The Story:
I am back, after three and a half months away. First I went to Alef and Dr. Animal's wedding on the East Coast and then I went to Israel. I lived in the Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem and I rode on the back of a boy's motorcycle through the dark streets at night. I ate falafel and I taught English at a public school where, groundbreakingly, Jewish studies are integrated into the secular curriculum. I made new friends in my evening language class and I swam in the Dead Sea. I celebrated Chanukah, Christmas, New Year's, and many many times I celebrated Shabbat. I was healthy and I was sick, I was scared and I was brave, I met people from all around the world. I shopped in the market and rode the bus and I spoke Hebrew without thinking. And, when I could tell that it was time, I came back to the States.
In two weeks I leave for Ghana. Until then, though, I am so delighted to be here. Trader Joe's, Target, the BART, burritos, Long's drugstore, my left-behind clothes that are like new all over again...and all my friends. I missed everything familiar but I missed my friends most of all.
The Lesson:
Dorothy said it best: There's no place like home, there's no place like home...
welcome back!
Posted by: yatesy | January 25, 2008 at 10:00 AM