vancouver is the place to be. no wonder so many elder folks move there for retirement. it has it all; style, art, friendly people, sports, a sea side, culture, you name it. the people are beautiful. the weather is perfect almost all year round. relaxation and easiness is felt everywhere.

i enjoyed my stay. located in a fancy suburb 20 minutes from downtown vancouver, i stayed in the home of a wonderful family who took me in like one of their own; the yelizarovs. jon, who i met in israel - then a guide with the birthright trip which i was accompanying as a soldier - showed me a good time in town. apparently a good time has to involve an industrial amount of alcohol, according vancouver's youth standards.


i've been drinking alcohol day and night - i had more alcohol than water in my blood. it was in the coffee in the morning, by the asian meal at lunch, and in shot glasses at the club at night. whew! i couldn't take it any more. so i skipped town and bussed to seattle, washington.


my plan was to pass through seattle on my way to san fransisco. but i ended up deciding to stay in town for a while. i like seattle. i like it a lot. for starters, they have a great market place: the pike fish market.


at the fish market, i learned a lesson about fate. i was checking out the fish stand with a fellow backpacker who i met at the hostel. this was no ordinary fish stand; the fish spend more time flying in the air than they do laid on a solid surface. the fish is thrown from the water to the stand, then thrown to the guy to cut it, then thrown to the guy to rap it up, then thrown to the guy who makes the sale. quite an attraction.


anyhow, back to the lesson about fate. while eyeing the seafood in the stand, the fellow backpacker and i spotted jimi - a live baby lobster who seemed to be desperately fighting for his freedom. say hi to jimi.


we decided to save jimi from his fate of doom. i threw the little bugger on my shoulder and we made our way through the market, down to the sea.

we passed by the sweet aromatic flowers.


we passed by luscious fruit.


and finally we arrived at the water front. with tears in our eyes, jimi and we said our goodbyes.

and back to the sea jimi was sent, all jolly and gay. but one thing was far beyond the awareness of all of our innocent minds; an eeeeeevil seagull was sitting by.

he was watching our farewell celebration and planning his next move. the moment little jimi hit the water, down came the evil winged mammal and snatched him up to a nearby roof.


there jimi's career as a living being was terminated. i prefer not to go into details, as i'm very emotional about it. but if you can bare it, watch the image of horror yourself. goodbye jimi.



his fate was inevitable.

seattle's downtown is live and vivid. hundreds of people cover the streets. music played in well strategic spots by the talented poor. scarecrows and pumpkins deployed in dozens in the spirit of the upcoming event. good energy and high vibes flow around with the easiness and relaxation that characterize the west coast.


i felt it was time to settle down, get a job, create a stable social circle, and learn how to cook. i have a contact in seattle, a real mench named justin. we met by chance in an israeli army base. we spend time together and communicate daily; our connection was the main reason i decided to stay in town.

i now work for an israeli sales company that trains and specializes in opening american wallets in the finest malls around seattle. as of today, i am a salesman. i live in a complex, sharing an apartment with 4 other israelis. i plan to spend christmas selling nifty steam irons in the mall, making big bucks and developing sales skills.

many exciting stories about seattle downtown and irrelevant nonsense coming up next post. stay tuned.