Our neighborhood - Little Israel

We live in Midwood which Matthew and I refer to as "Little Israel" because it primarily inhabited by Orthodox Jews. Our immediate community is definitely Jewish which is nice because Jewish communities are safer and quieter (if you ignore the honking) and seem to be cleaner than other areas we visited. One of the "downside" noted by some residents is that starting on Friday night everything shuts down for the Jewish Sabbath and since the Jews own pretty much everything around here (the laundromat and Dunkin' Donuts are noted exceptions)... We live in a ghost town every weekend (I actually like it). This is how we were able to stand in the middle of Coney Island Avenue to take these pictures. Normally you stick to the side walks unless you want to terminate your life.

When the stores are closed they all have a metal wall covering the windows and doors which makes the whole place look somewhat strange and lonely and austere.

This is the laudromat we use. It's about a tree minutes walk from our apartment so it's pretty convenient. I have heard of other ones much larger and cleaner but I don't know if I want the trouble of carrying a bunch of dirty clothes farther only to get shinier washing machine. We'll see. I'm currently trying to find the quietess time to do laundry so as to not be invaded by mothers who come with their 5o lbs of clothes and their three overactive kids which makes the experience a little less interesting. I do get lots of reading done which is great.


This is the post office we will send letters and packages from. The staff are super helpful and condescending to our "Canadian-ness". See the sky? It's been this blue since we've arrived. And there's no trace of snow anywhere. What a change after cloudy Yarmouth.

Normally everywhere you look you can see fruit and vegetable stands. Today being the Sabbath there was only one to be spotted. The fruits and veggies are much cheaper here than back home and there are a lot more organic and healthy options as well as international treats to be had.


There is actually a yarn shop right around the corner which makes me really happy though I have not been in it yet for fear of wanting or "needing" something. I'll wait untill we start getting paid! You can't really tell on the photo (crapy time of day to take pics but Matthew had to go to a course at 11:3o and I really wanted to stroll the streets with him this morning) but the whole sign is made of giant sequence that shine in the sun. Apparently there's quite a bit of stuff in there and there's a sign that mentions mohair and wool. I can work with that!

I leave you with another shot of Coney Island Avenue which gives you an idea of the type of architecture that's prevalent around here. Lots of bricks.