Lady Macbeth of OMG I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR

If my Israeli shopping experiences are any indication, there are two things Israelis love more than life itself:

1.  Chocolate
2.  Shoes

Crazy Baby Mama, do you concur?

Tonight I went out on a mission with my roommate:  To exchange a few more of my Traveler's Cheques and to find an outfit suitable for the opera.  Perhaps it was because we were pressed for time, or maybe it's because I'm cheap, but this turned out to be a much more challenging endeavor than I originally envisioned.

First, opera?  Yes, opera.  The Tel Aviv Opera is performing Shostakovitch's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk  at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center for the next two weeks, and I decided this would be a wonderful way to initiate myself into the world of opera which, before my music history classes, was a terrifying and entirely foreign world (not just because they're all in foreign languages).  After hearing my professor's fantastic explanation of Lady Macbeth and the trouble that ensued for Shostakovitch, I realized I had no choice but to see it as soon as possible.  When I found out it was playing in Tel Aviv, I quickly decided I must go, so next week Thursday (barring a sold-out theater) a friend and I will take a bus there to see Shostakovitch's thrilling and incendiary opera which, I might add, won him his first denunciation in Stalinist Russia.  Though only after a few weeks of great success.

Now my problem is wardrobe.  I nearly kicked myself when my internal monologue whined "I have nothing to wear!"  But it's true.  I packed for Israel - and more specifically for a kibbutz - knowing that I probably wouldn't need black satin or nice sweaters.  Well, now I need precisely that and I don't have it in my limited closet.   So off to Rehovot we went, and back I came without shoes, a skirt, or a top.  Though I did get fresh dates and dried kiwi!

I was also unable to get to Bank HaPoalim because they have hours which easily confuse an American.  Only open until 1:ish most days of the week, until 6:30 pm Mondays and Thursdays...that makes it very challenging for an Ulpan student on a kibbutz to get over there.  Still, I'll make it work.  Maybe this Thursday.

It fascinated me, though, how on a single street, on a single block, I passed four shoe stores.  At least I know that if I need to buy a cute pair of black shoes I won't be at a loss.

And Israeli fashion is very different from American fashion.  In some ways I love it and it's just what I've wanted to find, but for the most part what I've found here seems to be heavily influenced by European styles that quite frankly make no sense to me.  Really, there are some kinds of clothes I simply don't know how to wear.  And I'm not terribly interested in paying fifty dollars for a shirt that can only be worn with at least two other shirts at the same time.  I just don't get it.

Still, what I wear to the opera is much less important than actually going.  If I show up in a black cotton knee-length skirt with sandals and a cute top, nobody will kick me out, and with Shostakovitch's opera playing in a dark theater, not a person will notice me.  Unless they really don't like Shostakovitch.  In which case I wonder "Why are they there?"  Really, it's not the end of the world if I don't find something.

It also gives me an excuse to go out again, find some new places, walk around, and finally get that cup of gelato I've been craving since I got here.

P.S.  About the Israeli obsession with chocolate:  In addition to there being tons of candy and chocolate pastry everywhere, there's this chocolate spread (like Nutella minus the hazelnuts) that is like crack to Israelis.  Kind of like Americans and peanut butter, I suppose.