I woke up today knowing that it was going to be the “hurry-up and wait game” for most of the day. I slept in, which was wonderful. Then I went out to try and negotiate leaving my luggage at the hotel for the rest of the day. Turns out the desk clerk is a lawyer and was only too glad to help one of his brethren. The second time in two days that being a lawyer has actually HELPED! I may have to stay over here. Then maybe I won’t have to listen to all those lawyer jokes.
The first order of business was to find a cell phone. I knew that the big mobile company here, Orange, had a store at the Dizengoff Center so I headed there. I found it without any problem, but not before the security guard at the door made fun of my pink nose. *sigh* The hazards of being fair-skinned in the Middle East. I think this may necessitate daily sunscreen application. After getting the cell phone I started wondering back down toward the hotel and found a bike shop. O-Fun bike rentals, repairs and sales! Ed, the really cool South African guy who runs the place struck up a conversation and he told me that he’d sell me any bike they had with a guaranteed buy-back for 1/3 the original price. He also told me that I could probably get a lot more on Craigslist so that was just a floor. So now I’m thinking I’ll buy a “fixie” and bike to school every day. The school is less than 10 miles away so that shouldn’t be bad at all. (In fact, I think it’s only about 5 miles.) Good exercise and I think buying the bike (with the sell-back factored in) will actually be cheaper than riding the bus every day. Plus, riding a fixie is a great way to build cycling strength.
Anyways, I went out exploring while I waited for Eugene (my landlord) to call. I wondered down to the beach and it is beautiful. Wow. The Mediterranean is unbelievable. There is a boardwalk right on the beach that is well over a mile long. I haven’t even come close to finding either end of it yet. Lots of great shops and parks. They even have exercise equipment setup along the beach. It’s like the machines you would see at any gym except instead of using counter-weights the machines use your own body weight. So you have a fly machine where as you close your arms your seat lifts off the ground.
WARNING: This story contains offensive language. I stopped in one of the parks to drink my Peach Propel. (I thought I was buying normal bottled water. Oh well.) A homeless man approached me and started talking to me in what I can only assume was Hebrew. I told him I only spoke English and he said “ah, American!” From then on he called me “American national” haha. He was black and wanted to talk all about Barack Obama and how America was the greatest country in the world. The only problem was that he kept dropping the n-word. Here’s one exchange:
Him: “America is the greatest country in the world.”
Me: “Here is pretty awesome as well. I do really love the US though.”
Him: “America great because before n-, now president!”
Me: “That’s not a good word. You can’t say that.”
Him: “No! Me n- [points at self], Barack Obama n-, Michelle Obama n-. The President of the United States n-!!!”
Me: “I know what you are saying, but you cannot use that word. But you are right, his election was a great moment of reconciliation and hope.”
By this point I was squirming. It’s obvious that what he meant was that blacks in America have gone from slavery to the presidency, and he's right that it is truly great for our nation, but I just felt so awkward being in the presence of that word that I couldn’t help but do my awkward chuckle that I do when I don't know what else to do (the one that Kroto calls a “giggle” which it certainly is NOT) and try to tell him not to use that word. Ugh I hate that word.
Thankfully at that moment Eugene called and I left to meet him. We negotiated and wrote the lease on a piece of notebook paper while sitting at a restaurant on the beach. Then since neither of us had a printer, I just took a picture of the contract. Haha who knows.
Observations
(1) The language barrier is high here. Previously when I had travelled out of the country I had gone to Spanish speaking countries. That makes a huge difference because even though my Spanish is poor, I can at least read the alphabet. Here I have NO idea what the signs mean. Zero clue. It could say “one million dollars to the first American from Alabama to say ‘yall’ inside” and I would never know. This makes little things much more difficult. For example, I have no idea what I’m ordering or how to even pretend to say it. (Reference the Propel I bought or the “spinach” ravioli that turned out to be sausage ravioli haha.) I am reduced to pointing. On the other hand though, almost every speaks English, even the homeless guys in the park, which is impressive and makes life much easier.
(2) Security is completely different here. It’s an enormous contrast with England and Ireland where not even the police are armed. Here, firearms are a constant presence. The police are ubiquitous and armed. I see IDF (Israeli Defense Force) personnel walking everywhere with automatic rifles. (I think this is because the entire country serves in the IDF for a couple of years than stays on reserves, serving several weeks a year. So I think what I’m seeing are soldiers coming to/from reserve deployment.) Additionally, the stores, malls, and even the big street markets require you to show your bags for inspection and get wanded down before entering. It took me a few minutes before I realized they weren’t worried about muggings, they’re worried about the suicide bombers. In fact, the Dolphinarium bombings happened very close to where I am now. However, that was close to a decade ago. Things seem very normal now, and Lord willing, they will stay that way.
P.S. Another “yay I’m a lawyer” moment. When I went back to the hotel to load my bags into the cab to take them to the apartment the clerk kept talking about how proud my mother must be that I am a lawyer and how honorable it was. She kept saying things like “let me help you with that, I’m just a clerk not a lawyer so it is my duty to help.” Haha I love this! I do feel really awkward though. I want people to like me for me not because of my profession. Oh well. I’ll take it however I can get it I guess.
No comments:
Post a Comment