Ok everyone, I'm afraid i'm going to have to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for a minute to introduce you all to the glorious creation that is www.spam.com. I discovered this quite by accident earlier today (I actually have no idea what link I ran into where, now that I think about it), but visiting this site puts a warm glow in my heart. Everyone needs to see in particular the SPAMMOBILE and the SPAM FAQ. Then imagine me grinning like an idiot and doing a little happy dance in my head. I knew SPAM was brilliant after seeing a can with the word "Spamtabulous" on it, but this really takes the cake. I may be forced to buy a T-shirt or something. (In the interests of full disclosure, I should admit I've tried SPAM once, and thought it was pretty decent. It has a little bit of an odd smell, but it tastes decently good. I imagine that when fried it probably improves on both fronts).
Ok, now that that is out of my system, I'll just "quickly" (I'm sure this is going to end up being quite long) report that I am now safely back in Cairo after a marathon bus ride Sunday night. We got back here around noon Monday, after which I basically crashed/vegetated for the afternoon and slept the whole night. I'm feeling a little off today still (partially I think because I've been a bit sick for a while now, and partially from all the travelling), but overall things are going well. I've realized I've got a lot more homework than I thought, which is unfortunate, but should still be manageable if I work at it pretty consistently.
Before I go, I'll just quickly tell you all a little more about Jerusalem. My last post was on Friday (well, technically Saturday but it was just shortly after midnight), when I told you a bit about the Old City. We continued our explorations on Saturday, spending a fair amount of time shopping (among other things, I managed to bargain a 53% price reduction on a gigantic Israeli flag for my collection back home) and enjoying the wonderful atmosphere. We tried to see the Dome of the Rock again (but were sadly unsuccesful - they keep odd hours and close often I think partly as a deterrent to tourists, though I can't actually know that. We never did make it onto the Temple Mount, though, despite our persistence). One huge highlight as far as I was concerned was a long walk down the battlements of the city. As I said before, the walls are basically intact (though apparently mostly of Ottoman rather than Medeival construction). The view of the city is pretty good, and I of course geeked out because I was walking on the walls of Jerusalem. I'm sure all of you can imagine me marching (since of course one does not simply walk when atop a wall) from crenelation to crenalation, humming and imagining that all the buildings on Mount Zion were actually beseiging Crusader tents, arrayed before the final assault on the walls.
Anyway, my geekyness aside, as afternoon approached, we realized we'd seen just about everything there was to see in the city, and so resolved to go to Bethlehem for our next foray. As some of you may be aware, Bethlehem (بيت لحم , or Bayt Lahm, literally, house of meat) is actually in the West Bank, despite its short physical distance from Jerusalem. It was with some trepidation therefore that we set out for the border. A short (but incredibly expensive, since all taxis in Israel are disgustingly, criminally expensive) taxi ride later brought us to The Wall. I say "The Wall" in capital letters because it really is one hell of a wall. In the west we hear about a border fence or a barrier being constructed around the West Bank, but pictures don't really do justice to the substantiality of the thing. It's some 30 feet high, 1 and a half feet thick, and made entirely of reinforced concrete. There are towers set into the wall roughly every 200 meters (I'm really just guessing on that part, and I imagine there are fewer towers away from Jerusalem) and barbed wire is coiled along its entire length. The gateway itself is tightly controlled and automobile access in particular is regulated by means of a huge steel door across the roadway. For pedestrians, you go through a fairly large processing facility before finally reaching the gateway itself to cross the barrier. The facility is very obviously built to control explosions, with reinforced concrete and bullet-proof glass throughout and specialized turns in the passages meant to protect civilians in the unfortunate case where a suicide bomber tries to take out the metal detectors. Naturally, entering the West Bank was very easy, and we quickly made it through to the other side.
Once across the wall, the Bethlehem area turned out to be fairly nice. A little dusty, but otherwise calm. I didn't really expect anything different, because we were so close to the border, we were in a tourist area, and there's no mixing of cultures to provide tension. Ironically, part of that is probably thanks to the wall itself (Palestinian protests to the contrary). It is also true that even the most violent areas of the world (and I'm not saying that the West Bank is one of them) are typically mostly quiet with occasional outbursts of violence. Iraqis, for example, still have to go out and shop, and eat and interact on a daily basis, no matter how many suicide bombs go off or how violent the civil war becomes. This truth also explains why statements like John McCain's "I was totally safe walking the streets while visiting Baghdad" are ridiculous and also meaningless - the streets are perfectly safe up until the point at which someone starts shooting. When conservatives tell you there is no civil war going on, they are imagining conventional warfare, which doesn't translate to reality very well. Civil war doesn't look like the traditional blasted hellscapes you see from World War I or II - it is a state of unregulated and irregular violence that punctures the normal rythyms of life. I like to joke that that the Administration is waiting for the sides to start wearing blue and gray before admitting reality; in some ways though, its not really a joke, because that is sort of the picture they want to paint about civil war.
Anyway, enough about violence. Our trip included nothing of the sort. We picked up a new taxi shortly after crossing the border, and took it into the city. Our driver was very nice and also a pleasure to talk to, as Palestinian arabic is much closer to the standard arabic we've all studied for so long (its nice to know our textbook is good for something after all - you wouldn't know from hanging out in Cairo). He also spoke excellent english, which compensated for our collective poor understanding of arabic. On our way to the Church of the Nativity, he showed us where the Shepherds' field (yes, those shepherds) and the Milky Grotto (where apparently Mary breast fed Jesus) were, though we decided not to trek over to either. The church itself seems to be positioned right in the downtown, and appears to be a comination of several structures into one semi-monastic complex. Like with the Church of the Sepulcher, the church is divided along Eastern Orthodox and Latin lines, and also like the Church of the Sepulcher, much of it is in bad repair. Visiting the Church of the Nativity though helped me to understand why this was the case. Both structures are very old, and so the original mosaics and forms are badly damaged (what can still be seen, though, is absolutely stunning - the mosaics are technical masterpieces and also appear to use a whole heck of a lot of gold). Its not so much that the churches are in bad repair as there's no way to replicate or otherwise do justice to the old, mostly lost artistry. The decision seems to have been to do all repairs in a minimalist style so as not to detract from what remains. The blank walls are thus not a sign of poor maintenance, but rather bear mute testimony to the tragic toll of years.
After touring the Church, we of course did the requisite souvenier buying before heading back to the Wall. Bethlehem's residents are very Arab in disposition, and bargaining there is very similar to bargaining in Egypt. Prices are also dramatically lower for non-touristy items (relative to Jerusalem), which again strongly resembles Egypt. The few people we met were decently friendly, but what little I saw of the Palestinian security forces didn't impress me (admittedly were weren't there long, but I saw a fair amount of sitting/not being present and not a lot of attention or care, and I'm comparing to the Egyptian standard, where things are peaceful). Back at the Wall, incoming security was much tighter than it was on the outbound trip, but not terribly so. Clearly the route is fairly well used by tourists and religious pilgrims, though traffic when we were crossing was very light. Other than the obvious security measures, it was not unlike customs at any other border.
After Bethlehem, our evening was fairly easy. We did a little more touring (this time in the New City, which I imagine is a far more happening place when holidays haven't closed everything - I'm not going to launch into Israeli politics here, but lets just say that the orthodox religious parties of the Knesset have far too much power, ergo, everything including public transportation shuts down early or entirely around the end of Passover, like the beginning), and then retired to our new sleeping arrangements. Saving ourselves from the couches of the New Palm Hostel, we were able to secure a room for a night at the Mount of Olives Hotel, on the mount of the same name. Though at $25 per person, it wasn't exactly a 5 star accomodation, all of us were incredibly happy to see proper beds. Unfortunately, that meant that yours truly slept a little too deeply and so missed the Sunday services that we had planned to go to. I made up for it sort of by going to the Church of St. Anne and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but I sadly didn't get to be a part of an organized service (though I observed part of an Orthodox ceremony that made no sense at all - a lot of pacing and a little bit of chanting by the priests and patriarch, no clear organization and no participation by the congregation. I can't even pretend to know what they were up to, and I watched like an hour of it before giving up and going to pray at the Sepulcher itself).
Anyway, after the religious part of the day, we spent a goodly amount of time walking around the new city (without seeing a whole lot of interest), before returning to the hotel. Our minibus picked us up at 11:30 pm (as I mentioned before) and we came back to Cairo. On the whole, I'm pretty happy I'm back, though I had an awesome time with everything.
Before I bring this to a close, I just want to quickly clarify some stuff about what I was talking about re: the West Bank/the Wall. I don't want to be misinterpreted as seeming to be anti-Israel or anti-Palestinian, both of which positions I can imagine people getting from the observations I made. I've done a fair amount of thinking about how I feel about the Wall (and about Israel/Palestine more generally, which I'm not about to get into here) and I think the place I come down at is reluctant support for it. Fundamentally, I don't like the Wall and what it represents as a physical manifestation of the division between two peoples. At the same time, I recognize why the Israelis have built/are building it. After years of effort and countless tries at negotiation and peace, including Sharon's bold pullout from the Gaza strip, Israel has been unable to effect a settlement with the Palestinians. Part of this is the fault of the Israelis, to be sure (again, i'm trying really hard not to launch into a whole debate about the broader questions, so you're just going to have to accept that at face value), but I think that also a very large part of the problem lies with the Palestinians. Frankly, they haven't really ever had their act together and/or started behaving like a responsible state/entity. Even with Abbas (who I have a ton of respect for and definitely think is a huge improvement over Arafat, who again i'm not going to get into), the Palestinians have been plagued by internal divisions and infighting (Hamas and Fatah is just the latest version of the same tired meme). Even were the Palestinians to make a deal with Israel, like in the many interim deals of the past, the Palestinians can't be trusted to keep their groups under control long enough to translate words into action. Inevitably, someone goes and blows something up in retaliation for something or other (I'm not getting into whether any given retaliation was justified, so don't start), and things are back to square one. Looking entirely from Israel's perspective as a state for a moment, the Palestinians are unreliable and also dangerous. The Wall represents Israel's answer to those years of danger. Shutting off the West Bank and Gaza behind concrete barriers is a sort of capitulation - giving up on cooperative solutions, giving up hope at least for the short term. After so many years of pain and frustration, Israel is trying to disengage itself from the conflict. It just doesn't want to be involved anymore. It's a cynical response and it's a sad response in many ways. It definitely isn't the ideal solution or even really a good compromise/attempt at a solution. It is, however, a solution. Since the Wall has gone up, violence in Israel related to Palestine has dropped dramatically. When the Wall is complete, most of the danger to Israel will likely go with it. Of course, Israel also loses a lot because of the wall (the losses to the Palestinians I think are very evident), too, most notably the potential benefits of continued engagement with their neighbors.
Now, I'm an optimist, so I don't think the Wall represents the sort of gloom and doom most people think of it as. It is certainly an abandonment of faith in the best alternative futures, and is in many ways a cop out as opposed to a true solution. Rather than seeing the Wall as a hot knife driven into the wounds of both Israel and Palestine, I think it may have some potential as a scab which might help wounds to heal. Both sides will have the opportunity to solve their own problems before returning to the negotiating table (I think actually this is part of the Israelis' plan: get the Palestinians to fight it out with eachother and resolve their own problems before Israel has to deal with them - there's a cynical spin to that, but I prefer the more optimistic one). In some ways, this will increase the pressure on Israel not to interfere in Palestinian affairs, because with the Wall, any such interference will be readily seen as unjust and uncaused. Without such interference, the pressure will also be on the Palestinians to organize their affairs and become more of a nation and less of a cluster___ of competing interests. Here's hoping.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Jerusalem (Subtitle: No Room at the Inn)
Michael, Clark and I finally said goodbye to Tel Aviv today, and hello to Jerusalem, the holy city we all know and love as the headquarters/symbolic victim of the Zionist-Crusader Forces of the Godless West (TM). (Incidentally, Clark and I want to make t-shirts: On the front, there would be an IDF soldier and a medieval knight, and on the back, in big bold letters (like for SWAT teams), it would say "Zionist-Crusader Force"). Contrary to popular belief, Jerusalem has so far neither turned out to be the headquarters of any kind of occupation, nor has it turned out to be a particularly hostile place (so far, though obviously, we're in the relatively safer tourist areas). Actually, if I didn't know that I was in spitting distance of the West Bank, I'd think I was in Ireland for all the apparent danger/unrest in the area. That aside, you do gain some understanding of Israel's fears re: the Palestinians when you realize that Tel Aviv (the operational capital of the nation) is less than an hour from the frontier, and relatively speaking, Jerusalem is a far more distant frontier than other parts of the border with the West Bank.
Politics aside, the city itself is quite beautiful. We are staying in East Jerusalem, just outside the Damascus gate of the Old City, which gives us ready access to most of the historical areas of the city while hopefully keeping us out of harm's way. We are in the Arab portion of the city, so we are being a bit careful with what we do/where we go than we might be otherwise, but so far we haven't had any trouble at all on the streets. Ironically, the Palestinian areas of the city are in some ways more familiar and comfortable than the Jewish ones; we all understand Arabic much better than we do Hebrew and the street dynamics are very similar to those in Cairo. I'm hoping this will continue to be an advantage throughout Holy Weekend.
Speaking of Holy Weekend, I have to say it is really cool to be here in Jerusalem for the end of Passover and the Easter holiday. After we got in (a little after noon) today, we dropped our stuff off at our erstwhile hostel (more on housing intrigues in a bit) and went into the old city to see the religious sites around us. On the way, of course, we got to see a good bit of the Old City and its lovely architecture. I didn't really realize it before coming here, but the Old City is a rather impressively intact medieval style city, with complete city walls, operational gates, narrow cobbled streets and aged buildings. Adding to the interest, every single street is filled with shops, stands, juice bars and restaurants, turning the whole city into one giant bazaar. As most of the city seems to be populated with Arabs (who I suspect live elsewhere for the most part if only for space reasons), the winding streets of the Old City strongly remind me of the Khan el-Khalili bazaar in Cairo. Jerusalem is probably a little bit more touristy, but not so much as to be overwhelming.
We began our tour of the fascinating elements of the city by basically making a beeline for the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. It took a bit of wandering (though we were well lead by a girl named Sasha who'd been here for a few days), but we made it to the Wailing Wall pretty quickly. It was quite a sight, though smaller (at least widthwise - vertically, it is quite high) than I was expecting from pictures I've seen. You could tell even from a distance how incredibly old (and worn) the stones of the wall were; up close, you can practically see the centuries carved into some of the rock. Overall, I felt the site had a certain majesty (calling to mind the temple of old, perhaps), but also sadness. We were lucky enough to be there during some kind of ceremony (mass bar mitzvahs, maybe?) and so most of the time we were there the entire wall resonated with prayer, which I found really powerful. We were able to go up all the way to the wall and touch it (after getting skullcaps to cover our heads appropriately). On the whole, it was a really great experience, marred only slightly by one thing; the Wailing Wall is divided into two sections, one for men and one for women. I imagine this is because of the massive Hasidic influence (especially at the wall - probably 95% of everyone I saw there was hasidic or otherwise orthodox in dress and comportment). I'm not about to criticize customs that aren't my own (and that I don't properly understand), but it just seemed unfortunate that women and men should have to be divided in prayer, particularly when the wall itself is so divided and fragmentary. I may be waxing poetic (if so, feel free to shoot me), but somehow the division felt like a microcosm of a lot of other divisions in the Middle East and in Middle Eastern societies.
After our visit to the western wall, we went out of the Old City and around to the Lion Gate to do the Stations of the Cross (as part of the route to the Church of the Holy Sephulcher). We were able to visit almost all of the shrines (I couldn't find 7 for the life of me and I think 9 was closed or some such) and got to the church feeling very pious indeed. I felt that the richness of the experience was hugely amplified by the heavy Christian Orthodox (particularly greek, but also Armenian and other Eastern Orthodox) presence in the city. Actually, between the Russian Orthodox Christians and the Hasidic Jews, the city looked like it was hosting the annual pageant of the "Confederation of Former Tsarists and Nostalgic White Russians." (I particularly like this one kind of hat some Hasidic men wear, which looks like a thick single layer cake made out of fur. I kid you not, the thing is probably 8 inches thick and two feet in diameter). This Orthodox presence is very visible in the Church itself - much of the artwork and architecture recalls the Byzantine tradition more than the Latin tradition. The Church itself is very beautiful (particularly the central portions around the primary domes and the Sepulcher itself), but I was dismayed to see that much of the rest of the church is badly in need of repair. My understanding is that part of the problem is political competition between the Greek, Latin and Armenian churches, but it seems a shame that the holiest center in Christianity should be in parts little better maintained than basements in Cairo. The bathrooms in particular recalled more closely the actual trials and suffering of Christ than the holy site they were meant to be attached to.
That aside though, I really appreciated the opportunity to see/pray/experience the religious side of Jerusalem. I don't often get the chance/take the time to be a part of the more organized aspects of the Christian religion, but I always enjoy it when I do. I keep telling myself that I'm going to start going to mass regularly (or semi-regularly), but most of the time I don't actually live up to that 'commitment.' I end up only getting involved during the high holidays, and not often any time else. With time, I hope to find a better balance for me between the organized and personal aspects of my spirituality.
Anyway, on a more secular note, after taking in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, we went out into the bazaar parts of the city for a little more shopping before dinner (of course, while criss-crossing the city, we'd had plenty of time to look at a variety of shops and such, too). I got a huge Israeli flag and a couple of really great t-shirts that i'm looking forward to wearing back home, far away from the Middle East. My current favorite has a picture of an F-15 with the caption: "Don't Worry, America - Israel is Behind You." While I imagine it goes over like a lead balloon in oh, Syria, it's been a universal favorite for all the Americans/AUCians who've seen it.
Dinner came at around 8:30 (early by Israeli standards) when we went to a place in the Old City called (oh hell I don't remember, something like Cafe Andumin, but actually not anything like that) "Cafe Andumin" for lack of actually knowing the name. They had fantastic grilled food (and local Israeli wine), which was great, and as the restaurant is situated on the roof of its building, we had a great view of the whole city - from Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock (which we weren't able to visit as they are closed on Fridays for prayers), to the Church of the Sepulcher, the Church of the Ascension and the Tower of David (Citadel of Jerusalem). We met up with some AUC girls who happened to be staying near our hostel, and they were a nice addition to our group (and especially dinner conversation). I had something of a political discussion (as yet uncompleted) with one of the girls who is basically a batshit looney Republican (though very nice otherwise). I don't know where she thinks she gets her facts, but her die hard refusal to consider the possibility of global warming and/or the possibility of regulated capitalism puts her sadly far away from the fact/reality based community that I like to think most people live in. Such a tragedy.
Well, I think i'm going to bring this to something of a close. Its quite late now and I really should be headed to bed so that I can enjoy the day tomorrow. Our sleeping accommodations leave something to be desired, because the hobos who run the hostelry establishments around here managed to lose our reservations (along with those of a great number of other people). In addition, they managed to book more reservations than they actually had rooms (including literally promising rooms to people off the street) and also to lose our reservations again later in the day after we thought we'd remedied the situation before (they took us to the neighboring hostel which gave us beds, but then rescinded them to give them to someone else. Each hostel owner claims the other one told them we didn't need the rooms anymore, but I think they are both just morons. In fact, I don't think they actually know how many rooms/beds they have to rent, period!). As both hostel owners are Israeli Arabs/Palestinians, this has led to more than a few uncharitable (and hopefully unwarranted) comments by our disgruntled party as to the competence and efficacy of the Palestinians. The general gist is "If they can't run a freaking hostel, what hope is there for the Palestinian government?" I just hope the comparisons don't have any valid basis, or they really are screwed. Stupid hostel people. Anyway, we're on a mix of mattresses and couches in the common room and one of the dormers for lack of proper sleeping quarters. We'll live, but it sure is frustrating.
Politics aside, the city itself is quite beautiful. We are staying in East Jerusalem, just outside the Damascus gate of the Old City, which gives us ready access to most of the historical areas of the city while hopefully keeping us out of harm's way. We are in the Arab portion of the city, so we are being a bit careful with what we do/where we go than we might be otherwise, but so far we haven't had any trouble at all on the streets. Ironically, the Palestinian areas of the city are in some ways more familiar and comfortable than the Jewish ones; we all understand Arabic much better than we do Hebrew and the street dynamics are very similar to those in Cairo. I'm hoping this will continue to be an advantage throughout Holy Weekend.
Speaking of Holy Weekend, I have to say it is really cool to be here in Jerusalem for the end of Passover and the Easter holiday. After we got in (a little after noon) today, we dropped our stuff off at our erstwhile hostel (more on housing intrigues in a bit) and went into the old city to see the religious sites around us. On the way, of course, we got to see a good bit of the Old City and its lovely architecture. I didn't really realize it before coming here, but the Old City is a rather impressively intact medieval style city, with complete city walls, operational gates, narrow cobbled streets and aged buildings. Adding to the interest, every single street is filled with shops, stands, juice bars and restaurants, turning the whole city into one giant bazaar. As most of the city seems to be populated with Arabs (who I suspect live elsewhere for the most part if only for space reasons), the winding streets of the Old City strongly remind me of the Khan el-Khalili bazaar in Cairo. Jerusalem is probably a little bit more touristy, but not so much as to be overwhelming.
We began our tour of the fascinating elements of the city by basically making a beeline for the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. It took a bit of wandering (though we were well lead by a girl named Sasha who'd been here for a few days), but we made it to the Wailing Wall pretty quickly. It was quite a sight, though smaller (at least widthwise - vertically, it is quite high) than I was expecting from pictures I've seen. You could tell even from a distance how incredibly old (and worn) the stones of the wall were; up close, you can practically see the centuries carved into some of the rock. Overall, I felt the site had a certain majesty (calling to mind the temple of old, perhaps), but also sadness. We were lucky enough to be there during some kind of ceremony (mass bar mitzvahs, maybe?) and so most of the time we were there the entire wall resonated with prayer, which I found really powerful. We were able to go up all the way to the wall and touch it (after getting skullcaps to cover our heads appropriately). On the whole, it was a really great experience, marred only slightly by one thing; the Wailing Wall is divided into two sections, one for men and one for women. I imagine this is because of the massive Hasidic influence (especially at the wall - probably 95% of everyone I saw there was hasidic or otherwise orthodox in dress and comportment). I'm not about to criticize customs that aren't my own (and that I don't properly understand), but it just seemed unfortunate that women and men should have to be divided in prayer, particularly when the wall itself is so divided and fragmentary. I may be waxing poetic (if so, feel free to shoot me), but somehow the division felt like a microcosm of a lot of other divisions in the Middle East and in Middle Eastern societies.
After our visit to the western wall, we went out of the Old City and around to the Lion Gate to do the Stations of the Cross (as part of the route to the Church of the Holy Sephulcher). We were able to visit almost all of the shrines (I couldn't find 7 for the life of me and I think 9 was closed or some such) and got to the church feeling very pious indeed. I felt that the richness of the experience was hugely amplified by the heavy Christian Orthodox (particularly greek, but also Armenian and other Eastern Orthodox) presence in the city. Actually, between the Russian Orthodox Christians and the Hasidic Jews, the city looked like it was hosting the annual pageant of the "Confederation of Former Tsarists and Nostalgic White Russians." (I particularly like this one kind of hat some Hasidic men wear, which looks like a thick single layer cake made out of fur. I kid you not, the thing is probably 8 inches thick and two feet in diameter). This Orthodox presence is very visible in the Church itself - much of the artwork and architecture recalls the Byzantine tradition more than the Latin tradition. The Church itself is very beautiful (particularly the central portions around the primary domes and the Sepulcher itself), but I was dismayed to see that much of the rest of the church is badly in need of repair. My understanding is that part of the problem is political competition between the Greek, Latin and Armenian churches, but it seems a shame that the holiest center in Christianity should be in parts little better maintained than basements in Cairo. The bathrooms in particular recalled more closely the actual trials and suffering of Christ than the holy site they were meant to be attached to.
That aside though, I really appreciated the opportunity to see/pray/experience the religious side of Jerusalem. I don't often get the chance/take the time to be a part of the more organized aspects of the Christian religion, but I always enjoy it when I do. I keep telling myself that I'm going to start going to mass regularly (or semi-regularly), but most of the time I don't actually live up to that 'commitment.' I end up only getting involved during the high holidays, and not often any time else. With time, I hope to find a better balance for me between the organized and personal aspects of my spirituality.
Anyway, on a more secular note, after taking in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, we went out into the bazaar parts of the city for a little more shopping before dinner (of course, while criss-crossing the city, we'd had plenty of time to look at a variety of shops and such, too). I got a huge Israeli flag and a couple of really great t-shirts that i'm looking forward to wearing back home, far away from the Middle East. My current favorite has a picture of an F-15 with the caption: "Don't Worry, America - Israel is Behind You." While I imagine it goes over like a lead balloon in oh, Syria, it's been a universal favorite for all the Americans/AUCians who've seen it.
Dinner came at around 8:30 (early by Israeli standards) when we went to a place in the Old City called (oh hell I don't remember, something like Cafe Andumin, but actually not anything like that) "Cafe Andumin" for lack of actually knowing the name. They had fantastic grilled food (and local Israeli wine), which was great, and as the restaurant is situated on the roof of its building, we had a great view of the whole city - from Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock (which we weren't able to visit as they are closed on Fridays for prayers), to the Church of the Sepulcher, the Church of the Ascension and the Tower of David (Citadel of Jerusalem). We met up with some AUC girls who happened to be staying near our hostel, and they were a nice addition to our group (and especially dinner conversation). I had something of a political discussion (as yet uncompleted) with one of the girls who is basically a batshit looney Republican (though very nice otherwise). I don't know where she thinks she gets her facts, but her die hard refusal to consider the possibility of global warming and/or the possibility of regulated capitalism puts her sadly far away from the fact/reality based community that I like to think most people live in. Such a tragedy.
Well, I think i'm going to bring this to something of a close. Its quite late now and I really should be headed to bed so that I can enjoy the day tomorrow. Our sleeping accommodations leave something to be desired, because the hobos who run the hostelry establishments around here managed to lose our reservations (along with those of a great number of other people). In addition, they managed to book more reservations than they actually had rooms (including literally promising rooms to people off the street) and also to lose our reservations again later in the day after we thought we'd remedied the situation before (they took us to the neighboring hostel which gave us beds, but then rescinded them to give them to someone else. Each hostel owner claims the other one told them we didn't need the rooms anymore, but I think they are both just morons. In fact, I don't think they actually know how many rooms/beds they have to rent, period!). As both hostel owners are Israeli Arabs/Palestinians, this has led to more than a few uncharitable (and hopefully unwarranted) comments by our disgruntled party as to the competence and efficacy of the Palestinians. The general gist is "If they can't run a freaking hostel, what hope is there for the Palestinian government?" I just hope the comparisons don't have any valid basis, or they really are screwed. Stupid hostel people. Anyway, we're on a mix of mattresses and couches in the common room and one of the dormers for lack of proper sleeping quarters. We'll live, but it sure is frustrating.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Other Thoughts on Tel Aviv (and Hebrew)
I'm cheating a little bit by editing the time on this post, but I was thinking about sending this in at the stated time, so its almost like it actually happened the way I'm about to claim it did. Anyway, last night I took a long walk down the Tel Aviv boardwalk (despite the fact that we got up early today, I for some reason felt the need to stay up) and really enjoyed it and wanted to talk about it. So now, for the rest of the post, its actually last night. Shh....
Anyway, so I was walking south down the boardwalk towards Old Jaffa, listening to music on the MP3 player (thanks again, bro) , enjoying the sound of the waves hitting the breakwaters and reveling in the cool night air, when I noticed an extremely bright star glowing over the water (this would have been to my right, which is also the West. I know that for some of my readers, one or both of those directional cues will be meaningless, but well, I do what I can). I couldn't figure out what it was for a long time; the light glowed brighter and brighter, so much so that I could see its reflection off the water. Finally, it got close enough that I could see that it was in fact several lights - an airplane, flying very low over the water, inbound towards Tel Aviv airport. This wouldn't be worthy of mention in this post except for the fact that it was so different from any other plane I've ever seen come in for a landing. It had no blinking lights and was so bright it briefly outshone the full moon. Anyway, it ended up being one of several planes coming in, so I got to watch a series of 'shooting stars' materialize offshore, grow and then majestically streak overhead towards the airport. I thought it was really neat, anyway.
The other thing worthy of mention (and that I'm particularly proud of), is that within about 18 hours of arriving in Tel Aviv, I managed to learn and understand most of the Hebrew alphabet, without any assistance other than that provided by road signs and other standard street information. I'm still a little shaky on one or two characters (and I'm sure I've absolutely mutilated the pronunciation - there's no way to work out the vowelling system without a textbook), but its already come in handy several times. For example, when I went to buy shampoo (having foolishly left mine back in Cairo), I was able to determine which of the myriads of products was the one I wanted by reading "Shampa" and "Konditioner" on the Hebrew label. Likewise, at the sandwich shop today, I was able to read various food items (like "Kebab" and "Shwarmeh") which meant I didn't have to ask the proprietor directly. I think its really cool and have really enjoyed 'decoding' the Hebrew I see around me. Of course, I can only read it if it is in what I like to call "runic" form: blocky letters with no stylistic flourishes. Once the text starts looking like "script," I might as well be reading cuneiform. Likewise, some of what I call "symbolic" Hebrew, like that used in brand names, is totally illegible. Oh well, some knowledge is better than none, right?
Anyway, so I was walking south down the boardwalk towards Old Jaffa, listening to music on the MP3 player (thanks again, bro) , enjoying the sound of the waves hitting the breakwaters and reveling in the cool night air, when I noticed an extremely bright star glowing over the water (this would have been to my right, which is also the West. I know that for some of my readers, one or both of those directional cues will be meaningless, but well, I do what I can). I couldn't figure out what it was for a long time; the light glowed brighter and brighter, so much so that I could see its reflection off the water. Finally, it got close enough that I could see that it was in fact several lights - an airplane, flying very low over the water, inbound towards Tel Aviv airport. This wouldn't be worthy of mention in this post except for the fact that it was so different from any other plane I've ever seen come in for a landing. It had no blinking lights and was so bright it briefly outshone the full moon. Anyway, it ended up being one of several planes coming in, so I got to watch a series of 'shooting stars' materialize offshore, grow and then majestically streak overhead towards the airport. I thought it was really neat, anyway.
The other thing worthy of mention (and that I'm particularly proud of), is that within about 18 hours of arriving in Tel Aviv, I managed to learn and understand most of the Hebrew alphabet, without any assistance other than that provided by road signs and other standard street information. I'm still a little shaky on one or two characters (and I'm sure I've absolutely mutilated the pronunciation - there's no way to work out the vowelling system without a textbook), but its already come in handy several times. For example, when I went to buy shampoo (having foolishly left mine back in Cairo), I was able to determine which of the myriads of products was the one I wanted by reading "Shampa" and "Konditioner" on the Hebrew label. Likewise, at the sandwich shop today, I was able to read various food items (like "Kebab" and "Shwarmeh") which meant I didn't have to ask the proprietor directly. I think its really cool and have really enjoyed 'decoding' the Hebrew I see around me. Of course, I can only read it if it is in what I like to call "runic" form: blocky letters with no stylistic flourishes. Once the text starts looking like "script," I might as well be reading cuneiform. Likewise, some of what I call "symbolic" Hebrew, like that used in brand names, is totally illegible. Oh well, some knowledge is better than none, right?
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Tel Aviv - Israel! (Happy Passover)
Hey folks,
I'm writing to you now from the lobby of the hostel we're staying at in Tel Aviv. This is the evening of our second full day here. The blog interface is currently in Korean, so I'm not sure this is going to work properly - here's hoping this will actually be readable when I'm finished.
Anyway, so far Tel Aviv has been fun but also surprisingly quiet. It turns out that it probably wasn't the best plan in the universe to visit Israel over passover. Don't get me wrong, we've had fun, but I think things are a lot more lively when everyone isn't home with family for the week. I'm getting ahead of myself though. When last I posted, we were in Petra, so I should fill in the gaps!
We left Petra on the morning of the 1st of April (no April fool's day jokes though - apparently its not a thing here in the Middle East. I actually think it's someone famous' holiday that day or some such, i'll have to look it up...). Since the safest/primary border crossing is back in Aqaba, we went south to that city, before hitting the border and re-entering Elat. From there, we took a 5 hour bus through the Negev Desert (which is beautiful, but very desert like, if that means anything to you all, my dear readers. In this case, lots of hills/plateaus of sand/rock, and no plants). Since we were up fairly early, we got into Tel Aviv around 6 or 7 pm. I was a little cranky from the bus ride - I was sore, and also a little sick. I got a bit of a sore through starting on day 1 in Petra, and that only worsened in the following days. It's almost gone now, though I have a runny nose still. Anyway, at the bus station, I was thankfully able to ignore my sick self enough to appreciate the glory that is Israeli public transportation.
In general, Israeli public transport is reliable, efficient and reasonably inexpensive - more than can be said for the networks of any other country (especially that of the United States). The trains in particular are particularly nice (more on them later), with plush seats and two levels of comfort. The buses, as part of this network, should thus be included in the praise. I have to say, on the whole, I am in face impressed with them, but buses frankly suck and always will, even if they are Israeli buses. They take a long time, get stuck in traffic, are at least somewhat uncomfortable, and are generally inefficient relative to other modes of conveyance. As any Detroiter will be happy to explain, no SMART bus system in the world is about to beat a real public transport net for actual usability.
Anyway, the one thing that is in fact impressive about the Israeli bus network is the Tel Aviv bus terminal. This colossal matrix of buses, ramps, gates, doors, escalators and markets is perhaps the closest thing Earth has to Star Wars' Coruscant City. We entered on the 5th floor of this capitalist megacomplex and I don't believe I once saw the ground floor (much less the ground) during our trek through the facility. Taken from the outside, it appears mainly to be a giant parking deck with indoor spaces, but this would be a devastating underestimation of the scope of the facility. Inside the barriers and security gates of the bus lanes themselves, the terminal is a fantastic matrix of catwalks, escalators, stairs, tunnels, bridges and of course, desperate people trying to use all of the above to make it from one sector of the terminal to another in an almost (but not quite) futile attempt to connect to the next leg of their journeys. When you take into account also that these people range from 18-22 year old uniformed Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers (complete with automatic weapons) to punk rockers, goth fanbois, elderly couples and businessmen, you might get at least a vague impression of sheer craziness of this facility.
To use our own expedition as an example, upon entering the fifth floor of the facility, we rapidly ascended a pair of aging escalators to floor 7 (so called Dan terminal), from where most of the intra-city buses depart for destinations like the one we sought. On the way, we passed three techno-music stores, two banks, several restaurants and any number of shoe shiners, cell phone vendors and computer parts stores. Looking over the edge of the escalators (which struck rather haphazardly across multilevel gaps in the hallways (these gaps are not unlike the 'skylight' areas in most modern malls, except these ones aren't really so much about providing light as about networking various floors in as many ways as possible), you could see similarly chatoic capitalism perched across the floors above and below the fifth (again, the floor on which we started). On the seventh floor, we were able to easily find the information booth (despite the apparent chaos, the Israeli's have somehow managed to make the place function as an actual transportation hub), whereupon we discovered that the bus we wanted (towards one Allenby Street), was actually on the fourth floor. So we headed back to the escalators, only to discover that there were no down escalators in this area. Furthermore, there were no nearby stairs, either. We were able to find a set of stairs winding down from in front of a movie store, leading us to the sixth floor, where a 'straight' shot across an intersection of three hallways got us to another stairwell, reaching the fourth floor. Following a series of dovetailed and sometimes slightly contradictory signs, we were able to wander across ramps, curves, secondary access-ways and terminal gates to our destination. Perhaps miraculously (though probably not, since this process seems far less confusing for the Israelis), the bus we were actually looking for showed up a very short time later, and hauled us out of the complex (for a nominal fee) to our destination: Mugraby Hostel, Allenby Street.
Mugraby Hostel is definitely far more "hostel-like" than any other place I've stayed in. Where in Jordan we effectively stayed in small hotel rooms not unlike what you might find at a Bed and Breakfast joint, here in Tel Aviv the situation is markedly inferior. We're staying in a 'dorm' room the size of a largish living room, but with 8 bunk beds stacked into it. The beds are narrow and the matresses are thin, and what passes for storage spaces are 8 tiny lockers the likes of which my middle school got rid of before I graduated. This isn't to say that I'm unhappy with the situation, however - I'm paying 10 dollars a night to stay in a pricey western city, and I'm less than a block from the Mediterranean. Furthermore, there's plenty of hot water (absolutely a requirement), and the other 'tenants' are reasonably quiet and friendly. I will, however, look forward to a proper bed when I get back.
Beds aside, again, I can't complain. Allenby Street is one of the main drags as far as shops, pubs and clubs are concerned, and again, we're less than a block from the beach. Its a little cold for swimming, but not too cold for sitting out and reading, which we've done a decent bit of since arriving here. I've gotten a slight tan (enough to stop blinding people with my whiteness), which I'm hoping will develop more fully before I get back to Egypt, and I've enjoyed the relaxing pace we've taken here so far. Our days have been largely filled with hanging out on the beach and exploring the older quarters (we visited Old Jaffa in the south yesterday, with its ancient churches, mosques and monasteries). The boardwalk is really nice and stretches north-south for miles along the shoreline (Tel Aviv-Jaffa is perched directly on the 'side' of the Mediterranean).
The city itself is sadly not as exciting as it could have been as a result of Passover - many places have been closed (or close early) and the number of people out in general has been far less than what I'd imagine for a city this size. There's not really an opportunity for tourists to join in the festivities, either (not that I expected there to be, really, as Passover is really properly a family thing), which makes me miss Seder with Nathan's family last year. I'm reminded, however, that one of the toasts at the Seder was "Next year in Israel!" Ironically, that came true for me, and I'm not even Jewish. Happy passover to everyone who is, though!
Well, I think I'm going to bring this to a close. Tomorrow, we are taking the train north for a day trip to Haifa and Akka (ancient Acre), which should be all kinds of exciting. The day after that, we're off to Jerusalem, for the final leg of our trip. I'll do my best to report back in a timely manner as soon as I can!
I'm writing to you now from the lobby of the hostel we're staying at in Tel Aviv. This is the evening of our second full day here. The blog interface is currently in Korean, so I'm not sure this is going to work properly - here's hoping this will actually be readable when I'm finished.
Anyway, so far Tel Aviv has been fun but also surprisingly quiet. It turns out that it probably wasn't the best plan in the universe to visit Israel over passover. Don't get me wrong, we've had fun, but I think things are a lot more lively when everyone isn't home with family for the week. I'm getting ahead of myself though. When last I posted, we were in Petra, so I should fill in the gaps!
We left Petra on the morning of the 1st of April (no April fool's day jokes though - apparently its not a thing here in the Middle East. I actually think it's someone famous' holiday that day or some such, i'll have to look it up...). Since the safest/primary border crossing is back in Aqaba, we went south to that city, before hitting the border and re-entering Elat. From there, we took a 5 hour bus through the Negev Desert (which is beautiful, but very desert like, if that means anything to you all, my dear readers. In this case, lots of hills/plateaus of sand/rock, and no plants). Since we were up fairly early, we got into Tel Aviv around 6 or 7 pm. I was a little cranky from the bus ride - I was sore, and also a little sick. I got a bit of a sore through starting on day 1 in Petra, and that only worsened in the following days. It's almost gone now, though I have a runny nose still. Anyway, at the bus station, I was thankfully able to ignore my sick self enough to appreciate the glory that is Israeli public transportation.
In general, Israeli public transport is reliable, efficient and reasonably inexpensive - more than can be said for the networks of any other country (especially that of the United States). The trains in particular are particularly nice (more on them later), with plush seats and two levels of comfort. The buses, as part of this network, should thus be included in the praise. I have to say, on the whole, I am in face impressed with them, but buses frankly suck and always will, even if they are Israeli buses. They take a long time, get stuck in traffic, are at least somewhat uncomfortable, and are generally inefficient relative to other modes of conveyance. As any Detroiter will be happy to explain, no SMART bus system in the world is about to beat a real public transport net for actual usability.
Anyway, the one thing that is in fact impressive about the Israeli bus network is the Tel Aviv bus terminal. This colossal matrix of buses, ramps, gates, doors, escalators and markets is perhaps the closest thing Earth has to Star Wars' Coruscant City. We entered on the 5th floor of this capitalist megacomplex and I don't believe I once saw the ground floor (much less the ground) during our trek through the facility. Taken from the outside, it appears mainly to be a giant parking deck with indoor spaces, but this would be a devastating underestimation of the scope of the facility. Inside the barriers and security gates of the bus lanes themselves, the terminal is a fantastic matrix of catwalks, escalators, stairs, tunnels, bridges and of course, desperate people trying to use all of the above to make it from one sector of the terminal to another in an almost (but not quite) futile attempt to connect to the next leg of their journeys. When you take into account also that these people range from 18-22 year old uniformed Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers (complete with automatic weapons) to punk rockers, goth fanbois, elderly couples and businessmen, you might get at least a vague impression of sheer craziness of this facility.
To use our own expedition as an example, upon entering the fifth floor of the facility, we rapidly ascended a pair of aging escalators to floor 7 (so called Dan terminal), from where most of the intra-city buses depart for destinations like the one we sought. On the way, we passed three techno-music stores, two banks, several restaurants and any number of shoe shiners, cell phone vendors and computer parts stores. Looking over the edge of the escalators (which struck rather haphazardly across multilevel gaps in the hallways (these gaps are not unlike the 'skylight' areas in most modern malls, except these ones aren't really so much about providing light as about networking various floors in as many ways as possible), you could see similarly chatoic capitalism perched across the floors above and below the fifth (again, the floor on which we started). On the seventh floor, we were able to easily find the information booth (despite the apparent chaos, the Israeli's have somehow managed to make the place function as an actual transportation hub), whereupon we discovered that the bus we wanted (towards one Allenby Street), was actually on the fourth floor. So we headed back to the escalators, only to discover that there were no down escalators in this area. Furthermore, there were no nearby stairs, either. We were able to find a set of stairs winding down from in front of a movie store, leading us to the sixth floor, where a 'straight' shot across an intersection of three hallways got us to another stairwell, reaching the fourth floor. Following a series of dovetailed and sometimes slightly contradictory signs, we were able to wander across ramps, curves, secondary access-ways and terminal gates to our destination. Perhaps miraculously (though probably not, since this process seems far less confusing for the Israelis), the bus we were actually looking for showed up a very short time later, and hauled us out of the complex (for a nominal fee) to our destination: Mugraby Hostel, Allenby Street.
Mugraby Hostel is definitely far more "hostel-like" than any other place I've stayed in. Where in Jordan we effectively stayed in small hotel rooms not unlike what you might find at a Bed and Breakfast joint, here in Tel Aviv the situation is markedly inferior. We're staying in a 'dorm' room the size of a largish living room, but with 8 bunk beds stacked into it. The beds are narrow and the matresses are thin, and what passes for storage spaces are 8 tiny lockers the likes of which my middle school got rid of before I graduated. This isn't to say that I'm unhappy with the situation, however - I'm paying 10 dollars a night to stay in a pricey western city, and I'm less than a block from the Mediterranean. Furthermore, there's plenty of hot water (absolutely a requirement), and the other 'tenants' are reasonably quiet and friendly. I will, however, look forward to a proper bed when I get back.
Beds aside, again, I can't complain. Allenby Street is one of the main drags as far as shops, pubs and clubs are concerned, and again, we're less than a block from the beach. Its a little cold for swimming, but not too cold for sitting out and reading, which we've done a decent bit of since arriving here. I've gotten a slight tan (enough to stop blinding people with my whiteness), which I'm hoping will develop more fully before I get back to Egypt, and I've enjoyed the relaxing pace we've taken here so far. Our days have been largely filled with hanging out on the beach and exploring the older quarters (we visited Old Jaffa in the south yesterday, with its ancient churches, mosques and monasteries). The boardwalk is really nice and stretches north-south for miles along the shoreline (Tel Aviv-Jaffa is perched directly on the 'side' of the Mediterranean).
The city itself is sadly not as exciting as it could have been as a result of Passover - many places have been closed (or close early) and the number of people out in general has been far less than what I'd imagine for a city this size. There's not really an opportunity for tourists to join in the festivities, either (not that I expected there to be, really, as Passover is really properly a family thing), which makes me miss Seder with Nathan's family last year. I'm reminded, however, that one of the toasts at the Seder was "Next year in Israel!" Ironically, that came true for me, and I'm not even Jewish. Happy passover to everyone who is, though!
Well, I think I'm going to bring this to a close. Tomorrow, we are taking the train north for a day trip to Haifa and Akka (ancient Acre), which should be all kinds of exciting. The day after that, we're off to Jerusalem, for the final leg of our trip. I'll do my best to report back in a timely manner as soon as I can!
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