The Effects of Busing

I think I like Tel Aviv. I had dinner last night at one of the few kosher restaurants in Tel Aviv—Tel Aviv being where the Jews live who want to get away from the Jews. It was a much more familiar experience: people walking around, waterfront views, stores and cars and lights. And the sherut drivers (a sherut is like a shared-ride taxi that essentially follows the bus routes but is faster) were surprisingly nice. One even drove me to the next sherut even though he was off duty because he saw me at the stop. At dinner with an old friend, and now mostly over my stomach-thing, we talked about Israeli culture and bad design.

Getting back to Jerusalem at 2 am posed a slight problem of where I would sleep. PresenTense, the magazine cum institute cum amorphous non-profit, for whom I’ve done some design work and am now assistant art director, has a new office in Emek Refaim in the southern part of Jerusalem, conveniently down the street from my friend. The high-concept office was intended to be a meeting place for young, active Jews, providing a workspace outside of coffee shops for writers, artists, entrepreneurs, etc., in addition to housing the global network’s physical presence. They also have a couple beds for PT staff who find themselves in the area and needing a place to sleep, and soon will have more to allow them to be a sort of hostel for wandering Jews. This being Sunday, people show up to work at 7:30 or 8:00 in the AM because this country hates weekends. I may go back to Alon Shvut today or stick around for the street festival tonight. Updates on that later. Now to work.