It had been 10 days since i had seen A (my husband) so we decided to have breakfast and catch up. My mom and I were traveling around France and so A decided to visit friends in Israel. I asked him about his trip. "Its the most exciting city in the world!" A said, the beginning of an animated two hour discussion on his time in Tel Aviv. The tech explosion, the cafe society, the people, the markets! He was constantly going out, meeting people and averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night. I had never seen him so charged, so sparked by the electricity of it all. He talked until we were the only people sitting in the coffee bar at Le Bon Marche Epicerie - a three story food emporium on the left bank. I tipped the waitress well, a thank you for allowing us to use the table for two hours with the meager purchase of two espressos. I finished my coffee awhile ago and, feeling antsy, started making motions to leave - jacket on, keys out, purse thrown messenger-style across my body. The moment before i stood up A asked where i was going. "To the bathroom? back to the apartment?" I offered these locations almost as an excuse for interrupting his glowing, feature-film length review of the city. "I'm not finished..." he said this in such a way that i suddenly realized there was a reason we were having coffee, "I want to buy a place in Tel Aviv..." Buy a place? My mind did something that felt like this:
It sort of went all zig-zaggy as I tried to sort out all of the implications of the word Buy. If you Buy a Place, you need to spend time in that Place, and why Buy if you are there for a short period of time? you could always Rent or better yet Stay in a Place, isn't that what Hotels are for? A continued to speak about the merits of owning, spending, and investing in Israel as I pondered the B-word. "I guess what I am trying to say is I want to spend serious time there, like 6 months, this winter." I guess my wordlessness and blank stare were indicators that this idea wasn't well received. What would I do in Israel for 6 months? Forgetting the chemical weapons and war in Syria, the fighting and refugees spilling into Lebanon, the ongoing protests in Egypt, what would I DO for 6 months?
We've been to Israel before. We spent a whirlwind 9 days traveling and sightseeing about 4 years ago. I liked it, was surprised by it, marveled at the diversity of landscape for such a small country. I remember our first morning in Tel Aviv, going through the hotel lobby to breakfast and seeing the sun sparkled waves through the 30' glass windows, "It has a beach?" I asked completely surprised. A lived in Israel for 5 years back in the 70s, had a family and a business there. So the want and need for him to go back was intriguing.
"6 months?" I asked. "We could use it as a base to travel around the region..." Now A had my attention, "Turkey - we could rent a gullet and cruise the riviera there? and Jordan? you've always wanted to see Petra..." okay, i thought, this is sounding better. "A Safari in Botswana - its only 6 hours to fly Johannesburg or CapeTown." This was sounding better, great really. "Done," I said "I'm in."
We returned from Europe and A had rented an apartment before I had a chance to unpack. He was determined. Flights were booked and friends were told. It was/is going to happen. We have Dinner plans on December 27th and an introduction to Israeli soldiers who can take us on a sand-surfing expedition with an overnight in the desert. And so our "winter" adventure, negotiated almost six months ago, is now about to begin.
For the record, our time in Tel Aviv will be 3.5 months (what would I DO for 6 months?) with a month of travel in Africa/South Africa at the end. And, we decided to Rent not Buy!