Tomorrow I leave Israel for New Delhi India via Amman, Jordan. I've had a great time here in Ha-aretz - this past week was particularly eventful because we traveled from Kiryat Shmona to Eilat - from tip to tip of the the entire long skinny expanse that makes up Israel.
Bahai gardens in Haifa.
My stay began in Haifa, where Ari's family lives. In the first couple of days that we were here, we were Ross Ambassadors to around 50 prospective Israeli students - a reception was held at a Tel Aviv hotel that was hosted solely by Ross students. I think the Israeli nationalistic attitude bleeds into all aspects of life, including Ross, and it was very interesting to me that the allegiance is so strong amongst my fellow Ross alumni. It is true that Ross is severely under-represented in terms of brand here, so the point that Ross should be considered along with other school of equal caliber is well-taken. However, the difference here is that the Israeli Ross students are almost religiously supportive of the school and want to promote it with such gusto here. Since the presentation was 100% hebrew, I could only glean about 20% of the information, but one could hardly ignore the level of passion and commitment everyone had to the cause. David Pollock and I were the only non-Israelis there, but we still helped to answer questions after the talk. The next day there was a picnic in Tel Aviv that brought together current students and recent alumni at a park. Due to the jetlag and my general cynsism, I was not interested in socializing as usual given my recent schmoozing burn out. I am so glad that I have a job and don't need to do this anymore. Phew.
Sculpture gardens in Haifa.
After this first whirlwind weekend, we headed back to Haifa. Here in Israel there are about 3x the number of holidays there are in the U.S. The spring holiday, Shavuot, fell during the second week of my stay. Shavuot, unfortunately for me, is completely about cheese and dairy, and Israelis loooove their cheese. The variagations on cottage cheese, cream cheese, soft cheese, hard cheese, salty cheese, etc. are endless, and any social visit is accompanied by cheesecake. In fact, an Israeli newspaper reported on Shavuot that around 90% of Israelis can digest lactose without a hitch, versus a world average of 60%. In Thailand, its 0%. Genetically, I fall somewhere in the middle, I think, digesting only about 50% or so. Finally, I broke down and bought the special pill that allowed me to eat cheesecakes and spreads with reckless abandon so that I could celebrate Shavuot with everyone else. Like most holidays, Shavuot is a family affair where everyone wears white and eats together. Ari's family is less religious than most, so the food is the focus. We ate outside on the patio, and were joined by Ari's sister and boyfriend, aunt and her family, and grandfather and his girlfriend.
Ari's grandmother lives in a modest nursing home here in Haifa, and we went to visit her three times during our stay. Despite being 30 years out of practice, she spoke perfect English with me during our visit. Unfortunately, her hearing is not as lucid, so she couldn't really understand me, but it was nice to be able to make a connection. She is a weathered Holocaust survivor, and sees the world from a completely different perspective from my own. Our visits seemed to cheer her up a bit, so that was nice.
We also visited Hertzeliyya Pituach, a wealthy suburb between Tel Aviv and Haifa on the beach, to visit our friend Ohad from Michigan. We had dinner and drinks in Tel Aviv, and then stayed with him for the night. Ohad promised that he would host us well after we helped him out a bit in Ann Arbor, and he certainly did; we were put up in our own private apartment for the night, walked to the beautiful pristine beach in the morning, and had a lovely breakfast under some quaint shade right near the water. Hertzeliyya Pituach also has a great mall, complete with European chains like TopShop (first introduced to me by Damhnait) and great boutiques. We came back to this mall later in the trip to spend some time with Nir and Inbar (other friends from Michigan) and watched a movie and shopped.
This past week was full of traveling and seeing friends. We visited our friend David (Pollock) in his old haunting grounds of Jerusalem, going through the 'shuk' (market) where he bought his weekly groceries and the yeshiva where he studied Torah for a couple of years after college. Pollock also came up to Haifa to visit and traveled with us up north to meet with Karen Putterman and Mike Weir. We had a great day, strolling through archeologically important Tel Dan and rafting down the Jordan river. All five of us piled into one impenetrable rubber raft and began attempting to navigate through the small rapids. Rapidly, we realized that we were short on paddles (2 for 5 of us) and skill. Pollock did his best to steer our cumbersome sloop but we were cheerfully uncooperative and content with ducking beneath the heavy weeds on the edges of the river when we repeatedly bumped again and again and again. We encountered a big group of soldiers (men and women) on a rare day off from service and told them with stern seniority not to tip us over. Parts of the river were deep enough for a swim, and most of it was fast-moving, so Pollock, Karen and I took a dip. Pollock was by far the most adventurous, inventing a butt-swimming device (lifejacket wrapped around your bum as to construct a semi-buoyant and protective seat) that he used to go about 1km. We all had a great time.
Tel Dan, rumored to be the site of the Garden of Eden
After rafting we ventured up into cherry orchards near the Druze (safe Arab) towns on the northern edges of the country. We ate laffa, labaneh and zatar (flatbread, goat cheese and dried spice, predominantly thyme) and a couple of cherries that we poached straight from the tree. That night we left Pollock, Karen and Mike up in a Tzimmer (B&B) in the North, while Ari and I headed down to Haifa.
Ari driving through the narrow roads in the terraced Cherry orchards.
Goat herding through town.
The next day we drove down to Yam Hamelach (Dead Sea) in a dense dirty gray haze. The visibility was so bad that the desert seemed even more ominous than usual - I expected to see vast expanses of Star Wars sand but instead found myself in the middle of unimpressive rocky troughs with small bushes dotting the edges of the road. We arrived at the Sheraton Moriah around 1pm in the 40c (105F) heat and heavy air of 1300 ft below sea level and opted to enjoy some air conditioning before venturing down to the strange lifeless sea. Floating in the Dead Sea is an otherworldly experience, made even more bizzare because of all the elderly psoriasis-ridden visitors in the oily water. The water is thick with minerals, and beads completely off the skin. And, it is hot - hot as the surrounding air - so it feels even more strange. The required lifeguard was extremely comical given that it is completely impossible to drown in this stuff. Ari and I went in twice, getting out quickly the second time because the salt began to creep a little deeper into our cuts than we were ok with. That night an eerie thunderstorm took over the night, with intense lightening that rarely cut through the dense sky and distant lightning. The desert only receives an average of 200mm (8in) of rain each year, and it actually rained the night were there, at least a couple of milimeters. Even the rain couldn't avoid the haze, and with it came a dust that blanketed the car with dirt.
People in the dead sea.
After deciding to skip a sunrise hike up Matzada, we headed to the site around 8am to catch the first run of the cable car that ascends the impressive desert mesa. Long been a site heralded by Israelis as a symbol of nationalism and religious fervor, I was pleased to find that our audio tours took an even-handed historical approach to describing the site. Now, let me just emphasize that this place is compltetly in the middle of nowhere, with little water and no natural plants or animals. But Herod, a Jewish king with a tyrannical twitch, made it a center of commerce and community, replete with multiple pools and storage rooms, receiving rooms, frescoed halls and mosaiced floors. In full use, it must have been a beautiful place. The reason for its historical significance is also because of the pristine preservation of items from Herod and successors' time periods. Delicate items like hairnets, baskets, even fruit nuts have been found that tell a rich story in layers.
Dry Matzada.
Oasis in the middle of the desert!
Camel Xing
All-you-can-eat house salads for $7 each in Eilat.
Next we headed down to Eilat for a stay in real luxury at the Sheraton Herods Palace hotel - the newest hotel in Eilat. I didn't understand what people found so special about Eilat until we arrived and I could see plainly that it is because it sits cradled between Jordan, Israel, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, and it is a peaceful place - a bit Vegasy - but a beautiful nonetheless. Our friends Roy and Zahit met us there and we joined them that afternoon for some time at a gem-like private beach with a "swim with the dolphins" area, lush green landscaping and a bohemian feel. That night we ate some great Thai food and then Ari and I headed back to the beach for a romantic evening in three mineral pools with "Wet-su", some alternative form of massage.
On the beach in Eilat.
The next day we ate a proper Israeli breakfast, which is basically a huge spread of fruits, cheeses, egg dishes, pastries, smoked fish, breads, juices, all done carefully. My favorite item was a shot glass layered with honey, apple juice, minced apples, yogurt, and granola spiked with cinnamon. We snorkeled at the beach, and drank fruit smoothies near the pool. That night we had dinner in an underwater restaurant - grilled whole fish which were pretty tasty. The next morning we headed back to Haifa, on the way stopping by Moriah's kibbutz (Ketura) for an hour, visiting Mitzpeh Ramon, the world's largest geological crater, and driving through the IDF's practice grounds where Ari did officer training.
Visiting Kibbutz Ketura and Moriah :-)
Moriah's entire kibbutz from the road.
In Mitzpeh Ramon crater.
Reading about wild asses in the desert!
Right now I am typing as Ari and his dad are watching the Israeli national team beat Macedonia (2-1). After this, we'll head to a bar in Haifa, or just watch more soccer. And I need to pack for my flight tomorrow! Ok, better get going on that! More later, from India, and China.
Lone visitors at the Mitzpeh Ramon visitor center on a Friday afternoon.
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