On a bus heading toward the border of Israel I was informed by an over-friendly elderly English man that Israel had just bombed Giza and killed a whole heap of Palestinians. Comforting? No. But I couldn't help feeling oddly excited. Heading into a country that has just dropped bombs on it's next door neighbours sounds like a wild story... and It's quite possible that in my vanity the story WAS all I was really thinking of.
Arriving at the border however, you would never have known disaster had struck just 100 or so kms up the road. A man in a tshirt and jeans casually swings his ak 47 off his shoulder as though he is a child bored with his 2 day old christmas present. Eilat is hot and buzzing with all sorts of tourists and locals eating sandwiches and lining up to use the ATM. And the bus to Jerusalem has almost every seat full. Every one calm and safe.
Arriving in Jerusalem just after dusk, I bumbled my way to the old city where I found myself walking through it's tiny cobbled alleys and streets, totally lost. A punnet of dates for 15 shekels kept me comforted as I hoped to stumble across my hostel. I don't know how old the old city is but it feels pretty old. The cool thing about all the oldness is that it still has life in it. I mean everyday people, ALIVE people are living in it's quarters and selling roasted nuts in the stone cutaways. The life in it in the present makes it so much easier to grasp and feel what it would have been like to live in it however many centuries or milleniums ago.
I really like Jerusalem. It's a really cool, really different city. Unexpected but friendly. It feels like the type of city you want to get lost in, because somehow you know everything will turn out OK.
They speak English really well over here and I find consequently I immediately feel so much more relaxed. Knowing I can ask a question and get a response I can understand feels like fresh air in a mouldy, smelly, cramped room.
Since you mentioned mouldy, smelly, cramped rooms. That's exactly what I've found for accomodation in Jerusalem. The room is the size of my bedroom except they've fit 8 beds in it. 8 horrible small smelly beds. And I stupidly paid for 2 nights before I had even checked out the room. Mistake.
Though mistakes are bothering me less I think... I've found that since I've started travelling on my own I can laugh at a lot more things. Getting lost and having NO idea where I was in Jerusalem wasn't scary it was quite funny. My first response at seeing my dorm was to laugh. My good buddy James Douglas said "make as many mistakes as you can." And I think i'm getting better at making mistakes. What I mean by that is, I'm getting less afraid to make a mistake.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that yes, I want to make the best decision possible... but sometimes I don't. It CAN feel crippling, especially when there are a few in a row, but as far as I can see, I'm going to make mistakes for the rest of my life. I want to learn how to not be afraid of that but have faith that despite my mistakes things will still work out and may even lead to something that the non-mistake never would lead to. Perhaps by the end of this trip i'll be so good at making mistakes, that the word mistake will just translate into opportunity. I don't know. But that would be kinda cool...
Arriving at the border however, you would never have known disaster had struck just 100 or so kms up the road. A man in a tshirt and jeans casually swings his ak 47 off his shoulder as though he is a child bored with his 2 day old christmas present. Eilat is hot and buzzing with all sorts of tourists and locals eating sandwiches and lining up to use the ATM. And the bus to Jerusalem has almost every seat full. Every one calm and safe.
Arriving in Jerusalem just after dusk, I bumbled my way to the old city where I found myself walking through it's tiny cobbled alleys and streets, totally lost. A punnet of dates for 15 shekels kept me comforted as I hoped to stumble across my hostel. I don't know how old the old city is but it feels pretty old. The cool thing about all the oldness is that it still has life in it. I mean everyday people, ALIVE people are living in it's quarters and selling roasted nuts in the stone cutaways. The life in it in the present makes it so much easier to grasp and feel what it would have been like to live in it however many centuries or milleniums ago.
I really like Jerusalem. It's a really cool, really different city. Unexpected but friendly. It feels like the type of city you want to get lost in, because somehow you know everything will turn out OK.
They speak English really well over here and I find consequently I immediately feel so much more relaxed. Knowing I can ask a question and get a response I can understand feels like fresh air in a mouldy, smelly, cramped room.
Since you mentioned mouldy, smelly, cramped rooms. That's exactly what I've found for accomodation in Jerusalem. The room is the size of my bedroom except they've fit 8 beds in it. 8 horrible small smelly beds. And I stupidly paid for 2 nights before I had even checked out the room. Mistake.
Though mistakes are bothering me less I think... I've found that since I've started travelling on my own I can laugh at a lot more things. Getting lost and having NO idea where I was in Jerusalem wasn't scary it was quite funny. My first response at seeing my dorm was to laugh. My good buddy James Douglas said "make as many mistakes as you can." And I think i'm getting better at making mistakes. What I mean by that is, I'm getting less afraid to make a mistake.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that yes, I want to make the best decision possible... but sometimes I don't. It CAN feel crippling, especially when there are a few in a row, but as far as I can see, I'm going to make mistakes for the rest of my life. I want to learn how to not be afraid of that but have faith that despite my mistakes things will still work out and may even lead to something that the non-mistake never would lead to. Perhaps by the end of this trip i'll be so good at making mistakes, that the word mistake will just translate into opportunity. I don't know. But that would be kinda cool...
Hi Ella!
ReplyDeleteI would like to share with you two of my favorites quotes about Mistakes (one of my favorites things to do in life and one of the best ways to learn)
The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one. Elbert Hubbard, The Note Book, 1927
Making a different mistake every day is not only acceptable, it is the definition of progress. Robert Brault
Best wishes,
Juan