a (late) june summer-y

rehoming, birthright, and zion

on may 31st a couple of friends and i moved my few possessions into a storage locker and my cat and i into a new sublet in liberty village.

for two weeks i spent my days living out of a suitcase, lonely and longing for the day i could repack my bags and depart for my monthlong trip overseas. in that time i found a new apartment (another sublet) i could move into when i get back. it’s been nearly a year since i’ve had my own name on a lease; i’m always living in someone else’s home.

i was really excited for my trip to Israel. my family has been telling me about the benefits of birthright since i was a kid, and i knew spending 10 straight days surrounded by other people and preoccupied with activity would be good for me.

on the first day, fresh off the 12h flight and standing in a circle in the grass outside of the airport, our cheeky leader Noam asked us to go around and share our name, age, occupation, and “group”. this didn’t make much sense, which seemed to be the point. Noam introduced himself as a member of the rock climbing group, the guy to his left said he was in the hockey group, when it was my time to shine i proudly declared myself to be a member of the Machiavellian group (i don’t have normal hobbies).

five days into the trip we were introduced to a group of 8 Israelis who would be joining us for the latter half. this mixing of culture is an essential part of the taglit experience. they got to learn what life is like living in the Diaspora, while we heard stories of their experience serving in the IDF.

up until this trip i’ve always remained entirely agnostic on the conflict between Israel and Palestine. the geopolitical, historic, and religious components at play are so complex and nuanced that i would rather abstain from having an opinion than generating one based off of a few news articles and superficial research.

well, maybe unsurprisingly, that has changed…

Wandering is a place I share personal musings, confessions, and muses. To support my work and receive access to exclusive posts, sign up for a paid subscription.