Shalom! Part III - Keepin' It IsRael

Hebrew and Judaism aside, there were many moments while in Israel when culture shock grabbed me by the shoulders and gave me a hard shake. It's so valuable to experience cultures outside of our own so we can both learn about a foreign culture and reflect on our own. Even when being shushed in the hotel lobby bar or walking away from a restaurant because I couldn't read a thing, I reminded myself, this is so valuable, this is so valuable... 

Some of my odd experiences were amazing moments that I'll always cherish. Others made me want to curl up, cry, and teleport back to the comfort and gluttony of Florida. Much of my time fell somewhere in between the two. Here are a few select, distinct Israel experiences.

Shalom! Part II - The Hunger Games

Coming to Israel, I knew part of the cultural experience would be enjoying the local cuisine. But all that cuisine is wrapped heavily in the country's culture and religion. It is more than what I was prepared for, and I quickly learned how comfortable and fattening I've had it living my life in the USA. Through my travels, I have learned the US is cushy and glutenous, but my Vegas buffet mentality wasn't quite prepared for Israel's Hunger Games. Here are some non-edible tidbits from my survival in Israel.

Shalom! Part I - Bienvenidos a Israel

Shalom from Israel! My wings have finally rested enough from the lengthy flight to start flapping at this keyboard again. My bird brain has also needed some time to wrap around the fact that I am working again full time, and I'm also in a middle eastern country. It's still sizzling a little, or maybe that's the heat stroke.

Israeli bird.

Some of you may be wondering, what is Israel like? Some of you may be wondering, what does a hen do in Israel? The rest of you may just be annoyed you've now read "Israel" four times. It's hard to decide where to start with all that's happening, so I'll just start and end with a Hen moment from the first few hours of my time on this soil. This way I can also share my happenings in multiple articles and drag it out into a book deal if I'm lucky.