Checkpoint queue and a trip out

So, I think I have the answer about the line of Palestinian men outside of the checkpoint. Palestinians with permits to work in Jerusalem have strict curfews; they are only allowed to leave the West Bank at a certain hour and generally have to return by 5pm. There are so many people trying to get through the checkpoint in the morning to go to work that some arrive a couple of hours early to get in line. At about 2:30 or 3am, we ran into the very beginning of the line.

This Monday, Kyle and I went to Tel Aviv to visit a couple of her friends there. What a relief it was to get out of Jerusalem! We found our way out of the Tel Aviv central bus station--a veritably creepy maze--and stepped out into a real city. For the first time in a month, I felt like I could breathe. People walked the streets wearing all sorts of fashionable and trashy clothes--the sorts of clothes that real people wear in real places. There were no black-clad orthodox Jews to be seen. The subtle tension in the Jerusalem air was palpably absent. The sun was a little hotter. We took off our coats and walked down the street holding hands.