The Daniel Hotel And Spa Herzlia

... compared to the other days. Closing Emotions talk about emotions, to ride up the final steep climbs hearing the cheering from Alyn - wow! And then to be greeted by all these special kids - worth every agonizing minute on my bike. Everyone should be as privileged as I am to experience these feelings. I love our country so much, and these people are one of the hundreds of reasons I do ...

... made it more than apparent. Despite the hard work, it was still gratifying to stand up and see a long, neat row of cabbage that was previously covered with 5 months worth of weeds. A lot of the work we did was getting the farm back in order, rather than normal upkeep. Bob Marley had been working there only 2 weeks but after my time there I noticed a difference, he had great vision and knew what he was doing. I worked alongside him, weeding for a few hours ...

... crossed the invisible line into Gaza and were totally and completely embraced by the Gazans with smiles, hugs, cold water, and media attention, I felt the rage. Not only were the Egyptian authorities telling me, a foreign humanitarian activist, that I couldn't go, they were punishing the Gazans for no good reason. Nothing made sense. Nothing.<br><br>****<br><br>I realize that my stating that Gaza is the most wonderful place can be construed as insulting to the Gazan ...

... Crossing the border between Jordan and Israel is not a mere formality but it doesn't represent the hassle people talk about. It took just two hours to get the visa. The border police asks you many questions trying to guess whether one is a pro-Palestinian activist interested in going to demonstrations or in preventing the destruction of Palestinian homes, or part of the docile religious tourist interested only in deepening one's faith and ...

... well off, I envy his simple life - one of his daughters (and granddaughters) lives with him, while another daughter lives with her family in a house they built in his backyard. He hadn't left Israel for over 50 years since arriving from Romania after World War II, so my grandparents convinced him to come to Sydney for my Bar Mitzvah - he's since been back three more times, and calls us every few weeks to say he's found Israeli girlfriends for Brendan and I.<br><br>After ...

... Middle East without a friend and I feel sad. I'm lucky I have the friends I do. However, I knew one Brown girl Tess would be here, but at night, people saw my Brown sweatshirt and it turns out there's two other Brown kids as well. One of them, Teddy, lived in my dorm sophomore year--the first one, as Lewin says. The other girl came two years before my time--she knew some AEPi's apparently. We Brown people stand out like skinny kids at fat ...

... time.  There is a very big gift shop here.  I bought some t-shirts and tea.  This was our last place on the tour, and we drove straight back to Tel Aviv with no pit stops.  I got off the bus a little closer to my friend's place.  We had dinner at a cafe near her apartment, and went to bed early.  I was planning to go to the post office in the morning to get my stamps for postcards, and then take the bus to Jerusalem.     

... drove across the desert to Eilat. We parked the car and walked across the border to Aqaba where we got a taxi to the hotel. From there we visited Petra, where we rode a donkey up the hill to the Monastery, and Wadi Rum where we had 2 nights camping in the desert, and spent 1 ¾ hours riding a camel. I was glad to get back to Aqaba where I spent hours snorkelling in the Red Sea, looking at the colourful fish along the reef. Although it was ...

... to arrive to Church. Sister M. looks happy to see me. At the end of the service, she tries to introduce me to the Mother Abbess in charge, but this latter does not seem in a good mood and just groans. The service did not offer Communion: strange, or maybe it is the custom in a ROCOR Church. After the service, I stay behind to share breakfast with the religious community. In fact, I am not the only lay person. A few more ladies, young and old, all Russians, sit at ...

... meaning to get up but it was just too nice sitting there. Around midday it is still hot enough in Tel Aviv to wear a T-shirt, but by 5 or 6pm it is cold. That evening I went to an all you can eat Indian buffet near Johnny's flat in south Tel Aviv. After eating all I could I had to stay fairly horizontal on my beanbag for a few hours ..as it seemed did most of the people in the restaurant. You could pay what you thought the meal was worth and it was ...