I sighed with a relief when I walked out of the Central Bus Station onto Jaffa. I began walking along Jaffa, just taking in the cityscape. However, the sight of Jaffa, nearly sliced in half, one side being a road, and the other being a construction site, shocked me. As I studied the construction below, I realized that the new light rail will be running along Jaffa. For something that's been talked about for years and non-existent last year, it was incredible to see some work done! The light rail is scheduled to be completed by 2011... but this is Israel... who knows. I began thinking about how much Jerusalem will change in the next 10 years and maybe, just maybe, I will want to live here now that there will definitely be light rail connecting to Tel Aviv, more gourmet restaurants coming for my taste buds, and generally improving quality of life for me. The only problem will be housing, expensive housing.
I made it to the shuk and soaked in the craziness of people running around buying food for Shabbat. I picked up some pita (they're really terrible in Haifa- can't even cut them well to make pockets), a roll, and 30 shekelim worth of Marzipan's chocolate rugalechim. Half would be for the Israeli family as a thank you for coming to Israel, and the other half for my roommates in Haifa as a thank you for being great to me. The trick was to see if I could deliver these without eating them! I bought some pizza rolls as late lunch. Once I was out of the shuk, I began walking to King David hotel, where the Israeli family was staying. I smiled the whole way there. I didn't care if I had to carry my duffel bag for 1 1/2 hours from the CBS to the shuk to King David.
I met Aunt Nancy and the gang. Then Ron's cousin, Yehudit and her family came over to join us for some pool time before Shabbat. She had two kids, ages 10 and 13, perfect for Ben and Alec. She also brought along another cousin, Tamar, who's 14, for Ella. So all 6 of them played in the pool while all the adults sat on the deck and talked. They talked a lot about Max, Yehudit's brother, who lives in New York. It was getting cold after a while that I actually put my clothes back on- I shouldn't have changed into my bathing suit.
When we went back up to the room to prepare for Shabbat, I called up Meredith to see what was going on as I was planning to leave after dinner to Hebrew U. As it turned out, she wouldn't really have much time- the next day, she'd be going to the church until 2 (which I understood) and then leave right after for Ramallah. I froze a bit just hearing that and asked her questions. She and her friend(s) were taking a bus and their friend would pick them up in a tiny car. I decided, partly for comfort, partly for my safety, and partly the need to get back to Jerusalem by 8:30 to catch the 9 PM bus to Haifa, it would be best that I didn't go to Ramallah. She and my aunt both individually thought that I should stay with the Israelis for the night and just stay with them for the weekend, and then I would come back to Jerusalem on Wednesday after the end of ulpan. So that was that. I was a little smitten at the thought of being able to stay at King David for the night, even if it meant sleeping on the couch in their suite.
Around 6:30ish, we took cabs out to northwestern part of Jerusalem, to Chana's (Ron's aunt, on father's side) and Zoobie's (sp.?). They live in a small apartment building that they built in 1981 for their family. They live in one apartment, their son lives in another, and Max used to live in the third (and now some people rent it). They had a beautiful view of Jerusalem Forest, which equalled to a great sunset. The Israeli family and Chana went over to Ron's grandmother in her nursing home while I hung out with Zoobie and Etai, their grandson (who was very cute by the way!). They set up the BBQ and some of the dinner (isn't that nice, men taking care of the cooking a bit?). I took the opportunity to call Linda to update her and then I called Dad to say hi.
Finally, everyone came around 7:30ish. Aunt Nancy asked me if I had told Dad that she had let me with some strange relatives for an hour. I said to her that I was just so happy to be in Jerusalem that it didn't matter at all! So at dinner, we had about 25 or so people- half adults and half kids. It was all family and the atmosphere was quite inviting and warm. Dinner was lamb beef patties (Zoobie told me that generally ground meat in Israel is 50% beef and 50% lamb, which I wish I had known!), rice, stuffed peppers (Mexican style), carrots glazed with grapes, some Israeli salads, and pita. All so delicious that I wish I could take some with me! For dessert, Chana served parve cheesecake (it tasted parve...), watermelon, and chocolate cake loaf. Consequently with all the food, Nancy, Ben, and I did not sleep very well that night and had crazy, bizarre dreams (I dreamt of Cutie, my old pony, who I hadn't thought of in a while!).
I met a couple, the Yerushalamis, who had connections to Rochester Jewish community. The wife, Judy, who made aliyah 15 years ago, still has some relatives there. I told them that I worked on a thesis and am still working on it, relating to the Jewish community there. She gave a hint that she might be able to give me more clues of the German immigrants in the 1930s and 1940s. I got her email. That was quite exciting for me! In Israel! We also talked a bit about challenges of making aliyah like support and jobs.
We finally left after 10 PM. I pretty much crashed with everyone else.
The next day, we got up and went down for breakfast. The breakfast spread was just beautiful- they had cinnamon and chocolate brioche! We met Zvika around 9:15 and began driving. I was worried that the Dead Sea would be very hot and thought we'd need to go sooner so we wouldn't melt on Masada. As it turned out, it was pleasant weather! We drove through the West Bank and made a pit stop at this little tourist attraction- the Sea Level point. Remember, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth, below the sea level.
Aside from this little sign (and a big one), there was a man with a camel. Obviously, he took advantage of being the only guy to sell tourist stuff and photo-op with a camel. The kids got on it- all together! They had a lot of fun. I wasn't quite into it- just because I'm not a fan of camels. I think they're rude and arrogant. Anyway, the Israeli family all together managed to get a photo op. While they played with the camel, I took a picture of this:
It looks so much like a painting but it's for real! I love it. Afterwards, we all hopped back in the SUV and began driving non-stop to Masada. I wish I had remembered to bring my bandana- I thought I was not going to be going on this leg of the trip... So I ended up wearing a baseball hat and needed to buy water. Zvika was quite admant over everyone drinking water. I kept telling him that I've been here, not just in the desert, and I know how much water I need to drink! We took a cable car up. Before we went through the gate at the top, we went the steps on the snake path to see where the Jews stored water inside the mountain. I didn't remember seeing that. Then we did our tour. I felt that Zvika was very good in telling the history of Masada and knowledgeable of the area. Maybe I didn't pay too much attention to Ron, my parents' tour guide. I pointed out to Aunt Nancy and Ella the Roman ramp and the south side of the mountain where I had gone on my birthright trip. I told them that even though it's my third time on Masada, it's still important to me because that's when I made my kesher (connection) with Israel- through the martyrdom of the Jews in history.
After Masada, we went down everyone got orange and watermelon juices. I was still feeling a little full so I opted out of the watermelon juice. Aunt Nancy never failed to stop asking Alec if he wanted any juice (he's not a fruit eater). While waiting for people to use the bathroom, Zvika challenged me to a water chugging contest to see if I could drink more than what he had left in his water bottle (I had a big bottle and he had the medium size). I thought, "You're challenging the wrong person. If you knew about Colgate's reputation and my past as a milk chugger..." Whatever, I held out longer.
After Masada, Zvika drove into the desert a bit to show us the remains of the Dead Sea from thousands of years ago. On the way here, he had given us a lecture on the Dead Sea. The sight was amazing- I couldn't believe all the salt-rock formations!
We stopped at the Ein Gedi restaurant to grab some lunch.
It was also the same place that my family had lunch too. They didn't have chicken schinztel so I just got baked chicken. Then we went across the road to Ein Gedi Reserve Park. Again, I felt a little unprepared given that I didn't bring my sneakers to walk in. Fortunately, we didn't have to walk very far to the waterfall and pool we'd be dipping in for a bit. I was literally sweating when I got there 15-20 minutes later! Ella was a very good help by offering her shoulder for balance support while I navigated in my birkenstocks. The water was cold but felt great! Zvika said that the Israelis call this the "second waterfall" because the really good ones were up further (where my friends and I had gone several weeks ago). I'm glad that I know where this waterfall is now so I can take my family there next time they come back to Israel. The kids explored behind the rocks (not shown here) while I sat on the rocks observing the nature. They had watershoes on and I was going barefoot so I couldn't really join them. Also I get a little nervous around water when I don't hear anyway.
Finally, we drove out to the Dead Sea- to the beach fairly close to the West Bank chekcpoint- Desert Oasis. It was a very small, narrow beach. I liked it- at least I can go down here from Jerusalem quickly instead of riding all the way down. The water was very warm. The twins and I floated together. Alec floated for a bit but his skin was... too sensitive so he went to the showers pretty fast. It seems like the more time I spend in the Dead Sea, the tougher I get! Ron has all the pictures, by the way. I was on the look out for mud but it didn't really seem to be in plain sight anywhere. So I got out of the water and showered off and then when I came back, the kids and Ron found some mud. So I joined in. We didn't leave much time for the mud to completely dry as we had to get going back to Jerusalem. Before we left, we met Zvika in the bar restaurant and he was smoking some hookah. He explained how the hookah worked. I didn't give a whirl- hookahs aren't really my thing.
I closed my eyes for a bit on the way. When we reached the hotel, I thank Zvika for everything and it was a pleasure to meet him. We all went upstairs to shower and pack. I told Aunt Nancy that I couldn't really leave until Shabbat was over anyway. So I stuck around and had a light dinner with them. Alec and Ben were facsinated by the chocolate syrup decor on their chocolate milk. No one seemed too thrilled that there wasn't anything hot to eat because of Shabbat so most of us ordered tea for drinks. It was also getting very cool out and we were sitting outside on the deck- at the same table where my family had drinks a year ago! I mentioned that to Aunt Nancy and she thought it was funny.
After good-byes and thank yous, I set out to walk to the bus station. I had about an hour. I figured that buses wouldn't actually start running until I would be close to the bus station. But I was just so happy to be in Jerusalem that the bag felt lighter than it did the day before and the walk didn't seem very long even though it was about 45 minutes. At the CBS, things were starting to get nuts! I couldn't get on the 9 PM bus to Haifa and had to wait for the 9:15 one (the next one would be 9:40). I was a little worried that my round-trip ticket would be no good because it was supposed to be good for 23 hours but I knew I could argue that it was still Shabbat at 12:!5 PM! The bus driver took it without problem thankfully. The bus drivers, I noticed, for both buses were carefully not to allow any standing room, given that its a two-hour ride and the buses were running more frequently than on a typical day. I wound up sitting next to some weirdo girl who watched some kind of strange sci-fantasy movie on her laptop.
When I got back to Haifa, I saw that the first bus, 133, I'd take wasn't going to leave for another 20 minutes, I decided that I just wanted to get back to the university before I fall asleep on Horev Street, waiting for 37 to take me back to the university. So I nabbed a cab. I learned my lessons about cab drivers in Haifa- they're actually very fair and won't rip anyone off because this wasn't like Tel Aviv or Jerusalem where there are many ways to different places. Besides, the standard price in general seemed to be around 40 or 50 shekelim anyway between the university and French Carmel/Carmel Center and the universitty and the CBS.
I am very glad that the Israelis were able to visit Israel while I was there. I am thankful for the opportunity to see other parts of Israel that I hadn't seen before. I wanted to do this because I know that once I go off to graduate school in Michigan, it will be more difficult to see them other than Thanksgiving (and the upcoming bar mitzvah). So I didn't just go for the sights, but to spend time with them.
I realized, from this experience, that although it sounds easy to point out things that are important to me, it's hard to convey my emotional connections. I have to really explain why and how. Maybe it sounds easy because I have such vivid imagination. Or maybe sometimes I expect too much. I think that all I want for my family and friends is just to see what I appreciate about Israel and why, however they're feeling about being in this country. For example, when I stood out on the balcony at Chana's watching the sunset over Jerusalem forest, I largely thought about what it had meant for me to live in Jerusalem and to be able to overcome the large stereotypical picture of the city as "very religious" to a picture of a beautiful city where old meets new and changing demographics. I also didn't need to be in the desert to see this beautiful sunset either. How Jerusalem had become much more than the expectations that people have of the city- as very old, ancient place situated in a desert where it's just all sand...
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