Blogs from North District, Israel, Middle East - page 22

2 weeks since I last wrote but don't think I was doing nothing. I'll open with today great news. Odette gave me her word that the house is ours!!! I was so afraid to believe that this time it's for real but I guess it is! More then happy I feel ready. Ready to walk on this new path, ready to learn, experience and work as hard as I ever did. Tomorrow I'm going to Nazareth, first night in the house, first many things. In the last 2 weeks I met many untrusting people. Zammy, Noam & Amnon from www.hike.co.il forum. We hike 3 days in the Israeli desert. I met Marious who is the employer of 12,000 people around the world and is going to be the biggest employer in Nazareth. We see eye in ... read more

It's morning, early morning. Another night with out sleep, S says that I'm in a trip. I guess she right. I see it more like I'm inside a creative and inspiration flood that I hope wouldn't take me to any dangers area. When I close my eyes I get new idea and new plan for the house we found and the option are limitless as you will soon read. Have you heard about "Jerusalem Syndrome"? It's about people who get crazy when they arrived there and declare themselves as the Messiah. Well, I feel that I'm close to Nazareth Syndrome. It's evening now. I spend another day in Nazareth. This time Magen, my brother came with me. I'll quote him: "You have got an amazing vision and you are going to be a pioneer. Every thing ... read more

I feel live, I feel in love. I wake up too early in the morning; I can hardly fall asleep at night. If my brain had a temperature gauge it will be on the red… I do too much thinking & planning! This is my third blog but the first one that is not about traveling. I hope I'll enjoy it as I did writing the other two. I really like to get feedbacks so feel free to send me what ever you think I got back from my 2004 world tour month and a half ago a different man then the one that started the tour. I want to believe that I'm a better human being now but that will be too simple. I came back to Israel with a list of 12 things that ... read more

We left Ein Gev this morning to head back to Jerusalem. We first stopped at the Kinneret cemetery on the south shore of the lake. Most of the people buried here were kibbutzniks from the second aliyah, who helped to build up the Galilee region. Notables buried there include the poet Rachel and the socialist Moshe Hess. We then went to the Israeli city of Nazareth-Illit, which is immediately adjacent to the Arab city of Nazareth. We met with the city's director of absorption and the deputy mayor (a Russian oleh who has been in Israel for 8 years) to discuss how the city handles the large numbers of olim who have settled here. Many of them are from the former Soviet Union, so the discussion included aspects of how this population is integrating into Israeli ... read more

We spent today exploring the Golan Heights with Elliot Chodoff, an American oleh who works as a guide as well as a lecturer and political & military analyst. There are many areas there that are marked as minefields, left over from when the Syrians controlled the area. We also went to a mountain that overlooks Mt. Hermon and Syria, which provided an excellent vantage point to discuss the strategic benefit to controlling the area. We also had a chance to go through an Israeli bunker there, which is unused because the primary military base is on a different peak. After lunch in the village of Katzrin, we took a hike to Devorah Falls. This is deep in a gorge, and the hike was spectacular. There was lots of foliage and flowers, and the falls themselves are ... read more