Sirens and booms

This will be one of the most difficult posts, but it won’t be about politics.

The first time I heard the sirens, I was with my mom discussing the Israel-Palestine conflict in her room. At the beginning we did not understand anything. It was as if there was this big and loud ambulance and it wouldn’t pass by… And then we heard the BOOM. For me, it was one of the loudest and scariest noises I’ve ever heard, and not because of the noise itself, but because of the effect it produced in my mothers face: a panic effect i’ve never seen in her.

We went running out of the appartment, and on the stairs we found our neighbours already standing there with their faces also marked by surprise and fear. The imaginary “no-conflict-bubble” surrounding Tel Aviv was gone.

In the following days, life in the city continued: children went to school and adults to their jobs. But you could feel the tension and fear in the air, especially during the sirens and booms.

Yesterday, after the explosion of a bus due to a terrorist attack, I went for a walk through the city. The tension was higher than ever. People were always on their phones, whether reading the news or trying to reach for the loved ones.

I thought that this should be a good time to inspect local bomb shelters, just in case.

Gladly, a ceasefire was reached at the evening and life is getting back to normal. Yeah, there are still some jets and helicopters flying around the city. And yeah, I still get scared with any loud noise. But I hope it will pass and peace will last… although there won’t be a bubble anymore.

I hope that next time I’ll post about something more positive.

Misha Vallejo