The Broken Wings

قرأتها ثانيةً ، وآلمني قلبي ثانيةً.

Boşuna değilmiş Halil Cibran’ın zihni yoran kelimeleri.
Yazar bu kitabında hayatının bir kısmını otobiyografi şeklinde aktarmış, yer yer Ermiş'in o derin düşünüşünden esintileri barındırmış ve sevdiği kadın ile bizlere sunmuş. Meğer Selma ile olan aşkı ne kadar da tükenmez ve ruha işlenen bir sevdaymış.. Yürekler dağlandı, içler sızladı.

ملاك ضل طريقه إلى السماء هكذا تخيلت جبران طوال فترة القراءه
لغته و إن قصد بها النثر فإنها تنساب رغم إرادته شعرا صافيا من فرط الرقه و العذوبه
روايته تتحدث عن الحب كما يتخيله هو ، الحب تماما كما أراده الله
إذا أردت أن تقرأ عن الملائكه كيف تحب و كيف تتعذب أرواحها
إذا أردت أن تقرأ عن الحب الأول ، الوجود ، الجمال و الجاذبيه التى تحكم كل شئ برؤيه جديده تماما ، رؤيه شفافه إلى درجه أعتقد معها أنك ستشاركنى الرأى انها إن لم تكن إندثرت من زمن فإن أخر بقاياها فى الطريق لذلك !
إقرأ الأجنحه المتكسره و زود روحك بجرعه مكثفه من الرقى و الرقه تكفيها دهرا !
○●○●○●○●○●○●○●
خلقت الملائكه بأجنحه لتحيا فى السماء
إن ضلت الطريق يوما فالنتيجه الحتميه لذلك أجنحه متكسره و قلوب تغشاها كأبة الفقد الأبدى ..

The first book I bought in Seoul! I was sure my Lebanon read for my global books challenge would be about the wars or politics but I spent Shabbat reading this and it was a true joy.

So The Broken Wings is a short book about a doomed romance. This book flies by (pun intended) but Gibran is such an amazing poet that each page packs a punch. I especially liked the way love and nature are combined. It makes the entire romance feel visual and visceral. We fall in love with their love, with the tragedy, with the struggle.

There was also a lot of feminist energy here. Lots of religious themes, even a bit of delving into Lebanon's complicated relationship with Phoenician culture. Romance is the star of this book but the ideas about death and beauty matter no less.

What I'm Taking With Me
- I really will finish a book about Hezbollah one day
- That ending though, why do that to me??
- I loved his descriptions of Beirut.

And now:
Adventures in Korea
- I'm still very much struggling with what I struggled back home. Unsurprisingly, you can cross the world and still be you.

- I'm so many people's first Israeli, first Jew. It's a lot of stress when I think about it too much. I was the first foreigner for a Korean as well. The first non-Korean they ever spoke to, oh my god.

- I accidentally ate a small piece of pork. It took a few days (and a long conversation with my best friend) but I've been able to forgive myself. I should follow my instincts more- the second I thought it was meat, I took apart my food and got rid of all of it. I felt embarrassed to pick at food (especially at a traditional Korean place) but now, I'm so happy that I did.

- And I'm going to be less hesitant about asking, even when Koreans seem really irritated with me. I don't care if I'm the obnoxious and spoiled foreigner. Really, I'm doing Koreans a favor. When I stand up for religious and ethical culinary limitations, I'm standing up for Jews, Muslims and Buddhists. With Korean fertility rates, Korea is going to have to start begging foreigners to move here soon so when Korea inevitably becomes more multi-cultural, they will need to get used to this. I want to be less apologetic about my culture.

- I went to the war museum and it presented such a specific narrative. So fascinating. For example, the Korean resistance is emphasized but the part where the US actually was the one to get rid of Japan's presence during WW2 was omitted. The Korean war was presented as an international move, the world united against North Korea, rather than a Cold War event.

- Seoul is interesting because some parts of it are very very friendly to pedestrians- the endless alleys, totally car-free. Then other parts are simply hostile to pedestrians. The massive highways with a rare bridge running through them. The biased stoplights. I've never been to a city that contains such a dissonance. 

- I've started to follow Korean news! I'm having such a good time, I, too, am becoming distressed about the new deal with Japan.

- Telling people you're Israeli/Jewish means you will experience:
a. someone giving you a hug and looking at you like you're holy
b. "whoaa, you're really smart right???"
c. someone following you around saying, "Jesus is the son of God, do you agree? do you agree? do you agree?". God forgive me, I eventually said yes, just to make him go away and I am annoyed that I felt that I had to do that. Harassing Jews for their faith is an honored Christian tradition, I suppose.

- Sitting outside and sketching, the sun peaking out of the clouds, fancy Itaewon people walk past me and man, this is everything I wanted.

- And of course, I adore Itaewon. Dammit, I'm a gay Jewish Middle Easterner, of course I adore Itaewon. I need to branch out more.

-Being told by a few people, "you've only been here for less than a month?? you look so confident and self-assured, when I first came, I was so confused" and realizing that maybe my standards for myself are too high. I won't make my best friends in a day in a foreign country. It's okay that I still feel like I'm the king of small talk, forever miles away from genuine conversations. 

- And generally, I need to stop comparing Korea to other countries. Seoul isn't going to have Berlin's vegan culture, Taipei's queer scene, Novosibirsk's cafe vibes or Jerusalem's spirit. Seoul is going to be different and I am going to miss out on Seoul's uniqueness if I keep playing a game of "Zagreb's Jewish community was better than this place".

- My courses are as stupid as back home. It's nice to see that my field is the same everywhere. I didn't realize taking a business ethics course would make me want to tear my hair out.

- Getting into political conversations, finally! Koreans are so conservative, it's fascinating. I have so many questions and I'm so happy to get answers, to hear more stories, to learn about a different political scene. And man, the China-Japan-Korea relations are so absurdly interesting, I want to know everything

- The thing about being a foreigner in Korea is that you will be celebrated for the basics. Saying thank you in Korean, bowing when necessary, moving the right way in the public transportation, people watch you and show gratitude when you don't fuck up. Stressful but when you get it right, it's a very nice feeling.

-I need to learn more Korean. My Korean now is simply a mosaic of the words people around me taught me. Vegetables (the guy on the plane), cute (the journalist in the meet-up), dog (her friend), how are you (that student at lunch), give me (another classmate), so many word-gifts

رواية أدبية بإمتياز ليست بالضرورة سيئة ولكن ليست من النوع الذي يجذبني كثيرًا. لا توجد تفاصيل كثيرة في القصة لأن أغلب عباراتها مشاعر وأحاسيس يتم ذكرها بعدّة عبارات مختلفة فربما لو تجمع أحداث القصة في مكان واحد لكانت الأحداث 2-3 صفحات فقط وبقية الصفحات أدبية. ستكون رائعة في رأيي لمحبي الأدب والروايات الأدبية بالتحديد

اشفق يا رب وشدّد جميع الأجنحة المتكسرّة

"And God said “Love Your Enemy,” and I obeyed him and loved myself..."

"η ψυχή που βλέπει μια φορά τη σκιά του Θεού, ποτέ δε θα φοβηθεί των δαιμόνων τα φαντάσματα.
Το μάτι που για μια φορά τον Ουρανό κοιτάζει, δε θα σφαλίσει απ' του κόσμου τις οδύνες."

"Θέλω να μ' αγαπάς , όπως αγαπά ο ποιητής τις θλιμμένες σκέψεις του."

"Τι είδους ανθρώπινη ύπαρξη είναι εκείνη που ποτέ δε ρούφηξε κρασί από το κύπελο της αγάπης;"

" η αγάπη είναι το μοναδικό λουλούδι που φυτρώνει και ανθίζει δίχως τη βοήθεια των εποχών"

" η αγάπη είναι η μοναδική ελευθερία στον κόσμο, γιατί εξυψώνει το πνεύμα και την πορεία του αδυνατούν ν' αλλάξουν τα φαινόμενα της φύσης κι οι νόμοι της ανθρωπότητας "