People, People Everywhere

Friday in Israel.
Unlike where I live in America, Friday and Saturday are different here. Friday is preparation day because on Saturday - Shabbat or Sabbath, most things close down and people take a day of rest.
Nayna and Papa had shopping to do and knew that by four in the afternoon, stores would close and the buses and sheruts wouldn't be available.
Back to the Hacarmel shuk to find treasures. A sherut ride up Ben Yehuda Street to Allenby Street and we were there.
Wow! I thought it was crowded on Monday, but now EVERYBODY was out shopping. Here's a picture from when Nayna was there several years before. She said not as many people were there then as they were this time.

 The long narrow street was wall to wall people on a mission. People who live in Tel Aviv went to buy food for their Shabbat tables. Tourists were there to find one more good deal before everything closed up. I took one look at it all and burrowed myself into Nayna's purse only to take an occasional peek. And - besides it being a warm morning anyway, all those extra bodies made for discomfort when wearing a fur coat.
Papa and Nayna made their purchases in the main shuk area and then made a mad dash down a side street and out to the open area. On Fridays, people bring their homemade things to sell and set up tables along the street. There were jewelry and toys, paintings and wall hangings, wind chimes and clothing. Anything you could ever want.

After finding our gifts, and one more yummy fruit shake we walked back down Allenby and caught a sherut for Frishman Street - one more time. Nayna had a hankering for a shawarma and knew a place on Ben Yehuda street near the supermarket.

I found out, a shawarma is thinly shaved lamb or turkey meat stuffed into a pita with Israeli salad, sauces and fries piled on top. Okay, my mouth was ready for this treat. But it was closed! As in not there anymore. And so, after a stop in the market for some packaged spices and Bugles chips, we decided to walk to our hotel and find another shawarma place on the way. We walked, and walked, and walked. No shawarma. We were hot and tired and we walked, and walked and walked some more. And then we were at our hotel. Oh bother.
Time for a nap!
More about Shabbat in my next blog.

A Trip to the Israel Museum

So much to see and so little time. I think it would take my whole life here and I'd still run out of time to see everything.
Papa decided that he'd rather go to the Israel Museum instead of the Dead Sea and Masada. It would be so hot there, he told Nayna.
And so, after another big breakfast - burp! scuse me! - we walked up Nordau street and caught the #5 bus for the Tel Aviv train station so we could catch the #480 bus to the Jerusalem central bus station. We're getting pretty good at this public transportation thing.
I love watching the countryside change from city to fields, to mountains to city all within an hour.
This time, instead of taking the lightrail, or another bus, we decided to use a taxi.
Now that's an experience!
They weave in and out of traffic, almost drive up on the sidewalk and narrowly miss other cars and buses. I peeked out of Nayna's purse and snickered as Papa and Nayna gave each other funny looks.

The Israel Museum is big! We'd never be able to see everything.
On our way to the Shrine of the Book, Nayna reached up and set me on a very old carved stone from a synagogue.

We stopped to look at a scale model of second Temple Jerusalem.

 And then I saw what looked like a white Hersey Kiss with water sprayed over the sides. "Do we get to see all kinds of kisses?" I asked.
Nayna snickered. "No, silly bear. That's the Shrine of the Book. Its where the Isaiah scrolls found in Qumran in 1947 are housed.
We walked through a door and into a dimly lit hall where glass cases held all kinds of things they found along with the scrolls. There were cloth and coins, arrows and jars and plates. In some ways the people who lived back in Qumran more than 2000 years ago were so different, and yet, maybe they weren't. I've seen bowls and plates and even combs that look a lot like the ones I see now. I wonder what they ate and what they used their coins to buy. Did their moms sew them new clothes when they were children? Did they play with balls and have puppies and kitties as pets?
At the end of the hall was a door that led into a big room with the Isaiah scroll in the center. Because its so old and they want to protect it, they frown from anyone taking pictures of it, but I wanted you to see what it looked like, so Nayna found a picture on the internet.

It was cool! The Hebrew words look much the same as now so people who know Hebrew can read the scroll just like those who read it for the first time.
Now it was time to go into the big building and look at lots of really old things. We walked outside into the sunlight. We were surrounded by concrete and it was hot. Nayna found some handy hands to sit on for a moment.The ones in the shade where nice.

There is so much more I want you to see, so I'm going to save it for the next blog. I want to take you into the building where we saw things from the beginning of time when things were made. I'll tell you all about it and show more pictures from Nayna's camera.
See you in the 1st century BCE!

McDonald's, The Sea of Galilee And Me

Another day, another breakfast. I'm sure I'm going to be a roly poly fuzzy wuzzy when this vacation is over.
Today we went to the Sea of Galilee, as they say over here, Kinneret.  That means harp in Hebrew.

First though, we needed to rent a car. That meant a walk to the car rental place which was about a 4th of a mile. Already at 10 in the morning, it's very warm and humid.
We passed some interesting sights - a funny looking apartment building and a chair. I knew Nayna needed a minute to cool down so I asked her to stop and take a picture of me.

We got a little Peugeot car that was perfect for just the three of us. It came in handy throughout our trip when we needed to turn around in the middle of a street and when we drove the winding curvy roads at the Sea. We also rented a GPS to help us find our way, but the lady in the box got us lost a few times. We got to see new apartment buildings being built in Herzlia and big beautiful houses in Caeserea.

Our first stop was at the aqueduct in Caeserea. It was first built by Harod in the 1st Century CE. Can you imagine, those stones are over 2000 years old?

The Mediterranean Sea was beautiful with it's colorful water. There was a big sign saying NO SWIMMING, so we stayed in the parking lot. Besides, we had a long way to go before we reached Galilee, and Nayna and Papa didn't want me smelling like a wet bear in the car.

 

Our GPS lady told us to go back towards Tel Aviv, which was not the way Nayna went 6 years before on her way to the Galilee, so we told her bye bye, and turned her off. They'd find a gas station and ask directions. Any self respecting bear would do that too! Well, I thought it was a good idea, anyway. We found a gas station/McDonald's in Hadera. We were hungry! It was past lunchtime. We got good directions and ate hamburgers. They aren't like the McDonald's in the US. They call them New York Burgers and they're big with lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles. Yummy. Nayna was so busy eating, she forgot to take a picture. But that's okay, you'd probably see the hamburger and want one!

When we were driving down the highway, Nayna giggled and had Papa take a picture of this truck. She said, "We're not in Kansas, anymore!"

We drove for awhile and then turned off the highway away from the Sea and in towards the middle of Israel. 

We passed rolling hills and valleys with growing vegetables. There was a big field of corn, just like where I live.

And then I saw lots of buildings. Nayna said that was Tiberias, and at the bottom of the hill that the city sits on is the Sea of Galilee. We wound down the narrow streets through the city and then I saw it for the first time. Wow! It was beautiful. I hear there are big, scary storms that happen without warning here, but I can't imagine that now.

We got lost trying to find Kfar Nahum or Capernaum like most people know it, and found another gas station to ask directions, but it was closed. As we were getting ready to leave the parking lot, Nayna began to laugh and said, "look!" In the US, we'd see cows or maybe sheep, but there in a field, munching brush was a camel. And in the distance was another one, and to the side of that one was a bunch of them. Do they come in bunches, or herds? 

We still didn't know how to get back to the road we needed to go around the Sea and found ourselves up at the top of the hill. A sign pointed to the Mt. of Beatitudes, so we decided to stop there. There was a big church and a beautiful garden path and a very nice bathroom. We got out of the car and a hot, humid wind hit us. With our car air conditioner on, we forgot how hot it would be outside. We walked around the garden path and we saw a rubber tree. Nayna sang part of a song about an ant and a rubber tree. It was funny. "Woops there goes another rubber tree plant," she sang.

The garden was beautiful, but there was a big brush fire in the hills around Kfar Nahum. The wind brought the smoke and ash up the hill and it was hard to breath, so we went back to our car to continue our travels.
Finally, we found the right road by the Sea and the entrance to the town of Capernaum, but the gate had closed at 5 pm, 15 minutes before we got there. Rats!
Time to drive around the Sea towards En Gev and the fish dinner Nayna and I looked forward to eating.
I looked away from the Sea and saw a big mountain. Well, a big hill. Nayna said not far on the other side was the Golan Heights and Syria.

We were getting close to En Gev. Look - there's a fisherman and a big fish. My tummy was full of rumbles. We bears like our fish, don't you know.

En Gev is a working kibbutz. In Hebrew kibbutz means a communal settlement. Everyone lives together and shares everything. This kibbutz has a big resturant that is known for its fresh talipia, or St. Peter's fish.
Of course, Nayna and I shared the fish and bowl of rice because it was so big. Some people get all squeemy wheemy when they bring the fish - head and all. They don't like their dinner looking at them. All I could see was sweet, warm fish sliding into my tummy.

Papa cracks me up. He's not a fish kind of guy and ordered mushroom fettuccine alfredo.
As we ate, the sunbeam slowly strolled down across the lake.

After a relaxing dinner, it was getting dark and we needed to drive about an hour and a half back to Tel Aviv.
We decided to give our GPS lady one more chance and she took us a different way home through the Jezreel Valley. I wished it was light outside because I think I would have enjoyed the scenery. But I was full of fish and my eyes got really heavy. I slipped back into Nayna's purse and snoozed the whole way back.
When we got to our hotel room, I woke up long enough to peek at the clock. It was almost 11 pm! What a fun day we had.
Lila tov!

Jerusalem Bound

Lila Tov! That means good morning in Hebrew.
I slept like a log, but Nayna and Papa are still fighting jet lag. Nayna calls it chronic jet lag. Papa wants to know who's brain they will use because they both feel like they're walking through fog. I guess it's hard for them to wake up at 7 in the morning in Tel Aviv, but their body clocks think its 9 at night.
Today we took a bus to Jerusalem. I watched as the countryside changed from concrete highrise apartments to clusters of houses to fields and crops. Then as we began to climb in altitude, I saw hills and evergreen trees. I could tell that we were getting higher because my ears began to do that funny thing when the pressure changes. Nayna told Papa that she loves coming into the city and seeing David's harp. I liked it too.

Our bus took us to the Central Bus Station. 

We walked into the station expecting benches and ticket counters, but it was a big mall with lots of stores, just like the Dizengoff mall.
We went outside to where the lightrail tracks were. There was an automated ticket stand where we could buy tickets for the train. It's all new so everyone was having trouble figuring out how to use it. It was kind of funny. Everyone was pushing their way up to the screen so they could buy their tickets before others, but then when they didn't know how to use the machine, everyone helped each other. Us too!

When the train came, the doors opened and everyone pushed and shoved their way in, even before others could leave the train. It was crowded and we had to stand for awhile until we could get a seat. I stayed safely inside Nayna's purse. This was one place I did not want to be left behind.
We got off at Ben Yehuda Street. Its a wide open air mall with lots of little stores and places to eat.
Nayna wanted to visit her friend Uri who owns a skirt shop. But there was a sign on his door telling everyone that he would be back soon.
It was lunchtime so we walked down a side street to a McDonalds. They are EVERYWHERE in Israel.

After lunch we went back to the skirt store and Nayna bought some skirts and she and Papa talked to Uri for a long time. Snicker - I took a nap and woke up to find Papa and Nayna walking down Jaffa Street towards the Old City. I'm glad I woke up because they spied a gelato shop.

Yum! It was soooo good and refreshing because it was hot outside.
We walked some more and then I caught a glimpse of the Old City wall. My bear fur wiggled all over. Those stones were so very old and I was seeing them with my own wide green eyes.

We decided though, that it was getting late in the day and didn't really have enough time to explore the Old City this day. We would come back another day. I was sooo close!
We caught the train back to the bus station. It was more crowded then the first time and there were no seats for us. But then a young couple got up from their seats and offered them to Nayna and Papa. I learned the Hebrew words for thank you very much - todah rabah!   On our way to the ticket counter downstairs, we passed a bakery, Nayna saw trays of bourekas. "We can have these for dinner," she said. And so she bought mushroom, potato, cheese and spinach and feta pastries. I looked forward to sinking my little teeth into the flaky dough.
We caught our bus and settled in for the hour ride back to Tel Aviv. I got the giggles because Nayna and Papa couldn't keep their eyes opened and their heads bobbed up and down the whole way home.
This time when we got back to Tel Aviv, we ended up at the Central bus station instead of the train station because we took a different bus. And you'll never guess what's inside the bus station...yup, another mall with lots of stores.
Now we needed to catch the number 4 sherut instead of a bus back to our hotel. Nayna told the driver we wanted to get off on Nordau Street and he grunted. We thought he heard us, but Nayna realized a few blocks past our street that he either didn't hear, or didn't want to stop. Our feet were sore again just like the night before, but now we had to walk back a few city blocks before we reached our hotel. Well, actually, Papa and Nayna had to walk. I rode the whole time in Nayna's purse.
When we got back to our room, Nayna looked out the window and the sun was shining on a building. 

She grabbed her camera and called Papa and I to look. The sun poured its liquid shimmer all over the building.
We all settled in for the evening and enjoyed our bourekas. 

Ahhh. I'm a contented little bear.
I wonder where we're going tomorrow.

Tel Aviv'n

Jet lag. Uch!
I was sooo tired last night and fell fast asleep. But around 2 am, my eyes popped open and I was awake. I finally fell back to sleep a few hours later, but by 7 am I was ready to begin my day.

I went to the hotel dining room for my first Israeli breakfast. It was a buffet with lots of choices. Yogurts and cheeses, eggs and potatoes, humus and breads and a salad bar! Salad for breakfast? OK, I'll be a brave little bear and try it. Of course, being a bear, I saw smoked salmon and pickled herring. Even for breakfast! Papa, Nayna and I found the orange squasher and made ourselves glasses of fresh orange juice. That was the best!
Today we explored HaCarmel shuk and met Nayna's friend.She works at a clothing shop.
To get to the shuk we took a sherut. The first one was full and passed us by. We waited another 5 minutes and saw one coming down the street. Nayna held up her hand and the van pulled up to where we stood. We didn't have exact change, but we got in, found seats and Papa passed two coins - 10 shekels each to the man in front of him. Because we were near the back, he passed it to the next person who passed it to the driver. He made change and the whole thing began again with the passing back until Papa held out his hand to receive the coins.
I stayed tucked in Nayna's purse so I was safe while Nayna and Papa stood up before the sherut stopped. That way the driver knew where to let us off.

Now for our adventure into the shuk. Lots of people, lots of voices and lots of little shops. We passed clothes, shoes, hats, school supplies, as well as jewelry and housewares. The further we walked down the narrow street with booths on both sides, the more I smelled food. Fruit and vegetable bins, spices, olives, fish, meat, cheese. But my favorite was the candy! Lots and lots of candy.
 It smelled so good.

We found a side street that took us away from the hustle and bustle and we were in a section of the shuk that was open and wide. There were still shops on both sides of the street, but there were also cafes with outside dining and benches to sit and people watch.
We passed a very old door and both Nayna and I decided we'd like a picture in front of it. I think maybe it was the door to a synagogue a long long time ago.
After our shuk walk we went across the street and got a fruit shake. Frozen fruit blended in orange juice slid down our throats and cooled our bodies. Mine especially. I'm still wearing my fur coat, don't you know.
We met Nayna's friend, shopped a little and then she told us we should walk to the Dizengoff mall. It was a short walk down King George Street, she said. Papa and Nayna walked and walked and walked some more. Thankfully I rode in Nayna's purse. My little bear legs would never have made it.

We walked inside the mall after the security guard checked Nayna's purse (with me peeking out) and the mall was huge. Three stories of stores! It was almost dinner time and we found a yummy cafeteria, got our food and sat at a tall table were we could watch the people as we ate. Fish, cole slaw and spaghetti for Nayna and me. Between us we still couldn't finish our plate - there was so much food. Now I'm really a stuffed bear.
As tired as we were, we needed to walk back to Ben Yehuda and Frishman to catch our sherut to the hotel. But which street would take us there? Thank goodness we had a map.

By the time we got back to our room, we'd walked a lot and it was still warm even though it was around 6 pm. We had a busy day. Maybe I'll sleep like a bear tonight. Tomorrow we go to Jerusalem!

The Tel Aviv Bank Dance

  Another day in Tel Aviv.
Because of my change of address, I needed to make a trip to the bank. I had all these shekels to deposit and then I needed to pay my rent for the new place. But, because I didn't have an account at the bank, I was only allowed to take out small increments at a time. I had to make four daily trips to accomplish my task.
So let me give you a taste of banking in Israel.
Lesson #1 - no one stands in line. And when they do, it's optional.
My first experience with this adventure occured when I was on my Israel tour. All the nice, polite, American tourist women stood in line for the bathroom. (Why is it that men never have lines!? That was retorical mind you.) And then... an Israeli woman sauntered by us all, to the front of the line and accepts her four squares of purple toilet paper from the attendent.
 Yup, you read that right - and heads on in for her business. The attendant gave her a grin as we all go ballistic that someone had the nerve to take cutsies!
Well folks, that's life in the Middle East. We're not in Kansas anymore.
I walk into the bank - after having the security guard pass his "magic wand" over my body and peek into my purse.
There is a row of chairs, maybe 5 or 6 of them. I'm not sure how this works. People are all bunched up around the chairs, sitting and standing, and I notice in front is a teller line with (and this is universal I think) two tellers available. Everyone stares at me as I walk in. So I stand there with everyone else and wait. I have no idea who the last person in "line" is until someone comes in after me. He directs a question at us and the guy I'm standing near answers. Oh! now I get it. He is asking who the last person in "line" is. They all look at me and I guess my expression gives me away. They figure I haven't a clue that I was asked a question and Mr. Nextinline points to me and says, "he", which means she in Hebrew. After awhile I catch on and find that the proper response is, "ani", or me. That will come in handy for the next three days I do the bank dance.
Okay, so once that is established, we wait, and wait. No one is there for one step banking and each transaction takes a long time. I found that if I wait long enough, I too will get to sit in a coveted chair.
Every once in awhile, I got a free show, too. Sometimes, someone would be in a hurry, wait for an opening and pounce. When a person would leave the teller, they'd dash up to take their turn, to the disgruntlement of the person who should have been next. An argument breaks out - lots of yelling. This reminds everyone that they need to be more cautious and then afterwards, Mr or Ms Nextinline hovers - oh, around breathing down the neck distance from the person with the teller. Although I gave people their space, I found standing behind the transactor gave me a fair advantage in getting my banking done within an hour.
Lession #2 - never feed an ATM when your card has been flagged as stolen.
I'll explain that one next time!

Airplanes and Hostels Part 2

New time zone, new language, new culture - this wasn't going to be easy. I eagerly awaited my friend's arrival.

My first full day in Tel Aviv was spent at a soup kitchen. Around 70 down and out people looked to be fed every Thursday. The menu - bean soup, potato salad, rice with peas and carrots, spaghetti and chicken schnitzel. Even though Deb, the fearless leader of production had some of the preparation done before Trish and I arrived, we were put to work peeling and chopping and peeling and chopping. I cried. Onions! Lots of onions.
Deb asked if I would like to do something else. In glee I cried, "yes!" Silly me.

She entrusted to me the job of making chicken schnitzel. No ripping open bags of frozen meat slabs here. This was the real deal. Her real deal. She made the best schnitzel according to everyone there and she felt I was ready to receive the honor of grand poobah schnitzel maker. Frankly I think it was that no one else wanted the job and I was so new and fresh and...naive.
She showed me how she wanted it done. Okay, that didn't look too complicated. Dip a thin chicken cutlet into flour, seasoned  beaten eggs, and then breadcrumbs. She watched me as I did the first one. Not bad but... she showed me how to press the breadcrumbs on the meat. It had to be just right. I guess that's why her schnitzel was considered the best. She'd watch me out of the corner of her eye and run over every once in a while, and in Hebrew remind me how it was done. And then I became proficient. Large industrial pan after pan - I laid those golden gems in rows. I was hot, my arms and back ached. So that's how it feels to run that last Olympic lap for the gold. Deb pronounced them good. They were ready for the fryer and I walked away... to prepare for serving.

By 7pm that evening I was exhausted. I couldn't wait to get back to my hard bed in the funky little hostel and crash. And I did...until around 10 when again my body said, "thanks for the nice nap - I needed that". Awake again. And the city of Tel Aviv pulsated to the beat of loud music, car horns, buses and obstreperous, drunk people.
No, I couldn't live like this for a month. I had to do something. Soon.
The next day, armed with around 4 hours of sleep, I thanked Trish for setting me up with my room in the hostel, but asked her if something else could be arranged. Actually, I begged her.
Her initial response was to remind me that we were in Israel. Accommodations were at a premium and very expensive and she didn't think anything could be done. And besides, it was Friday and business closed down around 3pm to begin preparing for the Sabbath. But she would ask her landlord if there was, by any remote chance, an apartment available for a month in my budget. And all of the collective earthly consciousness, in one accord, laughed!

Next time on Airplanes and Hostels:
Does G~d really give a rip?

Airplanes and Hostels

The picture on their website looked promising, right on the beach. The building itself - clean and inviting. My first hostel experience.
I went to Israel alone this time, staying in Tel Aviv for a month. I'd braved the 18 hour plane trip. 6 hours to New Jersey, a layover and then 12 hours to Israel. Flying was on my bucket list. No, not that bucket list. This one is the kick the bucket list. The one that includes skydiving, bungee jumping, sticking my finger in an electrical socket... you know, that one. I just have trouble breathing germmy air in a metal tube, far away from the ground for many hours. But I did it. I joined in the applause with my plane mates when we approached the Ben Gurion airport runway and my eyes teared up. I was home again.

I found a taxi, danced the language dance, negotiated the fare and began phase two of my adventure. Bless his heart (and I say that in a good way), my taxi driver asked me if I liked Kenny G. I said yes, and he popped in a CD. I guess Americans  like Kenny G. What a relaxing ride. We entered the heart of Tel Aviv and I got excited. I looked forward to hearing the gentle lapping of the Mediterranean Sea from my hostel room window.  He stopped in front of a row of slightly run down buildings. Why was he stopping here? The beach was several blocks away.
 But my driver drug my suitcases from the trunk and plunked them inside the smokey lobby, hopped back in his cab and left. Sure enough, this was indeed were I would be spending my month. Well, my friend who lived in Tel Aviv set this place up for me so it must be okay. Deep breath. Prayer for strength.

My private room was - lets just say adequate. Bed, dresser, old TV, threadbare linens. It had no air conditioning, nor fan, but it did have a rickety door which led to a small balcony. Oh, so that was the balcony in the picture.
By 8pm my body thought it was 6am and yelled at me. "Good grief, woman, I need sleep!"  Yes, it was uncomfortably warm, but I fell asleep. Until 10pm that is. Wide awake now I tossed and turned. Under me, on the street were bars and young people hopping from one establishment to another. Tel Aviv is billed as, "The city that never sleeps". It was true. I pried open the door, found a dusty plastic chair on the balcony and watched the show. By 2am I'd had enough and crawled back into my bed, pushed ear plugs into my ears and fitfully slept until around noon. I felt drugged and disoriented.
I shared a co-ed bathroom with others on my floor and I figured by noon everyone would be out and about. But on my way back to my room after a much needed shower, I met a young man, clad only in a towel making his cheery way into the bathroom. I got back to my room, sat on the bed and cried. Then I prayed. "L~rd. I'm not sure I can take a whole month of this. Help!"

Next time on Airplanes and Hostels:
Finding help in times of need.