Another Week

Ahhhhh1 I'm so far behind on my blogs it's not even funny...and unfortunately, I only have two more weeks here! And I'm busy busy busy (finals start today) so while there's lots to write, I don't have much time to write it.

So where to begin? Here are some highlights from last week.

Monday - tour of the Supreme Court of Israel. Every little detail in the building is designed for a special purpose. For example, the entrance is designed to imitate a normal street of Jerusalem, to remind people that anyone, any regular person can visit (additionally, the rules to gain standing in the court are also much more relaxed in Israel so most anyone can bring a claim for anything, even if they are not personally harmed). Also, the geometry is designed with straight lines to represent the law, and circles to represent justice - it's a very common theme throughout the building. The court has currently 15 Justices (well 14, one just retired - mandatory retirement at 70), but that number can fluctuate. Not all the judges hear every case either. It is actually more like an American circuit court. A panel of judges hear the case, but the court can re-hear the case with more judges a number of different times. Only once has a panel of 13 judges heard a case, that was the most ever. We sat in on one case dealing with women's employment rights (I think) but it was in Hebrew (obviously) so I couldn't follow.

Tuesday I went to see the movie "London Boulevard." It's kind of an indie-film from the UK, and I don't even think it was released in the States, though it came out in the UK almost 6 months ago. If you do ever happen to see it, I recommend it. Two things about that experience. One, the movie theater is in a mall, which is no big deal. But also in the mall is a ballroom...and there just so happened to be a bar-mitzvah party going on (I'm pretty sure it was a bar-mitzvah party)...so yeah, they do that in malls here. The second thing is that I'm fairly impressed at how easy it is to get around on the buses here, and that I have figured it out so well. Except you have to push your way onto the bus. The other day, an old woman cut me off getting on the bus, and the driver closed the door in my face...maybe the driver was anti-semetic?

So Wednesday was a pretty cool evening. I walked around the downtown pedestrian mall for a while and had some schnitzel. All over the place are people playing guitars, or violins, or accordions. But they're not all just homeless hippies. One guy was a haredi (ultra orthodox religious Jew, wears the black hats) and he was singing (among other things) "Nowhere Man" (although he sang it "no-one man"), and what I think was a Tom Petty song, with Hebrew lyrics. I'm pretty sure that was awesome.

Anyhoo, later on I met up with an old buddy I went to summer camp with. We also did the year long study abroad program together about eight years ago. He never left. Now he works for the Lone Solider Center, a program for soldiers who are serving in the Israeli army but have no family in Israel, so they get taken care of. Some of you may be following the story about Ilan Grapel, the American law student arrested recently in Egypt accused of being an Israeli spy. He was involved in the Lone Soldier program as well along with my friend. I am told that Grapel is the most pro-peace guy around and would have had no interest in being a spy. Spread the word, pressure the government, they should not be holding him in Egypt - could become a scary situation.

Anyway, as we were drinking, another friend of ours who we went to camp with and did the year program with showed up as well - he's here staffing a summer program. And eventually along came another friend who was a camper at the camp I used to work for many years ago. Wait, wait, not done yet. We went down to a different bar after a little while, and as we walked in, another friend of ours from camp happened to be sitting at the bar, and none of us even knew he lived here! Israel is such a small world (even today I ran into yet another friend I went to camp with, who I had no idea lived here, while waiting for a bus).

Thursday was an interesting day. We went that afternoon as part of the program to Yad V'Shem, the Holocaust Museum and Memorial. They opened a newly designed museum since the last time I've been here, very interesting architecture - the museum cuts through a mountain so you are underground while walking through. Now, I won't bring down your day with any interesting tidbits about the Holocaust, but it took almost three hours to go through that museum. Also there were a group of soldiers and a group of Thai tourists.

Why do I mention the Thai tourists? No it's not my infatuation with Asians, it's to give you an insight into something interesting happening in Israel. For many years, Thai (also other Asians, but mostly Thai) people have been coming illegally into Israel to work in the agriculture (similar to Mexicans coming into the U.S.). The government tended to look away, for various reasons. But lately there has been a lot of opposition to these workers because the people who are here legally need jobs as well (in addition to the fact that these Thai are not Jewish). So the government is deporting many of them. Well in and of itself that doesn't seem like too bad of a thing. But in Israel, being born here does not make you automatically a citizen. So these Thai people come, have children here, raise their children here, send them to Israeli schools - these are families who only know life in Israel, they speak Hebrew, they know the Jewish holidays, eat falafel, etc. and they are being sent off to a country with which they have very little connection. There is a committee in the government created to deal with just such a dilemma.

But I digress. Anyway, unfortunately because we spent so much time in the museum (with a tour guide that thought she was narrating a BBC documentary), we didn't get to see any of the memorials or artwork there. It's really too bad because I think those memorials are really where the emotion lies.

On to other things.

That evening I went with a friend from the program to find some dinner. We walked downtown and found a cafe with some outdoor seating. Seemed nice. Also, we noticed that just down the street there was a stage being set up. Perfect, a nice cafe and an outdoor concert. People started to arrive and there was such a diverse mix of people I had no idea what to expect. Well, that's almost a lie. I should have expected it. I'm always poking fun at Israelis for their cultural infatuation with this specific music. So when an ABBA cover band came on, it was only appropriate! I don't know why Israelis love them so much, I think it's hilarious...we left quickly.

Time for bed, hopefully I can do more catch-up soon. Hope your summers aren't too hot, the high temperature in Jerusalem is the low temperature in Vegas!

Jordan

FOR ALL PICTURES OF JORDAN, CLICK HERE - otherwise, I have included only a few pictures here

Surprise! So when I originally signed up for this summer program, there were some optional tours available. Most of these tours I've done before, and since my time here is limited, I didn't want to go back to the same places. However, one of the options was a tour of Jordan. Now, at first I wasn't too interested - after all, why would I want to bother with going to Jordan? Is there even anything there to see? But I researched it a bit, and it turned out that yes, there is a lot to see. So I signed up and got really excited. Unfortunately, nobody else did and the tour was cancelled. Bummer. But at the last minute, the tour company was able to re-figure it to allow for just a few of us to go...so I and three of my professors here took the opportunity and went to Jordan.

After a couple of hours drive with a very chatty cabbie to the Jordan border (every Israeli has an opinion on something), we walked through Israeli border control - by the way, the taxes to cross the border are insanely high. But there weren't really any signs of where to go, and I guess you're not allowed to walk across yourself, so we had to wait for a bus to drive us over the river (which is narrower than the Rio Grande, if you can believe it). Thankfully, on the other side we had a private tour guide to meet us and help us get through Jordanian border control.

We drove away from the border toward Jerash, the ancient Greek city. On the way, I noticed the rural areas of Jordan are very poor. The buildings were dilapidated, the sidewalks were crumbling, and most of the shops were just fruit-stands (but the watermelons were HUGE!). Still, the people didn't appear to be downtrodden. As we stopped at a stop light, one of the locals knocked on my window to wave...I guess they're happy to have visitors (can't blame them). We arrived at Jerash and right away stopped for lunch. It was a restaurant set up kind of buffet style. There were a number of various salads, a local rice and lamb dish, lamb kebabs, chicken rolls, pasta - well, you get the picture. And it was delicious! My only regret is that I didn't try the locally brewed beer (dehydrating in Jordan would not be a great idea though - water is fine).

Then on to a tour of the ancient Greek ruins of Jerash. In its glory days, it was a thriving town with near 25,000 people. Some of the ruins have been built over over the years, but surprisingly, much of the ruins are still there, even with a town surrounding it. Unfortunately, Jordan is not immune to earthquakes (the Israel/Jordan border actually sits right on top of the Syrian-African rift, major fault line) and a few major quakes destroyed most of the ruins all throughout the country. However, French archaeologists have attempted over the last hundred or so years to rebuild the ruins (a strange thing to do, I mean, once they're destroyed, you can't re-build them, because then they're not exactly the original ruins, so what are we looking at? I mean, it's impressive if the architecture was so great that it withstood time, but it didn't...so it's really just a life-size model, right?) Nevertheless, still pretty impressive.

Ancient Greco/Temple


Old fountain (not quite the Bellagio)


Old Main Plaza, with view of temple


Right before the city gate is a chariot racing track. I guess gambling was outlawed in the city, so they had to go just outside the gate to bet on the ponies.


By the way, while on the tour, my hiking shoes broke. I've had these shoes for maybe 10 years, bought them for my first trip to Israel in high school. Figures I'm in Jordan for a couple of hours and they split. Never seen it happen before, the shoe just cracked and the bottom broke off.

Anyway, so we left Jerash and headed to Amman. We stopped at a museum of archaeological finds around the country. The museum itself was more like a storage room with some random objects labeled with printer paper taped to the glass...like a science fair. However, there were some interesting things. The most interesting were what was purported to be the earliest known statues of man. Personally, I think they look more like alien visitors, but you be the judge.



So a little bit about Amman. It is the largest city in Jordan with over 2.5 million people - in a country that only has about 6 million people. The city is situated on hills, so it kind of looks like San Francisco, only fewer roads - you have to park and walk up the hill. Still, it's a pretty modern city. They even have Popeye's Fried Chicken across from a KFC (not that we ate there, I'm just sayin'). Our hotel, the Liwan Hotel was actually right near an open air pedestrian street with shops and cafes everywhere. Now, the country is most definitely under Islamic influence, but it is still fairly liberal. While most women were walking around with scarves, many girls were wearing very modern attire. The ones with the scarves did not seem out of place, many were out enjoying themselves at the cafes, smoking hookah, and socializing. There were plenty of young men out as well, enjoying themselves. In Jerusalem, there is a similar style street - and there are beggars everywhere. In Jordan, I never saw one beggar. At no point did I feel any sense of tension or unrest. Seemed in fact that most everyone actually like the King and support him. His picture is everywhere. So even with all of the unrest in many of the other Arab states, I would be surprised if it significantly impacted Jordan (but then, I was only there a couple of days, so what do I know?)

So for dinner that night we went to a cafe. The food was amazing. And relatively cheap - in fact, all the food was much cheaper in Jordan than in Israel. And it seemed we were the only table without a hookah. Now, oddly enough, there were a few bars in the neighborhood around our hotel, but in the pedestrian mall area, there was no alcohol. None. I ain't saying I was disappointed, but I was surprised. Take a note Vegas - if businesses can thrive without serving alcohol, perhaps they can thrive without serving ashtrays too (maybe a bad comparison since everyone there was smoking something).

Friday morning we woke up very early for out drive down to Petra. It's about a three hour drive. On the way, I noticed that the landscape went from being somewhat greenish (kind of like that of New Mexico) to BAM! barren desert. They are, however, trying to bring pipes down into the desert to help agriculture.

So Petra is an ancient ancient cave village. Thousands of years ago, people came to the area where there was a natural spring, and carved dwellings into the sandstone. Well, not just dwellings, but monuments and tombs and art and anything else they needed in their town. The area proved to be a perfect crossing area for major trade routes. Centuries later, the Greeks and Romans would conquer the land, and made some improvements, but mostly just built their own temples and amphitheaters and did not really disturb much of the carvings. Earthquakes over the next few hundred years did a little damage, but not much, many of the original carvings still survive today. In fact, until about 25 years ago, a tribe of Bedouins still lived in the caves! When the government decided to make the area more accessible to tourists, they moved the Bedouins to a small village just outside the tourist area. The Bedouins work in the tourist area though, providing carriage rides, donkey rides, souvenirs, and snacks (and they're really smooth about getting you to tip...they also tried to buy my crummy watch, oddly enough they were willing to pay much more than it was worth, but I need a watch, so no deal).

The carvings are absolutely amazing. The perfection in the sandstone, and the fact that it is still there (very few things rebuilt after earthquakes, and mostly just for reinforcement) is awe-inspiring. The colors in the rocks are interesting too, they look painted, but it's just the natural formation of the mountains. Also, we saw their pipe system - to bring clean water from the spring into the city - yes, a pipe system, with real pipes, for sanitation purposes. Even back then they had that kind of knowledge - it's truly amazing.

Do I look touristy enough?




That evening we went back to Amman (another three hours) and tried a different cafe. Now, I'm generally not a very adventurous guy when it comes to food, but sometimes I get an inkling to try something. I had been so impressed so far with the food in general all over Jordan, that I reasoned if something was on the menu, it had to be good (although many times things were on the menu but when we tried to order, the waiter said it doesn't exist...so who knows). So I decided to try pigeon. Verdict - tasted fine, but there was less meat on there than a BWW chicken wing. So, perhaps I won't bother in the future.

Saturday morning was a quick trip to Madaba. This is an ancient city, but more recently ancient. It was a primarily Christian city in the 5th century until earthquakes destroyed it. Many hundreds of years later, another Christian colony decided to set up a community there and started building a church. But as they started to build, they found buried an old mosaic map! So they built their church around the map and it still stands that way today. The city subsequently became a mosaic center, and still pride themselves on their mosaics.

After Madaba, we drove up to Mt. Nebo, the spot where Moses looked out to the Holy Land to see the land he would never enter.

If you look closely, you can see Jericho in the background


So all-in-all, I'd say the trip was much better than anticipated. I wasn't sure what exactly to expect from Jordan, except I figured it would be a very poor and desolate place. And yes it is an extremely poor country, and yes the desert is desolate. But the people were incredibly friendly, and the food was wonderfully delicious. I had no idea how much there was to see, and how important the area was historically. I think it's a lot like Mexico (sans the drug war). Aside from being practically on the same latitude, both are countries with a wealth of history. They both depend on tourism, and both have wonderful coastal vacation resorts. Most of the towns are full of dilapidated buildings, but each has a major modern Capitol city. They are both very poor, but have the potential to do better. Anyway, if you get the chance to visit, I suggest you do so. It's an eye-opening experience.

A New Week

Ahh so by the end of this post, we'll be all caught up.

Monday was uneventful...I did the laundry...I tell you this only so you don't think I've been doing some exciting thing and not telling you...

Okay, well one interesting thing. We took a walk that evening to get some falafel and went down to the old city. As we entered the Jewish quarter, we heard singing and dancing. Then saw a horde of kids running to grab what appeared to be party favors. A wedding? Bar Mitzvah? Nope, it was another new Torah dedication ceremony. And this one was way bigger than the last one. The central square next to one of the oldest (if not the oldest) synagogues in the country was filled with people celebrating, live music, and dancing. Very interesting. Sorry I don't have pictures.

Tuesday we went for another walk into the Old City. I needed some pieces for my backgammon set which I bought many years ago in Jaffa for around 30 shekels. I had been berating my friends about their negotiating skills (considering we are all future lawyers, I assumed we'd all be a lot tougher) but as it turned out, things are different now. I remember going into the market in the old city, and at the time there was so much tension in the air that there was really only one area of the Arab sections we ever went, one street that intersected the Christian and Armenian quarters. Only once did we get lost and wander into the Muslim quarter, and you could really feel the tension. Because of that atmosphere, there were very few tourists - shoppers in general - that were patronizing the market. So at the time, bargaining for a good deal was relatively easy, shopkeepers were more willing to make a deal.

Now, the market is packed. Tourists fill the small alleys and there's no animosity. This is great for the country, great for the economy, great for business...bad for haggling. These guys are real tough now. Don't get me wrong, I still don't get taken, but I just can't get as great of a deal as I think I could have. I guess it's the difference between a fair price, and a great deal.

So we wandered around into the Christian quarter, my friends wanted to look around the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and we wandered a bit into the Muslim quarter (not too far). Felt no animosity, no tension at all.

For dinner, my friend Mike invited me to his Uncle's house for Erev Shavuot, and his grandmother's birthday. His uncle just so happens to live in Ma'aleh Adumim - a settlement in the West Bank. Years ago we went to Ma'aleh Adumim for a speaker, and had to take a bulletproof bus to get there - it was really a controversial place. Now, it's still controversial, but much safer. In fact, I wouldn't even know where we were if I didn't know. It's a really beautiful town, more of a city than a settlement.

I returned to Jerusalem and met up with a couple of friends. As I mentioned, it was Erev Shavuot, the holiday when we celebrate the giving of the Torah to Moses at Mount Sinai. Traditionally, people stay up all night learning and then go to the Kotel at sunrise. I wasn't sure if I would stay up, but there was a speaker I wanted to hear. Nathan Lewin, Esq, an American lawyer who frequently argues before the U.S. Supreme Court was speaking about issues involving Constitutional Law (now I wish I had my Chemerinsky book with me). This fall he will argue a case which stems from a congressional rule requiring American citizens born in Jerusalem to have "Born in Jerusalem" stamped on their passport, as opposed to "born in Israel." The lower courts have dismissed it as a political question. I think, if I understood correctly, that the issue is whether congress has that power as foreign affairs is an executive branch power. But I'm not 100% because we got there halfway through the lecture - it was in a tiny synagogue in a tiny neighborhood up some stairs down an alleyway, so we couldn't find the place! And wandering around Jerusalem late at night is usually not the best idea. Although that night was different because it seemed like the whole city was up and wandering around! There were literally hundreds of lectures all throughout the city all night.

The next speaker was a rabbi who spoke about good leaders having shady backgrounds, not too in depth, but somewhat interesting. At 1:30, we went to another place down the street from where we are staying to hear a lecture from someone who works in Bank of Israel. The lecture was about Real Estate and foreclosure law as it relates to the Jewish law. I didn't realize there were rules about repossession in Jewish law, but I guess people needed loans back then too. At 3:00, a real treat, the speaker was Muki Tzur, a famous Israeli author, poet, and figurehead of the Kibbutz movement. I've heard him before, but why pass up another opportunity? He was a little hard to follow, his stories kind of went all over the place, but he still gave an interesting history of the first Kibbutz, Degania, and early Zionist immigrants.

Just after 4:00, I started heading down to the Old City...and so did everyone else. People were conglomerating from all over the city to go to the Kotel. They came from the various side streets, flowing into a river of people down into the Jaffa Gate. Throngs of people stormed through the Old City, in and out of alleyways and made their way to the Kotel. Never have I seen so many people try to get to the wall at the same time. I decided to head for higher ground to get a view of the scene. As the sun came up over the desert, more and more people came. I only wish I had pictures, but since it was a holiday, I did not bring my camera. I will try to find some and if they show up, I will post them.

I walked back to the hostile around 6:00 a.m. this morning, very tired, and overwhelmed. Tonight I am heading to a concert by missFlag, an Israeli band who sings like Coldplay, some in English, some in Hebrew. They came to Texas many years ago when I was running an Israeli Music radio program, and I was able to interview them. If I can figure out how, I will post that interview. But they since broke up, and now tonight they are back together with the original band. So I am very excited about that.

But first I must pack - surprise! I'm going to Jordan tomorrow to see Amman and Petra. Will be back Saturday night. I will for sure have pictures of that.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the park near where I'm staying.







And here is our actual hostile - I'm on the building on the right, second floor, window on the right.


Here is a view of southern Jerusalem

Weekend!

So Thursday the 2nd we awoke bright and early (too early) for a field trip to the Knesset - the Israeli Parliament. I had been there before, but it seemed appropriate to go again considering my program is through a law school. Unfortunately, being a Thursday, nothing was going on. Nobody was there. So we looked at an empty building, empty rooms, and met nobody (except our tour guide, of course). Still it was fairly educational, we learned about some of the art in the building and a little bit of the history of the building, and a little bit about how the party system here works (don't ask me to explain it, I think you need a doctorate degree just to get the gist of how it works...I think even the Prime Minister doesn't fully understand how the system works here, lol!). Also, in the news recently was this article about a new piece of art recently hung in the Knesset

Apparently, some people find this is inappropriate for the Knesset. I think it's the perfect thing for the Knesset; to me, this is a reminder that while Israel is the homeland for the Jews (and must remain as such) other people do in fact live here as well. Just because it's not part of Jewish history, doesn't mean it's not part of the history of the land.

After the Knesset, we went to Har Hertzl, which is kind of like the national cemetery. Many leaders of the State of Israel are buried there, as are soldiers. I don't think I need to go into any more detail about that.

An afternoon of classes, and then we went wandering in search of dinner. I do mean wandering. The guys I went with (who know their way around Jerusalem) couldn't decide where to eat, so I think we just started walking until we felt like something. On the way I couldn't help but notice that the city actually smells pretty awful...it's a real shame that such a beautiful city is also so dirty. Also, they are testing a new light rail system. Notice I say they are just now testing it. They were starting to build it eight years ago! And you think construction is slow in the States...

We ended up at the Central Bus Station. It's actually more similar to a mall that happens to be a bus depot. I think they improved it a bit since the last time I was here, maybe added more floors. But there are some good restaurants there too.

So remember how Israel is such a small world? Friday morning I had to run a few quick errands before starting my weekend. I stopped into the post office and as I did, I saw my program guide, Ofra, from when I was here for my year long program. How random! It really is such a small country.

Friday afternoon I set out for Bat Yam to visit my friend Mike. Bat Yam is like a suburb of Tel Aviv...well, a suburb of Jaffa, which is like a suburb to Tel Aviv (even though Jaffa came first). It's actually kind of an immigrant town, and the current wave of immigrants are Russians, so there's lots of Russian influence - Russian restaurants, bars, signs (dentists). Unfortunately, because it's an immigrant town, it's also kind of a poor town. Most of the apartment buildings are older and dilapidated. However, it's still on the beach. So there are huge new high rise condos springing up all over the place. It's kind of like those high rise condos behind the Vegas Strip - nice expensive buildings right in the heart of a bad neighborhood.

The first thing we did (because I had already been in Israel a week without doing it) was go to the beach! The beach in Bat Yam is more low key than Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is young, fun, hip, always moving, Bat Yam is more relaxing. There are even grassy parks behind the beach for bar-be-cueing.

That night we went out to the clubs and bars of Tel Aviv. Mike and his friend (even though they've only lived here a few months) know bar owners and bouncers all over town. This helps, because the clubs have different policies than clubs in the States. Here, there are no lines, just people standing around the entrances. If you know a promoter, the promoter might put your name on a list. Every now and then, the doormen call names from the list. If you happen to be standing there when your name is called, you can come in. If not, well...

But these guys don't have to worry about that, they show up and get the VIP treatment. We went to an area called HaNamal - The Port. It's in the Tel Aviv marina but it's a nightlife district. Pretty cool, but to me clubs all seem the same, so I couldn't really even tell you if it was a good place. Still, had fun. Left around three, but after getting out of the cab, Mike realized he left his iphone in the cab. We tried calling it and tracking it via gps, but the driver just yanked our chain for a couple of hours before disappearing. Apparently, this is very common - so keep track of your phone!

Next day (afternoon by the time we woke up) we went back to the beach. It wasn't quite hot enough to go in the water, but it was nice enough to just sit out with a couple of beers and ice cream. Then back on the bus back to Jerusalem (although we took some strange route, so it took almost 2 hours!)

Sunday we have our classes in the afternoon, so not much to go on about that, except for dinner. A whole group of us decided to try the Chinese restaurant down the street. I can't remember ever having Chinese food in Israel, but it was delicious (also, the fortune cookies are in fact in Hebrew). And it's right across from a delicious ice cream shop too, so that made my night.

Up to Jerusalem

I am now a week behind my posts - I apologize for the delay, but I have been doing so much, I just don't have time to do, and then write what I did. But I will update when I can.

So I left Rehovot last Sunday. The first thing I noticed at the bus station was how relaxed the security was. There's still a metal detector and a guard checking bags, but it's not as thorough as it used to be. The metal detectors go off, and they don't really care. More on this topic later - but I see this as a good thing.

Ride to Jerusalem was fairly short, but we took a road I had never been on before, very rural. Also, the buses stop more on the highway - they made special exits for bus stops. It appears that the cities are really growing. In fact, as we got into the city limits of Jerusalem, I noticed how far the city is sprawled out now (think Vegas boom years, when houses just started springing up everywhere). Also, cab prices have gone up as well. Not quite like the states, but gas prices affect things here too (if I did the math right, it's near $9 a gallon!). And the dollar doesn't go as far as it used to either. Last time I was here, it was between 4 and 4.5 shekels per dollar. Now it's 3 to 3.5 shekels to the dollar. So things actually aren't as cheap here. Now, perhaps I'm spoiled by cheap food in Vegas, but I can generally eat there for under $7-8. Here, the average is about $10.

Anyway, I arrived at the Agron Hostel in Jerusalem in the early afternoon. The place is pretty cool - right next to Independence Park, a few minutes walk from downtown Jerusalem one way, and the Old City another way (and a delicious ice cream shop another way). It's really right in the center of town. So the program didn't start until Monday evening, but some people were arriving Sunday. Many people on this program had never been to Israel before, so I took a couple people with me and figured I might as well show them the Kotel, the Western Wall

(I didn't take this picture)


The walk to the Old City was very different. There is a new upscale outdoor mall right outside the Jaffa Gate of the Old City. I guess it's part of a re-branding of that area as an upscale kind of place. We walked through the Arab quarter, I remembered some things, and I had an okay sense of direction. Oddly enough, many of the little booths were closed. I'm going to guess it was just too late in the day, I'll have to go back earlier in the afternoon. As we walked through the Jewish quarter, I tried to tell my new friends some historical tidbits, alas, I have forgotten most of it. But here is one...

An American journalist once heard about a rabbi who visited the Kotel every day, twice a day for over five decades. Intrigued, the journalist decided to go check it out. So he goes to Jerusalem and finds this rabbi. He watched the rabbi pray for about 45 minutes and then goes up to talk to him. "Sir, I'd like to ask, how long have you been coming here to pray?" "About fifty years" he says. "Amazing. What do you pray for?" She asks. "I pray for peace between the Jews and the Arabs, I pray for hatred to stop, and I pray for our children to grow up in safety and friendship." The reporter is in awe. "And how does it make you feel, after doing this for fifty years?" "Like I'm talking to a wall!"

Just a little joke :-)

Anyway, we decided to continue exploring Jerusalem (the new city) and discovered a park where some high school kids were having a basketball tournament (as part of the Israeli Scouts - like boy scouts, but actually cool, and everybody is a part of it). After dinner, it began to get cold...uncomfortably cold, and we had to head back. I realized I've never been in Israel between late May and mid-June, and it's not super hot yet.

The next day more people arrived for the program. We went out and explored some of downtown (finally ate some schawarma!) I wish I could say I did more that day, but I had some important school work that took up my whole day (a few days as a matter of fact - what a way to waste an opportunity to explore!). That evening, I heard some traditional klezmer style music outside my window (my room is right on the corner, so we have a pretty cool view of the street) and a few of us went to check it out. Turns out, we are catty-corner from the Great Synagogue, and they were getting a new Torah. So they were parading through the street singing and dancing. The cars were decorated in lights - it looked like the Main Street Electrical Parade!

So Tuesday we began our first day of classes. I am taking Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism, Church and State Separations in Israel and the U.S., and A Legal History of the Arab/Israeli Conflict (interesting topics but let's be honest, I'm here first for self propelled learning, second for in class learning). The professors are all very nice and knowledgeable, it should be a good few weeks. We have some field trips scheduled around Jerusalem throughout the summer too. The first was that night to the Kotel Tunnels. I had already been multiple times, but like I said before, I have forgot a lot I learned years ago. So this would be a great opportunity to go back. On top of that, it was erev Yom Yerushalayim (eve of Jerusalem Day) - the anniversary (in the Hebrew calendar) of the reunification of Jerusalem during the six day war. So there was dancing and fireworks and celebrations all over Jerusalem, but especially at the Kotel. Too bad I already had other plans!

Instead, my cousin Ron had got me a ticket to Laylah Lavan (white night) an all night music festival for Yom Studentim (day for students - music festivals that go on all over the country at each college campus during May as kind of a fun event for the end of the school year. I've been to one in Haifa once, and it was awesome). The one in Jerusalem is like the biggest one of them all. So first I went to meet my cousin Ron down the street at a friend of his. Turns out, this friend (Michael) and I had gone on Year Course together! They had met as part of the Lone Soldier program here (for immigrants who come and serve without any family, the army helps them out). Small world? Not yet. Turns out that Michael's roommate, Richie (who was also friends with Ron) grew up in El Paso and we went to Hebrew School together (couple years difference). Now that's a small world!

(I have a photo of the four of us somewhere, when I find it, I'll amend)
Here's me and Richie at the festival


So this festival was absolutely awesome! At least a few thousand people showed up, there were booths with advertisers, food, beer, it was awesome. (for music samples, click the links) We got there just as HaYehudim were starting to play. I had heard them years before in Haifa, great show. After that, was Dudu Aharon - he's one of the more popular mizrachi (easern style) artists, but I've never heard any of his music before. He's pretty good. I also realized that since I stopped that Israeli music radio show I had, I'm 4 or 5 years behind the times on the music scene. Oh well, I'll catch up. Anyway, around 1 a.m., the main reason I came to the concert came to the stage. Berry Sacharof! The first time I came to Israel, ten years ago, I heard his music on the radio, and bought his CD, Negiot - it was the first Israeli music CD I bought in Israel (okay, I bought it together with Ehud Banai's, Tip Tipa). Although he sang some new music I never heard before, I knew most of his lineup, and it was so awesome! Well worth it to stay up until 4 in the morning!



As a matter of fact, we left after Berry Sacharof. Ron and Michael wanted to take a nap and come back later, haha! I was a little disappointed we didn't get to see Shalom Chanoch and Balkan Beat Box, but I only know a couple of their songs, and it was already close to four am, and we still had to walk back. Totally worth it!

Wednesday was a walking tour of the neighborhoods around Jerusalem. We went to the shuk (market) which was bustling, even on a weekday. It was interesting because even though it was a market in the very traditional sense of the word ("Fresh grapes! Good watermelon this way this way!" etc.) there were tiny little coffee shops and cafes. Kind of becoming more progressive and European in a sense. As we walked through the neighborhoods, it became very apparent to me that even though I lived in Jerusalem for four months, I never really explored it. While I was here, it was during the heart of the second intifada (palestinian uprising) so we couldn't really go out very much and explore. But now, it's great to see the streets and see more of the city.

Went to bed early that night - big day to come on Thursday with some field trips, and I'll leave you on that cliffhanger!

Rehovot

A little bit about the train ride to Rehovot. The train goes to the airport, but there are no maps, and the timetables are difficult to understand. Plus, the train does not announce where it is going as it approaches, so if it's a late or early train, I don't know how one would know it's the correct one. I met a couple of Londoners who were heading to a wedding, but they had no idea where they were going, and didn't know any Hebrew. We found an Israeli willing to help, but he didn't speak much English - my first opportunity to use Hebrew! (disclaimer - while in the airport in Paris, an old man sat down next to me. A few minutes later, an old woman sat on the other side of me. They started talking to each other in Hebrew across me. I asked if they would like to sit together, to which the old man replied "We've been together 63 years, a few minutes apart is good." Then we had a small conversation in Hebrew...I soon excused myself because his breath was atrocious, but still, a very nice man) Whatdoyaknow, I actually did pretty well. I was really surprised at how much Hebrew I've remembered. I didn't think I would be able to use it at all, and I mean, it's not nearly as good as it once was, but I can converse fairly well.

Anyway, eventually (after waiting an hour at a different train station to switch trains - none of which had any indication of where they were going) I made it to my cousin Ron's place in Rehovot (incidentally, the picture of the apartment in that link looks identical to Ron's, except for the furniture). I met Ron's roommates, who are cool. One of them is getting married in a few weeks - I say this only to mention a cultural tidbit. In Israel, instead of bringing a gift, a wedding guest has to pay to attend the wedding. It's like saying "don't worry about the cost of the wedding, just enjoy the marriage" (and I guess it avoids having to be the guy who gets the couple a crappy spatula...sorry Geri)

The next morning, we went to the shuk (market) to buy some fresh food.

Ron is an amazing cook, so we were getting stuff for dinner - veggies, spices, and a huge watermelon! Then for the main course, we stopped at a fresh fish place. The guy in front first had to excuse himself to pour himself another vodka/redbull (at 9 a.m. - don't worry, he offered us one too). We picked out a salmon, and they took it to the back to cut it and the guy cutting it had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Then I realized, all the veggie sellers were also smoking at their veggie stands. Not quite the same food prep laws out here...

On a side note, the last few times I've come here, I've tried very hard to not look like an American. Not out of fear or embarrassment, but that I wanted to be treated like a local, not a tourist - I always wanted to blend in. Now, I've resigned myself to the fact that I am an American, and I don't really care if I look like a tourist...and I guess I do, because everyone says "hallo hallo, ah! american, where you from? New Jersey?"

Anyway, aside from the delicious dinner, the rest of the day and most of Saturday were very relaxing and uneventful except for the fact that it rained a little in Tel Aviv - very strange for this time of year. It was hot and humid in Rehovot, which I was not expecting.

Saturday night, Ron and I went to a burger place. It was 25 shekels for a draft beer! (3.5ish shekels to the dollar) Too expensive...but things here are more expensive than they used to be. Side note about my cousin - and sorry Ron if you don't want me broadcasting this to the world, but I think it's great. I mentioned he's an amazing chef, so he knows a lot about food quality. As we're sitting there, he picks up the bottle of Heinz ketchup and proclaims, without tasting it, "This is not Heinz." Sure enough, we examined it, and it was too runny, and not dark enough. Apparently Heinz is known for the thickness - it's supposed to be tough to get out of that bottle. He told the waiter to ask the owner. They adamantly stood by their claim that it was Heinz, and even brought an un-open bottle as if to prove it. Ron dropped his complaint, but the actual bottle of Heinz they brought was much darker and thicker...I think perhaps Heinz should investigate the matter...

Anyway, we met up with my friend Mike, who I hadn't seen since the sixth grade. He made aliyah (moved to Israel) a few months ago. Then we all went to see the Hangover II. (by the way, it's assigned seating for movies in Israel) In Hebrew the translated title comes out to "On the Way to the Wedding II" but there is a word in Hebrew for hangover...it's hangover...and they know what it means...so that's weird. Anyway, we walked into the mall for the theater before sundown on Saturday, so it was still Shabbat and all the stores were closed. After the movie, everything was open! It's so funny that they all open for just a few hours on Saturday night, but that's the culture in some places here. (note, not everything closes for Shabbat. In fact, in Tel Aviv, most things don't. In Jerusalem, most things do, but the culture everywhere is definitely shifting toward more secularism)

That evening, my other cousin, Sarit, happened to be passing through Rehovot and she stopped by Ron's to say hi. It worked out perfectly because I won't have a chance to see her the rest of the summer as she's leaving for a cross country trip of the US in a couple of weeks.

Sunday afternoon, I set out for Jerusalem.

addendum

A quick addendum to the last post.

The first time I went to Israel 10 years ago, when we flew in, there were certain traditions. When the plane landed, the passengers applauded (either applauding the pilot for a smooth landing, applauding because they were so happy to be there, or sarcastically applauding as if to say "it's about time!" after such a long flight). Traditional music would play over the public address system (Heveinu Shalom Aleichem) - There was no jet-way, so people would get off the plane and first thing they would do is kiss the ground - literally, right under the plane. And people would sing and dance and rejoice, just so happy to be there.

Then a few years later I came back, and there were jet-ways. They still clapped and the music played, but there was no dancing, and I saw nobody kiss the ground (outside after customs and passport control, who's happy to be there anymore? lol)

This time it was strange. Only a handful of people applauded, and there was no music. Maybe because it was a short flight - I don't know, but it just felt off. That sense of pride and joy I got from my first time in Israel, people coming for the first time don't get that experience anymore. Hopefully it was a fluke...

Also, here are pictures from France

The airplane that took us across the sea, in France - there was a cool viewing area to watch all the planes taxiing


French fruit nectar