Tuesday, December 19, 2006

 

Stray katz

Ten random observations from Tel Aviv

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1. Is there a stray cat problem in Tel Aviv? You see cats all over the place. People put food out form them. It can't just be domesticated pets that get let out, can it?

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Random thought #1a: the hero of my spy novel will be named Ferrell Katz.


2. Israeli fathers seem to be very physically affectionate with their children.

3. People here smoke their heads off. They're allowed to smoke most places, and pretty much they do. The big shopping mall in town had a fug like a smokey bar.

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The top of this stylized Coke-can napkin dispenser has plainly been used as an ashtray.

4. At any given moment, one out of every two Israelis in Tel Aviv is either smoking a cigarette or talking on a cell phone. Or both.

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5. Tel Aviv street signs for major streets have interior neon lighting and are topped off with advertizements.

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6. Where street parking is permitted, the curb is painted blue and white. That's most curbs. I guess the blue-and-white paint lobby is very powerful here.

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7. In Tel Aviv, you can rent movies on DVD from machines on the street. "A-DVD-Ms"?

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Even Blockbuster is in on this.

8. Tel Avivis love their dogs. Like Parisians, they take them into cafes, and frequently don't clean up after them.

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Stenciled on a cafe window: "Dog Friendly."

9. On the many divided streets in Tel Aviv, the "walk/don't walk" lights routinely let you get halfway across and then stop you on the median strip.

10. There are cafes everywhere. Some sidewalk cafes have these nifty windowed partitions to keep the car and bus exhaust fumes out of your face. The pedestrians stroll past between your table and the cafe storefront.

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Comments:
Let's see if the cats get you more comments...
 
I was wondering the same thing, Wendy.

I found #4 to be true of the northern Italian men, aged 20-45.

Re. #8: Paris was pretty much poo free-- at least it was when I was there in 9/05. I'm going back this spring. I hope it is still as nice as I remembered.

At the expense of a long, boring comment, I must say that I'm not surprised that your head falls off in American rental cars. Your neck is rather skinny. You'd do best staying out of any heavy wind, doughnut or no.

........
bittet: one with a small head
(bit tete)
 
Damn, I hadn't realized how bad my Hebrew had gotten until I couldn't even sound out some of those street signs.

Maybe you should try blowing powdered sugar at the smokers. Secondhand sufganiyot are hazardous to health, no?
 
Hey! I'm not anonymous. The above long boring comment was mine. I take full responsibility for it.

Where was I? Åh, yes.

Did somebody switch to Beta? Aren't labels fun?

Oh, and in the topmost post you wrote that you "dealth" with the citrus problem. Is that a Hebrew word?
:)
 
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