You have found Love! I have found love. The Hebrew word for love is ahava, (like the dead sea body care line), and we have found it. Not the body care line, LOVE, love. Tel Aviv is a city of love.
It is a city of love and acceptance. I see Israeli flags, rainbow flags, vegan friendly signs. The city has Israeli religious life intermingled with just about everything else the human spirit can offer. It is like an ice cream with lots of scoops of various flavors, topped with chocolate sauce, and strawberry sauce, and caramel, and sprinkles and all the good things that can and should go together. Life is good here. It's loving and sweet, diverse in texture and direction, wholesome and edgy at the same time.
The first time I came to Israel I was sixteen years old on a teen tour with my summer camp. Like many young tourists, the Israelis appeared so handsome, so sexy! The soldiers. The swagger. Aaaaahhhhhhh. Here I am, married just a bit longer than the age of my first Israel experience, living in the heart of the city with my hubby and two kids, and finding a new kind of love.
Love for the city, yes, but in a strange twist of tasty destiny, the American love of my life became Israeli, so it turns out that 18 years into my marriage I ended up with my sexy Israeli man after all!
So I guess this little love story is dedicated to this lovely city, which reminds me with little nods here and there around town, that at the heart of all of us, all of our differences, hopes and dreams, is love, sweet love.
