Israel from above

August 11, 2008 - 8:46 AM by

Before I decided to move to Israel many, many years ago, my husband – then boyfriend – bought me here to see the country. I knew nothing about the place, other than the pictures I saw on TV.

The first place he took me to, when I arrived at midnight from a cold and rainy Britain, was Turquoise, an outdoor bar overlooking the beach at Jaffa. It was hot and tropical. The smell of the sea was in the air, and palms were swaying in the breeze. The bar was absolutely bursting with young, hip Israelis. Men in shorts and t-shirts, girls in tiny frocks it was simply never hot enough in England to wear.

A few days later, a friend of his – a pilot in the IAF – took us on a 40-minute flight around Israel in a small aircraft. It was an amazing trip, along the Mediterranean coastline, past Tel Aviv and Nahariya to the Lebanon border, across the country to the Dead Sea and Masada, and the Jordanian border, then back via Jerusalem.

We arrived back at Sde Dov airport. “Was that just a small part of the country?” I asked.
“No, that was it – apart from Eilat,” said my husband.
“That was it?”

Fifteen years on and I am still surprised at how small this country is. As you drive east from Tel Aviv, it takes about 35 minutes before you hit a border, go south and in two and a bit hours you hit another. But within this tiny, tiny space is such a huge diversity of people, and scenery, and politics, and life, all crammed in together. From the rolling hills of the Galilee, to the metropolitan area of the Sharon, to the wide barren emptiness of the Negev desert. All in the space of New Jersey.

I came across this video on Youtube the other day, and it reminded me of that first trip across the country. I thought I’d share it here.

Tags: , , , • Category: General, Immigrant Moments, Life, Travel 

Comments

One Comment on Israel from above

  1. Abraham Ortiz on Tue, Aug 19th 2008 1:08 AM

    2. I wish I could live IN Israel learn hebrew but I cant go because my retroviral meds Im not shure how will I be treated in Israel if you have any info please let me know about it

Leave a Comment





© 2012 ISRAELITY | Site by illuminea | Sitemap