So who am I?
While thinking of an intelligent answer I remembered the last lines of a poem by the Israeli poet - Leah Goldberg:
איתכם אני נשתלתי פעמים,
איתכם אני צמחתי, ארנים,
ושורשי בשני נופים שונים.
A quick translation goes like this...
With you I have been planted twice,
With you, oaks, I have grown
But my roots are in two different landscapes...
What I really mean is that I am very much Israeli. I love this country and my roots are very deep here.
But
I have additional roots - and they are still planted in England and in France (the homeland of my mother).
Thats who I am -
Israeli bred but European born. I prefer speaking Hebrew but if I want to read peacefully - I will turn to an English paperback. I am married to a 8th generation Israeli but many of my close friends are English.
I always say I am lucky - if someone makes fun of the British I can always be French - If someone slanders the French I will always say that I am Israeli and when someone mentions bad things about Israelis I can always choose what I want to be... (though I always will defend the Israelis in the end!!!)
But the bottom line is that here - in Israel I am at home.
And this blog will tell you about my life here!
See you soon!