The Diary of a Worldly Streetsmart Traveller: Israel

Great! I look forward to your reports. I never made it to Israel.

hi rjb!
For now, I can only report that Italians are loud and that I discovered another sensory defensive trigger in myself...and that is loud jewelry, bangles and such. I can also report that tables are sticky in Ruzyň airport, shop assistants don't speak much of english and are rather rude to customers.

hopefully more exciting reports will follow.

Excellent! Looking forward to reading this. Hope your adventures skew more towards fun than painful.

You are taking papers to Israel to be graded. Swell! Bet they use every bit of your vacation trying to decode it.

hooray!

can't wait to read about the adventures of Dasha at the Dead Sea (remember to pick up some of that scrumptious soap)

Can't wait to read!

[bookmark]

A
R
T

Waiting with bated breath..

I will be really interested in reading your insights on Israel, dag.
Please, do not procrastinate about posting them, OK?
Have a really good break!

reading along

Tel Aviv is as I expected. A bustling metropolis with that middle eastern touch. Everything is dry, yet somehow there is abundance of flowery things all around. The sun is blindingly bright, but can't be more than 22 °C, simply perfect. Haven't seen much yet, took a cab from the airport to a colleague's house, slept, showered and will go on with more colleagues to Nazereth from here. Discussed history and politics already, all is in order.
Love the brightness, love it. Perfect day so far.

Never having been to Israel, or Tel Aviv, I find this really interesting, dag.

Please post more!

People, places, food, dag thoughts ...

(I love lots of light & brightness, too. )

i could report today about the Basilica of Annunciation or the White Mosque that we have been to after lunch. I could talk about the Tishreen restaurant in the Old City that has the most phenomenal chicken with plums and coffee sauce. But I'm afraid much more prosaic things are burnt into my mind.
My ex (hurrah!) boss eats like a small furry animal, hunched over his plate, stuffing food into his mouth as he speaks, and making sounds that would disgust a hungry hyena. When there's food in front of him, he'll keep eating continuously, his paws stuck in it perpetually, though it's a wonder where it goes. He's small and of a fragile frame. He gets irritated at the bizarrest things and offended if we suggest some modesty in what we promise people in a short day and a half long "training".
Long story short, a very long and intense day of negotiations over a training of trainers schedule is behind me and i can't wait to sleep.

Tomorrow, we go to visit the village of Yaad, built on the ruins of an Arab village Miaar, where our colleagues led a Jewish-Arab dialogue group for several years. Can't wait. Been waiting to see this place for so many years.

Yay! A Dasha travelogue!

more of a Dasha rant today...but still, I'm in Israel for free, musn't grumble, ay?

As another freeloader, I'm not grumbling, either. Looking forward to hearing more, dag.

See? I told you I won't be a good reporter this time. No time or energy left to recount the sights and happenings. Most of my energy goes into dealing with the ex boss, meaning trying to breathe, count to five five hundred times, etc.
Today we went to see Yaad and Miaar. Miaar is actually not a village anymore. It is a site of ruins, overgrown with pine trees. Pine trees were planted there immediately after the destruction of the village by the army, so that people don't return and rebuild. Met with a few descendants, who showed us the graves of their grandparents and relatives at the old cemetery, the only preserved part. Then we talked with them and some of the "new" inhabitants from the Jewish community about the dialogue process they have had for some years now. Can't put it in words right now, but it was a powerful experience.
Workshop starts tomorrow and I must get some sleep. One day I will also write about the touristy part and post pictures.

Oh yeah.

And there is a sand storm and full moon. Beauuuutiful

Sites to see would be Qumrun (?) near the Dead Sea where the Scrolls were discovered and where the proto-Christains lived. Probably you could check to see if they are processing the salt for export. How about Masada where the Romans put down the Jewish revolt? How about the Roman ruins?

The touristy bits are okay, but, but, I'd be just as, no, more, pleased to read about your impressions of the people, the air, the light, the sounds, the smells.