Monday, June 9, 2008
Day trip to the Sea of Galilee
Since today is a holiday we thought we would take an excursion through Nazareth and on to Galilee. It was about an hour and half drive and we got a head start trying to beat the heat of the day. We actually didn't stop in Nazareth we weren't sure if they would be friendly, so we headed on to Tiberias. The sea was very calm, and not very big. Mountains surrounded the sea. We went to 4 main tourist places. The first was the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the mount. Beautiful view of the Sea with Tiberias in the background. Then we went to the Church of the bread and fish. This was a possible site for Jesus feeding the 5,000 with 5 loves of bread and 2 fish. There was a cool (literally) cave up on the hill so we took a 5 minute hike and sat inside for a while. Another amazing view of the sea and the city. The third stop was Church of St. Peter. This spot indicates the potential place that Jesus (after the resurrection) appeared to Peter. Peter had been fishing all night with no catch, until dawn when from the shore Jesus said cast your nets on the other side of the boat. So they did and their nets were full of fish.
Some people were waterskiing on the lake. Lots of people were swimming despite the swimming prohibited signs posted everywhere. It was so hot we were tempted to jump in ourselves. We were hungry though so we headed back to Tiberas. We hoped to catch a little Falafel stand. But I guess these guys are serious about holidays! Everything was buttoned up :-( We walked in the hot, hot sun until we finally found a McDs that was open. It wasn't my first choice but it was the only choice so we enjoyed a hamburger and pita wrap for $25! My last goal for the trip was to find the "free" swim area and hang out on the beach. We drove for quite a while before we bumped into another point of interest. The Jordan River. We stopped in and looked at the site where Jesus was possibly baptized by John the Baptist. There were lots of people there. Some getting baptized themselves by their pastor. After this stop we decided to head back towards home thinking we wouldn't find the free beach (everywhere else it was $20). On our way back to town we stopped to take a picture of some caves up in the rock and almost directly across was a beach. We stopped for a quick swim. It was pretty rocky and had a quick drop off. Not many people were swimming (and there were a lot there) so we were unsure how safe it was. The drive home seemed long, maybe because we were so tired. We stopped by a beach near our house. This beach had nice sand and a place to put our towels down in the shade so we stayed for quite a while and enjoyed swimming in the Mediterranean. Can't believe we are living here!
Some people were waterskiing on the lake. Lots of people were swimming despite the swimming prohibited signs posted everywhere. It was so hot we were tempted to jump in ourselves. We were hungry though so we headed back to Tiberas. We hoped to catch a little Falafel stand. But I guess these guys are serious about holidays! Everything was buttoned up :-( We walked in the hot, hot sun until we finally found a McDs that was open. It wasn't my first choice but it was the only choice so we enjoyed a hamburger and pita wrap for $25! My last goal for the trip was to find the "free" swim area and hang out on the beach. We drove for quite a while before we bumped into another point of interest. The Jordan River. We stopped in and looked at the site where Jesus was possibly baptized by John the Baptist. There were lots of people there. Some getting baptized themselves by their pastor. After this stop we decided to head back towards home thinking we wouldn't find the free beach (everywhere else it was $20). On our way back to town we stopped to take a picture of some caves up in the rock and almost directly across was a beach. We stopped for a quick swim. It was pretty rocky and had a quick drop off. Not many people were swimming (and there were a lot there) so we were unsure how safe it was. The drive home seemed long, maybe because we were so tired. We stopped by a beach near our house. This beach had nice sand and a place to put our towels down in the shade so we stayed for quite a while and enjoyed swimming in the Mediterranean. Can't believe we are living here!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Morning Walk
This morning we took a walk down the hill and came to a bakery. It smelled so good we decided to go inside. They had all sorts of pastries and breads. We asked if they spoke English and they just laughed at us (in a nice way). We chose 3 pastries again not sure what the price was (I think we need to just get over how much things cost here). The triangle shaped one, looked like it had a light chocolate dusting on top. After biting into it and tasting something like Hummus I traded with Ken :-) The second one was small with powder sugar on it (lemon filling). It was quite messy to eat, but this was my favorite. The third was a big square shaped pastry with powder sugar. Again messy, but yummy.
If you were to ask me where I live I would say up the hill, just past the patch of trees. Ken doesn't think that is really descriptive, and maybe it isn't but I'm not sure what else to use as a landmark. It's not really a big patch of trees, but it's better than saying past the green trash dumpster :-)
If you were to ask me where I live I would say up the hill, just past the patch of trees. Ken doesn't think that is really descriptive, and maybe it isn't but I'm not sure what else to use as a landmark. It's not really a big patch of trees, but it's better than saying past the green trash dumpster :-)
Sightseeing
On Saturdays they supposedly have a "walking tour" in English throughout the city of Haifa. We thought it might help us get acclimated to the city so we showed up at what we thought was the correct spot. We were actually running late :-) but we did see a large group gathered not far from the starting spot so we joined them only to hear everything in Hebrew. Since we are not fluent yet we decided to alter our plans and head toward Akko which is one of the oldest cities in the world. It was amazing to see the strong walls of this Crusaders City. I guess Napoleon said if he had succeeded in his attack here, he would have conquered the whole world.
It was about lunch time and there was a little restaurant open so we walked in to see the menu. We were pleased to see English on the menu and decided to try a Kebab and a Greek Salad. The menu didn't have prices but we thought surely it cant be to expensive for one dish of each. After about 20 minutes the lady brought out our Greek salad which ended up being about 6 different dishes (red cabbage, tuna salad, Greek salad, eggplant & tomato salad, hummus, bread). Although we had just pointed to the English word in the menu we were now not sure what we really ordered. We started eating and much to Ken's surprise he found a beetle in his salad. I decided I wasn't quite as hungry and maybe I should inspect my food a little closer. 20 minutes later the lady brought out the Kebab. It was similar to 3 small hamburgers with French fries. It was quite tasty. Not really sure how much the meal was Ken and I decided it probably wasn’t more than 50 shekels. Okay maybe we were just hopeful it wasn't more than 50 shekels... We went up to the counter and the lady wrote on a piece of paper 70 and circled it. No itemized list of how much each cost. I wondered if we should have bargained with her. Or maybe asked how much the beetle cost. Quite an experience.
In the evening we went for a walk. It's interesting to me the expressions you see on the faces of those you pass. I always try to smile, but they often look like they are unhappy. Maybe they are concentrating? One gal we walked by said "Shabbat Shalom". I wasn't quite sure how to respond. So I just smiled and said Shalom. I think she was looking for a longer response.
It was about lunch time and there was a little restaurant open so we walked in to see the menu. We were pleased to see English on the menu and decided to try a Kebab and a Greek Salad. The menu didn't have prices but we thought surely it cant be to expensive for one dish of each. After about 20 minutes the lady brought out our Greek salad which ended up being about 6 different dishes (red cabbage, tuna salad, Greek salad, eggplant & tomato salad, hummus, bread). Although we had just pointed to the English word in the menu we were now not sure what we really ordered. We started eating and much to Ken's surprise he found a beetle in his salad. I decided I wasn't quite as hungry and maybe I should inspect my food a little closer. 20 minutes later the lady brought out the Kebab. It was similar to 3 small hamburgers with French fries. It was quite tasty. Not really sure how much the meal was Ken and I decided it probably wasn’t more than 50 shekels. Okay maybe we were just hopeful it wasn't more than 50 shekels... We went up to the counter and the lady wrote on a piece of paper 70 and circled it. No itemized list of how much each cost. I wondered if we should have bargained with her. Or maybe asked how much the beetle cost. Quite an experience.
In the evening we went for a walk. It's interesting to me the expressions you see on the faces of those you pass. I always try to smile, but they often look like they are unhappy. Maybe they are concentrating? One gal we walked by said "Shabbat Shalom". I wasn't quite sure how to respond. So I just smiled and said Shalom. I think she was looking for a longer response.
Friday, June 6, 2008
We aren't in Kansas anymore
That's what Ken keeps telling me. We are reminded on an hourly basis that we are far far from home. We woke up at 5:30am this morning and went for a walk up the hill. It was a beautiful sunrise walk. Nice to not see so many cars on the street. After doing some things around the house we thought we would try to brave the grocery store again today with the hopes of getting enough to last us a few weeks. Since yesterday was quite an ordeal we thought we might try a different grocery store. Well we drove until we got lost, and then decided to go for a walk on the beach. The water was refreshing on our feet. The beach we went to was a bit dirty but as we walked we came to the swimming area which was much nicer. We got a little hungry so we tried a snack from the street vendor. I guess it was a pastry with cheese in it (and a pickle on the side). It was okay. I was hoping to try falafel instead. Maybe tomorrow.
Back to getting groceries, we ended up at the same store we went to yesterday. While we were successful in leaving the store with 10 plastic bags of groceries, I can't confirm we have enough to make any specific dish. Apparently today is shopping day for most Israelis as the stores all close at 3pm until 9pm tomorrow. We wandered the store for about 2 hours. I did brave the meat counter line (20 minutes waiting) with the goal of getting some hamburger and chicken. I had ticket number 406. I waited carefully when I saw they were currently working on 405... Then they changed to 406. I worked my way to the counter and tried to make eye contact with one of the 3 butchers with no luck (they were all helping other people). The next thing I knew they switched to helping 407! So I spoke up and started waving my ticket. One finally agreed to help me. I asked do you speak English? He said no and started to back away like he was going to help someone else. The lady next to me said I can help you I know a little English. So I told her I wanted 2 lbs of hamburger. The man said we don't have hamburger. I looked at the case and pointed. They looked at me like you want raw hamburger? And then wanted to know what I meant by 2 pounds. How many Kilos is that? Oh what a challenge. After aimlessly wandering the canned vegetable aisles, we finally decided we had enough fun and stood in line. The cashier said something to us in Hebrew which we took to mean her line was closed so we moved one line over. After standing there for 5 minutes, the cashier said something to us as well which again looked like that line was closed. We did succesfully checkout in the 3rd attempt but VISA has shut off our credit card since we are in amother country (even though we advised them of this fact!) All this to say I need to develop a better strategy for getting groceries. We made it back to our apartment and were unloading the groceries and I looked up to see the lady who helped me at the meat counter. I said Ken! This is the nice lady who helped me at the store. She was a bit shocked to see me but said "looks like we are neighbors, if you need anything let me know". Maybe I should go shopping with her next time? What an adventure!
Back to getting groceries, we ended up at the same store we went to yesterday. While we were successful in leaving the store with 10 plastic bags of groceries, I can't confirm we have enough to make any specific dish. Apparently today is shopping day for most Israelis as the stores all close at 3pm until 9pm tomorrow. We wandered the store for about 2 hours. I did brave the meat counter line (20 minutes waiting) with the goal of getting some hamburger and chicken. I had ticket number 406. I waited carefully when I saw they were currently working on 405... Then they changed to 406. I worked my way to the counter and tried to make eye contact with one of the 3 butchers with no luck (they were all helping other people). The next thing I knew they switched to helping 407! So I spoke up and started waving my ticket. One finally agreed to help me. I asked do you speak English? He said no and started to back away like he was going to help someone else. The lady next to me said I can help you I know a little English. So I told her I wanted 2 lbs of hamburger. The man said we don't have hamburger. I looked at the case and pointed. They looked at me like you want raw hamburger? And then wanted to know what I meant by 2 pounds. How many Kilos is that? Oh what a challenge. After aimlessly wandering the canned vegetable aisles, we finally decided we had enough fun and stood in line. The cashier said something to us in Hebrew which we took to mean her line was closed so we moved one line over. After standing there for 5 minutes, the cashier said something to us as well which again looked like that line was closed. We did succesfully checkout in the 3rd attempt but VISA has shut off our credit card since we are in amother country (even though we advised them of this fact!) All this to say I need to develop a better strategy for getting groceries. We made it back to our apartment and were unloading the groceries and I looked up to see the lady who helped me at the meat counter. I said Ken! This is the nice lady who helped me at the store. She was a bit shocked to see me but said "looks like we are neighbors, if you need anything let me know". Maybe I should go shopping with her next time? What an adventure!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Online
Hello from the office. It's 10pm. We took a nap around 5pm and are now wide awake. Getting on the right timezone may prove more challenging then I thought. We've mostly unpacked our suitcases. It looks like one of Ken's shoes is the only casualty of the TSA inspection. I'm not sure what they would do with one Nike shoe, but I suppose if that is the only thing missing we are doing okay. The apartment is spacious and has AC! It was 36c today. I'll have to look up the conversion from C to F again. Regardless, it was quite warm. We also took a trip to the grocery store. I was appalled to find out that I spent 126 shekels and all I got was some cereal, hummus, pita, spaghetti noodles & sauce, and toilet paper. It was about $40 US which is more than I've ever spent at one grocery store. (Yes, I'm the one who goes to each grocery store and spends $10 at each. Ken is always telling me I spend more in gas than if I just went to one store.) Looks like I will be changing my habits at least while we are in Israel. So far Ken has been braving the traffic here, since it's later in the day maybe I'll try and drive home.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
We made it to Tel Aviv!
We thought we might not make it this morning at 10:30 but we've beat the odds :-) We got to the airport with more than two hours before our departure time. Probably a first for me... and now I see the value of having time on your hands. Upon check in the agent had some difficulties with our travel plans. She indicated Ken only had a 30 day VISA that expires in mid June. We said that's what the consulate provide and that the formal 7 month VISA would be processed once we reach Tel Aviv. Not satified with that answer the agent began calling the Consulate. She also wasn't happy about me having a ticket longer than the 90 day tourist window. So it looked like maybe they wouldn't let me on the flight at all. After an hour and half she decided we could check our bags. Next problem. One of our bags was a bit over the limit. Since all the other bags were under the limit she agreed to let us re-shuffle our stuff. How embarressing! We were happy when all our bags were through security. We said goodbye to my parents (and my Aunt) and were on our way. We had exit seats on the leg to Atlanta which gave us lots of leg room. Not that I need it :-) We were really disappointed however to see that our individual TV screens weren't working. It was a long flight. Not sure how we are going to make a 12 hour flight... We had a perfect amount of time to switch planes in Atlanta and boarded the next plane on schedule. We were happy to see that the TV screens worked on this flight. Or so we thought. I could play a video game but couldn't watch TV or movies. Oh well. We tried to sleep for 20 minutes here an there throughout the 12 hour flight. We arrived safely in Tel Aviv and on time. Everyone clapped when the plane landed (not because it was a bumpy fligh- it's just tradition). Getting through customs was a bit of a challenge but we met this nice couple there. While Ken and this other guy were working with the immigration guards I started talking to the other guys wife. Aparently they are from the Folsom, California site and will be living in the same city we will be. So she and I agreed to be friends. We are in a beautiful hotel tonight (24th floor!) right on the Mediterranean and are looking forward to a good nights rest.
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