This wouldn’t be a Lukey blog if I didn’t share some thoughts on the country and its citizens. In no particular order, allow me to say:
- it’s HOT here! Yes, I know, predictable, but I wouldn’t’ be American if I didn’t mention the weather right away. I heard a local tell me, even expressing irritation, that Americans always talk about the weather. Well, too bad, bear with me. In the summer, it simply doesn’t get cool here, at least not on the coast. Nighttime temperatures barely dip below 80 degrees, if at all. Daytime is about as hot as you would expect for somewhere that doesn’t get cool at night, but the strong sun and fairly high humidity make it extra hot. Even sitting at a chair is enough to make me sweat. And every time I have gone for a night run here (I only tried it once during the day and regretted it), I have actually had to remove my shirt and wring it out midway through my run. Wow. If you know me, you know I love hot weather, but this is still a little inconveniently hot at times.
- Israel feels more Middle Eastern than I expected it to feel. What I mean is, I have heard time and time again how modern and Western a country it is, and, coming from Newport Beach, I had a certain idea of “modern and Western”. The modernity is here, only it’s in pockets rather than permeating the whole landscape, or even its most bustling city. And the Western? I’d say it’s more Mid-Western. Like, say, Nebraska. The land is sparsely populated, the towns are small, and the buildings are humble. Although the country is young (at least in its current iteration), and most everything here was built in the past 60 years, things started out quite rough, and it shows.
Sorry, but guess whose computer is running out of batteries again? I need to get going. I will try to stick a few pics up when I get back to my apartment, but it’s already past my bedtime. PS – now that I’m hanging out with Josh and others, instead of by myself all the time, I have more pictures of myself to share (I hope that’s a good thing).
