reflections....

View as we drove up a mountain in Northern Israel

So last week I went on a trip to the North of Israel with my program. We went to Galilee. I got to see the sea of Galilee. We also stood at a point in Israel where you could actually see Syria and Lebanon. Though the day was to learn about a trauma center that we went to visit the day took on more of a spiritual tone for me. Everyone that knows me knows I am not overly religious, but in that moment when the bible literally comes alive you can't help but me moved. Everything you've read and heard about suddenly has a point of reference in your mind and it's a pretty amazing experience.

Sea of Galilee

In Israel looking at Syria and Lebanon

I'd been saying that I think that this move to Israel will be a spiritual one for me just as much as educational and personal growth. Standing in Galilee the spiritual component of this move began and I am so eager to see more. It's an experience I wish everyone could come here and experience for themselves. This place has a way of magnifying/intensifying your sense of spirituality.

Since being here I have also have this sense of increased pride in who I am and where I come from. I have this immense degree of thanks and gratefulness for who I am, what I have, and the experiences that I have had. I can't pinpoint why it seems more intense here, but I think it has a lot to do with this is the first time I can honestly say I feel completely upset by the disparity I see in the way black people are treated.

I guess I am spoiled by the fact that my reality is I was born in a country where I'm not the minority and where there is a range of black families along the socioeconomic spectrum. When I went to boarding school though there were few black students at my school in England again there was a range of black families. In Atlanta a city that is known to have a very high population of African Americans there is again a full spectrum of black families and I got to see a lot of positive black faces.

Since being here I have yet to see black people that don't appear to be poor. That's not to say they don't exist and I sure hope they do, but my experience thus far hasn't been a representative relection of what I'd like to see. Every conversation I've heard about black people since being here leaves me with a negative impression of how people view the African immigrants to this country.

All in all I think this all contributes to my spiritual growth and fuels my passion. I am excited to experience more here. I am excited to learn more about the trauma field through my studies but also to learn and grow through experiences I know I'll continue to have here outside of school.