on the rail track

I am on a train now from warsaw. I don't know if it's the same railroad my brothers were on 65 years ago, but it sure feels like it. The train is very old, at least 30 years, or maybe more? The bathroom is dirty. My brothers didn't have a bathroom, I think. I am heading to Krakow. I've been told that “krakow is great”, and “very beautiful”, and “you should really visit auchwitz”. I am positive they only meant good, but the contrast is still there. I am actually a little afraid. I didn't plan to do that. In fact, I kind of came to poland by accident anyway. I am actually on a scandinavia-western Europe kind of trip. How did I get here?

Warsaw - lo ma shechashavta

Thinking of poland makes me think about aunties with ridiculously large breasts, gefilte fish, plumbers (for some reason) and the holocaust. I was also expecting the floors to shine due to massive sponja.
I was quite surprised, I must say.
I found a city that was alive and kicking. People are out all the time, coffee shops and restaurants are packed, and there is quite a lot to see. Warsaw's old town is actually a new town. The Nazis made a point of going into every building and blowing it up. It was beautifully reconstructed old style, and that area is now a pleasure to walk around in.
Zloty is the name of the currency, which is my second favorite name after the EEK , the estonian Krown. I met many nice and warm Warsawians. One guy found us staring at a map, looking a bit lost. I asked him how to get to the railway station. He just said "follow me", and walked in front of us for 15 minutes. he then pointed at the station "it's here", turned around, and walked back. very strange, but curtious. but strange.
I also met a lovely bunch of warsawians that I actually got to know. They were lovely guides and hosts to the city, always with time on their hands, always eager to make your stay pleasant. The waiters didn't insist I finish off the plate, btw, which was quite comforting.
In short, Warsaw is a city to come back to. despite the past, and all the terrible things, I have a feeling people now just want to have a good life, like everyone else. I suspect Coca Cola is stronger than the church, and that's not all bad.
Dziekuje to all my warsawian friends.

first day at work

estonians and latvians have a common syndrome, which we call "first day at work syndrome".
people everywhere don't really seem to know their job. the hotel receptionist can't recommend anything around here, the waitress is not too sure about what's going on with the menu, and the clerk at the ticket office would really rather you don't come near.
everybody just started working yesterday!
we found that they are not heavily service oriented, and frankly want you to go away already, you pesty tourist.
it seems to be so more in latvia than in estonia.

estonia is quite tiny - only 1.3 million people, with a third russians. however they seem quite happy to be estonians, and try to maintain estonianism despite russification. after centuries of occupation, in 1991 they are independent again.
that's pretty cool.
their country is about 3 times bigger than israel, which makes it rather thinly populated place, i think.
they developed skype.
and they won the eurovision.
and they have the oldest running pharmacy in the world (i think).
but more than anything else, these people are alive.
Tallinn is alive and kicking even at 1 am, and although it's quite small, the hang out area is compact.
so ok, there are tons of tourists and such, but hey - stockholm and helsinki are also full of tourists.
The main vibe i'm getting is that after decades of being bullied by the russians, occupied by the swedes, and danes, and romans, and what not, they are simply happy to be out and about, dancing to 80s music and what not, being hippy even if it's 40 years late (who cares?), and having a very good economy.
the food, btw, is almost as good as in Israel (but not quite).

go estonia!

What it's all about

I met two spanish people. the woman was nice, the other guy not talking too much. they kept asking me about Israel's policy of expansionism. I didn't know what she was talking about, explaining her that Israel has only given land in the last 25 years. she was very surprised.
The other guy started talking at some point, and told me that he doesn't understand what the hell we are doing there. "you are an anomaly", he said, "like the apartheid". he is a teacher in madrid and has some administrative job at the madrid educational commity. exactly the right guy to say these things, reminds me of the region maps in the palestinian schools.
He then said that we should let the palestinians have a country and leave them be, because they have been there for centuries.
"where will the jewish people go then?", i asked, "where is my country?"
"you should not have a country", he replied without blinking.
and that, actually, is the heart of the matter.
The guy was being perfectly honest, which i appreciate.
The Jews are a problem, have always been a problem.
It's important to know that there are teachers like that, and politicians like that, even in enlightened europe.
This is yet another reason to be strong and to not be ashamed. they are a fake, it's not about "poor palestinians", it's about "damn Jews".

Being afraid

The finns are very, very nice. They will help you out on public transportation. they are patient. They don't want to hurt you. The are polite. They are quiet. They are exrtemely law abiding.

They are also, in my opinion, terrified of foreigners. They are not quite sure what to do with them, and it's enough to have dark hair and eyes to be considered an outsider. There has been a lot of muslim immigration here, and accordingly crime and rape rates have gone up (some finnish guy told me that 40% of the rapes are being done by immigrants).

They are not quite sure what to do with all those people. they are just too nice.
so mainly they just sit there and feel a little afraid. they're smiling, but a little afraid.

occasionally you might know what people are really thinking about. for those of you who haven't followed my blog so far, I will say that it is when they are drunk.
One of my friends here hosted two turkish guys the other day. everybody had a few drinks, including the owner who, after a while approached her and told her that she and her foreigners are not welcome here.
she was a small hero, not leaving, and filing a complaint about him to some comity. but it's here, hatred is here as well.

It was Tisha be'av the other day, and I was walking around some forest outside of helsinki. I came across some building with a white wall.
well, not totally white.
A big, black nazi cross decorated its front.
I commented to my friend that "this is nice", and kept walking.
She then informed me that it was probably put there by young kids who don't even know what it means. After wondering about that, we have established that they probably did know what they are doing.
it's here, hatred is here as well.

geeky nords

the finns are heavliy electronical. they love their gadgets and their cellular phones.
you can pick it up already in the street, where you can find WiFi pretty much everywhere.
role playing games are big here as well, and chats are a great way to meetup and keep in touch.
a third of the finns walking around are plugged to their headphones, another third is probably just thinking about the time they will get home and login.

such a lovely bunch.

FEED A HUNGRY TRAVELLER

ok, i can't take this anymore. I am going home.
i'm just too hungry!
where is the street food? aren't there any equivalents to falafel or sabich?
give me some decent chicken.
pita im zaatar.....mmm....
a decent shawarma. why does the kebab have to be ready made, wrapped in a plastic bag?
mmmmm salt.
did somebody say a well prepared steak?
a decent salad?

seriously, how do these people handle it?

french fries! just made, dripping with oil.
or a well prepared sandwich? with naknic? (can anyone here NOT eat pork for one day?)
I am really starting to appreciate aroma these days.
ice aroma.
mmmm

burekas? yes, what about that, really? where are those here, and why does everything cost a fortune?

in abulafia you can get pita im zaatar for 5 shekels, and if you go to nahariya it's only 2.5. and sabich is like 12 shekels, i think (or 14?), and a great toast sandwich that will keep you for today and tomorrow is like 18 shekels. come on finns (and swedes, for that matter), eat something!

sadly, the cheapest thing to get around here is a mcdonnalds. and i guess buying at the supermarket, which i think i will start doing.
oh well, just had to unwind a little.
cya

Hot and heavy in the nordic countries

for all those who think this part of the world is nice and cosy, where everyone just like each other, you are up for a surprise!
Here goes:

The Swedes think the Finns argue too much, and really find their continuous failures at hocky rather amusing.
The Finns say their gay community is immigrating to Sweden, where they are a majority.
The Norwegians are said to be lazy ass workers.
and nobody really knows what the hell the Danish people are talking about (except the people of Malmo, but sweden is dying to get rid of them for a while now, but nobody wants them, not even danish people, who take really anything), with their hot potato speech.

and I haven't been to Norway yet, but i'm sure they have a load of things to teach me about their neighbours as well, so...

hot and heavy in scandinavia.

Almost makes me miss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Disclaimer

recently I've found that a few of my swedish friends are not talking to me. more interestingly, this happend after i sent them a link to my blog.
statistical coincidence? not too sure...

come on guys.
you know i love you.

clearly, i got mixed up. wherever you find the word "Swedish" please change for "Norwegian".
but seriously. i'm a storyteller, that's what i like to do, occasionally.

I would also like to point out that not all Swedes are drunken alcoholics, and for sure are totally sober most of the day.

It should seriously be said that Swedish people are really all around nice and kind. a little shy, but once you get to know them they will open their house and their heart.
jag älskar dig ,

Nadav

The pure and the decadent are both fun

the swedish archipelago consists of 14-100 thousand islands, depending on who you ask. as far as i am concerned, just 14 would be cool enough. I spent a few days out there, being a caveman once again. we slept in tents and ate with our hands. we went fishing and gutted, skinned and fried our catch. we logged wood to make a fire. and then there was Jenny, our favorite bathroom in the whole island. it was wonderful. we were in the very beginning of the Baltic sea, in what is called broken water - half salty, half sweet. still good enough to take a shower (which we did), but not good enough to drink. for water, btw, we went to the well, which had this cool manual pumping device that you see in old westerns. it was raining for about half our stay, but we didn't care. wasn't too cold anyway. It is really easy to be a viking in the archipelago. every monday and thursday you can go on a shipping expedition to discover some island, or burn down the huts of your neighbours.
there were four of us - from holland, sweden, the US and Israel, and we got along just nice and dand - shared the food, the tools, and the women. no, just kidding, not the tools. no, just kidding again, not the women. that was a comic pause. ahm. we also shared the pain of mosquitoes, which is no small burden in certain times of the day.
after three days in the islands i was happy to be back in civilization, and yet missed those lovely islands with their picturesque views. and of course, everybody missed jenny, which we left behind.

it's funny, but i am writing all this in a place that is a total contradiction to the simple, primitive life of hunting your food and logging your wood - I am floating in a god-knows-how-many-tons cruise ship on its way to helsinki. the place looks like a busy manhattan street - people everywhere, luxury restaurants, and an entertainment crew which includes an 8 meter tall black dude (well, on crutches), a few acrobatics performers, a jazz singer and a guy that plays the sax (and i suspect doing the jazz singer). there are saunas, pools, and pretty much everything you could think of. there is also a small hospital here. hmm. something to think about. you could hardly notice it's a ship, except for those few times when you feel a very strong tilt to either side, and you are not sure if it's you who drank too much, or if it is actually the boat (or ship? what's the difference anyway?).

I met two finnish women on the ship, and they told me about finnland a little bit. "the world was amazed", she told me, "when we beat the russians twice", referring to that unclear part of history, when a tiny nation beat the damn soviets twice and simply refused to be a russian colony. go finns. that has to say something about their spirit. i will soon find out. I was told that saunas ("only wooden", emphasized one of them) are one of the favorite past times, and that nokia is actually a name of a city in finland. pretty useful.
i am going to stop here.
see you in finland.