Our new Home in Jerusalem

A talk with our dentist in Boston and we were on a quest for an endodontist (root canal specialist). We decided it was time to head to Jerusalem with an interim stop at the car rental place to clarify where we can drive the rental car. Amazingly, they don’t tell you that your insurance doesn’t cover a large number of cities in Israel. So, we got a map with details on the cities and roads that are not passable.

Then, it was time to rent our apartment for the month. We met with Lynn, the landlady, and got the basics on our new home. It turned out that a number of her relatives are dentists and she got us the name and telephone of an endodontist. She also provided us with an education on where you can drive on the Sabbath and where it’s not advisable to travel (the orthodox Jewish section doesn’t approve of driving on the Sabbath). Since it was Friday afternoon, everything was closing for the Jewish Sabbath on Saturday. So, we did a quick stop at the local grocery store for supplies to last us until Sunday. The grocery store experience was interesting. Very limited supply, all of the signs in Hebrew, a 5 shekel charge to rent a grocery cart (returned when you return the cart), extremely high prices and you get to bag your own groceries.

Since the streets basically shut down at sunset, we took the opportunity to drive through Jerusalem without the obnoxious, pushy drivers. The orthodox areas were an education. Most of the Jewish neighborhoods are immaculate. The orthodox areas were littered with trash and filled with Hassidic Jews (men with what we called “Necco” heads and “Coaster” heads. The Necco heads wear huge fur hats that look like Necco wafers and dress all in black with curls on the side of their heads. We decided that ultimately, they’re all what we termed “Shekel Heads”- looking for ways to part you from your money).

We explored the Russian compound and the surrounding streets and found a great little restaurant for spags and balls (Spaghettini). After dinner, we did a bit of “stoop sitting”- taking our two chairs outside our apartment and reading our newspapers. John also managed to create a clothesline out of a broom, a piece of marble and his socks. Quite ingenious.

Our apartment isn’t much to look at- a basement studio apartment with two twin beds, a creaky armoire, a TV that needs repair, bathroom and a small kitchenette (small refrigerator, hot plate, microwave, hot water heater, sink and a few dishes) – and parking (a rare commodity in Jerusalem). But, it felt much more like a home than our sterile hotel room- and for a $70/night differential, it made us feel a lot better about our stay in Jerusalem.