Playing in the Dunes

So I left off with us arriving at the cliff face where we found an overhang and then hung out for the afternoon. It was beastly hot. The camels kept lieing down on their sides and Yaeli would have to yell at them and click her tongue to makethem sit up. We could not afford to have them lie on our gallons of water and burst the containers open (gasoline containers). There is no doubt how quickly you would die out in the desert without water. An extreme wind was blowing all the time. Anyone who has lived in a desert knows the wind is not your friend as it is really contributing to your dehydration rate. It feels marvellous but it becomes dangerous over time.

Camels eat hay and peanuts. It costs about 11 shekels (about three cents) for a pound of peanuts and this is a food they love. Their hump is their fat storage. When they gain weight the hump grows, when they lose weight the hump shrinks and Yael told us that you can almost see it changing on a day to day basis. Babies have no hump. Poor old Hashem, the four year old, only had a huge mound of unruly fur rather than a hump.

Anyway, I digress as usual. Up to the ledge we went. Yael started a fire with dried brush. We all cut vegetales and arranged them on a platter. Beng made our tahini with tahini paste, water, garlic and lemon -- delicious (ground sesame paste plus flavouring). We ate some orange slices and salted almonds. Yael made pita from scratch and cooked it on an overturned pot on the fire.

Yael is a camel fanatic. She spent a year living and travelling with the Bedouins to learn all she can about camels. She has accompanied many archaeologists on their digs in the region. It is always fantastic to experience someone else's passion firsthand. She wishes there was a university of camel...and is sad that due to wars, borders, Israeli laws re children attending school, etc. that Bedouins are losing their way of life. We see this everywhere in the world don't we and it is always sad.

The meal she prepared was fabulous. We were tired and thirsty and this light meal really hit hte spot. She entertained us with Old Testament stories, Bedouin myths and fables, and desert lore. She is soft spoken and very entertaining. She wears a scarf in the desert as Bedouins do and showed us how to tie it for men and for women. It is used to keep dust out of the face and eyes, to lift things out of the fire, to strain water when water is found in the desert (using just a corner of the scarf), used as a rope if a rope breaks, etc. Get this...the name for it is SHASHA....which in Arabic means big white screen (as in screen at the movie theatre) and/or the scarf that they wrap around their head (yes kafiyah is another name and probably more familiar to you). We had been told that Shasha meant popcorn thrown at babies during their bris (circumcision).......but that word actually is 'shashe'...live and learn, eh! Both Shasha and Shashe are Arabic words.

We lay out under that overhang in the shade and breeze for over four hours. We had to allow the heat of the day to pass by. The camels dozed, we dozed. Ashleigh slept so long that at one point she sat up and said, "is it still the same day?"...and then promptly returned to sleep.

By 6:30 we packed up and walked another 1 1/2 hours to the sand dunes where we would spend the night. These dunes are exceedingly difficult to climb and Yael challenged us to race to the top. I'm in pretty good shape but my hamstrings were screaming as were my lungs as I got to the top. When we arrived on top the girls all sat laughing and talking and sharing gossip and the men continued down the other side and explored all over. Jack was down below with the camels taking photos. Yael ran down to begin the fire for supper and the rest of us slowly made our way down...except Ashleigh rolled all the way down like a 5 year old laughing all the way. She regretted it a bit when she felt the sand she had gathered in every part of her body and clothing. Benj sat up there a long time meditating and enjoying the peace, quiet and beauty that surrounds you in the desert. ((truly the sound of silence...I have to repeat this because I thought I had heard silence before. I always think Telluride is silent but it is not. Tiny creeks are running and leaves are rustling...it is never 100% quiet but (except for explosions) the desert is.

Yael made the most fantastic dinner. She cooked lentils and yams and other vegetables and then ripped up the leftover pita from lunch to sop up the juices. We passed around a communal bowl with some water to wash our hands and were instructed to eat only with our right hand -- we all know why that is the case so I won't go into it here. Everyone has their own section of the pan to eat from. You don't go dipping in all over the place when everyone is eating with their fingers. Ashleigh ate a bit, declared it delicious but didn't eat much. Only later did she confide that she couldn't eat out of the pan as the camels get the leftover gooey meals in it...their peels and rinds are just tossed to them but left over mushy stuff (like our leftover supper) goes to them in the pans we ate from (we only wash them out with sand and a bit of water and the idea of eating from them grossed her out.) But....none of us got sick and we were passing around water bottles non stop, eating from the strangely washed dishes, etc. and all was well. (campers in Canada certainly clean with sand and water too but usually they have a little more water than we did. Not a drop can afford to be wasted in the desert.) Camels are great as they eat every single leftover except for protein....I think they missed one hard boiled egg we had at breakfast and a tiny bit of Bedouin cheese.

The supper fire became the evening campfire but most of us were too tired. We crawled into sleeping bags on our carpet, no tent, and were disappointed there were so few stars. Every single one of us woke later in the night and the sky was flooded with stars and the milky way...bonus! Jack swore he didn't sleep and we swear he did...in fact I hit Abe so many times for snoring that finally he lost his good will and told me it wasn't him and that it was his father. I did not hit his father. There are MOSQUITOES in the desert...damn it!

I cannot leave out that we heard constant explosions all day long from bomb and grenade training somewhere in the desert. There was an Israeli military base somewhere in the desert and we could hear things all day long and well into the night. Yael is so innured to this that even when we pointed out an explosion she could not hear it. My niece, Yael, tells me that since everyone serve in the military and deals with arms training that a lot of hearing has been lost so maybe this was the problem for our guide Yael. I don't know but what started out as unnerving became very normal after a while. Camels don't flinch a bit if a helicopter flies by or a bomb goes off.

We woke up to a breakfast of hard boiled eggs, tuna, and a hard Bedouin cheese made of salt and goat's milk -- delicious actually. It is made and then lasts a year! It gives you the salt you need to help you retain the water you drink. It is much more effective and I'm sure healthier than Gatorade. I can test to its effectiveness as usually I have to pee constantly on a hike and this cheese did its job and kept me well hydrated. Where can I get some here?

Yael told us how camels are castrated by the Bedouins. Being males Benj and Abe didn't hear the story correctly and were cringing at what they thought occurred. They THOUGHT Yael said that they tie the camel's balls to a fence and then make the camel run.....well, we laughed and laughed and laughed at this. Yael said it was a new version of tieing your loose tooth to a door.

Our second day was beginning to heat up so we had to move on. We sunscreened, brushed teeth, packed, refilled water bottles, rolled up our carpet from the desert floor, packed the camels and headed off. It quickly became brutally hot, even hotter than the day before. There was nothing for it but to continue on. Jack rode the camel today at Yaeli's instruction. By 1 p.m. we stopped and set up our Bedouin tarp for shade and two of us promptly fell asleep. No one could eat as it was too hot. Abe dribbled water on my face and neck and arms and the breeze dried me off and cooled me down. I then did the same to Ashleigh. We were both finding the heat debilitating. The evaporation of the water revived us.

We only had two hours left of trekking but we had to wait for the heat to die down. Yael told us more bible stories. We headed back to the khan. I had a coke and an ice cream (I don't even like ice cream but it was delicious)....every one had their drink of choice and a cold drink was pure heaven. Several of us hopped in showers and changed our clothes (that would be the women) and off we headed to Eilat -- a seaside resort with a gorgeous coral reef.

We got stopped at a border patrol. One side of the road was Israel and the other was the Sinai (bordered with a fence and barbed wire) belonging to Egypt. Then we went through another border patrol. This is not scarey just good security. Soon we were in the midst of wonderful black mountains...they towered beside us and we drove through them (not up and around as you would in Colorado.). They were mesmerising after the gold colour of the desert. As we came to Eilat we could see Jordan across the Red Sea. WE started saying we've been to the Med, the Dead, the Red and the Negev....(and Benj had canyoneered in the Golan Heights so he'd been to all corners of the country in our two week stay). Egypt and Jordan get along politically with Israel so there is no stress being so near a border.

I don't care if you are Jewish, Christian, non religious, a crazy adventurer or usually a couch potato.....try to find a way to get to Israel and see the holy sites, swim in the waters of the Seas, and journey through the desert. It is the most amazing experience. You will not feel in any danger at all and it is the experience of a life time. Israelis are extremely argumentative (two Jews three opinions) but extremely friendly and welcoming. It is sad that people do not go to Israeli except on some sort of pilgrimage. There is so much more there.

We ended our holiday with 1 1/2 days in Eilate, a resort town with lots of shopping for Ashleigh. Our hotel was top notch. We took Jack out for wild culinary experiences (for him!)....Asian food with chopsticks one night and fabulous Italian the next (definitely not kosher in either place.)

We snorkelled (I found it rather claustrophobic but Abe and Benj got me out to the coral reef eventually) and we watched dolphins in the wild. We came to the conclusion that Ashleigh is the only girl to actually camel trek Prada in the desert and swim in D & G in the Red Sea!

All in all....it was a wonderful holiday. Now we are back in Texas and Yael, our niece, is here with us. We head off to Telluride on Wednesday to introduce her to a completely different world than any she has known before. She has NEVER felt cold....I think it has been 36 degrees recently in the evening. She's in for a surprise.

Forgot one little detail. Security at the airport in Israel is extreme for obvious reasons. As you drive in to the airport you are stopped by a guard and while you are stopped you are on top of either a computer or a mirror or somthing so they can see underneath your car. Also we THINK you are supposed to open your windows so they can see all passengers. We say think as we did NOT do this. We thought we had been given the all clear to drive on and we did. Ashleigh heard the guy knock on our back window and call out....suddenly a soldier with a machine gun was standing in front of our car with his gun at waist height motioning for us to stop. We sure as hell stopped! Seeing Abe he spoke in Hebrew (useless) and we had to say English please. He wanted Ashleigh's window down so he could see who was in the passenger seat. We complied. Other than that they do scan luggage thoroughly and really look at your face, your passport, and have a pretty good chat with you while you are in line to have luggage scanned. They are nice but are very obviously not your friend. It is impressive and we could learn a lot from their techniques. They don't waste time on putting stuff in plastic bags, taking off your shoes....they know what to look for and they do it well. You feel secure.

This is truly the end of our trip. So sad. Great memories. Fabulous photos too.

Dead Sea, Desert, Eilat.....bring if on!

Although Ashleigh hadn't felt well the night before, she woke up hale and hearty and off
we went for the next adventures. Jack showed up at our condo at 7 and we loaded the van.

By 8:30 a.m. we had driven past the turn for Ramallah (PLO headquarters) and Ash had
seen her first camel wandering in the desert. We stopped for breakfast in the middle of nowhere and Ashleigh kiindly pointed out the bug crawling on the pastries we were planning to buy.
We bought them; we ate them. What are you going to do?

We continued on about another hour and we could see the Dead Sea out the windows. It was a beautiful blue. We pulled up at the Ein Gedi Spa. For $400. (total) we could each have 1 1/2 hours of treatments...considering there were four of us wanting massages and some reflexology this was a great price. I saw Ashleigh come out of her massage and she looked like melted butter. Benj was thoroughly relaxed after his also. Let me say this that price was incredible because it included all of our massages, reflexology, use of the pool, an entire day in the mud of the Dead Sea if we wished as well as our float in the sea....absolutely incredible. We laughed and laughed as we floated in the Sea holding on to our toes with our fingers....you can't imagine what it is like to try and put your feet down on the bottom of the Sea and have them slowly just pop back up again. I've been twice now and each time has been fabulous. The first time, at a different part of the Sea, we could pick up salt by the handful but this time the salt was embedded into the seabed and was rippled from the waves. Ashleigh was enchanted by all of this. We had Jack take pictures of us with our hands covered in mud so that we could send a photo to David entitled "finger licking good", at as he had told us you NEVER put your fingers near your mouth in China as they are always dirty from just being out in the air. We spent 5 1/2 hours at the Dead Sea and it flashed by in what felt like seconds. So far we had had a perfect day.

We hopped back in the car and headed to the camel place, the Khan (inn in Arabic). Wow..the views were incredible. The place looked like an alternative lifestyle place. The power goes off at 11 and doesn't come back on until 7 or 8 the next morning. Although the main building was huge we were the only guests soyou can imagine what great treatment we got. Katherine was our hostess, originally from South Africa. We all instantly fell in love with her. She's off to Boulder to do some dance training shortly so we invited her to Telluride during her time off. I hope she comes. She came tothe Khan about two years ago and hasn't left as she loves the "silence in nature" that the Negev provides. She introduced us to Yaeli our guide for our camel trip.

We laid back on the Persian carpets...the entire place was covered in Persian carpets...and our pillows. Our meal came. Delicious as usual but also the food was "per usual"...by that I mean hummus, tahini, pita, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives. We ate tons and then the main meal came of chicken and vegetables. We received a cookie for desert along with "nana" which is spearmint tea or "mud" coffee....when you drink the coffee there is about 3/4 of an inch of thick grounds or mud in the bottom. We had toured around the property taking photos earlier and now we were exhausted. Everyone hit the hay and we all had great sleeps...except Ashleigh who was sure she heard a door banging all night long and so she never slept.

Oh I forgot...during dinner Jack asked all of us to talk about what makes us intrinsically ourselves. It was interesting as we went around the circle. We then progressed to our favourite childhood memories which was fun. We really enjoyed these discussions. Benj and Abe begged all of us not to feed the cat that was hanging around wanting our chicken; Jack couldn't help himself so he tossed the cat a bit of food and I like the resulting photo with the cat at my shoulder (thanks Jack!)

Breakfast the next morning was on the patio looking over a gigantic rift in the desert floor. Again it was pita, hummus, tahini, tuna (you see where I'm going with this....it is a healthy diet that repeats itself over and over and over again.) Ashleigh was really in the mood for something to chew but that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

By 9:20 we are in the back of the most ramshackle vehicle any of us have ever seen. The seats were all torn, foam was exposed and missing, the ceiling was ripped and Abe cautioned me not to lean on him too hard in case the back door flies open. The guy driving us down the mountain knewt he road and he FLEW down it at full speed. Ashleigh's head was whipping around like something from the exorcist and we are all laughing like maniacs with the exhilaration of it all (and perhaps laughter was better than screaming in terror.)

We arrive at the "barn"?....an open area with hay bales and three camels ready to be loaded.
We are introduced to Shariff, Hashem and Yorek and told not to put our hands near their mouths without Yael our guide. I don't think any of us EVER put our hands near their mouths.
Shariff starts to make camel noises....it is as though someone is gargling really loudly only the gargling is really their stomach preparing to regurgitate....I can't explain it better than that. We got a really good look at the horrible state of their teeth which were green and disgusting. I'm sure all camel's teeth are green and disgusting but this was a closeup view as the gargling and potential vomiting noise continued. Hmmmm....two days on this we were all thinking.

We decide who goes on what camel. Benj and Abe share one, Ashleigh and I share another, Hashem is too young to carry anyone so he has the really heavy stuff like the hundred gallons of water we are bringing into the Negev with us (not really 100 gallons but probably 50), the tent poles to hold up a huge tarp if we need shade, the pots, etc. Jack decides to start off walking. For anyone who does not know my father-in-law....he's amazing. He is 78 and he walked almost the entire first day! It was 100 degrees if not a bit more and he walked about 9 miles! I repeat, he is amazing. The hardest part about riding a camel is sitting on its back as it stands up and as it lies down. The actual riding isn't tough although the inner thigh gets one hell of a workout. Sam.....instead of bricks on our thighs to open up our hips...you should just get a few camels out back at the yoga studio and we can sit on them for an hour at a time. The hips will ultimately open. Ash cheated; she rested her legs on the pack (i did that the next day and it is much more comfortable.). Eventually you get used to the camel's gait and you don't hold on so tightly any more to the handhold in front of your saddle.

Jack led our camel. You need to keep your back to the camel at all times so that he can follow you. You can't veer to the right or left....which he did sometimes...but by and large Jack's leading went really well. We went down cliffs, through valleys, and up hills. Each camel can carry up to 300 kilos..which is a lot of weight (mult. by 2.2 if you don't know kilos).

At 1:30 Yael led us up to a cliff. We parked the camels. You can't just park a camel anywhere. There must be sand for them to kneel in. Once they knelt down she hobbled them by tieing
the top of their leg to the bottom part of the leg. In this way they can't stand up again. They lie there until they are told to get up again. Did you know camels ALWAYS sit down facing INTO the sun; in this way the most narrow part of their body is in the sun (quite smart I think.). They have an extra bone on their chest (exposed) that their chest rests on in the sand and then their legs are folded up under them keeping their belly off the sand which allows the wind to blow under their body keeping them cool. I find this all amazing.

More on what takes place on the cliff tomorrow. I'll keep you all hanging for now. I will say that my niece amazed me. She's a five star hotel girl and she actually slept on the cliff face with only a small carpet under her...and I mean SLEPT for about four hours. She really can hang with
outdoorsy types when she wants...she was fantastic. Let me add this.....there is nowhere to pee in the desert where you are not on view. There are no trees to hide behind. The bushes are about 4 inches high which makes sense when you realise they have not had rain in th Negev
for SEVEN years. When you think of it this way...Hashem the young camel is four and he has never seen or felt rain. By the way...camels sweat. Small drips of a black oil appeared on the backs of the necks and legs of the camels and this is their sweat....very cool to see.

Anyway, more on the cliff, cooking, camping out, and sand dunes tomorrow. Until then......
Adios.

Nuit Blanche/100th Anniversary of Tel Aviv

On Wednesday night it was the 100th Anniversary of the city of Tel Aviv. They held their Nuit Blanche or White Night Celebration that night for the big party. Hundreds of thousands of people were out on the main street and on the beach for all of the various events. We were really tired from our long day in Jerusalem but we knew we had to go because it is obviously a once in a lifetime experience and we were HERE. We've been to Nuit Blanche in Toronto and it was great -- a city simly stays awake all night and has activities around a them....usually in T.O. it is art in every form available. Here it was party in every form available.

We rested up for about an hour and girded our loins for the all night event. Benj headed out with Yael and we got the task of picking up her mom -- Smadar -- and then Smadar would direct us into town and lead us around. We didn't even have a map so we had to rely on her. If I could tell you how horribly wrong everything went you just wouldn't believe it....it reached a point beyond which it was impossible to be angry because everything was so crazily whacked. Just so you know...we left the condo at 9:15 and Abe parked the van at close to 1 a.m. and we hadn't made it to the party yet. This is NOT a big city. My niece came home and wrote up her account of the night and I'm sure there are a million details missing. I have to say though that when Smadar told us she had to call her friend Susie, who is from South Africa, that this is how the phone call went.

beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep (beeping continues for the rest of this conversation)
Ashleigh...where is she calling?
Me.....maybe South AFRICA?
Me....she must be texting
beep beep beep (Ashleigh can see numbers on the screen)

Susie didn't answer! We laughed for the rest of the night about this little incident until Abe nearly went insane. The part you have to remember that Abe was being directed here, there, and everywhere in the car, getting on highways, off highways, merging her, doing u-turns, etc. ..and this after having driven four hours already during the day. He was not impressed with her guiding skills. anyway....here's Ashleigh's little account of her night that never was. Enjoy.


Beeeeeeeep
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Wed 5:39pm
SO long story short, tonight was the most hilarious night of my life. We tried to go to the 100th anniversary of Tel Aviv but it didnt quite work out like thatFirst, we had to pick up Smadar but for the life of us we couldn't find her place after an hour. We ended up meeting her at Dominos. Gung ho to the partyThen, she gets in the car after we had been lost and tempers were shot, only to tell us she is bad with directions and doesn't know how to get to the party...excellent. So she decides to call her friend Susan from South Africa and after dialing 874359048739754 numbers (beep beep beep beep) Susan is not answering. Moving on.We decide to pull into a parking lot, to then take a cab (where are the cabs?) and talk to some sketch bus driver chillin in his bus in this lot....bomb much? Turns out, the lot is closed...damn lot...FInally we get to Tel Aviv after being in Herzliyya and Ra'anana for a hundred years and wedge into the TINIEST little parking space I have ever seen. Smadar, bless her heart, had to call her friend to ask if it was legal to park in that spot long after we had decided it was happening regardless.(she has lived here over 20 years and doesn't know her way around...how is that possible?) We walk a hundred years, can't get a cab (they tell us a) they dont know Tel Aviv...ahem, they are IN Tel Aviv) b) they don't wanna go to the party because there are too many people there and c) see b. It was like Christ, denied three times. FInally we decide to give up and go home (we are parked at Levanon and Hargoe and have to find it again of course) but I had to stop to get a Mars bar :DThen in the car, Aunt Kathy and I 'hang ourselves' at the same time.Then we decide we need a drink so we go to a cafe that Smadar says is open...after going through security to get in, we are informed its closed. We then ask Smadar is places in Ra'anana are open late and she assures us they are open well past midnight. SO we go to another place that is evidently closed and Smadar changes her mind and says places there close at 12 because its not a party town...its 12:02. So we decide to drop off Smadar and head to the Marina for a drink...we know its open. Poor Uncle Abe is frustrated from all the driving and decides to drop us off. We have noodles and vino and here we are..facebooking about our horrendous/marvelous night. You may not understand the hilarity of it all but wow, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Loved every second and I am sure I am missing a million details. Church anyone?

Jerusalem

Wednesday we had to get up at the crack of dawn to head off to Jerusalem with Pamela. None of us were sure how it would go spending another entire day with her. I had found her so annoying on Monday that I had cancelled day three with her re Massada and the Dead Sea. However, I did end up enjoying the tour with her to Jerusalem, even though I had been to Jerusalem only two years ago.

We had to make an hour drive to Jerusalem so we left at 8:30. I don’t think any of us had eaten and we went until almost 6 p.m. before we actually sat down to eat a light supper. We were happily driving along when Pamela announced we were on a road through the territories…these are the areas that are under dispute and have been known to be under rocket fire, etc. Special walls have been built to prevent snipers from taking out people in their cars. I don’t think anything has happened where we were for a while but Ashleigh was not comforted by the thought that we were now STOPPED in traffic. We made a few sick jokes and sat in the car and arrived in Jerusalem with no problems. I don’t want to give the impression that Ashleigh was “oh my God we have to get out of here”..she just said….hmm, great place to be stopped in traffic. HA!

We started at the Mount of Olives and stopped for a really long look at Jerusalem Gates and the Dome of the Rock. She gave us a history lesson. Trees growing at the Mount of Olives aren’t the trees Jesus sat under but they do date back to that time….as in roots, small bits of tree etc. are actually that old. This is a strange thought really.

We then drove into town and parked our car and walked through a very modern shopping mall on our way to the entrance to the Old City. We wandered down old windy streets, examined a crusader castle with the holes where boiling oil could be poured down upon marauders or potential conquerors and the little window slits for arrows to fly through the air and slay the enemy. I’ve seen these before in other cities but it was a first for Ashleigh. We as usual wandered through the Armenian quarter…our guide has a fondness for Armenia I guess as we always wander there…plus she stopped in a shop to order an extra plate or two of the set she has had specifically made for her dining pleasure. There were many of the “fish” symbols on the walls with “jesus” name inscribed in Hebrew. I could think of a lot of religious people who would love to have one of those.

We continued on to the Armenian church where she pointed out the cross that they use which looks different from the regular Christian cross as there is no crucified jesus on it. We went on to the rooftops about the souk….the old Arab market. There were barrels of esophagus (how do you cook an esophagus)…from what animal we don’t know, pig feet, pig heads, livers, hearts, brains….enough to make my niece nearly vomit. We still don’t know why there were so many pig parts as neither the Jews or Arabs eat pork. When we got to the wool selection Ashleigh was happy. The spices were beautifully arranged and I got a good sniff of frankincense and myrrh, which was cool….heaped baskets of it. Abe, Benj and I have been to so many market like this that the body parts didn’t bother us at all but it was a first for Ashleigh. In fact last time we were here it was during the extreme heat and humidity of August and everything is a tad “sniffier” then. It is amazing to me to walk through these markets and see Jews and Arabs working side by side, no problem. All they want are buyers…they are good sellers calling out to everyone who passes by extolling the virtues of their items. I found bracelets that Linda (Lulu friend

We moved up on to the roof top of the market where people live, donkeys carry thing around in baskets, etc. This is NOT the Woodlands for sure and really makes you think of what ancient times would be like. We got a good view of the Lutheran church. During one of the intifada’s (and I forget which one, I’m sorry) Islamic extremists used this church (as there is a balcony on the spire) as a place to act as snipers. Once everything was under Jewish control a young Jewish soldier was given the task of going up to the balcony to ensure no snipers were there. He had to trust the priest when he told him that all was safe…it was, but it took a lot of willpower to climb the stairs to do the check. This soldier survived the intifada but later died in a battle. In between his search and his death he and the minister at the Lutheran church became great friends and spent holidays together in each other’s home. I enter this for Kristina!

Next stop was the Holy Sepulchur where Christ was laid out prior to his burial, in a traditional Jewish style, simply bathed and wrapped in a white sheet and buried in a sepulcher with a rolling rock closure. There is a burial site you can actually enter and see what it is like. Each corner of the church is claimed by a different religion…Greeks, Russians, Armenians, Catholics, etc. They all have to agree on any changes made in the church before anything can happen…they never do so nothing ever changes. A ladder that was standing up above the main entrance (when the agreement was created) has to be replaced periodically when it rates since it was above the main entrance and has to remain there until the group can decide to remove it – which they can’t.

Grafitti is nothing new folks. The walls of this church are covered with it….mainly the symbol of the cross (thousands of them) that people had placed on the wall for them or inscribed themselves thousands ofyears ago as they made pilgrimages to the church. I loved this! These people couldn’t write but they wanted to say, “I was here.” Every once in a while you would see someone had gone crazy and had carved a small church with a spire in in the wall….these aren’t drawn in, they are carved in. Most likely someone, a bunch of guys, had a business doing this for the pilgrims….the crosses also resemble the Armenian cross not the cross we general folk Christians use….these are the little things that make a visit like this so interesting.

People were praying everywhere. You cannot imagine religious fervor until you see it. The place that seemed to really stir people the most was the marble slab where supposedly Jesus was laid out prior to his burial. It is a large marble slab and people are pouring oil on the slab and wiping it up with cloths to take home with them….then they are buried with the cloths. People are leaning on this slab praying devotedly. It is moving to see.

The Wailing Wall or Western Wall is where we headed next. Benj and David donned kipas so they could go to the wall. Ashleigh covered herself up with her shawl, as she had in the churches, and we made our way to the wall to touch it. You must never have your back to the Wall so you walk backwards away from it until you are well removed from the site. Ashleigh was moved by the extreme praying going on there. The little nooks and crannies of the wall are filled with prayers and messages that are being sent straight to God on behalf of the devoted. One slightly interesting fact is that capers are growing out of the wall…little green bushes sprout here and there all over the wall.
Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum, deserves a lot of time to get through. Although Abe and I and Benuj have been before (and that was for three hours) we all went through it and felt we had seen completely new exhibits. It is always busy. If anyone can go through this museum and not be moved I would say they are not human. You can see notes people dropped from the cattle cars, testimonies people give on video as to their experiences, photos, shoes, jewelry taken from the victims, photos of all the families and babies annihilated….Ashleigh and I went through together and we both had tears. We ended by going to the Children’s Memorial…..it is a pitch dark room with candle light reflecting in glass to replicate the one and a half million children under the age of 15 who perished in the holocaust. Only 6 or 7 actual candles are used but the architect has made it look like each soul is represented by a candle. A continuous role call plays citing the name of each child, where they were born, and the age at which they died. It is so moving. A couple who survived the holocaust but lost their baby son are responsible for building this memorial. Everyone should see it.

By now we had put in a full day touring Jerusalem. Abe drove us back to Tel Aviv via the scenic route and we stopped at a small Lebanese café to have hummus, bread and a couple shishkebab, which come on lethal spears. The oldest tree I’ve ever seen was beside our table and the branches spread out over our heads creating shade for which we were very grateful.

The last couple of days have been filled with going to the beach. Every day has seen more people at the beach. We are finally seeing a bit of a tan line – given the incredible amounts of sun screen we are using I’m surprised we see any tan line. Abe and I went in for a swim today but Ashleigh has yet to dip in a toe – she is her mother’s daughter. Benj stayed home today as he lives on the beach in Spain and feels he needs a break from the sun. Ashleigh has gotten in some shoping – four new pair of shoes and a dress will have to fit in her luggage now.

Abe’s cousin is in town from London, England. She’s a journalist with Sky (sp?) news. She and her husband had their darling little baby with them….Maya. Maya is two and speaks Hebrew, English, and Serbian since she has a Serbian nanny. She was so sweet as she sang Happy Birthday for us very quiety. Her mom pretended to hold a microphone in front of her mouth and suddenly she sang much louder…hilariously cute.
We’ve done tons of laundry and are getting ready to pack up for our camel trip. We leave on Sunday. Hopefully it will go well. My niece has her ticket for the U.S. Benj has gone out for the night with Yael and they made their way to Jerusalem..doing what, who knows. Ashleigh just got picked up by our nephew David and they are going to some bar in downtown Tel Aviv. She changed her clothes a couple times and left looking great, as usual (who doesn’t look great at 22). Abe and I, the fuddy duddies, are ready for bed

Tel Aviv

Jet lag is a thing of the past...I think. We don't have time to enjoy lagging; we are moving.
Our condo is great - two bedrooms, two baths with water heated by sunlight during the day and electtricity by night.

Yesterday was our first day on the town. We met up with our guide, Pamela Levene, on the boardwalk. Her daughter works at a restaurant where everything is made fresh on the premises. We had a typical Israeli breakfast with eggs, cheese, tuna, pickles, fresh bread and muffins. Delicious. Fishermen were on the wharf fishing while we ate. A gorgeous white egret sat on the railing watching them fish -- apparently he watches the fishermen until they catch something and then swoops down and nabs the fish. Unfortunately for us the fishermen never caught anything! Two other guys were out in the rolling sea on a very flat boat with nets and oars and they were fishing as well. It was impressive to watch them fish (standing) through the swells.

We got a big lesson about the building of the port and then hopped in a taxi to go to the far end of the port to end up in the Armenian section of Old Jaffa (famous for those Jaffa oranges). We popped into a little shop that was really interesting. A young married couple bought the shop and then began to renovate it. As they stripped off all of the plaster a very old structure was revealed with the shop having a definite divide -- completely made of rock but from two different time periods. they uncovered a tiled floor that was originally a turkish bath a thousand or so years ago. They had an ancient Roman helmet hanging by the doorway but were not convinced it was original -- really old but they had found it at a flea market and could not verify its age. When they went to put in some air conditioning they found another room and old pottery shards and bones were in there was they did the excavation. It was very cool.

We went by an area near by that is being excavated and they had found ancient mud bricks which are actually made out of mud and straw. Apparently some sort of chemical reaction takes plae when you mix straw and mud together which makes the bricks very strong and durable. The've been buried underground now for a thousand or more years and are still intact. When the Jews were enslaved and forced to go to Egypt a lot of them were put to work making mud bricks but the Pharoah got a kick out of not allowing straw to be put into the bricks....therefore the bricks would fall apart which allowed him to have the Jews beaten or worse. Sadistic little devils, weren't they?

Our tour guide talked so much that we all started to go crazy. Abe shut down, I shut down and so did Ashleigh. However, she was completely oblivious. Benj has been touring Europe on his own all year with only a guide book so he really enjoyed all the information she was giving out. Maybe if it hadn't been hot we would have been more into it. We started to get giddy. I don't think she once thought that we weren't into all the info she was handing out -- such as about the Shoelace, or Shoeless or Shuliss family....they were responsible for getting people to start moving out of Jaffa int oa new neighbourhood with a new style of houses in the late 1800's. We just didn't care. A plot was hatched....a lie was told....we had to be done by 4 for dinner (dinner wasn't actually until 7....THE NEXT DAY)...but we had to get away from her.

Oh cannot forget this....we stopped for a lemonade in themiddle of the day in a small Arab juice bar. I kid you not but this man did not like us. He was very rude, wouldn't answer our questions and just basically gave us a very hard time. However, we were too tired to get up and move so we endured his abuse and just hoped the glasses were clean. Benj watched him chopping carrots to make carrot juice and a big carrot fell on the floor.....he noticed Benj watching him and so kicked the carrot away but we are pretty sure it got picked up later and added to the carrot pile for the next batch of juice. The best was yet to come. A young boy of about 18 was working there. As he walked by to the juicing machine Ashleigh noticed that not only did he have his pants sagged...they were sagged BELOW his ass and he had on no underwear. Well this provided us with a lot of hilarity for the next while.

We caught a cab back to the Marina. A drink was suggestsed and Ashleigh and I practically dove into the bottle. We only meant to have a glass or two but two turned into three which turned in four and then we thought we were the funniest people on the planet. Basically we were just burning off stress from the day with the guide! Smadar (ex sister-in-law) joined us with her daughter, Yael, and off we went to dinner. The marina is a great place as you are on the sea, the breeze is always lovely, there are tons of choices of restaurants, and the sun setting over the sailboats is extremely beautiful. As you enter the marina shopping area the security guard checks your bag and that's it. It feels very safe. I asked Ashleigh how she felt and she said safety hasn't entered her mind since she arrived...my experience exactly. She was only surprised with how modern everything is -- but then we haven't been to Jerusalem yet for her to see the ancient parts of the city.

Tomorrow night is Nuit Blance as we call it or White Night....and the celebration will be celebrating the 100 years of Tel Aviv's existance. Music, food, and celebrations will be everywhere. Security will be tight. We intend to go but we need to stay awake until at least 10 p.m. before we even think of going out.

Benj has gone out every night with Yael and her friends. Bonfires on the beach, ice cream at ice cream bars, birthday parties, a barbeque for someone else...he's really getting the idea of what life is like for 20 somethings in Israel. Ashleigh wants to do it but she falls apart every night with fatigue....still jetlag I think.

Yael now has her ticket to come to the U.S. She will fly out one day after us and go straight to TX and then we will go to Phoenix and drive up to Telluride. she's excited. I'm sure she's a bit shocked to hear that there was potentila snow falling in Telluride yesterday.

We had to cancel our guide for Day Three. We just couldn't handle the thought of having her with us overnight. Don't get me wrong. She's brilliant and really well informed.....she just burned us out. We worked out a good cancellation fee and it is a fait accomplit.....just us plus JAck for the Dead Sea and Camels. I think it is a good decision.

My photos are not going up on to facebook the way I want. The computer is not uploading them properly. I'm really annoyed. However, I'll keep trying.

Israel – we are here.

We flew out of Tx on Friday night at 5 and made it to Toronto almost 40 minutes early. I guess the winds were good. Ashleigh was waiting for us and we headed to the lounge and immediately enjoyed a glass of wine together. We sat around just sharing family chat and were all grateful that Jim’s GM dealership had survived the big cut in Canada. Ashleigh shared how devastated they are for all of the
GM families they have been friends with throughout the past 30 years who are now without a livelihood. It made us all very pensive and empathetic. For Jim and Karen these are not just people to read about in the newspaper these are their friends and life has taken a drastic turn.
Our plane was right on time and we settled in to our seats. My seatmate was an incredibly intelligent man who has roamed the world working for External Affairs as an architect building Canadian embassies. He and his wife and children are on Ba ‘Hai pilgrimage to Haifa. The spent four years living in Israel contributing their talents to the construction of the terraced gardens of the Ba’Hai temple. To anyone who has never seen this wonder of the world – if you get the chance GO. It is an amazing building and the terraced gardens are one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
Abe was chatting with a fellow who creates serious Canadian documentaries for the CBC so he had
Some interesting talks as well. Ashleigh had planned to spend the night sitting up watching her portable DVD player with a large set of films she had but her drink and a sleeping pill knocked her out for the night (although she swore she hardly slept)….Abe and I bet to differ. Anyone who can pull their hoodie up over their head, snuggle in to their massaging neck wrap, lower their seat back the ¼ inch of allowed space we all got, and then place her feet upon her tray and not move for 9 hours…well I think they are sleeping. We all skipped dinner and dozed off. Since our flight was 11 ½ hours long and when we woke up we only had 1 ½ hours left of flying time…it was delightful. The look on Ashleigh’s face when she asked the time was absolutely priceless…., gee, maybe I did sleep, she said.
Jack picked us up at the airport. Benj’s flight with Iberia had gotten in really early. He and Jack and David (cousin) all had coffee and two hours passed quickly as Benj sold them all idea on the idea of selling everything and moving to Spain. Next thing they knew we were there.
Our worry had been that Abe is supposed to enter Israel on his Israeli passport and he had not checked its expiry date. It expired LAST YEAR. A few beads of sweat had appeared on Abe’s forehead as he mulled this fact periodically on the way to the airport, on the flight, and up to the kiosk to speak to the immigration officer. She was NOT impressed. When she picked up the phone to make a couple phone calls we all thought Abe was going to be refused entry into the country even though he had a valid Canadian passport. After raking him over the coals for a while and treating him as if he was a bit of of idiot, she let us in. Our niece, Yael, has agreed to take him to the appropriate government office to do the renewal today…..he can’t LEAVE without a valid passport at this point. However, we are here and al is well.

We went for the big traditional meal at Abe’s parents – chicken, pasta, hummus pancakes (yes they can be done and they are great), and other vegetarian pancake things that Judy seemed to have invented that were delicious. We had just had BREAKFAST on the plane so we weren’t hungry but man did we eat as the food was so wonderful. As well she had prepared home made baklava and let us say we didn’t waste any of that either….you’d be a fool not to tuck into that. We chatted a bit and watched Ashleigh fall apart with terrible allergies, mine started to kick ink and Benj had the beginnings of his allergies as well. We begged off and were brought to our condo on the beach.
WOW is all I can say. It is gorgeous complete with bomb shelter…which we hope not to ever need. However, they are smart…the fridge is in the bomb shelter as well as all Abe’s and my clothing, extra sheets and towels and plenty of room….should (and I know it will not) anything every happen we can eat and hold a fashion show at the same time. Our windows overlook the gorgeous grounds below and the
Facility pool as well as look out over the marina and t he sea. Abe’s and my room has two walls of floor to ceiling windows and the sea air coming in during the night was fantastic. Benj and Ashleigh quickly shoved their beds to far corners of the room but no one is complaining as they got their own bathroom and lots of storage space. It would be a bit much to have a three bedroom apartment for four people so we will make do with this. Our living, kitchen and dining area is the largest Abe and I have shared since leaving Telluride on April 1 – we are in heaven. The air is great …it is about 80 degrees, no humidity and the top levels of all the windows (ceiling to just above waist height) open wide and we are flooded with dry sea air – is this heaven?
Jack and Judy loaded us up with fruit and I just ate something I don’t recognize – it looks like a nectarine but is pale green inside and was a perfect thirst quencher. We need to get to the grocery store to get some drinks and food and that is likely next on our agenda.
Tonight Smadar and Yael will come by so we can discuss Yael’s trip back to the U.S. with us. Here’s hoping flights are not crazily expensive. Thanks to Jan B. for sending a few books for Smadar. Between the two books I bought and the three Jan sent Smadar feels she has a complete English library. And to anyone who has not read the (not 100% sure of title) Incredible Vanishing Act of Esme (something or other)…get it…..it is a really good read.
Benj already went out with a bunch of Israeli kids for a beach barbecue somewhere. He had a great time and got in about 3 a.m. We all woke up for his homecoming. They seemed to give him directions as to where it is safe to go out at night (re bars)and told him people who go to the wrong place are crazy and deserve to get blown up – who knows howmuch of this is bravado (as in go to the wrong place in Canada and you’ll be definitely eaten by a grizzly after living in your igloo), however, I think we will take their word for it and do the smart thing.
Today is beach day. Off we go to find some food and drink and replenish our fridge. We are all excited to be hear. It is a beautiful country and we intend to have one hell of a good time. Hello to all. Benj and Ashleigh have agreed to do yoga with me one day so we will check out some locations with taught Ashtanga. It should be fun. Take care all.

Well we're off

Holy cow do we have a lot of stuff. Two bins have to go back to the storage unit. Pat is keeping a gigantic suitcase for us -- haven't heard the Bretz' are suing us for someone's back going out so I am assuming they got that thing upstairs and locked in a closet. We were down to two small suitcases each and then well, we had shoes....benj got some new clothes I'm bringing, ...beach towels...do you know how much room a beach towel takes up. However, hopefully we will be allowed on the plane.

Ashleigh is all set up in Canada and will meet us at the airport. She sounds excited.

Benj is in Madrid being coddled by Olga -- my sister's good Spanish friend. Olga already coddled
Benj by giving him a private birthday party at one of her bodegas......a winery they own in Jerez. He had wine tastings with friends and spent the night, had a dinner and lunch with the foreman. Not many people get to turn 21 in those surroundings. It was a party he will never forget. Wish we could have been there.

Abe worked right up to the last second. I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off. It is now too late. We either have it or we don't. We didn't follow the cardinal rule....pack your suitcase and then remove half.....I just can't.

Off we go to sand and camels and family dinners and swimming in the sea and maybe Mysore in Israel. We shall see.