We arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport on the afternoon of Thursday, August 20th. We were met by our sponsors and and whisked through checkpoints, baggage claim and customs and into a van and off to Jerusalem - the shining city on a hill.
Okay, so "Modern Jerusalem" is actually spread over many hills. Perhaps too many hills, I think after having to hike up and down them, sometimes multiple times in a day, over the past weeks. However, by hiking the hills of Jerusalem, I have seen into many aspects of neighborhood life in West Jerusalem that I would miss if I were speeding by in a car. I guess I should explain that as a member of the US consulate community I am forbidden to use public transportation due to security concerns. I don't know for sure which is more concerning to the security personnel here, the possible terrorists or the high speeds and centrifugal forces, as the buses literally careen around the street corners.
Now, back to my neighborhood observations. On our first exploratory walk through the streets of our new neighborhood, we noticed that there were feral cats everywhere AND there were dishes of food scraps left out for them. We passed one lucky cat dining on some raw chicken meat. Then we passed a lady who was walking her two little dogs, but she had a can of food that she left on the top of a wall for the feral cats. Then one morning as I was walking our dog through the little park near our apartment, we looked across the park to see a man sitting on a bench and surrounded by at least 50 to 75 cats. He was feeding them some breakfast! And all of them seemed to be getting along well.
Jerusalemites seem to love caring for their feral cats. There are literally little dishes of food tucked away everywhere along the streets - usually in the little trash dumpster nooks along the sidewalks or on the top of the walls around their gardens. Cats seem to be welcomed and encouraged. Perhaps it is a way of coping with the ever-potential vermin problem of a large, crowded urban population. I know I prefer cats in my living areas, rather than rats and mice. The cats seem very comfortable, too. I never see any that look like they are starving, even the crippled ones seem to be getting food from somewhere.
The cats are everywhere, so it will be interesting to see what happens during Sukkoth. This is the Jewish holiday that lasts a week where the people build booths, or tent structures, in front of their houses on the street, or in their gardens, and move into them. I wonder how the cats will react to this "invasion" of their spaces. Will they get more scraps?
You can scroll down to the bottom of the page to see some pictures of the various cats, but disregard the photo dates - I haven't figured out how to reset my camera dates.
