Home

Whenever I come back to Israel, no matter how long I was gone, it feels like home again. Despite any reservations I may have, political, cultural and others, when we start the drive home from the airport I find my place again. Like a piece of a puzzle, things fall into their right place. I love the pass of Sha'ar Hagay, I feel happy when I first see the slopes of the Jerusalem mountains - home. And then there is the sun, the Israeli sun that is so different than the Bostonian sun - it is yellow at best, white at most and so bright your eyes hurt. A good strong sun - makes you know you are alive (though probably sweating and swearing).

Boston feels like home by now, I am no longer a complete stranger there, but it still feels different. It is not only because Hebrew is my language or that my family is here - it is the landscape itself that fills me with a feeling that is hard to describe. It comes to me sometimes when I am in Boston, suddenly I am swept with a feeling of yearning to the streets of Tel Aviv, or the mountains of Eilat, or Jerusalem. I guess there is something to the saying "האדם הוא תבנית נוף מולדתו" of Shaul Tsarnichovsky, I guess I am just the mold of my homeland's landscape, because it feels so right to be back.

The view from our back yard

First Step - Pariz

Sometime between yesterday and the day before we started our journey - we left for the airport and realized we are released from so many of the bonds we take for granted in our lives. We now have no home keys, car keys, work keys or cell phones. Suddenly things that seemed so big, that took so much of our time and energy, are in perspective compared with this big world and our small lives.

So enough with this sentimental stuff, we landed in Paris yesterday morning tired but happy. We are staying with Dana, JB and sweet Ella in their apartment amazingly located in Le Marais. Paris is beautiful and pleasant, food is, of course, great. It is so dense, that it almost feels more familiar than Boston... The small streets, the crazy driving, the small cafes and grand buildings - we are having a great time.

Sending our hugs and kisses!