Monday, July 24, 2006

Family 'Vacation'

We've always dreamed of going on a family vacation but never dreamed it would be under these circumstances. We rented four rooms at a hotel and we're all together. Three to a room.
When we arrived we all went for dinner and ate like we haven't eaten in a week..like we were some starved people from a was zone. Oh, wait. We did come from a war zone.
We're still jumpy, some more than others. Loud bangs of doors slamming still make us jump and voices that sound like a siren leave us all wide eyed and on the lookout.

My friend in Haifa with the four-month-old was supposed to leave too last night, but stayed in Haifa until this morning when there were three more explosions without a siren warning. She now left for safety as well.

The hotel is full of refugees, evacuees from the north. The atmosphere is communal. Doors are left open and everybody's talking to everybody. Where are you from? When did you come here? How bad is it where you were? etc.

I can't imagine hearing more sirens or explosions at the moment. I sure dreamt about it enough. I just don't think I could have handled one more day of it. Depression was beginning to set in.
And then we drove south and at some point, crossed this invisible line into a different reality where people aren't afraid.

I can't bare to think of the people who stayed, or the people in Nahariya or even more northern places. The humanitarian crisis there is indescribable. And we don't hear much from there. I think even journalists are afraid to go there. No siren, just constant shelling. More than 1,000 houses were damaged in Nahariya according to reports. And now I'm here, contemplating if I feel like going to the swimming pool or out for a walk. Unbelievable.

Something has to be done and quickly. No one can go on living like this. Lebanese, Israelis. It's insane.

1 comment:

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