Blogs from Israel, Middle East - page 191

The idea is gaining power and strength, I feel as focus as ever and waiting for the future to come and show me what it got for me. On the weekend we are going to be in Nazareth to see, feel and meet some people. This is going to be my fourth time in the city since I got back and so far it was better then I could expect. Usually I'm doing plans in my head based on thought, feelings and what I heard. Most of the time the facts and the true are far from the plan as Israel is from NZ. This time everything is proving right and beyond my expectation. For example, there is one Christian hostel in Nazareth. They are fully booked for month and a half from now. They got ... read more

Wednesday. Up early again. Today we move on to Jerusalem. Suitcases outside the door at 7 am, down to breakfast. And everyone made it to the bus at 8 am and we’re off! Our first stop was at the Kinneret Cemetery (just south of Lake Kinneret, also known as the Sea of Galilee.) Many early Zionist pioneers are buried in this cemetery - including the poetess Rachel. She was so famous that she is know simply by her first name. Zvi, our guide, talked about the early pioneers who prided themselves on their physical labors, and had no room for those who could not handle the rigors of that rough life. Rachel was one of those who loved the land and the work, but could not physically match up. She had to leave and go to ... read more

Mon. Feb. 21 Slept through the night - so jet lag must be fading finally. Had "toast" for breakfast - in Isreal that means cheese between two pieces of bread, then pressed and cooked, like a panini sandwich back in the U.S. Yummy. With tomato, cucumber and avocado salad on the side. A little after 8 am Dan (my brother) driove me out to the main road from Yahel to meet the tour bus bringing our group back up from Kibbutz Lotan where they spent the night. In general, they found the accomodations spartan. No accolades. Enough said. So we headed north from the Arava (the edge of the Negev along the border with Jordan) and drove up to the Dead Sea area. Went past Har S'dom (Mount Sodom) which is a salt mountain (brown on ... read more

Shalom! So last night I finished my diary by telling you about our morning service on the beach. Well, we then met back at the hotel with Zvi, our tour guide/educator, and headed out on the bus for a tour of Tel Aviv. First stop was Rabin Square where we viewed the memorial to Itzhak Rabin z"l, the prime minister assassinated following a peace rally just a few years ago. So sad. We then headed out to the Ayalon Institute: the site of the clandestine operation just prior to the War of Independence in 1948. The secret operation was a munitions factory hidden in two huge rooms underground beneath the laundry and bakery of a kibbutz. Practically under the noses of the British, young Jews worked for two years making bullets for the war they expected ... read more

Everything is ready I don't have an apartment anymore - I moved everything today. It's a funny feeling that I have no apartment key on my key chain. Well, from tomorrow I won't have a key chain anymore. The last two days were so unbelievably hard and tiring. But now it's behind me. So this is my last post from Tel Aviv Kisses kisses kisses to all my family and friends, those that I managed to see and those that I missed (my lousy flu last week :-( Try to have fun here too (and in Europe & USA, wherever you are)... See you in my next post - hopefully from Hong Kong. ... read more