Blogs from Israel, Middle East - page 156

Saturday, August 18 This city knows how to do Shabbat - it’s amazing how the streets which are normally bustling become so quiet on the Sabbath. In the Shabbat spirit, we also took it easy in the morning. It was nice to have some time to recharge. In the afternoon we took an optional walking tour of the Christian quarter of the old city, which was quite fascinating. We followed the path of Jesus’ last day up to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus was crucified. Although it is not part of our heritage, the tour was very interesting and we learned a lot. Once the sun set, the city sprung to life. After dinner we roamed the many shops on Ben-Yehuda Street along with the throngs of young Israelis cruising the streets. ... read more

Today was a day of adventure. We started with a fun and bumpy 2 hour jeep ride through the Golan Heights, basically a barren mountain range. It was particularly interesting to travel into the area that was held by the Syrians until the 6-day war in 1967. Overlooking the Israeli settlements in the green valley below, we could really understand the strategic importance of the Golan Heights, especially considering we could see Lebanon on the other side of the valley. Next we traveled to the Mystical city of Safed, one of the 4 holy cities according to tradition and the birthplace of Kabbalah.. Kabbalah is a mystical branch of Judaism (recently made famous by Madonna). We strolled through the narrow, cobblestone streets, visited two ancient synagogues, and shopped at the local artisan workshops - no Madonna ... read more

Our tour started in earnest today and it was packed with interesting sights. The first stop was Jaffa, a 4000 year old port city. This ancient city was the major entry point into the region and is mentioned in the bible (e.g.., in the Jonah story). Now it is an artisan community with many nice shops. Unfortunately for Fran and fortunately for Tom, we didn’t have too much time to explore them. The day then centered around Israel’s statehood. The next stop was the Independence Hall where David Ben Gurion declared Israel’s independence in 1948 with three swings of the gavel. And then we moved on to the Palmach Museum - a multi-media 3-D interactive museum, depicting the lives of the Palmach underground male and female soldiers that smuggled Jewish immigrants from Europe into Israel in ... read more

Our flight to the Holy Land was uneventful. We arrived safe, excited, hungry and tired. Our hotel is right on the beach, our rooms looking out at the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. The weather is warm and the air smells like the sea. It is hard not to feel emotional about being in such a special place. Deb (Tom’s sister) arrived in the early evening. It was great to see her! We ended our first evening in Israel with dinner together by the sea, sampling typical Mediterranean food served by a very cute waiter….. From Deb (Tom's Sister): The flight went without a hitch. El Al reminds me of the good service provided by airlines from days gone by. It is v.exciting to be here….. especially being with Tom, Fran, Marisa, Josh. ... read more

Hey family and friends! Sorry that this is the first entry it has been just over two weeks and it has been a whirlwind. I love it here. The University is great, though it will change dramatically come september, it is emptying out now because all of the israelis are finishing their exams and moving out so within a week it will be mainly only the overseas students ), Shay (Shy), and Sequi (seg-ee). Unlike the majority of the school and the country all three are getting their degrees before their mandatory service in the Army. They get to do this because they do not want to be fighters, they want to be engineers. A cool part of the army here is you are given a choice, so even though it is hard and a huge ... read more