To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in the old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are,
One equal-temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.


-Ulysses, Lord Alfred Tennyson

I've recently had a literature craving, and read this poem for the first time (this is the end), and kinda fell in love. Dorkfest.


Highlights from the Past Week:

1- Found out if I was at the center, in East Jerusalem, and was on the verge of death because I was choking on an olive, then the ambulance would wait for a security escort to come get me. Apparently, I have been violating the terms of my agreement with UNC since day one: they don't include East Jerusalem in the areas I'm allowed to travel, since my insurance wouldn't cover me there. I thought I had waited until day two when I went to Nablus in the West Bank to ignore every single authority figure. I mean, I get the whole territorial thing is complicated with annexation and international dispute of Israel's right to do so, but I find it somewhat funny West Jerusalem asserts the concept of United Jerusalem by building a god-awful speed train through East Jerusalem, rather than providing a stinking ambulance in a decent amount of time. I'm avoiding olives this next week.

2- I think my Hebrew vocab bank has hit 10 words! Thank you, Ariel.

3- I now have officially 4 interviews with Domari, after multiple sit down come to Jesus meetings with Amoun that I was not giving up on making this happen. I had to buy a cheesecake, but she gave in. Also got some insanely amazing stuff from outside people, as well. I'll be posting some excerpts soon.

4- I've been at the hostel for so long, I was included in a dinner with all the people who work at the hostel. I decided to stay on the roof, so I've been sleeping outside for 4 weeks. I can't even describe how amazing it is- this morning, I woke up to watch the sun rise over the Old City and to hear the Call to Prayer. I'm going to miss this place so much, particularly hearing the owner, Chris, tell new people that his philosophy is "minimum cleanliness at the cheapest price".

5- This weekend I took a trip to Haifa and Akko in the northern part of Israel (pics up on side). It was purely for fun, and I don't think I've walked that much in a really, really long time. We couch-surfed (a service that connects you with people willing to share their couch for a few days for free). We stayed with two Israelis, one who was an American who made aliya after meeting her husband. It was interesting for me, because I didn't realized how immersed I was in East Jerusalem and the Old City, and being plopped in a Jewish home was a little bit of a culture shock at first. I'm going to save some other stuff about the trip for a separate post, but the highlights were:

(1) Not realizing that Lonely Planet maps are NOT drawn to scale, and that 10 minute walk is actually 2 hours;
(2) IDF Naval Officers on a sketch beach in Haifa, including one who was an excellent wingman for his non-English speaking friend (hey, Ariel, you like sailing and hiking? What do you know, so does he!);
(3) Walking out to a small reef in Akko and sitting on a rock in the sea;
(4) The multitudes of extremely friendly people, creepy fishermen who like 'free' beaches included;
(5) Akko in general;
(6) Shalom, y'all;
(7) Arabic, Hebrew, English, just pick one!!
(8) Druze Village
(9) Realizing that I'm okay on having to rely on others when needed;
(10) Peach beer?

I had to start taking my malaria pills for Kenya today, which really hit home that I only have one week left. This place is so vexing, frustrating, emotional, yet enlightening, challenging, stimulating, adventurous, and a mirror to hold up to yourself in pushing your comfort zones and preconceptions. In many ways, its where I feel most comfortable and content. I'm not sure I have the guts or patience to handle routine or normality anymore. For that reason, I really, really, don't want to leave. And I have no idea if that makes sense to anyone but me, but I'm sticking to it.