Hotel Montefiore Tel Aviv

... zu fahren.<br>Dienstag: Tel Aviv<br>Am Dienstag fuhren wir mit dem Bus an den Chof Hakarmel (Bahnstation Haifa) und nahmen den Zug nach Tel Aviv. Bei den Azrieli Tow**s stiegen wir aus (Tel Aviv hat vi** Stationen). Dort hat Willy dann auch das Fehlen seines Rucksacks bem**kt: So wie das so ist in Israel, würden sie einen allein reisenden Rucksack sprengen (aus Angst vor Bomben) und deshalb gingen wir zurück ins Büro und liessen den Rucksack suchen. Sie fanden ihn dann ...

... I'm still in Haifa--I slept until noon (didn't go to bed until after 6am; we watched "Fired Up," which was surprisingly funny albeit typically cliched) and at some point I have to get hummus with meat; whenever Asaad and Toufek come to we'll go to a place.<br>Obviously, I'm omitting a bunch of stuff from this blog; I've already filled about 50 pages of my 200-page journal. Some of my stories are staying on paper for discretionary reasons, and many thoughts and ...

It has been a wh&#305;le s&#305;nce my last entry, and so much has transp&#305;red. On a personal note, I loved Bonn&#305;e's entry and bel&#305;eve me, &#305;t was hard gett&#305;ng her to do &#305;t. She's just not so inclined. And, as I m&#305;ght have expected, &#305;t focused on the people we have v&#305;s&#305;ted w&#305;th here &#305;n Israel. After all, those who know her know that th&#305;s has always represented the most &#305;mportant element &#305;n ...

... that night), the PFLAG (parents and friends), transgender, and revolutionary contingents. And there was one that would have been a Latino one back in the U.S.: flamboyantly colorful and skimpy outfits, big feather headdresses, drums, dancing, and flags, but I'm not sure who they were. Otherwise, it was a mass of people flooding the street, making noise, waving signs, having fun. Some merciful local residents sprayed the crowd with a ...

... and Caesarea again. This time, we went to the historic area (of which the amphitheatre we went to on Thursday night is also a part, however), home to ruins from the Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic periods. Once the capital of the Roman province and home to an advanced port built by Herod, it's now bustling again after a long decline. In fact, we were surprised to see the historic area so full of restaurants, shops, and a packed beach. It was quite busy and commercial, but it sure is ...

... the occupation and for the 2 state solution to the Arab/Israeli conflict by educating the Israeli population about the conflict/solutions. Peace Now received a lot of criticism from other organizations we visited, b/c although they campaign for peace 11 months of the year, they are still required by Israeli law to serve in the military for 1 month of the year (Jewish Israelis have compulsory military service when they are 18 ...

Well, I have arrived. I feel very refreshed. I slept for 22 hours in the last 45 hours. My flight went by very quickly cause I slept most of the way. Oh, and I got to see Madagascar 2 and half of Slumdog Millionaire on the airplane. The flight was kind of annoying, though, cause they kept reseting our little tv screens without any warning, so everytime it was ready to go, I ...

... next morning with sore muscles every time, but in a good way. The park runs length-wise between Tel Aviv University and another main road, containing soccer fields, rugby fields, a skate park, basketball courts, a trampoline park, and things like that--plus a river flowing by. So it's nice to be there climbing for three hours on a typical sunny "winter" day in Israel. This time, we convinced three others to come with us, so instead of having Shabbat dinner there ...

So, I finally made it here! The flight was OK, they upgraded me to business class for some reason, which I of course didn't mind.Entering Israel, I heard some stories about this, so I was kind of prepared for a tight security check. And of course, when entering, someone wanted to "talk to me". To make it short, they didn't make me unpack my luggage as I expected, but I had some serious questioning going on: why did I come here, who did I want to visit, how long did we know ...

... Jesus. They bring simple people here and tell them this is the exact spot. For some people that's important.' He was then asked by the author: 'But not for you?' He replied 'I don't care about archaeology. For me the allegory is more important.' That's similar to what my experience underscored for me: It's not about the sites themselves, it's about what happened at the sites that's important. It's not about getting closer to ...