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Richard stitched together a panoramic view of the Shrine of the Bab from a bunch of pics he took manually. Check out the full res version here:
https://www.deviantart.com/freethenation/art/Shrine-Of-The-Bab-751762903
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Left: three bars in the German district of Haifa streaming the Mundial from a projector and roll-down screen Right: a large projector in front of hundreds of beach chairs (with their drunk occupants) on the beach in Tel Aviv
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Looking up from the midway point of the gardens of Haifa
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Left: three bars in the German district of Haifa streaming the Mundial from a projector and roll-down screen Right: a large projector in front of hundreds of beach chairs (with their drunk occupants) on the beach in Tel Aviv
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Mundial
There's something completely unrelated to Israel that begs its own blog post.
The World Cup!
Most of Europe is only one hour off from Israel, which means this tiny desert country is in a *prime* global location to live stream the World Cup games from Russia.
Three times a day, 3pm, 6pm, and 9pm.
Go to ANY bar between 2pm and midnight and there will be futbol.
Futbol game. Futbol recap. Futbol analysis. Futbol predictions. Futbol!
Only the top 32 teams in the world make it to the group round of the Mundial, and Israel, tiny country that it is (I don't even know if they have a team), is most certainly not represented.
(Before you ask, the US Men suck at futbol. Team USA is not represented, though Mexico, Iceland, and Saudi Arabia all are. Come on, gentlemen!)
Anyway, what this means is the Israelis get to choose which team they root for! Brazil, of course, is a popular choice, as are Germany, Iran, and Egypt.
Not Argentina though, and with good reason. They might not even make it into the brackets this year. No thanks to their own goalie accidentally kicking the ball to a forward from Croatia.
Flags from all over the world hang from otherwise nondescript houses. Bars are filled with Israelis rooting against each other, and travelers rooting for their own little country.
I personally am rooting for the underdog Mexico, after they absolutely kicked Germany's butt in their first group game. I believe they have a 1:200 shot of completely winning, so if they get into the final eight (which they've never done before) that will be pretty cool.
The Mundial has been one of my favorite cross-cultural experiences here! At one hostel, an Arab was rooting for Mexico with us Americans, against a German girl hoping her team would repeat 2014. At another, a Russian knew the ins and outs of every team, and was hopeful the Russians would make it to the knockout round.
So yes, nothing to do with Israel but still a lot of fun. I will miss all the nonstop futbol once we're back in the States!
KK 22jun18
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The last few days have been a whirlwind of busses, hotels, unknown streets, and new cities: Nazareth, Tiberias, Haifa, and now Tel Aviv in five days.
We are tired.
Nazareth has been one of my favorite cities so far, despite its ghostliness. The Arabic flavor was so unique and foreign! Our brief time there had me rooting for the little city to get its life back again.
Tiberias was... fairly unnotable (some German girls warned us of that in Nazareth). Great place for a break from the heat, however! The Sea of Galilee is cool and fresh, and water sports of all sorts abound: water skiing, tubing, swimming, even a floating playplace which Richard and I were drooling over! It, uh, looked like a "kids only" sort of area though.
Haifa was a "real" city! There was industry there and a lot more going on than, "Look at this sweet religious site or natural feature!". We ended up staying in the German Quarter, quite by accident, but we loved it nonetheless!
After about 9pm, once everyone has had some time to wake up and refresh themselves from the lazy heat of the day, the town comes to life. Small restaurants pop up in every corner, folding chairs planting themselves in the midst of sidewalks. The whole city ventures outside to enjoy a light beer and plates of hummus and shawarma. Music emanates from every block, intermingled with boisterous conversation in Hebrew, German, French, and English.
Even the cats come out to lounge.
Nicky or Sophie, if they're reading this, would love all the kitties here! There are strays on every block, and LOTS of adorable little kittens. Some of the best "people watching" is witnessing a cat try to catch its next meal. Pigeons seem to be a local favorite.
We are now in Tel Aviv, where we plan to spend the next few days hanging out and relaxing for our last bit of time in Israel.
KK 21jun18
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Haifa
Haifa
Beautiful stone stairs
Gorgeous gardens
Tourists, from everywhere!
Tours every hour
Pick your language
Pick your photo
Round, golden dome
A tomb: prophet within
Windows all around
See their shapes
East meets West
A symbol for the world
Will we unite?
Greek Parthenon in mini
Timeless beauty
Palm trees
No shade, only light
Light at night too
Hedges, moss trim
Red rocks that "chink"
White rocks too
These say "plunk"
Nine terraces
Then another nine
For eighteen followers
Nine-pointed star
Symmetry left to right
And up to down
Except for some pines
Those were there already
Beauty mark
Tumbling water
and fountains show life
Harmony
With all living things
Peace
Shalom
KK 21jun18
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At the Jordan River
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Goofing around at the Sea of Galilee
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The Jordan River
The Jordan River
Recommended to us by the hostel, we embark on an Adventure. "Ten minutes by bus!" becomes 30 min at the bus stop and fifteen minutes' walk in the hot sun.
"You can swim here, but only if you're dressed like that." The photo on the wall shows a woman, all in white. An older man holds her nose and head, tipping her backward.
Back into the hot sun, a group of Jewish boys run by, yamacas clinging to their heads. They are decidedly not Dressed Like That.
We follow them.
Behold, a river! Cool and green and slow, an alligator on a hot summer day.
Swimsuit, goggles, sunscreen, and I'm in.
It's murky. I can't see anthing. Small fish follow me like meat on a bone. Nibbing at... the sweat on my skin. My skin? Bigger fish glaze my legs. Sudden eddies indicate rushes of something bigger.
A fish bites my toe.
Back on shore and ready to leave! The Jewish boys and the people Dressed Like That can keep their river.
I will go back to the bus.
KK 20jun18
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Quick update
We spent two nights in Nazareth at a really pretty hostel. We arrived on Sunday evening, saw everything empty, and assumed it was like Jewish Sabbath where nothing is open. Come Monday morning, everything was still closed. It was really sad! After being in the old markets of Jerusalem, we thought it'd be really similar but more Arabic.
Today we did a quick hike of Mount Precipice outside of Nazareth, then caught a public bus to Tiberias, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee (which might not actually be a sea, since it drains via the Jordan River into the Dead Sea). All the towns up in the north are very close together and easily accessible. If you look at a map of Israel, you will see the bottom half has fewer roads and cities than the top half.
Probably because the southern half is a desert. It's a lot cooler up here and in Nazareth. Even Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were hot. We can at least walk around during the day out here. In Eilat, we would take a bus to avoid a mere 20 minute walk. It is that hot in the sun!
The culture up here is different too. It feels more "European" in a way that's hard to describe. Even areas that are primarily Arabic. It must be the rolling hills and sprawling agriculture. Everyone is outside more, and you don't feel like you can only move if you are in shade. We also found a strip mall! A small piece of suburbia way out here. It had a Home Depot, Mcdonald's, Columbia, and a few other big stores.
Nazareth was the first city we visited with much of an Arabic population (Jerusalem had one too, but we were confused when we ended up there and I was getting spit at for revealing my risque forearms. So we left as soon as we found some shade and could look at a map). However it is very segregated from the Jewish population.
It reminds me of black and white neighborhoods in a lot of US cities, where the blacks live in the more rundown areas and don't really have anywhere else to go. Just like the Jews and Arabs, blacks and whites in that States don't really interact with each other. It surprised me the other day when a black guy here asked me for directions, because that's not something people do back home. So maybe that tiny part of the Israel-Palestine conflict I can understand. Except that in the States the whites don't feel threatened that they're about to lose their homes, but the Jews in Israel definitely do. So much higher tensions all around.
There are all these stickers and keychains everywhere, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem", and I don't really know what that means. Is it the Jews praying the Arabs will stop resisting them? Is it the Arabs wishing the Jews would leave the city? Is it a handful of altruistic folks hoping that everyone could just coexist alongside each other? I don't even have an inkling of what anyone over here envisions "peace" looking like.
Well, I guess that ended up being a not-so-quick update. Tomorrow we will try to visit the Jordan River and go for a swim, then catch a bus to Haifa to see the Baha'i gardens. Yes, another religion with a holy site in this tiny area! Who ever would've guessed this dry, hot, sandy part of the world would become such a cultural and religious hotspot!
KK 19jun18
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selfie at mt. precipice! it was a very hot 40 min walk to the top
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Panorama of Mount Precipice, overlooking the town of Nazareth. This is where a mob tried to throw Jesus off a cliff.
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And of course here's the other half of the falafel sign (maybe you can guess what it says): - W sounds like 'sh' - the next two letters are that wild card letter I mentioned in another post that seems to make every sound: mainly O, sometimes U, possibly V or N. Well if you put two together it sounds like 'w'. Yea, this letter's tricky. I should also add that sometimes it has a little curve to the left like it does here, sometimes it's just a straight line. - our X/backwards N again which sounds like 'a' - backwards r which, conveniently, sounds like 'r' - tent with a thing out the left which we saw before, 'm' - and finally, a letter that's super common at the end of words, the one that looks like pi but missing part of the left stem - sounds like 'ah' or 'eh' (there's another letter which has the full stem like pi does, and sounds similar to this letter except you kind of hawk a loogie in your throat instead of just saying a normal 'h') String these all together! SHWARMAH = shawarma :-)
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Here's a shorter word! - backwards G aka p/f - lightening bolt/half a dreidel which sounds like 'l' - X or backwards N shape (depending on the font) - sounds like 'a' Remember in Hebrew it's kinda just a bunch of consonants smashed together, with vowels only put in if they're really obvious. It's up to the speaker to know how to actually string them together. FLAFL = falafel :-)
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Taking pics of Hebrew words seemed easier than trying to type them! So here's one word I came across today. From right to left: - the letter that looks like a backward P sounds like 'k' - the one that looks like a tent with a thing sticking out to the left sounds like 'm' (this one changes a lot by font and confused me for a while - I'll see if I can find an example) - the one that looks like a backwards and upside-down G usually sounds like 'p' but sometimes sounds like 'f' - the little apostrophe thing is not an apostrophe (that was also confusing for a while) - it sounds like 'i' or 'y' - the letter that looks like a closing sqiare bracket sounds like 'n' (but if the bracket arms are long enough it sounds like 'b') - the last letter, it's kinda hard to tell in this font, looks like a Greek gamma and sounds like 'g' Put all those together and what do you get? KMPING aka CAMPING :-D
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Food
After nearly two weeks in Israel, this much is clear: the food here is delicious.
Hummus and pita are served for basically every meal. You can get olives, pickled eggplant, carrots in vinegar, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppered onions at most places too. And did I mention olives? They are everywhere and SO good!
It's very easy to eat vegetarian here, and I've more or less been doing that just 'cuz it's more delicious. Specifically the falafel and hard-boiled egg. They also have shwarma and gyro, which I usually love at Mediterranean restaurants in the States, but in all honesty are kind of greasy here.
Then there are the dishes which I'm told are more Arabic than Mediterranean. One is this fancy tabouli salad which is perfect in hot weather: it's served cold and mixed with lots of fresh and acidic veggies, like tomatoes, vinegared carrots, parsley, and lemon juice.
Tahini is also common (like hummus but made with sesame seeds), along with halva (weird, sweet, crumbly, candy-thing made out of pistachio and sesame seeds) and zaatar (ubiquitous greenish seasoning with a really potent, salty, spicy flavor).
Plus dates, peaches, nectarines, watermelon, and LOTS of fresh-squeezed juice!
My hands-down favorite type food we've come across is Morrocan! I don't actually remember anything about Morrocan food from my time there except that it was minty and delicious. Same goes for Moroccan food in Israel! I think it's like Indian food in the States, where everyone thinks it's amazing but no one actually knows how to cook it (well, except for Prathiba if she's reading this). So everyone tries to make it, and any Indian would tell you it's crap, but all us Americans think it's amazing.
Moroccan is Israel's Indian food. I'm pretty sure it's not authentic, but add the right amount of spearmint (curry powder) and it sure will remind you of Moroccan (Indian) food!
KK 19jun18
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