http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Middle East , Israel en-us Sun, 06 Dec 09 22:12:30 +0000 Sun, 06 Dec 09 22:12:30 +0000 We arrived early in the morning in the commercial Port city of Asdod Israel. The Israeli's customs had already boarded the ship the day before to do face to face interviews ours lasted 20 seconds I would guess with each visitor and give us our visa they didn't stamp our passport. They double checked our passport again as we left the ship we were one of the first to disembark to meet our tour http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/Jerusalem-District/Jerusalem/blog-455563.html NOT A BIRTHRIGHT AN OBLIGATIONCHARLIE WOODIt is quite proper to resist and attack a system but to resist and attack its author is tantamount to resisting and attacking oneself. M.K. Ghandi Sixmonths after leaving the Middle East nightmares keep my memories fresh. Growing up religion served as a supportive community and moral compass in a world that many times seems to be spinning in all direct http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/blog-454774.html Shalom from Haifa Ashdod Tel Aviv and Jerusalem ISRAELAs our ship approached the beautiful harbour of Haifa the thoughts of my very first visit to Israel came rushing backhellip 45 years ago the same harbourhellip.. I was on a student summer study program with Rabbi Eugene and Anita Weiner. Flash forward to 2009 and in a few hours we would be seeing Anita who now lives in Haifahelli http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/blog-453176.html We started off Friday by driving down to the Sea of Galilee and along its banks to Tiberius. Tiberius was a Roman town named after the Emperor Tiberius and it doesnrsquot actually have much to see. Mostly it was just driving through the town not walking because it was raining though we did get to see an old Roman wall. We stopped for a latte it seems we are going on a country wide latte ta http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Jericho/blog-453158.html The day began with breakfast. We passed on the pickled fish and salad but had excellent eggs potatoes fruit pastry and coffee. We met our guide Anat who met us exactly on time. Following a brief driving tour of Tel Aviv new hill we toured our first historic site. The Ayalon underground munitions factory was a secret ammunition factory which operated during the British Mandate. Durin http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/Tel-Aviv-District/Tel-Aviv/blog-452273.html It's official as of this morning I am staying in Haifa for a 2nd semester I'm quite excited though a bit scared too. I've been thinking about the decision all weekend and it was kind of driving me insane so I talked it out with a friend from home this morning and finally it hit me I do want to stay and study abroad some more. It's too early to come home already I'd have to leave in only 2 m http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/Haifa-District/Haifa/blog-451936.html A few years ago I wanted to go to a dangerous country and I kept thinking of only one Israel.At the time there were a lot of news regarding bombings in the area and the Palestinian issue...I was a childless daredevil with maybe a secret death wish so I decided to go there.When I first arrived I immediately realized that this country was like no other. I waited in line at the customs observing http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/blog-451723.html HERE to see all the other entries you missed. Happy readingBefore Matti left us we enjoyed one last big dinner with the extended Shalev family at Kibbutz Givat Chaim. Matti was born and raised on this kibbutz and his parents were among the first pioneers to settle here back in the 1920's. As the sun set and we welcomed Shabbat we paid tribute to his parents and grandparents who are al http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/blog-451035.html A wise guy aka Gai Elkin once told me Israel is a small country surrounded by enemies. This was glaringly visible on our trip to the Quneitra Tatzpit or lookout point. It was a steady feature throughout the trip to stop for tatzpit moments overlooking cities religious sites valleys wadis and various other geopolitical and natural vistas.At the edge of the Golan heights we enjoyed a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/blog-451033.html You scream I scream we all scream for hummus kabobs and falafel Rivka Drora's sister hosted us for two unforgettable meals including Hamin. It's a slow cooked dish of meat wrapped in cabbage vegetables and rice wrapped in grape leaves hard boiled eggs zucchini...you name it It's my favorite and takes a lot of effort to make as each bite size piece is hand wrapped. So big thanks to Ri http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/blog-451020.html Our first day in Jerusalem started with what we thought would be an innocent run with Matti. I thought he's twice my age...how fast can he really run Think no more folks we ran on and off for 3 hours I took up running 10 days before going to Israel and could not believe that Matti who is not a regular runner gave us the running tour of Jerusalem. We saw all the important buildings in town http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/blog-450966.html I'm still studying alot studying hard every day.Next week I have a midterm and today I had a presentation. My presentation was about my travels to Tanzania and what I did there and it went very wellI've also started printing out lyrics and practicing singing some hebrew songs. My favourite artist so far is Idan Raichel his music is beautiful and the lyrics are not to difficult. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/Haifa-District/blog-450444.html Does Israel have a fall If we're thinking of forests of red and gold and nature winding down to a quiet dormancynot really.Fall in Israel is much more complex. There is an ending a closing as we bring in the last of the year's harvestthe grapes figs pomegranates and dates that ripened during the summer. Sukkot the Feast of Tabernacles which comes in September or October is the Holiday http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/blog-448522.html Summary of what I have been up to the last couple of weeks I went to a beautiful beach half an hour drive south from here. It was a privat beach in a bay with clear blue water. Very nice. Me and Roee went on a daytrip to the beautiful old city Acco. We walked through the streets of Acco went shopping in the market and ate hummus at Hummus Zaid which is known as the best hummusplace in Israel. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/Haifa-District/Haifa/blog-448408.html Before we had fully recovered from our weekandahalflong adventure in Egypt we had to start classes. I was still hurting from my stomach bug so I skipped orientation on Sunday and slept a ridiculous amount so relieved to be back. It was very comforting to be back at school with my own bed my own shower and my own space. Oh and lots of my own laundry to do but that had to wait until Tuesd http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/Haifa-District/Haifa/blog-447894.html I'm sure better scribes than I have taken up this topic but so what What is the best Felafel Where is it Who makes it There are a number of high priced Felafel joints in TelAviv area they proffer a large selction of snobbish toppings and fry them is special oil. But so far for my money a mere 7 shekels Abu Ali in Jerusalem on Salah ha Din street has the best so far. They are fresh n http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/Jerusalem-District/Jerusalem/blog-447831.html Jerusalem has forgotten that we are a month into autumn it has been sweltering all week I have enough reading to do that I could sit and study all day but there is so much going on I had to venture out to sample ideas and food.LivingThis week the President of Israel Shimon Peres hosted an international conference bringing together thinkers from all over the world to explore new ideas and http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/Jerusalem-District/Jerusalem/blog-447462.html Thursday 917Be'er Sheva Bedouin MarketNaya was in school again today so we were off early to Be'er Sheva a city in the north Negev. Once a week there is a large market mainly for the local Bedouin people. It is like a giant flea market with the Dollar Tree as part of it. So much junk in our eyes also lots of clothes jeans traditional pants robes and dresses as well as modern clothes http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/South-District/Be-er-Sheva/blog-447351.html Tuesday 915Today we started a bit late but set out for Jaffa and Tel Aviv about 10. Jaffa is an ancient port city on the coast on the southern side of Tel Aviv. It's history goes back 4000 years to the Egyptians. It is beautiful and old and preserved wonderfully. The artistic section is great for shopping and I bought some beautiful earrings handmade by an Israeli artist in the Yemenite st http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/North-District/Golan/blog-447347.html This may seem a macabre choice for my blog post on the Travelujah site why choose a subject closely associated with death but in fact ossuaries are also intimately associated with life particularly life in Jerusalem of the first century CE.For those who don't know or need to be refreshed during a very brief period in Jerusalem's history Jews engaged in an expensive laborious prolonged a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/Jerusalem-District/Jerusalem/blog-447312.html