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Before leaving Tel Aviv for Jerusalem, I went to Jaffa. I didn't spend too much time there as everything was closed, I think it was Shabbat and I was leaving first thing the next morning to Jerusalem, but I still got to see many beautiful things that made me want to go back. And I did later during my trip. I must say I really fell in love with Jaffa. When I went back there I stayed at the Old Jaffa Hostel which was great, I enjoyed their rooftop lounge with the open air kitchen, it is a really nice place. Right across my hostel was the nicest little shop,  Hasadna , where I bought many things. They do a lot of art objects with recycled materials, it's very interesting. A little further in the street, I discovered a very good restaurant where, for some strange reason, the waitress offered me a home made cookie and home made iced tea and I know I was the only customer to get that treatment. Puaa it was called, they have a french and english menu but I took the Hebre...

Last night Steve Jobs died but I couldn't care less so instead I'll write about something else. Last week King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia announced women will have a right to vote in the 2015 local elections (not the elections that were running this week as this would be too big a shock and way too sudden, you gotta give it time so people can get used to the idea). I read the news on the BBC on Tuesday last week and the article was just very dull and reporting facts and that's probably how the news should be reported but I read this and my mind went "wait, this is really funny in a way, they fail to mention such and such". Then I went home in Belgium and bought the weekly " Le Canard Enchaîné " which expressed my point of view in a way I couldn't have formulated better myself. Saudi Arabia is supposedly run according to the Sharia Laws but I find it a bit hypocritical to say that since it is the only country in the World where women don't hav...

I left my heart behind I think. I'm back in Belgium. Back in rainy Belgium. It feels so weird and depressing. I nearly missed my plane yesterday, big stress. I never stress, but there I was in the taxi, crying on the phone with my mother telling me I would probably miss it but it was no big deal if I did. At 9.30 am I asked the receptionist  if she could book a taxi for 11.30 and she told me I had to be 3 hours in advance, it was thus waaaaay too early for me to go when my plane was at 2.50pm and I should take it at 1.30. I got really confused "wait, are you sure?" of course she was sure. at 12.30 pm I go back to see her see if she could call a taxi since my plane was at 2.50 pm "oh you need to go, now, now, arshav! I told you three hours before!!!" The stress is slowly coming. The taxi arrives at 12.47pm. "Is it far?" I ask. "huh? Ma?" "Is it far?" I try again, "What?", "Ze Karov?" (Is it close? - because ...

Although I am far from home and on holidays, I still read the news (if I didn't I would have to reconsider my choice of studies) Yesterday in the english version of Haaretz, they were talking about the rights on Enyd Blyton's "The Famous Five" and "The Secret Seven" that are being translated in Hebrew at the moment and to be published soon in Israel although another publisher has been publishing a translated version for many years without the rights. Fine, nothing interesting much until the end of the article when I read the books written for children, are considered sexist, racist and so on and that they were banned from the radio in England on grounds of lack of artistic talent or something, basically hey were unworthy of being read on the BBC. The books are being rerwritten for publication in the United Kingdom to reach today's political correctness standards. And there we reach the whole debate we had with "TinTin in Congo" in Belgium a...

This morning I am leaving Jerusalem to go Rishon Lezion. After I shall go to Masada and Ein Gedi to see what the nature has to offer there. I heard the hostel in Masada have a couple of camping spots on top of the cliff and I hope they have tents to go with them because sleeping there should be awesome! There is a 4-5 hour long hike to do in Ein Gedi in which you have to be very careful and listen for rushes of water. If you hear water, you should start climbing. That definitely on my list of things to even above swimming in the Iam HaMelach (the sea of salt aka the Dead Sea) in which, I've heard, I shouldn't bathe more than 20 minutes otherwise I will dry up. So that is my program for the next few days. On Friday I will be back in Jerusalem, I will have Shabbat dinner with an orthodox family, it is more or less arranged, and then on Saturday I should go to Palestine as my first attempt didn't go as planned or should I say, was an epic fail. On Sunday, I am hesitati...

Wednesday June 8th. 8pm, baby-sitting my nieces un Brussels suburbia, my new name is Mr Jacques according to the little one. Time for bed, give me a big hug, tomorrow I'm leaving for a month in Israel. read, watch tv, sleep. 11.30pm, my sister and brother in law are back, time for my mom and I to leave, I'm excited, in les than 12 hours, I'll be on the plane to Tel Aviv!! I'll land at 4.30pm, check in my hotel and then spend the evening on the beach, watch the sun go down... 12am, the phone rings *+972...* "Allo?" "Allo, Surya, ze "El-AL" "oh erm, ken" "your flight has been cancelled, you will have to take one at 8pm tomorrow" Thursday June 9th So I am leaving today. But at 8pm. Meaning I'll land at 1.30am, in a country I've never been to, where I know nobody, on my own. Sweet. Just because some people in Brussels airport decided to go on strike. I hate strikes. I hate everyone (except for my mom).

Today I am sad. Just like when they decided they would introduce new spelling rules in French (because people can't spell properly anymore, we had to adapt the language to their -very low- level of language). Today, the Oxford English Dictionary has added LOL, OMG and FYI to the vocabulary. It is a sad, sad day. @DeathStarPR LOL, OMG and FYI have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary . Somewhere in 1596, Shakespeare begins to weep inexplicably. @Stewie_Griffinn The Oxford English Dictionary has added OMG, LOL, and FYI to their dictionary, In other news ''LMAO'' is pissed off LOL. While little 13-year-old ignorants will be thrilled their teachers won't be able to correct their papers, the language is dying.   EPIC FAIL.