From Israel to Adrspach-Teplice: A Turning Point

This FLASHBACK FRIDAY is from summer 2009. The actual diary I kept now resides somewhere in California, so enjoy this less-angsty recreation.

July 23. I’ve been here in the Middle East for two months. Everything is hot. Everyone is overheated– physically and emotionally. Small arguments in our house have erupted into huge fights. We’re all uncomfortable. We’re sleeping too much, sweating too much, eating too little. The constant heat spoils our bread. The constant sun is burning us raw. We’re supposed to go from Jerusalem to Cairo next week. I don’t know if I can handle it.

Pomegranates in the arid Israeli heat.

August 2.   Merely days have gone by but my world has completely changed. I didn’t go to Cairo. I wanted to enjoy it, not be constantly on edge for the next overheated fight. So I booked a ticket to a place that was once home– Prague. My Czech friends, with nearly no notice, have taken me in with open arms. My friend Bara has whisked me out of the city and here I am, in northern Bohemia, in the lush green wonderland of Adrspach-Teplice Rocks.

Bara and I hike through trickling streams and moist mossy stones. Even the air feels verdant– I breathe in and it’s like my lungs are taking a long cool drink of water. Everything is green, alive, blooming. We climb past waterfalls, through mountain tunnels. I laugh at the sky. Everything has changed so quickly, so thoroughly; I am not tied to anyone, I am traveling alone now, far away from my planned itinerary. And I’m so, so happy. I, too, am alive and blooming. This is a turning point—this is when my summer blooms, too; when it grows in unanticipated directions. At the end of the hike, our bodies are tired; we stuff ourselves with palacinky and soup.  But inside, I am not tired. Inside I know that more adventures are just beginning.

(The Adrspach-Teplice Rocks are crazy sandstone rock formations in Northeastern Czech Republic. The hiking trail is not only marked but follows a boardwalk through the forest; I highly recommend seeking this place out if you are in the Czech Republic!)