Observations in the city of Haifa

It is 4am, I hear the faint noise of traffic. I drift to sleep.

I sit in Egged bus no.37 ,a Russian couple argue about something, probably food because they’ve said Taboule, or that’s what I’ve heard. An old woman with grocery bags get into the full crowded bus, complying to my moral ethics and hearing my mother’s voice saying respect the old people,I stood up and gave her my seat , first she refused then I insisted. A man in his forties with Arabic features speaks loudly(speaking loudly is also one the Arabs’ features), yet what stupified me and stopped me in my tracks of getting to know my surrounding is what was he was saying, I listened carefully for two minutes and counted how many Hebrew words he’d said, 28 words in two minutes. Twenty eight.

A woman with blue hair.

The old Palestinians houses still holding on, their roots inseparable from the mother earth.

Hearing an Arabic girl saying Halesa st ( as Jews call it) instead of Hullesa st.

Smelling falafel,gas ignition, smoke and cheap perfume.

Riding in bus no.133 a woman sings for Alvis, then after the driver begs her for another song, she sings Hey Jude.

Strolling down Abo Nawas avenue( now called Ben Gurion st) hearing Arabic music mingled with the torrists’ jaragon. Perfect.

The smell of sea.