Avia Tel Aviv

... was the one carrying him initially or the other one walking out of the water.<br><br>Once the ambulance drove off I went back to the water to grab my bag, but apparently the girls had already picked it up along with all their other belongings. They were still trying to hail a taxi so I picked it up from them and, after a brief false alarm that my wallet had fallen out, I found that even my iPod, which I'd tossed out belatedly in the ...

Today I got up early and got on the bus to Bethlehem.<br><br>I walked around the town proper which was nice and then the heavens opened - it rained for almost a whole hour - the smile on the peoples faces were clasic. I eventually found my way to the Church of the Nativity which is set on top of Jesus birthplace. There were about 100 nuns ...

... old sea port of Jaffa, traditionally held to be the town founded by Noah's son after the flood. Still, there are fewer movie stars, so there's a point in LA's column. <br><br>I decided to stay another day, and another. At night I met up with Alex, a fun Oxford grad I met in Jerusalem who happened to be in the same dorm room at my hostel. I decided maybe I should try this famous night-life. We went to a rooftop bar that blasted Michael Jackson, I ...

... and in our brief conversation with him, we described our visit to Israel, and he said: "Israel is a small village". I was struck by this casual comment, and by what I felt it implied. Here is a country, which at 60, is still in it's infancy. Yet, to see what it has accomplished in that short period of time, despite the overwhelming obstacles and challenges it has faced and still faces today, now this is something remarkable. Yes, I can see Israel as a small village, in that ...

... a really appealing beachside restaurant.<br><br>On to the port area, which also really appealed to me. It is revitalized, now full of restaurants and shopping and giant clubs just across the boardwalk from the crashing surf and fishers on the pier at this, the northernmost point of the city, where the Tayelet ends. Small airplanes take off and land overhead at Sde Dov, the small domestic airport just across the Yarkon River ...

... even though he had never heard of the bar in question: Though to be honest, when it comes to gay establishments anywhere in the world, many cabbies, especially male ones, usually pretend to not know the place in question. I say pretend, but these places may really just be off their radar. However, I like to think that the entire world knows where each gay spot is in any town and that people are just pretending not to know when they claim they haven't heard of that one teensy ...

... am in the process of getting them to send it as they said they rarely do this for students (ie, it's not requested often).  So in the meantime I've been looking for organizations to contact regarding volunteer opportunities for when I return in June after my visit back to Seattle from February 16th to the 6th of June.  I've found numerous organizations rather easily because it seems Israel is a country composed largely of volunteers from people on Kibbutz (foreigners working on ...

... interesting because at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher there is a ladder there. No one knows which Church it actually belongs to so the Churches have left it there over centuries. Also, during these Holy Holidays the different types of Orthodox Churches get into all out brawls with each other. Therefore, cops lined the streets. They watched from above and on street level. Luckily I saw not happened except for one camera guy who ...

... antique pottery but also plastic bead necklaces. I am not sure I trust him as much as I trust Yussef. Yussef is one of the few Palestinian Christians my friend knows. He and his family did not leave when the Israelis took over the Old City. They are not many Palestinian Christians left, he tells me. Most of them have immigrated to Canada or the US. Maybe their departure makes the antagonism between Jews and Muslims flare up even more. What side do the Palestinian Christians ...

Well, a week on the beach has certainly helped my attitude. In contrast to traditional Jerusalem, Tel Aviv is quite the liberal beach city. Club after club, beachside cafe after cafe, beaches covered in tanned beautiful people wearing next to nothing. <br><br>I enjoyed myself. <br><br>I spent most of the week with an Aussie guy I met in Jerusalem - Jake. He's 21 and on his way to London to live/work for a year or so ...