Israel and Family

About two weeks ago we left Turkey to go to Israel.  Wow... lots has happened since then. Anyway, our main goals there was to see family (I have some cousins who live in the Tel Aviv area), friends, and see some of the big sites. I'd say it was quite successful.  Being that this is just about the end of the trip, we decided that it would be okay to move a little faster and see a lot more.

I just like this photo, its from a nature reserve north of Tel Aviv.  Credit to Nico

We flew into Tel Aviv, spent a few days with my cousin Adela, then went to Jerusalem for about a week, and then came back to Tel Aviv to spend some more time with Adela, Yoram & family, and also got to see Nurit, Ronnie and Matan.  Last time I saw any of my cousins here was about 5 years ago.  Even in my whole life, I'd only seen them a handful of times.  It really is neat though, that bond that we've got because we all share a couple great grandparents.  It was really wonderful to actually get to know all of them quite a bit better and also in general just to have some family to be with since its been so long.

Hanging out with my cousin Adela

When we went to Jerusalem, we spent the first couple days at my friend Steph's place.  We were really good friends about 6 years ago when we both were in the same dorm at UNSW in Sydney for a semester.  She was such a wonderful host and provided us with a dinner full of typical Israeli salads and other dishes.  She also set us up to do some ATVing in the Jerusalem hills.

Israeli dinner with Steph

The next day we went on a tour to the South Hebron Hills.  This is in the west bank on the other side of the green line.  It was super interesting to learn about what is actually going on there from someone who was stationed there in the military.  There is a lot to talk about with the whole Israeli-Palestinian conflict and what this tour was all about, but that will have to be another post.  (hopefully soon).

Olive trees behind razor wire

Then on Friday I got to play some ultimate!  Amazingly I can still throw quite well, but hiking definitely does not keep you in shape to run.  After 2 hours I was really hurting, and sore.  It was so much fun to play though.  That evening, Nico and I went to the house of a friend of hers.  He is quite religious, and so it was cool to have a Shabbat dinner – my one and only Shabbat dinner this year.  His Yeshiva friend was also there and two others, and it is actually interesting to listen to them talk about random silly Jewish laws.

hanging out in the church of the nativity

Saturday, Christmas day, we went back into the west bank, but to Bethlehem – the birthplace of Jesus.  Its one of those things that is interesting to see once.  We went to Manger Square and there was a group of people playing instruments and leading everyone in some hallelujah song where the crowd was singing along and dancing and clapping.  Then we went into the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus was (supposedly) born.  It was a really beautiful church, and you can even go under the stage to see the little hole in the ground where he popped out.  Like I said, it was cool, there were tons of pilgrims there, but any other day would have been the same to me.

We also spend almost 2 days just wandering around the old city of Jerusalem.  There are so many holy sites for the Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike.  It is really cool to be in some of those places in person that you may have heard about in history class.  This was also my second time there (that I can remember) but it is very different seeing all this with Nico that it was with my family.

Praying at the Western Wall

Our last day in Jerusalem we rented a car, picked up two other women from the hostel we stayed at, and went to Masada and the Dead Sea.  The dead sea – totally worthwhile to float in it and experience it for yourself.  No where else on earth is there a place like it.  It was kinda neat that for our time there, we actually had some sort of agenda, and each day we had something planned, and then after the planned activity, we had some other time to just kinda relax.

Nico and I floating in the Dead Sea.  It was a bit too windy to totally lay on our backs... this water in your face = pain.

After the dead sea day, we went back to Tel Aviv to spend a few more days with cousins before we left.  One of the days Yoram took Nico and I to Cesaria, an old Roman port town that people always fought over, then to Haifa, and also to a nature reserve right above some cliffs by the sea.  It was a really nice time.

At Caesarea with my cousin Yoram

I think that the country order worked out quite well.  By this, I mean that Israel was a good choice for a last country before coming back to the US.  I write this from the airplane right now, but I have a feeling that the biggest culture shock out of this entire year will be coming back home.  Israel is very modern, people actually stop at crosswalks and  there is some resemblance of road rules that people can respect.  It was also amazing to think that we can finally again just turn on the tap and have drinking water.  Hopefully this will help me readjust to life in the US.  We shall see....