One month in my new home

Today it is one month since I returned to Israel to live here. It has been a dance on roses with occasional thorns, but all spite the challenges and strong emotions, nothing has ever felt more natural and true, and this is a feeling that grows every day. This might sound a bit corny, but as long as I can remember, I imagined that I would end up in a place with a warm climate, and I always had a strong fascination for the Middle East. Then all of a sudden I bump in to a man during the Swedish summer, who enamored me on the spot. Within one year I have found love, a new home and a new life, one that feels more inspiring than ever... In two and a half weeks we will leave for a two-week summer holiday in Sweden and I am filled with anticipation over how I will perceive coming home, only for a short visit. As it feels now, I think I will be home-sick. I will miss my home, my house, my dog and my warm climate... And my warm lively culture.

Today we picked Yoram's mother up in Carmiel and drove to Tiberias to see Yoram's Grannie. She is 92 years old, but the last 4-5 years her mental sharpness has deteriorated and her memory fails her and she is pretty much introvert. She was born in Tiberias in 1917, which means that Yoram is the 3rd generation of sabras on his mothers side. His grannie still gets her hair dyed black and has not a wrinkle on her face! Occasionally she glimmers with a comment and you can see that she was a remarkable woman. It was also her that I told you about in an earlier post, who swam over Lake Kinneret on numerous occasions. According to Yoram and his mother, Grannie spoke the most beautiful Arabic, because when she grew up, Arabs and Jews lived together in Tiberias and its surroundings, and almost all people were bilingual at the time. Later on world politics started to intervene and all of that was over. The longer time I spend here I understand more of how much the people have been striving to work this land and the more I see, the more I realise why they are ready to fight for it, Jews, as well as Arabs, Druze, Christians, or whatever... even though it is mostly greater forces that incite conflict... It is all so extremely complex, but plain truth and this is the life we live. All of a sudden, the quasi-intellectuals in Sweden that like to have so much ideas and arguments about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, seem more pathetic and ignorant than ever.

Today my blog past 1000 visitors, amusingly enough on the same day as I mark one month in Israel. I am so happy that so many people visit, and I also know that many people have got used to visiting me on a regular basis, which is even more inspiring. People have not started to make so much comments, though, and I want to encourage you to do that. It makes it even more fun for me to actually get some input on my experiences, thoughts and ideas. After all, two-way communication is more lively than one-way...