Horizontal Stripes....
My first impressions of Tel Aviv are probably not what the average person thinks of when they think of "Israel" although I am not jarred by the fact that this is largely a very secular and European-oriented city because this is what I expected. I do not feel at all like I am in "The Holy Land" or a sacred place. There is very little evidence that this a Jewish state or religious in any way. There is very little here, in the city center at the very least, that points to the fact that this is the cultural center of world's only Jewish State. It is striking how indeed secular this place seems to be... at least on the outside.
After stopping to have a falafel along the way, I walked to a sort of industrial area where all the loud clubs were because I wanted to experience the nightlife of which this city is known for. I wanted to go to a reggae club, but the few places I saw were places were only Ethiopian Jews went to.... I would have stuck out like a sore thumb. A reggae club in Tel Aviv is apparently a place where only Ethiopians go to unlike in America, where there seems to be more of a mix. Yes,.. there are a lot of Ethiopians (and East Africans here) and they are, of course Jews, but they seem to not have assimilated too well with general Israeli society in that they stick to their own kind and own clubs. There is a separation of the club scene here like any other modern country. I milled around one of the hottest, most popular clubs for about a half-hour just to scope out the scene, but I didn't end up going in for a handful of reasons. In front of this club, there was a metal detector and about a dozen security personnel. The patrons were what in America, we would call "Meat-heads".... tough-looking, perfectly-coiffed, and wearing a variety of the same t-shirt... horizontal stripes (if you want to fit in on a weekend night here in Tel Aviv, wear horizontal stripes). Think 'Jersey Shore'. This place was just a bit too intense and 'machisimo' for me. At one point, a drunken and belligerent young fellow outside the club started yelling at one of the bouncers, who in turn came after him and clubbed him on the head with a baton.
I finally walked into a club that seemed comfortable to me.... a dance club.... hard-house, trance, and pop-dance. I realized after a while that the DJ was speaking Russian and I was surrounded by Ashkenazi (Israelis of European descent)... more specifically, Israelis of Russian descent. The club next store was more Ethiopian-oriented and, come to think of it, the 'Meat-head' club seemed to be mostly Sephardi Jews (of Arab or 'Oriental' lineage). More importantly to me, the Russian club was what we in America would term a 'Sausage-Fest', which was dismaying.
...On the way home, I passed by an obviously drunken young gay man stumbling on a narrow curb along a busy road. He heard me walk behind him and he stopped to let me catch up. This guy was really wasted and as he looked at me, I said, "How are you?"..... "Good", he said..... "Shalom!", I replied and I asked him, "Do you speak English?" to which he shook his head and said, "No!" as he began to sing a song in Hebrew and I snapped my fingers rhythmically. I told him to "be careful".... then his phone rang and he disappeared .....
....At another bar on Ben Yehuda Street, I asked a man, who was dancing by himself to American rock if he was from Israel...."Yes!", he said.... "I love your country", he said, "Our countries are so much alike"....."Yes", I said, "We both have a lot of enemies"....... "What do think of this country?", he asked.... "Well", I replied, "I have only been here for a day and everyone has treated me kind." before taking another swig of my Black Star Beer and bopping my head to hip-hop.
Meanwhile, at least 11 people have been injured by Israeli air strikes targeting Gaza's airport after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip killed a worker on an Israeli farm on Thursday. This is going on not too far to the south, but it is seemingly a world away.
"Everyone Hates Chris" on TV.... with Hebrew subtitles...
After stopping to have a falafel along the way, I walked to a sort of industrial area where all the loud clubs were because I wanted to experience the nightlife of which this city is known for. I wanted to go to a reggae club, but the few places I saw were places were only Ethiopian Jews went to.... I would have stuck out like a sore thumb. A reggae club in Tel Aviv is apparently a place where only Ethiopians go to unlike in America, where there seems to be more of a mix. Yes,.. there are a lot of Ethiopians (and East Africans here) and they are, of course Jews, but they seem to not have assimilated too well with general Israeli society in that they stick to their own kind and own clubs. There is a separation of the club scene here like any other modern country. I milled around one of the hottest, most popular clubs for about a half-hour just to scope out the scene, but I didn't end up going in for a handful of reasons. In front of this club, there was a metal detector and about a dozen security personnel. The patrons were what in America, we would call "Meat-heads".... tough-looking, perfectly-coiffed, and wearing a variety of the same t-shirt... horizontal stripes (if you want to fit in on a weekend night here in Tel Aviv, wear horizontal stripes). Think 'Jersey Shore'. This place was just a bit too intense and 'machisimo' for me. At one point, a drunken and belligerent young fellow outside the club started yelling at one of the bouncers, who in turn came after him and clubbed him on the head with a baton.
I finally walked into a club that seemed comfortable to me.... a dance club.... hard-house, trance, and pop-dance. I realized after a while that the DJ was speaking Russian and I was surrounded by Ashkenazi (Israelis of European descent)... more specifically, Israelis of Russian descent. The club next store was more Ethiopian-oriented and, come to think of it, the 'Meat-head' club seemed to be mostly Sephardi Jews (of Arab or 'Oriental' lineage). More importantly to me, the Russian club was what we in America would term a 'Sausage-Fest', which was dismaying.
...On the way home, I passed by an obviously drunken young gay man stumbling on a narrow curb along a busy road. He heard me walk behind him and he stopped to let me catch up. This guy was really wasted and as he looked at me, I said, "How are you?"..... "Good", he said..... "Shalom!", I replied and I asked him, "Do you speak English?" to which he shook his head and said, "No!" as he began to sing a song in Hebrew and I snapped my fingers rhythmically. I told him to "be careful".... then his phone rang and he disappeared .....
....At another bar on Ben Yehuda Street, I asked a man, who was dancing by himself to American rock if he was from Israel...."Yes!", he said.... "I love your country", he said, "Our countries are so much alike"....."Yes", I said, "We both have a lot of enemies"....... "What do think of this country?", he asked.... "Well", I replied, "I have only been here for a day and everyone has treated me kind." before taking another swig of my Black Star Beer and bopping my head to hip-hop.
Meanwhile, at least 11 people have been injured by Israeli air strikes targeting Gaza's airport after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip killed a worker on an Israeli farm on Thursday. This is going on not too far to the south, but it is seemingly a world away.
"Everyone Hates Chris" on TV.... with Hebrew subtitles...