Empire of Dirt

I can't believe the amount of stories I've amassed since I arrived in Israel in mid-August. I know Margaret has accumulated a lot of interesting stories as well since she arrived here two weeks ago, because I saw her notebook when I rummaged through her bag looking for some hand lotion. I SWEAR it just lay there open accidentally! We have so many things to write, and yet I hesitate to post any of them for this first posting because I want for our first blog post to be some kind of profound introduction to what I feel is a very conflicted and similarly profound area of the world right now. The best I can do is to at least give you some of the general impressions of a few things we've both seen in the short time we've been here. The great thing about traveling and living with Margaret is that #1: she didn't get mad at me for reading her notebook and #2: she takes short showers. I guess there's a third thing as well, which is that her list of things she wants to write on our blog is completely different than my list of things. Well duh, right? But spare my insolence for a moment: reading her list, I was compelled that I had seen the same things as she had, but different memories had stood out for her. This I feel, will strongly balance our blog in the coming months because I predict I'm going to write more heavily on the political aspects of living in Israel/Palestine, while I think Margaret will write much more humanely about her own personal reflections regarding the people we've met. So there you have it; macrocosm and microcosm, Yin and Yang, bubble gum and cashew nuts, chalice and sword, and whatever quasi-phallic metaphors there are. I think I'll leave you all with a non-hiearchically important list of 5 things we've seen/done that stood out for us while we've been here, and leave it at that. So for now, let the good times roll.

1. Along Jerusalem Street (the main street in Tel Aviv that runs along the beachfront) there is a massive poster of Sawyer's beautiful, gruff head from 'LOST' posing for a cologne of some kind. The photo looks as if it was taken on set because he's right by the beach and as scruffy and charming as ever as he stares down on us humble folk with his gem-like steel blue eyes. Margaret took a photo of this, and its in one of her facebook photo albums.

2. In a small Arab town called Akko along the Mediterranian coast in Northern Israel, we walked through several neigborhoods in the old city early one evening
that was full of small children running around playing. Many broken toys littered the alleys and stonewalkways. However, what almost all the broken toys had in common
was that they were all toy guns that had been discarded or smashed. As we passed through an archway leading onto the promenade we watched two boys stand about 50 feet apart from each other, unloading their cap guns at each other without moving their bodies, smiling and laughing.

3. Perhaps because this was the first thing I (Dave) saw when I got to Israel, and because it is quite literally history in the making, seeing the entirety of the notorious Barrier Wall from South to North that made so much spoken division all the more cemented in reality to Israelis and Palestinians alike still remains the most memorable structure I've seen since I've been here.

4. Staying a few days in Safed/Tzfat, the center for Jewish mysticism in the mountains of northern Israel. Women wear long skirts to their ankles and headscarves, and men have sidecurls and wear heavy black coats even in the heat. Their passion for their religion and their unrelenting defense of their culture was striking. I (Margaret) struggled with their insistence on maintaining the Jewish family lines (not marrying people from other religions) and conviction that they were God's chosen people. Learning about the Jews' history of displacement and attacks upon them, I understood a little more how they came to have these views. We have been on this side of the wall for a bit, and understand a little more of the Israel side. Now I want to see the other side, and know how the Palestinians live.

5. Last night in Dahab, Egypt, we were invited to smoke shisha with a friendly shop owner who wanted to "smoke, drink tea, talk with friends, practice English..I like everything!" After smoking, talking, laughing, learning to say thank you in Arabic, he asked Dave if I was his wife. Dave laughed nervously while I quickly answered, 'Yes!" in order to make it clear that I was not available. Being someone's girlfriend while traveling isn't always enough. He then told Dave he was a lucky man, and asked, "How many camels?", wanting to know how many camels I was worth. Dave wisely answered, "As many stars that are in the sky." I would much rather be compared to a star than a camel. I don't spit on people and I'm not as furry.

peace and love to you all,
Margo & Dave