In Search of Tamar Ch. 7: Chris facilitates female bonding in Jerusalem
The Jerusalem Express pulled out of the new Tel Aviv Central Station. The new station was a lot cleaner than the old open-air station, and air-conditioning was a definite plus in an Israeli summer. The new toilets lacked the bouquet of the old ones. Still, I missed the charm of the shops and restaurants around the open bus stands that contributed to the charming Middle Eastern chaos of the old
tachanah merkazit
.
The bus laboured up Highway 1 to Jerusalem past the wrecked armoured vehicles from the 1948 war, now painted in gorgeous primer. Since the war of independence, Israel was still trying to find a national identity, the same way Canadians have been since 1867. Take the three major cities as an example. Jerusalem and Tel Aviv were just a hundred kilometers apart but they could just as well be on different continents. Haifa must be on the moon on that scale. The Israeli rhyme âJerusalem prays and Tel Aviv plays, while Haifa worksâ (hey, the whole thing rhymes in Hebrew) was absolutely the truth. People in Tel Aviv are big city, rude and crude, like Parisians or New Yorkers. Haifa is strictly blue collar, as friendly and practical as most of the working class. Jerusalem is subdued, conservative, very old-world and reeking of its religious connections. Call it a side effect of Jerusalem being the capital of the worldâs only Jewish State but thatâs the reality my bus was heading for.
You can see these urban differences in the way women dress. Haifa women wouldnât look out of place in a small-town trailer park. Otherwise, Israeli women dress stylishly but the styles are far more conservative in Jerusalem. For example, Tel Aviv women wear their jeans cut so low that I assumed they kept them from falling down with a piece of Velcro snagging their bush. Crack-of-young-womanâs-ass is such a common sight in Tel Aviv that I gave up staring. Too much female plumberâs bum creates indifference. The point Iâm trying to make is, if I woke up from a coma in Israel, I could immediately tell if the hospital was in Haifa, Jerusalem or Tel Aviv just by looking at the nearest woman.
In Jerusalem, I checked into the same hotel where I once fucked Tamar. Call me sentimental or just a believer in fucking luck. As I waited while the desk clerk took down my registration details and copied out my passport, I noticed that my clerk seemed to take extra interest in my case. I believe in equality, so I started to take an interest in my desk clerk. Her nametag stated that she had the wonderfully redundant name, Taliah Tal. I think Iâve already mentioned to you that Israeli women are world class champions in the chest department. Taliahâs chest was even bigger than the typical Israeli woman. Her gigantic boobs jiggled up, down and from side to side as she went with my passport from the copier to the reservation files, to the computer and back to me.
As Taliah explained the hotelâs amenities at length, I pored over Taliahâs amenities. Taliah had red hair almost touching her shoulder blades. Red hair in a Jew betrays an Edomite milkman somewhere in her family line. Below a conservatively low Jerusalem hemline, I could make out shapely legs. Some guys might assume that Taliah was unattractive just because you wouldnât find many of her features, such as her padded hips, prominent jaw or her heavy eyebrows, on the body of a high fashion model. Well, Iâm different. True, Nobody would call Taliah a raving beauty, yet there was something appealingly wholesome about this woman. Taliah was the kind of woman youâd take home to Mother, especially if Mother happened to be Jewish. Of course, when Mother was away in the kitchen making the hummus, youâd get your hand under Taliahâs sweater and play with her juicy
avatiach
(watermelons).
Taliah concluded the verbal hotel tour with a winning smile and a very open-ended question: âSo, Chris, may I be of any further assistance to you in your stay at the XXXXX Hotel?â
As with everyone in Israelâs tourist industry, Taliah spoke flawless English, especially if you compared it to my halting Hebrew. Yes, Taliah could help me a little bit. I pulled out the envelope with Tamarâs return address and pointed it out to Taliah.
âI donât read Hebrew handwriting but I want to look up an old friend at this address. Taliah, can you tell me how far away this is and about how much the taxi fare will beâ
Taliahâs eyes opened wide. âAre you
meshugah?
This is in Mea Shearim, near the Old City. Why would a nice foreigner like you want to go there? Mea Shearim is a ghetto for the
haridim
(ultra-orthodox). Iâm Jewish and even I donât meet their standards. Dressed the way you are and without a
kippah
, theyâll probably stone you to death at the Damascus Gate.â
âThanks for the advice, Taliah but I have to go there. Itâs my reason for coming to Jerusalem. I need to look up an old friend who lives there. Donât worry, I have a change of clothes for the occasion.â
âCan you take a little advice? Donât go to Mea Shearim. Itâs no place for a goy. Look, my shift ends at 3:00 this afternoon. Why donât I show you how secular Israelis boogie here in Jerusalem? Iâll make you forget all about those
zonot
(whores) in Tel Aviv and the
burkhas
in Mea Shearim. Tell me, Iâve heard that you Canadian men have deadly tongues. And is it true that all Canadians are circumcised, even the Gentiles?â
Isnât Israel a great country? I hadnât even checked in to my hotel room and a horny young woman was already checking out my tongue and my
zain
. Any guy with an IQ above the room temperature and all his parts working will never be lonely in Israel. Besides, Taliahâs big boobs were tempting me. I was halfway to accepting Taliahâs proposition when my conscience reminded me that my prime directive on this trip was supposed to be finding Tamar. My apparent ambivalence didnât escape Taliahâs notice, so she put a little more on the table.
âMaybe one Israeli woman isnât enough? Iâll ask my girlfriend Gyula to join us. Gyulaâs boyfriend, Gideon Katan is in