Welcome to my blog journal of my twelve-day trip to Israel! I’ll be posting updates as often as I have the internet and energy to do so.
I managed to sleep for about four of the eleven hours I spent 39,000 feet in the air last night. Fortunately my body thinks it’s only 3:00 in the afternoon as I write this, although here in Tel Aviv, it’s time for bed—so I think I’m tired enough to sleep tonight, but not so tired that I’m going to fall over. :)
The first thing I do whenever I step out of an airport in a new place is take a big, long, deep breath. I learn and remember a lot about a place just by breathing the local air. Today, my lungs filled with dry sunshine (hooray for no humidity!), mildly salty Mediterranean air, and a rather familiar dusty haziness that reminds me of Goldendale somehow.
Tel Aviv is a lively city with a fitting name: Tel means “ancient settlement” and Aviv means “spring,” so it is a place of both the old and the new. It’s impossible not to get a sense of the age and long history of this area, yet it’s so full of young and energetic people.
The Mediterranean beach (my favorite part of the day) buzzed with paddleball players and their big, mellow-hearted dogs. The water was so clear, and its temperature was perfect—cool enough to be refreshing but warm enough to be inviting. I know I look “touristy” carrying around a big camera and taking pictures of everything, but I can’t help it. It excites me. I don’t want to forget.
Favorite shot:
Oh, I've been wanting to go to Israel my WHOLE INTIRE life!
ReplyDeleteYou have NO idea how very lucky you are!
xx
I love them and it looks like so much fun. Not fair! I hope your day went well and you're adjusting to the time difference :)
ReplyDelete