Hey. It's been a long time since I've written. My fault. I did, as you may have guessed, take a break after Egypt. I spent a couple weeks in Israel then hopped on a flight back to JFK airport in New York City to spend five relatively secluded weeks with Karen, my fiance' as of Egypt. (Oops, did I forget to mention that in my last note to you?) :-) First a note or two on Israel: I entered Israel through its Taba land border with Egypt. The difference between the two countries is as night and day as staring across the border trench in Tiajuana. I rode a decrepid East Nile Delta bus up the Sinai coastline as Karen jetted her way back to the US from Cairo and concentrated hard on ignoring the Arabic music blaring from overhead speakers. The bus arrived near the border and I peeked out into the typically intense heat then shuffled across a sandy parking lot to a kiosk selling water. I had fifty two pounds remaining and was thirsty. I asked the snoozing shopkeeper the price of a bottle of water -- 2 pounds he said before looking up. His partner in the back had yelled and it was evident that he was dissappointed he hadn't looked up earlier, lest he could have screwed me even harder on the price for the water. I left the kiosk thanking god that I had the foresight to bring a compass, for without one it would have been difficult to determine the correct direction to walk. Successfully divining the twists in the road to come I initially headed west, wound my way north by a few kilometers and made it to the border post. Thankfully many of the signs were in English and I thought the process of going from one country to another would be easy, but no. I forgot that I was still in Egypt. Despite the lack of instructions thereto, an armed guard raced after me after I walked through the first auto barrier. "Thalatha pound". For what? "Thalatha pound!" I walked back to the bunker in between the lanes, my fifty+ pound pack beginning to strain me after the long walk in the intense heat. I handed a guard my fifty. I single pristine bill. He frowned and turned to his fellow guards for change ("Why not a change drawer?" you ask. I scoff.). They handed me back a stack of 47 bills. I h! ated them. Moving into the customs shed I suffered yet another disassembly of my packs before moving on to the queue for exit stamps. As there was no-one around there were no customs officials manning the booths. I wandered around lost for a little while before a man in a stunning military uniform summoned me to his office after magically producing a piece of paper I needed to fill out before joining him. I filled it out, helped two fellow backpackers grok the process, and entered his smoke filled office. He sat chatting on a cell phone, occassionally barking orders to subordinates, and smoking what must have been his millionth cigarette of the day. After letting me listen to his conversation for 15 minutes, he glanced at my passport, stamped it quickly and waved me away. Eliat is the first post-border town and Israel's only port on the Red Sea. The first hotel I entered (to change the 47 f!@#$ng Egyption pounds into shekels) was having a Russian Bathing Suit Beauty Pageant that very afternoon. Thank god for civilization! I didn't stay for either the pageant or Eliat, I instead made my way to Ein Gedi, a popular resort area on the Dead Sea. Too bad the Dead Sea is so damn far away because you gotta try floating in it! Instead of treading water to stay afloat you swing your arms around trying to stay upright! If not you abruptly flip up and float with most of your body exposed. I read somewhere that the Dead Sea is 1/3 solid material and that's the only way I can account for the bouancy I experienced. One week in Jerusalem followed by one week in Tel Aviv. I stayed just inside Jaffa gate in the old city section of Jerusalem and observed first hand the tragic inequities of military occupation. In Tel Aviv I stayed a few blocks away from the Med. Sea and experienced a lively cosmopolitan environment. Israel is both a land of hope and productivity (more inventions per capita than any other country in the world) and a brutally suppressive religous/military regime. If you don't mind being categorized by an apartheid-like system based on religion then Israel is the place to be. So long as you aren't Arab or Muslim and don't mind being surrounded by a highly armed population. If you don't mind Jewish fathers, walking with their families, carrying machine guns for "safety" through the old city in Jerusalem. If you don't mind staying in Tel Aviv and never venturing east. Then you'll like Israel, it's current government, and the general feeling in the air. Quotes of my stay: Jewish-German Israeli immigrant, late hours front desk clerk at my hotel. I asked, "Why'd you come to Israel?". His answer, straight laced and entirely sincere: "I came to kill some Arabs.". Scarred Arab clerk in Jerusalem hostel: "What happened to your forehead?". "I was struck by a Jew for 'scaring him'" -- "What happened?" "I reported it to the police, but since he was Jewish they did nothing." Highly educated older man with whom I struck up a multi-hour conversation on the Tel Aviv beachfront, "Why must the ID have a persons' religion?". "Our government, we... umm... Nobody likes the fact that the religion must be on the ID. It's just the way it is now. Nobody likes it. It's just that way." Read a book or two written by David Grossman. I read one while I was in Israel and will read more when I return permanently. He writes about the occupation from the Jewish perspective but maintains jouralistic integrity and non-bias better than anyone I've ever read who has been so intimately involved in such a situation. I've forgotten the title of the book I read but I think it's something like "Yellow Line". It'll give you a clearer picture of what really goes on behind all the newspaper headlines we read in the newspaper and see on CNN. I spent most of my United States time in Boonton, NJ, holing up in my future in-laws basement and waiting for Karen's off-work hours to arrive. A couple general observations: New York city is a pretty empty city compared to Cairo (for instance). Walking around either the upper west or upper east side is like walking through a graveyard in comparison. Hell, even Chinatown doesn't seem all that congested! And everything everywhere is nice in the US. Just that. It's nice. I'm writing from the living room of a flat in St. Petersburg, Russia. I'm staying for a week in St. Petersburg then traveling by train to Moscow. Somewhere in there I'll squeeze in an update on our good-ole' cold war enemy. For now it'll suffice to say that St. Petersburg is near the arctic circle and at this time of year it doesn't really get dark. Consider the ramifications for skirt length, depth of tan, and general party flavor in this newly freed city and you'll catch a glimpse of what may be one of the liveliest and most up-and-coming places I've been. Ahhh, to live like a tsar! I sincerely hope that you're doing well.