The go-to person for apartments in the Old City

Finding an apartment in Jerusalem is definitely a challenge.

When I first arrived to Jerusalem, I stayed at the Lutheran guest house in the Old City. I absolutely fell in love with the Old City and wanted to live there, so I started asking around. I have already written about the shop keepers, taxi drivers, and hostel staff I talked to. They all told me they would call me back if they heard of anyone who was renting. I figured there had to be a source of information that I didn't know about. I was right.

Finally, mid last week, when I went to visit my friends the shopkeepers and they directed me to the source: the barber in the Christian quarter. Apparently, Anton the barber is the one person that everyone gives their keys to when they're looking to rent their apartment, and he also collects the rent. Who would have known?!

I went into his shop as Anton was cutting someone's hair and he started asking me questions about myself and what I was doing here; whenever you ask someone about a place to live, they usually interview you to make sure they want to help you. When Anton finished cutting the guy's hair, he started making some calls. Unfortunately, the people he called either didn't answer or the price was too high. 

In between calls, he started telling me about the advantages and disadvantages of living in the Old City. He mentioned that the location is great, but the apartments are not that modern. He also made a note about how much people are in your business if you don't set the boundaries (Arabs, for the most part). He told me that if you invite someone over, they'll totally come over again without notice and invite themselves to hang out (even when it's not convenient for you). I can definitely relate to what the barber was telling me, so I decided to rethink whether or not to live in the Old City.

I had already been living in the old city for a week and a half, and every time I walked through the shops where my friends work, I stopped and said hi. Lately, though, they started asking questions about the people they saw me with. It's whatever because I only see them a few minutes a day, but to get that kind of hassle every day, I'm not sure I'd be so chill about it after a while.

I was torn; on one hand, I want to have the experience of living in the Old City because of the history and culture, but on the other hand living in the newer part of town would be more comfortable, but also, more like the US...oh what to do?!

The barber