Another World…...

Yes,  I'm totally showing off now

This one is 7 grand a  night….

I take it back.  I take it all back.  Barbados is shit hot, and I'm not talking about the weather.  Of course my new found Barbadian love did not spring from more time in the windy house.  No no no no no.  Quite the contrary.  We packed up shop and headed for the land of chilled white wine in beach bars.  The Caribbean side - the "good side" of the island.  This is where the stately mansions preside nestled in acres of manicured gardens, the gentle waves of the Caribbean sea lapping at their doorsteps.  This is where you can pay up to $7000 per NIGHT to live the dream.  Or more……apparently there are "uber-exclusive" properties for rent.  So fancy that they are not even listed, ensuring that peasants like us can't shit themselves over the number of marble bathrooms and perve at the beachside infinity pools online.

This is it's pool close up…...

Roller anyone…..

Pointy

Yep, this has long been a place for the upper class British to spend their vacations.  London to Barbados was the only holiday destination the Concorde flew to in the 70 and 80s.  In tribute to this there is actually a British Airways Concorde at Barbados Airport in a large shed (apparently they built it around the Concorde, so nowadays I guess they'd have a few issues getting it out).  My husband has a bit of a Concorde obsession so we went to check it out.  I must admit, it was a good exhibition……..It was by far the fastest passenger plane then, and there's never been another one anywhere near as fast.  Bitch broke the sound barrier with it's sonic boom.  And because of this it was forbidden to fly over land.  The sound was like a bomb going off. Tickets on the Concorde were thousands - like 8000 pounds or there abouts.  And that was in 70s money.  We got to go inside and have a gander.  Seats were pretty shitty - I'd be spewing if I laid down 8 big ones and didn't even get a foot rest.  The cock pit was outstanding - and there was no door either meaning that the captain and passengers were one big happy wealthy family.  At least you'd know that terrorists weren't going to hijack it they'd be hard pressed to scrape up the dough for a couple of tickets - too busy spending it on illustrated copies of the Koran and homemade explosives…..

Small inside

High tech cockpit

This will do (I promise not to complain anymore)

Anyway the loaded Brits did a good job of keeping all the middle class scum out.  Some of them bought up giant amounts of land around the good beachy bits and sold it off to other upper class toffs from London.  But scum finds it way in through all the cracks…….and so here we are!!!  We managed to find ourselves a pleasant rental (not beachside alas - we haven't got round to spending a grand per evening on beds and walls just yet).  It's over the road from a divine beach, and with a pool, and no wind and everything pleasant and nice.  Yes, there are staff - a cook and a cleaner - but they come 3 times a week and are minimally annoying.  Perhaps a little more annoying was that the next door neighbours bought the adjoining mansion and decided to smash it down the day we moved in, as to extend the garden.   They must really love their grass.  They've been really going for it over the last week - and the estate agents have been mortified on our behalf.  To be honest we didn't really give that much of a shit, but picked up on the fact that we should, so we played up our displeasure somewhat.  Few freebie nights, more discounts and a complimentary day trip snorkeling with sea turtles were thrown at us to appease the beast lurking within (don't mind if I do).

Fobbed her off onto Chalks….

Where's the foooooood...

A day trip on a catamaran is always a nice idea in theory - but in reality it's another story.  You have to spend the day with a group of strangers in extremely close quarters, find somewhere to be comfortable for many hours of sitting, block the beating Caribbean sun out somehow,  deal with boat toilets (I had to get the captain to pump my wee away that almost overflowed the toilet - that was really humiliating - yet could have been worse).  Then there's the snorkeling, which again is a great concept, yet a little tricky with 2 five year olds.  Vali kept almost drowning me.  Even though she had a floaty vest on she kept grabbing onto my arms while I was deep at sea.  I'm retarded at snorkeling at the best of times - I always end up with water in my snorkel and mask at really inconvenient times and the sheer volume of sunscreen I wear on my face mixes with the salt water and seriously stings my eyes.  It's just not comfortable.  Still I saw some giant sea turtles swimming next to me though……it was almost worth it.  The other guests were into the booze at 9.30am.  By lunch time most of them couldn't swim.  Their afternoon was spent passed out with a rum in one hand and getting an oddly shaped sunburn down their left flanks.

Here's one of the pissheads gripping the boat for dear life….

Cordi feeling the vibe…...

So we've been hanging out here, deciding what to do next.  We'd love to go home and everything, but currently our city (and country) is having rockets shot at it.  Interesting.  A pretty good move to be out of the country at the moment let me say.  Not so good for all our family and friends though, and although they are used to dealing with this kind of craziness I'm sure it doesn't make it any easier.  I mean, I know that we would be physically safe if we returned - but I just can't reconcile myself with the conscious decision to return to a county which is currently fighting a fairly intense war.  Apparently Hamas are also firing missiles at Ben Gurion airport.  Imagine that.  If it's not stressful enough on a plane already, you have to dodge rockets.  Jesus.

We have a bomb shelter in our actual apartment.  So I would easily be able to get the girls inside if I was at home and the sirens went off (you have 1 minute to do so).  But I really don't want to do that.  I would have to explain to them what was going on, and I know that they would be frightened.  Would they have nightmares?  Would there be lasting effects from an experience like that?  I recently spoke to a family member who is fortunately out of the country as well, but she said that her friends with kids are really struggling.  One of them has a husband who is in the army so she is left alone with 3 little children to round up and get into the bomb shelter at the bottom of their apartment block once the sirens wail.  To date, I think that Hamas have sent more than 900 rockets into Israel.  And there has not been a single Israeli death.   This is not because they are really bad shots (although I think they have actually sent a few into Bethlehem and other West Bank areas so they should really get their compasses out or something - buy a local map before they shoot off again….).  This result is because of the amazing technology Israeli has to defend it's citizens.  The Iron Dome.  It acts like some kind of incredible force field, with an over 90% success rate for tracking and destroying Hamas missiles in the air.  It can even predict where the rockets will land and therefore knows to let them go (if they will land in an open field or something), or destroy them.  That is brilliant technology.

This is what the Iron Dome looks like - it can be transported on the back of a truck between locations.

In writing this I am more than aware that the people of Gaza are without sirens, shelter and of course without an Iron Dome.  It is truly tragic.  And in my conversation with Israelis, all of them express distress at this sad fact.  Nobody, except the insane wants other human beings to suffer.  But what can be done?  How can they be helped and how can Israel protect itself from an terrorist organisation that openly declares that it wants to annihilate all it's people at the same time? The solution is far from simple.  I'm very envious of people living outside this region who have such a clear cut stance on where they fall regarding Middle Eastern conflicts.  I have no such pretensions.  People study for years in order to make intelligent assertions regarding Middle Eastern relations. And simultaneously, other people sit behind their computers, thousands of kilometres away passing judgement, perfectly secure in their own protected little worlds, where they will never experience, or have the vaguest understanding of what it's like to fight for your right to exist.

I've never been to Gaza -  I have visited Israel a fair bit, and now I live in Tel Aviv.  I can never be impartial in this matter.  My husband and children are Israeli citizens.  Obviously my principle interests lie with Israel's right to defend itself against terrorists who openly declare their desire to wipe Israel and all Jews from the map - heartwarming.  My family are Israelis and have lived in Israel all (or most of) their lives.   I've been to Arab villages in Israel, and I've met Israeli Arabs - all of them have been extremely friendly and hospitable.  I've also been to the West Bank a couple of times, and to Jordan and to Egypt and talked to locals about their political opinions and beliefs.  I think a lot of Middle Eastern nations can see what can happen when conditions for local people deteriorate to a point where fundamentalist terrorist organisations like Hamas can take power, and they don't want this to happen in their countries.   Hamas doesn't restrict it's activities to attacking Israel from Gaza.   They are involved in fighting and deaths in Egypt, Lebanon and also Syria.  Therefore, in this particular war, it is not just Israel that wants Hamas destroyed.  And meanwhile, the people of Gaza are sandwiched in between.  Gaza has a very youthful population.  Lots of them are just like young people everywhere.  They want to go to uni or to work, to hang out with their friends, to meet cute girls - or boys,  to see the world (and change it!), and to be with their families.  Many of them want an end to the presence of Hamas in their lives as much as they want an end to the tight controls Israel has over the region that restrict their everyday lives.  I feel so sorry for them.

Just one smouldering stare for world peace…...

It's definitely a mess.  No wonder I'm confused.  I decided that I had to educate myself a little further, actually a lot further, but I'm taking baby steps and currently reading A History of The Middle East.  It's pretty heavy - not like reading the Hunger Games or anything.   However, I suspect that reading a (reasonably) uncomplicated book in order to understand Middle Eastern relations is like trying to become a lawyer by watching re-runs of LA Law.  What a great show by the way - how were those 80s power suits??  In fact I actually decided to become a lawyer after watching this series, but realised after 3 months at Tas Uni that "Arnie Becker" was nowhere in sight.  I couldn't afford a powder blue suit jacket with matching skirt either - just had to put shoulder pads in my rugby jumper instead.

As I write this, there is talk of a ceasefire brokered by the Egyptians.  No side has agreed to it yet, but to even discuss it usually means that the beginning of the end is nigh (*Although I have just woken up and the latest developments show that Hamas refused to honour the ceasefire).  As I sit here in the Caribbean I just can't help but be glad that I am so far removed from the "real world".  When we at last go home (if I have my way), everything will be over, and for myself and my girls, life will go on as normal.  That makes me feel really bad in a way.  I feel like I get to experience all of the good parts of living in Israel without knowing first hand the backlash of the reality of life in the Middle East. It makes me feel distant, and it makes me realise even more that I will never have to come to terms with what it's like to have my existence  threatened.  But I think that's a good thing, and it's certainly something I want to protect my children from.  For at least as long as I can…….But it also means that while I live in Israel, I will never really understand what it's actually like to be Israeli (and certainly not Palestinian).  But besides that, and overwhelmingly more, I just hope the cease fire comes quickly for everyone's sake.

Luckily all my children have to worry about currently are crabs coming through the bedroom windows………

Still - this is pretty scary all the same……..