United Statesian

Dear Citizens of the World! Today, I have decided to take a break from being the target in other people's target practice to post the second set of pics from our weekend in Petra. Seems fitting since Petra holds so much beauty.... This was my favourite spot in Petra. It is a very colourful tomb below and to the left of the Tomb of the Kings. A detail of the area below the entrance of this tomb. Ceiling detail... As promissed I have some tips for your next visit to Petra: First , choosing the correct time of year is crucial. Winter evening get quite cold at 1000m elevation in a desert. Summer days would be worse. Second : when making the long treck up behind the tomb of the kings (some of the stairs in the pic above) to see the Treasury from the rim of the canyon, make sure you plan to be at top when you have the right lighting. I went quite early and it was still mostly in the shade. Third : Plan to stay at least 1.5 to 2 days. There is plenty to visit and it is best to take your t...

Dear Citizens of the World, Living in Israel means being disconnected with most of its neighbors, but Jordan and Israel have quite good relations. Lucky for us, it is possible to cross the border and visit Petra in one long weekend - one day there, 1.5 days to visit and then back to Tel Aviv. Unfortuntely, our visit to Petra and Wadi Rum were at the end of January when it was very cold and cloudy... but I guess that it is better than 40 degrees (100F) in the summer. A few shots from our first day at Petra... Thanks to these two, we were able to get a nice hot tea with mint - great when you are in a desert and it is cloudy and cold! A wider section of the canyon with fantastic light. Fantastic texture that looks like dripping paint. There is plenty of information on visiting Petra, however, in my next post, I will give some tips that I did not find in any of the on-line guides. - The United Statesian A parting shot... Cloudy day in the city at the gates to Petra.

Father and over-dressed son play on the beach Dear Citizens of the world! It has been a rainy January here in Tel Aviv, but February has started out sunny and warm! While friends and family are digging out from snow and sliding down icy roads, we spent Saturday walking along the beaches of Tel Aviv. Hi Beauti-Fool! There are plenty of nice beach scenes along the Israeli coast, but I focused on some of the details where city meets the beach. A good example is some of the best grafiti that is simple and too the point. This grafiti is part of a massive, abandoned...least-taken-advantage-of section of the Tel Aviv coast. How could such valuable terrain go to waste? Luckily there are some picturesque parts of the city to leave you with a warmer more positive feeling. Jaffa at sunset... Main street in Jaffa at twilight just at the end of Shabbat I hope I have succeeded in making you snow-bunnies jealous ;-) -The United Statesian PS A parting shot...

Dear Citizens of the World! After a heavy subject in my last post, I have decided to turn towards the brighter side of living in Israel as an expat... Escaping from Tel Aviv on weekends and seeing the country. This weekend was rainy and cold in TA... the perfect time to drive down to the Negev desert and go for a hike. We chose to go down to the area where the first Prime Minister of Israel started a Kibutz after his first stint in office. Our destination was an oasis at the end of a narrow canyon called En Avdat or... depending on the spelling, Ein Avdat. This shady oasis in the desert guarantees pictures of wildlife. There are plenty of birds for bird watchers. If you want to go... the link for the GPX file is uploaded to Wikiloc. Happy trails! -The Unitedstatesian

Dear Citizens of the World! The outlook is bleak! Israel is at war, but not with another country. It is at war with its own brand of extremism. Many believe that the Arab Spring will unleash the extremists in the Arab world, long held down by dictators, causing Israel to be more at danger. Thus far, this has not been the trend. I personally believe that the Arab Spring will be a positive thing for the region and Israel. The threat, as I see it, comes more from a homegrown extremism. Although small, it is quite vocal. Being Jewish is more a race than a religion. Only about 20 percent of Jewish Israelis consider themselves religious. And, the extremists are only about one percent of that 20 percent. That one percent of the 20 percent gets many of the headlines inside...and outside of Israel. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4162611,00.html The 0ne-percent have many privileged here in Israel. Most do not work or do the three-year mandatory ...

Santa? or is it Bill Clinton in disguise? Dear Citizens of the World! Being an expat in the very Western Tel Aviv you often forget that you are in the Holy Land...Whereas Jerusalem is the front-line of the battle between religions. Personally, the stress of living on the front line would not be my choice location, but going for the day is well worth the time, and easy to do since it only takes about 45 minutes to get there from Tel Aviv. However, on this visit, we were only had time to visit the Holly Supulchre and to have lunch at a restaurant the Pope John Paul ate at. Ray of light in the Holy Supulchor Cathedral I love how the intense beam of winter sunlight shoots across the church. Women praying, deep inside Jesus's tomb. The low amount of light and the one-meter thick wall makes the shot look like a drawing... Natural light from the eye of the Pantheon-like dome of the Saint Supulchor Church Christmas decorations on sale in the Christain quarter. So, if you are in Tel Aviv a...

Dear Citizens of the World, Traveling the world, not only do you get to see the countries from a different perspective... but the sky changes as well. Luckily, it was a clear evening and the early 4:30 pm sunset made the lunar eclipse from my terrace easy to watch. Lunar eclipse with the Manhattan in the background. The refraction of the sun's light from the Earth's atmosphere makes the moon look like a l0w-watt lightbulb, shining similarly to the terrace light across the street. A close-up ... proof that I need a better camera for kings day ;-) Have a nice week! And don't forget to look up to the heavens while you are travelling...it might look different. - United Statesian

Coffee break during our 15km walk along the coast Dear Citizens of the World, Although less exciting than my last post about seeing rockets and long-range missile tests, I think that these photos of a November walk along our beach in Tel Aviv are worth a post. I try to highlight the positive side of living in Tel Aviv as an expat. One advantage is the weather. Not many people can say they walk along the beach in mid-November and still see tons of people in bikini - not me though... not my style. Leaving Tel Aviv going North you not only have the beach. There are lots of other sights. You can wait at the bottom of the runway and let the plains buzz you as they land. Enjoy the Boardwalk around the Old North Port of Tel Aviv A cool, long-green, hair-like algae on the rocks at low tide The advertising for ice-cream leaves a lot to be desired...the least being ice-cream. These haggared costumes did not make me think of food... Sunset over the old port with fisherman in the background The S...

Israeli missile test this morning (Photo: JA) Dear citizens of the world, Ever since I moved to the Middle East, people have been asking about the security situation. My honest answer is always something along the lines of - "Israel is actually quite calm, they have some of the best security in the world... in many respects I actually feel safer here than in many other countries." This week, things have warmed up a bit: Extremists from Gaza shot a few dozen rockets at Southern Israel (From the office window, I could see the anti-rocket defense system firing as fighter jets flew overhead, going 30km South toward Gaza) . The newspapers are saying that Israel wants to make a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear labs. The PA is pushing for statehood with the UN. And now, Israel is testing long-range defense missiles.... A friend was stopped by the military because he was entering the test area... he got this shot of the smoke-trail with his phone. The most impressive was the s...

Sunset from Ia, looking towards Fira Dear Citizens of the world! Life as an expat often means that you are on airplanes, packing bags, going from country to country, but not actually on vacation. After months of flying back and forth over the Med, we finally got a week off to go on vacation to Greece. Athens was nice, but Santorini was great! A paradise island that was created thousands of years ago by the biggest volconic eruption in history. Still active, it could cause a big quake or erupt at any moment... just makes it that more exciting ;-) If you are going to Greece, make it over to Santorini... - United Statesian

Dear Citizens of the World! Welcome home! Yet again, I am making a new home in a new country and learning a new language. Each time I fly into Tel Aviv, I see this retro sign welcoming immigrants during their "accent" to the homeland. Each time, I am reminded of my many homes around the world. Being an expat...the notion of "home" takes on a new meaning. I once felt that the increasing number of homes was a wearing me thin by trying to be in many places at once. However, I now see it as an enriching experience -- the more you expand you physical horizons, the more you expand your inner horizons. In any case...I am happy that my new home is not on a street with a name like this one: Is that pronounced "Bear Sh*t"? The United Statesian

"1/2 Torso - Lento" -- Keep looking at the picture until you see it... Dear Citizens of the World! Being an expat has ups and downs. One up-side is getting to meet interesting people from around the world. One such person, "Hans some" is a hard-working metal artist from Germany who is based in Alicante Spain. His sculpture "1/2 Torso - Lento" has become one of my favourite works of art. It has a subtle genius to it that reminds me of MC Escher, but in 3-D. It really plays tricks with your mind. Fantastic! Since I do not have a permanent home -- one of the downsides of being an expat -- I will keep a digital gallery of my favourite works of art. It is free, takes no space, and travels well. Check out more here: http://hans-some.com / Have any suggestions of other pieces of art that I should add to my collection? - The United Statesian

White plastic chair on a salt-bar in the Dead Sea Dear Citizens of the World, What's an expat to do on a Saturday in July in Israel? The logical answer = Drive two hours through a desert to swim in the Dead Sea. Since it is one of the "touristy" things you hear about for so many years, you actually go with low expectations. I was surprised at just how fun it could be! A more beach-like entrance in Ein Boker Gotta love the chubby-speedo look! It was very hot! The thermometer said 41ºC (102ºF), but it felt much warmer. The water felt like warm pea soup, and the showers even warmer. It is not a Sea to go to in the summer to cool off on a hot day. It is the adventure and novelty that count. Look mom! No hands...I'm floating! There were a few people, but it was not crowded. Especially at the public beach in Ein Boker -- not the touristy one with a Spa and tractor pulled train. There is still lots to see (the Oasis, the waterfalls, Canyon trails, Masada). I will definitely ...