Reading Responses Week 8

I found the first article about unifying Israel through architecture to be difficult. It did not keep my attention. Was the architectural design of the city and infrastructure really that big of a deal? Why did it matter so much? I understand the idea of unifying a city through distinct cultural practices and traditions but why all the controversy about how buildings, neighborhoods, and city blocks were going to look?
The other article or book rather was really interesting. I found myself constantly checking the page numbers to validate that these documents were in fact in the same text and that I didn't skip a few pages. The way the text is set up kept me interested but I wonder why the author chose to do this? Besides that, I really enjoyed the the poems and narrative in the beginning. Maybe I liked them because it was so different than the first article. I liked the picture that Oleibo paints as he talks about his experience with the city. Every little detail reminds him that this is his home and he knows that this city is also the home of other people. He isn't concerned at all with his specific culture, race, or religion. He cares about Jerusalem. He was born their and it is his home, just like plenty of other people.
I also really like his poem. I feel like I can relate to how he takes in his surroundings. He feels a unique tie to his home, his culture, his Jerusalem because he knows it so well. He talks about waking up in the morning and recognizing where the dome is above his pillow and how the walls look. He notices details. I do this all the time. I can't help but keep track of details. Numbers, sounds, the way the sky looked, or the color of someones T-shirt. I know the room I live in. I know where the wall is cracked and dented. I know where the floor creeks. I know that there is a black spot on my ceiling that looks like a bug...but isn't. I am constantly taking in information that makes me feel tied to my surroundings. I feel like I have claim on it and I appreciate it more. I am not saying that this is the same to Oleibo's thoughts about Jerusalem but simply that I understand the way he is thinking. I understand that our surroundings are complex. These "silent witnesses" have plenty of stories to tell.