How it all started

Israel came out of the blue, uninvited and unexpected. It didn’t fit my previous beliefs nor interests . To tell you the truth, this tiny spot somewhere in the Middle East was one of the few countries that would never virtually fascinate me. But one day, all of a sudden, I fell for it. Head over heels.

In order to understand this irrational infatuation, I decided to get to know this country as much as possible. I guess you all know this stage: borrowing books from friends and family, watching docs at night, taking loads of notes, desperate surfing the Web in search of some authentic music, hours spent on chat with the natives, reading three different local newspapers, downloading dictionary apps on your phone etc etc... Interestingly, the more I'd learn about it, the more my interest would grow. It was only then when I realized that there was quite a lot of aspects of the Israeli culture that would fit me perfectly. Take migration issues and multiculturalism: they've been my main passions for years. Uhm, helloooo... Here is a country consisting of nobody but immigrants! What could be more multicultural than that? Another one: I am fascinated by politics, learning about the complexity of international relations from MUN conferences and FP newsletters. Well... The Middle East is considered to be the hottest political zone of the world, torn by numerous territorial, religous and ethnic conficts, isn't it? This list could go on forever, ranging from top-class universities, through modern architecture and perfectly spicy cuisine, up to just-my-type guys. I felt I must go there. 

It was about the time when my friend mentioned some international highschool in Israel and a summer camp they organise. I checked out the website - the course seemed too tailor-made to be true. Three weeks of discovering the region, with emphasis put on peace-building, environmental activism and leadership. I prepared my application, crossed my fingers so hard that my middle finger touched my thumb and, two weeks later... BANG! I couldn't believe my own eyes: I got the acceptance letter.

(Let me omit a detailed description of the following seconds, just in case you find squealing and jumping of joy something awkwardly and childishly cheesy)

Having got back to reality, I decided to set up a crowdfunding campaign to finance the journey. In the meantime, I kept trying to discover Israel from a distance, immersed in the exciting world of books, news, films and workshops. And then is when I came up with the idea of combining these two: sharing my passion and allowing the people wishing to support me to track my progress in the preparation for the summer.

So, here is the blog. Written for traveller wannabes, experience seekers, open-minded bookworms, crazy philantropists, schoolkids and Israel lovers. I hope you all find something for yourself over here.

 Enjoy!