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Diane &
Jay's Israel Adventure
We arrived
in Israel on a Sunday, May 4 and got picked up at the
airport by our wonderful Sar-El rep, Pam, and immediately taken to a communications
base near Tel Aviv. Diane spent time in a warehouse, rewiring the radio headsets (you
are trained in a matter of minutes--it's not hard) that go
inside helmets, while Jay worked outdoors,
scraping paint off radio chasses and cleaning shock absorbers for radio
mounts. Diane also got to help repair helmets and paint them. It's not
the most fascinating work, but it's not difficult either and it gives you the chance to chat with and get
to know the other volunteers
who are there from all over the world. The army pays for your room
and board, which isn't a 5-star hotel, but could be worse.
Meals are kosher, with breakfast
and dinner the same, usually egg in some form, tomatoes,
cucumbers, cheeses, bread... maybe some pickles and olives.
Lunch is the big meal, with some kind of meat (either brisket
or chicken), along with soup, hummus, vegetables (I became VERY
fond of an eggplant mixture). We worked for one day before taking off for Ashkelon (left, at sunset), the soldier's resort that lies on the Mediterranean coastline. We stayed for Israel's Memorial Day (Yom Hazikaron). Prior to landing at Ashkelon, we met up with my Aunt Karen at our friend Howard's base (we also spent time together at Ashkelon). There, many volunteers and soldiers took part in a ceremony honoring the
fallen soldiers. We stood for a half hour in the sweltering heat, wearing our berets (that we had to
run around our base to earn) that were on loan
for the occasion. Later, at Ashkelon, several of us snuck off to
the beach area. We thought we were breaking some intense rule by doing
this, but the following day, we found our madricha (sort of like a
camp counselor but she's in the IDF and is our liaison), and several others lying out on the sand. We stayed
the following day as well at Ashkelon for Israel's 55th Independence
Day (Yom Ha’atzmaut). Once we left Ashkelon, we headed towards Jerusalem. Before we arrived, we went on a tour of the Jewish National Forest. This is the place where they plant the trees that you buy for Bar or Bat Mitzvahs, when a child is born or in someone's memory when they have passed. There we learned about the ancient aqueducts, which are near Jay's foot in the photo linked above. It was with these that people were able to move water to use to help them live.
Once in Jerusalem, we stayed at the King Solomon
Hotel. We did a tour of the city with our friend Howard, which was
set up for us by Pam at Sar-El. Being a member of Sar-El
enabled us to get great packages at hotels and in special tours.
This particular one ended up being rather small -- just Howard,
and us, actually. Usually the tours have to be much bigger
for it to be worth their while to do one, but times being what
they were, he was willing to do it for us.Our guide, Isaac, took us all around Jerusalem. We visited the Knesset, which is the governing body of Israel. There stands a giant menorah, which has different scenes from the bible depicted on it.
We also went to the Arab Shook (at left), which had incredible bargains since everyone has fallen on hard times with the lack of tourism. We looked around but didn't stay for long. The architecture was quite intriguing.
We visited the Western Wall (in back of Jay at right), went through the tunnels underneath it, visited the Memorial to the Holocaust, Yad Va Shem and had the best ever falafel in the Muslim quarter (though that wasn't what we intended, but our tour guide Isaac took us there instead of the Jewish quarter).
We visited the Jewish Orthodox area, as well as the Arab shook, where we saw these little girls walking around. We also got the chance to visit a farmer's market where we had fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. Two of the nights, we met up with Aunt Karen for dinner; one at the restaurant in her hotel (which was a fantastic meal) and the other at the King David Hotel (a REALLY fancy place) for tea, prior to going shopping on Ben Yahuda Street. It really made the shopkeepers evening that we were there and willing to spend some money. Their business has been hurting incredibly as has Israel's economy on the whole. We had gotten the idea to go to Israel after going to a "shop Israel" function in Los Angeles. While there, Diane bought Jay a gift from a delightful older gentleman. While shopping on Ben Yahuda Street, we ran into that very gentleman at his store. It was a fun reunion since he actually remembered us!
Isaac also took us to the Mount of Olives, where we saw this camel. They use the animals to suck in tourists and then they try to sell you postcards, the chance to have your picture taken next to the camel, etc. We didn't end up staying there too long.
That weekend, we also visited Masada (at left),
where it was 105 degrees. We then hiked at Ein Gedi,
seeing a ton of Ibex on the way to the falls and
later swam in the Dead Sea.
The water was amazing. You just lean backwards in
it and immediately you're floating (like our friend Alex here)
without any effort. We loved it. We were also able
to put mud all over ourselves, letting it bake in the sun. Sunday we headed back to base to return to work. The following weekend, we headed off to Tel Aviv. We arrived at a decent time, having been allowed to leave work early since they scheduled the bus to pick everyone up early. We, having learned our lesson the previous week (the bus took way too long and people got cranky), booked a cab and were there before the bus even arrived to pick up people at the base. Woohoo! We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel, right on the Mediterranean -- gorgeous view.
We were only there for one night (but 2 nights the following weekend, before we flew home) because the following day we were leaving for Safed (pronounced Svot), where Diane was to meet cousins of her mom's for the first time. Safed is the birthplace of the Kabbalah and is supposedly like stepping back in time. So Friday morning we took a bus to Rosh Pina, where Diane's cousin Richard (whom she was meeting for the first time) picked us up to take us to Safed. Safed is a beautiful hilltop town with orthodox hippie Jews. Who knew they existed? Pretty cool. We stayed in the Central Hotel (the view out our window is in this photo), which had a great location. (We loved it at first but at night we heard every toilet when it was flushed.) We had a lovely lunch with Richard, his wife Hilary and Hilary's mother, Freda, who is Diane's mom's first cousin. They all had British accents, which was kind of wild. Apparently, Freda's other son-in-law is a Lord in London. Jay wanted us to get to know him so that we can inherit his title one day--haha. After lunch, Richard took us to the Artists' Quarter, and we bought two prints. Later, we walked back to Richard's, amidst the sounds of what seemed like little kids chasing cats by meowing. We
later learned those were wild
peacocks! But like most places in Israel, everything stops once
it's Shabbat. Stores close, people only walk, etc. So we had to leave in the morning
to be able to do anything with the time we had left before
reporting back to the base. Our friends Ross and Julia from base (now a couple thanks to my yenta work) picked us up at 9am in a car that Ross rented for the week, and we toured ALL around the Golan Heights. We stopped by a cool little cafe (picture at right) to caffeine up. While there, Diane bought a tiny gold ring that had a little green stone called an Eilat stone. At one point while on the road, we came upon an area that said we were near the border -- of Lebanon! Jay and Ross were clowning around about crossing the border.
We quickly got in the car and headed for the Sea of Galilee. We picked up lunch in Tiberias and headed for the water. We went to the beach by the YMCA, which Ross and Julia had scoped out the day before after traveling
completely around it and deemed
this spot the best place to have our picnic. The water
was incredibly refreshing and the location was absolutely
beautiful. While there, we ate our picnic lunch and relaxed
in the cool breeze and bright sun light.Finally, back on the road, we went to the place that Julia had been dying for us to see -- an incredible site of ruins called Caesarea. The place was an entire seaport city that King Herod had built, hoping to rival the great port of Alexandria in Egypt. While there, we could see what was left of this once great place. We saw the ancient theater, the hippodrome, plenty of places where people lived -- all as the sun began to set. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
We made such good time that we decided to drive to Tel Aviv and stay there for the night before heading back to base in the morning, making our fight with morning traffic that much easier.
During the following week, we worked. Jay was concentrating on disassembling radio chasses (and his Israeli tan) while Diane worked inside the electronics section, re-wiring radio headsets, installing them in the soft helmet (which she also assembled with foam insides) which are then installed in the hard helmet that she had painted the previous week (as well as fixing holes with something called Bondo). Evenings occasionally had a program for us to participate in. The bathrooms were down a path, but at least there was a coffee machine (mochachinos!) in the common area.
Our three-week tour of duty as volunteers on an IDF base was now concluded -- hello debauchery in Tel Aviv! Seriously, it is a fabulous beach city with plenty to do and see -- but we couldn't -- we had to shop. ;) We were given our same room at the Renaissance Hotel with the view of the marina (picture at right), the gorgeous beach and a lot of the city, as well being right near our favorite place of all -- the Bugalow Cafe. Thursday night, we went with our friends Ross (minus Julia, who flew home last Sunday to Toronto), Marty and Charly to Mike's Place (our choice).
This last weekend was a big shopping one. We went to the Carmel Market and then the Artists' Market. We had to fit this is before Shabbat started, and they all closed up shop -- so to speak. There's a lovely tradition on Friday evenings to ring in Shabbat. Over at the Dolphinarium, people gather to play bongo drums and belly dance. The energy was fantastic, full of fun and festivity. And the sunset we saw was magnificent. Saturday, since most things were closed, we just hung out at the beach, watching the Israeli dancing and hanging out with the Sar-El (volunteers) folks who were in Tel Aviv for the weekend. We all gathered on Gordon Beach, which happily was right outside our hotel--yay--no commute! Then in the late evening, it was off to the airport (Ross drove us--what a sweetie) to fly home. Couldn't believe the 3 weeks were over already!