How We Spent the Holidays. In Israel.

The date was the only visible reminder that the holidays were approaching. While we were in Jerusalem there were no 50% off sales, no interest free promotions, no blinking lights, no gaudy decorations, no big green trees in living room windows, no rushing around, nothing.  It could’ve been any time of the year.  It was a relief to be in a region of the world that doesn’t celebrate the biggest shopping holiday or Jesus’ birthday like we do in the United States, but there was something that was lacking for us.  We missed the lights of the season.  Day time is so short in December that the extra lights on homes, in store windows and on city trees help chase away some of winter’s darkness.  It was a noticeable absence.  We like the pretty lights! 

At the last minute we decided to drive north for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We’d already been to Bethlehem (more later) so we thought what the heck and headed to the town where Jesus came of age, Nazareth.  Nazareth was intriguing also because it was making headlines with it’s controversial mayor (a Muslim) saying something about banning Christmas trees and cancelling  Christmas.  What is Christmas in Israel without some hullabaloo?!?  It turned out to be a flippant comment that the press blew out of proportion.  Surprise, surprise.

  

We arrived as 10% of the town’s population was celebrating Christmas with a parade through downtown.  We’ve never seen so many people dressed in santa suits.  Walmart has nothing on Nazareth at Christmas for selling the cheapest, crappiest, holiday junk.  Christmas seemed to be more about celebrating with cheesy costumes, balloons and hats then it’s religious significance.  Sound familiar?

Along with the Arab Muslim onlookers, we watched an outdoor church service in which there was a Christian sermon by an Arab minister and carolers singing the popular Christmas songs, in Arabic.  After watching a huge firework display we walked around and noticed that most people were in their homes getting ready to celebrate with friends and family with a barbequed meal.  Charcoal grills were fired up and the smell of burnt carcass was in the air.  Peeking in windows and witnessing all the family gatherings bought on a level of loneliness that we rarely felt during our travels.  We missed our loved ones more then ever as we watched people getting together to share a holiday meal.  Here we were in Nazareth, Israel, two of the very few white people in town, being ripped off by our hotel‘s Christmas pricing, with no ability to bake or cook a meal and with no friends or relatives to share the love.  We were homesick.  The tall, decked out tree in the middle of town helped us feel a bit more at home.  After being in anti-Christmas Jerusalem, it was refreshing to be able to say Merry Christmas and not feel out of place.  At least one thing felt normal. 

For the week between Christmas and New Years, our destinations included the Sea of Galilee, Jordan River and the Dead Sea.  It was nature and the more recent history that interested us more so then the religious history, but it was intriguing to see the famous “Jesus Path”.  We saw where he was baptized, preached, chose his disciples, gave the sermon on the Mount, turned water into wine, fed the masses with 5 loaves of bread, and walked on water.  Tour groups and tour buses converge on these sights and of course, the obligatory souvenir shops.  This part of our Israeli experience was to get outside and hike, bird and enjoy the wide open spaces.

  During this year of travel, we sought out and embraced the lifestyle differences around the world, but this holiday we desired some familiarity.  Christmas wasn’t quite what we expected, but we thought New Year’s Eve, for sure, would be something more like we were used to.  Not in Israel.  Not even in Tel Aviv.  In Israel, if it isn’t a Jewish holiday, it doesn’t get celebrated.  Even the changing of one year to the next.  The calendar the world runs on is a Christian calendar, we were reminded.  I’ve never thought of it as having a religious meaning, but yes, technically it is a Christian based calendar.  Ignorantly, we thought everyone celebrated on New Years Eve.  Even though Tel Aviv revelry was hard to find, we made the best of it, and had a party for 2 and then found a bar owned by a Brit that caters to American and British tourists.  We listened to an extremely loud live band (maybe we’re too old) and then brought 2011 in from the peaceful shores of Tel Aviv’s Mediterranean.

As the holidays go, they were ok.  The retail pressure was wonderful not to be around.  Not hearing holiday songs until we played them from our iPod on the 24th was fantastic.  Seeing where Jesus spent most of his life was fascinating.  Not having to bundle up in winter gear was refreshing.  And thankfully there is Skype.  Being able to Skype with our family and a few friends helped get us through the loneliest period of our year away.

Jerusalem

It’s difficult to describe Jerusalem.  It’s so many things rolled into one:  the capital city of the Jewish state of Israel, the holiest city for the Christian faithful, and Islam’s 2nd most revered site.  And to complicate matters, part of it most probably will eventually be the future capital city of the future state of Palestine.  To describe this city as complex and intense is an understatement. We left Jerusalem with various impressions with the main one being that even though there might be some agreement as to what Jerusalem was, what Jerusalem will be will take compromise and that is a concept only a few seem willing to embrace.

There are several reasons Israel made it on our itinerary.  Although we don’t classify ourselves as religious pilgrims we were curious to see the settings of the Bible stories that we learned as kids.  Because the US spends billions & billions of our tax dollars on Israel we felt it was important to include and could help us understand why.  And, it provided as close as we were going to get to a western culture for awhile and would make a good base for us to plan the last few months of our trip. 

We spent 11 days in Jerusalem out of our 20 days in Israel.   We tried to take in a wide variety of sights and sounds in order to develop a well rounded opinion of this city.  We toured The Knesset (servers a similar function that our Senate Building does).  We walked around university campuses.  We read the newspapers.  Went to the West Bank (Bethlehem), and contemplated the gigantic wall that Israel is building for the separation of the two areas.  Were speechless over the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.  Shopped like locals.  Walked Jesus’ path of crucifixion.  Saw a movie.  Walked through an Arab section of town.  Saw several of Jesus’ burial chambers.  We toured the Holocaust Museum.  We were fascinated by the Western Wall where the faithful Jewish people pray.  We marveled over the beauty of the Golden Dome of the Rock that is located next to the al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. 

      

Even though we tried to have a real cross section of experiences, we found ourselves up to our eyeballs in religion; religious fashion, religious history, prayer books, prayer practices, places of worship, religious leaders, religious symbols and religious wars.  We even felt guilty as we cursed a town in which you have to keep track of which days certain sections of the city are closed, for religious reasons.

   

The obvious emotional reactions that many of the devout pilgrims have at the various sites around Jerusalem is quite moving.  It’s fascinating to watch people become so overwhelmed over a piece of rock or slab of stone.  We’re happy that it’s deeply moving to them.  While witnessing all of the blatantly devout followers of the various faiths, and knowing that there are millions of believers for each we asked ourselves two questions:  Can’t there be multiple paths to heaven and how religious does one have to be to deserve a spot there?   

 

And why fight over it?  So much of our months of travel has been about bloody struggles over religions.  Over the centuries, many populations have been forced to convert from one set of beliefs to another or pay with their lives.  To us, that isn’t what religion should be about, but it seems it has been and will continue to be a struggle for power, control and riches.  Sounds similar to governments, doesn’t it? 

We picked up the local paper in English, and were fascinated by the opinions and articles describing the current times in Israel.  Every possible opinion was expressed.  Most of them leading us to conclude that the elusive “Peace” between the Israelis and Palestinians is as far away as ever.  While we were there we read several opinion polls that indicate that both Jews and Arabs really don’t like or trust each other.  Believe it or not, we could feel that energy.  The feeling of love is not in the air in Jerusalem.

There is a glimmer of hope.  A vocal Jewish group is dedicated to a land swap in order to obtain a peace treaty.  They are a minority at this point, but are growing in numbers.  We hope they succeed.  Both Israel and Palestine should exist together with peace and security….in our humble opinions.

In the old historical section of Jerusalem (where Jesus was crucified and buried, where Mohammed had his dream, where the second Jewish temple was) there is a Jewish quarter, a Christian quarter, a Muslim quarter, and an   Armenian quarter.  On the edges of these quarters people of each faith somewhat mingle and seem to tolerate each other.  We wish this same cooperation could be extended to all of Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  We don’t understand why they both can’t peacefully co-exist.  We think they both should enjoy the historical and important area….together.

With all the Israeli soldiers and guards carrying automatic weapons our awareness was heightened as well.  Our heart rates and blood pressure were elevated pretty much all the time when we were out and about.  The security in and around Israel is the toughest we’ve seen.  Security checks and guns were everywhere -  shopping malls, coffee shops, restaurants, movie theaters, sacred sites ….pretty much everywhere.  We were amazed how we were searched on entry to most public locations. 

Our landlord for our Jerusalem stay was Reva Mann.  Reva is the accomplished author of “The Rabbis Daughter” and a very wonderful host.  We met her one night for a glass of wine and she admitted that although she doesn’t want to live anywhere else, she is scared with the situation today.  She pointed across the street from our location and told us of a suicide bomber that killed many people just a few years ago.  If she rides public transportation she thoroughly looks around to see if anyone looks like they might be a terrorist with intent to blow up the bus. 

Jerusalem could be a beacon for the world in its representation as a holy city  for all faiths.  Imagine if people of every religion could come here to pray and pay their respects without fear, and persecution.  “Some may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one“…….

Petra’s People

Where does one go to meet a goat herder who lives in a cave?  Or a second generation Palestine refugee who’s father was expelled from Israel?  Or a Veterinarian and part time restaurant owner who insists on sharing a cup of tea?  Or to see one of the newest wonders of the world?   Where else but  Jordan. 

It was high on our list of destinations because of the unique city of Petra, but we had no idea that it would be the people that would leave us raving over the country of Jordan.

 

Our introduction to the warm people of this small kingdom began with our guide, Abdullah.  He is a charming and funny guy; part Palestinian and part Jordanian.  As the result of one of the many Israel and Palestine conflicts  his father lost his land and Abdullah still carries lots of bitterness over the situation.  He freely expresses his love for Jordan, and longs for the freedom to travel to Palestine to visit his extended family.  He is hopeful that someday he will, but in the meantime he is busy planning for his wedding, where he thinks there will be somewhere around 2,500 guests.  And we thought the wedding industry in the USA was out of control!

We set out the next day for Petra, an ancient city carved out of solid sandstone.  The Nabataean people carved this city in a narrow rift in the rocks, and proceeded to create their mother city.  The original carved stone sites are a phenomenon to behold and are amazingly still largely intact.  We spent two days exploring all the nooks and crannies, braved a harsh sand storm, and were thoroughly impressed with the area. 

On our second day at Petra, we hiked into the site from the back gate and had a long walk down a winding road.  A local goat herder named Ali was walking the same way so we naturally started to talk with him.  He literally lives in a cave within the Petra historical site, herds goats for a living, and speaks really good English!  He’s in his twenties, wears a turban with jeans and was in a hurry because he needed to light a fire for his goats, especially the two day old twins.  He laughed when we joked about him being a proud papa.  He admitted that he was very pleased and concerned about them as it was colder then expected.  He pointed out some sites in Petra which few tourists see and gave us his interpretation of some of the symbols.  He genuinely seemed to be a kind hearted human being and was tolerant of our 5 words we knew in Arabic.  Never did we anticipate that we’d hike with a young turban wearing goat herder in Jordan……wow…..it was a memorable experience to say the least.

 

After having a delicious meal at a local restaurant, Ali the Veterinarian and part time restaurant owner, invited us to sit with him for tea.  He wanted us to know that 85% of the Jordanian people are college educated, most for free.  After some probing, he admitted that the country is full of under employed young people and that the education isn’t actually free.  The fees come from somewhere.  He also stressed that their health care system is available to anyone, and that their leader King Abdullah is admired for all he has done for the working people.  He is an intelligent well read man who obviously loves his country and wants to dispel myths the western world has about his homeland and the Middle East.  His English was impeccable as he travels extensively with an organization that helps people care for their working animals.  We found him to be another sweetheart of a person, and another example of generous Jordanian hospitality.

We loved the distinctive city of Petra, but even more impressive were the people.  The hospitality and the warm nature of the Jordanian people made us feel very welcome and we’re glad we made the effort to visit a tiny corner of their country.

Crazy Cairo

All we needed were two bottles of drinking water to insure that we had no more issues with nasty bugs during our travels.  Here’s our story….

To set the scene:  It was a night time arrival in Cairo, a city with close to 20 million people, but no one really knows for sure.  We’d just had peaceful stay in Delphi, Greece which has just over 500 people…..if that.  So it was, yet another, major culture shock.  After checking into our hotel, we made our move to get bottled water.  No way were we going to pay hotel prices.  Little did we know that the inexpensive water we had yet to buy would cost so much.  In stress. 

The first challenge was to get past security.  Even to leave the hotel we had to pass bomb sniffing dogs and multiple guards with automatic weapons. 

Next we had to fend off the aggressive vendors trying to sell us taxi rides, Egyptian Ferrari rides (you guessed it, a donkey pulling a carriage), and miniature versions of a pharaoh, queen or another ancient deity. 

We spot a late night convenience store on the other side of the Nile, yes THE Nile.  The one we’ve heard about all our lives.  This little errand might be kind of fun after all.  Except that the store is across an eight lane street with no pedestrian walk ways nor lights.  Holy S%$t!  There are wall-to-wall cars and NO lanes.  To us, there is little, if any, discernable order to where the cars should be.  The road is full of vehicles and it’s 11:00 at night!  Do we really need the water this bad?

We decide to use the locals as teachers as well as shields.  They make it look doable, so with steely nerves we step out into the oncoming traffic that only  slows down at the very last second, if they really have to.  At least if anyone is hit, we won’t be first.  We make it half way.

Teetering on the very skinny median in the middle of this madness we question again if we need the water this badly.  Yes, we do - it’s $5 for a half liter bottle!  One more time we wait for the locals to move.  We are right behind them.  Ready?  Go…now.  We make it across. 

We had no idea that we were going to take our lives in our hands, but we did make it, one way, and bought two big jugs of fine Egyptian bottled water.  We will not go thirsty nor get giardia again.

It’s hard to believe that we have to repeat the bloc and shield technique to get back to our hotel.  Once more we line ourselves up with the locals.  Ready….set…..go.  To the median first then quickly to the other side.  Whew, we made it.  Oh oh, something is missing.  WHERE THE HELL IS AMY?  Wasn’t she right behind me?  One of the first rules of travel is don’t forget your wife.  For a split second I forgot mine.  She’s all the way on opposite side of this ridiculous street.  I look at her….she looks at me.  She doesn’t look happy.  This is not good.

I watch as she tries multiple times to get through the fast cars, but the traffic is non stop and there are no locals in sight.  And she’s pissed.  Fortunately I find another local, repeat the process, and finally get to my honey.  She’s not a happy camper to say the least.  So….once again we shadow the locals (with Amy on my hip)…..and make it across.  Eventually she forgives me.

The next day we tell our guide, who is from Cairo, what we had done.  He said that even he would not attempt to do what we did, and that Cairo’s streets are completely insane. Especially for pedestrians.  Yes they are.  Couldn't he have told us that before?

Egypt – What Happened? A Rant

As travelers from North America, we’re well aware that our standards are different.  Not better, just different.  Ok, maybe sometimes better, but we try hard to keep an open mind.  It’s not easy and often we have to remind each other to only observe and not to judge.  As a change of pace, for this post, we’re breaking our rules (again) and going to sit in our easy chair and armchair quarterback the best we know how.   And, we’re breaking the 11th commandment again as well by comparing.  This time the Egyptians are on the hot seat... 

In the 5000 years since the early Egyptians rose to greatness, the once impressive, innovative society seems to have lost it’s way and is now far from being great. Modern Egypt as compared to Ancient Egypt - What the heck happened?

From our previous post, you know that we had a fabulous time in Egypt. We loved everything ancient and even though it was temporarily off limits, the waters of the Red Sea.  We’re happy that we went.  This post is about the things that we found to be not so glowing. Frankly some of present day Egypt left us speechless.  Be warned; we are on the proverbial soap box for this one….

It’s hard not be wowed by the ancient Egyptians. For the era, they were a very advanced society. Their architectural inventions, their artwork, the way they engineered the sandy barren land to produce food, their creativity in worshipping their gods and goddesses, their development of hieroglyphics for telling stories and communicating…. A civilization to behold.

  

 

What happened? In our opinion, Egypt could be so much more. With it’s natural resources, control of the Suez canal, “free” elections, and tourist industry; it could set the bar high for the rest of Middle East and, for that matter, the World just as they did way way back when. Centuries ago, they established their culture with such gusto but it seems they aren’t able to keep any kind of pace with progress. In fact, current Egypt is lagging, by a long shot.

The architecture is boring, dumpy, ugly; functional at best. The glorious temples and mammoth tombs have been mostly surpassed with boxy, mundane, hurry-up construction. We found one shining exception, the Alexandria Library.  The library is a glimmer of the ancient greatness with a contemporary twist. It is a unique structure and has a sense of the pride that we think Egypt could have once again. It was designed to look like the rising sun and to harness the sunlight by filtering it just the right amount to light the interior. We hope that Alexandria and the rest of Egypt uses it’s symbolism to emerge to glory once again.

Their lack of concern for the environment is condemnable. Oil is cheap and abundant so there is no concern over how many cars are on the road or for controlling emissions and pollution standards. The air around Cairo is disgusting. It’s like Los Angeles in the early 70s. The technology exists to have clean skies. Why aren’t they using it?

 

And the litter…..don’t get us started. It’s really awful; some of the worst we’ve seen in the world. How could they dump their trash in the Nile? Don’t they realize that the world reveres their river? Or that it feeds them? That it is their light (literally and figuratively)?  Maybe the Egyptians of the 3000s BC were litterbugs too. In those days people’s waste was more like compost.  These are the days of plastic and toxins and the present day Egyptians haven’t changed their disposal methods. Way too many people still dump their rubbish (plastic and petroleum based products) in the river, on the side of the road, down a ravine.  And nobody seems to mind.
As a suggestion; why not pay the unemployed a fair amount for every kilo of liter they pick up. The streets and river would be clean and they’d have some spending money.  

And it’s a pathetic shame the way they treat their work animals. What happened to the reverence they paid to them once upon a time?  It’s hard for us to look at the camels, horses and mules that are beaten and underfed. Please, if you go to Egypt and pay for any service that involves these beasts of burden, pick ones that are treated with respect. If you see someone beating their horse, take a carriage ride with someone that doesn’t use a whip. If you see ribs and hip bones, choose another animal and, if possible, tell the abuser why you’re not selecting them. We don’t understand why this problem is so rampant when the animals put food on their table and clothes on their backs.   Fortunately, there are good samaritans that try to educate people on how to treat animals.  But we have to ask, why does a society, especially one that had such an illustrious beginning have to be taught how to treat helpless creatures?  We were so relieved when we met one veteranian that provides free healthcare to any donkey or horse that is in need.  Thank goodness, some people take advantage of his services.  

 

Has corruption at all levels always been the prevailing cultural norm? Were the pharaohs and nobles on the take the same as today’s leaders? Did working class Egyptians from long ago expect handouts like they do today? We learned that the pay is so dismal that most of people working at the tourist sites expect a few coins for doing nothing but pointing the way to an obvious site. Even the ones with automatic weapons do it! It’s called Baksheesh. Everyone seems to have their hand out.

Through our conversations with our guides and other locals and by listening to the news, it’s well known that the highest government officials are on the take. So, we’re sure that it’s a systemic problem.  The leaders are teaching the rest of Egyptian society how to behave.  We’re guessing that this pervasive corruption is the root of many of Egypt’s issues. If the high ranking officials didn’t keep so much for themselves there would be more then enough budget to address our complaints.

Most local Egyptians don’t blink an eye at this stuff so this is definitely just a soap box moment for us.  From our interactions with local people we learned that the corruption worries them, the environment and pollution don’t bother them, the animal cruelty is just the way it is and, in general, most people are too poor to think about architecture and design.      

We’re stepping off the soap box now.  We’re retiring from being quarterbacks.  Thanks for this indulgence.  Although some of what we’ve seen isn’t pretty it is all so interesting.  Even with all of our moaning and groaning we are so glad we included an ancient Egyptian adventure on our itinerary.