Blogs from Israel, Middle East - page 187

• "Your dream has come true" • "Many people wanted to do the same" • "Aren't you afraid?" • "How do you gone to heat during the winter" • "You need to fix/do/paint/…" They are all wrong. My dream is just to enjoy my life, that they would be interesting and that I will exploit all the resource I got in me. For now I found all those in building the Inn and bringing tourist into the old city of Nazareth. When there will be 10 more guesthouses in the Old City, I'm not sure if I'll be around… There is nothing to fear but fear himself, forgot who said that but as true as ever. It's demanding constant work to keep the fear aside but it's something that one can deal with if he decides ... read more

Regardless of what is happening now in Israel I still think it's one of the most amazing places full of culture and special places. The Old City is such a mix of people living side by side and the buildings are also fascinating. I spent a couple of days near Qumran as well and I found this place has a real vibrant energy and the views towards the mountains/hills are breathtaking. ... read more

Hello all! After all of our orientations, tours, and introductions, the semester officially began Sunday. I have registered for Hebrew, Modern Standard Arabic, Rabbinic Literature, and Contemporary Israeli History and Society. I have the option to change my schedule around during the next week, but after going through almost a week of classes, I find myself very satisfied and excited. My Hebrew class is intense and very challenging. It meets eight hours per week, but the teacher seems great. Rabbinic Literature is dynamic and has an extra two hour lab section in addition to the regular course in which we work through texts in pairs. Contemporary Israeli History and Society starts off as being not so contemporary at all and we went over two thousand years back into history during the first class. The teacher is ... read more

Getting out of Jordan required a 1 pound departure tax. Why can't they add that to the visa? After all everyone is going to leave eventually. The border posts between Jordan and Israel are a few meters apart. Territory is king here for access for the Red sea. Leaving Jordan it was a friendly "Thanks for your visit, hope to see you again" from the guard. And then the Israeli female guard said "Hello. Welcome to Israel. Enjoy your stay Mr. Couch" Almost right. Next was Israeli customs control, where another female officer took me aside and asked me all sorts of questions. My travels, family, job(!), destinations, money, education, reasons for coming and roll on deodorant were discussed. It could have been a speed dating evening, except she didn't tell me anything about her, a ... read more

Today has been yet another day jam-packed with new people and places. We visited the Bahai Gardens, which were absolutely amazing and a mosque of the Ahmediyyan sect of Islam. We ate lunch at a nice restaurant and continued from there to the Leo Baeck Education Center where I will be spending a lot of time this year. Leo Baeck houses a pre-school, kindergarten, junior high, and high school along with a synagogue, gym, swimming pool, library, meeting rooms, offices, gardens, and all sorts of other imporant parts of the community. Tonight is unscheduled and many of us are planning on leaving campus to explore the city just a bit. It should be a fun!... read more