Landing at the airport and clearing customs in Tel Aviv was different from any country I have been to. First I knew I had to be careful with my passport as if I had an Israel stamp in my passport, I would not be allowed into other Arabic countries. In the past, you could ask them to stamp a separate piece of paper, but fellow travelers I have met said they really won`t do this anymore. So I decided to enter Israel on my Canadian passport since that expires in September 2009 I knew I would not be back traveling to this part of the country so soon and my US passport still has 8 years to go. So first hurdle passed. When I got to the customs officer, she gave me the third degree. She asked if I was traveling alone, then asked why I was alone. Then again confirmed that I was alone and wanted to know where I was going, for how long, and if I knew anyone. I had to list the names of Ben`s friends that I was hoping to meet in each city and she wrote this all down. Then she wanted to know exactly where I was staying and for how long. I didn`t know if I was going to be let in, but she finally stamped my passport and let me through. Whew!
Then when I was leaving the baggage claim area, looking to find where the train was to get to town, I hear, “Megan…Megan” and I look up and it`s Nadav and Barak. They are my friend Ben`s cousins that I had contacted about meeting up. I had no idea they would meet me at the airport as we hadn`t connected over email. I was very happy as it was nice to meet them and they wanted to take me to stay with them and arranged for me to stay with their Grandma, Haya, who had a room waiting for me. So from the get go, such a warm welcome to Israel. So off we went. I was so tired from my overnight bus, that by 9pm, I was asleep and then slept for almost 12 hours!
The next morning, Nadav came to pick me up to drive me around Tel Aviv and shoe me all there was so see. After our drive around town, and down the coast, he left me on a street corner (sounds funny to say that), but he had to go to work, and I was excited to go explore more on foot so it worked well. He had given me directions on how to take the bus back to his grandmothers house, which was about 30 minutes outside of Tel Aviv (and I knew that would be an adventure later on).
So I spent my day in Tel Aviv walking along the beach – which was really beautiful. The sand was super hot just walking from the street to the water and it was hot through my flip flops. There weren`t too many sights I really wanted to see in Tel Aviv, but I wandered around the Yemenite Quarter which was a maze of narrow cobbled streets and many crumbling buildings. It was a sharp contrast to the clean cut modern buildings in Tel Aviv. There was a special Carmel Market that I walked around for a while and then on Tuesdays, there was a special craft show so I saw some of the special handicrafts and a bunch of street performers came out. I sat there for an hour and listened to one of the worst singers I have heard – it was so bad, it . This drew a huge crowd of people to listen and wonder what it was. Plus there were a few good instrument players and one odd woman that was dancing around a box to all this noise and I think she must have been on drugs as she was really out of it, but was living large in her own world. Overall – an entertaining hour of people watching.
The rest of my day I just walked around on the streets, checked out Tel Aviv and went into a few malls. Interesting as whenever I entered a large building or a mall, security had to open my bag and look. At first it was strange, but then I realized it helps with safety – yet they really didn`t look too closely at my bag so I could have been carrying something.
I did have an interesting adventure coming back from Tel Aviv to Haya`s apartment as I took a public bus. Nadav had told me which bus to take and where to find it and was very helpful.The problem was the bus driver let me off at a stop too early and I had to ask a couple locals to help me find the right complex and it was about a mile before I should have gotten off. But with Nadav`s hand drawn map he gave me in case I got lost or needed a cab, I got there.
I have to say, I hope I am as active as Haya is when I`m her age. I barely saw her as she was out to swim with friends my first night, then up for a walk when I was still sleeping and off to work, and then when I got back from Tel Aviv, she was on her way out all dolled up for a Bat Mitmisfa (sp?). She was one very active grandma and so much fun!
My final night in Tel Aviv Nadav and Barak took me out to a wonderful Noodle Bar (like Wagamama) and it was so good. I have been missing Thai and Chinese food for months now and it really hit the spot. (Thanks again!!!). Afterwards, Nadav thought I had to live it up with the famous Tel Aviv nightlife. I thought it was a Tuesday night and there would be nothing going on….oh I was wrong. Nadav said it would be and the places would be packed and of course he was right. Now keep in mind, it was a Tuesday night and we got there after midnight and the place had a line out in front of about 100 people. Nadav just texted the owner he knew and we were let in a few minutes later. How`s that for service? So we partied there until 3am and then Barak came to pick us and I was finally asleep at 4am. What a fun (and exhausting) night.
Right now the computer is acting up, so I will have to save the rest of Israel for later this week as I don`t have the patience now (and I lost some of the photos from Tel Aviv so there is only one), plus the beach volleyball is coming on TV soon and I hope to see some of the girls I used to coach or play with in the past (Nicole Branagh, Kerri Walsh and Misty May). Finally a city that has the Olympics on and I will be able to watch people I know. More Israel and Jordan coming this week – when I take a break from my Scuba class in the Red Sea…