Coming from the Greek islands to Tel Aviv, Israel, we have gone from the good life to the normal life. That is, life here is a lot like life as we know it in the United States, which is still a pretty good life.
Tel Aviv actually is probably nicer than a lot of US cities, likely in part because it has the advantage of being relatively new. Unlike Boston, which has been built up gradually over the past few centuries (resulting in a labyrinth of roads), Tel Aviv was the project of wealthier Jews living in Palestine in 1906 who decided to make a really nice, well designed suburb of Jaffa. The result was a hygienic, well-planned, aesthetically pleasing city.
Today with its Minneapolis-esque population of 410,000, it shines brightly on the Mediterranean, sometimes still referred to as the "white city." It is known as the financial and hedonistic capital of Israel.
Generally only hearing about Israel in the context of ongoing regional conflict and intermittent military action (at least in the media), it is interesting to see how normal and comfortable life is here in Tel Aviv. For a country in frequent violent skirmishes, people are quite safe and thriving.
It's funny how rich and powerful countries can insulate themselves from their military actions these days, even a country like Israel so close to its "enemies." Of course, the US may be the champion in this arena though, with our two wars and frequent drone assassinations totally undetectable in the motherland.
On another note, the niceness of Israel makes me even more uncomfortable with the large amount of US money that goes to the country (we give more money to Israel than any other country in the world, about a fifth of our foreign "aid" budget). Don't get me wrong, I love Israel, but it just doesn't seem right to pledge $30 billion over 10 years to the military of a well-developed, first world country when there is so much real need and suffering elsewhere. For example, by Paul Farmer's estimate, we could globally control tuberculosis -- which kills 2 million people a year -- with about $5 billion.
Israel certainly needed some aid and protection in its early days. Now, however, I don't see how it is morally, economically, or strategically smart in the long run to keep giving their military so much money. David Deutch, in The Beginning of Infinity (the quantum physicist's book on just about everything in the universe) posits that a good measure of the health of a political system is how fast it can correct errors. Though it's a total pipe dream, I wish we could look at the rationality of our foreign affairs as they are right now and change them quickly where it makes sense to do so, such as limiting our aid to Israel, or at the very least, threatening to take it away if they do not stop building settlements on Palestinian land.
At any rate, irrational inertia aside, it's lovely here. Israel is a beautiful country.
A lot of Israelis also aren't happy about some of the decisions of their government either. But things continue on as they are.
Beautiful, wide boulevards.
Beautiful skyscrapers too. To build one in Tel Aviv though, you have restore a historic landmark (the house in the foreground) at the same time. Another example of smart planning to the win.
The one weird thing about Israel is the abundance of soldiers with guns everywhere. Though I wouldn't ever want it in the US, compulsory military service at least means everyone has skin in the game when it comes to warfare. This perhaps detracts from my premise that life is pretty normal here and the people are insulated from military action.
Old Jaffa. The ancient, original city. Also the port where Jonah set off from before ending up inside a whale.
Tanner and I tossing the frisbee by the sea.
The St. Olaf lion is all over Israel for some reason.
The view from our (free) hotel room. All those nights spent in hotel rooms around the country working for Epic this past year at least had the upside of getting me a plethora of Marriott points.
Cool architecture.
Tranquility.
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