The new home I love
We've actually made the real move this past week, received our brand new Toyota Corolla, and last night we signed on an apartment (on Ostrovsky street, for you Ra'anana-ites).
Ra'anana is defintiely the prettiest, cleanest place I have lived in since....forever (university experiences included Midtown Manhattan and West Philadelphia). I have seen almost no stray cats, no overflowing trash bins, and the street cleaners actually clean the street. This may be because instead of forcing the street cleaners to procure their own equipment (we've all seen the Jerusalem street cleaners using a stick to "sweep" trash into an empty box), Ra'anana gives them a handy little cart with brooms, and...cleaning supplies!! ANd probably they get paid reasonably on time.
The city clearly invests in the little things that make life easier. There are only 2 streets that have traffic lights in the whole place (the 2 main drags), but each traffic light is numbered. So when giving directions to someone, when you tell them to turn right at the 7th traffic light, they don't have to count, and hope they didn't miss one. Its all numbered!!
All of these little things the city does to make life easier seems to contribute to a more pleasant, easygoing population. I have to tone down my Jerusalem-acquired behaviors. In Jerusalem, when going to any sort of errand or task, one must always gear up for the big fight. If I am trying to go to the supermarket, I have to gear up to fight with at least one rude customer, who will usually come with elbows out to the cheese counter and "pretend" that she never heard of the concept of a line; then the customer who leaves an emtpy cart at the checkout line and ferries back and forth bewteen aisles, filling up her cart and daring anyone to "cut" her, though all the other customers are waiting while she's still shopping; and finally the fight with the checkout lady, who will go on her break just as it gets to your turn in line, or where there are never enough open checkout counters for the amount of customers (why bother having 19 checkouts if there are never more than 3 open?).
Juxtapose this to Ra'anana where the security guard politely greets you and asks if he can hold your dog while you shop (subtle way of saying no dogs allowed) - which he actually does! (to the point that Sharona didn't want to come back to me). At the cheese counter, the cheese lady tried to serve another customer who came after me, but that customer said, "No, I think she was here first". At the checkout line, another customer helped me bag my groceries!!!
I have found the way to relax, its called moving to Ra'anana.
As for driving to Jerusalem every day - on the way home, no matter what time it ever takes me longer than an hour. Yesterday I left Ra'anana at 8:45, thinking I'd miss the traffic, but I got stuck at a few places and it took 1.5 hours to get there. But this morning I left at 6:40 am, and it took me under an hour!! So clearly, the trick is to go before the traffic.
Anyway, I just wanted to thank Keren, the Ra'anana blogger who tracked me down and invited me for Shabbat lunch. I'm really sorry we had other plans, but you really made us feel welcome!
Forget Jerusalem - I'm converted.
Ra'anana is defintiely the prettiest, cleanest place I have lived in since....forever (university experiences included Midtown Manhattan and West Philadelphia). I have seen almost no stray cats, no overflowing trash bins, and the street cleaners actually clean the street. This may be because instead of forcing the street cleaners to procure their own equipment (we've all seen the Jerusalem street cleaners using a stick to "sweep" trash into an empty box), Ra'anana gives them a handy little cart with brooms, and...cleaning supplies!! ANd probably they get paid reasonably on time.
The city clearly invests in the little things that make life easier. There are only 2 streets that have traffic lights in the whole place (the 2 main drags), but each traffic light is numbered. So when giving directions to someone, when you tell them to turn right at the 7th traffic light, they don't have to count, and hope they didn't miss one. Its all numbered!!
All of these little things the city does to make life easier seems to contribute to a more pleasant, easygoing population. I have to tone down my Jerusalem-acquired behaviors. In Jerusalem, when going to any sort of errand or task, one must always gear up for the big fight. If I am trying to go to the supermarket, I have to gear up to fight with at least one rude customer, who will usually come with elbows out to the cheese counter and "pretend" that she never heard of the concept of a line; then the customer who leaves an emtpy cart at the checkout line and ferries back and forth bewteen aisles, filling up her cart and daring anyone to "cut" her, though all the other customers are waiting while she's still shopping; and finally the fight with the checkout lady, who will go on her break just as it gets to your turn in line, or where there are never enough open checkout counters for the amount of customers (why bother having 19 checkouts if there are never more than 3 open?).
Juxtapose this to Ra'anana where the security guard politely greets you and asks if he can hold your dog while you shop (subtle way of saying no dogs allowed) - which he actually does! (to the point that Sharona didn't want to come back to me). At the cheese counter, the cheese lady tried to serve another customer who came after me, but that customer said, "No, I think she was here first". At the checkout line, another customer helped me bag my groceries!!!
I have found the way to relax, its called moving to Ra'anana.
As for driving to Jerusalem every day - on the way home, no matter what time it ever takes me longer than an hour. Yesterday I left Ra'anana at 8:45, thinking I'd miss the traffic, but I got stuck at a few places and it took 1.5 hours to get there. But this morning I left at 6:40 am, and it took me under an hour!! So clearly, the trick is to go before the traffic.
Anyway, I just wanted to thank Keren, the Ra'anana blogger who tracked me down and invited me for Shabbat lunch. I'm really sorry we had other plans, but you really made us feel welcome!
Forget Jerusalem - I'm converted.
posted by Noa at 10:40 AM
9 Comments:
Yeah, never saw that coming! :-P
Guess we'll never see you again unless you want to grab a coffee at 6am!
Having lived in J-m and Raanana, I couldn't agree with you more. Welcome, and we look forward to having you over some other time!
Karen
Our loss is their gain...
How long before you start to talk with a South African accent?
Have you been to Meatland yet? It rocks.
Can we expect a change in the name of your blog?
See you thursday
Here I was looking for you in class and your writing your blog, excuse me!!!!! Besides this is the saddest posting I've ever read, come back to me Noa.
And have you noticed that the checkers in the express lane who see someone trying to unload an enormous cartful of groceries say "Excuse me, g'veret, only 10 items or less!"
My jaw nearly dropped when I heard that for the first time.
Are you sure you're still in Israel?
We TOLD you it was great here...
Things are a bit crazy with my parents in town till Jan. 4, but we WILL get together, I promise, especially after you move to my neighborhood...
We moved from the Jerusalem area (we lived in both the suburbs and city)6 years ago. My husband agrees with you and is thrilled to be out of Jerusalem. I was happy in the suburbs but admit Jerusalem itself is not a pleasent place to live anymore. Welcome to Raanana
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