Advertisement
Published: July 29th 2008
Sitting in a cave like cafe downstairs from our hostel in the old part (inside the walled city) of Jerusalem. It'
s amazing here; Muslim, Jewish and Christian pilgrims coexist but you can tell they don't really care for eachother. The people watching, to say the least, is interesting. We went to the Western Wall this afternoon and walked so much our legs are tired. Yesterday we went to the Sea of Galilee and swam in the lake that Jesus walked on.
We've been here a week now! I can hardly believe it.
Being a shiksa from California, I can say that an obvious sign of being in Israel are the bomb shelters (every few blocks there are underground buildings, in apartment buildings and hotels there is a bomb room near the elevator shaft) and scars of terrorism (the cable car shut down after it had a direct hit, as did the building on the corner). I feel very safe here, yet, when we go into a mall or a movie theatre (I watched a movie in Hebrew and understood what was going on!) the security guards (with real guns, not like the rent-a-cops at home) look in the
trunk of the car and inside your purse. Young adults in the army walk the streets carrying guns. It's something I've never experienced before, and I'm very aware of my sheltered American life.
On another note, Asaf and I have had a great time noticing all of the Ethiopian Jews in Israel. He said he didn't notice them as much on previous visits, but since we were in Ethiopia in December, and spent time in the Falasha village (where the Ethiopian Jews were airlifted out in the early 1980's to Israel), it's something we are noticing all over. There are neighborhoods and clusters of them working in shops (one was even working at Nadav & Sharon's wedding) all over Israel. Asaf is kicking himself that he didn't bring a wallet full of birr (currency) to pass out to them.
A few nights ago a group of us got together on the beach in Tel Aviv. It was very hot during the day, so people stay out late at night when it cools down. There are cafes on the sand up and down the beach that serve beer and you can smoke a hooka. We sat with our feet
in the sand, with the waves crashing a few feet away, sipping on drinks and smoking. It was a perfect evening.
Our home base has been Asaf's parents apartment in Haifa, in northern Israel. It's been perfect for us. His aunt Ilana stocked it with food and Asaf's favorite-chocolate milk in a bag. You can buy milk in a plastic bag here; it's very cute. The other night there was an orange gecko crawling in the hallway (outside hallway, not in the apt), reminded me of the gecko I saw in Kenya. Anyway, we rented a car and have been driving all over the place. Gas is about $9 a gallon here and we've been refilling the gas tank almost every day!
Ouch, internet cafes and time limits...I must sign off for now.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.421s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 8; qc: 56; dbt: 0.1602s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Suzanne
non-member comment
sounds AMAZING!!!
Guys, your trip sounds amazing thus far, and is giving me itchy feet just reading! continue to have an amazing time and I look forward to hearing more of your adventures! love Su xx