Guns, Food, and a Queen for a Day

Today was a quiet day at the clinic. I saw half a dozen patients, mostly adolescents and had to work in the back building which was fine with me. It’s very quiet back there and the equipment is fairly new and slightly more efficient.  The back building also has the hygiene center and the waiting room for all the kids.

Between patients I would go to the waiting room and see what the kids were doing. Two 7 or 8 year olds were playing checkers so I watched them a little.  One of them had a doubled piece so already knowing what it meant I asked her “mah?” or “what?”  She said that it’s the “hamelech” or “king”.  You should have seen her smile when I pointed to the piece and said “hamelech” and then pointed to her and said “hamalka”, or “queen”.

My assistant today was Anat. She is 21 and just came out of her compulsory Israel Defense Forces stint a few months ago where she learned dental assisting.  The guys must serve 3 years and the girls 2 years.  Those that go to the yeshiva (religious learning center) do not go and that is a whole other topic and sore spot among Israelis.  Anat just loves the scrub I wear especially the Sponge Bob (Bobs Sfog) and Bugs Bunny ones so of course I have to send some back to the clinic.

So, everyday life here in Israel…….

People LOVE their cell phones.  I think everyone has one and there is no such thing as silent or vibrating rings.  They all have a very loud and obnoxious pop music song which they usually let play way too long then answer with an equally loud “Hallo”.  Shopkeepers are especially rude.  If they are on the phone when you enter good luck even getting an acknowledgement that you entered their shop.  Complain? They would think you are nuts for complaining.  Common knowledge has it that the phone is an important way to reach someone in case of an emergency.  There are many stories of cell phones ringing in the wake of a suicide bombers destruction, all scattered about…. with none of them being answered.

You see machine guns and handguns everywhere.  Most of the time it’s kids doing their IDF service on patrol in the city or special police driving around making sure all is in order.  I especially like seeing the special police department that drives all around on motorcycles, wearing all black, and carrying sawed off Uzi’s or M16 automatics.  Straight out of James Bond.

Everyone is very observant of their surroundings and the people around them.  I saw a Settler style Jewish guy (you can tell the styles by what they wear or what kind of kippah they wear) being arrested.  I asked someone what he did and they said “nothing” and that he brought suspicion because the coat he was wearing was too heavy for the warm weather.  He could have been hiding a suicide belt or something.  Even after searching him and finding nothing they still arrested him because he then must have been drunk or high on something to wear such a heavy coat.

How about something more upbeat, Food!

The food here is really good. Vegetables and fruits are usually locally grown and are always excellent. The restaurants are open late and many of them are non-kosher meaning you can find shellfish or pork on the menu among other things.  Keep in mind that most of the tourists that come to Israel are non-Jewish and do not keep kosher.  A huge topic of discussion here involves the issue of a kosher restaurant being open on Shabbat.  The restaurant I went to in Tsfat was exactly like that.

There are styles of restaurants that many people would be surprised to learn are here.  Chinese restaurants with fortune cookie sayings in Hebrew; Italian restaurants with vegetarian pizzas; American and British style bars; Moroccan or Yemenite places; and many traditional Middle Eastern spots.  There is something for everyone!

Speaking of food, I’m off to dinner now for some sushi.  Tonight is a full moon so I’ll try for some cool photos of the Old City in the moonlight.