Some pictures of Tel Aviv / Rishon / Tiberias. Standby for a Tour of my new home Ma’agan Michael.

Day 20 – 23

On Saturday we had a party up at Kaddarim for the kids birthday / barmitzvah. Because only close family came to the temple for the bar mitzvah more extended family and friends were invited to come and bbq with us. It was fun – it was the last chance for me to spend time with the kids before I leave. We played poker and chess and rode around the kibbutz on bikes.

After the party Herbie drove us back to Tel Aviv and we stayed the night in a place Called Bat Yam – which by night is a bit dodgy but by day is really nice. Its right on the beach and theres lots of cafes and restaurants.

At about 11 Einav came again and together we went to some crazy bar cafe place where one of her friends were celebrating her 21st birthday. First you had to take off your shoes then you walk in and theres many low tables and nooks and crannys and lots of pillows and cushions to laze on. Next theres almost no white light except for a few candles here and there the whole place is dimly lit with black light so everything white glows! The tables are all painted so they glow neon and the menu’s are glowing too. I had a good time – unlike some occasions when the Israeli’s I meet in groups prefer to just talk hebrew with themselves I had a bit of conversation and it was a nice way to wind down the hectic day! We all left at a decent hour and Einav set off to the airport at 3am that morning for a flight to Barcelona for a vacation.

The next morning Mum and I had brekfast at a cafe on the beach then waited for Avi to come. After dropping mum in shiller I went back to Tel Aviv and just chilled. At about 4 I met up with Yoav and together we went to an awesome Hummous place that played non stop reggae music and sat and ate hummous and full. Yum. After eating we wandered over to a rally that was being held in a public square in Tel Aviv by Sudanese refugees to Israel to highlight the genocide that has been taking place in Darfur for a long time with little to none international coverage of the issue. We hung out there for a while and enjoyed the atmosphere and sat in solidarity and listened to music. After that we took a tour of Sheinken which is a street roughly comparable to Krd in Auckland or Brunswick St in Melbourne. Once the cultural hub of the city and now dotted with Nike Town and McDonalds – although interestingly enough I disovered that Starbucks opened here a few years ago and actually didnt survive!! Thats a first. The tiki tour took us to a pool hall where we met with Michal and played pool – I won some lost some then Michal and I paired up and kicked Yoav and Matzi’s asses. Very satisfying. After some investigation of gig guides we went to a bar nearby and saw a band play which was actually lots of fun. A hot chocolate later and I was so tired I crawled home and slept like a baby.

This morning I went out to get a Jerusalem Post (a newspaper in english) and boy it was hot! And it was only 9.30 in the morning. After a coffee Avi and I went for a swim at a beach in Tel Aviv – water was actually quite cold but very nice on such a hot day. After an hour we moved down the road a bit to another beach where some friends of Avi’s were sitting – Yossi is the son of Beni the Fisherman and is a hilarious kind of character – he insited we drink much vokda with red bll and forced a few shots on us too. I was downing the water as fast as I could or else I’d really be toast in the middle of the sun. Every 20 minutes or so you need to jump in the water and get yourself wet or else you die of heat stroke pretty much.

Later that night I visted Shuki and the kids one last time and helped them shower (which was a very wet affair I must add!) and then played guitar for them while they fell asleep. I can’t wait to be back to see these kids again I really love them with everything I got. Shuki, Tali and I sat and talked for awhile about how the journey was for me and what feelings came up. After a quick supermarket visit I came back and fell asleep.

This morning on the last day after the obligitory coffee in the morning Avi and I set of on what would be a 3 hour sivuv (tiki tour) to find shoes for me – I originally wanted some replacement chucks for my tatty pair but found some other ones instead. Also went round one of the markets and had a squizz. We ended up in another food joint (avi definately knows the best) and had Sabich which is hard boiled egg and potato and eggplant and salad all in a pita pocket.

Now we’re sitting around on Shiller soon to go to airport to leave this place for two days in Thailand!

Lehitraot!

(Click for big photo + caption)

Yesterday I just hung out with my uncle chuck as he checked out a new car he was going to buy – turned out to be a lemon – but in the process we went to Tiberias and to Ami’ad which is the kibbutz my grandma was on when it was set up! And she remembers being there when one of the wars were on and Arab people were up on the hill next to the kibbutz shooting down on them all day! We got a fellafel in Tiberias – seriously it’s hard to explain without seeing it yourself but coming from little ol NZ every eating occasion in a dingy fellafel shop is an experience.. so much fun I love it.

Today I got up early and drove to Nahalal to pick up mum and we embarked on our journey to Eilat. Its almost the entire country – but still doesnt take that long – except if your us and you stop a million times. We first drove through a town called Bet She’an which has some old ampitheatre ruins. Coming from a young country like NZ it’s hard to fathom ancient ruins but when you see them you really do feel the history and the age. After we left bet she’an we drove into the very eastern side of the west bank and drove all the way down towards Jericho down the border of Israel and Jordan. It’s an experience driving this part of Israel – shows you the reality of a militarized country – lots of army trucks with machine guns on and UN vehicles not to mention the fence of the border. However despite all this all along the way Arab Israeli’s live and farm and work and do their thing. Kids are running around and life is life. It’s their reality.

We drove around Jericho (the road kinda avoids it) because its a bit of a dodgy city. A few checkpoints later and we joined the road from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea. We passed Kalya which is the kibbutz mum lived on and did the army while she was there. The last checkpoint my second cousin was working on so we stopped and chatted to him for awhile. Its all abit weird but I guess in terms of checkpoints this was a nice one – the sun beaming down – a beautiful view of the Dead Sea and a radio blaring a radio station they pick up from Jordan. After a little detour up the huge cliffs to take a photo and lunch in En Geidi we continued down past the salt pools and factories on the way through the Negev desert to Eilat. A few hours later and some confused lostness in Eilat we finally found our hotel and checked in grabbed some hummous and ful for dinner and then crashed!

(Click for big photo + caption)