Blogs from Israel, Middle East - page 136

Last night we had a nice Shabbat meal of fish and vegetables bought at the local market. The fish was a red trout from Gallilee and a sea breem from Eliat, near Egypt, both wild caught. Susan went for a walk and found she could easily walk to the Jaffa gate in only 15 minutes from the apt., she went by herself, I stayed home and took a nap before starting dinner. Our visit to the Shrine of the Book was interesting. They have an ancient portion of the book of Isaiah on display as well as artifacts dating back to the temple period. Today we are resting according to the tradition of Shabbat or Sabbath which is observed from sundown on Fridays to sundown on Saturday. Since almost no public transportation or private cars operate ... read more

Shalom from Jerusalem!! We had a long day yesterday. After light breakfast we set out to the old city. It took us a while since we were not familiar with the bus routes and all but made it to the Jaffa Gate entrance eventually.It was around noon and I wanted to be able to call home and let you know to log on the www.thekotel.org so you could see and hear us, but we have yet to figure out how to call out with our cel phones. Each time we try we get some recorded message in Hebrew that we cannot understand, so be patient, when we learn what that message is we might be able to call next time. Visiting the old city was really interesting, it was quite hot and humid (I thought Israel ... read more

Shalom friends from Israel!!!!! We made it just fine, just got back from making a quick bus trip down to Jaffa, we couldn't find anything worth reporting so had a quick bite in a shwarma shop and took the taxi back to the hostel. We are turning in soon to get some really needed sleep!! Tomorrow we head out to Jerusalem to meet Bridgette and get aquainted with our new nighbourhood. Nite and Shalom!... read more

Hi, everyone!! Hope this note finds you all well and enjoying the summer. It feels strange for me not to be thinking about the upcoming holiday as I would usually do - have something to do with it not really being celebrated here?? Anyway, enjoy the long weekend and be safe... Tuesday June 24, 2008 I think today’s theme is “lost.” No, not the TV series, but the way this day turned out in so many ways. At the peshat (Hebrew for “surface”) level, I got lost several times roaming the streets. And this time, I wasn’t happy about doing so! Put me in the Old City and I’m happy to get lost, but not where I went today. I decided to check out the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim where one is transposed back in ... read more

Over the past few days, we have visited the Old Port of Jaffa/Tel Aviv, done some swimming in the warm, clean waters of the Mediterranean Sea and learned the pitfalls of asking for directions on the streets of Israel's major cities. We also visited with some friends in Nes Ziona, the Himmelhoch's. They welcomed us with a grand feast of meat, vegetables and fruit. David really liked the cake. The children and grandchildren were there as well and got to speak the "universal language" of video games with Micah, Jonah and David. Today, would took a very informative driving tour around western Jerusalem. We went to Yad Vashem and got some very moving description of the sculptures and some of the accessible exhibits. David is too young to go into the historical section with the more ... read more