Although there are still a couple of weeks left before the inevitable and welcome return to my country of origin, it's nearly impossible to enjoy. The eye twitch has returned, signaling a finite end to carefree and footloose times in far-flung lands and the beginning of what is bound to be a long and challenging reintegration. So my challenge now is to try to savor these precious days in Malta, Amsterdam, and Reykjavik without allowing the pressures of employment, housing, and any other concerns detract from the sunset of my journey.
It has been a long time since I last wrote. This is because the most emotional and life-altering moments of my travels ended when I left Ukraine, at least that's how I feel about it now. During my travels in Eastern Europe, I satisfied my burning desire for context...the context of family history that I've lacked all these years. I'm not saying that all my questions were answered, nor that I have a complete family tree to share with future generations. But that was never the point of this adventure, and I apologize if I didn't communicate that message effectively to friends, family, and new acquaintances over the course of the last six months. As cliche as I know it sounds, the payoff is and always was about the journey itself, not any tangible evidence like family documentation or solving mysteries a la
Everything is Illuminated.
I've been coming down from the high since November, but I am happy to report that the fall has been tempered by the incredible sights of Israel, Turkey, and now Malta. It's unreal how much I've been exposed to in such a short timeframe...I know I've written it before, but it really is too much to take in all at once. It's going to take me a long time to wade through these experiences, which is good news because it means that this is the trip that will keep on giving, long after I'm back on terra firma in North America.
In keeping with the pattern of previous posts, let's take a few moments to breeze through some of the highlights of the last few weeks of my time in Israel, as well as the week in Istanbul that I spent with Angi from Seattle over the Xmas holiday. I made it to Jerusalem and I am so glad that I did. Everything that people told me about the city was true - it is just one of those places in the world that feels special. There is something emanating from the hills, the forest, the stone buildings, the narrow alleys of the Old City, that exceeds the sum of its parts. This is the land where millenia of history have taken center-stage, a showcase for the three great monotheistic religions, where the line between myth and reality is blurred. I took in all the main sights and also allowed ample time for wandering, which I try to do wherever I go.
 |
| Dome of the Rock and Wailing Wall |
I made it to the Dead Sea on my last day in Israel. Beautiful desert landscapes and Earth's lowest elevation on land. The views of what remains of the Dead Sea (it is shrinking rapidly) from the top of Masada were monumental. Masada was the last stronghold of the Jewish Resistance from the time of King Herod...the Romans finally ousted them in the 1st century CE. I know it doesn't seem possible with the amount of time that I spent in Israel and the tidy size of the country, but I did not have enough time to see everthing I wanted to see. I didn't make it to the Sea of Galilee, the historically important Christian cities of Bethlehem or Nazareth, or the town of Safed in Northern Israel which is one Judaism's four holy cities and a major center of Kaballah.
 |
| Masada Gondola |
At times in Israel I felt that I was right in the heart of the Arab world. The old cities are chock-a-block full of minarets and souks, Hebrew sounds like Arabic depending on the accent, and Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt are all within spitting distance. Look, my cousin and I even had to drive through the West Bank in order to get back to Kfar Yona from the Dead Sea! However, when I arrived in Istanbul where there are spider-like mosques everywhere, I realized that Israel is actually more Western than previously judged. No piece of the skyline is without a minaret or four stretching upwards toward the sky. I had almost completely forgotten what I learned in college about the Muslim faith and traditions, so hearing the five calls to worship daily was a good basic refresher.
 |
| Hagia Sofia Catacombs |
Everything about Istanbul was unexpected...mostly because it wasn't originally part of my itinerary. As such, I didn't do any research or planning for Istanbul...I left it completely in the capable hands of my friend from Seattle. The main takeaway from my week in Istanbul was WOW. I couldn't stop exclaiming this everytime we went to see this palace or that mosque. The Ottoman style of mosaic art and ornamentation was something I just hadn't been exposed to in the past. Stunning. I also learned that there are a lot of places to see in other parts of Turkey that we just didn't have time for: Cappadocia, Pamukkale, Ephesus, and Konya. Finally, I gleaned an understing of what it means to be a modern Arab state and how well Turkey has seemingly managed to adapt to modern times while still staying true to its religious heritage.
Now, for the first time since I left Lviv on November 18, I'm on my own in Malta where I've tasked myself with getting a head start on the job search back in California. Sightseeing by day, working by night. And an unstoppable eye twitch.
