http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/megashields/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from megashields en-us Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:08:39 +0000 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:08:39 +0000 I was very interested in the theoretical and practical underpinnings of kibbutz culture even before coming to Israel. My favorite high school teacher Mr. Trodd used to call me Commi so maybe my leftward leanings have cultivated this interest. Yotam and his entire family are kibbutznikiem kibbutznik being a person from a kibbutz add iem for pluralization so coming here to the Jordan Valle http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/North-District/Kibbutz-Ashdot-Ya--akov-Ichud/blog-433768.html Once again vast oceans of time have slipped by in the moments minutes hours and days that compose life when you're focused on living it as opposed to writing about it. I was reminded recently to update my family and friends back home about my goingson here. A reminder which I appreciate especially given my tendency in the past days to lean towards a selfpitying state of homesickness. Thus http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/North-District/Poriyya/blog-424614.html The coming of spring in Canada is a dramatic transition from dark to light from cold to warm the natural embodiment of the cycle of death and rebirth. This transition in Israel especially in the north where I live is perhaps less dramatic in its scope but is nonetheless present in the blooming of colorful wild flowers the growth of fresh green grass and the scent of nutrientrich earth. This http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/North-District/Poriyya/blog-394606.html Here in Israel there are security check points EVERYWHERE. Not manned by police or military just security dudes with handguns. But they are literally everywhere grocery stores IKEA movie theatres etc. Paranoia is God here.So this weekend on our Dead Sea vacation we were coming back to the hotel from a hike in the desert and while going through security with the car everyone was being aske http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Masada/blog-394628.html One can come to be used to new circumstances at an alarming speed. I have experienced this phenomenon on more than one occasion and find it to be a theme running through my current travels as well. Where I currently reside in Poriyya Illit on the southwestern slopes above the Kinneret the feeling is one of quiet relaxed solitude. Unlike in the kibbutziem where the collective is the priority a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/Tel-Aviv-District/Tel-Aviv/blog-381675.html This current adventure on which I have embarked is remarkably different from any of the travel I have endeavored upon in the past in one key way it's scope. In some ways I think more of this as the journey of an expat than a vacation or trip. This for the sake of my family and Israeli Immigration control is not to state any intention to remain here permanently never to return but even the y http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/North-District/Golan/blog-376989.html It is amazing how in any given moment time can feel as though it is crawling by but when you stop to look back a whole week has passed. And this is where I presently find myself.I arrived in Israel at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv at 230am local time on Feb. 1409. After a near eternity of traveling it was glorious to be somewhere permanently even if it did mean facing Israeli immigration. B http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/Tel-Aviv-District/Tel-Aviv/blog-376538.html Manifestation is a truly beautiful thing. To see a dream through to its realization is a blessing in an utterly simple and honest way. Even in manifestations of negativity the progress of causality is wondrous I think. And when there is nothing sinister involved all the betterSo I sit here in Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam reveling in the beauty of a dream that has been put into action with f http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-374824.html I have postponed writing so many times during this current adventure due to my complete lack of commitment to spending time on the computer. A dearth of highspeed internet has certainly contributed to this less than diligent approach to recounting my travels but I must admit that I have been more attracted to living than writing about it.This being said I am now in a perfectly banal suburb of http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Nelson/blog-348097.html After two and a half days of rugged rolling Ontario we finally made our way into the flat expanse of Manitoba the land of big sky. I had been to Winnipeg once before and upon our descent into the airport I remember being shocked at the sheer unidimensionality of this terrain. But like almost all Canadian geography when we do prairies we do 'em big. These planes are almost overwhelming in th http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Saskatchewan/blog-320339.html Aug. 27 NOTE So the reason I haven't posted this all month is that travelblog.org has been rejecting my photo uploads... it now has a few of the images I selected but not all of them have uploaded. Hopefully they will materialize shortly but until then happy reading and I will update again shortly After many months of http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/blog-316988.html After a fun train ride back from Bangalore to Chennai an expensive night at the Raj Palace and an early flight we arrived in Delhi the capital city of India. At first I was very pleasantly surprised to find almost NO honking Turns out it was only because it was a lazy Sunday afternoon with little traffic but it was a nice respite from the eternal beepdom still.Our driver for the day had a nice http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/National-Capital-Territory/New-Delhi/blog-204235.html Excited to be moving on to our next destination my travel companions now consisting of Abi Sangeev Chitra and Mahaish sorry for butcherous spelling and I boarded our sleeper car train at Chennai Station. The novelty of a train with beds on it had me in high spirits and I was also looking forward to visiting yet another of the south Indian states.Getting on the train is always a dramatic l http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Karnataka/Bangalore/blog-200082.html Ahhhh So much happening so little time to writeAugust 28 was a day of jampacked traveling. We made our way by train from Trichy to Chennai leaving at 915amish. We took the nonAC car this time which I vastly prefered to the frigidity of the AC chair car. Sitting by the window with the sun and wind on my face we made the 6 hour voyage speeding through fertile rice and sugar cane fields http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Andhra-Pradesh/Chittoor-District/Tirupati/blog-197894.html After an extremely fitfull afternoon and evening of sleep I awoke early at 6am and started a routine with the hopes of improving my stay here in India. While there have been enjoyable outings and warm company I have been decidedly illatease since falling sick and must make a conscious decision from here on in to do everything in my power to be happy and have a good time. I think that if I am a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Tiruchirappalli/blog-197876.html We took a train form Chennai to Tiruchirappalli Trichy a journey I had been greatly looking forward to tired of the hustle bustle and dust of Chennai. I see the train as the quintessential mode of Indian transportation even though we booked our tickets in the AC chair car. I was still feeling rather unwell having not eaten in 2 days aside for a packet of cream crackers courtesy of Mona C http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Tiruchirappalli/blog-197373.html So much happens on any given day here that I feel like if I miss a day of writing many savory details will be lost and remain in the moment they happend. On the other hand I can't very well spend my whole trip journaling so I'll just have to find a happy medium.On August 21 we had a very nice day indeed. It started with me having breakfast with the boys at a cafateriatype place. I got curious s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-196509.html Woke up at 6 am after a fitfull but short sleep and went to breakfast in the hotel restaurant with Abi Laltha Mona Sanji and Sangeev. Thius consisted of yummy roti's uthappan pancakelike bread curries cake fruit and coffee. Indian coffee different than what we have in Canada is meant to be mixed at a ratio of 14 with milk. I did not know this and I prepared mine like I would at home. W http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-195255.html After an exhausting trip of roughly two days I think this whole time difference thing makes absolutely NO sense to me we finally arrived in Chennai Tamil Nadu INDIA The end of the flight was a rocky one and on descent we hit some pretty major turbulence and at one point I was actually lifted from my seat for a few moments of free fall. Not going to lie I definitely screamed. My ears fine o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Chennai/blog-194732.html Having arrived at Pearson International Airport a full 2 12 hours before checkin I was presented with the opportunity to sit and contemplate the journey I am about to undertake. Not that this contemplation has not occured in the months weeks and days leading up to this momentous departure. The difference now is that the experience resides in the realm of reality as opposed to fantasitc anticipa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-194643.html