Follow Your Nose

I’ve never had a pet but I still love animals. Any time a friendly dog comes up to me I’ll pet it. I draw the line at slobbery kisses, but petting I can do all day. I like cats too, and I used to think I was more of a cat person because they’re cleaner and more orderly than dogs, but I’ve found that cats are kind of boring. They don’t really do anything. If I could have a pet, I’d like to have a calm, clean dog. I’m sure some breeds fit the bill.

I have a few canine instincts: 1) I am very loyal. Unless you do me wrong and I ex-communicate you, I will always have your back. 2) I can be trained. If there is something you like or don’t like, I’m pretty good at learning and remembering that behavior. And 3) I have a good ability to sniff out and find my way to food. Oh, and sometimes I scratch the back of my leg with my other “paw”.

So yesterday was nice and sunny after a few days of rain. I wanted to go down to lower Haifa again and get some lunch and walk around. Just to get out of the apartment a little bit. I braved bus #12 again, but this time no adventure thankfully. I didn’t really have a place in mind for lunch, I just figured I’d walk around and find something good. I keep forgetting everything is semi-closed these days, only some restaurants are open for take-out.

I remembered that this city has a subway for some reason! So I hop off the bus and hop on the subway. Something different. At the entrance, the security person asked me in English, “Do you have a weapon?” That surprised me, although it shouldn’t have in Israel, and I said, “No, I’m a nice person”, to which she laughed and said “Good!”.

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  Subway entrance

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The subway has six stops — Downtown, City Hall, Post Office, Masada (residential), Golomb Ave. (Baha’i Center), and Merkaz HaCarmel (city center). I got off at the “Downtown” stop and knew exactly where I was. It was where I had my “fish” falafel. Now that I was situated, it was time to find food.

I walked down this main street, but nothing appealing popped up. I was starting to get discouraged, but then I passed some people sitting on a bench eating something. I peeked at what they were eating and it was glorious — crispy fish and chips in a box. I knew exactly what I wanted for lunch now. Now I just had to find it. So I asked them where they got it from. The woman tried to give me good, proper directions, but her limited English kept tripping her up. All I understood from her was “food truck”. Finally the man next to her just said, “Right, Left, right.” That’s all I needed to hear! Men just understand each other.

So I follow his instructions — the first two were easy and got me to the main road. The last “right” was a little tricky. How do I find this “food truck” when I’ve never seen anything even resembling a food truck here in Israel. I see some weird mobile-looking type of structure across the street and there are some people congregating, so I figure it’s worth a look.

Here’s what I saw from a distance. I’d run up this road before, it leads to the Haifa port entrance

As I cross that big intersection I start smelling something good. Oh boy, I’m on the right trail now. I keep following my nose and it takes me straight to that group of people. And when I see the “Oyster” sign, jackpot. Good job nose.

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  Not to be confused with the Blue Oyster Bar

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  Right under the bridge to the Haifa port

So I found the place, great. Now how the heck do I order? These things can be surprisingly confusing at first in other countries. I don’t see any cashier, so I find a guy who is preparing orders and must work here. I show him a credit card and ask how do I order and pay. He points me along down the line. Again, I see no cashier, so maybe the people cooking also handle the ordering? So I wave my credit card at the chefs and they give me this bewildered and annoyed look. They also motion me to the other side.

Eventually, I see there is a semi-line formed in front of a boxed covering with a plexiglass window and a microphone. Ah, this must be it, even though I don’t see anyone inside this contraption. So, as any good citizen does, I get in line. Once I get to the front, I see there is actually someone inside this box taking orders and I put in my order. I ask for my fish and chips (36 NIS, ~ $10 USD) and go look around while I wait. The place is literally under a bridge, so you can imagine the ambiance we have here, but people were having a good time. A few families even brought blankets to put down in a nearby parking lot and have lunch. It was actually not too bad. It seemed like it was a “hidden” secret and probably a popular food spot.

I was happy with my discovery. Sometimes it’s good to not have a set plan and just follow your nose / instincts and see where it takes you. And wouldn’t you know it, I also solved the mystery of the identical hummuses. It turns out one package has a big “1” on it, while the other has a small “750”. It’s all starting to come together now.

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