turkey

in new york i dreamed about long dark bars - dangerous and filled with smoke, mysterious and magical - belly dancers, arms deals, cards, maybe even a monkey. nobody asks you where you're from - its enough that your there and the reason is nobody's business. in new york its not about what you do. its about goldman or morgan. washing down that rough day with a single malt and wishing you never had that conversation about politics with your overly sensative co-worker. if you live in brooklyn and your drinking in the city - thats interesting, and vice versa. i always dreamed of finding that one place that nobody knows about. where they didnt have to pay a new york rent and the bloomberg laws didnt apply. you walk down the stairs and lots of people are doing the wrong things. and they are talking about things that you dont already know about and might care to overhear. it wasnt really possible, of course, nobody could afford it - the rents are too high and the stakes are too large in new york for anything really out of the ordinary.
tommorow im going to turkey - snake charmers and spices and old churches turned into mosques and smoke filled bars - hopefully no arms deals, but maybe some belly dancers and though coldplay wont be playing behind the whirling dervishes (a good friend pointed out that 'fix you' sounds great playing in the background of the meditative dance), i'm sure the music will be enchanting. new york is my home - my heart filled with 20th century architecture, modern art, traffic and 2nd avenue cafes. but i'm really looking forward to a little seediness and some ancient color.

back and holier than ever

4.99 for a kilo of apples, 2.99 for a kilo of nectarines - the tel aviv market, shuk haCarmel - named after the coastal mountain now home to haifa and on which the competition between the baal priest and the jewish god took place. 3pm and pressing through the saturated aisles of the outdoor market, i thought about the old tradition of the market vs the high-tech surroundings of tel-aviv, the high density of people and the always small but present possibility of an attack. maybe clashes in nature and society occur during change - like a relationship between two people - when one has advanced and another has not - when one entity progresses - economically, socially and idealogically and the other is still moving on steam and coal. a gap in understanding is created and the ability to relate deteriorates - but you fight against it - out of jealousy or fear or the unknown. and a clash occurs.
like the relationship between the nation of baal worshipers lead by balak who fought with the jews on mount carmel thousands of years ago. the jewish nation had left egypt and were moving on - making progress and had recently accepted a new code of laws. they were advancing and others would clash with their progress - not allowing/understanding the progress.
so the shuk haCarmel - a symbol of the old world - the physical trade of merchandise, paid for in cash, marketed by your voice and selling nothing but necessities is an ancestor from the past, highlighting the present and helping us to remember the gap. and most importantly, helping us to relate to both sides of it.