a bissle of this....

so, life has been frenetic, challenging, and intensely beautiful all at once. I'm finishing off the second graduate degree that I was working on this year at the same time as handling my clinical work, my managerial responsibilities in the medical division of an american outsourcing company, my health diplomacy commitments, my training, my love life and my social life. Everything is intertwined. Very soon, I'll be heading overseas again to put into place details with my ngo and the clinton foundation for the clinic I'm heading up in Haiti. My volunteer committment with my NGO is going to somewhat turn into a paid job. I'll continue doing a lot of my health diplomacy work on a volunteer basis, but the Haiti project will be a paid contract.

My boyfriend and I went to visit some friends of ours last night in a little arab village about an hour's drive from tel aviv. These are close friends of ours and happen to be genuine, intelligent,accomplished, beautiful human beings. But, one thing that struck me, considering that I'm an immigrant to israel, is that the residents of the village spoke arabic and hebrew. It piqued my interest because the residents spoke hebrew as a tool of assimilation into israeli society, but didn't speak english even though it's an international currency.

Our friends cousin's and siblings had hopes to either study or work in the united states at some point but yet they lacked the ability to converse let alone benefit from a functional life in the language. I can identify with this somewhat as I came to Israel without the ability to do my job or bank or order a salad in hebrew. It's possible to live in Israel without speaking any hebrew and to even be fairly successful, but you can't really benefit from all israel and the israeli culture have to offer without fully knowing the language. I guess, like me, they would pick up the language along the way. But there are also the hazy issues intertwined with identity that struck me in that village. Would it be confusing or empowering to live in a language other than that which your family, village, and/or ethnicity chooses as primary?

Next week, I'm heading to the sinai for a couple days with A, some friends, and my sweet and funny brother with his girl. It'll be my first time in the sinai and I can hardly wait to scuba dive, relax with those close to me, and be immersed in the desert heat. On my birthday, I like to do things that renew me and give me strength. I usually find this outdoors in the wilderness, by the dead sea, or on a quiet beach. Sinai will be ideal.