Blogs from Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv District, Israel, Middle East - page 28

Dec. 18 Kibbutz Ketara, Negev Desert Israel Reflections on Kibbutzim and Life in Israel: Where to start? I dont think it is just me who finds Israel full of thought provoking experiences. Everything seems refracted through the lens of the Zionist experiment. Manya's collection of plastic wristbands raises questions of allegiances in the Gaza pullout (apparently one side wore blue, the other orange). And when we ask the wild haired, jeans wearing Israeli who brings this up, her views on the Gaza policy, she gives us the tentative facial gestures that seem more the norm here now than the brutal directness I sensed years ago (although our Israeli friends assure us directness, even at the risk of tactlessness, continues to be an Israeli hallmark, in contrast to their humorous impersonation of Americans who always say everything ... read more

I've been away from the computer for over a week (a long story about the continuing difficulty of internet hookup, the amazingly annoying lack of service from Dell (a very long story), and attempts from Israeli friends who direct a college of engineering to have their tech people try to find the problem). This leaves me with endless impressions and experiences I could reflect upon here from our 5 days in Jerusalem (where so many people are so deeply impacted by the aura of history that there is a diagnosed psychological condition called Jerusalem Syndrome to describe this experience) and then 3 day loop up through Northern Israel. It is almost too trite to say Israel is a land of contrasts. In many respects, it strikes me as potentially the very best of travel destinations, ... read more

First entrance from home... read more

On the plane on the way from Holland to Israel, I thought about what it was that I wanted to accomplish on this trip. Getting to Israel in the first place seemed like such a miracle. I didn't want to have the whole trip pass as just a tourist venture. What would I do when I walked off the plane, onto Israeli soil? What would I think, what would I feel? I wrote in my journal: I want to hurt. I want to be sad because I can't be in the land, and when I finally put my foot on it, I want to feel as if I've truely come home. Not because the people there accept me, because, quite possibly, they won't. But I want to know that I've come home because this is the ... read more

That's it. It's been great. It's been amazing. It's been 39 weeks of traveling: Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, Israel, India and Nepal. And it's all here in my blog. I have no idea how many hours I spent on this blog - a hundred, maybe 200? I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Writing, selecting the pictures - I felt really creative. So now I am back home, this time not just to visit. I move to my new apartment tomorrow, I'll start working soon. So it's time for farewell… I'll be back when I'm ready for another journey! ... read more