This painting is a collage of illustrations with elements of Israel's nature and culture, my sketches, my first word lists for learning the language, and excerpts from Nikolai Gogol's book in Hebrew. It shows my personal journey of assimilation in a new place, from the simplest to the most difficult stages.
In the center of the painting is a sign I created with the help of linocut. It is a hamsa, a palm, a symbol of openness. They say that in a new place a person should "become a child again", learn everything, absorb and study the surrounding world. The five fingers here are in the form of female figures representing the journey of creating a child (waiting, pregnancy, birth, nurturing and letting go). These five symbols also represent the five senses (sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch) that a person must incorporate as a child to understand the new world around them and become part of it.