2002-04-08 Mondag: Israel and Weird Ideas

The Dorot Foundation people wrote me regarding my application for a Dorot Foundation Travel Stipend for my trip to Israel, saying that the University has cancelled the stipend program for this summer — because of the situation. My trip to Israel is rapidly becoming ridiculous. Before it was just inadvisable, but now it might be becoming impossible. The University of California has evacuated its students from the region; the state department is sending dependents of gov't employees home; and there's a war going on and no one knows where it'll go, literally or metaphorically.

The situation doesn't bother me so much actually. I think Rehovot would be relatively safe, and, well, I think that experiencing the country in tumultuous times might lead to a more insightful view of the way the people really think. I think actually want to go now in this crazy time, for weird reasons, like a strange fascination with crises, journalistic compulsions, and probably also just a desire to go through with a plan that everyone says is crazy, to do something different, and, maybe, just maybe, be there when peace breaks out.

My original vision for this trip has really been destroyed. It's really a terrible time to be an American in that area; traveling around Israel woundn't really be possible, let alone visiting Egypt or Jordan. I wonder how long it will be before it's safe again to visit those countries; I was really excited about the possibility of visiting them. I guess I still have a tremendously romantic view of that region: ancient Egyptions with their pyramids; nomadic bedouins on camels in the deserts of Jordan; and Lebanon, ``Switzerland of the Mid-East,'' with cedar forests and snowcapped mountains...

• errands: postcards, phone card, STA, falafel
• bicycle around
• beans & rice with rose; walk; chocolate pudding