Sun Bat Yam

... with Yoel, a 25 year old such as myself, except he spoke no English. Assembling a shelter of bamboo posts with black netting and lashing them together with rope is far more complicated when you cannot communicate. He would speak in Hebrew and I would stare blankly at him. Then he would repeat it and sometimes I would understand if he gestured. Usually, we were reduced to cavemen speak, just grunting pointing. The job was eventually completed and it ...

... the tent where we sleep and opened the few cards and gifts that I had brought with me. I sat looking out over the surrounding hills and felt incredibly honoured to be here. Quite a place to bring in my 21st year - I'm sure it'll be a good one.

That evening a host of new volunteers arrived ready for the kids summer camp (starting the next day) so it felt like a fitting end to the first little section of my stay here and to an exciting beginning to the next couple of weeks, and to the next year.

... you really did want the item. Show no weakness.

Anyway, after wandering through some of my favorite sections of the market, Kevin and I came away with the items we wanted, and some surprised faces when I used my Arabic. One salesman got us in his store (always an important stage in making the deal, aside from eye contact, haggling, walking away, etc.) and treated us to some tea in the process. I ended up spending more than I intended there, but did pretty well ...

... everything from the Holocaust History Museum to the Hall of Remembrance, to outdoor commemorative sites such as the Valley of the Communities, and more, there was certainly an overload of stuff there. It is totally understandable b/c the Holocaust played such an enormous part in the founding of the Jewish state of Israel. Our tour guide went on ...

... say Jews deserved it. Also there are some sects in Jerusalem that think Israel should not exist yet. Mom and I had to wear long skirts,see photo, long sleeved shirts and my mom had to cover her hair. There are signs posted everywhere that say if you don't abide by their observances "you will severely offend us." The people in this place were a lot like the people in The Giver (if you have read it). Everyone there is the same they can ...

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem is an amazing place for everything related to the Holocaust, not least their efforts to document every individual victim. It's at the top of the Jerusalem hills, with incredible views of the valley below, and the new building is designed so that you walk through an increasingly dark and narrow route, symbolising the Jewish people's experience, until at the end of the journey you open up to light and the amazing ...

She was sat with her legs curled up on a chair and reading a magazine at the coffee place by Raanana park. We had a coffee, talked about travel experiences, and after a while she said I could sleep on her couch. If you want to see a country from the locals point of view and without spending too much money then couchsurfing.com is the way to go! I heard about it a while back but only recently started to use the ...

Hello everyone, Just a quick line to let you all know we arrived into Tel Aviv safely last night at 2:30am. We stayed at a hotel south of Tel Aviv, called Bat Yam. We're about to leave now for Tiberius. We'll write again and upload pictures as soon as we can. Fr. Vince

thıs place ıs packed wıth so much hıstory and relıgıon ıt ıs really hard to explaın what ıt was lıke to be here!!!! vısıted the tower of davıd museum and learnt the bloody hıstory of thıs cıty..... really gave the feelıng that thıs cıty wıll never know peace. shopped our way towards the western wall (pıcked up quıte a few bargaıns). the western wall ıs the only wall left of the second jew ...

flew to ıstanbul and spent 8 hrs ın the aırport talkıng to a 40 year old spanısh bıpolar man who was rıdıng hıs pushbıke from ıstanbul thru turkey and ıran to pakıstan!!! was better than sıttıng around by myself. spent up large at the duty free, ıncludıng my fırst ever cıgarettes purchace (had to ask a random turkısh man whıch color ...