Friday, December 01, 2006
102
It looks like my final foreign trip of 2006, and my 102nd overall, will be my return to Israel after over 37 years! I'm visiting my Aunt Eleanor there from December 14-21. When I was 9, my sister and I spend a summer living with her in Bat Yam, a southern suburb of Tel Aviv, while my parents supervised a group of teenagers touring Israel. This was my first major foreign experience, the one that made me want to learn languages. Back then, Israel was a good 20 years behind the states - five hours of television a day, live poultry markets, and such - but now it's caught up, which means I'll see Israel about 60 years more advanced than I remember it. This trip would be my 5th to the Middle East (I've been to Israel and Turkey, and to Morocco twice). Since Israel (and Turkey) are technically in Asia, you could call it my 9th Asian trip - or not. It would be my 37th non-business foreign trip. I will have spent 40 days of 2006 outside the country, or 12% - slightly below my 13% average for the decade, but well above my lifetime average of 6.65% (3 years and 43 days abroad out of 46.84 years). Finally, this decade is 69.1% over, in case you haven't been keeping track... Pictured above, the Wailing Wall (holiest place in Judaism) and the Dome of the Rock (third-holiest place in Islam).this entry's permalink
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