The million-dollar question

So here's the last post attempting to answer the insightful and challenging questions you all have left me in the comments section. This final set is from my dear friend Kate.

What does the air smell like?

I started to answer this question before when Nate asked me if you can smell the desert. But, since I live in the middle of the city, the smells are much different than out in the rural areas. The city itself smells generally bad. The pollution in Jerusalem is overpowering and it has all the usual city smells--stale food, trash, urine. The smell increases the hotter it gets, and sometimes seems to cling to my skin. But tonight, there's a windstorm whipping sand through the city, scattering clothes off clothes lines and carrying away anything not nailed down. So tonight, the air smells cold and fresh.

How does the water taste?

I don't actually know because we drink filtered water because of the chance of parasites. I did drink water from an underground spring a few weeks ago, which was the tastiest water I've ever had. (I'm not entirely sure how water can be tasty, but it was.) But I was sick for days afterward, so I wouldn't recommend that.

Are their toilets designed the same as ours?

For the most part, except most of the plumbing is ancient and delicate and so it's common not to be able to flush toilet paper, which takes some getting used to. In more rural areas, it's also common to have the squat toilets that don't use running water and are "flushed" with a bucket of water.

Are you happy?

Well, that's the million-dollar question. There have been many moments during the past four months when I've wondered what urge caused me to make my life about 50 times more difficult than it already was. Getting through daily life is already tricky wherever you are, but now I've added language differences, cultural clashes, and checkpoints to my list of challenges. But the truth is, I am happy. There is a part of me that is finds the culture here strangely familiar, as if it's a place I'd known before but forgotten. Many people have told me the same thing about the Middle East, and maybe it's because this is truly the cradle of civilizations where many of our modern customs come from. Maybe, it's because, as my roommate believes, I lived here in a previous life. Who knows? But, for now, it feels right to be here and I have much more I want to learn and explore before I go home.

Oh...How about the stormwater management - is it good?

This answer is only for Kate because probably no one else will understand or care, but the answer is no, it's not at all good. Lots of ill-thought-out pavement and flash floods and such. Pus, the region is facing a severe water shortage, so needs all the help it can get. I did actually mention your company to one of my co-workers and he got pretty excited. So, if you need any clients in Jerusalem, you know who to ask.