MY URBAN KVETCH

Tel Aviv Intermezzo

Welcome to Tel Aviv!

We kicked off our tour of Tel Aviv with a trip to the beach, of course. Then we glammed up for a Tel Avivi party in honor of the publication of Tel Aviv City Guide, which was written by friend and journalist Lisa Goldman. It took place at Beit Kastiel, which we can best describe as a beautiful, fancy, high-end furniture store in a bad neighborhood (Florentin/S. Tel Aviv). I also met SavtaDotty and Liza from SomethingSomething, and had a lovely reunion with Harry (The View From Here, Jerusalemite). I believe it was SavtaDotty (although might have been someone else) who told me that Florentin today is like SoHo used to be back when it was dirty and dangerous. (Not her exact words.) This basically means that property costs are soaring and there are very few available apartments. What's the book like, you ask? It seemed cool, but since Ketel Vodka was sponsoring the event (which had begun with champagne and many unkosher hors d'oeuvre), I can't say that I actually remembered to pick one up...(At any rate, Kol Hakavod to Lisa.) Then we went out with Ori from Coolooloosh, which was really nice, catching up on the band's progress since the Israelity Tour over a drink at Bugsy's.

Then we headed out with a friend to the Ben-Gurion Museum, two places which we visited yesterday. We kicked off our day with the Pulver breakfast at Aroma at the Namal (that's the port of Tel Aviv), where we begin our morning sipping our "hafuchim" and networking with web-savvy, creative individuals. I met many folks, including Brian Blum, whose blog (This Normal Life) I've been reading since the early days, my new Twitter pal IsraLuv, Nir Kouris and one of his young partners at EcampIsrael, and others (apologies for not linking to all). We wore our names and catchphrases (ex, Lindsay's "I refuse to Twitter") and then with stickers, "tagged" ourselves with keywords (mine included "Blogger 4 Hire," "pop culture," "Jewish life," and others). Very creative and a good icebreaker. (Unite that with drunken brainstorming, and we could really have something!)

Other highlights included driving around Tel Aviv while listening to great music, dining at a fabulous restaurant overlooking the sea and with great views of the city, and hanging out with a friend and his kids at a campfire and learning Hebrew from Israeli children. (Best way to learn Hebrew, I'm convinced.)

Today we took an early swim and headed into meetings for the rest of the day before returning to Jerusalem. Or, as the TA locals reacted, "You're going back where? Why?"

Lazy Jetlag Portman Posting

I'm so tired...but I'm back in NYC. Over the next week or so, will be poring over my memories and trying to post regularly here--there's so much that I'm already feeling overwhelmed, through a haze of jetlag. And so, in tribute to my trip to the land of Hebrew, and one of the top reasons that people all over the world check Jewish blogs, here's an interview in Hebrew with Natalie Portman (via the newly launched Jewtube).

Find this video and thousands of others at vSocial!

24

If my life were the series "24", I'd have 24 more weeks in Israel instead of a mere 24 hours. But I'd also be trying to save the world from overly complicated international terrorist plots. So I am grateful for that part of my life not being "24."

Still, in this summer's waning Jerusalem moments, the clock keeps ticking, counting down my final moments before boarding the shuttle back to my real life in another city and another country, both metaphorically and literally. I feel like every second spent in these last hours is a waste. Every second I spend here at this computer instead of on the streets. Every moment I spend on the phone saying goodbye to everyone. Every moment in a cafe or a shop or walking. Every note piped in through my earphones instead of listening to the rhythms of a pulsing city. Every second spent in conversation with someone about anything, and every second spent NOT in conversation with someone about anything.

Trying to catch up with the things I've missed is impossible...the scale is too intense. Knowing that however much I catch, there's infinitely more I'm missing. Tapping into this energy has been amazing, and there's no chance of recapturing its special, frozen-in-time-and-space, quality. I have to give it up now, to return, to fall back into a life that I once knew and can't imagine resuming.

Wringing out my heart, hanging it to dry, hoping everything will go back to normal and yet hoping it won't.

Back to life, back to reality. Back to my eventual here and now. But first, 24 more.

Creative Zionists Take Jerusalem

If your interest wasn't piqued by my recent post on Jewlicious about the PresenTense Institute for Creative Zionism, you might want to read it again. I mean, I was at the opening night/orientation for fellows and the steering committee, and this is an impressive, international, committed group. Conversations began during the orientation buffet dinner and continued throughout the evening, pausing only out of courtesy to allow fellows and steering committee members to introduce themselves--for example, recent Michigan graduate Adam Soclof:

From the opening moments, it became clear that these creative Zionists enjoyed each other's company. But even beyond that, people were making vital connections to other passionate people with the skills that can help them do an even better job.

Several of this week's events are open to the public, and they feature panels of superstars, and the chance to network with important people. So read these brief blurbs, and come on up and see us sometime! (Full details available on the website.) Can't make it in person? Raw footage, special interviews, and podcasts will be posted online as often as we can.

[Footage from Tuesday, June 19, 19:00-23:00: Social Action in Israel - A Panel with Leading Young Social Innovators  and recaps now available online--see our blog and updates page for more information.

TONIGHT! Wednesday, June 20, 19:00-23:00: What Makes a Start-Up Culture? A Conversation with Jacob Ner-David. What makes a startup culture–and is Israel exceptional when it comes into transforming ideas into reality? Learn the answers in an open discussion with Jacob Ner-David, managing partner of Jerusalem Capital LLP and one of the world’s leading hi-tech entrepreneurs and VCs. That's 7pm sharp...See website for complete bio. RSVP: info@creativezionism.com

And DON'T MISS THIS THURSDAY'S Event: Thursday, June 21, 19:00-23:00: Summer Networking Kick-Off Event Come meet other creative, innovative and entrepreneurial people from across the spectrum of professional and ideological life. If you’re a social entrepreneur, a hi-tech programmer, a Venture Capitalist, a teacher, an activist, a poet or just your average creative genius, come down to the PICZ House and have an experience and a drink on us. Open to all, this is a chance to meet and get to know leaders in the fields of social entrepreneurship, education, venture capitalism and philanthropy. The networking begins at 7pm sharp! Why should you attend?: Because with so much talent in one place, it would be a shame to miss it. RSVPs are encouraged: info@creativezionism.com

My PresenTense (sic): The Here and There of the Here and Now...

Where? There? I’ve been there. And what about Here? Not so much, but occasionally. And here. Of course. And soon I'll be somewhere else, no doubt, since I am writing from the endless purgatory of living out of a suitcase. But I’m publishing, which is good.

Here are the last few singles columns in case you missed them...

• Covering Your Bases (baseball as analogy)
• A Price Above Rubies (and Botox) (an exploration of money matters in dating)
• Make Babies, Not Contributions (will the Jewish community accept creative entrepreneurs if they’re not also procreating?)
• Finding a Second Life (reflections on a birthday)

Next post will be from Jerusalem. Yes, again.

Where No One Knows Where You're Going But You

As you all saw, I spent plenty of time on London's Tube while I was here. But I also took lots of minicabs, and learned one helpful fact that I want to share with all future travelers to the UK.

If you take a minicab, it may have a GPS system (here called satnav, which sounds like it should be one of those exceptional Hebrew verbs with a four-letter root: L'satnev...satnavti, satnavta, satnavnu, etc,  you know--the type you'd see on Zabaj.com?), in which case you're likely fine. You get to your destination spit-spot, lickety split (traffic pending) and on the opposite side of the road than you're used to. But we've already covered that.

But if there is no satnav in the car, and the driver's pretty young, you'll likely have to help navigate. Which is hard when you're a tourist or first-time visitor, who--almost by definition--doesn't know where he or she is going. It helps to know how to read a map, which my parents will tell you, I don't. But one remarkable skill that I do possess is the ability to read small writing in low light (and yes, this is perhaps why I have glasses). So I located our destination on the map by using the microscopic print index at the back of the map book that seems to be standard in most minicabs. And was able to help the drivers trace their route back with their fingers. I'm a foreigner, a person from abroad who's never been to London before--I get into a car, and the driver asks, "do you know where you're going? How do we get there?"

And yes, these are the local car services, specific to a certain area. It's like a NYC cab driver hearing a passenger say "Take me to West End Avenue," and thinking "oh God, I only know the numbered streets!"

Come to think of it, what would it be like if a cab driver in another country, say Israel or the US, started asking their passengers how to get to where they're going, and even to pick the routes? Would that ever even happen? It would require the driver to admit that they don't know where they're going, and that's something that most Israeli and NYC cab drivers would likely never be able to live with.

Anyway, one of the many reasons to return to New York. (And did I mention that whole "driving on the wrong side of the road/car" sort of thing? I did, didn't I...pardon...)

Why Cars Look Like No One's Driving Them, and Other Tales of London

On the way from Heathrow to the "luxury hotel" where I'm staying, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. But I was transfixed by this country, in which -- to the ugly American foreigner used to cars being driven by drivers who sit on the left side of the car -- every automobile seems to be running on autopilot. I expected it, of course. Everyone knows that the British drive on the opposite site of the road. (Or that Americans do, depending on who you ask.)

So I've been asking around, trying to find out why this happens, why in the world, there are some cars that are "right-handed" and others that are "left-handed." One person said it had to do with Napoleon, who drove his Hummer (you know, because he was compensating for what he often called his "Me Complex") on one side, and that the British said "F&*% the French!" and presto, driving on the other side. Someone else noted it likely had to do with jousting. (As unlikely as it might seem, the latter theory is actually more correct.) What I found, and have not had a chance to fully read, is this.

But whatever the origin of the custom/law, isn't there enough divisive behavior in the world (see also, "war," "relationships," "the metric system") without arbitrary car driving guidelines, so half of the world is a road hazard when visiting the other half?

And that's why, when New Yorkers like the Urban Kvetch and Shabot are traveling in right-side car countries, we opt for public transportation.