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When talking about homophobia and horrible countries that pass anti-gay laws we often think about Putin's Russia, Uganda, Mugabe, and such. These places are more or less far and their society are perceived as traditional, old fashion, nothing like our Western society that is so amazing. Yet we needn't look so far from home... We forget homophobia is on the rise everywhere, even in Europe. I feel awful whenever I tell my girlfriend I can't hold her hand when we're walking in the centre of Brussels, the capital of Europe. She doesn't hold it against me but I get angry at our society where I can't feel safe because of who I love. A week after Kansas almost did the same but gave up at the last minute, Arizona passed a bill that would allow businesses to refuse to serve or give medical treatment to gays on religious grounds . First off if you want to get biblical, according to the scriptures, you should hate the sin, not the sinner (Matthew 5:43-44, 6:14-15, ...

A three month internship in Jerusalem at the Times of Israel. Great, I'm overjoyed! Stressing out a little because it's far, I'm not used to writing in French but still really really happy. The last couple of days are extremely hard on me emotionally in Brussels as the moment when I am going to leave everyone I love far behind me. But it's only three months, it's not the end of the world, it's everything I had hoped for, a big adventure! At the airport I act blasé although deep down I want to let myself cry all the tears I have in me. I can't though, I'm with my mum, in public, I hold everything in. My eyes are already puffy from crying really hard the night before anyway. Time to say goodbye at the ID check, I give in, let a few tears out but quickly gain back control of myself and stop. I wait in the lounge, I'm okay, online chatting.  We board, I'm still good, I read, watch Hatufim, eat. Then my episode is over and I realise I forgot to downl...

I randomly came accross the BBC reality tv show "The World's Strictest Parents" the other day on youtbe so I watched a few episodes. The story line is simple: in each episode, two British "problem" teenagers are sent to very strict families over the world for one week. The chosen teenagers a first shown back home with their family and then they meet at the airport where they leave from to get to their final destinations. I watched a couple of episodes in which the teenagers go to American cities and one in which they go to South Africa. In all the episodes I have watched so far, the host families are of Christian faith, some are more involved in their religious communities than others but they basically all gave blessings before family meals versus the British teenagers who don't appear to be religious except for a couple who are Muslim but do not practice their faith (they drink, smoke, don't go to mosque etc.). So this makes me wonder, is the BBC ...

Where was I? On my way to Jerusalem. Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, one hour by bus. I was never so happy to take a bus. During my trip I kept coming back to this magnificent, so unique city. After just two days, I knew my way around the old city which still had plenty of secrets for me to discover, but at least I knew where to go. This city... it just made me feel like no other city never had. The history behind it, the legends, the atmosphere, everything just attracted me like a very strong magnet. The view from my hostel rooftop. It felt so great. I won't tell you about what there is to see in Jerusalem because that is what travel guides are for and they probably have a better idea, I'm just going to talk about my experience of Jerusalem. A hello here, a hello there as I walked the hundreds of year old steps of the Old City, as sellers were trying to get my attention and eventually my money. I never stopped. I was not there to buy made in china souvenirs, I was t...

Charles Lecharmant disait : "Je suis à la cage ce que le crapaud est au cigare." "La pluie, le vent, la neige et les choux me font chavirer chaudement mais j'ai tout de même du mal à choisir entre chocolat et chamailleries chevalières telle un charlatan. La charmante mélodie si choyante que joyeuse et si attachante qu'affligeante du chamois chahuté chevauche mes songes les plus choyés. Je n'imagine point la gelée jaune gênante jasant avec la jumelle si chaude et gentille soit-elle. Nous souviendrons-nous de ces après-midi journalières et ces jours passés à jacasser chaleureusement tout en chanson ? On se chuchotait des choses telles des chochottes jugeant non-chalamant une chèvre aux chevilles chavirantes sur une chaloupe. Une chaloupe ? Que dis-je ? Une salope, une salope alléchante et mal-lechée. Mais que signifie ce lynchage ? N'a-t-on plus l'âme charitable louche d'un chanoine dans sa cheminée ? Mais qui nous rendra donc nos chopes...

Hello hello hello my beloved readers. Wow, I haven't written in a long time! I am still not dead though. In the past two weeks I have done so many things and so little at the same time! I am really enjoying myself here and I wish I could stay forever. A few days ago, I went to Mitzpe Ramon, in the Negev. I stayed in an eco-friendly campsite that has no electricity and that is in the middle of the desert! My tent had little windows at the level of my bed so every day I woke up to see the desert in the morning sunlight. No sounds around (the campsite is called the silent arrow), just rocks. I met incredible people there. I am proud to say I hiked to Makhtesh Ramon (the crater) for a few hours before going back(no I wasn't on my own, I went with Rene, a guy from Switzerland I met at the campsite). We met two coyotes or at least to animals that looked a lot like coyotes and one guy who was going down there while we were climbing back up. I am glad we didn't find snakes or s...

I don't know whether I have mentionned this in previous posts but in just a few days, I should be leaving for HaEretz HaKaddosh, the Holy Land in Hebrew, Israel. Now, you have to know I have been dreaming about this for a few years now and decided last November I would do this in June which is now coming very soon. I am the most excited girl on earth right now. I am so determined I saved a lot of money (a huuuuuuuuuuge amount) to pay for this trip. I will be leaving on my own for a whole month, travelling by bus with my backpack. Hopefully I will be able to go to Palestine too (shhhh this is a secret) eventhough my grandma told me it was waaaaaaaaaaay too dangerous. But this is what I want to do; travel and see for myself to be able to make my own opinion. It is one of the most important things of my life, I have never really travelled alone (except when I went to Portugal when I was 15 but I stayed at friends') and I am going there to disconnect from the rest of the World ...