Culture by the dozen

Dear Internet,

I wanted to share with you a surreal experience I had last night.  It involved a huge field of grass, some hot dogs, an extensive amount of apes and an Opera. You know, the usual.

Imagine, if you will, the following scenario: A crowd of literally thousands of people gathering in a park around a big stage. As the distance between the throng to the stage gets smaller, the density of human flesh per square meter grows ever larger. The weather is hot and humid, as if the park resides in the very center of god’s armpit. The crowd thickens and thickens. Brawls between sweaty, angry people sprout randomly for dominance over their 1x1 patch of grass, their swears drowned only by the shouting voices of the teenage hot-dog vendors and the sound of enormous electric generators. Some of the more “innovative” people climb onto those generators in order to both escape the crowd and maybe catch a better glimpse of the stage.

This whole sight might have been typical for a soccer game, or a rock concert. What made this whole ordeal so surreal was that it took place in an opera concert. The absolute polarity between the cultural significance of an opera and a crowd of aggressive, sweaty commoners shoving and hitting each other to get a better look – believe me, it was… something else.

Everything took place in an event called Opera in the Park, which is an event organized by the city of Tel Aviv, in an attempt to expose the general public to some culture. While the idea seems good, it just isn’t applicable for the type of people who live here. Hearing the sweet voice of the singers while seeing people hurting each other like animals was a sad experience for me. Having never been to an opera, I am a little sorry about this being my first experience with it. This is something I will have to remedy.