Hey Guys,
So I made it back in one piece from Israel! Honestly, there is so much to say I don't even know where to start. Actually, I guess I'll start with the...intense: Security at the airport.
First, I'd like to preface this by saying that I am TERRIFIED of flying (just think Kristin Wiig's character in the airplane scene from "Bridesmaids" to the tenth power). So I'm anxious from leaving the house, getting into the taxi, arriving at the airport, boarding the plane, flying -- I really freak out here -- landing, waiting for my luggage... then, sigh, I'm OK.
When I told people I was flying with El Al it was basically a "good luck with that one" kind of situation. Basically, El Al, which is Israel's national airline, has extremely stringent, and I do mean stringent, security. Some say they are known for racial profiling (so if you are the least bit "Middle Eastern" looking, whatever that means, you will most definitely be pulled aside.). Also, traveling by yourself may also send off some warning flags.
So yeah, I was one of those people. I was traveling by myself while tan/brown/black, whatever. What does it mean to be a suspicious passenger while traveling to Israel? Well, for me, it meant two rounds of "interviews" with very intense, personal questions along the lines of: Do you know any Muslims? Do you speak Hebrew? Where did your parents meet? How did you and your boyfriend meet? How long have you and your boyfriend been together?... But it didn't stop there. I was then told to alert airport security (once I got through regular security) at my gate for further questioning...at 9:40 PM. Boarding for my flight was at 10:30 PM.
So, 9:30 PM rolls around (by the way this is still all pre-taking-my-anti-anxiety-medication which I usually take 20 minutes prior to boarding) and I thought I'd arrive a little earlier to be in security's good graces. I walked up to the counter to tell the agent that security wanted to see me. That resulted in security asking to see my belongings, which they then took to a separate room. Close to an hour rolls by without sign of my bag (so because of "random" passenger security checks the flight was also delayed), and I could see out of the corner of my eye another brown person of color being grilled by Israeli security. No surprise there. Suddenly, I see the woman come out of the little room at the back, where my bag was, to approach me. She grabs me and another random guy whose bag also went to the little room, and tells us to come with her. The first guy goes in and I am asked to stay seated outside of the little room. It was about 10 minutes until the other guy came out and I went in...for further questioning and inspection of my bag. At this point, everyone is already boarding the plane. So a few more of the standard security questions are thrown my way. My shoes and belongings are swiped down with a swiffer-like wand, which is then analyzed in some machine. Green light goes off and I am good to go. The agent escorts me out of the room and starts to strike up friendly conversation about how beautiful Israel is, and how I should really stay for a longer time than a week. We actually skipped what was left of line and she opened up the security belt at the front (total VIP status) to let me pass. She apologized again for the long wait and wished me a wonderful stay in Israel. At least they were polite...?
I was in. Thank god. Xanax time.
Almost 10 hours later, I landed in Tel Aviv, Israel. Besides the extremely long process of actually getting off of the plane. I was really excited...and anxious, yet again. This was part three of my anxiety: Picking up my bag from baggage claim. What if it's not there? I'll have to stay in Israel with no clothes. I wonder where the customer service desk is in case my bag does get lost. Shit, I don't even know what brand of bag I have... and the cycle continues.
Luckily, my bag was one of the first ones to come out. Thank god for me. Then it was customs. Made it through there. Check.
Finally, I emerged from the frosted-glass door abyss to find my boyfriend waiting for me at arrivals (yay!) and we went on our merry way.
Ok, now for the real Israel stuff:
Once on the ground, the place was amazing. So rich with history. Challenging. Complicated. Everything that I look for in a vacation. Oh, and the food was OUT OF THIS WORLD good. We took a shared taxi to Jerusalem. We drove and we drove, through different neighborhoods and communities. It was late afternoon, and all the buildings seemed to have one thing in common: they all had a golden color to them. I overheard one of the older women in the back of the van say that all the buildings had to be built from the same stone -- Jerusalem stone. And when the late afternoon sun hits it, all the buildings of Jerusalem look gold. A lot of windows from these buildings were draped with brightly colored flowers. It was beautiful. This place was totally its own. Totally unique. And it kept feeding my curiosity at every turn.
Highlights (in no particular order)
Pomegranate trees. I never even thought about where or how pomegranates grow until I got to Israel. Our hotel had them in their garden, and you can find them in many gardens. Chowing down on some fresh olives beneath a pomegranate tree in the late afternoon is what I call life.
The Dead Sea, the Masada and the Judean Desert . This was seriously a highlight. Floating in the salty warm waters of the Dead Sea with a view of Jordan in the distance. You were surrounded by mountains, rock, date palms and Muhammad's horse. When I was there I felt very far away from home, but in a good way. The bus ride to the Dead Sea from Jerusalem was also really cool. We passed Bedouin camps, and I think we drove briefly through a little part of the West Bank. Still not actually sure though, but I guess that would explain the checkpoint and soldiers with big guns. We saw Jericho (which is also part of Palestine) in the distance and is also supposed to be really beautiful. We passed the area where the "Good Samaritan" story took place. We passed where what are known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the first-known surviving texts of the Old Testament (not all of which made it into the Bible), were found.
Our Taxi Cab Conversations. For some reason taxi cabs seemed to be our venue for political conversation. The drivers were interested in what we thought about the whole conflict, but more so, I think they wanted to express their view of the situation to us. We spoke with one Jewish Israeli and one Palestinian, and bottom line, they were expressing very similar frustrations of wanting an end to the violence and politicking.
The Mahane Yehuda food market. So many fresh exotic fruits and vegetables. Fresh tea. Olives. Hand-baked breads. Pastries. Super cheap. Need I say more.
Walking the Via Dolorosa. This is held to be the same path Jesus took while carrying his crucifix. Mind = Blown.
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The place were Jesus's remains were prepared and where Jesus was crucified. Mind = Blown again.
The Souks/Marketplaces. I always find myself particularly challenged in souks (maybe because I was physically grabbed and pulled into someone's stall at the marketplace in Marrakesh, Morocco...). They can be really intense and particularly aggressive if you're not used to it. I usually find myself speeding through as opposed to browsing, which I think is really difficult to do without being jumped on or yelled at. Plus I SUCK at haggling. When someone says a price, I usually accept or say OK, thanks and walk away. But there is an art to haggling, and yeah, I am no artist when it comes to that one. Thankfully my boyfriend is much better at it than I am.
Hummus + Falafel. What is this stuff we serve in New York? No comparison.
Cats. Cats, cats, cats, everywhere. Since I'm a cat lady I enjoyed seeing random little kitties frolicking about.
Not knowing a lick of Hebrew, but trying to speak and be understood anyway. I was totally at a loss when it came to Hebrew. Like, I didn't even know where to begin. But I tried. I managed to successfully say, "Hello," (shalom) "Thank you," (toda) Thank you very much," (toda rabah) and "Good Morning!" (boker tov). Sometimes when you start off with one word in Hebrew, that just opens the flood gate to the participating party to initiate a full blown conversation in Hebrew, to which I have to embarrassingly reveal that I have no idea what they're saying.
And now for photos. I maxed out my memory card on my camera. It was that serious. But of course I only uploaded the highlights. So, Yalla! (Ok, so I know one more word which is borrowed from Arabic, meaning, "let's go!")
-Sophia
