People seemed surprised, both here and back home, about my choosing Israel as a place for vacation.
Mostly, I guess, for reasons of security.
Lonely Planet states that the chances of getting killed in a car accident in your home country are higher than the chances of dying here in Israel because of a suicide bomber or the likes.
Still: Israel isn't just like any other country to spend your holiday in, and you notice right away.
Someone who lived all his life in Western Europe or the US is struck by the presence of soldiers - armed soldiers, that is -, and to some degree discomforted. I saw a twenty-something year old kid walking past me today with what looked like a machine gun dangling around his body. I didn't feel particularly safe because of it.
When I read Amos Oz A Tale of Love and Darkness before coming here, it struck me how fragile the Israeli state was from the beginning on. Coming from two different backgrounds and never really having cared about either of the two countries or cultures I was socialized in, I find it hard to imagine what it must mean to live or be born in a country like Israel. I saw a man at the beach today who had the geographical outline of Israel tatooed onto the right side of his chest. Can you imagine tatooing your home country - no matter how big or small - on your body? (And his tatoo was big, taking up almost all the right side of the thorax.)
Mostly, I guess, for reasons of security.
Lonely Planet states that the chances of getting killed in a car accident in your home country are higher than the chances of dying here in Israel because of a suicide bomber or the likes.
Still: Israel isn't just like any other country to spend your holiday in, and you notice right away.
Someone who lived all his life in Western Europe or the US is struck by the presence of soldiers - armed soldiers, that is -, and to some degree discomforted. I saw a twenty-something year old kid walking past me today with what looked like a machine gun dangling around his body. I didn't feel particularly safe because of it.
When I read Amos Oz A Tale of Love and Darkness before coming here, it struck me how fragile the Israeli state was from the beginning on. Coming from two different backgrounds and never really having cared about either of the two countries or cultures I was socialized in, I find it hard to imagine what it must mean to live or be born in a country like Israel. I saw a man at the beach today who had the geographical outline of Israel tatooed onto the right side of his chest. Can you imagine tatooing your home country - no matter how big or small - on your body? (And his tatoo was big, taking up almost all the right side of the thorax.)
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