10 days until I am back to London. Back to reality. Back to the ₤ instead of JD or NIS. Unpredictable weather and rain, instead of constant sunny days. My new grad school friends, instead of the people from middle school, summer camp, college, and some place in between. Running away from relationships that have become complicated. Leaving the Occupation. Leaving the 18 year old baby-faced soldiers who don't even shave yet, or have perfectly manicured nails. Leaving a place where at any point a bomb could go off - in mall, theater, bus. Returning to the land of 'big brother', where anything can happen, but at least it's on CCTV. I am trading Hebrew U for Maughan and LSE and SOAS and the British library. Back to my Mid East water guru(s), who can hopefully offer some guidance. Instead of the souk and Machane Yehuda I will have Brixton Market. And there is always Golder's Green and Edgeware Road for when I start to go through withdrawal. But it is not the same. I give it 6 months, max, until I am back in this region, working. Inshalla.
And some fun things:
- I was given a tiny bottle of Nestle water at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation in Jordan.
- The Palestinian Ministry of Planning is not planned out very well - the elevator lands between floors, so you always need to take stairs.
- In Haifa I went to an Arab restaurant for Hummous, and heard them playing country music in the kitchen.
More fun things have happened, I just can't think of them right now. Off to brief an environmental organization on the Red-Dead. Shouldn't it be the other way around?
And some pics:
Amman
Dead Sea (Jordanian Side looking to Israel)
Jerusalem
