An Israeli in Paris

We arrived in Paris , and i was determined to be the citizen of the world 

but as usual whenever i make that vow i find it is a difficult one to maintain ..

the Israeli elections were about to take place and rather than watch the CNN 24-7 i found myself in a small French hotel that did not know that CNN is supposed to be available everywhere where civilized people reside..

The one second news item of the Israeli elections was easy to miss and dismiss but it still remained in the back of my mind so as we visited the Picasso museum in Marais, the Jewish area in Paris, we sat down to eat a huge falafel, the best i have ever had, that  kept us  from feeling hunger for the next 12 hours..

i turned to the man sitting next to me and inquired about the election results, close, he answered, not too clear yet..

Israelis are not well known for keeping silent and so overhearing Hebrew i asked the israeli lady at the next table

Zipi, she answered, i think ..we then proceeded to talk about Paris and travel recommendations , within 5 minutes we each got a short summary of eachother's life

she said she was there to shop and not to visit museums however it was nice to meet her small circle of friends and partner , and we parted with a smile

I read a sign that afternoon hanging above a former school where Jewish children had been deported during world war two to concentration camps, 

the phrasing of the sign spoke loud and clear

"In memory of the children who had been deported  to concentration camps only because they were jewish"

the following day i happened to have seen another sign like that in the Martre district

hanging above a school ¨

Having had a too long political disagreement with a intellectual looking type man in the latin quartier i made a vow once again to avoid saying i was an Israeli

i did not feel like explaining the israeli stand on Gaza

it seemed to be pretty clear, those who favor Israel and believe in its right to exist understood the complexity of the situation in Gaza and the necessity to stop the rocket attack on israel , those however who had always had their doubts on whether jews should have their own homeland will doubt the latest campaign and mistrust israelis anyway, especially those who are young and influenced by the media where they get most of their information or biased professors of international relations

on the metro i have seen a group of Moslem brothers and something in the eye contact told me to keep in cognito and not to go around having poltiical discussions about town

One part of paris looked like a scene from any arab town , it had  a turkish bath divided into women and men sections, the buildings looked as though they could have been in any moslem land, and the people were dressed in typical dress

the women had their hair covered modestly and the men wore head covers and sandles in the winter, they seemed joful to gather in their group and i felt like a chicken in the fox's den..

most people guessed i was german as i could not help speaking german when i meant to be speaking French as i have been speaking german for so long it was difficult to just pack it in and turn on the French speaking button , it is something that happens a lot when you speak second and third foreign languages, one takes over and acts as a barrier to the language you wish to speak 

most of the time  i spoke English as everyone seemed to speak English except for an elderly man with an aging  fox terrier  who had shown me the way when i got lost the last day when making my way back from watching the sun rise  over the sacre couer as recommended by an Austrailian at the picasso museum as a must see event

I got distracted while watching the sun rise over paris and could not find my way back to the hotel, lost i found myself in pigal, the red light district which was not too bad during the morning but not where i wanted to be..the man with the dog was happy to show me the way but spoke no English, at last i could make use of six years of high school French and a course at the  Tel Aviv ambessy taught by a  strict nun 

I found myself speaking to the French man about death and sharing with him my philosphy towards "Pro life" concerning dogs, in FRENCH!

my french was slow but the man had lots of patience and so i ended up sharing with him my experience with my first dog who died peacefully one jewish new year under our dining room table and not wishing to go into what that meant in the jewish tradition etc. i recommended the tortured man would chose "Force major" and wait for the dog to die, the dog seemed fine to me and the man had confessed he had a difficult time letting go 

i was reminded of my own dog waiting for me back home with kind friends

i could not remember the name for dacheshund in French and thus called my dog a 

"Baguette" dog, the man understood

it was a nice way to practice French and as our paths parted i wished the man and his dog a happy day and an easy "adieu" from the world when the dog's time came around   

As we were leaving i stopped by a bakery at the corner and purchased some baguettes, the typical French bread,

the owner of the bakery offered me a chocolate and nut bun to taste,

i was in seventh heaven , wow! now that is a bun !!

You are from Israel? the woman behind the counter   asked  

how did you know ? i asked like a child whose dress up act has been found out

I have relatives in Jerusalem, said the older woman, and i can tell by the way you enjoy the bun , you are Israeli

Some cultural attriubtes one can not hide no matter how much one tries 

and yes, enjoying food is one quality that is too deeply embedded in my consciousness

food is paramount

i went back home  , sad to leave the glorious city of lights and art and knowing the baguettes, especially the chocolate chip ones, will not last too long once the kids get to them ..

unless i get to them first...

AH!