The Big Felafel

Janglo goes comments, where’s the heads up?

As we know, Janglo, the can’t-function-without-it Jerusalem Anglo community website has undergone many changes – starting out as a Yahoo group and transitioning to a more user-friendly site at janglo.net with RSS feeds, an event calendar, and now the most revolutionary feature- comments. Previously, when someone would post something common, like today’s FREESWAP: ROOSTER, people would respond only to that person who posted and no one else could benefit from the responses.

But today, everything changed in Janglo-land. For better or for worse.

I responded to someone looking for cheap furniture, recommended a place in Mea Sharim, and then asked her to send any useful info she gained so I could post it on the big felafel for everyone to benefit. And then, the next thing I notice, is that my response is now listed under a comments section under her posting! For a devout Janglo-er like me, I was shocked that there was no warning that my message was going public for everyone to see.

Mixed feelings.

On the one hand, everybody should benefit from these responses. After all, the big felafel started with that very exact reaction: where have all the responses gone! But on the other hand, not everyone is willing to spill their personal stories or favorite gynecologist if everybody can see who the commenter is. And on the other hand…

I’m not ashamed to admit that I check Janglo at least twice a day if not more. Are you? My relationship with Janglo has changed over the years and reflects my life stages a little too closely.

Here it is, my life according to Janglo:

Stage 1: Seeking. When I first got to Israel, I was always looking for garage/apartment/moving sales to buy little things to spiffy up my room at Merkaz Hamagshimim. Then, I needed it to find a mover, and eventually buy more things for my next apartment.

Stage 2: Posting. While I was working at Oleh, we posted job opps and holiday videos that we wanted everyone to watch.

Stage 3: Collecting funnies. Maybe this is not something you parade around about, but yes, I have collected many funny Janglo entries over the past few years. I am still cracking up about the man looking to buy a wife, advice about how to replace a teudat zehut eaten by the dog, and a search for a woman expert on both reptiles and fractal geometry, and the list goes on. No offense to you if you wrote these.

Up until recently I was a very selfish Janglo-er, only browsing through the many listings of advice, info, events, sales, and job opportunities, but never replying to anybody’s concerns or problems.

Stage 4 – now: Answering, giving back. Now that I know how to build blogs, I am trying to give back to the Janglo community by responding to people and writing up universal experiences and frustrations faced as a new immigrant.

Who knew I had so much to say about Janglo?!