Safe and Well in Tel Aviv

Yay! We have the internet now! I've been keeping a journal and decided to back-post some parts here on the blog, just to keep it up a little better at this exciting time in our life. There is just so much to express that I'm almost crippled with deciding where to begin.

Love finally having a yard!

Friday, Sept. 14 - Although we are fine here in Israel, all the current violence at the embassies in our neighboring countries is sickening. It is unsettling to be reminded that such evil is lurking in the neighborhood. I usually like to ignore bad news, you know, learn it and then bury it, but this time I can't stop reading more and more. I suppose it's our proximity and having Rob work at an embassy lends a feeling of kinship.
The worst of it in Tel Aviv was that there were about 70 protesters outside of the embassy on Thursday. But there was no violence and the police showed up and started taking pictures and they dispersed. I was slightly worried because I had appointments there today, but we went and there was nothing at all.

For the most part, I go about my daily life and feel the same as anywhere here. But there are reminders that we are, in fact, in a volatile country . We go to the beach and I feel like I am on a tropical vacation. And then I see a military ship patrol by. And there are often helicopters overhead. There is a lot of public security everywhere. At home, it is great and I love my house. But it is like Fort Knox! There are metal grates on every window – there are huge, heavy ones across two separate sliding glass doors in the living room that feel the most imposing. The house itself is entirely cement. It is completely fenced in, all the way around, a deadbolt even on the front gate (pretty awesome for keeping my kids in the yard, actually!). It is alarmed, with multiple security vehicles on constant patrol ready to respond to anything. We even have a “safe room” with a heavy-duty security door. And radios for a true emergency. And nearby bomb shelters, heaven forbid.

It’s a little ironic that all of that actually makes me feel less secure. I hate the constant reminders of what it’s all for. It’s not actually even dangerous in our neighborhood. Crimes are ones of opportunistic theft and not of violence. So basically it is just to avoid basic theft and to be ready if things did happen to get crazy here. 

But if it weren’t for all these prudent-but-obnoxious reminders, I have felt nothing but entirely safe and well in Tel Aviv!