Hello there! I seem to be one city behind on this series of entries, writing about Tzfat now as I prepare to leave Tiberias. It was really a unique weekend. Met some great people, learned some fascinating things, and had a wonderful time.
I arrived Thursday afternoon, with enough time to get settled and rest up before dinner and the first event at Ascent for the Secret of Joy Shabbat Seminar. As I was hiking up the stairs, an American guy around my age with a full beard and Chadissic look stopped me to introduce himself, Moyshe. He seemed very nice, but at first I was pretty scared. Was this the type of person that signed up for the weekend? If so, I'm a bit behind on my Jewish studies and a bit out of place. Turns out he is living and working in Tzfat for the past few months, and a volunteer for Seminar weekends at Ascent. Phew. I settled into room 28, chatted with him on the beautiful balcony for a few, and waited for other guests to arrive. Before dinner, I met a group of 4 American boys at Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Ashley from LA (who would become my roommate when they realized they had assigned me the wrong room) and 2 girls from Australia Esther and Carmella. And Reuben. How can I forget him? And older man from Mexico City spending the weekend before Sarel, an army volunteer program (with Ricci by the way). They served various salads and stuffed peppers for dinner. Nice to have meals included for a change, even if they are just on paper plates. After dinner was the first lecture, "Think Good and It Will Be Good" with Rabbi Tilles. He shared stories with us relating to the theme, explained some basic Kaballah principles, and intorduced us to the weekend. It was intereting, but I was tired. Next on the agenda was a Forbrengen, like a group discussion/chat over snacks, with Big Mo at 10:30. We felt kind of bad, but the girls left early because we didn't know any of the songs and were falling asleep in the plates of Bamba. Time for a good nights sleep before a big day.
Breakfast Friday was at 8:30. Somehow I made it down in time! This was followed by another lecture entitled "Troubled Waters". Similar to basically every class this weekend, they talked about the week's portion instead of the theme, but that was ok. It was Ki Tissa, my Bat Mitzvah portion from 10 years ago, so I really felt connected and learned a lot. It's a juicy parsha, 10 Commandments broken, Golden Calf, lots to talk about. After the lecture was. as the schedule noted, a "spiritual hike in the Galilee", which took us from just outside to Tzfat to Rosh Pinna, the same town where Mom and Dad stayed during their visit. The woman, Chaya, was a little cold at first, telling us we had to pay for the ride back if we wanted to hike, but she loosened up and it turned out to be very nice. The trail was basically downhill, and despite the moment where I went down and tore my knee open, had a good time. She told us about all kinds of plants we were seeing and we took a nice break to eat the sandwiches they packed us next to a cute little stream. When we got to Rosh Pinna we had the option of staying to walk around the town a bit or heading back to get ready for Shabbat. I decided to head back so I could get a shower in, and since only 2 of us were coming at the time we got a ride with Chaya and her kids.
After my shower, the men left for Ari's Mikveh and the girls to the old cemetary to see the famous grave sites. I was the only girl who went, so they basically just dropped me off there. It would have been fine, except I didn't really know what I was looking for so I wandered through the graveyard watching people pray. Then I hiked back up tons of stairs and walked up a hill back to Ascent. So much for my shower... Rinsed off, got dressed in my Shabbat finest (skirt, elbows covered, the whole shebang), and went down to the talk on Shabbat, Tzfat, and Kaballah with Rabbi Leiter, the one who started Ascent 20 something years ago. After that candle lighting, where Devora helped make sure Ashley and I understood all the steps and traditions. Devora would turn out to be a true guiding light throughout the weekend. Great energy, open and friendly, really made me feel welcome in a place I wasn't sure I belonged. We lit with several other women and children who had come for the weekend with their families, then had Kaballat Shabbat on the roof and got our placements for the evening meal. Ashley and I were assigned together to the Tornek's house, an older couple, made Aliyah 20 or so years ago. Chana used to work as a secretary at Ascent, but unfortunately had a stroke a few years back and was currently in a wheel chair. She had trouble speaking, but was a bright spirit and a pleaure to get to know. As she told us about her children back in the US she began crying several times. When we sat down to dinner, her husband dutifully served, cleared, washed, did all the household duties, as we joked with her he was copying her on. We had a course of salads, then motzo ball soup, then kishke and chicken and rice, and we ate until we were stuffed. We talked about them finding Kaballah and Chabad, their former life on a farm in Colorado, our spiritual problems, advice, and tons more. We didn't leave the table until midnight, missing the evenings Forbrengen completely. That's ok, we had one of our own. Very inspiring couple, and just tugs the heartstrings to see him take care of her as he did. Truly an incredible Shabbat experience already. We got back to Ascent and the girls stayed up chatting until probably 2. Oops.
Set an alarm to make it to breakfast and services on Saturday, as did Ashley, but both of us opted to snooze and sleep through instead. It was a good choice, I really needed it. Made it to kiddush at noon, a talk with Moyshe about bringing the Messiah with Joy and again Ki Tissa, then lunch. After lunch the library was open and it was time for study and relaxing, and several people recommended my some Kaballah books on Education. Really interesting reads actually, and let to some great discussions with Devora. I told her what it is that I do, and it turns out they have been thinking about starting and artsand theatre program at Ascent. They all really wanted to hear my ideas and I told them I would love to be a bouncing off point as they bein the planning. Could be a cool thing to be a part of. She explained that the word for faith (amuna) and for art (amanut) come from the same root. I really like that.
At 5 we left for a tour of Tzfat, which I must say looks very different with all the shops closed and no tourists wondering around. In my Shabbt outfit I blended right in. The tour was followed by musical Havdalah on the roof with a huge group of soldiers also staying there for the weekend, and several families with children. We sang and danced and I played with the babies as we greeted the week. Again, really fun and exciting change of pace for me.
Had some more time to relax before dinner, and a Rabbi came to do personal appointments in the library to read our personal Torah codes. Basically they find your Hebrew name in the portion from the week you were born, and read your fortune from the words the letters are in. My portion is when the Jews cross through the parted sea and turn to see the Egyptians following them and cry out. He told me what the different analyses were for te part of the story, and things they said abou tme like I am good at arranging things and doing puzzles, etc. It was pretty cool. He gave a little printout of the portion and where my name was found. After that at around 10 we had a meal all together, eating and sharing stories, and then headed to bed. Looking back already it was an awesome weekend adventure.
On Sunday morning I woke up for the last talk, about the Tanya, the atomic bomb of Judaism, and then headed out on my own to explore Tzfat a bit before heading out. I went to the artist market, bought cheese from a little factory, and just wandered through the old synagogues. Had a picnic outside, reading my book and eating my cheese and pita, then came back to say goodbye before going on my way. Devora thanked me in advance for her help, saying I was sent there to help them, and gave me a candlestick to keep the ideas of Ascent with me. These people do wonderful things and the whole thing was really an inspiration.
I have to go, I have been hogging the computer for a while, but I'll be back soon to write about Tiberias! Can't believe I'm saying this, but see you Saturday!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Haifa - Baha'i, Beaches, and Balkan Beat Box
Hi! Writing you from Ascent institute in Tzfat. Wanted to check in about my solo adventures up North. I am loving it so far. Seen Haifa and Tzfat. Two cities that could not be more different and an excellent start to my final adventures.
I left Hod HaSharon for Haifa Tuesday morning. Started off on a good note when the driver gave me a student discount. I got off at Hof HaCarmel and took a local bus to the Port Inn. Right off the bat it ranked up there as one of the better hostels I've stayed in. The lady at the desk let me check in super fast and held my backpack for me so I could run to make the English speaking tour of the Baha'i Gardens at noon. I took the Carmelit, the only subway in Israel, walked down the gorgeous Luis Promonade to the top of the gardens, and made it just in time. The gardens themselves were beautiful, and I had seen them a few times before, but this time having someone explain more about what they actually meant really helped. Unfortunately though, the Shrine of the Bab, the central point on the hill of garden tiers, was covered for construction and not a gleaming dome as it usually is. Oh well. I watched a movie about the Baha'i faith and it was quite fascinating. They pray towards Akko as Jews do toward Jerusalem. The faith is based on the idea of community and diversity and a blend of science and religion and peace and all those good things. There were a ton of Baha'is on pilgrimage staying in my hostel as well and hearing their stories was really quite cool. More on that later.
After the gardens I made my way to a sculpture garden I had read about it my book. The plan was to get fod and sit and eat in the garden, but I didn't find any food on the way. In fact I walked uphill and only got hungirer, so I cut the garden walk short and went to get food. Walked back down the long hill and wandered a bit looking for a bite. I somehow ended up back at the hostel, so I got 10 shekel falafel (including drink) and went back to finish checking in and get settled in the room. I was in a dorm with with about 10 beds. Hadn't met any roommates yet so I headed back out with the plan of catching an art museum. The sign outside of the Chagall House, the free art gallery I wanted to make my first stop, said that it opened again at 4. I was a bit early so I wandered around the area a bit. I found a childrens art center and walked around a bit, looking at the cute projects and art on the walls. When it was almost 4 I went back to the other house, and waited. When it was 5 after 4 and the door hadn't opened, I knocked. Nothing. I looked again at the sign and read, in Hebrew, what I am pretty sure said open 8-1 and 4-7 everyday. Except Tuesday. Oops. Even Frommers lies sometimes. So after wasting a bit of time, I went back on my way.
I walked down Hertzl street, shopping strip, towards Nordauy street, a pedestrian walkway I thought would resemble Ben Yehuda in Jerusalem. As the theme of the day, it wasn't quite what I expected, pretty barren, so I finished up Hertzl street and stumbled upon the Haifa Theatre. I would. Nothing was playing that night, but I got a peek. Since it was Haifa, I had to pop by the port on my way back to the hostel for the night. I got in trouble for taking pictures. (Apparently its treated like a border crossing). Oops again. When I got back top my hostel, I came down to the communal rooms, kitchen and tv room, to explore and see what was going on. There was a family from France, Baha'i Pilgrims, with the cutest little mulatto kids. The boy and I had a brief "laser fight" with our hands, but I couldn't really talk to him since I don't exactly speak French. I went to Abu Yosef, an Arab place, for dinner, and had kubbe and a variety of salads. When I got back I met an older women in my hostel room. She was a bit strange. She had just made Aliyah to be with her daughter who had been living in Israel for 5 years, but didn't know the term Aliyah, nor had she ever been to Israel before. She was entertaining, but talked a lot, and was a bit off. Oh well, she was a decent bunkmate. Another girl in my room, Rosa, was from Peru and didn't speak English. Baha'i. Went downstairs again to see who else was around, and found some American boys my age, Steven and Henry, and spent the rest of the night in the courtyard with them and some others with a beer talking travels. This is why I love hostels. We shared stories of our adventures and those to come. The hostel was a great environment to meet people, and really a fun place. I would recommend it to any solo traveler. A Baha'i girl from Kosovo told us her story, and another from Germany as well. Really cool place.
I convinces Steven to wake up early and come with me in the morning. Henry wanted to sleep, but the 2 of us headed to Elijah's cave bright and early. We took a bus, a bit too far, but found the stairs without too much trouble. Debating on the way what the cave would actually look like, neither of us got it right. the cave where Elijah supposedly hid out was now considered a holy place, and was actually transformed into a little shul. We walked in without really realizing that, onto the women's side none the less. Hope we didn't offend anyone. I wish Frommer's did a better job of telling me what to expect. The cable car that should have been able to take us from there to the monestary on top of the mountain wasn't running, so we asked a man if there was another option. He said we could take the stairs. I think he told us it would take 15 minute so we would do it, but it took a bit more than that. We found another guy we recognized from our hostel, from Poland, and took him with us. Not too bad, but I worked up a sweat. We basically climbed a mountain though. That's my second time in a week! The church at the top was pretty, but not all that spectacular. Took some pictures, then decided to walk back to the hostel.
Partway back we seperated and said our goodbyes, him to go back to the hostel and check out, me to try again for the art museum. This time the door to the Chagall House was open, so I walked in. I was quickly shooed out by a woman saying they were changing the gallery and it was closed. Why they didn't do this on Tuesday afternoon when it was really closed I don't know, but needless to say I never got further than the doorway. Decided to just go to the real art museum not too far away. I was only saving this one for second in case I was "arted out" after one so I could save the entrance fee. Turns out though, somehow, there was no one at the desk when I walked in, and no one ever stopped me for a ticket. So it was free anyways. Thanks Haifa! The museum was pretty small, but had some really interesting stuff. A whole floor of various people's collections, stamps, crests, Holocaust memorabilia bought on eBay, stuffed animals, basically whatever you can imagine collecting. A series of shopping carts photography, a flower photo collage, video art. Really my kind of thing, rather than just paintings on the wall.
I made my way home via Ben Gurion street in the German Colony. That's where all the touristy restaurants are, but I found one Frommer's said wasn't too expensive, Fattoush, and had a laubne platter with veggies and pita for lunch. I love that appetizers can fill me up as a meal. Since I had finished my plan for the day already, and still had all afternoon, I consulted the map for new ideas. I let it lead me to a cemetary, which had some pretty war monuyments, and supposed burial cave, which I never found, and then I made my way to the beach. The firts beach I found was called Quiet Beach, and seemed to be fully blockaded. I figured out this was because it was a religious beach with days for men and for women. Soooo, I kept walking, around Rambam Hospital, till I found a different beach with a boardwalk. It was super windy, which kind of hurt my ears, but I saw tons and tons of windsurfers and kite surfers. Awesome. When I got splashed with salty gross fish water, and the wind was too much for me, I walked to the highway to get a bus back. I had walked FAR. I got back to the hostel and took a nap before my big night.
That night I went to the Balkan Beat Box concert. I learned of this Israeli band from Ricky, a song of theirs was her cell phone ring, which we heard quite often. From that they became a WUJS favorite and some people went to the concert in Tel Aviv. Walking around the day before, a poster had caught my eye. I noticed that the concert was the next day, Wednesday the 3rd, and decided I had to go. I asked Steven and Henry, the boys I had met last night, but they were leaving Haifa that afternoon. They did say they knew someone who was going though and gave me her number. I called Sharon, and she said that she was planning to go, but an exam of hers got changed so she needed top stay home to study. She offered to sell me her ticket. Perfect. She gave me her friend Yonatan's number, and I met him and his 2 friends there, and bought the ticket from him. Worked out quite well for all of us. The concert itself was crazy. These guys have a sort of Reggae sound, not really sure how to describe it, with these power clarinet and saxophones. Wikipedia calls them "Gypsy Punk" whatever that means. Anyways, it was awesome, lots of dancing, and I didn't get to bed until after 1.
Since I didn't have too much planned the next day, and had gotten back so later, I decided to let myself sleep in until 9 (late for travel me) but was woken up by several alarms in my room. First one 5:30, then 6 something, then 7:45, by 9 I was wide awake but still pretty wiped. I made it out before too long, packed up my bag, and checked out. I spent the morning at the Science Museum. Fortunately they helped me out and let me leave my backpack in a closet at the reception so I didn't have to walk the whole museum with it on. I spent 3 hours there too. My favorite room was about puzzles, and had all kinds of physical puzzles to do. Until the large group of children came in screaming, I spent a good deal of time solving various puzzles. Since I was alone, I took a little victory photo every time I solved one. I saw the toy room, science of magic, optical illusions, the whoel shebang. When I had had my fill I got my bag, grabbed a shnitzl baguette for lunch back on Hertzl nearby, and found a bus to Merkaz HaMifratz to head to Tsfat. I have so much to say about Tsfat, and its getting late, so I'll pick up there as soon as I can. Been an amazing Shabbat, eye opening, and I can't wait to tell you all about it. Shavua tov and talk to you soon!
I left Hod HaSharon for Haifa Tuesday morning. Started off on a good note when the driver gave me a student discount. I got off at Hof HaCarmel and took a local bus to the Port Inn. Right off the bat it ranked up there as one of the better hostels I've stayed in. The lady at the desk let me check in super fast and held my backpack for me so I could run to make the English speaking tour of the Baha'i Gardens at noon. I took the Carmelit, the only subway in Israel, walked down the gorgeous Luis Promonade to the top of the gardens, and made it just in time. The gardens themselves were beautiful, and I had seen them a few times before, but this time having someone explain more about what they actually meant really helped. Unfortunately though, the Shrine of the Bab, the central point on the hill of garden tiers, was covered for construction and not a gleaming dome as it usually is. Oh well. I watched a movie about the Baha'i faith and it was quite fascinating. They pray towards Akko as Jews do toward Jerusalem. The faith is based on the idea of community and diversity and a blend of science and religion and peace and all those good things. There were a ton of Baha'is on pilgrimage staying in my hostel as well and hearing their stories was really quite cool. More on that later.
After the gardens I made my way to a sculpture garden I had read about it my book. The plan was to get fod and sit and eat in the garden, but I didn't find any food on the way. In fact I walked uphill and only got hungirer, so I cut the garden walk short and went to get food. Walked back down the long hill and wandered a bit looking for a bite. I somehow ended up back at the hostel, so I got 10 shekel falafel (including drink) and went back to finish checking in and get settled in the room. I was in a dorm with with about 10 beds. Hadn't met any roommates yet so I headed back out with the plan of catching an art museum. The sign outside of the Chagall House, the free art gallery I wanted to make my first stop, said that it opened again at 4. I was a bit early so I wandered around the area a bit. I found a childrens art center and walked around a bit, looking at the cute projects and art on the walls. When it was almost 4 I went back to the other house, and waited. When it was 5 after 4 and the door hadn't opened, I knocked. Nothing. I looked again at the sign and read, in Hebrew, what I am pretty sure said open 8-1 and 4-7 everyday. Except Tuesday. Oops. Even Frommers lies sometimes. So after wasting a bit of time, I went back on my way.
I walked down Hertzl street, shopping strip, towards Nordauy street, a pedestrian walkway I thought would resemble Ben Yehuda in Jerusalem. As the theme of the day, it wasn't quite what I expected, pretty barren, so I finished up Hertzl street and stumbled upon the Haifa Theatre. I would. Nothing was playing that night, but I got a peek. Since it was Haifa, I had to pop by the port on my way back to the hostel for the night. I got in trouble for taking pictures. (Apparently its treated like a border crossing). Oops again. When I got back top my hostel, I came down to the communal rooms, kitchen and tv room, to explore and see what was going on. There was a family from France, Baha'i Pilgrims, with the cutest little mulatto kids. The boy and I had a brief "laser fight" with our hands, but I couldn't really talk to him since I don't exactly speak French. I went to Abu Yosef, an Arab place, for dinner, and had kubbe and a variety of salads. When I got back I met an older women in my hostel room. She was a bit strange. She had just made Aliyah to be with her daughter who had been living in Israel for 5 years, but didn't know the term Aliyah, nor had she ever been to Israel before. She was entertaining, but talked a lot, and was a bit off. Oh well, she was a decent bunkmate. Another girl in my room, Rosa, was from Peru and didn't speak English. Baha'i. Went downstairs again to see who else was around, and found some American boys my age, Steven and Henry, and spent the rest of the night in the courtyard with them and some others with a beer talking travels. This is why I love hostels. We shared stories of our adventures and those to come. The hostel was a great environment to meet people, and really a fun place. I would recommend it to any solo traveler. A Baha'i girl from Kosovo told us her story, and another from Germany as well. Really cool place.
I convinces Steven to wake up early and come with me in the morning. Henry wanted to sleep, but the 2 of us headed to Elijah's cave bright and early. We took a bus, a bit too far, but found the stairs without too much trouble. Debating on the way what the cave would actually look like, neither of us got it right. the cave where Elijah supposedly hid out was now considered a holy place, and was actually transformed into a little shul. We walked in without really realizing that, onto the women's side none the less. Hope we didn't offend anyone. I wish Frommer's did a better job of telling me what to expect. The cable car that should have been able to take us from there to the monestary on top of the mountain wasn't running, so we asked a man if there was another option. He said we could take the stairs. I think he told us it would take 15 minute so we would do it, but it took a bit more than that. We found another guy we recognized from our hostel, from Poland, and took him with us. Not too bad, but I worked up a sweat. We basically climbed a mountain though. That's my second time in a week! The church at the top was pretty, but not all that spectacular. Took some pictures, then decided to walk back to the hostel.
Partway back we seperated and said our goodbyes, him to go back to the hostel and check out, me to try again for the art museum. This time the door to the Chagall House was open, so I walked in. I was quickly shooed out by a woman saying they were changing the gallery and it was closed. Why they didn't do this on Tuesday afternoon when it was really closed I don't know, but needless to say I never got further than the doorway. Decided to just go to the real art museum not too far away. I was only saving this one for second in case I was "arted out" after one so I could save the entrance fee. Turns out though, somehow, there was no one at the desk when I walked in, and no one ever stopped me for a ticket. So it was free anyways. Thanks Haifa! The museum was pretty small, but had some really interesting stuff. A whole floor of various people's collections, stamps, crests, Holocaust memorabilia bought on eBay, stuffed animals, basically whatever you can imagine collecting. A series of shopping carts photography, a flower photo collage, video art. Really my kind of thing, rather than just paintings on the wall.
I made my way home via Ben Gurion street in the German Colony. That's where all the touristy restaurants are, but I found one Frommer's said wasn't too expensive, Fattoush, and had a laubne platter with veggies and pita for lunch. I love that appetizers can fill me up as a meal. Since I had finished my plan for the day already, and still had all afternoon, I consulted the map for new ideas. I let it lead me to a cemetary, which had some pretty war monuyments, and supposed burial cave, which I never found, and then I made my way to the beach. The firts beach I found was called Quiet Beach, and seemed to be fully blockaded. I figured out this was because it was a religious beach with days for men and for women. Soooo, I kept walking, around Rambam Hospital, till I found a different beach with a boardwalk. It was super windy, which kind of hurt my ears, but I saw tons and tons of windsurfers and kite surfers. Awesome. When I got splashed with salty gross fish water, and the wind was too much for me, I walked to the highway to get a bus back. I had walked FAR. I got back to the hostel and took a nap before my big night.
That night I went to the Balkan Beat Box concert. I learned of this Israeli band from Ricky, a song of theirs was her cell phone ring, which we heard quite often. From that they became a WUJS favorite and some people went to the concert in Tel Aviv. Walking around the day before, a poster had caught my eye. I noticed that the concert was the next day, Wednesday the 3rd, and decided I had to go. I asked Steven and Henry, the boys I had met last night, but they were leaving Haifa that afternoon. They did say they knew someone who was going though and gave me her number. I called Sharon, and she said that she was planning to go, but an exam of hers got changed so she needed top stay home to study. She offered to sell me her ticket. Perfect. She gave me her friend Yonatan's number, and I met him and his 2 friends there, and bought the ticket from him. Worked out quite well for all of us. The concert itself was crazy. These guys have a sort of Reggae sound, not really sure how to describe it, with these power clarinet and saxophones. Wikipedia calls them "Gypsy Punk" whatever that means. Anyways, it was awesome, lots of dancing, and I didn't get to bed until after 1.
Since I didn't have too much planned the next day, and had gotten back so later, I decided to let myself sleep in until 9 (late for travel me) but was woken up by several alarms in my room. First one 5:30, then 6 something, then 7:45, by 9 I was wide awake but still pretty wiped. I made it out before too long, packed up my bag, and checked out. I spent the morning at the Science Museum. Fortunately they helped me out and let me leave my backpack in a closet at the reception so I didn't have to walk the whole museum with it on. I spent 3 hours there too. My favorite room was about puzzles, and had all kinds of physical puzzles to do. Until the large group of children came in screaming, I spent a good deal of time solving various puzzles. Since I was alone, I took a little victory photo every time I solved one. I saw the toy room, science of magic, optical illusions, the whoel shebang. When I had had my fill I got my bag, grabbed a shnitzl baguette for lunch back on Hertzl nearby, and found a bus to Merkaz HaMifratz to head to Tsfat. I have so much to say about Tsfat, and its getting late, so I'll pick up there as soon as I can. Been an amazing Shabbat, eye opening, and I can't wait to tell you all about it. Shavua tov and talk to you soon!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Reverse Exodus to Egypt Part 2: Sinai
We Arrived in St. Katherine after several hours of driving and checked in to Fox Camp, a Bedouin camp/guest house just outside of the tiny little town of St. Katherine. We had dinner in the camp late. Our room was pretty cold and was basically 3 mattresses pushed up next to each other filling one full wall, but at least it was enclosed not just a tent. It was a little stinky though. We were tired so we slept despite the stinky blankets, and woke up to tour the Monastery of St. Katherine in the morning. The first room we saw was the room of the dead, and it had cages full of skulls and human bones. Crazy. Not exactly what I would call a respectful burial, but apparently it is only the bones of monks and is considered an honor. We went inside a church and were greeted by a relic of St. Katherine, her finger in a box. Something about this place and bones. The church is right next to a mosque, and from the outside you can see the steeple right up next to the minaret. In the grounds of the monastery is the Burning Bush. It was apparently replanted in other places but here is the only place it grows. It is this giant, hairy looking plant growing overhead. Not at all what I expected it to look like. Mohammed knew some of the police men working on the grounds who insisted on taking pictures with us in front of the bush. One even proposed. It was pretty funny actually. We saw Moses' water wheel and a series of paintings telling his story. I didn't know he was considered a prophet in other faiths, but apparently he is. We explored the grounds a bit on our own, and when we had had our fill Mohammed led us outside to climb the surrounding rocks to get a great view of the whole Monastery. We took a lot of pictures then headed on our way.
They took us next to a hotel in town, the Katherine Plaza, for lunch and to relax a bit. I spotted the swimming pool, and since I hadn't showered since Cairo it looked tempting. Tamar drove me the few blocks back to our camp to get my suit and I changed to go swimming. When we got back I went to get in and noticed the pool was absolutely freezing. Like, frigid. I was already dressed and wanted to cool down, but I couldn't even get my feet used to the temp without getting numb. Finally I just jumped in. I scrambled as quickly as I could to get out. 2 seconds was more than enough. I spent the rest of the time walking in circles to dry off and warm up. It was needed, but quite chilly. We had lunch after that in the hotel, another buffet. Tamar took us back to our camp after that and we had to say goodbye to him as he was starting with another group at Taba that afternoon. We had the afternoon free and Ricci and I asked Mohammed to take us into town to explore a little. We walked there, walked around, and basically saw the entire town in 20 minutes cull circle. We went for a drink at the One Day restaurant, and sat drinking tea and resting in a cute little tent of rugs covering the walls. On the walk back we had an interesting talk with Mohammed about the differing marriage customs and traditions in Egypt and North America. He says he does not want to marry an Egyptian woman. It is a very different world and nice to get to know people and talk personally to really get a taste of it. We passed a cemetery on the walk back, marked in a very strange way, basically piles of stones marking the bodies. Don't think they were labeled. Again, a very different world and very cool to experience it in a small town like that. We had the rest of the afternoon free to we relaxed at the camp and read knowing we had to go to sleep early for a big climb the next day. After dinner at 7, we got ready for bed and did our best to sleep.
We left the camp at 1:30am for our Mt. Sinai climb. I think that is officially the earliest I have ever woken up. Generally a time I might consider bed time, but never before morning. Mohammed gave us some fruit we had asked for for morning fuel and we met our guide, a Bedouin man named Hassan, and started the climb from the Monastery a little after 2. I have never seen stars as incredible and clear as we did here. When we started the ascent Hassan asked us where are flashlights were. Ummmm, no one told us we needed to bring them... Oops. Guess we were climbing a mountain int he dark! The first part of the trail was a winding path, steep at times. We had the opportunity to do this portion on camel, and were reminded every time someone passed us offering us one, but we opted to do the whole thing on foot. We took a lot of breaks, took it nice and slow, and went to visit all of Hassan's friends who owned coffee shops along the ascent. The second part of the climb was stairs. Rock stairs. 750 of them. Nice leg workout and I bet my butt looks pretty good right about now. We took it slow again and rested when we needed it. Hassan was very patient with us. We got to the top around 5:30 or 6 or so, and camped out in a little ledge a bit below the crowded top section to watch the sunrise. He brought us blankets and we waited for the sun to come up. It was freezing up there, but an incredible sight. I took a mini nap on Ricci's shoulder and before too long we started the trip down. I noticed my pink Red Sox hat that had been attached to my waist pack was gone. We looked around a bit, but who knows at what point it fell off. : ( Some lucky Bedouin man is climbing the mountain in my pink hat right now. Ooooh well. We decided to go a different route down, and took what was supposedly 3000 steps down. I didn't count, but it was certainly a lot of stairs. It was light out now so we could really experience and enjoy the sights and views from the mountain. Down is easier than up, but I had major jello legs by the time we stopped for a break. We stopped and Hassan opened up a bag of chips for us to share. He picked some leaves from a nearby plant and told us we could taste them. He identified them as mint or something you would put in tea, but I smelled them and said, no, its Hyssop. Used to make zaatar. He was shocked that I was right. Honestly, so was I. I would not have been able to identify any other plant, this was probably the only one I know. I impress even myself sometimes. Cool. We put leaves on the chips and ate little sandwiches. Another guide with a girl from Poland stopped to join us for a few. When we started back on the way, we could see the Monastery, the light at the end of the tunnel, and made it down before too long. What an incredible journey. No one actually knows if this is the mountain where Moses got the commandments, but most stories say so. Regardless, it was awesome and felt really good.
We got back to the camp and had breakfast. Crazy to imagine how much we had accomplished before breakfast. We literally climbed a mountain. Anyways, we ate and packed up and checked out. Loaded out bags into our new ride, a jeep, and hit the road. The plan was to make our way back to Taba but to take the long way through the deserts of Sinai and explore. We drove down the road in this crazy, scary sandstorm. Apparently busses were being escorted by police cars. Our little 4 by 4 did alright, and we just watched as sand pelted the windows. Before too long the winds settled, but then it started to rain. It was just surreal, driving through the desert in the rain. When the weather had settled a bit, we pulled off the road and just drove. I have no idea how the guy knew the way! At first I was really car sick, but once I got used to it it was really fun. We first got out to hike through a canyon. Mohammed pointed out all the different types of rocks as we climbed over and around and made our way through. Some were red, green, yellow, gorgeous. Our driver poured some water on a rock and painted our faces with bright yellow color. Awesome. The next stop we made was at a Beduin family's camp. They served us more Bedouin tea, I swear I've had more tea this week than ever in my life, and showed us some handmade jewelry. They had an area for camels and goats, a covered area where they were all sitting on carpets, and an enclosed area off to the side we didn't get to really see. And the whole family, several generations consisting of maybe 12 people lived there. There was this adorable little boy counting for us in English and drawing pictures in the sand with his Grandfather. Too cute.
The jeep driver asked us a bit later if we wanted to continue in the desert or head to the road. Since my tummy had settled, we decided to stay in the desert. What they didn't tell us until later was that they hadn't gotten the permit or authorization to continue on in the desert, but apparently they did it anyways. It wasn't unsafe, you just needed police permission to bring non citizens into the area. Oops. I'm almost glad they didn't tell us that because it was such a crazy drive. Desert landscape, rain on the windows, just un real. We drove through a garbage dump too. Maybe that's why they don't bring tourists... By the time we got back to the paved road, we were in Nuweiba, the beach town where we were stopping for lunch. We ate at a great fish restaurant with theese amazing, delicious, super fresh pitas. The plan had been to relax on the beach for a bit, but since it was kinda wet and rainy we voted against it. We got some time to walk around, take pictures, see the beach and the area, but then we hopped back into the jeep to Taba.
When we got back to the border, we met Ehab again who had helped us get in, and they helped us through forms etc to get back into Israel. They helped us push through tour groups as well to get through fast, but unfortunately there was a giant group at security so we waited and waited. It took a while, and they had to basically unpack my backpack for some reason, but we made it through. The taxi waiting for us from the tour company in Eilat already had 55 shekels on the meter when we got in. Oops, good thing it wasn't on our bill! We checked in to Motel Aviv to drop off our stuff, then went out to walk the boardwalk a bit and say goodbye to Eilat. I was exhausted and glad we had decided not to take the overnight bus again and to get a real nights rest. We got frozen yogurt for dinner (shhh) and did a little shopping. Ricci went to visit a man she had met last time she was there, but his boat wasn't there and the dock appeared to be rezoned. Oh well. At about 8:30 we went back to shower and go to bed. Slept about 11 hours, but were still tired in the morning. Good thing we had another 5 hour ride to nap a bit more. Went straight from the Tel Aviv station to Hod HaSharon to Tsachi and Einat's, where I am now, to relax for the weekend and prep for the next part of my adventures.
I'll be here to go to work tomorrow, finish up at Eve and transfer all my files, etc and through Purim. I'm planning to go to Adloyada, the Purim parade and carnival in Holon on Monday (postponed a day due to weather) to experience Purim with all the kids like a true Israeli. I'll let you know how that goes. From there, I leave Tuesday morning for my solo adventures up north. Haifa, Shabbat in Tzfat, Tiberias, and Nazareth. If I don't get to write before I leave, Happy Chag Purim, drink until you can't tell the difference between Hamen and Mordechai, and have a great weekend!
They took us next to a hotel in town, the Katherine Plaza, for lunch and to relax a bit. I spotted the swimming pool, and since I hadn't showered since Cairo it looked tempting. Tamar drove me the few blocks back to our camp to get my suit and I changed to go swimming. When we got back I went to get in and noticed the pool was absolutely freezing. Like, frigid. I was already dressed and wanted to cool down, but I couldn't even get my feet used to the temp without getting numb. Finally I just jumped in. I scrambled as quickly as I could to get out. 2 seconds was more than enough. I spent the rest of the time walking in circles to dry off and warm up. It was needed, but quite chilly. We had lunch after that in the hotel, another buffet. Tamar took us back to our camp after that and we had to say goodbye to him as he was starting with another group at Taba that afternoon. We had the afternoon free and Ricci and I asked Mohammed to take us into town to explore a little. We walked there, walked around, and basically saw the entire town in 20 minutes cull circle. We went for a drink at the One Day restaurant, and sat drinking tea and resting in a cute little tent of rugs covering the walls. On the walk back we had an interesting talk with Mohammed about the differing marriage customs and traditions in Egypt and North America. He says he does not want to marry an Egyptian woman. It is a very different world and nice to get to know people and talk personally to really get a taste of it. We passed a cemetery on the walk back, marked in a very strange way, basically piles of stones marking the bodies. Don't think they were labeled. Again, a very different world and very cool to experience it in a small town like that. We had the rest of the afternoon free to we relaxed at the camp and read knowing we had to go to sleep early for a big climb the next day. After dinner at 7, we got ready for bed and did our best to sleep.
We left the camp at 1:30am for our Mt. Sinai climb. I think that is officially the earliest I have ever woken up. Generally a time I might consider bed time, but never before morning. Mohammed gave us some fruit we had asked for for morning fuel and we met our guide, a Bedouin man named Hassan, and started the climb from the Monastery a little after 2. I have never seen stars as incredible and clear as we did here. When we started the ascent Hassan asked us where are flashlights were. Ummmm, no one told us we needed to bring them... Oops. Guess we were climbing a mountain int he dark! The first part of the trail was a winding path, steep at times. We had the opportunity to do this portion on camel, and were reminded every time someone passed us offering us one, but we opted to do the whole thing on foot. We took a lot of breaks, took it nice and slow, and went to visit all of Hassan's friends who owned coffee shops along the ascent. The second part of the climb was stairs. Rock stairs. 750 of them. Nice leg workout and I bet my butt looks pretty good right about now. We took it slow again and rested when we needed it. Hassan was very patient with us. We got to the top around 5:30 or 6 or so, and camped out in a little ledge a bit below the crowded top section to watch the sunrise. He brought us blankets and we waited for the sun to come up. It was freezing up there, but an incredible sight. I took a mini nap on Ricci's shoulder and before too long we started the trip down. I noticed my pink Red Sox hat that had been attached to my waist pack was gone. We looked around a bit, but who knows at what point it fell off. : ( Some lucky Bedouin man is climbing the mountain in my pink hat right now. Ooooh well. We decided to go a different route down, and took what was supposedly 3000 steps down. I didn't count, but it was certainly a lot of stairs. It was light out now so we could really experience and enjoy the sights and views from the mountain. Down is easier than up, but I had major jello legs by the time we stopped for a break. We stopped and Hassan opened up a bag of chips for us to share. He picked some leaves from a nearby plant and told us we could taste them. He identified them as mint or something you would put in tea, but I smelled them and said, no, its Hyssop. Used to make zaatar. He was shocked that I was right. Honestly, so was I. I would not have been able to identify any other plant, this was probably the only one I know. I impress even myself sometimes. Cool. We put leaves on the chips and ate little sandwiches. Another guide with a girl from Poland stopped to join us for a few. When we started back on the way, we could see the Monastery, the light at the end of the tunnel, and made it down before too long. What an incredible journey. No one actually knows if this is the mountain where Moses got the commandments, but most stories say so. Regardless, it was awesome and felt really good.
We got back to the camp and had breakfast. Crazy to imagine how much we had accomplished before breakfast. We literally climbed a mountain. Anyways, we ate and packed up and checked out. Loaded out bags into our new ride, a jeep, and hit the road. The plan was to make our way back to Taba but to take the long way through the deserts of Sinai and explore. We drove down the road in this crazy, scary sandstorm. Apparently busses were being escorted by police cars. Our little 4 by 4 did alright, and we just watched as sand pelted the windows. Before too long the winds settled, but then it started to rain. It was just surreal, driving through the desert in the rain. When the weather had settled a bit, we pulled off the road and just drove. I have no idea how the guy knew the way! At first I was really car sick, but once I got used to it it was really fun. We first got out to hike through a canyon. Mohammed pointed out all the different types of rocks as we climbed over and around and made our way through. Some were red, green, yellow, gorgeous. Our driver poured some water on a rock and painted our faces with bright yellow color. Awesome. The next stop we made was at a Beduin family's camp. They served us more Bedouin tea, I swear I've had more tea this week than ever in my life, and showed us some handmade jewelry. They had an area for camels and goats, a covered area where they were all sitting on carpets, and an enclosed area off to the side we didn't get to really see. And the whole family, several generations consisting of maybe 12 people lived there. There was this adorable little boy counting for us in English and drawing pictures in the sand with his Grandfather. Too cute.
The jeep driver asked us a bit later if we wanted to continue in the desert or head to the road. Since my tummy had settled, we decided to stay in the desert. What they didn't tell us until later was that they hadn't gotten the permit or authorization to continue on in the desert, but apparently they did it anyways. It wasn't unsafe, you just needed police permission to bring non citizens into the area. Oops. I'm almost glad they didn't tell us that because it was such a crazy drive. Desert landscape, rain on the windows, just un real. We drove through a garbage dump too. Maybe that's why they don't bring tourists... By the time we got back to the paved road, we were in Nuweiba, the beach town where we were stopping for lunch. We ate at a great fish restaurant with theese amazing, delicious, super fresh pitas. The plan had been to relax on the beach for a bit, but since it was kinda wet and rainy we voted against it. We got some time to walk around, take pictures, see the beach and the area, but then we hopped back into the jeep to Taba.
When we got back to the border, we met Ehab again who had helped us get in, and they helped us through forms etc to get back into Israel. They helped us push through tour groups as well to get through fast, but unfortunately there was a giant group at security so we waited and waited. It took a while, and they had to basically unpack my backpack for some reason, but we made it through. The taxi waiting for us from the tour company in Eilat already had 55 shekels on the meter when we got in. Oops, good thing it wasn't on our bill! We checked in to Motel Aviv to drop off our stuff, then went out to walk the boardwalk a bit and say goodbye to Eilat. I was exhausted and glad we had decided not to take the overnight bus again and to get a real nights rest. We got frozen yogurt for dinner (shhh) and did a little shopping. Ricci went to visit a man she had met last time she was there, but his boat wasn't there and the dock appeared to be rezoned. Oh well. At about 8:30 we went back to shower and go to bed. Slept about 11 hours, but were still tired in the morning. Good thing we had another 5 hour ride to nap a bit more. Went straight from the Tel Aviv station to Hod HaSharon to Tsachi and Einat's, where I am now, to relax for the weekend and prep for the next part of my adventures.
I'll be here to go to work tomorrow, finish up at Eve and transfer all my files, etc and through Purim. I'm planning to go to Adloyada, the Purim parade and carnival in Holon on Monday (postponed a day due to weather) to experience Purim with all the kids like a true Israeli. I'll let you know how that goes. From there, I leave Tuesday morning for my solo adventures up north. Haifa, Shabbat in Tzfat, Tiberias, and Nazareth. If I don't get to write before I leave, Happy Chag Purim, drink until you can't tell the difference between Hamen and Mordechai, and have a great weekend!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Reverse Exodus to Egypt Part 1: Cairo
Egypt was absolutely incredible. I am so glad I decided to go through with it. Spent a lot of money and I'm exhausted and sore, but it was entirely worth it. I spent all day Sunday in Bat Yam with my class for their final performance. I showed up there with all my gear and left my backpack in the lighting booth. Rehearsals throughout the day were a bit rough, but the performance itself was wonderful and everything came together in the end. I was very proud of them. When the show was over, I grabbed my back pack and hitched a ride with Amy and her fiance to the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv. I met Ricci and we took the overnight bus to Eilat, leaving at midnight. I managed to sleep most of the way, despite the fact that they stop at 2 am for a break and turn all the lights on. We arrived a bit ahead of schedule and at 4:45ish am unloaded to grab some food before our next long ride. We went to a 24 hour bakery for burekas and waited for a call from Desert Eco Tours about our ride. A crazy Dutch man at the bus station tried to get someone to take a granola bar and got angry at every one that said no. Fortunately his crazy rants were in English so we had some entertainment while we waited. A guy names Tomer met us around 5:30 in this cute little jeep to take us to the border and help us get through. We picked up the other for our tour from their hotel, Sam and Robyn, father and daughter from NY, and drove to Taba on the same road to the underwater observatory and beach we snorkeled at, but this time all the way to the end. He helped us through the border without too much trouble, and we met Ehab and Tamar, our driver, on the other side. We were officially in Egypt. Tamar drove the 4 of us through Sinai and the Suez Canal Bridge to Cairo to start our adventure. I slept most of the way.
When we arrived in Cairo, we met our guide Mohammed Ali. Yes, that was his real name. Our first stop was the oldest mosque in Africa. We got there just after prayer time and saw everyone filing out. We had to take off ou shoes and they gave us these big green robes to cover up so we could get inside. They were bright green cloaks. We looked like monks or something. We got a tour of the mosque and learned a lot about the prayer rituals and practices of Islam. It was beautiful, gigantic too, but he said its only full towards the end of Ramadan. When we left they made us pay for the cloak we had been forced to wear. This was the first of many small unexpected charges, but it was all good. After the mosque we went to lunch at a buffet restaurant. Not sure how much of the food was actually Egyptian, but it was sure yummy. Considering our sleep and meal schedule that day, we were really hungry too.
After lunch, we went to the Egyptian Museum. I would have loved to spend the entire day there, making my way through each exhibit, but unfortunately we only had 2 hours. Mohammed led us through the most important things to see, each exhibit reminding me of my former obsession with Ancient Egypt. I can't remember how old I was, but I used to love studying the rituals and characters and gods of Ancient Egypt. I've been Cleopatra for Halloween a number of times, wanted to name my next cat Bastet at one point, and if I recall could write my name in hieroglyphics. This place was like a dream come true. We saw the treasure from King Tut's tomb, including the famous mask from his mummy and all the beds. I wanted the one with the cows. We saw tons of gigantic statues and lots of mummy stuff and it was incredible. Fascinating. Again, I could have spent hours walking through. It was nice to have him telling us everything and guiding us through, but next time I'll do it myself and really take my time. What a museum.
After the museum we went to a Papyrus museum to see a demo of how its made and shop around a bit. The woman showed us how to break down the plant and how to prepare it for the press, press it, etc. She also showed us how to identify fake papyrus, which is generally made from banana leaves. If the grains go horizontally on one side and vertically on the reverse side, its most likely real. If they are woven, it is for sure an imitation. The paintings in this place were pretty cool, lots of great symbols and characters. I wanted something, but I couldn't decide what to get. Ricky got her sister a wedding present, an image of lotus and another plant representing eternity and love. She got them to offer a great deal, so I took advantage of her handiwork and got her to bargain with me for 4 small pictures of various ancient Egyptian figures and hieroglyphics. Should look really cool all framed together. They rolled them up in a little tube and sent us on our way.
In the van, Mohammed told us about our options for the evening. Sam and Robyn had signed up for a Nile dinner cruise/show, which we opted not to pay extra for since dinner was included in our day already, but when they offered the Sound and Light Show at the pyramids, we couldn't say no. They decided to come to that as well and do both. We dished out the extra money, and I'm glad to say it was worth it. We got to the grounds of the Pyramids in Giza a bit early, so we had time to take pictures and look around a bit. The seats for the show are set up so you see this incredible panorama of all three Pyramids and the Sphinx. I literally teared up and fell to my knees looking at them. It was so overwhelming and just incredible. The show itself was of course cheesy, but informative and told the stories of the pyramids and which god/king each was built for. With some cool colored lights on the panorama. Fun.
Ricci and I went for dinner afterwards, and Sam and Robyn went to check into the hotel to prepare for their evening. After dinner it was our turn to check in, and we were certainly ready. It had been a loooong day, and a 4 star hotel was just what we needed. I convinced the guys downstairs to let me use the guest relations computer to e-mail and check in to let Mom and Dad know I had arrived safely. Free wi-fi isn't of much value without a computer, but I was glad they helped me out. In the room we watched part of There's Something About Mary dubbed into Arabic, and before too long went to bed. Much needed bed.
The next day we woke up early to head back to the Pyramids complex, this time for a formal tour. We went right up to the largest one, touching and climbing the gigantic stones. It is just awe inspiring. They told us that it may just be a year or so before they stop letting you come up to touch it. We took in as much as we could. The van took us from there right up to the second one, the middle size, which we bought tickets to go inside. My student id got me a nice discount. Sam, who had become the group Dad, held our bags while us 3 girls climbed through the narrow, sweaty tunnel to see the burial chamber. There was no mummy found, but the casket and tomb room was open for us to explore. If we had been allowed to bring in cameras I probably would have laid in the casket, but without film proof I voted against it. It was kinda damp and sweaty in the room anyways, so we decided to head out. Crouching down to fit through the tunnel, we made our way past those coming in in what was probably not built to be a two way street. Tamar took us from there to a panorama to see all three pyramids, and take some cool perspective shots where it looks like we are poking the tops of them. We did the same thing a bit later at the Sphinx, where it looked like we were kissing it. Basically the reason I came to Egypt fulfilled. On the way to the Sphinx (because we had time) we stopped in the Sphinx Temple where mummys were prepared for burial. If we had only seen the pyramid complex, and not continued the trip to see all the rest we had planned, it would have been enough (to be said in the form of the Pesach chant).
After the Pyramids was some more guided tour tourist crap, unfortunately. The drive through Cairo may have been the best part. There are no traffic lights. In the entire city. Just people on some corners signaling or impatient drivers pushing their way in. Lots of u-turns and rights instead of lefts and interesting techniques. We passed the City of the Dead, a former burial ground where people now live, the Citadel, lots of mosques, women in fully covering Arab garb, and a guy on a bike carrying a basket on pitas on his head. Awesome city. Then the tourist stops began. The essence factory was cool, just a bit unnecessary. We got to smell all the essences and learn their uses. They are basically perfume without alcohol added so they can be used for different things, or made into perfume. They also had gorgeous glass bottles. Everything was a bit too expensive for my taste. Robyn bought herself a set of several scents and bottles. Ricci and I left covered in sample smells, but without making a purchase. The next stop was Cotton Land for some Egyptian cotton souvenir options. Again, we looked around but left empty handed. Robyn and Sam bought themselves and their family lots of things. Our shopping continued from there as we went to the Bazaar. Mohammed told us not to buy anything without haggling down the price big time, which I did quite proudly. I got Lauren a present for basically half of what he originally asked for. Not too bad. Sorry Laur, you were worth the original price, but it wouldn't have been as fun.
From there is was off to lunch. We picked up Mohammed, another Mohammed, who was going to be Ricci and my guide for the next few days of the trip, and said goodbye to the other Mohammed who was leaving us at that point. Robyn and Sam were heading back to Eilat that night too. We ate and then drove all together back as far as Suez bridge. We stopped for a bathroom break, said goodbye to them, then they left with a new driver to head to Taba. We continued on South in Sinai to St. Katherine with Mohammed and Tamar. Got a nice view of the desert along the way. That's about all for part one of the entry. Cairo was a crazy city, and interesting mix of ancient culture with the current modern Arab and Muslim influence. I'd love to have a chance to spend more time there. I'll come back to write about Sinai and the rest of the adventure tomorrow! Shabbat Shalom!
When we arrived in Cairo, we met our guide Mohammed Ali. Yes, that was his real name. Our first stop was the oldest mosque in Africa. We got there just after prayer time and saw everyone filing out. We had to take off ou shoes and they gave us these big green robes to cover up so we could get inside. They were bright green cloaks. We looked like monks or something. We got a tour of the mosque and learned a lot about the prayer rituals and practices of Islam. It was beautiful, gigantic too, but he said its only full towards the end of Ramadan. When we left they made us pay for the cloak we had been forced to wear. This was the first of many small unexpected charges, but it was all good. After the mosque we went to lunch at a buffet restaurant. Not sure how much of the food was actually Egyptian, but it was sure yummy. Considering our sleep and meal schedule that day, we were really hungry too.
After lunch, we went to the Egyptian Museum. I would have loved to spend the entire day there, making my way through each exhibit, but unfortunately we only had 2 hours. Mohammed led us through the most important things to see, each exhibit reminding me of my former obsession with Ancient Egypt. I can't remember how old I was, but I used to love studying the rituals and characters and gods of Ancient Egypt. I've been Cleopatra for Halloween a number of times, wanted to name my next cat Bastet at one point, and if I recall could write my name in hieroglyphics. This place was like a dream come true. We saw the treasure from King Tut's tomb, including the famous mask from his mummy and all the beds. I wanted the one with the cows. We saw tons of gigantic statues and lots of mummy stuff and it was incredible. Fascinating. Again, I could have spent hours walking through. It was nice to have him telling us everything and guiding us through, but next time I'll do it myself and really take my time. What a museum.
After the museum we went to a Papyrus museum to see a demo of how its made and shop around a bit. The woman showed us how to break down the plant and how to prepare it for the press, press it, etc. She also showed us how to identify fake papyrus, which is generally made from banana leaves. If the grains go horizontally on one side and vertically on the reverse side, its most likely real. If they are woven, it is for sure an imitation. The paintings in this place were pretty cool, lots of great symbols and characters. I wanted something, but I couldn't decide what to get. Ricky got her sister a wedding present, an image of lotus and another plant representing eternity and love. She got them to offer a great deal, so I took advantage of her handiwork and got her to bargain with me for 4 small pictures of various ancient Egyptian figures and hieroglyphics. Should look really cool all framed together. They rolled them up in a little tube and sent us on our way.
In the van, Mohammed told us about our options for the evening. Sam and Robyn had signed up for a Nile dinner cruise/show, which we opted not to pay extra for since dinner was included in our day already, but when they offered the Sound and Light Show at the pyramids, we couldn't say no. They decided to come to that as well and do both. We dished out the extra money, and I'm glad to say it was worth it. We got to the grounds of the Pyramids in Giza a bit early, so we had time to take pictures and look around a bit. The seats for the show are set up so you see this incredible panorama of all three Pyramids and the Sphinx. I literally teared up and fell to my knees looking at them. It was so overwhelming and just incredible. The show itself was of course cheesy, but informative and told the stories of the pyramids and which god/king each was built for. With some cool colored lights on the panorama. Fun.
Ricci and I went for dinner afterwards, and Sam and Robyn went to check into the hotel to prepare for their evening. After dinner it was our turn to check in, and we were certainly ready. It had been a loooong day, and a 4 star hotel was just what we needed. I convinced the guys downstairs to let me use the guest relations computer to e-mail and check in to let Mom and Dad know I had arrived safely. Free wi-fi isn't of much value without a computer, but I was glad they helped me out. In the room we watched part of There's Something About Mary dubbed into Arabic, and before too long went to bed. Much needed bed.
The next day we woke up early to head back to the Pyramids complex, this time for a formal tour. We went right up to the largest one, touching and climbing the gigantic stones. It is just awe inspiring. They told us that it may just be a year or so before they stop letting you come up to touch it. We took in as much as we could. The van took us from there right up to the second one, the middle size, which we bought tickets to go inside. My student id got me a nice discount. Sam, who had become the group Dad, held our bags while us 3 girls climbed through the narrow, sweaty tunnel to see the burial chamber. There was no mummy found, but the casket and tomb room was open for us to explore. If we had been allowed to bring in cameras I probably would have laid in the casket, but without film proof I voted against it. It was kinda damp and sweaty in the room anyways, so we decided to head out. Crouching down to fit through the tunnel, we made our way past those coming in in what was probably not built to be a two way street. Tamar took us from there to a panorama to see all three pyramids, and take some cool perspective shots where it looks like we are poking the tops of them. We did the same thing a bit later at the Sphinx, where it looked like we were kissing it. Basically the reason I came to Egypt fulfilled. On the way to the Sphinx (because we had time) we stopped in the Sphinx Temple where mummys were prepared for burial. If we had only seen the pyramid complex, and not continued the trip to see all the rest we had planned, it would have been enough (to be said in the form of the Pesach chant).
After the Pyramids was some more guided tour tourist crap, unfortunately. The drive through Cairo may have been the best part. There are no traffic lights. In the entire city. Just people on some corners signaling or impatient drivers pushing their way in. Lots of u-turns and rights instead of lefts and interesting techniques. We passed the City of the Dead, a former burial ground where people now live, the Citadel, lots of mosques, women in fully covering Arab garb, and a guy on a bike carrying a basket on pitas on his head. Awesome city. Then the tourist stops began. The essence factory was cool, just a bit unnecessary. We got to smell all the essences and learn their uses. They are basically perfume without alcohol added so they can be used for different things, or made into perfume. They also had gorgeous glass bottles. Everything was a bit too expensive for my taste. Robyn bought herself a set of several scents and bottles. Ricci and I left covered in sample smells, but without making a purchase. The next stop was Cotton Land for some Egyptian cotton souvenir options. Again, we looked around but left empty handed. Robyn and Sam bought themselves and their family lots of things. Our shopping continued from there as we went to the Bazaar. Mohammed told us not to buy anything without haggling down the price big time, which I did quite proudly. I got Lauren a present for basically half of what he originally asked for. Not too bad. Sorry Laur, you were worth the original price, but it wouldn't have been as fun.
From there is was off to lunch. We picked up Mohammed, another Mohammed, who was going to be Ricci and my guide for the next few days of the trip, and said goodbye to the other Mohammed who was leaving us at that point. Robyn and Sam were heading back to Eilat that night too. We ate and then drove all together back as far as Suez bridge. We stopped for a bathroom break, said goodbye to them, then they left with a new driver to head to Taba. We continued on South in Sinai to St. Katherine with Mohammed and Tamar. Got a nice view of the desert along the way. That's about all for part one of the entry. Cairo was a crazy city, and interesting mix of ancient culture with the current modern Arab and Muslim influence. I'd love to have a chance to spend more time there. I'll come back to write about Sinai and the rest of the adventure tomorrow! Shabbat Shalom!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Jerusalem Travels Continued
Okay, I'm back. Here goes. We woke up early again on Tuesday to head back into the Old City to hit a few more spots. We started the day doing the Ramparts walk, walking along the wall above the city. It wasn't quite as exciting as it sounded. Pretty disappointing. And we had bought a bagel and spent some time prepping pieces with zatar for a snack, which I promptly dropped off the stairs as soon as we started up to the ramparts. Oops. My bad.
When we got down we ran into Autumn, the girl who's apartment we were staying in. We invited her to join us for a bit. She and Ricci went to visit the wall one more time, and I stayed back to wait in line to get into the Temple Mount. We didn't even know there was a line, so I'm glad we walked by and saw it. It is only open to visitors for an hour each day. They came back as the gate was being opened, and we started the security process to get up. I didn't realize it was such a process, but we had to show go through a few different scans before getting up. When we finally reached the top of the ramp, we were just overwhelmed. What an incredible sight. The Dome of the Rock, the gold dome a landmark I've seen from all over Jerusalem, was even more beautiful up close. I didn't realize how detailed the blue tiling was outside the shrine. The mosque nearby was quite pretty as well. Unfortunately neither are open for visitors anymore, but that means a visit to the Temple Mount is free, so its ok. Maybe someday we'll be at a point where they can once again be open for tourists. We walked through the grounds a bit, looking around, taking tons of pictures. Truly an incredible site. We read the information from my guide book, learning what we can, and ended up with tons of questions and curiosities we knew we would have to look into. Fortunately, many of them were answered on our afternoon tour of the Western Wall Tunnels. After lunch with Ricci's cousin Allen, I had delicious sabich, we went to meet for our 4:00 tour of the tunnels.
This was honestly one of the coolest and most informative tours I've been on since arriving in Israel. We were lucky to get a reservation on such short notice. The tour started with a model and demonstration of how the grounds went from the mountain where Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac (or Ismael, depending who you ask) to the location of the first temple to Herrod's new temple complex, to the Muslim holy place that stands today. We saw the story again from an animated model as well, giving us orientation of what we were about to see. I didn't realize the Wall we pray at today is so small a section of what once stood, both length and height wise. We walked along the length of the wall, underground, lookiung below us at what the excavations were soon hoping to uncover and open for tours, and across at the amazing stones from the original temple complex. We could tell them by the frames carved into the stone. We learned that the reason the Western wall is the most holy is because of its proximity to the holy of holies, the sight of the near sacrifice and location where the commandments were stored in the ark. This is why people apparently pray at the wall on a slight angle towards the spot. We were, on this tour, closer than we could ever have gotten from the outside. There were prayer sections, notes and all, on this lower level too. We saw the original street lining the wall where shops would have been for pilgrims visiting the temple, and so much more. Our guide shared many details filling in gaps of the familiar stories, and I really learned a lot. Powerful and meaningful tour, and I know next time I come more will be uncovered and it will be a completely different experience. Can't wait to see what they find.
After the tour, we wandered back towards Ben Yehuda to find the building where the show we were seeing that night was located. The same actor who I saw in Timekeepers has another show, but unfortunately only playing in Hebrew coming up. I decided to give it a try, figuring I could see the video in English after to clear up any confusion. We grabbed a snack at McDonalds, don't tell anyone, and headed to the theatre building. The piece, called My First Sony, has apparently been touring for years and has gotten great press. Unfortunately, I was tired, and it takes a LOT of focus to get through a one man show in Hebrew. Long monologue, of which I got every few words. I enjoyed it as far as I can tell, but I know I missed a lot, so I hope to see it in English soon to fill in the gaps. We waited a bit after to thank him, but there was a talkback and we eventually decided to just head out. Putting that much effort into watching a show is exhausting. We went back to the German Colony apartments and went straight to bed.
After our long and amazing day, we decided to allow Wednesday to be a more relaxing, chill day. We slept in a little, then headed to the Shuk. I thought I had never been there before, but as soon as we arrived I realized I had been there with my Birthright group. We wandered through, exploring all the side sections looking at the vegetable and fruit choices as well as clothing and stuff, and bought ourselves a nice picnic lunch to bring to the zoo. Ricci got coleslaw and some fruit, and I got a persimmon, malawach and some red pepper cheese to put on top. When we had our bags packed with goodies, we headed to the bus station to catch a bus to the Zoo.
The cool thing about the Biblical Zoo is that every animal they have is mentioned in the Bible in some way. They even have the verses printed on some of the plaques describing what is in each cage. We saw lions and tigers and bears oh my, and tons more. Fell in love with this adorable Red Panda. There was a cute fish exhibit with fish from different bodies of water around Israel and the World called Wet Side Story. We didn't listen to advice, again, and didn't take the train which we regretted later when we discovered it was not a circle but a straight line that forces you basically to walk back through what you just saw in reverse. Oh well. We ate our picnic lunch while watching monkeys, saw some cool things, and stayed till closing. We hoped the train might come around and pick everyone up after closing time, but we weren't that lucky. We waited forever for a bus, got bugged by a woman in an unmarked sherut to get in, and finally ended up sharing a cab to the bus station with an American couple from yeshiva. It always works out in the end.
We felt like a movie that night so we called Yonit, the madricha of the Jerusalem program, to ask if there was a theatre near by. She told us, roughly, where to go, and we went there asking what was playing now. We ended up picking a random Hebrew title with a picture Ricci recognized, and saw The Men Who Stare At Goats. At first I thought it was kinda stupid, but redeemed itself and was actually quite funny. Not sure I would recommend it, but it was a nice relaxing evening and I quite enjoyed myself. We asked for directions at a gas station and managed to get home without too much problem. Again, exhausted from a full day, we passed out quick.
Thursday morning I woke up early to pack up and head out of town. Ricci was staying one more day, but I had to get to Bat Yam for the last rehearsal day with the kids. I missed the bus to Bat Yam, so I ended up having to go from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and taking the local bus from there. Ayn baya. I made it with plenty of time. I had to bring my suitcase to class, and it was a bit of a rough day, but the show is Sunday and should be pretty good. I'll post when I can how it went!
I spent the weekend at Merav's in Tel Aviv instead of in Hod HaSharon since Tsachi and Einat were out of town and I would have been all alone in an empty house all weekend. We drove out there on Friday to do laundry and switch out my bag, and now I've just been here in Tel Aviv stealing her computer to get planning and blogging done. Had a nice dinner with Yael and her boyfriend and his sister as wella s an American guest of theirs, so I wasn't the only one speaking English. Nice. Tomorrow is the show, then I take the overnight bus to Eilat and leave for Egypt from there in the morning. The trip almost didn't happen, as we had some security concerns, but I did some serious research, made some calls, and did some thinking and decided it was happening. Can't wait to tell you all about it. We will be doing 2 days in Cairo, pyramids and museum and more, and then 2 days in Sinai, climbing the mountain for sunrise and hiking etc. After that its 10 days up North solo. Got all my hostels booked for that this weekend, so now its just planning my days and getting excited. Gotta give Merav back her computer, but I'll post as soon as I can, from Cairo, or as soon as I get back. Love!
When we got down we ran into Autumn, the girl who's apartment we were staying in. We invited her to join us for a bit. She and Ricci went to visit the wall one more time, and I stayed back to wait in line to get into the Temple Mount. We didn't even know there was a line, so I'm glad we walked by and saw it. It is only open to visitors for an hour each day. They came back as the gate was being opened, and we started the security process to get up. I didn't realize it was such a process, but we had to show go through a few different scans before getting up. When we finally reached the top of the ramp, we were just overwhelmed. What an incredible sight. The Dome of the Rock, the gold dome a landmark I've seen from all over Jerusalem, was even more beautiful up close. I didn't realize how detailed the blue tiling was outside the shrine. The mosque nearby was quite pretty as well. Unfortunately neither are open for visitors anymore, but that means a visit to the Temple Mount is free, so its ok. Maybe someday we'll be at a point where they can once again be open for tourists. We walked through the grounds a bit, looking around, taking tons of pictures. Truly an incredible site. We read the information from my guide book, learning what we can, and ended up with tons of questions and curiosities we knew we would have to look into. Fortunately, many of them were answered on our afternoon tour of the Western Wall Tunnels. After lunch with Ricci's cousin Allen, I had delicious sabich, we went to meet for our 4:00 tour of the tunnels.
This was honestly one of the coolest and most informative tours I've been on since arriving in Israel. We were lucky to get a reservation on such short notice. The tour started with a model and demonstration of how the grounds went from the mountain where Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac (or Ismael, depending who you ask) to the location of the first temple to Herrod's new temple complex, to the Muslim holy place that stands today. We saw the story again from an animated model as well, giving us orientation of what we were about to see. I didn't realize the Wall we pray at today is so small a section of what once stood, both length and height wise. We walked along the length of the wall, underground, lookiung below us at what the excavations were soon hoping to uncover and open for tours, and across at the amazing stones from the original temple complex. We could tell them by the frames carved into the stone. We learned that the reason the Western wall is the most holy is because of its proximity to the holy of holies, the sight of the near sacrifice and location where the commandments were stored in the ark. This is why people apparently pray at the wall on a slight angle towards the spot. We were, on this tour, closer than we could ever have gotten from the outside. There were prayer sections, notes and all, on this lower level too. We saw the original street lining the wall where shops would have been for pilgrims visiting the temple, and so much more. Our guide shared many details filling in gaps of the familiar stories, and I really learned a lot. Powerful and meaningful tour, and I know next time I come more will be uncovered and it will be a completely different experience. Can't wait to see what they find.
After the tour, we wandered back towards Ben Yehuda to find the building where the show we were seeing that night was located. The same actor who I saw in Timekeepers has another show, but unfortunately only playing in Hebrew coming up. I decided to give it a try, figuring I could see the video in English after to clear up any confusion. We grabbed a snack at McDonalds, don't tell anyone, and headed to the theatre building. The piece, called My First Sony, has apparently been touring for years and has gotten great press. Unfortunately, I was tired, and it takes a LOT of focus to get through a one man show in Hebrew. Long monologue, of which I got every few words. I enjoyed it as far as I can tell, but I know I missed a lot, so I hope to see it in English soon to fill in the gaps. We waited a bit after to thank him, but there was a talkback and we eventually decided to just head out. Putting that much effort into watching a show is exhausting. We went back to the German Colony apartments and went straight to bed.
After our long and amazing day, we decided to allow Wednesday to be a more relaxing, chill day. We slept in a little, then headed to the Shuk. I thought I had never been there before, but as soon as we arrived I realized I had been there with my Birthright group. We wandered through, exploring all the side sections looking at the vegetable and fruit choices as well as clothing and stuff, and bought ourselves a nice picnic lunch to bring to the zoo. Ricci got coleslaw and some fruit, and I got a persimmon, malawach and some red pepper cheese to put on top. When we had our bags packed with goodies, we headed to the bus station to catch a bus to the Zoo.
The cool thing about the Biblical Zoo is that every animal they have is mentioned in the Bible in some way. They even have the verses printed on some of the plaques describing what is in each cage. We saw lions and tigers and bears oh my, and tons more. Fell in love with this adorable Red Panda. There was a cute fish exhibit with fish from different bodies of water around Israel and the World called Wet Side Story. We didn't listen to advice, again, and didn't take the train which we regretted later when we discovered it was not a circle but a straight line that forces you basically to walk back through what you just saw in reverse. Oh well. We ate our picnic lunch while watching monkeys, saw some cool things, and stayed till closing. We hoped the train might come around and pick everyone up after closing time, but we weren't that lucky. We waited forever for a bus, got bugged by a woman in an unmarked sherut to get in, and finally ended up sharing a cab to the bus station with an American couple from yeshiva. It always works out in the end.
We felt like a movie that night so we called Yonit, the madricha of the Jerusalem program, to ask if there was a theatre near by. She told us, roughly, where to go, and we went there asking what was playing now. We ended up picking a random Hebrew title with a picture Ricci recognized, and saw The Men Who Stare At Goats. At first I thought it was kinda stupid, but redeemed itself and was actually quite funny. Not sure I would recommend it, but it was a nice relaxing evening and I quite enjoyed myself. We asked for directions at a gas station and managed to get home without too much problem. Again, exhausted from a full day, we passed out quick.
Thursday morning I woke up early to pack up and head out of town. Ricci was staying one more day, but I had to get to Bat Yam for the last rehearsal day with the kids. I missed the bus to Bat Yam, so I ended up having to go from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and taking the local bus from there. Ayn baya. I made it with plenty of time. I had to bring my suitcase to class, and it was a bit of a rough day, but the show is Sunday and should be pretty good. I'll post when I can how it went!
I spent the weekend at Merav's in Tel Aviv instead of in Hod HaSharon since Tsachi and Einat were out of town and I would have been all alone in an empty house all weekend. We drove out there on Friday to do laundry and switch out my bag, and now I've just been here in Tel Aviv stealing her computer to get planning and blogging done. Had a nice dinner with Yael and her boyfriend and his sister as wella s an American guest of theirs, so I wasn't the only one speaking English. Nice. Tomorrow is the show, then I take the overnight bus to Eilat and leave for Egypt from there in the morning. The trip almost didn't happen, as we had some security concerns, but I did some serious research, made some calls, and did some thinking and decided it was happening. Can't wait to tell you all about it. We will be doing 2 days in Cairo, pyramids and museum and more, and then 2 days in Sinai, climbing the mountain for sunrise and hiking etc. After that its 10 days up North solo. Got all my hostels booked for that this weekend, so now its just planning my days and getting excited. Gotta give Merav back her computer, but I'll post as soon as I can, from Cairo, or as soon as I get back. Love!
Let The Travels Begin: Jerusalem
WUJS has officially ended, been kicked out of my apartment, and I begin the new stage of my time in Israel as a homeless tourist. Different, but quite an adventure already. On Thursday we had to be out of our apartments by 6, and at 6 Ricky came to lock them, and lock us out. She wasn't kidding. Tsachi ahd come to pick up most of my bags the day before so I set out with my backpack and all the things I had left behind for the bus station. I took a bus to Hod HaSharon and followed the map Tsachi had drawn me to their house, since they weren't home. I spent the nigth doing laundry and packign up for my weke in Jerusalem.
Friday morning I went to breakfast with Merav in Hod HaSharon, had delicious spinach shakshuka, then hopped a bus from the center of town to Jerusalem. Since I wasn't planning to meet Ronit and her family until later that day, when I arrived I began trekking around with my pack. I walked from the bus station to Ben Yehuda to do some shopping. Little boutiques are hard to navigate with a frame pack on, but I managed. I found some new alleys and turns I hadn't taken before and shopped around until I was bored and my shoulders hurt. I called Ronit, my coworker whose family I was staying with for Shabbat, and she and her husband came to pick me up when they had finished their shopping. I should tell you about this family. First of all, when I found out I couldn't move into the WUJS apartments (my key to free housing in Jerusalem) until Sunday the 14th, I was talking at work about finding a hostel so I could spend Shabbat in Jerusalem as well. She asked if I wanted to stay at her Mom's place. Of course I said yes, spoke with her, and they basically became my host family for the weekend. When I called Shari, she said "you will come empty handed." I loved this woman already and her amazing Israeli hospitality. And since they were American I knew language wouldn't be an issue, just learning to keep Shabbat. I was a little afraid I would mess up, but I did just fine and had a wonderful time with them. Friday night at Shari's was a big Shabbat dinner including Ronit and her husband, her brother Josh and his wife and baby, their Grandparents, Shari the hostess, and myself. I enjoyed a nice family Shabbat meal, and spent the night at their upstairs neighbor's because Josh, Sarah, and the baby Noam were staying over to drive home after Shabbat. That family also had a little boy, about a year and a half, and I spent the rest of the evening playing with him. We played the "ma ze" game where he asked me what everything was, and I got to practice my hebrew and teach him english when I got stuck. It was pretty fun. Made lots of little friends that night. And Ronit's grandma wants to set me up with her brother in the States. Not too bad at all. I'll let you know how that goes, haha.
Saturday morning I had to wake up kind of early since the neighbor was going to shul, but I went down to Shari's to relax a bit. Did some reading, went for a walk through the parks nearby the Greek colony where she lived, and then came back to grab a snack before heading out for the day. I decided to make the trek into the old city. I had never been to the Kotel on shabbat and thought it was something I needed to do before leaving Israel. I made my way there and wandered through the old city a bit. I finally bought the bracelet I'd been eyeing. I went to the wall, explored the area a bit, and just sat people watching in the plaza. It is one of my favorite places to watch people go by. I decided to do something new for the afternoon, find a place I hadn't been, so I walked over to the Zion gate to explore Har Tzion, or Mt Zion. I found several churches to explore, beautiful, and even the supposed site of the Last Supper. Also on the grounds was King David's tomb, although you can't really see anything its just the spot where they say he was buried. I found out later that Schindler's grave is also located nearby, of the famous list, but I didn't know to look for it. Oh well. When I had had my fill and it started getting late, I sat on a bench in a plaza outside the wall to rest a bit and wait for the busses to start running again so I could get home. A nice old man started talking to me and we ended up spending half and hour just talking about the city and things. He told me I was a "special soul". He spoke to me in Hebrew, which I understood most of (I'm getting pretty good), but I answered in English since I don't really have the words to respond in Hebrew. It was nice though. He was also a teacher, and said he liked to get away for the weekends to get away from the bell. He loved when I said I was a teacher too. He wanted to take me on an adventure, but I decided enough was enough and went to make my way back. It wasn't too far (Mom and Dad, from the old city to Tal Bagel basically if that helps put it in perspective), so I opted to walk since I was now rested. I got Tal Bagel to bring back for dinner, and spent another night, this time in Shari's guest room since the rest of the family had left.
On Sunday morning I slept in a bit since Ricci was coming in from the North, and met her and her giant backpack around 11. She dropped her stuff at Shari's for the day, and we began our tourist adventures. Started the morning touring the Knesset. We took some strange route through a park/garden to get there, but when we finally arrived the tour was really nice. We had to lock our purses up in a little bag with them for security. Our guide took us through the building, explaining us the processes and procedures along the way. We also got to see a temporary exhibit of Da Vinci original notebook pages and sketches. Pretty cool. We got to see the main hall where the Parliament sits and he told us how that all worked, and the voting process etc. Really interesting how different the system is from ours. I asked our tour guide where his English was from since he was basically accentless, and he said he grew up in Chicago. B'emet? I asked him where and it turns out he lived in Morton Grove until he was 12. Pretty funny.
From there we went to the Israel Museum nearby to see the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Ahava statue I had seen so many pictures of. A lot of the building was closed for renovation, but we saw the Shrine of the Book and everything that was opened, for a slightly reduced entrance fee. I also finally got the neckalces of the statue I had been looking for. One for me and one for Mom. Glad I got to go to the museum, because I missed the siyur when the group went.
We took a bus late afternoon back into the old city to visit the Kotel again, and were surprised to discover it was Rosh Chodesh, which apaprently means everyone comes to pray and dance and celebrate in the Kotel Plaza. There were groups of boys dancing around people on loud speakers. We met up with a friend of Ricci's, Dana, who was coming for Rosh Chodesh with her friends. Talked with her a bit, grabbed some pizza, then realized it was pretty late and we should get back. We went to Shari's to get our stuff, and sat down exhausted. We made the executive decision to stay there another night rather than trek out with our packs to move into the WUJS apartment as planned, since it was late and we were tired. Glad we did. And glad she offered. I honestly love this woman. We fell asleep pretty quick after a long jam packed tourist day.
Okay, forgot to warn you this would be a long one. Get ready, I'm still going. We woke up early on Monday. We hopped a bus to Yad Vashem to start our day. We had been told that an audio guide could take a loooong time, and Shari suggested a guided tour, but we opted to just do it on our own and set our own pace. Glad we did, but we set it a bit slow at the beginning. We read almost everything in thye beginning, but then later as the place started getting flooded with groups of students etc, and our feet started hurting, we had to move a little faster. It is a greta museum, but I think its almost too much for one day. By the time we even got to the concentration camps and more interesting artifacts, we were pretty wiped. That's okay though, its free, and i know I'll be back. We saw the childrens memorial, hall of names, and as much as we could, but called it a day after about 4 or 5 hours. From there we headed to Hadassah Hospital, not too far away, to see the Chagall Windows I had missed with Mom and Dad. We got in for the student price, thank you Emerson id, and joined a German tour group. We got the info page in English, but had to listen to the whole demo in German before we asked the lady to start it again in English. It was funny to see all the people keep rotating sides of the room as the demo suggested they do, and us go the opposite way on our own. Each window represents one of the brothers or tribes, and it based on the blessing Jacob gave them. They made a lot more sense when we heard the descriptions in English too. I took lots of pictures before we got yelled at for using our cameras, so Dad and Mom, you can pretend you got to see them too. We grabbed a late lunch/early dinner at Aroma at the hospital, then went back to Shari's to use her computer to finish planning the rest of the week and our remaining travel time together. Debating staying there another night, we decided not to overstay our welcome and moved over to the WUJS apartments around dinner time. Got ourselves settled in, and had an early night. We earned it.
I'm gonna take a little nap break. I'll try to finish the entry later tonight!
Friday morning I went to breakfast with Merav in Hod HaSharon, had delicious spinach shakshuka, then hopped a bus from the center of town to Jerusalem. Since I wasn't planning to meet Ronit and her family until later that day, when I arrived I began trekking around with my pack. I walked from the bus station to Ben Yehuda to do some shopping. Little boutiques are hard to navigate with a frame pack on, but I managed. I found some new alleys and turns I hadn't taken before and shopped around until I was bored and my shoulders hurt. I called Ronit, my coworker whose family I was staying with for Shabbat, and she and her husband came to pick me up when they had finished their shopping. I should tell you about this family. First of all, when I found out I couldn't move into the WUJS apartments (my key to free housing in Jerusalem) until Sunday the 14th, I was talking at work about finding a hostel so I could spend Shabbat in Jerusalem as well. She asked if I wanted to stay at her Mom's place. Of course I said yes, spoke with her, and they basically became my host family for the weekend. When I called Shari, she said "you will come empty handed." I loved this woman already and her amazing Israeli hospitality. And since they were American I knew language wouldn't be an issue, just learning to keep Shabbat. I was a little afraid I would mess up, but I did just fine and had a wonderful time with them. Friday night at Shari's was a big Shabbat dinner including Ronit and her husband, her brother Josh and his wife and baby, their Grandparents, Shari the hostess, and myself. I enjoyed a nice family Shabbat meal, and spent the night at their upstairs neighbor's because Josh, Sarah, and the baby Noam were staying over to drive home after Shabbat. That family also had a little boy, about a year and a half, and I spent the rest of the evening playing with him. We played the "ma ze" game where he asked me what everything was, and I got to practice my hebrew and teach him english when I got stuck. It was pretty fun. Made lots of little friends that night. And Ronit's grandma wants to set me up with her brother in the States. Not too bad at all. I'll let you know how that goes, haha.
Saturday morning I had to wake up kind of early since the neighbor was going to shul, but I went down to Shari's to relax a bit. Did some reading, went for a walk through the parks nearby the Greek colony where she lived, and then came back to grab a snack before heading out for the day. I decided to make the trek into the old city. I had never been to the Kotel on shabbat and thought it was something I needed to do before leaving Israel. I made my way there and wandered through the old city a bit. I finally bought the bracelet I'd been eyeing. I went to the wall, explored the area a bit, and just sat people watching in the plaza. It is one of my favorite places to watch people go by. I decided to do something new for the afternoon, find a place I hadn't been, so I walked over to the Zion gate to explore Har Tzion, or Mt Zion. I found several churches to explore, beautiful, and even the supposed site of the Last Supper. Also on the grounds was King David's tomb, although you can't really see anything its just the spot where they say he was buried. I found out later that Schindler's grave is also located nearby, of the famous list, but I didn't know to look for it. Oh well. When I had had my fill and it started getting late, I sat on a bench in a plaza outside the wall to rest a bit and wait for the busses to start running again so I could get home. A nice old man started talking to me and we ended up spending half and hour just talking about the city and things. He told me I was a "special soul". He spoke to me in Hebrew, which I understood most of (I'm getting pretty good), but I answered in English since I don't really have the words to respond in Hebrew. It was nice though. He was also a teacher, and said he liked to get away for the weekends to get away from the bell. He loved when I said I was a teacher too. He wanted to take me on an adventure, but I decided enough was enough and went to make my way back. It wasn't too far (Mom and Dad, from the old city to Tal Bagel basically if that helps put it in perspective), so I opted to walk since I was now rested. I got Tal Bagel to bring back for dinner, and spent another night, this time in Shari's guest room since the rest of the family had left.
On Sunday morning I slept in a bit since Ricci was coming in from the North, and met her and her giant backpack around 11. She dropped her stuff at Shari's for the day, and we began our tourist adventures. Started the morning touring the Knesset. We took some strange route through a park/garden to get there, but when we finally arrived the tour was really nice. We had to lock our purses up in a little bag with them for security. Our guide took us through the building, explaining us the processes and procedures along the way. We also got to see a temporary exhibit of Da Vinci original notebook pages and sketches. Pretty cool. We got to see the main hall where the Parliament sits and he told us how that all worked, and the voting process etc. Really interesting how different the system is from ours. I asked our tour guide where his English was from since he was basically accentless, and he said he grew up in Chicago. B'emet? I asked him where and it turns out he lived in Morton Grove until he was 12. Pretty funny.
From there we went to the Israel Museum nearby to see the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Ahava statue I had seen so many pictures of. A lot of the building was closed for renovation, but we saw the Shrine of the Book and everything that was opened, for a slightly reduced entrance fee. I also finally got the neckalces of the statue I had been looking for. One for me and one for Mom. Glad I got to go to the museum, because I missed the siyur when the group went.
We took a bus late afternoon back into the old city to visit the Kotel again, and were surprised to discover it was Rosh Chodesh, which apaprently means everyone comes to pray and dance and celebrate in the Kotel Plaza. There were groups of boys dancing around people on loud speakers. We met up with a friend of Ricci's, Dana, who was coming for Rosh Chodesh with her friends. Talked with her a bit, grabbed some pizza, then realized it was pretty late and we should get back. We went to Shari's to get our stuff, and sat down exhausted. We made the executive decision to stay there another night rather than trek out with our packs to move into the WUJS apartment as planned, since it was late and we were tired. Glad we did. And glad she offered. I honestly love this woman. We fell asleep pretty quick after a long jam packed tourist day.
Okay, forgot to warn you this would be a long one. Get ready, I'm still going. We woke up early on Monday. We hopped a bus to Yad Vashem to start our day. We had been told that an audio guide could take a loooong time, and Shari suggested a guided tour, but we opted to just do it on our own and set our own pace. Glad we did, but we set it a bit slow at the beginning. We read almost everything in thye beginning, but then later as the place started getting flooded with groups of students etc, and our feet started hurting, we had to move a little faster. It is a greta museum, but I think its almost too much for one day. By the time we even got to the concentration camps and more interesting artifacts, we were pretty wiped. That's okay though, its free, and i know I'll be back. We saw the childrens memorial, hall of names, and as much as we could, but called it a day after about 4 or 5 hours. From there we headed to Hadassah Hospital, not too far away, to see the Chagall Windows I had missed with Mom and Dad. We got in for the student price, thank you Emerson id, and joined a German tour group. We got the info page in English, but had to listen to the whole demo in German before we asked the lady to start it again in English. It was funny to see all the people keep rotating sides of the room as the demo suggested they do, and us go the opposite way on our own. Each window represents one of the brothers or tribes, and it based on the blessing Jacob gave them. They made a lot more sense when we heard the descriptions in English too. I took lots of pictures before we got yelled at for using our cameras, so Dad and Mom, you can pretend you got to see them too. We grabbed a late lunch/early dinner at Aroma at the hospital, then went back to Shari's to use her computer to finish planning the rest of the week and our remaining travel time together. Debating staying there another night, we decided not to overstay our welcome and moved over to the WUJS apartments around dinner time. Got ourselves settled in, and had an early night. We earned it.
I'm gonna take a little nap break. I'll try to finish the entry later tonight!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Birthday, Blackout, Bonfire, and Byes
I'm 23! Had a fabulous birthday here in Tel Aviv in a week full of packing and goodbyes. Before I get to that, Goodbye Dinner, Sunday night. The committee (or comity as Ricky wrote), Hallie, Michal, Sarah, and Seth planned the whole thing and kept it as a big secret from all the rest of us. We ended up starting with appetizers and wine at our apartment, then they took us on an out of the way walk to Max Brenner, to avoid ruining the surprise. When we got there there was a long table set up with special custom menus just for us and CDs of our favorite and joke songs waiting at each seat. I had chicken nuggets in sweet chile sauce, which came with a shot of pure chocolate. We had a cute little award ceremony, where we all got paper plate awards. Mine was "Puzzle Enthusiast", for my now famous slogan "never force a puzzle". We had a brief Ricky roast, recalling our favorite moments with her, and gave her a cute little cactus to remember us. I found out we got a discount at the store so I bought some little gifties for my coworkers and a hug mug for myself. Goooood niiight.
I started Monday, the 8th, going into the office for a birthday lunch with my colleagues and to give them their presents. Worked in the morning, then went with Tomer and Ronit to Pasta Mia. I had sweet potato/pumpkin gnocchi with cream sauce. MMmmm. We shared chocolate mousse for dessert, and they asked blatantly in front of my face for the waitress to put a sparkler in it. Of course, I didn't understand, so they managed to surprise me without leaving the table. Not bad. Lunch took longer than planned and an accident prevented the 18 bus from coming, so I hurried home from work in a cab to meet Ricky to get fire wood. We drove to North Tel Aviv to the mall to scout the loading docks for crates we could break down. Hallie, Ricky, and I found what we were looking for, loaded it into the back seat, and I rode home underneath it, ducking my head to fit. Safe. The day was already a crazy scurry, and I headed home from there, unloaded, then rushed to change for dinner. Michal, Jaks, Chelsea and I headed out the door to Jaffa.
They had made reservations at the Blackout restaurant at Nalagat Center. The center hosts a theatre company of blind and deaf actors, a cafe with deaf waters, and this Blackout restaurant with blind wait staff. The restaurant is pitch black, completely dark. Incredible experience. We ordered at the desk before we entered. There are 4 choices on the menu, or a surprise option. I ordered vegetarian surprise, and white chocolate mousse for dessert. Then we met our waiter, and he led us into the restaurant, hands on each other shoulders. He was albino, and had very limited vision, a condition he shared with his sister. He helped orient us with the table, chairs, and items on the table, and we sat down. He helped us find the water pitcher and we struggle to pour ourselves glasses. He suggested putting a finger int he glass until you feel the water level. I didn't do too awful. We ordered a bottle of wine to share, and he brought us bread to start. It was coated in this tomato butter, and was delicious. Dinner was even better. My surprise turned out to be some kind of ravioli with mushrooms and peas and various veggies. It was delicious. At first I was using my fingers to help get the food on the fork, but eventually all of us decided to just use our hands. It was so freeing. No one could see us, we could be as messy as we wanted, and we really got to experience the food. Incredibly liberating. And it came with wet-naps. I managed to spill my wine into Chelsea's lap, which apparently is quite shocking when you don't see it coming. Oops. Dessert was amazing too. And i scraped every last bit out of the bottom with my fingers. Disgustingly delicious. Overall, it was a crazy experience. Really got to taste and just feel. Disorienting, but awesome.
After dinner, we headed back home ot get ready for the bonfire. I picked up a bit more wood from a fruit stand where I had seen crates, gathered materials for banana boats, and went back to the apartment to gather a crew to head over. As the day seemed to be panning out, we didn't leave until way behind schedule. At around 10, when the fire was supposed to start, we left to head over to the beach. We tried to get on the bus with the crates, but the driver wouldn't let us on... We decided to start to walk. Already late for my own party, we started the trek into Jaffa. At one point, some people called us from the beach asking where we were, and sent a random guy that we didn't know, a friend of one of my friends, in a car to come meet us. Only in Israel. He took me and one of the crates to the beach to get things started and the others kept walking. When I finally got there, everyone was waiting. We started jumping up and down on the crates trying to break them into boards, and Oren came to the rescue with his mad stomping power and took over. We got it broken down, and set up to start the fire. Using some cardboard and crumpled up newspaper, we managed to get it started pretty quick, around 11 pm. The wood was thin though and burned quick, so we had to stay on top of it all night. That's okay though, when the others got there with the rest of the wood, we managed to keep it burning until 2 am or so. Not too shabby. We made tons of banana boats, with milk, dark, and white chocolate, and met some cool new people. Lots of people made it out, including a few from the Jerusalem machzor. Great birthday. Despite the chance of rain, which didn't happen, and the many times throughout the week where I thought the fire wouldn't happen at all, it all came together in the end. Thanks to everyone's awesomeness for helping me pull it together.
When I got home, my door was decorated with a Happy Birthday banner and Hebrew caution police tape. And my room was filled with balloons. Love my roomies. Nothing like getting home at 3am to a birthday surprise.
Let myself sleep in a bit on my actual b-day, instead of waking up early to begin cleaning day. We scrubbed and packed, etc, but I made sure to not spend my entire birthday packing. Also had some mac and cheese, and watched some Private Practice. Got a lot done, but took it easy as well. I went to visit upstairs when I got bored of packing, and was promptly told by apartment 3 that I was not allowed in. A bit suspicious, I tried not to think about it. Later, Sarah called me to come up because she "had a question for me". When I got there, everyone was waiting with a cake to sing Happy Birthday. I love this group. Not only was it a cake, but it was a funfetti cake. Which I have been talking about forever. Which doesn't exist in Israel. Sarah's parents, who came this week, brought the mix from Canada. Again, can I saw I love these people. it absolutely made my day. Quite delicious too I must add. We all ate, then put on out matching WUJS TLV t-shirts to head to Jerusalem for the final ceremony.
We got off the bus in Jeru, walked down the block, to discover we were at the wrong building. Soooo WUJS. We called the bus back, got back on, and made our way to the real location for the ceremony. With the Jeru machzor, we ate some bagels, watched the final video update (Watch the Clips, Watch the Staff Updates), sang some songs, heard a few speeches from participants, looked at pictures and wrote down our favorite memories, and all got diplomas. When Ricky called my name she said it was my birthday and everyone sang. Seriously, incredible people I am surrounded by. I wore my birthday crown the whole night too. And cried on the bus ride home.
Since today is no longer my birthday, I had to actually get down to business and clean. With the roomies we scrubbed, mopped, swept, etc. I wore plastic bags on my hands to scrub the fridge. Not fun. Packed up a nice box of goodies for the next group who moves in. We also painted a cute little plaque for WUJS Tel Aviv Apt 1 and signed our names with the year. Hope the next group will continue the tradition. Tsachi came to pick up my luggage, and all that's left is a backpack. We went for a last night dinner to Benedict's, a breakfast place on Rotschild, for some last minute roommate bonding. I had chocolate pancakes. While we were out Matt called looking for us to say goodbye. He was heading to the airport. First to go, and we missed it. Sad. When we got home we busted out a bottle of champagne and toasted to the best memories and each other. Apartment clean, clothes packed, this is it. I am staying up to blog now to put off going to bed because when I do that means WUJS is over. And I'm not sure I can handle that. I guess this is the end of the entry though. Moving to Tsachi and Einat's in Hod HaSharon tomorrow after teaching, then trekking to Jerusalem for a week on Friday. I'll do my best to keep writing as my travels continue. I guess this is the end of the entry. Which means I have to sign off and go to bed. Which means I have to say goodbye. I'm not good at those. This isn't goodbye, its see you later. See you later!
I started Monday, the 8th, going into the office for a birthday lunch with my colleagues and to give them their presents. Worked in the morning, then went with Tomer and Ronit to Pasta Mia. I had sweet potato/pumpkin gnocchi with cream sauce. MMmmm. We shared chocolate mousse for dessert, and they asked blatantly in front of my face for the waitress to put a sparkler in it. Of course, I didn't understand, so they managed to surprise me without leaving the table. Not bad. Lunch took longer than planned and an accident prevented the 18 bus from coming, so I hurried home from work in a cab to meet Ricky to get fire wood. We drove to North Tel Aviv to the mall to scout the loading docks for crates we could break down. Hallie, Ricky, and I found what we were looking for, loaded it into the back seat, and I rode home underneath it, ducking my head to fit. Safe. The day was already a crazy scurry, and I headed home from there, unloaded, then rushed to change for dinner. Michal, Jaks, Chelsea and I headed out the door to Jaffa.
They had made reservations at the Blackout restaurant at Nalagat Center. The center hosts a theatre company of blind and deaf actors, a cafe with deaf waters, and this Blackout restaurant with blind wait staff. The restaurant is pitch black, completely dark. Incredible experience. We ordered at the desk before we entered. There are 4 choices on the menu, or a surprise option. I ordered vegetarian surprise, and white chocolate mousse for dessert. Then we met our waiter, and he led us into the restaurant, hands on each other shoulders. He was albino, and had very limited vision, a condition he shared with his sister. He helped orient us with the table, chairs, and items on the table, and we sat down. He helped us find the water pitcher and we struggle to pour ourselves glasses. He suggested putting a finger int he glass until you feel the water level. I didn't do too awful. We ordered a bottle of wine to share, and he brought us bread to start. It was coated in this tomato butter, and was delicious. Dinner was even better. My surprise turned out to be some kind of ravioli with mushrooms and peas and various veggies. It was delicious. At first I was using my fingers to help get the food on the fork, but eventually all of us decided to just use our hands. It was so freeing. No one could see us, we could be as messy as we wanted, and we really got to experience the food. Incredibly liberating. And it came with wet-naps. I managed to spill my wine into Chelsea's lap, which apparently is quite shocking when you don't see it coming. Oops. Dessert was amazing too. And i scraped every last bit out of the bottom with my fingers. Disgustingly delicious. Overall, it was a crazy experience. Really got to taste and just feel. Disorienting, but awesome.
After dinner, we headed back home ot get ready for the bonfire. I picked up a bit more wood from a fruit stand where I had seen crates, gathered materials for banana boats, and went back to the apartment to gather a crew to head over. As the day seemed to be panning out, we didn't leave until way behind schedule. At around 10, when the fire was supposed to start, we left to head over to the beach. We tried to get on the bus with the crates, but the driver wouldn't let us on... We decided to start to walk. Already late for my own party, we started the trek into Jaffa. At one point, some people called us from the beach asking where we were, and sent a random guy that we didn't know, a friend of one of my friends, in a car to come meet us. Only in Israel. He took me and one of the crates to the beach to get things started and the others kept walking. When I finally got there, everyone was waiting. We started jumping up and down on the crates trying to break them into boards, and Oren came to the rescue with his mad stomping power and took over. We got it broken down, and set up to start the fire. Using some cardboard and crumpled up newspaper, we managed to get it started pretty quick, around 11 pm. The wood was thin though and burned quick, so we had to stay on top of it all night. That's okay though, when the others got there with the rest of the wood, we managed to keep it burning until 2 am or so. Not too shabby. We made tons of banana boats, with milk, dark, and white chocolate, and met some cool new people. Lots of people made it out, including a few from the Jerusalem machzor. Great birthday. Despite the chance of rain, which didn't happen, and the many times throughout the week where I thought the fire wouldn't happen at all, it all came together in the end. Thanks to everyone's awesomeness for helping me pull it together.
When I got home, my door was decorated with a Happy Birthday banner and Hebrew caution police tape. And my room was filled with balloons. Love my roomies. Nothing like getting home at 3am to a birthday surprise.
Let myself sleep in a bit on my actual b-day, instead of waking up early to begin cleaning day. We scrubbed and packed, etc, but I made sure to not spend my entire birthday packing. Also had some mac and cheese, and watched some Private Practice. Got a lot done, but took it easy as well. I went to visit upstairs when I got bored of packing, and was promptly told by apartment 3 that I was not allowed in. A bit suspicious, I tried not to think about it. Later, Sarah called me to come up because she "had a question for me". When I got there, everyone was waiting with a cake to sing Happy Birthday. I love this group. Not only was it a cake, but it was a funfetti cake. Which I have been talking about forever. Which doesn't exist in Israel. Sarah's parents, who came this week, brought the mix from Canada. Again, can I saw I love these people. it absolutely made my day. Quite delicious too I must add. We all ate, then put on out matching WUJS TLV t-shirts to head to Jerusalem for the final ceremony.
We got off the bus in Jeru, walked down the block, to discover we were at the wrong building. Soooo WUJS. We called the bus back, got back on, and made our way to the real location for the ceremony. With the Jeru machzor, we ate some bagels, watched the final video update (Watch the Clips, Watch the Staff Updates), sang some songs, heard a few speeches from participants, looked at pictures and wrote down our favorite memories, and all got diplomas. When Ricky called my name she said it was my birthday and everyone sang. Seriously, incredible people I am surrounded by. I wore my birthday crown the whole night too. And cried on the bus ride home.
Since today is no longer my birthday, I had to actually get down to business and clean. With the roomies we scrubbed, mopped, swept, etc. I wore plastic bags on my hands to scrub the fridge. Not fun. Packed up a nice box of goodies for the next group who moves in. We also painted a cute little plaque for WUJS Tel Aviv Apt 1 and signed our names with the year. Hope the next group will continue the tradition. Tsachi came to pick up my luggage, and all that's left is a backpack. We went for a last night dinner to Benedict's, a breakfast place on Rotschild, for some last minute roommate bonding. I had chocolate pancakes. While we were out Matt called looking for us to say goodbye. He was heading to the airport. First to go, and we missed it. Sad. When we got home we busted out a bottle of champagne and toasted to the best memories and each other. Apartment clean, clothes packed, this is it. I am staying up to blog now to put off going to bed because when I do that means WUJS is over. And I'm not sure I can handle that. I guess this is the end of the entry though. Moving to Tsachi and Einat's in Hod HaSharon tomorrow after teaching, then trekking to Jerusalem for a week on Friday. I'll do my best to keep writing as my travels continue. I guess this is the end of the entry. Which means I have to sign off and go to bed. Which means I have to say goodbye. I'm not good at those. This isn't goodbye, its see you later. See you later!
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