Probe the Globe

This webpage is dedicated to my travels around the world and thoughts that accompany them. A Disclaimer: I hate the word 'blog'. For the past few years, hearing everyone and their mothers ramble on about 'blog's and 'blogging' and [insert blog-related buzz word here] has made me want to rub my ears on a cheese-grater. But in the end, this is much easier than sending out group emails and pictures, and everyone can check for updates without me having to fill up their inboxes.

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Location: Kinokawa-shi, Wakayama-ken, Japan

If you dont know about me already, none of this should interest you anyways.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Last Pictures for a while: Jerusalem and Jordan

I hope you enjoy these albums, because they may be the last you see from me for a while. Recently, my wonderful computer company's (That's you, Dell. Please note the sarcasm) AC Adapter decided it would be a really neat party trick to start shooting out sparks everytime I try to plug it in, which has resulted in an unintentional fireworks display in my hostel for the past few nights. Tomorrow I'm flying to the capital of crazy, Delhi, India, a city in which I can't fathom getting a watch fixed let alone something with wires. Savor these last photos.



Jerusalem is a Tale of Two Cities in the most literal of senses; it's the capital of both Israel and Palestine and serves as a spiritual heartland for both Judaism and Islam respectively (not to mention Christianity). It's a place caught somewhere between the 1st and 21st centuries, but even it seems unsure of exactly where. Walk through modern Western Jerusalem amongst the Hasidic Jews in the morning and then take a stroll down the hectic markets of the Old Town - making sure to dodge the bread carts - in the evening... you'll see what I mean. But whether Muslim, Jewish, Christian, or otherwise, everybody can agree that Jerusalem is truly a special, special place.

Click HERE for Jerusalem

My first thought upon entering Jordan was something like 'Wow, this place is absolutely devoid of color.' The dwellings and shops of the small towns that I passed en route from the northern Israeli border were uniformly plain, unpainted, and run down. What I would come to find in the coming weeks was that it's not the hues of old towns and modern city centers that paints Jordan's picture, but the colorful people and the dramatic landscapes; there's clearly a reason that Petra was chosen as the site of the Holy Grail in the final chapter of Indiana Jones.

Click HERE for Jordan

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Pictures: Israel and Palestine



This first album follows my trail from Tel Aviv to the northern Israeli towns of Akko and Tsfat. These 3 cities - though situated closely together in the small, New Hampshire - sized country - look and feel thousands of miles apart. Tel Aviv is secular, metropolitan Israel; Akko is the Palestine of a hundred years ago; Tsfat is the city of Jewish spiritual rediscovery.

CLICK HERE for Israel pics



The second album is from the country that occupies most of our international news coverage (excluding Iraq), Palestine. It's a place that merits a visit from anyone wanting to see exactly what "The Other Side of the Fence" really means. Despite being oppressed to a staggering degree, its citizens are some of the most kind-hearted people in the world whose spirit, pride and identity are unwavering.

CLICK HERE for Palestine pics