03/09/2009
Wow. Things are happening so fast that i just don't have time to record them all. By the time i finish an amazing experience, or get back from a magical place, or even meet a new and wonderful person, i am already onto the next..
After catching up on sleep, and getting over my jetlag, it was time to meet some friends, and see some sights. We caught up with Dror - a good friend of Didi's and part of her little circle of friends, who had only just arrived back in Israel. He had just returned from Croatia, where he is heading again in a couple of weeks to begin study. With not much to do before then, and eager to enjoy as much of his last summer in Israel as he could, he became the perfect companion for some ‘close to town’ adventures. We have spent a lot of time at beaches since i arrived – the most memorable being Appalonia. It’s a bit of a drive north, and also a bit of a trek to get in there - unless you have a 4WD.. Luckily for us, Dror has one - nice! We headed out there and scooted around the cliffs in his little Isuzu, ending up on a beautiful little rocky beach. The water was clean and warm, and the pebble shore a perfect place to setup our umbrellas and enjoy a relaxing afternoon. So very different to most Aussie beaches i am used to; stones instead of sand, and water that is so warm it is hard to believe! I really didn't expect such a quiet beach could exist so close to the city. But in hindsight, i guess everything here is relatively close to a city. There is only so far you can drive in Israel before you hit the water or a border - it is less than 700kms from north to south, and at times less than 150kms east to west. Growing up in Australia, such distances are almost trivial. Close to the city or not, i guess it is the walk that puts people off, and leaves us with such a wonderful private beach a mere 30 minutes from Petah Tikva..
I have managed now to meet the majority of Didi’s friends – Dean the old school psy-musician and his wife Moran, crazy Izhac and his partner Adar, the beautiful Oshi and Benzi, Nirit and Idan, Maitar and Maor, Lena and Eran (and of course their boxer Jesse), Dudu the shaman, Dror, Gadlam of Jerusalem with the bulletproof Nissan, Orad and his sister Lidar, the brothers Shai, Etai and Daniel – and of course Noam, who i knew from Australia.. It has been an amazing couple of weeks!
I won't bore you with specifics of everything i have been up to. I am simply not up to writing it all down anyway! Suffice to say, it has been a rush of birthday parties, matcote, beach soccer, meeting new friends, meeting family, meeting extended family, a quick trip outside Jerusalem (in a bulletproof jeep, no less), Sabbat dinners, family do’s – the list goes on and on! Put simply, i am thoroughly enjoying Israel, its people, its culture, its places and, life in general. And this is before i have really travelled anywhere more than 45 minutes from Petah Tikva! I find myself with a host of new friends - not just because i am Didi's partner, but because her friends are truly amazing individuals (why am i surprised - they are friends of Adi!) willing to share themselves and whatever else they can offer.
I also find myself being welcomed wholeheartedly by a truly amazing family – it is hard to describe the generosity, the warmth and the genuine acceptance that everybody has showered me with. Not only do i feel welcome in their home, i honestly feel loved and accepted as a part of their family and of their lives. I cannot begin to explain what incredible people Adi’s family consists of – i have a wonderful relationship with them all (immediate family and extended), regardless of cultural, religious or language barriers, and i feel so at ease it is hard to believe. Obviously i wondered how i would be greeted and what my reception would be like before coming – not simply meeting my partners parents and family, but doing it in a foreign country, where i am not a part of their religion, don’t have their cultural heritage and lack even a basic grasp of their language – you can obviously imagine how it could have gone... But, as you see, i couldn’t have asked for anything better. I feel so happy to have been accepted and welcomed the way i have, and i feel honoured and privileged to be associated with such special human beings. A pretty damn good feeling for a Goy from Australia... (Goy — Non-Jewish person. Technically, in the Bible, anyone living outside of Israel, a foreigner.)
So, you can see how happy i am, and even being this far out of my comfort zone, i am feeling exceptionally comfortable and (dare i say it) at home.
And, before anyone asks, yes i am still coming home in november!
