Welcome to Israel

Typically when I travel, I like to spend the first day in observation. I like to watch the people and see how they dress, walk, talk, interact with each other. I am much more of an observer than a participant, and I have been absolutely fascinated by the differences between the Egyptians and the Israelis.

To start, this country is significantly cleaner than Egypt was. Cats and dogs are actually domestic animals rather than strays, and everything (as in roads, buildings, cars) seems to be less crowded. I got acclimated to Egypt quickly, but I don't think I realized just how strange of a place it was until I left. In Egypt, it wasn't unusual to see a farmer with a mule-drawn cart bringing his produce into the city, or four men riding one motorcycle in-between lanes with no helmets. Everyone in Cairo seemed to have a connection to everyone else in the community. Here, much like in the U.S., people seem to generally mind their own business.  And also, the cat-calls and marriage proposals have finally ceased.

Today we got lost in Tel Aviv. But really, I'm ok with that because we were on a bus and it gave us an opportunity to see the city in a way we wouldn't have otherwise. Our hotel is right on the Mediterranean Sea, so after our elaborate buffet breakfast, we headed down to the shore for a more scenic route to the bus station where we'd make our journey to the Jewish Diaspora Museum. Now, the bus system here is efficient, but intimidating. My dear friend Dena, whose family is Israeli, convinced me that I didn't need to bother learning any Hebrew because EVERYONE speaks English. Well what she didn't tell me was that all of the signs are not, so navigating the buses and their stops was confusing at best (thanks a lot, Dena! ;)) . When we arrived at the Camel Market (where the bus station was), we had to interrogate four different people to find out where the #24 bus was, which, according to our hotel concierge, would take us to the museum at Tel Aviv University.

Tel Aviv bus drivers are very talented individuals and are EXPERTS at multi-tasking. They can open a door, take payment, issue change, give receipts, close a door, drive, not run over pedestrians and answer questions, all within a matter of seconds. They're practically machines. And when you want to get off of the bus, you must let them know with the press of a button, otherwise you're stuck til the next stop. When we finally got off (several stops after ours, since we didn't know the rules...) we hiked through the university and found the museum, which I'm sorry to say bored me to tears. It's not that the subject wasn't important, but the manner in which they presented it was outdated and yawn-inspiring. So after a few hours there, we hopped on another bus back. Except this bus didn't head back to the Camel Market. So we sat and watched the shops, restaurants, and people go by. We tried asking the driver if he was heading in our direction, but he spoke no English, so we waited until we were as close to the beach as possible, and hopped off. 

I've heard a lot of negative remarks about the Israelis in the same way that I've heard bad things about the French. But I haven't had trouble in either culture. The best thing to pack when traveling is a smile and good manners. At one point during our trek back to the hotel, Kevin and I pulled out our Tel Aviv map to make sure we were heading the right direction. Moments later a well-dressed woman stopped and asked where we were heading and if we needed help. We told her where our hotel was. "Ah, yes, you're now in Jaffa. You need to go to that bus stop and get on the #10 or the #88. Ask them to take you to the Camel Market. The buses here are very good and very cheap." We thanked her as she smiled and walked away. Aside from the help, it was a relief not to get hit up for money after offering mere advice. In Egypt, you could do someone's work and they'd expect to get paid for it. 


For dinner we finally had our long-awaited, authentic Mediterranean food, and it was glorious. We popped into a little shop down the street from our hotel where we asked for two chicken schwarmas with hummus. The man in charge refused to let us pay until after we had eaten our food, so we sat and sank our teeth into the potato chunks and warm pita bread before getting a lesson on how to say "thank you" in Hebrew (for those of you who are curious, it's toe-DAW rah-BAW phonetically, but the R is rolled). They made me repeat it a few times before allowing me to leave. Best meal all trip. 


Tomorrow we bid Tel Aviv a temporary farewell and head to Eilat where we'll spend the night and take our tour of Petra, Jordan. More Israel to come. 


Oh, and I finally posted some photos, so feel free to check out my flickr account!