous lives.  I reread that posting in preparation for this one, and it brought a smile to my face.  Mexico was such a wonderful time in our lives, and it warmed my heart to relive those early days with the perspective brought on by four full years of additional life experience.

I had meant to do the same for Jerusalem shortly after our arrival, but for some reason it never happened.  I never really wrote anything about Jerusalem.

It started out innocently enough:  I was in Jerusalem.  Jerusalem.  This was going to be epic.  My first entry was going to have to be something truly special.  A full-on review of the Old City.  Only...I hadn't spent enough time in the Old City to write that "wow" story before we took an extended weekend trip to Tel Aviv.  I couldn't write about Tel Aviv first, now, could I?  Of course not!  That would feel cheap.

Excuse followed excuse, until so much time had passed that I basically lost interest in writing anything at all.  Finally, two months into living here, I forced myself to start writing.  I ignored pretty much everything that had gone down in those first two months and just chugged forward...at a snail's pace.  Today we find ourselves one year and two months into a two year assignment.  We've seen and done so much, yet I've not even managed to write an average of one entry per week.  As of this writing, I'm  approximately four months behind on subject matter.  Still, that's an improvement; it used to be six months.

I'm making decent progress now.  I want to get caught up so I can start chronicling our adventures in real time.  I think if I can just force this entry out, the dam will burst and the stories will flow with ease.

So.  How IS Jerusalem?

Well.  To start with....

Jerusalem was Hope

TJ and I both converted to Reform Judaism in October 2010.  It is not common for both people in a relationship to change religions at once, as one partner usually acts as a magnet for the other.  The rabbis thought it was odd.  Our families thought it was odd.  Our friends thought it was odd.  I thought it was odd.  What can I say?  We're odd.

We did so simultaneously and for similar yet strikingly different reasons.  Our reasons are personal and won't be shared here.  Suffice it to say, our thoughts on religion weren't especially changed as a result.  It was more of a sociocultural than spiritual decision.  Beyond Christmas and Easter, religion had never been a big part of my life pre-Judaism.  Post-Judaism, the same held true for Chanukah, Passover, and Purim.

We tried to connect to the community in Mexico, with mixed results.  The people were all wonderfully polite, but we just didn't feel as if we clicked.  Language barriers were the decided upon culprit.  When we began bidding on our second tour, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv made the top of the list.  We were elated when we were assigned to Jerusalem.  We saw it as an opportunity to learn some Hebrew, to connect with a broader Jewish community, and to learn more about this choice we had made.

When we returned to DC for post-Mexico, pre-Jerusalem training, we made an honest effort to check out a few synagogues near our home in Falls Church, VA.  None of them clicked.  Temple Micah, where we had undergone our conversion, was and remains our favorite, but due to work schedules and commute times, we were unable to attend Friday night Shabbat services there.  Of course, we could have gotten up for Saturday services, but....yeah.  That didn't happen, either.  Having seemingly struck out in Guadalajara and DC alike, we saw Jerusalem as our opportunity to finally form a solid connection.

As of this writing, we have yet to attend a service.  Perhaps we never will.  It's possible that the idea of Judaism was, for us, more appealing than the practice itself.  And that's okay.

Jerusalem is Closed

One of the hardest things to get used to is the fact that, from mid-afternoon on Friday to one hour after sunset on Saturday, just about everything is closed in observance of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest.  Most local business maintain a Sunday-Thurday work week.  We, however, follow the American practice of holding office hours Monday-Friday.  This means that if we want to eat during the weekend, we best get our shopping done by Thursday evening.

There are exceptions, however.  Not every restaurant closes during Shabbat.  There are a number of Arab-owned eateries and convenience stores that are open at all hours of the day and night.  These have been my saving grace and I love them to pieces.

Despite the need for workarounds, there is generally something peaceful about knowing what your Friday night plans are going to be.  I mean, who could possibly complain about having to spend an evening at home with loved ones?

Jerusalem is Kosher.  It is also Halal

Religious practices and levels of observance dictate a number of things, including what types of foods are permissible.  In the absolute simplest of terms, Jews that keep kosher do not eat meat and dairy in unison.  They also refrain from pork and shellfish in all their forms.  Muslims that keep halal do not eat pork or drink alcohol.  For those that keep neither practice, you have options...you just have to plan your shopping and dining excursions more strategically.  This could mean driving into the  West Bank to obtain pork in Bethlehem, or taking a day trip that will include a delectable seafood spread in Akko.  Jerusalem also has locations that can cater to your needs; you'll just need to do your research.    

Jerusalem is Convenient

Literally everywhere that I go within the city on any sort of regular basis is walkable.  It takes me 5 minutes to get to my favorite pizza joint.  10 minutes to get to the grocery store or one of those heaven-sent Arab markets.  12 minutes to get to work.  45 minutes to get to the mall and the Old City.  I don't drive unless I have to.  Which is good, because...

Jerusalem is Aggressive

Horn honking, road rage, and cutting off the guy beside you is par for the course.  And I usually witness all of that before I even turn out of the parking garage and onto the side street in front of my apartment.  A cab driver was behind me once.  He thought I was driving too slowly.  Instead of just passing me, he passed me, stopped his car in the road in front of me, and got out of his car to come yell at me.  No, really.

There is no line culture.  You have to watch out for that little old lady behind you at the grocery store.  Blink and she's suddenly in front of you, like a ninja.

Jerusalem is Healthy (Well, Healthier)

Guadalajara was chock-full of American brands.  Jerusalem has McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and Dominos.  Bethlehem has a KFC.  That's pretty much it.  This is a blessing and a curse.  Fast food is in short supply, so it generally makes for healthier, tastier dining experiences.  We've managed to lose a little bit of weight, which is inspiring and very much welcome.  But...sometimes you REALLY just want to pig out and be a fat gross sloth of a human, am I right?  Bare minimum, I'd like someone to hand me food through my car window from time to time.

Jerusalem is Delicious

I've attended two cooking classes in my time here.  One of these days I would like to prepare the foods, photograph them, and share the recipes with you.  Until then, you will just have to trust me.


Jerusalem is Expensive

With an 18% VAT (value-added tax), you really have to reevaluate your spending power.  Amazon.com has become my best friend.  

Jerusalem is Heartbreaking

Ah.  And here we are.  This is the part I've been dreading.  This is the touchy part.  The controversial part.  The part that, should we be honest with each other (and we should), prevented me from writing about Jerusalem and stinted my writing for so long.  Hell, I started this particular post over a week ago and had to stop because, suddenly, Jerusalem became even more heartbreaking.

Conflict has been a fact of life in this region since time immemorial.  That certainly did not change when the State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948 following devastating losses to the Jewish people during the Holocaust.  Israel was quickly attacked by her neighbors.  Despite being a newborn nation, Israel won that particular fight.  New boundaries were drawn.  The unrest continues to this day.  

Jerusalem is central to the ongoing struggle.  The Israelis have proclaimed Jerusalem as their capital, while the Palestinians who inhabited these lands up to the May 14, 1948 termination of the British Mandate for Palestine also lay claim to the city.

Who's right?  Who's wrong?  Who knows?  History has a tendency of favoring, or at least being written by, the victor.  As of yet, there is no victor.

For its part, the US government does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital for either party.  It is desired that an international regime be established for the city, as outlined in the 1947 partition plan that preceded the State of Israel.

The newsfeed was filled with stories about altercations between Israeli soldiers and Arab terrorists the moment we stepped off the plane.  Keep in mind that terror covers a wide swath ranging from stone throwing to kidnapping and murder, so thorough reading of any article is necessary to understand just what is going on at any particular moment.

Despite all of this, Secretary of State John Kerry was making frequent visits to the region and, for a time, it looked like we might actually be present for the historical creation of a two-state solution between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.

Then, on June 12, three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped in the West Bank.  Their bodies were found on June 30.

Hamas, the terrorist government regime in control of Gaza, took credit for the crime.

A retaliatory terror attack saw the kidnapping and murder of a Palestinian teenager by Israeli settlers.  He went missing on July 2.  His remains were found the following day.  He was stabbed and burned alive in the woods near Jerusalem.

These murders set off a chain reaction of violence that neither side has yet to recover from.

In the first week of July, 250 missiles were fired into Israel from Gaza.  Israel began a counter-terrorist operation on July 7.  It would ultimately involve air strikes that devastated entire cities and a land invasion to destroy tunnels that had been dug to infiltrate Israel.

On July 13, TJ and I joined a contingent of our colleagues in assisting in the departure of 150 American citizens who had found themselves trapped in Gaza over the course of the previous few months  (Entry/exit requirements are strict and the US government is unable to intervene unless during times of crises).

We could hear rockets exploding in the distance, and once we were even required to seek shelter in a safe haven.

We met the Americans as they exited Gaza, registered their travel and provided them with evacation loans, and escorted them to Jordan.

Our involvement in the operation lasted over eight hours.  In total, the day's work lasted for over sixteen hours.

On July 20, despite my express wishes to the contrary, TJ went back to assist in a second evacuation.  He's just that kind of guy.  He wanted to help.  I was in Texas visiting my family and had little to no contact with him during the operation.  He was terrified.  Rockets were exploding much closer than they had the previous weekend, and they had to seek shelter more frequently.  He was shaken for days  afterward.

By the end of the conflict in late August, the Palestinian death toll had soared to over 2,000.  The Israelis lost 68 people, 64 of which were soldiers.

Thanks to its Iron Dome missile-defense system, which calculates missile trajectory and launches a counter-missle should a populated area be at risk, Israel escaped the conflict with far less damage than it would have otherwise.  That, of course, comes as no consolation to those that were affected.

Negotiations for a continued ceasefire are still underway, though they appear to have stalled.

Recently, tensions began to rise once more.

• A Palestinian teenager was shot three times in the chest and killed by Israeli police during a public demonstration on October 17.
• A baby was killed and seven others Israelis were injured when a Palestinian driver hit passengers at a train station on October 22.  The driver later died of gunshot wounds.   
• Another Palestinian teenager was shot in the head and killed during an altercation with Israeli police on October 24.
• A rabbi was shot by a Palestinian man in Jerusalem on October 29.  His assailant was killed during the arrest attempt.  The victim was gravely injured and is still recovering. 
• Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque in the West Bank on November 12.
• Five Israelis were killed and several others were seriously injured while praying at a synagogue on November 18.  The responsible parties were killed on the scene.  

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but you get the gist.  When talks cease to be sufficient, acts of violence are carried out tit for tat.   

News analysts are falling all over themselves trying to decide if and when another Intifada (uprising) will begin...or if it already has and we just don't realize it. 

Such is life in Jerusalem.  We are blessed in that we are not (yet) the intended targets of any of these attacks, yet heartbroken in having so many wonderful, loyal, kind local friends on both sides of the conflict that will have to live here and endure long after we have moved on to our next assignment.

Jerusalem is Hope

I have no answers to provide, no solutions to offer.

All I can do is look at everyone that I've met in this beautiful land and pray that one day they will be able to open their eyes knowing they have woken up to a day of peace and mutual understanding.

That is my wish.  That is my hope.

A Festival of Lights

No, not Chanukah.  Though, that would be some amazing synergy were they to host the event closer to that time of year.  

The 6th International Festival of Light in Jerusalem was a series of light-inspired installations and displays that ran throughout Jerusalem's Old City every night from June 11th-19th (excluding Shabbat).  Admission was free, and people arrived en masse.  We are talking crowd chaos on the level of 5am, Black Friday at Wal-Mart, and Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are all releasing their newest video game platform.

Visitors shuffled along four separate pathways within the Old City, viewing a variety of exhibits that featured costumed actors performing in illuminated clothing, three-dimensional art pieces, and videos projected onto landmark buildings.

The festival provided a unique way to see the Old City, which is, well, old, in a new and exciting light (pardon the pun).  As someone that adores Christmas and all of the external home decorating that goes with it, something like this always makes me smile.

It strikes me as funny that I'm sharing this with you before writing one word about the historic sites of the city itself, but c'est la vie.  All in good time.  When I do it, I want to do it right.

I feel that I seriously missed an opportunity with this exciting event, as I didn't understand that it was happening until the week was half over (I saw stuff going up, but had know idea why), and I didn't realize it was ending until the night before.  We rushed to the festival on the evening of June 18th, taking in as much of it as we possibly could....which wasn't nearly enough.

The crowds made it difficult...okay, impossible....to quickly navigate through the exhibits.  The sheer expanse of it all (I read somewhere that it was up to four miles of pathways?) made seeing it all in one night quite a challenge even had the sidewalks been empty.  Which they weren't.

All told, I think we saw one full route, and then tiny chunks of two or three others.

That's okay.  It was a completely beautiful, if not stressful, event.  I fully plan to go again next year.  Hopefully, advance planning will allow me to go on multiple nights so that I have the opportunity to see it all.

Until then, I hope you enjoy the photos of what I was able to catch this time around.

Sheleg!

Since the U.S. found itself in the midst of the second "polar vortex" of 2014 this past week, I thought it might be fun to revisit some photos and memories from mid-December that I never got around to posting here. 

As the winter season began, our Hebrew instructor provided us with some weather terminology.  It was cute when she taught us the word for snow, שֶׁלֶג (pronounced "sheleg"), because none of us thought we would be needing it here in Jerusalem.  Sure, it snowed last year, but that had to be a fluke, right?    

Wrong.  Beginning the week of December 8th, various news sources began reporting on the probability of snow.  I awoke each morning hoping to find, at minimum, a light dusting of white powder outside my window.  Every morning was fraught with disappointment.  I awoke at 7AM Thursday, December 12th, only to be disappointed once again.

I begrudgingly began the process of getting ready for work at a turtle's pace, a slow process underlined moreso by the speed and efficiency with which TJ awoke and scurried out the door.  By 7:20 he had returned, covered in snow.  I looked outside again, and in the span of twenty minutes, the ground was almost completely covered.  We received a management notice advising of a two hour delay in business operations, but it arrived so late that we knew some folks had to be in transit already.  As we lived within walking distance of work, TJ ran ahead to open the building so that any early arrivals would have a warm place to await further instruction.  I opted for a more lackadaisical course of action and meandered around the neighborhood a bit, capturing the moment for posterity.  I mean, who knew how long it would last?  

By the time I arrived at the office shortly before 9AM, the answer to that question was obvious:  It would be lasting quite a while.  The wind had kicked up, the snow was falling faster with every passing moment, and the temperature was dropping.  Even so, we were right in assuming that many of our employees had been in transit when the management notice went out:  about half of our local staff, and all but one American, were in the office.  Some of our visa and passport applicants had also decided to brave the elements, which just goes to show that a consular section's work is never done!  

Ten o'clock arrived, and instead of a delayed start, it brought news of a full-blown office closure. 

While TJ assisted in closing down business operations and assisting the handful of clients in our waiting room, I mad a mad dash for home.  (Okay, okay, I'm not a snow pro.  It was more like a haphazard waddle.)

This wasn't about leaving work as quickly as possible to go enjoy the weather…this was a matter of survival.  You see, Jerusalem shuts down mid-day on Friday for the Jewish observance of the Sabbath.  This means that most grocery stores and restaurants (and certainly all within walking distance to us) are closed before sunset on Friday through after sunset on Saturday.  If inclement weather was going to force businesses to close early on Thursday, we didn't want to find ourselves trapped at home with nothing to eat or drink for, at minimum, 48 hours.  I made it home, hopped in the car, and slowly crept toward the store.  The streets weren't too slippery yet, and there weren't many cars on the road.  Leave it to the government to always release its employees early…it didn't appear that too many people had caught on to the fact that shelegmageddon was approaching.  It made for one of the more pleasant food shopping experiences I've had here.

Safely back at home, I moseyed outside to a nearby park and promptly set to work on a most important task:  Reviving Bernard!  (You knew that was coming, right?)

Satisfied with my handiwork (which received the admiration of numerous neighborhood kids and their parents, let me tell you!), I returned home and waited for TJ to return.  Return he did, and it wasn't long before we were out and about, exploring the promenade, which overlooks Jerusalem's Old City.  

Due to weather conditions, it wasn't possible to get a clear shot of the Old City in all of its snow-covered glory at the time of our visit to the park, but this panoramic is nice all the same, no?  Here's a great photo from the New York Daily News that has been accredited to Darren Whiteside/Reuters.  A high quality zoom lens would give you a similar shot, albeit from a different angle, from my vantage point on that snowy day.   

We made jolly in our attempts to pose for pictures, throw snowballs, and make snow angels.  But only for a few minutes.  It was cold.  Very cold.  And wet.  And we Florida boys had not arrived in Jerusalem sufficiently prepared for snow.  Poor Zelda, with her short, thin coat of hair, appeared even less prepared than us!

TJ and I have since ordered rain/snow boots, should such an event occur next year.  Zelda didn't order any protective gear, but has expressed desire to just not have it snow anymore, please and thank you.

The snow lasted through Sunday, melting off just enough to resume work bright and early Monday morning…but not enough to prevent me from busting my butt on the way into the office.

Sigh.

Lowered Expectations

Among my favorite skits from Fox Broadcasting Company's now-defunct sketch comedy show MADtv was one called "Lowered Expectations," in which the dregs of society recorded video solicitations for a dating service.  None of these folks were winners but, hey, you knew that going in.  If you were so inclined to give one of them a chance, perhaps you'd be pleasantly surprised.  But probably not.

Lowered expectations were exactly what we were facing when, in February 2013, fresh off of a pretty remarkable tour in Guadalajara during which we lived in an amazing house, we received our housing assignment for Jerusalem.

Many words rushed through our minds as we took in the photos that were sent along with the notification of assignment.  "Small."  "Ordinary."  "Plain." "Mediocre."  These were a few of those words.  Some of the other words aren't fit for print.  Here, let me show you a few of these gems.

A little…musty, right?  Lacking in personality.

This had been a concern of mine as far back as September 2010.  We were living in Falls Church, VA at the time while TJ finished up his Spanish studies, and I was contemplating our upcoming move to Guadalajara.  I wondered if, moving every couple of years or so, we would ever be able to feel at home anywhere…to truly believe that our personalities were reflected in our living space.  When we arrived in Guadalajara that fear became moot.  We had a gorgeous house that, despite the standard issue government furniture, had a lot of potential.  There were amazing furniture stores and artisan markets galore, and pretty quickly we found ourselves filling the place with things that we enjoyed.  We bought new couches, new bedroom furniture and so much local artwork that by the time we left we felt as if were saying goodbye to a part of ourselves.

When the Jerusalem housing assignment came through, we had already been separated from our stuff for about five months.  We had been living in government assigned housing with dreary, standard-issue furniture.   And there we were, looking seven months into the future at pictures of more of the same.  It was disheartening, but we quickly put on our big boy pants and decided that no matter what, we'd make the most of it.

When we arrived in Jerusalem in September, we immediately realized two things:  One, that the photos provided were not of our apartment, but of another unit within the complex that was a mirror image of ours…everything was flipped around; Two, the photos did not do the place justice.

It was practically love at first site.  But it still wasn't home.  We chose a color scheme and quickly set about painting the living room, kitchen and master bedroom, as those would be the spaces in which we spent the most time.  After that, we waited.  It was a long two months between the time we arrived and when we were finally reunited with our personal possessions and our Jeep.  All told, we hadn't seen most of this stuff in a year.  An entire year.  That just boggles the mind.  

During the two months of waiting, we tried to busy ourselves.   We explored Jerusalem.  We frolicked along the shorelines of Tel Aviv.  We visited Haifa.  I took a three-hour market tour/cooking class.  We spent time with co-workers and met a few locals.  These are all things that I thoroughly enjoyed and wanted to write about…but I was in a funk.  I didn't feel like I was home…but I didn't feel like I was traveling, either.  I just was.

That all changed the moment we finished unpacking.  (Okay, okay, there are still a couple of boxes hidden in the study.  I'll get to them soon.)  It was as if someone flipped a switch.  We were home.

Check it out!

We will be the first to admit that the color palette won't be to everyone's liking.  It's a little quirky.  Just like us.  In other words, Mission: Insert Our Personality has been accomplished!  There's still some work to do, like finding some more wall art, adding a plant or two, finding something to fill that negative space by the television and putting a glass in that mirror…but it's home.  We're finally feeling settled. 

We've also learned something from this experience.  When we get our housing assignments for future posts, we will try to keep our expectations lowered.  That way, we will always be pleasantly surprised.

But probably not.  

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Next Year in Jerusalem

It's hard to believe that it has been over two years since Flag Day. Two years since we learned that Guadalajara would be our home for TJ's first tour as a Foreign Service Officer. Two years since I anxiously posted a picture of the Jaliscan flag, announcing to the blogosphere that Mexico was on the horizon.

And now, I get to do it again.

Yesterday afternoon we received notification that TJ's second tour, with a targeted start date of August 2013, will find us setting up shop in Jerusalem.

Anyone that has followed this blog for any length of time will understand the significance this holds for us. We both converted to Judaism right before arriving in Guadalajara, only to find ourselves with a scarcity of options for expressing our newfound faith.

Suffice it to say, that will not be a problem on the next go 'round.