ISREALITY Check
How could I have guessed when I started this blog in March, that lil' old shut-in me would be using it as a tool to document my world traveling? Thirty is really turning out to be the age of change for me, a time to let go of my anal-rententive urge to plan every detail and just embrace each day for what it has to offer. And with that said, I now report back to you on my trip to Israel from September 15-23.
The Western Wall at Sunset
Jerusalem Cruisin'
My visit to the promised land kicked off on a Friday morning in Jerusalem. It's really a stunning place and so packed with religious and historical significance that you feel like it should be coated in scotchguard or plastic, you know like that sofa in your aunt's living room.
In addition to consuming copious amounts of falafel, I took in all the tourist sites- the Tower of David, The Church of the Sepulchre and, of course, the Western Wall. But the real gem was the Arab market. It felt like I was an extra in some movie about the Middle East as I strolled though narrow alley ways jam-packed with merchants peddling everything from fan-tailed pigeons and jewel-encrusted sabres to cheesy "I heart Jerusalem" tees and viles of "holy land sand."
It didn't take long to learn how to work the market either. First, you had to look uninterested in everything - one overly enthusaistic glance and the shopkeep was all over you like humus on a pita. Nothing was priced, so you had to just kind of hold something up and make a nod gesture at it. This was the cue for said shopkeep to rattle off some cost - say 40 shekels. Then you had to frown and put the item down. Suddenly the price would drop. "For you, 30 shekels," he would say with his best used car salesman grin. But you couldn't give in, you just kept your eyes down, poker face on, turn and keep walking. The farther you walked from the store, the lower the price went until a 40 shekel item was suddenly reduced to 10 shekels.
Using this technique, I am now the proud owner of a ornately sheathed sabre, a pretty mosaic mirror-encrusted tapestry and two stuffed camels that sing Arabic love songs when you squeeze them. And despite my urge to come home with a triple-decker giant hooka because they were really cool looking - I declined. I figured that might be pressing my luck with customs telling them that it was for decore purposes only.
Bamba-bastic, it's fantastic
I knew I would love the food in Israel, but what I did not know is that I would find the best snack food and chocolates in the world. Imagine if you will the delightful texture of the cheesepuff (the really white trash kind) with the greasy, yummy flavor of peanut butter and you have Bamba - Israel's number one snack! With it's weirdly foreign oversized kid logo and coat-your-mouth goodness in mind, I have spent my days in the states planning future uses for this tasty treat - bamba and banana sandwiches, bamba crusted peanut butter pies ...really folks, the possibilities are endless.
My second Israeli love was the chocolate. The Kit Kat (or Kif Kif in Hebrew) is like it's American cousin but ten times more delicious. I think the secret lies in the wafer part that seems to be just a tad coffee flavored, making them far superior. And then there's a little candy called the 4 play (and yes I only bought it because of the implied naughtiness of it's name). Much to my juvenille humor satisfaction, it kind of resembles two chocolate boobs filled with an uknown, yet yummy, creamy filling.
And I can't report back on Israel without a note about the "traditional" Israeli breakfast (I use traditional here loosely as I only experienced it in my hotel). You can sum it up in three words: cucumbers, tomotoes and cheese. Every morning it's diced, sliced or chopped cucumber and tomatoes accompanied by endles supply of soft cheeses - goat cheese, dill cheese, etc. It was new and exotic the first few days, but by the end I would have shelled out the shekels for a bowl of corn flakes or a pop tart.
Israeli Idol and Hebrew for Dummies
After leaving Jerusalem, we traveled by bus three-hours north to Akko in Israel's Western Galilee. It's a small town in Israel bordered by Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea. Here's the view from my hotel room.
I was so surprised that being halfway around the world reminded me so much of growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Despite the whole sea thing, the temperature and landscape of Akko and the surrounding country side reminded me a lot of the land of enchantment. There were hills, trees, endless blue skies and that great hot-in-the-daytime, cool-at-night weather you just can't duplicate.
Since my purpose on the trip was to learn about my work's relationship with the region (which is kind of like our sister city) and not to train for emergency preparedness at Western Galilee Hospital like the Americans doctors I was traveling with (click here for the work recap of the trip) I got the benefit of a personal tour guide. His name is Eliad Eliyahu and not only is he my new pal and Hebrew instructor, he also has a number one hit on Israeli radio.
Each day Eliad and I set out on new adventures. One day was a visit to Rosh Hanikra, a sparkling white cliffside that has tunnels you can walk in that were carved by the sea, then the next day it was the Old City of Akko which was a crusader's castle hundreds of years ago or a stop by his synagogue which was coated floor to celing in the amazingly detailed mosaic telling stories through the ages. Words simply can't do justice to the beauty, the history and the whole experience.
One of our favorite games to play was to make waitstaff guess where I was from. My "gingy" or read hair was not a dead giveaway of my American-ness and the typical guess was that I was from the U.K. or Sweden. I take that as a compliment, I think?
Along the way, I also learned a little bit of Hebrew. Nothing that will ever come in handy of course, as I am a Hebrew savant, but a few fun words and phrases I thought I could share:
Bokor Tov - Good Morning
Toda Ro bah - Thank You Very Much
Ken - Yes
Lo- No
Sababa - Cool, Okay, Great (Basically use it as you see fit)
Layla Tov- Goodnight
Yalah - lets go
Kelev- Dog
Chatule - Cat
Tavas - Peacock (I've decided this will be my Hebrew name)
Ha Chatule Ohel Falafel - The Cat Eats Falafel (here's the pic - Israel has MANY cats)
How do I end the blog about Israel? What can I say to put my emotions into word? Nothing I guess, but I will say that it was amazing and I feel so fortunate to have had the experience and to have met some new friends. It was also refreshing to know that even half way around the world, in a land where I didn't speak the language or know the customs, I could feel safe and at home.
Here's some more photos:
My Superman Kippah (or Yarmukle) to cover my head at holy sites
Me & Eliad in the tunnels under the Old City of Akko
With a camel near the Western Wall
On an IDF Soldier base right by the Lebanon Border
Atop Rosh Hanikra
Love, love
Love as addictive as Bamba ... and the beauty of Israel
Love,
Jef
The Western Wall at Sunset
Jerusalem Cruisin'
My visit to the promised land kicked off on a Friday morning in Jerusalem. It's really a stunning place and so packed with religious and historical significance that you feel like it should be coated in scotchguard or plastic, you know like that sofa in your aunt's living room.
In addition to consuming copious amounts of falafel, I took in all the tourist sites- the Tower of David, The Church of the Sepulchre and, of course, the Western Wall. But the real gem was the Arab market. It felt like I was an extra in some movie about the Middle East as I strolled though narrow alley ways jam-packed with merchants peddling everything from fan-tailed pigeons and jewel-encrusted sabres to cheesy "I heart Jerusalem" tees and viles of "holy land sand."
It didn't take long to learn how to work the market either. First, you had to look uninterested in everything - one overly enthusaistic glance and the shopkeep was all over you like humus on a pita. Nothing was priced, so you had to just kind of hold something up and make a nod gesture at it. This was the cue for said shopkeep to rattle off some cost - say 40 shekels. Then you had to frown and put the item down. Suddenly the price would drop. "For you, 30 shekels," he would say with his best used car salesman grin. But you couldn't give in, you just kept your eyes down, poker face on, turn and keep walking. The farther you walked from the store, the lower the price went until a 40 shekel item was suddenly reduced to 10 shekels.
Using this technique, I am now the proud owner of a ornately sheathed sabre, a pretty mosaic mirror-encrusted tapestry and two stuffed camels that sing Arabic love songs when you squeeze them. And despite my urge to come home with a triple-decker giant hooka because they were really cool looking - I declined. I figured that might be pressing my luck with customs telling them that it was for decore purposes only.
Bamba-bastic, it's fantastic
I knew I would love the food in Israel, but what I did not know is that I would find the best snack food and chocolates in the world. Imagine if you will the delightful texture of the cheesepuff (the really white trash kind) with the greasy, yummy flavor of peanut butter and you have Bamba - Israel's number one snack! With it's weirdly foreign oversized kid logo and coat-your-mouth goodness in mind, I have spent my days in the states planning future uses for this tasty treat - bamba and banana sandwiches, bamba crusted peanut butter pies ...really folks, the possibilities are endless.
My second Israeli love was the chocolate. The Kit Kat (or Kif Kif in Hebrew) is like it's American cousin but ten times more delicious. I think the secret lies in the wafer part that seems to be just a tad coffee flavored, making them far superior. And then there's a little candy called the 4 play (and yes I only bought it because of the implied naughtiness of it's name). Much to my juvenille humor satisfaction, it kind of resembles two chocolate boobs filled with an uknown, yet yummy, creamy filling.
And I can't report back on Israel without a note about the "traditional" Israeli breakfast (I use traditional here loosely as I only experienced it in my hotel). You can sum it up in three words: cucumbers, tomotoes and cheese. Every morning it's diced, sliced or chopped cucumber and tomatoes accompanied by endles supply of soft cheeses - goat cheese, dill cheese, etc. It was new and exotic the first few days, but by the end I would have shelled out the shekels for a bowl of corn flakes or a pop tart.
Israeli Idol and Hebrew for Dummies
After leaving Jerusalem, we traveled by bus three-hours north to Akko in Israel's Western Galilee. It's a small town in Israel bordered by Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea. Here's the view from my hotel room.
I was so surprised that being halfway around the world reminded me so much of growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Despite the whole sea thing, the temperature and landscape of Akko and the surrounding country side reminded me a lot of the land of enchantment. There were hills, trees, endless blue skies and that great hot-in-the-daytime, cool-at-night weather you just can't duplicate.
Since my purpose on the trip was to learn about my work's relationship with the region (which is kind of like our sister city) and not to train for emergency preparedness at Western Galilee Hospital like the Americans doctors I was traveling with (click here for the work recap of the trip) I got the benefit of a personal tour guide. His name is Eliad Eliyahu and not only is he my new pal and Hebrew instructor, he also has a number one hit on Israeli radio.
Each day Eliad and I set out on new adventures. One day was a visit to Rosh Hanikra, a sparkling white cliffside that has tunnels you can walk in that were carved by the sea, then the next day it was the Old City of Akko which was a crusader's castle hundreds of years ago or a stop by his synagogue which was coated floor to celing in the amazingly detailed mosaic telling stories through the ages. Words simply can't do justice to the beauty, the history and the whole experience.
One of our favorite games to play was to make waitstaff guess where I was from. My "gingy" or read hair was not a dead giveaway of my American-ness and the typical guess was that I was from the U.K. or Sweden. I take that as a compliment, I think?
Along the way, I also learned a little bit of Hebrew. Nothing that will ever come in handy of course, as I am a Hebrew savant, but a few fun words and phrases I thought I could share:
Bokor Tov - Good Morning
Toda Ro bah - Thank You Very Much
Ken - Yes
Lo- No
Sababa - Cool, Okay, Great (Basically use it as you see fit)
Layla Tov- Goodnight
Yalah - lets go
Kelev- Dog
Chatule - Cat
Tavas - Peacock (I've decided this will be my Hebrew name)
Ha Chatule Ohel Falafel - The Cat Eats Falafel (here's the pic - Israel has MANY cats)
How do I end the blog about Israel? What can I say to put my emotions into word? Nothing I guess, but I will say that it was amazing and I feel so fortunate to have had the experience and to have met some new friends. It was also refreshing to know that even half way around the world, in a land where I didn't speak the language or know the customs, I could feel safe and at home.
Here's some more photos:
My Superman Kippah (or Yarmukle) to cover my head at holy sites
Me & Eliad in the tunnels under the Old City of Akko
With a camel near the Western Wall
On an IDF Soldier base right by the Lebanon Border
Atop Rosh Hanikra
Love, love
Love as addictive as Bamba ... and the beauty of Israel
Love,
Jef
posted by Tingleyallover at 2:24 PM
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