The good thing about pre-election life here. Israeli friends who no longer live in Israel are arriving to vote. That is great. My calendar is filling up with arrangements to meet people I have not seen in a while - sometimes a very long while. Getting around to meet people is easier now that it is no longer so hot and humid that one can't venture out. Also, of course the people I am spending time with for the most part feel as I do about who we will vote for. We share a mutual understanding, as well as a mutual underlying fear of an uncertain outcome.
It does feel like the country is falling apart. Nothing is working like it should - the public transport which was so very good and accessible, is just not the same. The busdrivers are no longer the helpful accommodating people they were. The country is one traffic jam - too many cars on too narrow roads. Parking lots are full - no one parking seems to consider the painted lines or the fact that there are other cars and people out there. Absolutely no rules are obeyed - everyone it seems wants to overtake everyone else on the road, just to be stuck at the same traffic light in the end. Of course this is not unique to Israel - I wonder whether things were better with horse and buggy? We don't know.
How to keep sane? For me it means not looking at the news. I only read certain newspapers, and certain journalists. Does this mean I am avoiding things - maybe, and so what if I am?
Is trying to learn and play mah jongg helping my sanity? I am not so sure - I may have to give it up.
So if giving up certain things means that I will remain sane - then I will have to give them up. I go to lectures on subjects that mean something to me, and that I am interested in. I also try to avoid conversations on things that irk me. Does this mean I am shrinking into a glass house (not tower) - I don't know. Maybe it is self protection because what will happen in the elections? We don't know what the results and outcome will be. Two more weeks of wrapping myself in a warm cocoon - sorry, I am not making any sense.
