Monday, January 28, 2013

Belgium

Belgium. BE. Belgiƫ. Belgique. So what would you do when you, after flying through fat layers of endless grey mist and coldness, arrive in a petite country that is only well known for its beer, chocolate and... that's it? I had no clue what was going to happen. I did not think any second there would be my best friends at the airport, but Dokus and Peter were - and so I had my first real Stella in more than a year - and believe me, that tasted deliciously good.

I felt like a tourist, the first weeks. Even the train ride home was surrealistic to me and I analysed all the details like I did before in all those countries. I could understand everything those people were talking/complaining about, can you imagine? Of course you can, but for me, it was special, kind of magic. And when I arrived at the train station to take the final bus home, I realized I made this one error, again, like 14 months on the exact same spot a year ago: I forgot to bring some euros to the station, and they do not have any ATM there. So I hitch-hiked home, haha, I thought it was funny and it were the very last official seconds in transport during this trip. 

My parents warmly welcomed me with Belgian flags, champagne and my favourite food and I immediately felt home. But you know me, the world is not enough, so a couple of days later I left for Paris to visit Lewis, the little big guy who will call me godfather. A few days later I returned to Brussels. Home. Finally. No more buses, trains or airplanes for a while. This cocktail of feelings became even more stirred when I had to make the decision about the very near future. Where to work? Where to live?  Believe me, the choices were difficult. I knew I had to be careful. I had to stay busy, move myself around. Avoid falling in this hole of grey sadness and melancholy, keep the thoughts and emotions alive to avoid this kind of cold turkey. And so I did.



Beautiful Brussels

And then Brussels talked to me. I walked around the city, with my camera, and listened. I opened all my senses for the city and I fell in love again. The noise and the quietness, the beautiful bars and the mix of cultures pulled me back like a magnet. In less than a few lazy days I found myself this crazy big house and I signed to go back to my previous job. The coming days I'll be 'busy' with editing pictures, chilling out in the living room and think about this all again. 

It's been... awesomelicious, I still did not absorb everything, and I realize how wonderful this whole thing was. I wrote a poem about it, it's in Dutch. But you'll understand.

  dM3
 

Monday, January 7, 2013

Shalom Israel!

I entered this last country of my trip with hardly any preparation. I knew Israel from the news, the stories, the prejudices produced by people who never came to this sunny melting pot of different religions.

The facts. I never stayed in a hotel or hostel. I never got bombed. I never was in a bus or train without soldiers. Yes, I went to the Palestinian side. No, I never got killed there either.

The closest I got to death: Jesus' prison, Jerusalem... and the Dead Sea. Hahaho!

I have met Israeli people in many countries, and sometimes I thought the amplitude of their noise would redefine the scale of Decibel. Anyways, I kinda like loud people and they made me curious to go and check out the Land of the Loud. And Jesus.

 Guns 'n Moses, Jerusalem

The moment I got in, invitations where thrown at me from so many Israeli people to stay at their place that I had to start planning. Planning! After living the random life! People I met during the trip invited me for Shabat Shalom's with their family and some of them took days off to join me and guide me through this small yet magnificent country. I floated on the lowest lake of the world (Dead Sea) and I stayed in a tiny Kibbutz village close to the Jordan border. I had a nice reunion with Chay and Yahel and Belgian beer. I met a special girl with hair more voluminous than I could ever imagine. I tried to walk on water in the Sea of Galilee but failed. And hitchhiking to Syria also did not really work out (but we got close, didn't we Guy?).

 
Holy Potato! Jerusalem!

Jerusalem surprised me because of its harmonious blend of past and present. Getting lost in such an old city (tunnels, bridges, caves, churches... everywhere!) surrounded by Christians, Jews and Arabs felt like traveling through several countries all at once and I treated myself with delicious arabic knaffe, Yemenite soup and the original falafel. Bethlehem on the other side of the wall seemed the perfect place to celebrate Christmas. But the night out with 'vampire' couch surf host Mor and her insane friends and some beer the night before in Jerusalem made me forget my passport and I almost ended up in Palestina... forever.

Delicious food in Jerusalem (my favorite, humus, on the right)

Somehow I got through the security check by speaking some random English and by waving my Belgian bank card as a 'proof of identification'. In the North, I met up with Naveh and Shimrit, who took me for an adventure to Caesarea and the hanging Baha'i gardens in Haifa. After they stuffed me with delicious Israeli food, I rolled back to Tel Aviv to say Shalom to the New Year and give Aimee the first high-five of 2013 in the most famous club of Tel Aviv (although nobody knew where it was). A few days later I took the invitation from Talia and her parents and went to the Golan Heights, watching over Jordan and Israel from a nice Kibbutz called Tel Katzir. To summarize, a kibbutz basically is a village where you can take free avocados from the trees and where everybody has rasta hair and/or smokes. Oh, and they have bomb shelters, too.

I read about the history and the politics, lived at peoples houses, made beautiful friendships, visited the lowest and highest places - Israel gradually became one of the the top-favorites of the trip.

Israel is a country that you cannot pretend to hate or love without having been here. I am very happy I gave it a try. I love Israel! Toda, shalom. And Happy New Year to all of you!

A special thank you to Keren, Nalev and Shimrit, Mor and Talia who hosted me as if I were a prince.