Israel
DisclosureUnlike most of my entries, this is going to be a little disjointed, and is more stream of consciousness for me than for the knowledge or response of you guys.
Word is quickly spreading through the Omrit grapevine that a rocket hit part of our home in Israel, Kibbutz Kfar Szold. (Not surprising, considering it is less than 10 km from Lebanon and, last I read, over 100 kartouche rockets had been fired into Israel.) We've heard that no one is hurt, but we don't know about property damage or anything else. Apparently it hit a little garden-pond area we called 'Paradise' because it was so cool, shady, relaxing, and pretty.
I've pretty much been glued to the internet at work for the last couple days. I can't even say how surreal it is to hear the names of places being bombed and think "oh, that's where this person lives... that's where we had dinner one night.... that's where we took a wonderful day trip, looked out over the Galilee and ate falafel." And now to know for sure that the people who we swam at the pool with, who served us meals, who stocked the fridge with beer at the kibbutz store, are all in pretty immediate danger. I'm incredibly thankful to be here, in Minnesota, safe; not because I don't want to be there, because I kinda do, but because I know the anxiety and fear it would cause those I care about. Is it weird that I want to be there???
And I worry about our site - is it ok???
We spent a few hours one afternoon hanging out by the bomb shelter because Israel had sent a couple short range missiles into Lebanon and we were expecting retaliation. We never had to go in - just keep all of us nearby and accounted for. It turned into a rather nice bonding afternoon - we played cards and frisbee, juggled, drank beers, read books, and eventually ordered pizza after it ended, because the dining hall didn't have time to make food. "When the kartouche fly, we order in" is Andy's motto. And it was exciting, exhilerating, scary, in the "wow, this is really what life here is like." Gives you a bit of a new perspective.
The pictures of Israeli tanks on newyorktimes.com, and other news sources, look like they could literally be in the grasses in our yard. Maybe they are. If we were there now (and not in the bomb shelters for the last 48 hours like we should be), I'm sure we could see activity from site. So I feel nauseus and my heart is pounding, and I'm about to go to a party and the Tap, and couldn't be further removed.
You guys know me - I'm not usually much for following news and politics, and I usually keep a pretty remote emotional distance because I can't even go there (for lack of better phrasing). But this... I can't avoid it. It's bizarre in every way. Yeah, sure, there's always conflict over there. But really, the Palestinean/Israeli conflict is so apart from anything we encounter on a daily basis; Northern Israel is like a separate country in that sense. And now our region, our home, is the one all over the front page. And I'm SO PISSED OFF at the Israeli government for being absolutely out of control right now. The Beirut airport. As in, the international, civilian airport, like JFK or O'hare, or MSP. Not a military base, guys. Just people.
Just people.
Word is quickly spreading through the Omrit grapevine that a rocket hit part of our home in Israel, Kibbutz Kfar Szold. (Not surprising, considering it is less than 10 km from Lebanon and, last I read, over 100 kartouche rockets had been fired into Israel.) We've heard that no one is hurt, but we don't know about property damage or anything else. Apparently it hit a little garden-pond area we called 'Paradise' because it was so cool, shady, relaxing, and pretty.
I've pretty much been glued to the internet at work for the last couple days. I can't even say how surreal it is to hear the names of places being bombed and think "oh, that's where this person lives... that's where we had dinner one night.... that's where we took a wonderful day trip, looked out over the Galilee and ate falafel." And now to know for sure that the people who we swam at the pool with, who served us meals, who stocked the fridge with beer at the kibbutz store, are all in pretty immediate danger. I'm incredibly thankful to be here, in Minnesota, safe; not because I don't want to be there, because I kinda do, but because I know the anxiety and fear it would cause those I care about. Is it weird that I want to be there???
And I worry about our site - is it ok???
We spent a few hours one afternoon hanging out by the bomb shelter because Israel had sent a couple short range missiles into Lebanon and we were expecting retaliation. We never had to go in - just keep all of us nearby and accounted for. It turned into a rather nice bonding afternoon - we played cards and frisbee, juggled, drank beers, read books, and eventually ordered pizza after it ended, because the dining hall didn't have time to make food. "When the kartouche fly, we order in" is Andy's motto. And it was exciting, exhilerating, scary, in the "wow, this is really what life here is like." Gives you a bit of a new perspective.
The pictures of Israeli tanks on newyorktimes.com, and other news sources, look like they could literally be in the grasses in our yard. Maybe they are. If we were there now (and not in the bomb shelters for the last 48 hours like we should be), I'm sure we could see activity from site. So I feel nauseus and my heart is pounding, and I'm about to go to a party and the Tap, and couldn't be further removed.
You guys know me - I'm not usually much for following news and politics, and I usually keep a pretty remote emotional distance because I can't even go there (for lack of better phrasing). But this... I can't avoid it. It's bizarre in every way. Yeah, sure, there's always conflict over there. But really, the Palestinean/Israeli conflict is so apart from anything we encounter on a daily basis; Northern Israel is like a separate country in that sense. And now our region, our home, is the one all over the front page. And I'm SO PISSED OFF at the Israeli government for being absolutely out of control right now. The Beirut airport. As in, the international, civilian airport, like JFK or O'hare, or MSP. Not a military base, guys. Just people.
Just people.