People Watching

June 14, 2007 - 4:30 PM by Israelity

This week, I attended watchmaker—ahem– TIMEPIECE DESIGNER Itay Noy‘s exhibit opening at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv followed by an awards ceremony where he collected the Andy Prize, an award in decorative arts, named after the late Andrea Bronfman and sponsored by philanthropist Charles Bronfman (of Birthright Israel funding fame.)

It seemed to me that the reception at the Museum prior to the awards ceremony was be attended by many of Israel’s Tel Avivian upper crust society–as well as family and friends of Itay Noy. Perhaps a few upscale Americans were thrown in for good measure–I’m sure Mr. Bronfman knew exactly who to invite.

It reminded me of those hoity-toity charity functions I used to attend in NY when I was a celebrity reporter, where the socially elite sip from wine glasses, kiss every cheek, and hold perfectly manicured hands in the air. Funny though, most Israelis didn’t get dressed up for the event—save for a few pretty dresses and thick platform peep-toe pumps. I saw a lot of jeans,a few frumpy skirts, and unfortunately, even a belly shirt or two. Not approriate.

Itay himself looked fit to be among the creme de la creme of Tel Aviv in crisp beige trousers and a brown silk button down. Bronfman chose a navy blue blazer. After I spoke to Noy and Bronfman at the press briefing and took a tour of Itay’s work, I waited for the awards ceremony to begin and it finally did—an hour later.

After seeing the exhibit, there was nothing left to do but wait for the awards ceremony to start. While others chatted, I didn’t know anyone at the event, so what could I do but sit around on a nearby bench, grab a few of those pieces of meat on a stick (not exactly sure what those were) and listen to the bland elevator music played by the band.

The only people I recognized were photographer David Rubinger–trusty camera slung over his shoulder, always ready to capture history in a frame, and Leah Perez, head of the fashion department at Tel Aviv’s premiere fashion school Shenkar College, with her flaming red hair and the cutest 2 1/2 inch black open toe pumps with flower bows on the front–(I love fashion and I was bored, I noticed them!)
I sipped my glass of not-quite-strong enough pomegranate punch with bits of lemon and flavored ice and watched the crowd mingle with each other. And because I had nothing to do, I decided to take a few notes of what I saw.

Looking back at what I had scribbled down on the page–it really makes me laugh!

*I feel like I’m at a singles event where people around me are chatting for the sake of chatting.
*Wonder how everyone knows everyone
*Do these people attend all these functions all the time?
*That’s a cute black bubble skirt
*Do these people really enjoy talking to each other?
*The music is really bad.
*I didn’t realize Israelis went all out for these functions!
I guess you could say I kept a WATCHful eye!

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