Three weeks ago I found myself crying in a bathroom stall at Boston Logan airport. In my hand was a passport and a ticket to Tel Aviv. I wasn’t fleeing…
Know Before You Go: Israel
Sunrise from Masada. Image by Colleen Hagerty. In my original “Know Before You Go” post, I mentioned my personal experience having to make a difficult decision about whether or not…
Know Before You Go: Understanding a Place Before Making the Journey
Graves being dug at Mount Herzl in Israel for soldiers lost in the Gaza conflict. Image by Colleen Hagerty. We’re pleased to debut the fresh voices of the third cohort…
Trick or Treating in the Holy Land
The first time I celebrated Halloween abroad was in college when I spent a semester in India. Unsure what to do with ourselves but resolute in our determination to acknowledge…
Israeli Food: A Primer
Last week marked my one year anniversary of living in Israel. Prior to moving here, I had never even visited the country, so was not entirely sure what to expect….
Reflections on Home
Home is a funny thing. For the first 18 years of my life, home was the one bedroom apartment I shared with my mother, father, and sister in Manhattan. And…
Alone in the Desert with Camels
As a fiercely independent woman, it felt odd when my husband and I packed up and moved to Be’er Sheva, Israel so he could attend medical school. I had always…
A Different Kind of Siren
I’ve become accustomed to the sound of rocket sirens, the blaring noise that wakes you up in the middle of the night, prying you from the depths of REM sleep,…
Sharpen Your Elbows and Other Tips for Riding the Bus in Israel
A country smaller than the state of New Jersey, Israel is immensely easy to travel around. One could drive from the northernmost tip in the Galilee to the southernmost point…
Learning to Live with (but not love) the Bomb
I was in a dark yoga room when I heard the sirens. I’d heard them once before, when they ran a test, because I live in a place where instead…
These Boots Were Made for Walking
When I recently packed my bags to move to Israel, my hiking boots were one of the only pairs of shoes to make the cut. When I pulled them out…
Learning to Say (and Admit) “I Am a New Immigrant”
Anee olah hadasha. I am a new immigrant. This was one of the first things I learned to say in my Hebrew ulpan, or intensive language class. I had been…