Tel Aviv, some observations

I'm past my first week in Tel Aviv now. It's an amazing city, so different from where I left - Canberra! The streets are always filled with people. The boulevards are lined with green leafy trees. There are no houses, only apartment buildings, all about 5 or 6 stories high, and all white. Some are covered in tiny white tiles that shine subtley in the sun. A lot look very run down, showing that this is a new city, built quickly with population explosions. There are cats everywhere, tonnes of stray cats. There is tonnes of dog poo on the pavement.

From First week in Israel

And then there's the people. I have never been in a more multicultural city. Forget Melbourne, forget New York, Tel Aviv wins in multiculturalism hands down. There are people from everywhere - the middle east, europe, asia, africa, india... there is amazing cultural diversity. I can be walking down the street feeling very white, when someone much whiter than me speaking Hebrew walks past, and I remember that this is a melting pot of every kind of person.

And of course there is the reason I'm here - Amit. Things are going great. It is wonderful to finally be in the same place in the world... I've put my things into his apartment, I'm fitting into his life here and finding my own way too. It's great.

From First week in Israel