Cell Phones and Cigarettes
My friend Phyllis coined that phrase the other day....and it describes the city well. Everywhere you look, Israelis and Arabs are on one, smoking the other, or both. I can't help but wonder how they manage to keep the cigarettes dangling from their mouthes as they chat so animatedly on their cell phones, gesturing wildly all the while....
In Travel news....
Over the weekend we traveled to Mount Hertzel to see the tombs of Theodore Hertzel (the father of Zionism), Golda Meir (first Prime Minister), Yitzhak Rabin (first PM to shake hands with Arafat and who was later assassinated), and the Israel Military Cemetary. We then traveled out to see the Yad Vashem, or Holocaust Museum. On first entering, you visit the Children's Museum. As you enter the dark hall, your first sight is of hundreds of candles reflected in literally thousands of mirrors - generating the impression of a never-ending see of candles. For each reflection is read the name of a child who was murdered during the holocaust along with the names of the child's parents, and the date and location of death. To hear the same name a second time would take 3 years. The main hall is equally disturbing, with simply indescriabable exhibits that wind through the hall for hours.....
On Sunday we toured the Old City, walking on original walkways and winding through narrow streets and bustling bazaares. On the way there, we passed through Gay ben Hinom* - a valley in which humans were said to have been sacrificed in ancient, pre-Israel times....and in this way, "geyhinom" became known as "Go to Hell". Finally, we visited the Kotel - or Western Wall. Beautiful, humbling, and highly emotional as I said my Mother's first Yahrtzeit along with my girlfriend Sharon - who was also reciting her mother's Yahrtzeit that day. That night, we received a special appointment for a tour of the secret underground tunnels beneath the Western Wall. WOW! These are impossible to describe at the moment....but WOW!
Today, we drove out to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, and then toured Masada. On the way, we stopped and took a ride on Shoo-Shi, the Smiling Camel. Yep, I rode a camel! He!
As we drove up the mountains in the Judean Dessert from Jerusalem, we saw markers along the road noting our point against sea level. Given that Jerusalem is 2500 feet above sea level and the Dead Sea is 1300 feet below sea level, this grew fairly interesting. We also saw portions of road along the way that had been completely destroyed and re-routed due to flash floods....which apparently can completely pick up a road and wash it to rubble in 15 minutes or less!
Anyway, on the way back from Masada, we stopped at the Mineral resort on the Dead Sea, where I took a dip (well, actually, a float!) in the salty water and then swam about in the sulfur-mineral hot pools.
Well, poor Phyllis is waiting to check her email, so more later. But I will close with this story from our Guide, Mikhail:
He took a group of Texans out on tour and they were interested in visiting some of the farms. So he brought them to a local Moshav (or community village), in which each farmer owns 10 acres of land. The local farmer is so proud of all he has and all he has done to till his land and tells the Texans, "From here to the edge of those trees over there, all of this is mine!" The Texan nods and boasts: "Well, back in Texas, I can get in my truck and drive all day before I get to the end of my property!" Replies the Israeli farmer, "Ah, yes....I too had truck like that once...." What a country! :-)
*Thanks to TriL for correcting the name! :-)