Diamonds and Pearls

Melissa, Kiarra and myself with some of the amazing pieces from Megemeria.

I have a confession. It's Wednesday and I'm still hung over from Monday. Pretty incredible, considering I didn't have a drop of alcohol. What's been lingering with me this week, is not a pounding headache or bad case of the bubble guts (thankfully), but a very different sensation inside. It's an extended feeling of the warm and fuzzies after visiting what is one of the nicest places I've seen in Israel, Megemeria. This was my second visit there, and for the second time, I left with a renewed perspective and sense of purpose about the world around me. I'll explain.

Shekels vs. Dollars: Comparing groceries

How far do these 20's go?

One of the perks of living America is that stuff is fairly cheap. Taxes are pretty low, there's a lot of brands in any given market promoting competition, and big-box retailers like Walmart and Target offer deep discounts on just about everything, because in a country of 300 million people, big chains can afford to do that. What's a shame however, is how little most Americans appreciate this. In fact, Americans love to complain about how expensive things are, while anyone who is well-traveled outside the U.S knows that we have it wayyyy better than most places. I spent 3 years cursing the Euro before I moved to Israel and met the shekel. The sticker shock I've encountered in Israel is unlike anything else I've seen, and I find myself going out of my way to find things cheaper, especially groceries. Then again, maybe it's all in my head? I figured I'd do a side by side comparison on some of the groceries I purchase the most to find out for sure.

I don't speak Amharic

At left, me. At right, Ethiopian supermodel Liya Kebede. See the resemblance??!!! Remember sometimes it's okay to lie if it makes someone feel better :)

In Tel Aviv there is a fairly sizable population of Ethiopian Jews. Like many immigrant communities, a lot of them work jobs that don't require advanced education, such as security, construction, childcare or janitorial work. This is of course not the case for every Ethiopian in Israel, but this is where I tend to see them the most - pushing strollers, sweeping and mopping floors,  bagging groceries, and checking cars at the mall entrance. All of these are perfectly decent ways to earn a living, particularly for a population that came to Israel a few generations ago from an underdeveloped country. What I've encountered as a non-Ethiopian, is an automatic assumption on the part of some Israelis that I am here doing one of those same things, naturally, because of the color of my skin.

Southern Israel Tour

Having lived among the well heeled of Tel Aviv for over a year, I wasn’t sure what to expect when YEDID invited me to tour southern Israel. I braced myself for an experience unlike any I’d seen before, and that’s exactly what I got.

First up was the Bedouin community of Rahat. Honestly, and probably ignorantly, I expected a lot of tents. There were some tents, but mostly run-down housing units lining barely paved, unnamed streets. Ran, my guide, pointed out some recent advances the city had secured from the government, things as basic as proper bus shelters, where before were just metal poles. On a late Monday morning, I was struck by the number of kids out and about – playing soccer in a dusty abandoned lot, or tagging along with their mothers en route to a cramped market. For sure I thought most of these kids should be in a classroom somewhere, but this is not a town that places a premium on education, despite over half of its residents aged 18 and under.