King Solomon Netanya

... the hill some more, through Arab residential neighborhoods, down long flights of stairs, past schoolkids at play, laundry hanging out windows, and satellite dishes and water tanks. We got another good view of the shrine and gardens, this time from the very bottom looking up the hill. We walked through the German Colony neighborhood, now full of upscale restaurants in stone architecture from a hundred years ago.<br><br>We decided to take the "subway" back up the ...

... an elevated wall, where as a team, every single person had to reach the other side of a twelve foot wall. There was also an obstacle course set up in a large Colosseum-like arena, with the different parts being: a 7-foot cement wall that needed to be scaled by running and pushing off with the leg, the stepping exercise in between tires common in NFL training camps, monkey bars, parallel bars, a high rope to climb with a certain technique (considering all the equipment the standard ...

... and as we munched, the convo reached a new inticingly high level. We left eh house and headed to the Bahai Gardens, after finally finding the correct entrance. The view was breathtaking! There was so much care put into keeping the Garden at top shape. The grass waseven, the colours matched, the marble stairs polished, everything put together was just too good to look at. That evening Olia, Shimon, Borik and I were driving to Tel Aviv, so I had to be home to get ready for the next ...

... said last time he was in a Jerusalem cab, he asked the driver what he thought of the metro - the guy told him "I wanna kill the guy in charge of this thing" - that's our cousin Yehuda.<br><br>On the Moshav, akin to a capitalist kibbutz, I went with Brendan and Yehuda to synagogue for the Friday night service, which was the 10th anniversary parsha of my Bar Mitzvah (parsha Yitro). They tried encouraging me to go back tomorrow morning for a special blessing, but I ...

... that I am actually living here for an extended period of time, immersing myself as best as possible. Not to say that I'm fooling anybody, as I don't quite blend in like an Israeli. I'm sure my intramural shirts and outlandish t-shirt collection, among other things, make me stand out as a foreigner. In that sense, I'm working ******* my Hebrew. Ani rotzeh lilmod maher.<br><br><br><br>For the weekend, me and a friend went to Tel Aviv and met up ...

Liyel, my mop-headed co-worker, didn't practice the rites of Judaism stictly. But, most of his loved ones in Tzfat were religious, and so he didn't deny this religion outright. A pacifist and a magician, his belief in the Jewish God was one of curiosity and optimism. During the last of the days we worked together as landscapers, he used his burly strength to assume much of the work I should've done. He knew the work-weeks had asked too much of me. He really cared ...

... in our group apparently. Our guide, Betty, is a little abrasive and has alienated a number of members of the group who apparently met tonight (Bob declined to join) to discuss lodging a formal complaint. Will keep you posted. All for now. Trying to get some sleep but only nod off for about an hour, then up again. Bob upstairs asleep - it is only 11 pm rather than 3 am so i guess i am improving. Jaffa Shirley (the J is pronounded not silent like in Spanish)

... A Shabbat dog at the Dizengoff mall.... Friday and Saturday are the Israeli weekend and throughout most of the country shops, restaurants and even public transportation shut down for 24 hours of Shabbat observance....But this is Tel Aviv, and because of the secular nature of the city their observance of Sabbath is quite different....It's a time to go out, go to the beach, party...In fact we're on our way right now to a sunset party on Chinky ...

... in it. Oh, it was soooooooooooo good! There is a picture of one of the dishes but there were so many more! After lunch we headed back to the apartment for a nap/relaxing time. Eddie and Dumameit were invited out for dinner so around 6:00ish, she took us to the beach so Les could go swimming and we could grab something for dinner. The beach was like walking on corn starch-it was that fine!. Les found a place to change while Barb and I staked out a ...

... I have a more rational explanation - Jewish Mothers. And mine came to visit me the other week. She was staying wih her friend Pauline in Netanya so I came over for the shabbat. The flat had a massive balcony overlooking the beach. It was warm enough to take a nice stroll on the beach in the morning befiore lunch when a woman who wouldnt stop talking popped round with her husband for lunch. -The ...