POSTCARDS FROM JERUSALEM: JERUSALEM POSTCARD June

THE CAMERA/THE SHUK
I probably mentioned some of these experiences before but here they are all together!

The camera is an inanimate object. The person using it is an animate object. The camera becomes an animate object by virtue of its user. I figured this out based on my experiences in the shuk at all hours of the day and night.

Nearly every day and evening on my way home from the train/light rail to my apartment across from the shuk, I would walk thru and marvel at what was going on.

During the day, fruits, vegetables, baked goods, humus and tahini along with restaurants flourish. Every imaginable kind of person, from religious to secular; from Ethiopian to Israeli can be seen shopping.

Around 8:30 at night, the sellers begin to close up shop till early the next morning. By 10:30, the place has totally changed. The young people have small tables and chairs stored in every nook and cranny. They set them up instantly. It has become a mecca for young people to shmooze, drink beer, eat at the restaurants, smoke hookahs, and get generally high! All the while singing, dancing and listening to fun music—some live!

One evening my camera became an animate object when I tried to wiggle my way in to a table full of pipes, beer and young people. They noticed that I was considerably older and they took to me and my camera. By the time all was said and done, they had invited me to join them, taken selfies with me and then took a photo of me with the group! They were with US Birthright having a wonderful time here and enjoying what the city has to offer. Yes, they wanted to know my age and when I told them they were incredulous! That's when the selfies started! According to Moses, "they found a new animal in their {flock}zoo"!

Another night, as I bent over a group to take a photo of the numerous beer glasses on their table, they too invited me to join them! Difficult for them to understand I drink "water without ice." Then there were the three guys who just wanted to enjoy the experience of a photo!

The entire center and side aisles are packed with young people!

The rest of the photos are of the incredible doors the vendors pull over their stalls themselves. The painted doors don't last forever but they definitely make it enjoyable to walk amongst. They seem to be pretty safe from the people who scribble but the signatures on some are fairly large. Some of the people depicted are/were well known, some biblical and some describe what is inside.