Crying in Public

I hardly ever cry in public. Maybe only at memorial day services. But yesterday I just broke down at rehearsal I didn't even see it coming.

It was a long night, Mom was watching the kids, I had to bring food for rehearsal so I spent quite a few hours preparing. I mean, it wasn't actually my turn to do refreshments but the person who was supposed to was looking for a replacement and I volunteered. So I had spent the whole day on my feet. Then I drove for an hour and carried heavy bags of food to the building, then rehearsal was exhausting and there was a siren in the middle which meant that Mom had to carry the kids to the mamad.

Then rehearsal ran late - they just kept going when I knew I still had over an hour drive ahead of me. And that was the last straw. I packed my things and left but not before everyone saw me ugly cry.

The conductor wrote to ask if everything was ok, which was nice, but even he didn't realize how long it would take me to get home.. He thought I was ignoring him.

Israeli Fashion

Yeah I want to focus on something entirely different today: fashion.

Israeli fashion is boring. There, I said it. Why?

Well today I was in Tel Aviv on Nahalat Binyamin street. I thought I'd be looking at what people were wearing but I didn't really end up doing that because nothing caught my eye. Most people were wearing black or white t-shirts with neutral shorts. Some people had jeans. Really nothing exciting at all.

And it's such a shame! Yesterday I saw a video by Justine Leconte (a French youtuber and fashion designer) where she listed some French fashion rules and encouraged people to write their own local rules in the comments - things like "no white after labor day," or "belt and shoes must match." So I thought, what are Israeli rules? We're such a diverse society that there are very few rules - Etheopian women wear embroidered white dresses, Moroccans amd Yemenis wear bright vibrant colors on special occasions, Haredim wear long black coats and fur hats, Druze wear those pants with a dropped crotch, religious women wear colorful headscarves... Really you can get away with anything. Except a baseball hat, those are clearly American.

But then I thought, we could use some rules, you know? Not like a fashion police, but like common sense, I guess? I'll start:

Do not wear black in the Tel Aviv summer.

Tel Aviv

I decided on a whim to go to Tel Aviv today. I parked the car at Big and took a bus. Got off a few stops before Azrieli mall and walked, then took the train home. I wanted a break but for some reason this city gets me feeling all existential.

1. The walk to the mall wasn't hot, but it was humid. This city just has sticky air. Everyone is busy and rushing somewhere. 

2. In the mall I saw more formal uniforms than I've seen in ages -- i just got used to seeing soldiers in fatigues so the formal uniform suddenly looks funny. Also lots of new soldiers with fluffy berets!

3. Walking out to the train station the air smelled like the ocean (well maybe a combination of the ocean and gas from cars on Ayalon), and I just wanted to breathe it in. I forget that this is part of my country too. Jerusalem air is special, we all know that, and so is Tel Aviv air apparently. I was feeling really relaxed and optimistic until I entered the train station... 

4. ...Then as soon as I entered the station the mood changed. The walls are covered with bumper stickers for fallen soldiers. Yellow ribbons are tied everywhere. It's a painful stabbing reminder of what we're living through.

5. These people are my people. When the train stopped at Hagana, there's Dani standing at the station! So we had a whole train ride to catch up.

למי קראת ביביסט?

 לפעמים ממש מביך אותי להיות חלק מהחברה הדתית לאומית.

עכשיו בחידון התנ"ך )שהוא בגדול אירוע של דתיים לאומיים( עלה שר החינוך יואב קיש ודיבר קצת על החשיבות של לימוד תנ"ך, ואז הוסיף איזו הערה על המלחמה ועל זה שנתניהו מנהל מלחמה בשבע חזיתות. ואנשים הריעו. כאילו ממש הריעו. הם מריעים לראש הממשלה? זה מאוד מוזר. או שהם מריעים למלחמה בשבע חזיתות? כי זה לא משהו שמח, חברים. וזה מביך אותי שאנשים מריעים במצב כזה.