Independence, Assassanation, Beets, Camels, and Bedouins

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We woke up early this morning to get a start on the day in Tel Aviv. We had only a few hours of sleep after a night out on town in the heart of Tel Aviv. My group pushed through the sleep deprevation and went to view the Indenpendence Hall where David Ben-Gurion proclaimed Israel's independence in 1948. After visiting Independence Hall we travel to Rabin square where during a peace rally the Prime Minister of Israel Yitzak Rabbin was assassinated by an Israeli. There is a memorial for the Prime Minister and by the Memorial is markers on the ground where the Prime Minister, the Killer, and the body guards where standing and looking. Its amazing that a man could shoot the Prime Minister when there was six body guards standing around him. Afterwards we enjoyed a little lunch and shopping in Tel Aviv.

Just on the outside of Tel Aviv in the old city of Jaffa. Jaffa was a port city long before there was ever the modern city of Tel Aviv. In fact it was an Arab coastal city where many of the important people of Israel's history came ashore. It is an old type area with art shops and a market or bazaar located in it where you can purchase standard tourist items. I enjoyed bargaining for a small backgammon board where I got the man to bargain from 75 shekels to 50 shekels. It was fun game to bargain down the price. With an amazing time in Tel Aviv and Jaffa we moved on to the desert.

Our group travel south to the desert. In fact half of Israel is considered desert. On the way down our group stopped at a farm to participate in a community project to provide food for needy families. Our group task was to pick and collect beets. We went about that for 45 minutes picking beets as fast as we can. In the end I had beet juice stain on my white shirt (not a smart wardrobe choice) and we had picked 2 1/2 tons of beets for the needy.

Finally we make it down south to the Negev desert and the dead sea area. We arrived at our bedouin camp in the middle of the desert along with several other tour buses. Upon arriving we escourted to an area in order to ride camels. I have to say that camels are awesome animals and that the were fun to ride in the desert. If you have never rode a camel it is exciting just to get on one. You mount the beasts while they are sitting and when the camel master asked it to rise it goes up in an triple jerk motion and you better hold on tight. After camel riding we were treated to bedouins tea, music, and a traditional meal while seated in a tent on mats. Now the only thing I have to say is that this is not the way bedouin live any more. Most bedouin live in either shacks or houses. The camp we were in was in the middle of the desert but it had full bathrooms, showers, and electric lighting. You can almost say this was the Disney Bedouin experience. There was a pub where our groups enjoyed some cold drinks, listening to techno bedouin music, and lounging on futon mats. I have to say it was a relaxing and enjoyable night. The sky outside and clear and the heat of the day subsided and a cold night came out with the stars. Our groups was shown our tent which had no side and we slept for a few hours in the desert before we embarked on our next adventure.

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Photos

Smile
Camels at the Bedouin Camp.

Bedouin Music
I was helping create percussion with the coffee grinder

The Desert
If you look at the left part of the picture, our Bedouin camp is that patch of Green.

Comments

[anglepie]

Camels
Loved the camel picture , he is quite photogenic. That Bedouin tent sounded like my kind of tent. Take care as always Mom