George Bush & Nachman

I'll start with George Bush.

He arrived today around noon. I could tell when the helicopters got close and the F16 fighter jets were zooming around that his time of arrival has come.

When he arrives in Israel the protocol is for him to arrive at Tel Aviv -Lod Airport, also known as Ben Gurion, and to helicopter to the heliport in Jerusalem.  His posse takes cars from the airport via highway #1 to Jerusalem and that's where the problems start.

Even before arrival this main highway is shut down inconveniencing thousands of commuters and travellers. This is the equivalent of shutting down both the 118 and 101 freeways leading to the San Fernando Valley.  It's not a pretty site.

I finished work at 1:30 today expecting roads to be closed.  At this precise time Bush & Shimon Peres were sitting down to beverages outdoors and practically 100 meters from my apartment.  The police had everything shut down and driving was horrible.  Actually, I parked about 1km from the apartment and I haven't gone back to the car since then (10 hours ago!) I hope the car is there in the morning and I hope I can find it also.  There are many one way streets here but with many road closures people didn't care.  One way streets quickly became two way and it was a free for all with cars trying to navigate the streets.

After changing and being limited to where I can go, I decided to walk to Bush's next stop, the President's Mansion & offices which are 1 block away.  The cars were not able to go there but foot traffic could.  I got right up to the barricades and waited for the motorcade to come through.  I have never seen so many M16 rifles, handguns, police, and various Israeli special forces anywhere else.  I was talking to the cops for quite a while and took some pictures... but didn't see Bush.  Actually I got tired of waiting and left but I saw his motorcade when he got to the King David Hotel later on.

The cops were very nice and asked me about myself as to what I'm doing in Israel, do I like it, etc.  Not in an interrogation way but mostly because they were bored.  Some of the SWAT guys actually found a vine full of blueberries that they were picking off but they asked me what they were since they didn't know.  Some of the guys had really cool police hats and I offered a bomb squad guy $100 cash for his hat.  No, I don't have the hat. 

George Bush is very popular in Israel and is felt to be good for the country.  It's hard to have a converstion with anyone without it gravitating towards the question of "Clinton or Obama"  You have to remember that politics here is like a sport, a spectator sport, where it is followed very closely.  Israeli's are worried about Obama and feel that he is the worst choice when it comes to Israel.  When asked who they feel is the best American presidential candidate for Israel , no answers.

Anyways, security here in the city is extremely tight. There are thousands of cops out. Many streets have cops every 100 feet or so and streets are still closed.

Nachman

Nachman is a young boy I saw in the clinic today.  He is almost 13 and has no idea why all the streets are closed down.  He has 10 siblings but if you ask him how many  he really doesn't know. I know because I asked his mom.  He is Ultra Orthodox with dark hair speckled with grey and flecks of lice the size of rice grains.  His skin has impetigo, his hands and lips are dry & scaly, and his teeth are rotting.  He has come to the clinic before and stated that he hasn't eaten prior to his visit.  Not because he was told to but because his family had nothing to eat.

He was excited because he's beginning his studies for his Bar Mitzvah which will be in  a few weeks.

Nachman was pretty excited to let us know of his Bar Mitzvah studes and how once he is a bar Mitzvah he can change his colorful shirt to the traditional white shirt that the orthodox wear. Of course, his new white shirt he wears at his Bar Mitzvah will not be new but a hand me down from one of his older brothers much like all his clothes are.

So, I saw two very different and opposite worlds today. One can make the world stop on a dime, the other is happy to have a dime.  One has gourmet cooks attend to every meal the other would be happy to have some pita and hummus.  One has the Presidential Suite at the King David Hotel the other has to share 4 bedrooms with 10 their siblings.

I don't know what else I can say except that Bush will never meet Nachman and will never know what he goes through.  Nachman will never meet Bush and probably couldn't care less anyways