The Freedom of Travel

In July of 2008 I set out on a trip to Tel Aviv, Israel. It was to be a month long trip that was sponsored by my university entitled Dialogue of Civilizations, Israel. For most people this would be just another study abroad trip, but for me it was a little different. I am first generation American, the son of immigrant parents from Beirut, Lebanon. My father, however, is of Palestinian decent, as his parents had migrated to Lebanon in 1948 from Jaffa, Palestine. I come from two sequential generations of escaping wars, so naturally there was a lot of concern for my trip by my family.
After much debate, I decided to do the program, which may have been one of the best decisions of my life. We were exposed to the Jewish and the Arab perspectives and we did everything from have dinner with both Palestinian and Jewish families, have dialogue with settlers in the West Bank, meet with Zionists, IDF soldiers, listen to the opinions of right wing Jewish high school students, learn about left wing pro Palestinian Jews, study with renown professors at Ben Gurion University in the Negev, and have a dialogue in the Knesset. We even slept in a Bedouin tent and watch a zeffe (wedding procession) to wake up the next morning to hike Hebron. Followed by a trip to the Dead Sea, and morning mass at the Holy Sepulcher and then a visit to the western wall. In addition, I was able to connect with my relatives, who before this trip I only knew of them. My eyes were opened, and my heart was overwhelmed. The trip strengthened my burning desire to learn about the intricacies of people and society. Furthermore I realized that our imaginations about other people can set us to an ignorant mental world and only first hand experiences can break mental barriers. To find out more about my visit to Israel and the day-to-day experiences please visit my travel blog at israelivisit.blogspot.com.
After my month in Israel, I decided that I wanted more cultural exposure so on the flight back to the US we had a layover in Paris, France. I decided to spontaneously extend my stay alone, not having a clue as to where I would stay or how to get around. Big adventure-short, I started in Paris for the day, took a train to Brussels to visit a friend from college, took EasyJet to Nice, France and made global friends while staying at 12 bed co-ed hostel room, drove a moped to Monaco, got lost on the way back and ended up on the major highway, found my way back to my hostel last minute to catch my flight back to Brussels, and then took a train the same night back to Paris. Ran out of money during the last three days in Paris, made money on the streets while drumming with Moroccan peddlers, good thing I speak Arabic, and made friends from Taiwan in the hostel I stayed at.