Lizrael Update: babbling about the expat life since 2004
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…But money can buy morale.
I’m in New York. I found a two-way ticket for $499. Actually, the ticket found me, and just in time. No shock that I’ve been feeling jaded and weary lately. I don’t know if it’s aliyah fatigue or general Israeli fatigue. It’s not easy living here, even if you do have food to eat and…
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Fire power.
Today we had one of those office moments when the whole staff has to join together in the lunchroom for a corporate-sponsored education session. The topic this time was: how to use a fire extinguisher (in case of a smaller fire). And all I want to note is that it seems Israelis just want to…
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A belabored love song.
Are we falling out of love? Remember in the beginning: it was so lovely; every moment was a gift, a lesson, a pleasure. That’s what it was, you and me, pleasuring each other constantly. And then we normalized, you and I, our relationship matured and we felt strong in our solid state. Something happened, though;…
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City feature: Sfat
I’ve never spent an extended period in Sfat, which is likely to be a holier city than Jerusalem and warrants more time-spending. The amount of time I spent there allowed me these shots, however:
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My mood.
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Hollywood, Israel.
There is a girls’ school up the block from me that is focused on artistic ability. For kicks they posted this sign at the top of the school:
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Al Jazeera has arrived.
Al Jazeera has an office inside my building. My journalistic side is curious and intrigued. My Israeli side is annoyed; why do they get to freely tramp around the country as professional journalists and Israeli citizens can’t even step foot inside most Arab ones?
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Keep in touch.
There are two things present in this photo I took (circa 3 years ago) that I miss… Can you guess which?
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Look what I made!
Talpiot – a section in south Jerusalem – is known as the ‘industrial area’. That makes it sound awful, when in fact Talpiot is chock full of other things besides car dealerships, lumberyards and Russians. It’s the place to go if you want to choose from six different enormous supermarkets, if you want to get…
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Contrast.
It’s cliche but Israel is painted with contrast. I captured my own a couple of days ago when I treated myself and a friend to coffees from an Israeli version of Starbucks that is so much better than Starbucks, on a day when I could have – and should have – been working but wasn’t.…
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The Rolling Stones are right, again.
I stepped outside my building this morning and smelled bagel chips and then I missed New York because I thought for a second, if I was there, I could get whatever I wanted within a couple of minutes. But then I thought, I couldn’t get a good, kosher shwarma that easily. And then I thought,…
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Alive and, well…
I couldn’t stomach the Simple Life so instead I switched to a special about Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. That sentence could have a deeper meaning, couldn’t it? Since moving here, I try not to drown myself in Israeli or Palestinian sorrows too often. It’s hard, but I’ve become better at not reading beyond the…
Questions? Comments? Advice?