Tel Aviv

The Holy City, The Big Pomegranate, it’s Jerusalem. Number two is Tel Aviv, secular, smart and electric, the Yin to Jerusalem’s Yang, opposite but connected. And then there is Haifa, getting about as much attention as a third child.

Tel Aviv displays the Building Crane as the national bird. Beautiful first rate, high rise condominiums yanked straight up out of the ground by the boom arm. Each unit is worth millions and they’re building nonstop because they sell. A couple years ago Tel Aviv was the most expensive city in the world. Today it’s still third most expensive. With that wealth there’s going to be disparity. Tel Aviv has a poor ass end just like I saw in Liverpool and Tokyo. The smell of hot piss in the tree planters and daytime sidewalk sleepers. Flies on unconscious people in the entry alcoves of boarded buildings. Long black fingernails on thin dirty arms reaching out asking for shekels in a language I don’t understand. A woman with legs thin like pipe cleaners sits on a plastic chair smoking a hand rolled cigarette.

Israel only became a country in 1948 and was immediately attacked. It was attacked again in 1967. Preceding those Arab attacks Jewish militias fought violently against British rule impeding a Jewish homeland. Plaques around town commemorate where skirmishes and individual heroism against the Brits happened. One I read was about a fighter smothering a grenade to save his mates.

Bibi and his crew of heredi want more power for their legislative/executive branch agenda at the expense of the Judiciary branch. This upsets the expected balance of power in a country without a constitution to spell it out. Plus Bibi is under investigation for corruption by the same Judiciary he seeks to weaken. Regular Israelis oppose cheating like this and feel the government doesn’t listen. Protest rallies, we’ll call them, are coming to a head. So far super peaceful, even boring. We’ll see.

A tourist coach bus picked us up at Ben Gurion Airport for the first week of volunteering. Our army base is nearby in the Tel Aviv area, We do inside work pushing around medical supplies. Sorting, labeling, counting, boxing of things like Foley catheters, tourniquets, bandages and atropine pens. We have Americans, Canadians, British, Hungarians, French, Belorussians, Serbians and more. Anyone may also be an Israeli citizen and live here. Bring your money if you’re thinking moving here.

The soldier with the eye patch saw action in Lebanon and spent four years in the hospital. That wasn’t even the most interesting part. Everyone here seems so exotic I feel like a milquetoast. Women soldiers have a comfortable confidence. They work elbow to elbow with male soldiers and it looks great.

The food is incredibly wholesome. Super creative vegetable recipes. Controlled protein portions. Kosher kitchen. Dairy utensils have a small hole in the handle to tell the difference. Two different sets of cafeteria trays and dishes as well to keep things separate and kosher. Breakfast and dinner are “dairy” meals. Lunch is a “meat” meal. As you know, vegetables are always parve. And yes, hummus is usually to be found.Read more