Jerusalem - Post Report Question and Answers
What do you wish you had known about this particular city/country before moving there?
Living in a place that is so strongly grounded in the idea of Shabbat means that you too must slow down and conform to this mandated time of rest. As an American, being forced to rest is really hard but also really healing. You have to buy your food ahead of time because stores wont be available; if you are using public transportation, you have to plan to get to your final destination before 4 pm. Once it starts the streets are quiet, and you know that in all these homes families are gathered to eat together and ask for God's blessings as the sun goes down and it's such a beautiful feeling. Assuming you're not stranded somewhere and hungry. - Sep 2024
Just how difficult living and working here would be. In other places we've been, we were seen as apart from the conflicts that were happening in the country. Here, it's inescapable and seems to permeate everything that you do -- the clothes you wear, the water you drink, what you chose to do on Thursday night, all are making political statements. Living here is exhausting and vivid and challenging all the time and you need to be prepared for that. - Oct 2019
I wish I had known how expensive it would be. - Aug 2018
The antipathy here is not subtle. People you have just met will tell you how glad they are that no Arabs/ Jews live where they live and how much they don't like each other. - Apr 2018
The need for a small car. We brought a large one and sold it after about 6 months to purchase a smaller one. - Aug 2015
There is a lot of history here - you'd be foolish to come here for a tour and not do some background reading beforehand. People who are shy or very polite need to be prepared for a culture where people are very direct, and do not say thank you. Many people are wonderful and helpful, but you often have to get through a prickly exterior. - Aug 2015
I wish I had known how few American brands there are here. Jordan is more westernized than Israel. I wish I had studied up on more Hebrew to be able to read store signs - Mar 2014
