No, not really. But I have been living here for two years now, and the longer I'm here, the more Israel seems like a soreal, almost fictitious place. I spent my first year missing it greatly, searching endlessly for Hebrew music on napster and for Israelis in the streets. I spent my second year wondering how can anyone live in Israel and keep his sanity. What I am trying to say is that time is a factor. You have used so many cliches, the same cliches my friends use when I ask them why not New York. As you gain some distance from the life in Israel, you find yourself staring with horror at your sweetheart that had turned into a monster.

Indeed. Why do I feel like I should advocate New York, or any life outside of Israel for that matter? I think that I'm troubled by the misleading picture one might get when spending his days in the infamous Israeli apartment hotel on 100th St.

If Israel is a monster, a place that is so negative you can't even think about it, how is it you find yourself reading articles in "Haayal" instead of enjoing with something more optimistic?