I'm sitting in the "Coffee Shop" on Emek Refaim road in Jerusalem. Emek Refaim is like the Park Slope of Jerusalem (that said, I guess Ben Yehuda street is like the village-- there is no Time's Square-- Israeli's are far too cool for such spectacle), but with more teenagers and more taxi drivers and more parking on the sidewalk. I've had a Chai, a Latte and a glass of water and quite a bit of bandwith. And I've watched a whole lot of people come in and out.
I'm tired--> been here for a few hours after eating a felafel down the street. A little while ago, I heard some explosions outside. Yikes? Nope, just someone setting off fireworks somewhere not too close to here. A good idea in Jerusalem??
Last night in a mediocre but fancy Asian restaurant with a beautiful rear garden area, I listened to a fun conversation. A black guy from Texas was eating dinner with two Israeli girls, one of whom he was obviously dating. The other Israeli gal was poking fun at his American slang and his hip hop dance style, and he was trying to convince her that his way is the definition of cool in the US. And he was pretty right-- he reminded me of Kingsley for those of you who've been to the Tea Lounge or on jdate. I reckon that his moves were far better than any Israeli guy's cheesy club action. On Emek Refaim, almost half the people are North Americans. It's quite nutty.
Here are some pictures of the Sulha gathering, a yearly peace event with people from many cultures and traditions. [for the newcomers- click the pics and they get bigger, click the colored text and a link opens] There were a lot of honkies like me, a lot of wild Israeli hippies who dress like nomads and are generally gorgeous, and some Palestinian folks who had to get special permission from the Israeli government to enter Israel for a few days. I need to write more on this, but I am bushed after spending hours messing with photo software, so more to come.......IF you comment.
And if anyone knows how to make iphoto not be utterly frustrating, please email me!!!
5 comments:
now the trick is to convince the orthodox/settler movement to hang out at Sulha and learn about peace and respecting palestinians. a rabbi who can do that would be honored with the nobel peace prize...
nice pictures. one day you'll have to teach me all your internet blogging secrets. hey, at least my computer has the right date now.
why is it that in our western media, THIS kind of stuff is not news worthy? I mean what is more news worthy than folks getting together and bridging the "war of ideas," as thomas friedman refers to it, with dialogue and artwork? why do bombs in london get our attention, but gentle acts of kindness and novel ways of understanding go unnoticed???
i would love it if front page news stories had such "rare" events as a young 5 yr old boy giving his "girlfriend" a daisy---wouldn't that capture the american public's hearts and blow their minds!!! (if that was the case, i would have made the cover 25 years ago. i wonder if my mom still has that picture?)
Jesus-- shameless self-promotion is not tolerated here in the wanderingstu internet domain, Dr. Blinderman. Although you surely had a peace-loving girlfriend at age five, I do not believe that your interactions with her warrant front-page coverage.
it's not shameless self-promotion! my intention was to recognize and celebrate the beautiful aspects of humanity--which i believe is news-worthy, not simply blogger-worthy. i, apparently, am neither news-worthy nor blogger-worthy :(
what's shameful is the media's depiction of the cruel and beastly side of humanity, without the balance...
no need to take it all so serious, Doc-B. You know that I define the beautiful side of humanity with your photo, as the new posting indicates.
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