A week in Israel

July 9th, 2008

Dan's mom, Georgia and I walked to the kindergarten to show the route. The nice elderly nanny was there and Georgia went straight to her. She asked "where is your grandmother". Georgia showed complete lack of recognition. Great! We tried to fix it up by saying Georgia, where is Baba Anya. At least that worked.

We waited outside the wedding palace. Dan arrived in the cab and we went to the airport.

Outside the check-in counter we were questioned by El Al employee who seemed fluent in Lithuanian, Hebrew, English, Polish, Russian. Pretty amazing. They have very efficient technique of getting you really comfortable so you share all the intimate details on the holidays that you celebrate. The check-in was really quick.

We had another 1.5 hrs so we went to the bar. Ponchik did not delight. The airport has really expanded its past-passport-check waiting area so it was nice to walk around a bit before the flight. The flight was 4 hrs, nice food, & good service. As a food venue it is a bit on expensive side - the flight was $700. Our plane was about half full.

Cultural differences start at the passport check. There was a mob with barely discernible line structure. Families (as we did) stand in multiple lines and rejoin the faster line. They have it done better in US where everyone stands in the same winding line.

When we got to our register, hysterical Russian pilgrim woman jumped in front of us and started crying and screaming. It sounded like she was delayed at the passport check and lost her group. Our counter agent (looked totally Israeli) said in Russian "Lady, stop screaming at me or I will call security." It did not help so she said it again a few times. Finally another Russian from the line asked the pilgrim to wait and promised to take her to the luggage area. I wonder why they could not call security to start with and escort the lady to the luggage counter of her flight.

There were few people at the carousels - since most were still standing in lines. So the luggage just kept going round and round.

We planned to buy a plug adapter and a phone sim card at the airport but the plug was only in the duty free area and our phone did not pick up the network at the airport. So we caught a shared minibus for 50NIS and went to Jerusalem.

Our hotel St.Andrew's Scottish Guesthouse is really beautiful - made out of Jerusalem stone. It is right next to the windmill in front of the Jaffa gate. The room is very modest - no mirrors or TV but there is Internet and the rest of the hotel has lots of amenities - including a library, tearoom, and other things. The staff is really really helpful.

We were meeting with Olga for dinner so we walked through the windmill park towards Jaffa gate aiming to catch a cab when we get close to our meeting time. Landscaping with lavender, sage, and rosemary is beautiful and nice-tasting. There are lots of olive trees too.

Near the gate we came up to the cab and asked about the fare to Crowne Plaza hotel where Olga was staying. Cabbie said 50NIS. We walked a bit further and caught another and requested a meter. Ended up being 20NIS. At the hotel we met up with Olga's friends Avital and Amy and caught cabs to Focaccia restaurant (5-6 minutes). We learned our lesson, but the girls were ripped off. Michelle and Sue joined later.

The food was awesome. We finished around 11 and walked back via Ben Yehuda street. It was nothing like the happening place it used to be. Lots of Hasidic families eating together in the street or plaing musical instruments. Many stores were already closed. Lots of homeless people. Walked down King David road - lots of pretty galeries.



Thursday July 10, 2008
Today we were planning to visit the Old city and go to the wedding at 7:30. Forgot turn off alarm clocks on our cell phone that we left for Dan's mom (6am and 7am). Sorry. Georgia did not even mention us. Had nice breakfast at 7am. The best dish was a kind of cake from philo with farmer cheese, nuts, and halvah.

Entered the city through Jaffa gate and wandered around, asking police for directions to Holy Sepulchture. There were very few people out. Walked down the Latin Patriarchate street and found some pilgrims who could only be going there.

Awesomely big and interesting church complex. From our last visits we remembered this place as deeply spiritual where people cried all the time and got around by crawling. That day it was nothing like it. There was a big crowd of tourists waiting to enter the little holy chapel. No one was crying. There were sounds of drilling - they must fixing something in the church. A serious looking guy in jeans and a priest opened the doors, very matter of factly crossed themselves, and lit up the candles. The crowd piled in.

We walked through the Arab market - very pretty. Then through the Jewish market - even better. Got a piggy bank box for Georgia, kipa for Dan, and a headscarf for me. Walked to the Wailing wall - lots and lots of people. There were bar/bat mitzwas going on. We went past the bar mitzva tunnel where multiple families were laying out the refreshments under the cool arches. Next was the coffee shop - not to miss :)

We planned to go to the Golden Gate to go out and see the olive tree complex and Mary's tomb but everything was closed between 12-2:30. On the way we stopped at St.Anne's church and water cistern. Had no idea that she gave birth to Virgin Mary. There was a group of Russian women pilgrims all in white "babushkas" with a male tour guide. They spoke like something you'd expect from a pre-revolutionary fairy tale "Batyushki svety, nyeuzhto bogoroditsa tam kupalas'?" The guide wore anguished expression.

Accidentally started walking towards the Dome of the Rock. A soldier called us over and asked "are you sure you want to go there?" Dan said "Yes." He asked "Are you Moslem." Dan said "No." The soldier said then go back. So we left.






Walked around the city wall ramparts. Beautiful views. Finally we went to Kg. David's citadel museum. They play a move there covering the changes in the city since its inception.
Movie is way too policitcally correct - wonder if cartoons were chosen as a media on purpose. Walked around but most of the exhibits are covered in the cartoon so it is not that interesting. Around 5 we got out of the city and walked back to hotel to drop off our stuff.

Went back out and went to Ben Yehuda street to grab a bite to eat so we are not too hungry at the wedding. Stopped at the Lebanese restaurant. The waiter offered to put us through the course of Lebanese hospitality - all the salads + the main dish for 80NIS each. We asked for just one salad each and a meat dish. He seemed very offended but came back with extras and did not charge for them.

Having a salad and a meat dish was being greedy - we were ready to go once we were finished with humus.

The wedding
We got the cab to go to the wedding, looked at the invitation and got horrified - it said 7pm. When we got though there was just one other group of guests - Russian co-workers of Amnon's father. Huppa on the terrace was beautiful. We decided that we were entitled to the bridal suite and went inside asking the staff where to find it. We ran into Amnon's uncle who was the organizer and then into t.Alla and Amnon's parents. t.Alla looked very good but could use looking a bit more excited about her only daughter's wedding. Amnon's father and uncle were very cordial and sweet. His dad was beaming, he looks like bride's dad from the Big Fat Greek Wedding. The uncle took us to the bridal suite. Olga's looked stunning!!!

We went outside and met with with Olga's girlfriends. Almost everyone of them very gifted (especially Karen) and have interesting occupations (modeling and talent search agencies, a chef), Reception started around 8. By 9pm most of the people filled in. Most are dressed casual, there were some men wearing jeans as Olga had predicted a day before. Then the uncle came over and said that Dan, Karen (Olga's friend), and I are walking in after Amnon's brothers. We've never seen brothers before but they all look very similar to Amnon.

The ceremony was very casual and friendly - everyone stood around huppa and sang and clapped with cantor. Brothers, their wifes or the father were holding the babies. Chairs around were optional. It looked like the whole family was marrying them. Bride's responsibilities were minimal - stick out the finger at the right time. The groom took care of everything else - pledge, signing of the khatuba, putting on the rings, and smashing the glass (how come they never let women do it). The reception was very nice too - non-stop dancing music and great food. It was very similar to a Russian wedding. The only different thing was that there was no toasts and no games. We left at midnight when it started to look like everyone was pulling out. Olga said that it would probably last till 3am.

Friday July 11, 2008

In the morning we walked back to the Old City determined to see the olive grove and Mary's grave. On the way we stopped on the street near the Jaffa gate and looked for the stop of the minibus to Tel Aviv. Did not find anything but a guy with rosemary branch in his hand found us. He seemed very helpful at first and offered to enter the city from a different gate claiming that Arabs would be coming out of the mosques and we would not be able to get through. As he kept going on and on he seemed to involve himself in the rest of our day activities "And then I will walk you through the Armenian quarter..." Dan was pulling me away for some time now but now I realized that this is a scam. We walked off and heard the guy mutter back "You will never make it on time."

In the city we remembered that Alicia asked us for some soil samples and stopped in the store near Sepuchture. There was a Russian pilgrim lady inside with the shop owner hovering around her. I found a little cross pendant with a tiny vial of soil attached to it. The box said $5NIS. I offered a coin to the guy and he said it is actually 15NIS. When I said the box said $5NIS, he countered this saying that this actually means US dollars. So I started walking out and muttered when passing the lady "He is lying to you" in Russian. He heard it and said "here, this one is 5 shekels" pointing to the box with oil, water, soil, and frankinsense bottles. It was bigger than the cross but I decided to take it anyway. As I reached for it, he said "Oops, I made a mistake, and pointed to the smaller box of these things." I've had enough and just took that box and left but the lady got suspicious and started to question him on that.

Near the wall both of us had de-spiritualizing experiences. Dan got ripped near the wall by a ultra-orthodox jew (hasid). As Dan stood there thinking, hasid approached him, grabbed his hand and asked who he is thinking about. When Dan told him, he proceeded to appear praying for a few seconds and then requested some money. You hardly argue with someone who has just appeared to pray for your family. Dan only had 50NIS on him so he gave him that. This is one place on earth where you don't expect to get scammed - this is it - and this is exactly where it is happening. The sign near the wall says "Do not disturb other people, it is a personal experience." And so you think that no one will disturb you. So, next time you want to visit the wall - do not allow the preying lying leaches get you.

Some may disagree, but there are many reasons why I think it is a scam. Starting from the fact that they think they are the REAL jews and everyone else is worthless and exists to feed them. This little scam is nothing compared to what is happenning on the grand scale with the State of Israel, which completely subsidizes them. There are exceptions, but they prove the rule.

For me the experience was not as dramatic. I saw some women prostrate themself against the wall and rub their faces over it. Others (like one really fat one) just sat there on the chairs eating a sandwitch. I touched the wall hoping to feel something but it was just a dead old wall.

We went back to the hotel at noon, got our stuff and ordered a cab. A pleasant Israeli girl joined us for the ride - she was going to the main bus station too. She looked 18, but seemed very mature and serious. Turns out she was an intelligence officer in the army (3 years) and traveled for several years already.

There was a line of people outside the station waiting to have their luggage x-rayed. Then we saw a minibus waiting outside the station and asked where it was going - it was going to Tel Aviv and so we got in. Inside we had a conversation with a group of people who came to Yad Vashem for annual seminars on how to teach about Holocaust.

In Tel Aviv there was a line of taxis outside the main bus station. We asked for the price to take us to our hotel. The amounts quoted ranged from 80-120NIS and kept increasing. We started getting nervous but then found a Georgian cabby who agreed to use the meter and got us to our hotel for 50NIS.

The final surprise of the day was at the hotel. Kikar Dizengoff Luxury Apartment hotel is not really luxury, the photos must have been dramatically edited, and you have to pay $16 daily ($56 per week) for the barely reachable Internet. The staff was very pleasant though.

We dropped off our stuff and went swimming. The water was really warm and pleasant. There are lots of sunbathers. Had a drink and meal in the beach side cafe on the way. Many people are playing a kind of ping pong near the water. Watch your eyes.

Walked almost to Jaffa. On the way we had stopped at the Dolphinarium memorial - 21 young people died there in the night club bombing in 2001. The club and the surrounding area were not rebuilt. We walked past this place many times in the next few days. Looks like a wound. It does not help that there is a park forever in construction next to it.

Tel Aviv seems to be growing in some areas while others, like the beach section is embarrassingly delapidated. Piles of trash put Vilnius to shame. In some areas there are panhandlers that are sitting down with their faces covered (drug addicts?). There are much fewer visitors that what we both remember. The boardwalk used to be filled with street performers and now there are maybe 2 or 3. However the presense of Americans is very prevalent - you hear American English everywhere.

In the evening we went out with Inga and Alik and walked to Tel Aviv port. It was really busy - lots of people, all the stores were open despite this being Friday night already. The most memorable place was a few beach cafes where they had put coffee tables in the sand with red or green cone shaped lamps and lit up the water front. You can sit on the sand and watch the waves.