[img]96|left|||no_popup[/img] Dateline Jerusalem — The night before last, the humidity was 97 percent. Last night it improved, only 94 percent. Early this morning I was in a fog so thick that the view from my apartment building was non-existent. Yesterday I had a reprieve from my hot and muggy town. I left my apartment at 6:30 in the morning to spend the day in hot but dry and clear Jerusalem. What a difference. I could breathe! But today I am back home and stuck here, literally! My clothes are like a second skin. I must peel myself off of anything I sit on.
I am not one for discussing the weather, but lately I seem to be obsessed with it. August is the hottest month in Israel, and it seems to have been August since May. Temperatures won't let up until sometime in mid-October. Although Israel is a small country, about the size of the state of New Jersey, 1/19th the size of California, its climate is quite varied. The only common denominator is that it is hot everywhere. Depending on the location, the degree of humidity can go from 15 percent in Eilat (the southern tip of Israel, along the Red Sea) to 34 percent in Be'er Sheva (in the Negev Desert) to 69 percent in Jerusalem to 90 percent in Tel Aviv (along the Mediterranean Sea). And of course where I live, the humidity seems to be the highest.
The Future Sizzles
More than likely the worst days will be within the next three weeks as there are two fasting days coming up. No water, no food. I can do without food, but I need water! I have already started to prepare by weaning myself from caffeine, drinking lots of water, and eating watermelon so that my body will be hydrated for the fast. I went to the fruit and vegetable store today and bought a “small” watermelon. I put the word in quotes because it is one of the largest watermelons I have ever purchased, but compared to the others in the store, it was small.
Although shopping at a supermarket may be more convenient at times, there is nothing better than going to a store that specializes. Israel is an agricultural country. The fruit and vegetable store gets produce directly from the farms daily. The produce is picked the day before and delivered early in the morning the following day. The quality is so much better than supermarket fare. Also I know that these fruits and vegetables were not picked on Saturday (it is forbidden to do so on Shabbat) because these little produce shops are closed on Sunday, the beginning of the week for us in Israel. I can spend an hour just shopping for fruits and vegetables. I just keep going from one fruit or vegetable to another, filling the colorful plastic bags, and piling them onto the counter. Then everything is packed in crates and delivered to my apartment later in the day. I love having groceries delivered. So much nicer than having to load and unload a car with bags of merchandise.
Special Treatment
I also went to the butcher who knows me as the “lady who does not speak Hebrew.” I tell him what I want, he opens up his giant refrigerator and removes the meat or chickens hanging from hooks for me to inspect. If I do not want too much fat on the beef or want to buy only chicken breasts with the bone without the wings or neck, he will cut, trim, cube, pound or do anything I request. Personal service.
Then I went to the corner “makolet,” a tiny corner market not much bigger than my living room. Usually I shop there if I have forgotten to buy something elsewhere. But this store is about the only place in town where I can buy potato sticks or what I knew in the States to be shoestring potatoes. The owner of the store now special orders them for me. They are tastier than potato chips, and I tend to eat fewer of them. So I like to refer to them as my “diet” potato stick snack.
It sounds as though I schlep all over town to do my grocery shopping, but in reality most everything is within 5-6 blocks of my apartment. Considering I have no car and must walk everywhere in this heat and humidity, it is a pleasure buying quality food within the convenience of my immediate neighborhood.
L'hitraot. Shachar