December 5th 2009
After spending the week in the UK, London and Edinburgh to be exact, I find myself back on the road again…well technically I'm on the train, but I am on the move again. I arrived in London last week ...the never-ending nomad. First Budapest on the way to London; by the time I arrived in London I had been in three countries, on three different continents with three different time zones in less than 15 hrs. This also includes spending the day touring around Budapest…which is an incredible city and I highly recommend it. I wish that I had more time to spend there. It is just a quick jaunt though… with a flight into London before the overnight coach to Edinburgh where I visited with old friends and picked up all the things that I left behind when I headed out on my journey to Nepal. It is amazing to me, that I have come and gone from Nepal twice now since I left Edinburgh in March…I can't believe that it has been nearly 8 months since I left. It still feels like yesterday and yet I have all of these other experiences since then also, considering I've been in Israel nearly a month as well.
Have you ever been asked to define yourself? It is a weird question, this I know. But think about it, honestly, how do you think about and/or perceive yourself and your relationship to other people. The other night, I was having dinner with a friend of mine at her Dad and Step-Mother's house and the conversation began in the context of religion. But since then I have been thinking about the idea of who I am in relation to my interactions with other people. At first her Dad asked me about if and how I define myself in Judaism meaning on a scale of observance and importance to me in my daily life. From there the conversation moved to the idea behind the definition, meaning that my definition while generally different then say my sisters is based on how I see myself in my religion as compared to those around me and their definitions. I don't know if I am making sense just yet; just hang on a sec and I will try to clarify this. Staying with the religion example, you might consider yourself, conservative, orthodox, reform or any variation thereof, but your idea of this distinction comes from how you see these other variations. Meaning that we define ourselves in relation to those on either side of us.
That said, since this conversation, I have been thinking about how I see myself in the world; in relation to those not only in my immediate vicinity, but to all of those who have been involved in my life and have brought me to where I am now. As I begin another stage of my life in yet another country. I can't help but look at how my definition of who I am has changed not only because time has passed, but because I have surrounded myself with other people who have changed the way I think about and see who I am. But these definitions also change, because the people that you define yourself by have changed, sometimes for better or worse. I also think that we tend to chose the people that we want to associate with based on how we perceive them to be, because at the end of the day it is these people that we will use to define ourselves by.
There are constants in every situation, I am a woman, I am white, I will always been older than my sister and younger than my parents. Some things will be become a constant, I have a degree…something I didn't always have, but for the most part cannot go away, yet my definition of myself will not remain constant. Each situation, interaction and experience will in some way influence this definition.
Time for a new subject…my trip to Edinburgh. Besides the fact that it was incredibly cold (not that I expected it to be any different) I had a lovely trip. I stayed with a very good friend of mine and it was great to see her and everyone else I also managed to see…If I didn't see you, I am sorry. Five days really isn't long enough, next time I will plan better.
Although I am not a huge fan of the Christmas frenzy in the States, I do have to admit that Edinburgh is beautiful around the holidays. The city is decorated with lights and there is a festive cheer which one cannot help but appreciate (most of the time). I did however go shopping on Oxford St. in London last week before I headed up to Edinburgh and that did not have quite the same holiday feeling to it; more, stressful and overwhelming. After an afternoon there I didn't ever want to go shopping again. Although my shopping fears were soon erased once I arrived in Edinburgh.
I loved being back in city that I know…I am getting to know Tel Aviv and there are parts of it I know quite well, but I am not quite to the same point as I am in Edinburgh. Heading back to my local pub to meet up with friends for a pint. Or eating in the cafe's I used to frequent, it was a nice feeling of a bit of home, or at least one of the many places I have called home over years.
Friday night we went out to the Scotch Whiskey Society which was a lot of fun. I never managed to go before and it was a grand 'ole time. I went with a friend and her family…She doesn't like whiskey at all, so her Father and I were bonding over the whiskey tasting. It was a fun outing and the whiskey was great!
The next morning I began my long journey back to Tel Aviv. With a 10hr overnight layover in Budapest, I had expected to couchsurf, but I was canceled on leaving me in a lurch. Which meant, I spent the night in the Budapest International Airport. Now I have to say, all all the airports I've stayed overnight in, this one is at the top of the list, seats with cushions and no armrests, dark areas and no noise. I think I was probably the only person in the whole place (it isn't very big), and I slept fairly well considering it was in an airport. I also have to say, that I greatly enjoyed the airline I flew, Malev Hungarian Airlines. They were nice and easy to fly with, there was plenty of legroom and the flights were packed full like cattle cars and to top it off the flight was very reasonably priced. I would fly them again.
I am now back in Tel Aviv and all moved into my new apartment, but that I will have to tell you about another time :)
Shavuah Tov and Chag Sameach,
All my love,
E.
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