Kat's Visit: Part Four

My dear readers, in the immortal words of Motormouth Maybelle, it's time to wrap this mother up!  I'm hoping to finish out Kat's visit and my post on my trip to Hebron before departing on yet another adventure this weekend.

Bright and early on Wednesday morning, Kat and I awoke in the hostel, repacked our backpacks, and headed out to the curb to wait for our pickup from DesertEco Tours.  Shortly after our scheduled time, an open Jeep pulled up and we climbed in, introducing ourselves to Vanessa and Joe, who would be our companions for the next two days.

We drove to the Arava border crossing a few minutes away, then went through passport control into no-man's land before crossing into Jordan!

After crossing the border, we had a two-hour drive to Petra, during which we both snoozed.  We made a stop on the way in to see the Tomb of Aaron on a far-off mountain.

Finally we arrived in Petra and began our walk through the siq.  There were beautiful natural rock formations created by wind and rain erosion, and absolutely gorgeous colours.

We also saw some smaller carvings and several tombs along the way.

For a long time, Bedouins had lived in the tombs, but when scholars discovered the archaeological importance of the site, they were moved into government subsidized housing.  Eventually we arrived at the Treasury, the most famous site of the Rose Red City.

It was so magnificent and spectacular!

We continued walking along the street of facades until we encountered the Theatre -- a spectacular, 30,000 seat theatre carved entirely from one piece of stone!

We stopped and had lunched, and along the way we saw Camel Rock, a natural rock formation that looks like a camel!

 Then we decided to make the hike up to the Monastery -- 888 steps up, but absolutely worth it for the spectacular view!  I think it would be a beautiful place to watch the sun rise.

After that we walked all the way back down the stairs, along the street of facades, past the Treasury, through the siq, and up to the travel agent's office.  Here came trouble:  we had heard in the morning that DesertEco Tours had messed up our booking and booked us to spend the night in a hotel instead of the Bedouin camp as we requested.  We pointed this out to our driver, and he said to speak to the travel agents when we arrived.  When we first got into Petra we stopped there to drop off our luggage, and they told us they couldn't do anything.  When we returned, I pulled out my pushy inner Israeli and explained that we knew it wasn't their fault (they just make the bookings based on info from the tour company), but it certainly wasn't our fault, and we shouldn't have to pay for the tour company's mistake, so they'd better call them.  They did, and they explained that since it was the last day of Sukkot, they couldn't access the records to check until Friday.  I persisted.  They relented.  We won :)

So we took a taxi to Ammarin Bedouin Camp where we were greeted by Muhammad and Muhammad -- a common Arabic name, you see ;) They showed us to our tent and the showers, so we each quickly rinsed off the desert sand before changing into warm clothes -- always surprising to me, the desert gets freezing at night!  I'm getting used to it since I live in the desert now.

After that we headed into the common tent and joined Joe and Vanessa and met two couples from the UK -- and one from Foster City!  We drank delicious sweet mint tea, visited their small museum, and had an incredible dinner.

Man, sitting next to her made me look tan!  Coming to Israel with my California summer tan and then being out in the sun all the time kept me rather brown :) Afterward Kat and I stayed to talk to the Muhammads for a while and got some basic Arabic lessons.  After they powered down the generator for the night, Kat and I went out and looked at the stars -- there was no light pollution for miles around, so we could see SO MANY.  It was absolutely gorgeous.

The next day we rose bright and early, dressed, and had breakfast with our fellow campers, and were picked up by yet another Muhammad.

He was to be our driver and guide for our tour of the Wadi Rum desert.

This was one of Kat's favourite parts of the trip, because it involved lots of climbing up onto tall things, which she adores!

I, on the other hand, prefer to keep my feet firmly planted on the...sand.

But I did enjoy being her designated photographer...

...running down sand dunes...

...and RIDING A CAMEL.

Highlight of the trip for me.  We also had a delicious lunch of chicken, salad, and pitas.  Finally they drove us back to the Arava border (I napped again) and we crossed back into Israel.  On the way, Joe decided to make no man's land into a country called Joetopia.  We spent the Jeep ride back to the airport planning out our lovely country.  We said goodbye to them at the airport, then went back to the hostel so I could pick up the bikini I'd left out to dry.  We swung by the bus station to grab tickets on the last bus of the night to Jerusalem, then decided to go stick our feet in the Red Sea!

Two Israeli seas down, two to go :) We grabbed a shwarma for dinner, then headed back to the bus station, where we ran into my friend Charlotte, who was trying desperately to talk her way onto the fully booked bus.  And she succeeded!  So on the way back I snoozed, listened to music, and read Lord of the Rings.  Kat and I shared a taxi back to the Kfar with Charlotte, then took showers and fell straight into bed.

For Kat's last day, we decided to try and go back and hit something we'd failed to do earlier:  the Mount of Olives.  On the way, we stopped by the amazing falafel shop and got Kat one last amazing falafel.

Sadly, since it was a Friday, a lot of the spots we wanted to hit on the Mount of Olives were closed, but we hit a few spots, including Dominus Flevit, where Jesus cried for the sins of the world...

...the garden of Gethsemane...

...the Jewish cemetery, the most expensive cemetery in the world because many believe that this will be where the Messiah comes...

...a holy rooster?...

...and we also found an incredible view of the Old City.

Kat was feeling a little unwell at that point, so we headed home, lazed around for a while, watched TV while Kat packed, and then had pasta for dinner while watching The King's Speech.  She had never seen it, so I knew we had to watch it!  Then she went to sleep early in order to be vaguely conscious for her 3AM sherut, whereas I stayed up until 1AM, napped for a couple hours, walked her out, said goodbye, and went back to sleep.  It was so sad to wake up without her there, and even sadder to be facing a big pile of homework!

The big news of this post:  I am officially planning a trip to Egypt!  I am so excited that I will a) be checking Africa off my continents list (5 down!), and b) traveling into every country that borders Israel that one can legally enter with an Israeli stamp and visa in one's passport.  One of my current life goals is to fill up my current passport before it expires in 2018, and I'm looking forward to getting four more stamps =) My dear friend Charlotte found a reasonably-priced two day tour to Cairo departing from Eilat and invited me to join her.  It will be a jam-packed and exhausting weekend (leaving Jerusalem at 5PM Thursday, returning in the wee hours of Sunday morning), but we've agreed that the physical and fiscal costs are worth it:  this is a unique opportunity that we won't have two months from now when we return to the US!

Hebron: Enlightening, Inspiring, Amazing

Hello, dear readers!  Time to finally post about my incredible trip to Hebron in the West Bank last weekend.  Let me preface this by reminding you:  I consider myself relatively uneducated on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  I have been doing my best to listen and try to understand and form my own opinion.  But to be honest, these nine hours in Hebron were the single most eye-opening experience I've had.

In the morning, I met three sleepy friends at the student village (Steph, Arielle, and Charlotte) and we hailed a cab to the Notre Dame hotel, where we were to meet our ride to the West Bank.  We hopped in a van and drove into Bethlehem, where we would meet our tour guide and the rest of our party.  Despite being tired, the ride in was fascinating; our tour guide explained to us the three areas of Palestine (area A, under total Palestinian control, mostly major cities; area B, under Palestinian civilian control and under Israeli military control, the surrounding areas; and area C, under total Israeli control).  He also began introducing us to the idea of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.  These are settlements of Israeli citizens that are considered illegal by the Israeli government, but are still protected by the Israeli Defense Forces and often disrupt Palestinians' way of life.

Our first stop was the Abraham mosque, the location of the tombs of the patriarchs.  We saw Sarah...

 ...Rebecca...

 ...Isaac...

 ...and Abraham.

In 1994, a shooter entered the mosque during Ramadan and killed 29 people and injured 125.  Since then, the holy site has been divided into two sections, one for Muslims, and one for Jews.  Our tour guide informed us that whether or not we're actually Christian, for the purposes of visiting, we were Christian -- Muslims could not visit the Jewish side and vice versa.  The Muslim side had enormous security to get in; the Jewish side had none.  Sadly, because it was Shabbat, we could only enter the Muslim side; only Jews are allowed in the Jewish side on Shabbat and holidays.  Unfortunately, this also meant we missed seeing Jacob and Leah!  Oh well.

To get into the Muslim side, all the women were required to wear extremely fashionable hooded cloaks to cover themselves.  We decided we looked like hobbits.  Then we all claimed a hobbit!

From right to left, we are Merry (Steph), Sam (Arielle), Pippin (me), and Frodo (Charlotte).

After that, we sat and had coffee at one of the few shops that is still open.  Dozens of shops have been closed because Israeli settlers have moved to the area and need "safe passage" to the tombs of the patriarchs.  Our guide was not allowed to walk down the street with us because he is Palestinian.  One of the people in our group asked him, "Does it make you nervous, being here?"  "Yes," he replied, "I am always scared."  There is a red line in many parts of the city showing where Palestinians cannot cross.

So he sent us by ourselves to walk down the deserted street.  All the doors had been welded shut by the IDF, and several of the closed shop fronts had been defaced by settlers.

After that we walked into the Old City of Hebron.  There are a few settler families who live above the main street of the Old City, so they've installed a chain link fence over the top of the walkway so that the settlers can't assault the Palestinians.

While we were in the Old City, lots of children and young men followed us and tried to sell us things.  As hard as it was for all of us, especially when faced with such poverty, it was best not to engage with them.  We then went up to the roof of the Old City, and some of them followed us.  One of them tapped me, and gestured to a water tank next to us.

"This used to be my family's water," he told me.  "But the soldier ruined it.  It used to be enough water for 20 people."  Then he gestured out into the city. 

"Those water tanks are for the settlers.  There's more than enough for them, but not enough for us," he explained.  To be honest, speaking with that young man and hearing his personal story was probably one of the most powerful, touching experiences of the trip for me.  I gave him all the change I had, and he gave me a Palestine keychain.  (I'm hesitant to display it until I can have someone translate the Arabic for me!)

We headed over to where we would have lunch in the home of a Palestinian family, and on the way, our guide pointed out a school taken over by Israelis that was turned into a yeshiva.

Then we headed up to meet the family who was opening their home to us.  We came in the back door because, due to settlers, their front door has been welded shut.  Fortunately there were stairs up to a separate door at their home; in other places, people have had to affix ladders to back windows to get out of their houses.

The family we met had three ADORABLE children!  I only got a shot of the middle child because my camera started saying low battery and I wanted to preserve it...but he is SO adorable!  All of the children were just darling.

While we were there, we watched a video, which was basically documentary footage.  It showed the IDF coming in to the area we had just walked through, about ten months ago, and kicking out the shop owners and welding their doors shut.  The Palestinians were not allowed to retrieve their goods from the shops, and many of them were harassed by the soldiers.  The wife of the woman who made us lunch was one of the men affected.  The shop owners appealed to the Israeli high courts, and a month or two ago, the decision was reversed, and the shops were opened again.

We had a DELICIOUS lunch -- cooked rice, lentils, and onions with salat, Middle Eastern salad made of tomatoes and cucumbers.  Insanely delicious, especially on a chilly, grey, rainy day.  The weather did nothing to dampen our spirits though :)

Over lunch, we talked with our tour guide, and one of the things that came up was (naturally) the two-state solution.  To my mild surprise, he said he didn't support it -- his fear was that Israel and Palestine would both lean to the extreme and become purist states.  So, we inquired, what was the ideal solution for him?  He said he wants one state, but where it doesn't have to be a Jewish head of state of a Jewish majority in the Knesset.  Many Israelis would support a one-state solution, but would reject the idea of Muslim leadership.  And of course, if one state was created, the state would be majority Muslim.  It got me thinking...it's an impossible situation.  I still don't know what the "right" solution is; all I know is that the way it is now is NOT right.

After lunch, we continued walking.  We walked to the edge of the H2 area (under Israeli control, where Palestinians are subject to extreme restrictions) and looked into the H1 area (under full Palestinian control and bustling with activity).  The shift between the two was absolutely jarring.  After that, our guide showed us the route that had formerly been the route Palestinian children took to school, but was now blocked because of settlers.  Foreign parties contributed funds to create an alternate route, which we walked along.  On the way, we saw lots of urban art and defamatory graffiti.

There were symbols like these all over, layered with pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli sentiments:

Steph is considering getting this gorgeous design as a tattoo.  Above where it says "freedom" in English is the same in Arabic.

I was utterly shocked by this one, and disgusted that Jews would suggest using a torturous method of murder used against them by the Nazis against another group.  Especially with all I'm learning about the Holocaust this semester, it simply broke my heart.

After that, we headed to a textile factory that makes kaffiyeh, the head scarves Muslim women wear.  It was absolutely fascinating to watch them being made!

I walked away with two gorgeous kaffiyeh...one dark maroon, and one blue with a pattern that looks like tiny moustaches!

Finally we visited a glass blowing and ceramics workshop, which had unfortunately closed early due to the upcoming Muslim holiday.  Our guide showed us around and explained the process, and I bought a gorgeous mug and a little condiment bowl.  We drove back into Bethlehem, and our guide dropped us off at the bus stop to take the Arab 21 bus back to Jerusalem.  I sat and talked with Steph all the way back, and then we all split a cab back to the Kfar.  Before we all went our separate ways back to our rooms, Charlotte and I had to take one last picture.  Sisters in Vagina Monologues (she's acted in the show at American University for the last two years and is assistant directing this year, and I've directed at MHC for the last two years and am producing this year), we found amazing little purses that said "Women can do everything" on one side and "Palestine" on the other.  So we had to celebrate our fabulous purchases!  (My camera's rather old, so the quality's a bit wonky, but you get the gist!)

In sum:  I will DEFINITELY be going on more tours with Green Olives.  So far I already have relatively firm plans to visit Nablus, Sebastia, and Jenin with them next weekend, and Steph and I were discussing the tour of Bethlehem and Ramallah.  I'm hoping to send M&D on a tour of Bethlehem and Hebron with Green Olives during their visit as well!

Other recent news:  I woke up on Friday morning feeling terrible, so I wound up deciding to skip the Arad trip.  After a day in the Jordanian desert, I decided that I could live with myself if I missed a second desert trip!  (Plus I heard the hostel has a bad case of bed bugs, and that did NOT appeal to me...ick.)  Instead I've divided my weekend into two parts:  day one involved making soup (tons of chicken rice soup and corn chowder in the freezer now, yay for easy meals for Grace!) and being generally unproductive while catching up on TV; day two was devoted to doing schoolwork -- and once I finished reading for the week and my first midterm paper, more of the same :D My first midterm (now completed, woo!) is due Monday, and the last is due November 30th, so it's go time.  Fortunately, I was assigned relatively little reading this week, so I have more time to devote to Hebrew homework, take-home exams, and studying during the week.  Wish me luck as I slog through three take-home exams, two in-class exams, and one oral exam in the next 2.5 weeks!!!  I also have a field trip tomorrow to the Old City Southern Wall excavations and the Herodian villas.  Stay tuned for details soon...!

Kat's Visit: Part Three

Apologies for the hiatus, readers!  I am constantly up to my ears in reading for my classes, and midterms are looming on the horizon, so I've been hard-pressed to find time for blogging.  But now, we resume the adventure!

When last we saw our lovely heroines...

...they had eaten delicious soup in downtown Jerusalem and went home to bed.  The next day a bigger adventure was in store -- we visited Bethlehem!  Katherin's friend Jess has two friends, Jeff and Julie, who recently moved to Bethlehem, and she kindly connected us so that we'd be set with tour guides and transportation advisors =) Because Bethlehem is in the West Bank, it's a bit trickier to get to than some places I've visited, but it's definitely one of the easier cities to access.  We took one of the Arab buses right into the city, and were met by Jeff.

We chatted as we strolled through the souq (Arabic : souq :: Hebrew : shuk) to Nativity Square, where we sat and enjoyed some delicious mint lemonade.  Then Julie got out of her Arabic lesson and picked us up, and we went and had a delicious lunch at a restaurant called The Grotto overlooking Shepherd's Field (believed to be where the angel came and told the shepherds of Jesus' birth).  I had shrimp (yay non-kosher food), Kat had pigeon, Jeff and Julie had some amazing chicken, and we all shared some delicious salads and kubbeh, which is basically deep-fried lamb (sooo delicious).  Then after a quick drive through Bethlehem to see some of the urban art reacting to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- very cool.  Then we hit the tourist sites with Jeff:  Church of the Nativity...

















...the Milk Grotto...

...and a museum of creches from around the world.  Finally we grabbed a bus back to Jerusalem and packed our backpacks before going to bed early in order to rest up for our next adventures.


The next day, we hopped on the light rail to the Central Bus Station and took a bus to Masada, ruins from the Great Revolt of the Jews which was 66CE-70CE.  From up there, there's some gorgeous views of our next stop, the Dead Sea!

 The interesting thing about Masada, one of the last holdouts before being conquered by the Roman army, was that when the soldiers saw that they were going to lose, they all committed suicide rather than be enslaved by the Romans.

We took the cable car up (it was very hot, too hot for a 45-minute uphill hike) and wandered the ruins for a while.  The black line on the wall shows where the ruins were when they were found; they've since been built back up.

It was really interesting, and I can't wait to go back -- I'll have a field trip there with my Second Temple Judaism class, and I'm thinking about bringing M&D on a sunrise hike there when they visit.

We grabbed a quick lunch from the Masada shop, then caught a bus to Ein Bokek to have a float in the Dead Sea.

It was actually REALLY cool!  The Dead Sea is approximately 33% solid matter with all the minerals in it, and it is reputed to have remarkable healing powers.  But the awesome thing is that you can float around wherever you want and it's nearly impossible to sink.  We both went in for two floats and to take some pictures before we rinsed off and grabbed pizza, lemonade, and ice cream for dinner.

Finally we hopped on a bus to Eilat and went to the Corinne Hostel, where we spent about eight hours before departing on a tour to Jordan.  More on that next time -- the final installment of the Kat's visit epic!

In other news, I had an interview with the summer job I'm dying to get.  It wasn't fabulous, but I think it went fine...keep your fingers crossed for me!  It's now time to wait, I won't hear back until the middle of December.  This weekend I went on a day trip to Hebron with Green Olive Tours, a really amazing tour company that helps tourists get an inside look at life in the Middle East.  It was an incredible day with three dear friends:  Charlotte, Arielle, and Steph!  It merits a blog post all its own, so I will update on that once I finish Kat's trip -- soon, I hope!  My internship is going swimmingly, and I will be sad to have to miss it next week, but with good reason -- I am going on a weekend trip sponsored by the school to Arad in the Negev desert.  Here's the description the madrichim gave us of the trip:  "Friday will be dedicated to a short beautiful hike in Abuv Stream.  We will return to the hostel in time for Kabalat Shabbat and Friday night Dinner which will be followed by our traditional Friday Night Activity!  Saturday will be a relaxing fun day - you'll get to choose between interesting indoor and outdoor Shabbat activities which will be suitable for Shomer Shabbat students."  Should be fun!  But it means I've got to get my academic butt in gear this week so that I don't have to bring too many course readers and midterm papers with me...ouch.  So far so good -- I'm done with my reading through Tuesday, so I can spend the rest of the week finishing the rest of my reading and getting ahead on the next week!  There also may be a general strike in Israel tomorrow, and the student union has pledged to stand with the strike, so if a strike is declared, classes will be canceled.  While it would be sad to miss my once-a-week seminar, but it would be nice to have the extra time to finish reading and work on my midterms -- especially because Monday is my absolute busiest day!  And now, considering that there may be a strike tomorrow, I should visit the grocery store...until next time, dear ones!