I came to Israel in 1997. It was a great time, there was a certain peace time lightness in the country. In Tel Aviv we all worked in TV and studied.

I made some great friends in those first years, I had a 'hevre' (a group I hung out with) and we all inhabited the streets between Kikar Masarik and Shenkin (I lived in King George opposite a 24 hour kiosk, it was before AMPM).

The headquarters of the 'hevre' was Hashmonaim. Long nights we spent talking and smoking, listening to music and falling in love. We went to wild parties and of course everyone owned a dog or a cat. We were 20 people or more who's every aspect of life intertwined. I myself went out with one of the guys in Hashmonaim who everyone called Joe (a name he got while traveling through Thailand, or India I can't remember which).

It was the best time of my life, no worries, no one talked about their kids. Art, drugs and beautiful people surrounded me.

After a few years, the group all went their separate ways, taken away by real life, work or a desire to leave the city. And things were never the same. Even Joe went back to his real name.