Visitor or Resident?

While waiting to meet a friend, the security guard by Jaffa Gate made small chit-chat with me and asked me if I was visiting here or living here.

I was unsure of how to answer that.

I'm a visitor as I'm not yet here permanently. I don't know every place in Jerusalem and still need help when I go into unfamiliar territory. I can barely communicate with cashiers and I can hardly haggle at the Shuk. I travel every weekend or so to a different place in Israel that I haven't seen. I don't know how to get there and I don't know how to get back without intensive planning and stressing.

But I'm also a resident. I don't need a map to figure out where I'm going in the streets of Jerusalem. I know the twists and turns of the road enough that I don't have to pay attention to the bus route I'm taking and can read a book. I know my way around the confusing shuk of the Old City. I know certain landmarks and the non-touristy places to eat. I feel like a resident, but I'm a visitor. My parents came to visit me last week and I was the one that took them to a different part of Jerusalem. I knew where the good coffee shops and the good bakeries were. I knew the shortcuts and the best time of day to visit a site. Even when we went North to Tiberias and Nahariya, while I didn't know exactly where we were, the roads were sort of familiar. And, Israeli standards are the same every where. It didn't faze me that there were vegetables for breakfast (unlike the more fruity one in the US) nor did it faze me when I saw our small room in one of the hotels.

However, in light of current events (Fire in Haifa), I feel even more like a resident. On Thursday, the program took us to Haifa for a cultural tour. When we arrived at the Bahai'i Gardens, we could see a smoke cloud, but it was nothing to worry about. Our tour guide told us that there is a firing range near Carmel Park (where the fire seemed to be coming from) and that someone probably hit something accidentally setting it on fire. We continued onward to Elisha's Cave in Jewish tradition and Elijah's cave in Christian tradition. The church was beautiful and serene. The smoke reigned over us as we ate lunch and hiked down to Elijah's cave where the question of "what makes a holy site holy" was proposed. Elijah's cave is a hunk of rock. Who's to say that Elijah stayed here. Where's the proof? On the other hand there are many things in Judaism that are based on faith. Because of that, we create reasons and thoughts as well as special places that can accommodate the ideas and people of the Torah. As we reached our last stop before dinner, the madrichim began collaborating. The fire in Haifa was worse than they thought. By the time we finished hearing about Ahmadiyya Islam, three out of the four entrances to the Druze village were closed. In order to make up for that, we went all the way around Mt. Carmel. As the bus passed the beach, it seemed as if it was 430 in the afternoon when in reality it wasn't even 3. The cloud from the fire covered up the sun giving it a neon pink glow. We could see the helicopters weaving in and out, either for news reports or for humanitarian efforts. As the bus continued, I saw the actual flames and the reality of the situation hit me.

I had studied in Haifa in two years ago. I was on those mountains. I hiked through that park. My friend and I got lost in that park. I know people who live in Haifa. Who have made Aliyah and are living there. But it wasn't only that. The situation was first-hand. I wasn't hearing this from the news. I was seeing this. Natural disaster first-hand. Israel wasn't a far away country. I was here. I AM here.  The only thing on the news is the fire. The only things people are talking about is the fire. When I rode the bus to work on Friday, the radio had new reports about the fire. When I walked into work, the first thing my co-worker said to me was "did you hear what happened". This is the worst fire Israel has had. A Ha'aretz reporter went as far as comparing it to the Yom Kippur War in 1973 as Israel was completely unprepared for both disasters.

Because I so involved in the situation, I can feel more empathetic than I would if I was in the US. It's not that I wouldn't feel bad if I was at home, it's just that it's that I can more easily relate to the situation because I am living here. Thus, I am a resident of Israel.

pictures of the previous few weeks