Welcome. Mi blog es su blog.

I've always been a bit weary about blogging. First of all, why are my mundane thoughts interesting enough for others to read? Second of all, it can be a bit intimidating to expose oneself like this. I love to write, but this may be the first time I actually write for someone, if there is anyone out there reading this.

I live in Jerusalem, Israel which is maybe one of the craziest places on earth. It is a very intense city where feelings and emotions are running at light speed and where everyone has an opinion about everything that they are willing to share with you. I made "Aliyah" to Israel exactly one month ago today. In Hebrew, the word "Aliyah" means "rising." So, in a way, moving to Israel is in a way like "rising" your soul to some sort of next level.

Well, let me tell you, this stuff here is definitely on the next level. It's impossible to be here without thinking at least several dozens of times a day, "is this for real?" Sometimes, it's when someone eats a whole tomato on the bus (the eastern Mediterranean is blessed with the best tomatoes on planet Earth), or other times it's when you see two couples walking on the street, one of them dressed like they came from 1747 Warsaw, Poland and the other looking like they frequent a shop where every garment for sale is 100% certified organic hemp. Sadly, sometimes it's when there is a military operation just a few kilometers from where you are living and you feel like you are so "far" from it because a Qassam rocket cannot reach your apartment.

Before I continue, I think I should make something clear. This blog, while yes it is about my life in Israel, is also about what quotidian ups and downs are like for a guy who was brought up in the sunny San Diego suburbs, who attended some over-privileged university and who lived in New York City after graduating can deal with a place as crazy as this one - far from friends and family, in a region of the world that certainly has some issues, but with a zest for adventure and for living around the best tomato products. Of course, the people are interesting and I believe in this place, too.