Park Hotel Netanya

As ridiculous as it sounds, I am the happiest kid in the world in the army here. Some people left voluntarily, some got kicked out, many complain, but I love it. Who knows? Maybe I will be the first person ever to voluntarily join the Israel Defense Forces not out of a connection to Israel or a desire to do something meaningful, but rather out of a desire to have fun. Just kidding--a real 3-year enlistment obviously entails a different life.



I am constantly happy and ...

First of all, I'd like to thank whoever ordered perfect weather for me. It's been amazing here in Israel. If it's hot, then there's a breeze. Otherwise, it's been nice and cool once the sun has gone down.  Yesterday, my grandfather dropped my grandmother and myself off at a street market called Nechlat Bin'Yamin. It happens every Tuesday and Friday. A lot of artists have booths there with awesome junk, as well as things that are ...

... not too small. We've eaten dinner and breakfast right here at their dining room buffet. The food is really good. I've had lots of good, fresh produce. I guess it's all mediterranean-type food. It seems pretty healthy, so all good. Lunch today was at a food court on our way to Caesarea. No one ate at McDonald's. Most of us ate at the little local falafel stand. I ...

... of them far better in the days to come. Everyone was in high spirits as we rode down together to the airport to begin our journey. We checked in and got to our gate only to learn our flight was going to be delayed by 1.5 hours. No problem, I thought to myself. That just means fewer hours on our New York layover and I'd rather hang out in our local airport that I know well than at JFK anyway. Our flight actually took off only and ...

... to make all this stuff be available on my laptop offline. It's really important since I guess most of the time there won't be any hotspot or wireless connection available. So I found Zimbra. This open source piece of software is essentially an Outlook replacement, and it can store all your Yahoo mail, contacts, calendar and stuff on your computer for your offline reference. I forgot travelpod. I'm not used to writing blogs, as you can probably see ...

... were you in Jayyous?" asked the young Israeli soldier while I was detained behind the Wall last week. "Don't you know they're all terrorists?" It blows my mind! What the Palestinian people have to put up with - the ethnic cleansing, occupation, the apartheid system, the land confiscations, the house demolitions, the siege, the killings, the torture, the discrimination, the rocks thrown at their children ...

... while forgetting to educate them to take interest in the world around them. People become: "self-obsessed". Girls and men want society to acknowledge they're flawless and special, too. They're terrified of being forgotten after they die. Burdened with heavy ego's that crave success, descended from a disciplined religion, they're very: "practical". They have little time for fun diversions or for relationships that don't provide them with something concrete ...

... I hope we dont fall too far in the rankings.. oh well. I watched the first half of the USC/OH State Game (yes, they get ESPN here), but fell asleep before the second half (the game started at 3am Tel Aviv time). It is now a little before noon on Sunday. Ari had to go to Jerusalem for a meeting and a wedding today, so I am on my own in Tel Aviv. He mapped out a walking tour of the city for me, so I am going to get started soon. It is HOT ...

Religious and non-religious Jews alike like to have a family meal on Friday night to welcome the sabbath. People who know a single person will often invite them to their family house - even if its a stranger. The invitation to my uncle's flat was the opportunity to have a nice meal with nice company in a place infinitely nicer than the MKSH, but with the last bus leaving around 4pm, I knew that I'd be trapped there for the weekend, and as they were religious ...

... Houmous and pita, yum yum yum. Spent a day in Netanya town. Actually, spent half the day walking there, we thought it was a bit closer than it actually was... A gorgeous little beach town a bit like Fremantle. More falafel, houmous (this will be repeated often) and a walk along the beach. The first for both of us in months. How ive missed the ocean. As Israel has conscription (the reason Talmor cannot get an Israeli passport) you see kids everywhere ...