Bus ride and vacation plans

This week I used the public transit system. My neighbors were anxious to show me how fun it is to ride the bus. I told them I when I worked downtown I rode the bus everyday back and forth to work so I knew what a bus ride felt like. Nonetheless, we went on an excursion to the city center and back. We did stop at a bakery and chocolate shop once we got to the city center. They sold "sticky buns" for 1 shekel and also had something similar to a sugar donut. The donut was not of Krispy Kreme quality :-( It wasn't bad though, just a little chewy. The chocolate shop had all sorts of candies. The kids handed me a bag to fill to the top. I told them it would be okay if we shared a bag and they eagerly filled the bag full. They ate so much they weren't hungry for lunch. Oops! Then we walked on the promenade for a bit (not long enough to burn any calories) and headed back to the bus stop. I must say that the experience was relatively similar to Tri-Met (other than the slight thought of a terrorist act which I tried to dismiss as soon as it came into my mind).

Now we are anxiously packing for our vacation to Barcelona this weekend and the cruise next week. The cruise will leave Barcelona and be out to sea for a day. Arrive in Malta for a day. Sail at night to Naples, Italy. Leave that evening for Rome. Stay the day in Rome and sail through the night to Livorno (Pisa). After a day in Livorno we sail to Nice, France and then back to Barcelona. It should be a very exciting trip. I've been spending my afternoons at the bookstore in the mall to read up on each of these places to find out how to spend our time. So much to read!!!! Hopefully we will be able to spend some quality time at a few places. We are also looking forward to the food (there's gotta be bacon on the boat right?) I've been talking about a Meditterranean cruise for the last 2-3 years in anticipation of Ken's sabbatical. We can hardly wait!

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs have been popping up everywhere. I remember a few years ago something similar (only it was cows) in Portland. Apparently there is a Dinosaur exhibit at one of the museums and to ensure everybody is aware of it there are 60 dinosaurs that have been painted and placed throughout the city. Interesting.... maybe I should check out the exhibit?

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's not every year you get to celebrate twice! We stopped by our neighbors yesterday evening for a quick visit. After a while they said they were going to a pub so Ken and I joined them. When we got there red heart shaped balloons were everywhere and roses on the tables. Turns out its valentines day! Our neighbors said it's not hyped up nearly as much here as it is in the States.

Mini Israel

Ken and I thought we would be adventurous this weekend and walk through all of Israel. We started in Haifa and moved North to Acco and then to the Lebanon border. Then East passed Mt. Hermon and into the Golan. We headed South through the Upper and then Lower Galilee. Jerusalem was quite entertaining especially since we were just there and all the sites were fresh in our mind. We wandered south through the Judean Desert, Masada and the Dead Sea. Further South was the Negev and Eliat. Our final stretch was through Tel Aviv and Caesarea. Quite a day! And to think we could walk all of that in less than 3 hours!

A visitor center half way between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem has miniature models that highlight all of Israel so you can literally walk the through the country. It was pretty interesting and we found a few sites that we have not yet seen. Some of the models were interactive and had moving trains, cars or planes. I'll try and post some pictures tonight.

Brunch

Ken's co-worker invited us out for brunch this morning. We accepted and wondered what brunch would be like here in Israel. Maybe lots of cheese and yougurt? We reached the restaraunt and looked at the menu (all in Hebrew). Rachel and her husband was nice enough to try and translate. We decided on plate that consisted of 2 eggs, salad, 2 types of cheese and olives. I'm not sure what they had; one looked like a spinach quiche with herring and the other plate had eggs and eggplant cooked together. It looked interesting. I was glad to have regular old scrambled eggs :-) We had a nice time with them, the restaraunt was a little cafe outside. The only downside to eating outside is you run the risk of getting in the way of bird droppings falling from the sky. Yes I know its a small risk but apparently I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got a little splatter from the friendly flyer up above :-( One good thing about hanging out with friends that have children is that they always have wet wipes :-) I just got a very small dropping on me so it didn't ruin my day. All part of the adventure...

Helicopters and ships

On the way to pick up Ken today I noticed some activity down at the sea. We went for a walk on the boardwalk and oggled at the Helicopters with long guns coming out the front as they hovered over the water (5 miles off the coast?). They also had planes flying over head. Often we will hear the fighter jets go by... but I can never see them (already out of sight once you hear them coming). Anyway, no one else at the beach seemed remotely interested in what was going on in the water so we finally decided they were either doing a search and rescue or practicing their hovering skills. It was interesting.

August 9th

Saturday we took it easy and slept in. It was refreshing. We had reservations for late afternoon to try and go to the Haifa gardens again (this time I wore a skirt so I wouldn't get kicked out). When we got into the gardens they told us, the tour will end about a mile or so down the hill and you will need to find your own way back to your car. Hmmm. Sounds like a fun walk in the hot afternoon sun will be in our future. We took a stroll through the garden (actually we just walked down 1,000 steps to the end of the garden. We weren't supposed to stop unless the guide did which was only 2x to talk a little about the garden). It was a nice garden, but we didn't feel we saw anything that we couldn't see from the observation point that didn't require a tour. Oh well. The most memorable part was the hike up the hill. We literally had sweat running down our faces (sorry, that's too gross!). There was a taxi, but we opted to save our 15 shekels and get icecream at the top of the hill. It was a great incentive for us. We made it back to our car and drove down the main street looking for an open shop. We found a spot (although it was marked no parking) where at least 10 other Israelis had parked and decided to follow suit. It was shabbat so there weren't any meter maids out :-) We shared a delicious chocolate crepe and a small scoop of cookies and cream ice cream. Perfect! The ice cream is a little disappointing here, but the crepe more than made up for it. It was quite a day.

Monday I finally met my "virtual" friend who is also an expat here, but has been on home leave for most of the summer. We have only exchanged emails, but hit it off right away and we have been anxious to meet. Anyway, while in the states my mom put together a care package (an entire suitcase full of necessities). We met up with her last night and she delivered the suitcase. It was like having my birthday only a month early! Even Tillamook cheese survived the journey. It was so enjoyable finally meeting each other. Their five year old daughter is adorable and she stole Ken's heart. They were out on the balcony and she had Ken wish upon a star (it was obvious he wasn't going to get back in the house without saying those magic words "starlight, starbright, first star I see tonight..." It was cute. We are excited to have another connection here in town :-)

Jerusalem Pics cont.

Jerusalem

Yesterday we attempted to visit the Old City again. Last time we just wandered through the city (and the chaos), this time we had a plan of specific sites we wanted to see. We left the house at 5:30am to get a head start. Since it is Shabbat most places will close by 2pm so and with a 2 hour drive ahead of us our time was limited. Our first goal was to find parking. Last time we drove around the parking structure for at least an hour looking for a spot, since we were so early this time we had our choice of spots. On into the Old city, we entered the Jaffa gate and briefly looked for the tourism office for a better map of the city. We never did find the tourism office so we headed in the direction which we thought was the Dung Gate.

Our goal was to spend most of the day outside the city walls exploring the Mt of Olives and surrounding area. We exited the city and looked ahead to our destination. The hillside was dotted with tombs and there were a few churches along the way. It was about 9am and we were starting to feel the heat (hoping it wouldn't get too hot today). On our way down the Kidron Valley we cut through a side path to see the Tombs of Jehosaphat, B'nei Hezir and Zechariah, & Absalom's Pillar, and an olive grove. All of which were impressive. On our way up the hillside we found ourselves in the middle of the cemetery (apparently there was a tourists walk path that we missed). Our only way up at this point was weaving in and out of the plots. We did our best to stick to the side of each section instead of walking through everyone. The tombs were huge boxes and not necessarily in a neat row. Lots of graves had pebbles on top (I can't remember now what the significance of the pebbles were). We were both amazed how many plots are actually left on that hillside, from a distance it looks completely full! Anyway, it was a big hike that kept going and going and going. Finally we came to a street and walked the rest of the way on the road. We ended up at the very top of the hill which had a breathtaking view of the city. We stayed for a while to catch our breath.

On the way down we briefly visited the Tomb of the Prophets (Malachai and Haggai) and continued to the Garden of Gethsemane were Jesus spent his last night on earth in prayer and where he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot. There was singing coming from inside the church so we went inside and looked around briefly. Outside we spent sometime looking at the Olive trees in the garden and the rock where Jesus sweat blood. After this spot we headed back to the Old City. We wanted to catch the 11am English tour of the Tower of David. We made it just in time and enjoyed an ariel tour of the Old city and then toured the museum. The tour lasted longer than expected so we were unable to go to Hezekiah's Tunnel which is outside the city as well (we will have to catch it next time we come to Jerusalem).

Everything was starting to close down since it was about 1:30pm and we quickly walked through the streets to find some Shwarma (pita pocket with lamb meat, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, hummus, whatever you want to put in it). Ken found a great place just inside the Mulsem quarter for 14 shekels and we also got some fresh squeezed OJ. It hit the spot! Our final quest was to go out the Damascus gate to the find the Garden Tomb where Jesus was buried after the crucifixion. Everyone appeared to be leaving the city through the Damascus gate and we got stuck in a human traffic jam. Before we realized what was happening there was no way to alter our course. Picture being in a crowded elevator where there are at least 3 too many people in it or the Max ride after a Rose Festival event. Okay now everyone is trying to move forward but apparently they can't... so the people in the back just start gently pressing forward. (In the end we realized there was a man with a large cart full of merchandise was trying to get into the city that was causing a the traffic jam.) I felt sandwiched between everyone and Ken and I tried to hold on to each other. Ken said there were quite a few kids pickpocketing while this was all taking place. He felt people hitting his pockets to see if he had his wallet in there. Thankfully he was wearing his pants that had side pockets with buttons and he was able to keep his hand over his wallet at all times. Although he did have to stare down a kid at one point who was being a little too persistent. This human traffic jam lasted maybe 10 minutes (for us) but I'm sure continued for the next hour or so as people flooded out of the city and into the streets of Jerusalem. After checking our pockets and backpacks to ensure we had everything, we made our way across the street and into an open market. Yikes! This place is sheer chaos!

Down the road a half mile we came to the Garden Tomb which was pleasantly peaceful and quiet. We listened to a guide tell about the garden and the facts known about where Jesus was buried. We looked at the tomb cut into the rock and the trough outside that would have held the stone to seal the tomb. It was a beautiful place, my favorite so far. Since it was after 3pm our day in Jerusalem was over and we headed back to our car which was thankfully not too far away. We walked a lot today in the heat and were exhausted! I did have one other thing on my list but that was for the way home... a stop in "mini Israel" which when we got there was closed (even though it said it was open S-F till 11pm). I guess my brochure is in Hebrew so I'll have to go back and read it again with some assistance :-) No problem. We can go next time... We were tired anyway and needing showers.

When we got home I stopped by the neighbors to return the flashlight we borrowed and they invited us over for Shabbat dinner again. We accepted their invitation and had a wonderful time again. This time we stayed and played a few games after dinner with them. The 13 yr old boy challenged Ken to a game of Checkers and Ken had no idea what he was getting into. Gil appeared to be making up "Israeli rules" through the whole game and there was no way for Ken to win. He was going all across the board, skipping extra spaces and capturing Ken left and right any time Ken would say hey wait a minute Gil would say that's how we play in Israel. I told Ken he should start making up his own rules too. Why not play the game his way? Anyway, it was fun. They did look up the official rules online and found a website to back up Gil's actions. After the first two games, Ken was able to adapt to the house rules and be a bit more competitive. It was a fun filled day, but at midnight we were totally exhausted and decided to head for home. What a day.

Not too much to write about

Not much to report from this week... I did my typical swimming and Hebrew classes. I actually had a bad headache so I took it easy in the afternoons. I did spend one afternoon at the mall in the bookstore looking at travel books and I did go with the neighbors to a "COSTCO" type store which I felt at home in :-) Everything was in bulk and the prices seemed reasonable. Unfortunatley we took so many turns I have no idea how to get back there on my own. Oh I guess one noteable event is that we booked our "Home leave"!!! I was very exctited about that and look forward to being in the area the first/second week of October. It seems far away but I'm sure it will be here soon.

We're going to have a visitor!!!

Hooray! We are soooo excited that my old roomate is going to come visit us in September! I can hardly wait! Hooray!

2 months!

Wow! I can't believe we've been here two months. July flew by a lot quicker than June did. We are doing well and still enjoying the sunshine everyday.

Last night we went down to the waterfront and there was some "folk dancing" going on. As the sun set behind us, we sat and watched as they did some cultural line dancing. It was interesting to watch their faces. They all seemed pretty serious and intense on the dance. It wasn't a specific group that were dancing, just bystanders who know that every 7pm on Saturday night there will be music to dance to. Young and old they all joined in the dance. I wished we had one of our neighbors with us who could have told us more about the dance. The first few songs seemed to be very traditional and I wondered how far back dances like this were done in Israel.

Yesterday we tried to go to the Gardens in Haifa. It's an amazingly manicured area and apparently you have to have a reservation :-( We decided to try and see Elijah's Cave instead. We drove around and ended up at a small chapel at the top of the hill. The map indicated there was a trail to the cave across from the chapel. After looking a bit, we didn't see any trails so we asked one of the tour guides at the chapel and she said there was a small dirt path across the street we could follow. There happened to be another tourist (25yrs old?) there who was looking for the same place so she joined us on our adventure. Hiking straight down hill on a dusty path. Just before we left the guide told us to beware of snakes! Yikes! It was a pretty humid day, but the hike was down hill and somewhat shaded. After 20 minutes we reached the bottom and went inside the cave. Although this is a tourist spot it was all in Hebrew and we really couldn't understand the plaques on the wall or why the scarves were hanging from the ceiling. There was a bookshelf with lots of books in different languages so that people could read and pray. I didn't find any English books. It was also divided men on one side women on the other. The other tourist with us didn't know much Hebrew and couldn't explain what was being said either so we didn't stay to long. Back up the hill.... Uggh! Actually it was a nice hike and we did have some water with us so we were just fine. It was nice to meet another tourist. We gave her a ride to the German colony (which I was sorely disappointed when I visited as you couldn't go into any of the buildings) and then went to the market for some falafel. It was a fun day.