Friday, March 30

The not so sweet taste of revenge

I had to do it, go for a victorious walk in the Andromeda compound. The guard at the entrance asked no questions. The gate was simply opened, no need for any sesame.
So now the gated Andromeda Community compound is open to us, the Jaffa general public as well. Decisions were made and the public interest was found to be of greater importance than that of the well-to-do inhabitants of "Andromeda": no more gates, no more security checks, no more entrance refused.
My victorious walk inside was a little less sweet than expected.

Inside Andromeda, well, the garden is well tended, there are many flowers, clipped grass, but the truth.. i didn't like it very much. "Orientalist kitsch" is the term that comes to mind. The massive buildings stand close to each other. There is little privacy. In Ajami, our buildings are smaller-scaled and they stand away one from the other. Of course some flats have a lovely view of Jaffa's old harbour and the sea. But mostly the view is one of other buildings. The walk paths are narrow. They do not remind me of Old Jaffa's little narrow alleys. And for that people pay millions? Hell.
True, it's clean, well tended but, actually, it's pig ugly (sorry pork lovers), cheap looking, a fake.

I haven't seen such awful sculpture in ages. Worthy of a wedding hall or as a background object for an Almodovar movie. Where does one find such items? I guess there must be stores or galleries around carrying that kind of stuff. Ouch, my eyes are sore.
Am i a snob? Perhaps, in a way, kitsch can be fun, when it doesn't take itself seriously. The scale at Andromeda is... very serious.
There is a lovely view of the harbor from some points within the compound. The overpowering smell of orange and lilac flowers is magical. The sound of the running water all around evens out the noise coming from the busy Yefet road nearby, but it doesn't make up for the mmm how to put it nicely, fake feeling of the place. Jaffa for Disney-land lovers, that's what it is.


12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes you are a snob, this place was not built for someone like you but for the nouveau riche.
No taste required, money yes!
See the broken tile on the whirlpool and the rust stains below and left of it, the place is deteriorating.

Btw, I'd rather look at a wild boar than at this furball on your composite picture.

Anonymous said...

It certainly looks like kitsch, but I think your lens is quite biased too...

yudit said...

you are invited to make a more "truth ful" or "tasteful" or whatever collection of images form Andromeda's lair

Anonymous said...

Before this War of the (different) Worlds started I had a look at this place to make a choice for a possible stay.
It is a little expensive and from the pictures of Yudit I by now realise this shack not to be the right place for me.

Ee is partially right, when in such a situation we can not be objective, we try to find the "weak" spots of the opponent.

Anonymous said...

האם כל ארבעת השערים של הפרוייקט היו פתוחים או רק זה שלידו שומר למעלה?
צריך להיות מעבר חופשי לנמל כלומר גם שאר השערים חייבים להיות פתוחים.

yudit said...

Yossi, as the project has not been finished there are at this point only 2 entrances (instead of the 4 planned ones). I went in through the eastern one (on Yefet Street) and walked all the way down to the western one (above the harbour) which was locked, butthere is a bell one can ring for it to be opened.
The southern and northern entrances have not yet been built.
From the discussion at the Ministry of the Interior (in which i participated) it is clear these will be only constructed after they finish all building, which, perhaps, they never will.

Anonymous said...

Yudit,
I am not an expert with the camera. I'd probably just shoot it straight which may just serve the purpose too.
I'm not necessarily saying it isn't kitsch in "real life", I just don't have your particular axe to grind.

Anonymous said...

הבוקר, שבת הלכתי עם זוגתי לבקר לראשונה באנדרומדה. השוער פתח לנו את השער ללא כל שאלות. המראה האשכנזי החליק את דרכנו פנימה. כשרצינו לצאת מהשער שלמטה, אף אחד לא ענה לצלצול ולא יכולנו לצאת.
עלינו למעלה חזרה וניסינו לברר את העניין עם השומר. בהתחלה הוא חשב שאנחנו מתגוררים במקום כי כאמור המראה שלנו הוא "מקומי" לאנדרומדה. כשהבין שאנחנו לא משם, הוא הבהיר לנו שכל עוד המשפט לא נגמר אין לנו זכות להיכנס למקום כי הוא לא שלנו.

yudit said...

Yossi, the guard is obviously wrongly informed, as of the meeting of the committee at the ministry of the interior last week, the Andromeda complex is supposed to be open to the general public.
would you be willing to testify or can i pass on the info to the green forum of the society of the protection of nature?

Anonymous said...

כמובן שאני מוכן להעיד.
היה לי עצוב שהשומר נאלץ לעמוד בחזית של היזמים תמורת שכר מינימום קרוב לודאי.

yudit said...

Yossi,

I passed on the information to the green forum's coordinator.
Obviously it is not the guard who's responsible, but rather those who give him the orders.
He's given a very unpleasant job.

Lirun said...

he was very nice to me..