Rain and cats

Today jerusalem woke up to the coldest day so far this winter. And I dont use the word 'cold' here relatively. While it was certainly far from freezing (I think it was about 11 C), this part of the world is not used to such dramtic firgidity. Also, the arid climate looks strange in the rain. A wet cactus? While it did not pour, there was a heavy mist in the air that nestled itself in the valleys of the city. An interesting topographical attribute of Jerusalem is that its a city perched on hilltops. Every neighbourhood is at the summit of one of these hills and to go from A to B inevitably involves dipping into the valleys. Most of these mini-valleys arent very densely inhabited and tend to be designated as city parks. Jerusalemites are total strangers to this climate and well underprepared. When it starst to drizzle people run for cover. The brolly is a rare item. People shiver, roofs leak, cats get upset. The number of cats on campus is also a slightly bizarre. It seems to me that the Hebrew Univeristy doubles as a cat sanctuary. Perhaps they fullfill some darwinian niche (better cats than mice!) but the sity of a hundreds of scavenging kittens - not to mention pregnant cats - is slightly unsettling especially when im trying to eat my lunch in peace, without the desire to be overcome with guilt for not feeding the kitten meowing at my feet.