Ramla's Market

Markets and bazaars are not what they used to be, and yet, they attract lots of people through their variety of items, good deals, colorful atmosphere, and fun.

The market of Ramla town is considered one of the oldest, most authentic, and cheapest markets in Israel. 

the place hasn't always been sheltered

Ramla, a central little town near Tel-Aviv, characterized by a mixed population of jews, arabs, christians, karaites - has quite a few historical and religious sites (see my post on the White Tower, for instance). It also has a museum with a hoard of real gold coins, attractions such as the Pool of Arches (where one can sail in a little boat below ground), and a grave of a british soldier ,named...Harry Potter.

Yet, the fame of Ramla comes from its market-  located in the town's Old City, in the area between  the central bus station ,the big Mosque, the museum, and the President's garden.

                                      the Great Mosque

the President's garden

If you're looking for some fine spices, ethnic food, hummus eateries, fresh fruit and vegetables, dried fruit,  nuts, household items, clothing, arab style antiques  - this market is the place.

apples, lemons, onions, potatoes, tomatoes

ripe bannanas

avocado, tomatoes, potatoes

herbs

olives

dried fruit, nuts, almonds, spices

clothing

shoes'  shop

household items

Many come here for a culinary experience to sample some turkish bourekas, tunisian sandwich, or "wipe" some hummus off the plate in a 'hole in the wall' type of eatery ('hole in the wall' - not my original expression , I borrowed it from somewhere, but I like it; it's almost accurate). Several bakeries provide bread, pita, rolls, and pastry to those many customers who're shopping around .

"hole in the wall" eatery of tunisian sandwiches

eatery providing various ethnic dishes

bakery

What caught my eye, even more than the displayed merchandise, were people standing in line, reading  texts, talking on the phone, or having a friendly chat in the middle of the main market street. See photos below:

reading (?) while in line to buy products

on the phone, what else

muslim girls  chatting near a juice selling stall

I went there on Wednesday. It was a very sunny, warm day. In fact, the sun was beating mercilessly (the nights are still freezing). The sun's hitting combined with the vendors' shoutings made me feel dizzy at times.

strong sun

On Wednesdays there are actually two markets - the usual, daily market along Jabotinsky street , and in addition, at a short distance,  an open market which is a mixture of cheap clothing/ household items, and a flea market. The latter, a sort of enclave, is not easy" to navigate"; the surface is not flat, and one walks up and down on earth, sand and pebbles.

cheap clothing

household items on the ground

muslim women with shopping bags

flea market       (I like  the woman's braid)

shoes

It was a tiring day, but nevertheless one of good experience in shopping and social diversity. Markets are still an important meeting point of the rich and the poor, the young and the old, the religios and the secular ,the natives and the newcomers - all looking for a bargain.

Atidim's "Silicon Valley" and Salsa at the Mall

Atidim compound ( its full name: Kiryat Atidim) has developed gradually into what is now considered the "Silicon Valley" of Israel. It is located in an area called Ramat Hahayal  (north-eastern neighborhood of Tel -Aviv district),  at the intersection of two long, wide streets: Devora Hanavia and Raoul Wallenberg. The compound was established in the 70's by a company owned in equal parts by Tel Aviv municipality and Tel Aviv University.

the intersection

the entrance yellow sign

building nr.1

high towers and horizontal buildings

Atidim  has about 100 Hi-Tech companies,and all kinds of businesses  to accommodate this hi-tech industry:   financial institutions (banks, insurance firms), shops, cafes and restaurants, a post office agency, a dental clinique, a kindergarten, a supermarket, a hairdresser's, parking places, a bus terminal, etc... In the vicinity , there's also  a 4-star hotel (Leonardo Hotel).

 'Clal'  insurance tower

Motorola- telecommunications company

I must admit I highly appreciate Hi-tech people and I even, sort of, envy them. They are the cream of  human society, sought after and welcomed almost everywhere in the world. Their working and payment conditions are among the best.

It's rather surprising that we have  a large number of Hi- Tech companies (both local and foreign), as Israel  is far from being an ideal environment.
Like any country of immigrants we're  quite a divided nation, and unlike some other countries, we have serious security and demographic problems. 

On the other hand, the big world outside ( Europe, America) is not so appealing at present, and it probably won't be in the near future, to say the least; so now is the proper time to keep those hi-techists  here and benefit from their presence and knowledge.

nr.3 - the buildings are numbered in blue

good signage everywhwere

I ended my tour of Atidim with a visit to the Ayalon Mall, in the adjacent city of Ramat-Gan(some 15 minutes drive). I fell upon a 'latino dance'  happening. It was a delight to the eyes to watch the youngsters dance salsa on the ground floor with an enthusiastic audience both on the ground floor and upper floor of the mall .I got carried away by the sights and sounds and almost forgot I came to do some shopping.

P.S. - the pink color - due to some wrong setting in my little camera.

Snow in the Sahara

Unbelievable!  Sahara is  the hottest, driest place on the planet. The last thing one would expect is snow. That's a rare weather event ( the last time snow fell there was in 1979 -  it was first time in recorded weather history ), and therefore this is real, exciting news.

An amateur photographer by the name of Karim Bouchetata captured the snow on the red sand dunes (photo above) near the little algerian desert  town Ain Sefra, known as the Gateway to the desert . He had to do it quickly as the snow stayed only for about a day and then melted away (19 of December,2016).

There are some youtube videos about this Ain Sefra place in Algeria - an oasis located in the desert and near the Atlas mountains (see, for example, the video "Algerie,  cote d'Ain Sefra- Paysages").

The snow in the Sahara desert is one of the many occurrences of weather anomality  during the last two decades, which makes us wonder where do we go from here . What's going to happen next with our climate? We're quite helpless about it.  I don't call the situation warming  or cooling of the earth - it would be erroneous -  just  anomality of the weather.

The Roof Of The World

"I must visit Nepal someday", I keep saying to myself.

My interest in Nepal began not through its Himalaya mountains with the Everest peak (the roof of the world). It started actually with a pair of... handknit thick woolen socks that warm my feet and my heart during winter.

thick socks for indoors

Wool is considered a magical material and the best insulating one, as it both absorbs and repels water, moisture (merino wool is the best on the market). I suppose the nepalese socks are designed to help survive the Himalayan winters, but they're ideal for any kind of winter, harsh as well as moderate. For those allergic to wool there are all sorts of acrylic fibers, but none can compete with wool. With these socks in winter, I really feel on the top of the world.
                                                 

white/grey/black, thinner socks for outdoors

I also have a pair of leg warmers, 2 pairs of hand mittens, and 2  hats of the same origin - Nepal villages.. I use them much less frequently than the socks as we have short, relatively moderate winters.

leg warmers

hand mittens

hats with ear flaps and lined with fleece

People that buy the handknit woolen items, help underprivileged women in the rural part of Nepal that earn their living from hand knitting crafts.The 100% woolen items come in a variety of designs, sizes and colors.

There used to be a shop in Tel Aviv which imported woolen products from Nepal, but it closed a few years ago. After all we are a warm country. Since then, however, the winters have become quite cold, and if you happen to have those Nepal woolen items, you're on 'the roof of the world'.

Need for Reconciliation

sunset (as seen at Poleg junction, Netanya)

What interests me in life is people and the workings of the human mind. Nature , with all its splendors, is but a background, not the protagonist on the stage of life. 
I won't visit a country just for its golden beaches, mighty mountains , or the blooming of the cherry trees. There has to be something more than that to attract me, something that has to do with the spirit of mankind.

And yet, during the last few decades Nature is becoming more and more of the protagonist - in a negative sense -  through all those natural disasters that we encounter: fires, floodings, earthquakes, hurricanes, lava eruptions, drought etc...These disasters have sadly increased in number and intensity.

We treat nature badly, and she reacts accordingly. We could take it a few steps further and say that we treat the universe badly; we invented  'colonialism' and 'globality' which had greatly harmed the planet and its inhabitants. God, its creator, is furious. His universe was logically built, and we, the people, in our quest for progress and change are constantly destroying it.

Perhaps we could still do something about it, and stop the abrupt deterioration, but we need great minds for that. So far, there aren't any capable of leading us towards reconciliation with God and nature.

Asking for Direction

Karlo  Vivary

Although I'm usually equipped with a street map, I prefer to ask for direction whenever I'm in a new place.People are always willing to help, and it creates a real kind of interaction with the local people.

Once, in Durban, South Africa, I wished to visit the famous indian market, so I asked someone who seemed to  to be of indian descent (there's a large indian community in this city) to direct me to my desired destination.

He said to me: "you're on the right street; it's a  long street but just keep going straight and looking down. By the quantity of litter on the pavement, you'll know when you're close to the indian market". His words about the litter made me smile and put me into a good mood.

In Bucharest, Romania, there's the museum of the Village,  and the museum of the romanian Peasant.  The first is an open air museum displaying rural homes, the other one displays traditional costumes, ceramic,wood ,and iron objects of rural Romania.

For some reason, (probably because both deal with rural aspects) I confused the two, asked the wrong question and reached the wrong place, but as a result of this confusion I got to visit both museums. My gain and pleasure.

In Karlo Vivary, the Czech republic, I almost lost the last bus back to Prague. Here I felt for the first time the meaning of language barrier. People got me in such a mess with their inaccurate  directions, that even the street map couldn't save me.The signs everywhere were in the czech language only.

For a woman alone it could be dangerous to ask for help on the street, but one has to use one's common sense and know how to avoid certain people and situations.

Mosul, Raqqah, Allepo

Memorize the above names! World War3  might emerge from the area that leads to, fro, and around these places. 

Mosul is a city in northern Iraq;  it's located on the banks of the Tigris river. It's rich in historical buildings. It has a university (closed now) and a medical college.The population is diverse ethnically and religiously, with the majority being Arabs, and the dominant religion - suuni Islam.

Raqqah is a city in Syria; it is situated on the northeast bank of the Euphrates river not far from the largest syrian dam Al Tabqa which has enabled electricity and irrigation to rural parts of Syria. The city has many archeological remains and a museum.
Its main agricultural product is cotton.

Both places were conqured by Daesh (ISIS) in 2014 ; at present. there's a military offensive going on against the ISIS people.  The involved parties are: Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Iran, USA ( in coalition with its western allies), and Russia.

It seems that Daesh with all the atrocities done by it, is only a secondary target, the main target being Syria's president, Assad. The americans want him out (as part of their "arab spring" goals), the russians want him in. Putin acts on Syria's soil upon invitation from Assad. The other forces that go after Daesh into syrian territory are sort of invasive, and this fact also adds fuel to the fire.

Aleppo (Halab in arabic) once Syria's largest city, is close to the turkish border. It has always had a strategic position as a trading center between central Asia and  middle-eastern Asia. It's currently divided between the West part (held by the syrian government) and the East part (held by the rebels who are backed by the USA and its allies in the region - Turkey and Jordan) ;  fight between the two sides has been going on  there for several years. 

I don't think Putin is interested in  a world war now as his country is in a bad economic situation, and wars cost lots and lots of money. But who knows, the sanctions imposed on Russia by the americans and their interference in Ukraine matters, have greatly offended and affected his ego and he might take the wrong decisions.

Anyway the world is quite the orphan now. May God help us!

Out of the Mouths of Babes....

"Moreshet Avot" (our Fathers' Heritage) synagogue

inside the synagogue

We've just celebrated  The High Holidays: Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) . 

I have several prayer books that belonged to my late parents. A few years ago I tried to donate the books to the synagogue in our town. My parents were faithful members of that institution ; their names were immortalized on the Remembrance Wall in the building's entrance.

The guy there was reluctant about the donation. A kid about 10-12 years old who was with him (probably his son ) said to me:
'Lady, keep these books; they'll protect you, they'll keep you and your house safe and well'.
I stood speechless. Why didn't I think about that? Such wise words coming from a young boy!

During the Holidays I read at home, out of what used to be my mother's book, and feel good, even proud about that.

The Leper Colony of Spinalonga

So close to the shore and civilization, and yet so far from it! A rocky, desolate, uninhabited islet surrounded by beautiful, clear, blue waters . Upon it, a strategic, circular venetian  sea fortress and remains of Europe's last leper colony (1903-1957ׁׁ).

Spinalonga, now tourist attraction

To get there I took the bus from Heraklion  to the town of Agios Nikolaos (over an hour drive, nice scenery though), and then another bus to Elounda village(30-40 minutes) where boats were waiting to take visitors to notorious Spinalonga. The sailing takes 25 minutes from Elounda, and only ten minutes from nearby Plaka village. 

sailing from Elounda to Spinalonga

arriving at the pier

A sense of great sadness fell upon me as I walked on the islet. 

There were two gates to the place and several lookouts. One of the gates -  a small dark tunnel was used for bringing in the lepers deported  from Crete and from other parts of Greece.
The lepers were unaware of what was going to happen to them; they were tricked into entering the tunnel. Once inside they were captured and isolated forever.

the tunnel of  'no return' 

venetian lookout; there are several of them

The fortress is not easily accessible; big rocks, hard climbing, 

venetian fortress; rough terrain

so I focused on the colony buildings (partly restored, mostly ruins) : houses, two churches, hospital, shops/workshops, cemetery.

In spite of it all - the ilness, the difficulties, and the stigma - there was life going on there. The leprosy patients got a small allowance from the government, accomodation, medical attention, food, water, and other supplies. People fell in love, married and had children. They organized their houses  and engaged in small cultivation of the land. Some of them had money sent by their family and lived a somewhat better life than the others. 

archway access

 to little dock where food and supplies were brought in

St. Pantelimon church

(the priest, healthy man,volunteered to live with the lepers)

St. George church- little cross on the roof,  bell on the wall

hospital

The gap between the poor and those with some money, stands out at the small cemetery where there's a cruel hierarchy.There are three kinds of graves:  a mass grave for the very poor, graves covered with tiles, and separate graves for those with money. 

graves covered with tiles

graves for people with money

one single headstone, dated 2013

Spinalonga is  a must see. It's moving and interesting, and a visit there is a way to pay tribute to those who suffered and struggled to survive. It is called by some  "a monument to human pain" .