S and I decided to go to Jerusalem last week to do a bit of shopping. There are some items that one can find in Israel that you can not find in the West Bank. For me - it is fancy beauty products. For S - good quality and (most importantly) stylish shoes. S squeezed his 6'3" frame into the tiny seats as we made our way from Ramallah to the Old City of Jerusalem. We got off the bus just north of the Damascus Gate and walked down into the depths of the never-ceasingly beautiful Old City. I never get sick of this place. Although, for the most part, the shops that line the narrow alleyways are filled with generic clothes, cheap trinkets, year-old candy, etc. there are a few gems that always make it worth while. For instance, the old Arab man with the tiniest of tiny metal working shops, where he sits day after day hunched over his saw, or his blow torch creating and fixing countless items. Or the spice shop that creates beautiful sculptures with mounds of za'atar, sumaq, and other indeginious spices. Or the butchers that have been operating for hundreds of years, with their freshly slaughtered lamb stuffed with parsley hanging out front for all to see (and smell). Or the Jerusalem Restaurant, which is where a 70+ year old man lives out his days making fresh falafel, meat-stuffed pastries, and various salads trying his best to entice tourists. He faces a daily struggle of making ends meet in his tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant which is situated just below his home right in the heart of the Muslim Quarter. He keeps his 15+ year old pictures of his one and only visit to the U.S. close at hand to show his customers. These are the reasons I keep going back.
A 15 minute walk through the Old City brings us to Jaffa Gate which is on the western side of the walls (the Damascus Gate is on the northern side). We walk outside of the Old City into a square where tourists and locals alike can get a view of both the ancient part of the city in East Jerusalem and the modernly developed part in West Jerusalem. The difference in the atmosphere and the people is staggering as opposed to where we had just came from (be it Ramallah or E. Jerusalem). I see 70 times more skin. I hear 70 times more American accents. I am so used to being in the West Bank that I have a tendency to go into culture shock when I enter W. Jerusalem. It is uncanny how different I feel - a feeling hard to describe other than to say that I feel slightly uncomfortable and on edge. I still haven't figured it out.
S and I headed down into Memella Mall, which is just down the steps from Jaffa Gate. This place is a brand new mall full of modern and trendy shops such as, Tommy Hilfiger, Top Shop, Crocs, Versace, etc. Not exactly my kind of place as I have an aversion to malls and these kind of shops in general. But a good place to go for what we were looking for. S was very impressed with the place and was in heaven being able to ogle the kind of women that he hadn't seen since leaving England. It was actually hilarious because his smooth-talking self had transformed back into a horny teenager. Afterward getting what we needed, we headed back into the Old City and I breathed a sigh of relief being back in familiar territory -- back to a place where I don't have to stop myself mid-sentence when I speak Arabic -- back to a place where I don't have to see other women's bosoms -- back to a place where I am made to feel like I am entirely at home.
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