Monday, June 16, 2008

Who needs symmetry anyways?

As you plan your wedding (let me rephrase, if you are not a bride-zilla and actually talk to your husband-to-be during wedding planning), you will learn a few things about your partner. I, for instance, learned something a bit shocking about my mathematically (and therefore, one would have thought, geometrically)-inclined partner last night, as we attended a college friend's wedding near Rehovot. It turns out that Nadav does not like asymmetrical hairdos. Now, this may not seem earth-shattering, but for someone who was planning a beautifully off-center hairdo for her big day, I found this news a bit disconcerting. Luckily, I know that men don't really know much about hairdos beyond "straight," "curly," and "ponytail," so I'm just gonna go with my instinct on this one and do what I want (I know, so out of character for me).

In other news, we have a new (to us) car. There's such a feeling of freedom that comes from having wheels. Having traveled literally thousands of kilometers over the last 5 years on buses, trains, planes, and Pumas, I had forgotten what it's like to be behind the wheel. Oh, and how fun it is to piss off already angry drivers! Yesterday, in my leisurely drive around Jerusalem (I'm sorry, did the words "leisurely," "drive", and "Jerusalem" just exit my mouth in the same sentence?), for instance, I learned that unless I want to die an early death at the hands of an evil, chain-smoking taxi driver in the Holy City, I should probably not respond to their honks (even if my hand gestures are significantly cleaner than theirs, a wave!). The truth is, after the 67th honk of the morning, you sort of forget about it, and just fight your way through the traffic jam like everyone else--no mercy!!!

As a native Pensacolian, and therefore someone whose only experience of a traffic jam is waiting in line at Krispy Kreme upon its re-opening (Ok, fine, I wasn't actually there, but I was there in spirit!), it may take me a while to get used to the insane, seemingly eternal traffic jam that is Israel. I think the key to survival is making sure you have good music--luckily we have a cassette player in our "new" car.