Libyan Twilight by Raphael Luzon

Author:Raphael Luzon [Luzon, Raphael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781850772989
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

When I filled in the documents needed for my emigration to Israel, my heart was filled with emotion and my hands were trembling while signing the papers. I realised that I was approaching an untold old dream. The preparations were long and tiring, but on a spring evening my friends and relatives arrived at our home to say goodbye to us. The next morning Gaia and I left. In Israel we met my grandmother Urida, who had moved there a few years before, and many of my cousins. We were not left alone; I was overcome with a strange sense of excitement, almost euphoria, tempered by a veil of sadness over this special joyful moment. We started a new life, but twenty-eight years of my life spent in Rome had come to an end.

We arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport. Along with other immigrants, we were led to a small room to fill in the forms. ‘When will we receive identity cards?’ was the first thing I asked the clerk who helped us.

‘Soon,’ he responded dryly, giving me my first lesson in Israeli bluntness. Outside the airport we found our relatives waiting for us. They welcomed us with applause, hugs and kisses. We travelled to Bat Yam, where we rented a flat so small that it was soon full up with our belongings alone. Being tired, we slept on our new beds. The next morning at dawn I woke up and realised that I was in Israel. I in a state of euphoria, where every single gesture of mine seemed like a miracle. I went out to buy milk and rejoiced at the fact that I was buying milk in Israel; people in the street said ‘hello’ to me and I smiled with happiness as the word was addressed to me in Hebrew; I walked the streets with a halo of satisfaction, as if I had achieved enlightenment.

The euphoria only lasted for about two weeks. I realised that soon I must find a job to ensure a dignified life for myself and for my daughter, and I was confident. Before travelling to Israel, I met many influential people at the embassy, and they had all promised me that they would not hesitate to help me once I arrived; that, in fact, it would be their pleasure. I soon discovered that no one wanted to, or maybe no one could, help me in that regard. All my requests for referrals were met with silence. Eventually, reality took over and the euphoria was slowly replaced by a deep bitterness and a sense of betrayal.

Finally, thanks to a friend of my mother, I was given a post as director in a nursing home. Though it was a simple job, for a year and a half I invested all my efforts into making a better life for the residents. I did not consider them as people battling for their life or people to be pitied. Instead these people were rich with experience and history, people from whom I could learn something.

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