Soundwalk By Jacqueline Tawil
I spent an hour walking up and down a busy street in my neighborhood of Gravesend, Brooklyn. On Ave U, there is a store for anything and everything you might need to go about your day. There are multiple grocery stores, butchers, fruit store, salons, a post office, a bank, a bus and train stop, etc. These are all within about 10 blocks. There are typical background sounds on the street such as multiple cars honking for no apparent reason, car engines and city buses zooming by. Being that I am Jewish and live in a predominantly Jewish community of Syrian Jews, Ave U is a melting pot of what we call “old and new Syrians.” There are some people whose families immigrated generations ago and have integrated English and its American culture into their lives. And then there are some people who much recently immigrated and do not know a word of English, only Arabic. Majority of the stores are owned by Syrian Jews and it is likely that you hear someone speaking in Arabic while you will also hear someone speaking in their thick Brooklyn accent. Most of the time, its the same person. You hear a mother hopping from store to store picking up her groceries for dinner while speaking to her friend across the street in the middle of all the hustle and bustle. Sometimes i’ll really feel like i am in “Little Syria”, before the meltdown which it is now. Ave U is almost like a place locked in time. It resembles the Syria that our grandparents knew and loved and told us about. It was a thriving country and Ave U symbolizes a piece of our heritage that still exists, but in Brooklyn. The biggest soundmark in my neighborhood is the main synagogue of the community, which is down the block from my house. On a typical Friday night after services are over, there are hundreds of well dressed men pouring out and you hear tons of chatter, laughter and kids playing.
