Happy Tel Aviv: Rain, a Packed Bus and Coffee with Internet

Rain comes to Tel Aviv in spurts. Central to northern Israel covered with clouds. Rain stops the regular routine in Tel Aviv and gives us something different to talk about.

Winter is really here with four days of rain. Sometimes it comes down hard and Tel Avivians hide in cafes and offices. At night streets are deserted, left for the teenagers and "acharei tzava" (twenty something after their military duty.) Tel Aviv does not take well to the rain, the sewers were not made for this much water, streets flood and puddles stay for hours. Sometimes we forget how 100 years ago central Israel from Tel Aviv south to Rehovot, east to Kfar Saba and north to Natanya was one dusty sand patch. In the deserts and semi-desert climates rain does not seep into the ground. It seals the sand with top layer of wet sand then flows to make small floods down hills into low points. In south Tel Aviv, where sewers are old and narrow streets fill with water covering car tires and sidewalks. So Tel Avivians, take out their boots. Women who wear open shoes all year around get these few days to make a change. To some it's an opportunity to make a fashion statement. Boots that were made to European snow pop out everywhere. What an amazing transformation in an instant.

Last Thursday the 55 bus from Tel Ha'shomer skipped twice. It usually runs every 20 minutes in the evenings. It did not come from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM. Riders all along the route gave up and took taxis or waited when there was no alternative or did not want to spend the extra money. Once on the bus a minor demonstration started. First people scream at the driver. So he tells them that it's not his fault, actually they should be nice to him. It's the previous two drivers that should be taking the heat. That does not help, it makes things worst. Than a few start talking loud and threaten to "write a petition and have everyone sign it". To me they all seem to be the Russians, they are used to bureaucracy and official government departments which debate people's opinions in local government meetings. A debate started on which government department the petition should be sent and what to say to get them to do something. The department of transportation was the most agreed upon candidate while the bus company seem to be losing out. To Tel Avivians the bus company is just a winner of a government bid to move people economically. But most riders were just glad to get going to where they needed to be. On Thursday evenings, the end of the working week, soldiers from the base in Tel Ha'shomer, one of the bigger recruitment base, go home for the weekend. These are the army's bureaucrats, they will be receiving the complaint petitions from bus riders in ten year when they work for a government department. They are tired and don't care about a bus route missing two appointed rounds, they just want to get home.

Cloud RADAR image of Israel, the north and central regions are getting light rain. For edge of the desert dwellers a few millimeters of rain an hour is a cause to change the daily routine

I wrote a few stories about coffee in Tel Aviv. On days when it's raining and the streets are empty cafes are packed. A hot cup of coffee and a dry seat for ten minutes is worth the 12 shekels. If you meet someone the coffee turns to a date or a business meeting. Rain quiets the city and the people. There is no fear of floods like the monsoons of India. We know that in a day or two it's back to the sunny weather we have 300+ days a year. So watching from a cafe window is a nice change. Finally the streets and sidewalks are really clean. Without the rain everything would stay dusty forever. If you are a digital worker with a laptop or a net-book, cafes are even better on rainy days. There are more people to watch and more conversations to start. It feels better to work in a dry warm place when it's cold and wet outside. It seems like every cafe should be welcoming to laptop digirati and have free internet and an open plug for power. But on days like today it seems more appropriate not to ask for all these amenities and go back to the days where cafes were just a place to meet someone, read the paper or just take a break from a busy day. It's nice to see the livable aspects of Tel Aviv on rainy days, it's something we forget when the routine is the same day after day. With all the talk of global warming and rising sea levels it seems like rain is more meaningful, I don't know about you but in Tel Aviv rain is a nice thing to have.