Blogs from South District, Israel, Middle East - page 6

Mit jeder neuen Mail, jedem neuen Eintrag hier fällt es schwerer den Schalter von Englisch zurück auf Deutsch zu drücken. Viele meiner Freunde hier fragen mich, wieso ich nicht in Englisch schreibe. Ich antworte dann immer: "Wegen der Familie. Die sprechen kein Englisch." Tatsächlich ist es wohl aber auch für mich, zum Selbstschutz, damit ich zwischen all den Englisch- und Baby-Hebräisch-Erlebnissen, meine eigene Muttersprache nicht verliere. Nach meinem ersten Abstecher zurück in den Norden, ging es ein paar Tage darauf ans andere Ende des Landes - in die Negev. Vor etwas mehr als einer Woche sind Lior und Amit in den gelbbraunen Süden gezogen. Ihr neues Heim heißt Mizpe Ramon und hat einen 8 mal 40 Kilometer langen Krater (Gottgeküsst!) vor der Haustüre. Zu dritt in Tel Aviv gestartet, saßen wir ab Be´er Sheva (die umgangssprachliche ... read more

We trekked up to Tel Arad on Wednesday the 23rd. To illustrate the height of my nerd-dom in the ancient world, the highlight of the day was visiting the Arad house, which demonstrates the typical house layout from the Early Bronze Age. The doorway presents itself on the long end of the wall, and the dwelling had no windows. Ah, you want more trivia about this fascinating site? How about the fact that a small clay model of the exact same dwelling was found within the Arad House, which helps us confirm that this design was in fact a standard design for this time period. Brian (our fearless class instructor) made an excellent point at this site. We read so often about the various types of sacrifices which were performed throughout the Old Testament. Though the ... read more

As you know, my visitors live in almost-ever-amazingly-green Tuscany. they wanted to see the desert. I don't like the desert. It doesn't keep me calm and relaxed as it is for others, for me it's stressing and depressing... well... I was always a Nordic person... I'm into green. I have a good Friend who lives in the desert. We've known each other for over 20 years; I haven't met her for over 10 years, since she moved to the desert. It's not easy to explain someone why it's easier to fly to Africa or Europe than drive 3 hours to visit her. For me it's clear. She lives in ... read more

I left northern Israel looking for warmth and I found it in Ein Gedi: the Lowest Place on Earth and, for that week, the Warmest Place in Israel. I hadn’t found a couch to surf in the area, but there was a beach, and a warm breeze. I didn’t need anything more. I cleared a little area of rocks, unrolled my sleeping bag and watched the full moon rise over the Jordanian Mountains, feeling happy and instantly at peace. It was a feeling that would become more intense the longer I stayed. The Ein Gedi air was making me high. Sitting at 400 meters below sea level, Ein Gedi is subject to extremely high barometric pressure. As a consequence, the partial pressure of oxygen in the air is higher, which means that you take in more ... read more

Last week we went to Bethlehem. We had a nice tour guide named Yamen who showed us the separation wall. The wall was covered in political graffiti and has many words of peace and power. I spray painted a peace sign a heart and my name on the wall with all the other graffiti. Yamen brought a bag filled with marbles and balloons and together we handed them out to the kids in the Aida refugee camp. Yamen showed us how the West Bank is broken up into three zones area a, b and c. Area a is controlled by the Palestinians, area b is shared control between the Palestinians and the Israels and area c is controlled by the Israelis. Then we went to the church of the nativity were we saw a Catholic ... read more