Hey folks,
Just thought I would write to fill you in on my adventures from the past few days as it has been quite exciting and refreshing to have my winter holidays in Israel, a country which does not celebrate Christmas aside from a few select cities (e.g. Jerusalem, Bethlehem). There were no crazy shopping sprees, no tinseled, shiny Christmas trees, no wrapping paper left or right, no stockings hung anywhere in sight, no Christmas carols for my ears to fight... and this was incredibly refreshing and made me realize that none of that stuff is necessary to have a good Christmas. In fact, I had one of the best Christmases I have had in years!
As I mentioned last time, my friend Bianca was here the past few days visiting and I really wanted to give her a good taste of Israel. I wasn't completely sure what someone who isn't Jewish would think of the country, because most of the people I have asked about their excursions within the country have been of the Jewish persuasion and therefore are slightly bias in their appreciation of the homeland. However, I am happy to report that when she left today, she said she had a fantastic time and would definitely return in the future to see some of the spots she missed and return to those she really enjoyed.
We caught up for a few hours upon her arrival on Wednesday night, knocking back a few drinks and discussing life here for me in the program and life for her in Sweden, our conversation sprinkled with stories reminiscing about our time spent living together and all of our crazy experiences living on Angus Drive. On Thursday, we took the bus to Jerusalem with my roommate Dave in order to join in on a free walking tour. Unfortunately, transportation cannot be fully trusted in Jerusalem and we missed the start of the walking tour, making it impossible to find the group and tag along. Fortunately, Dave and I were in Jerusalem a little over a month ago and were able to show Bianca around the Old City, including stops at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Jewish, Christian, and Arab quarters, the Damascus Gate, the Jaffa Gate, and of course, the Western Wall/Wailing Wall. I managed to find us a humous restaurant that a previous tour guide had mentioned to us and we stopped for a delicious mid-afternoon snack before continuing walking around the cobblestone streets of Old Jerusalem. After 4 hours of walking, we decided to call it a day and made our way back to Ashdod. The next day, we relaxed and slept in and I showed Bianca the beach near our house where the 1400 year old Arab ruins lie. We climbed to the top of the ruins to watch the sunset (well, Dave and I did; Bianca has vertigo) and then went out for dinner at a great little restaurant in the northern part of the city. After stuffing our faces, we returned home for a quick catnap before our intense Christmas Day excursion to come!
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| View of Masada National Park |
At 1AM, we woke up and got ready to hit the road. Dave had rented us a car to make a trip to central Israel to visit the sites on our agenda. We drove for a few hours to the foot of Masada, the site of ancient palaces and fortications near the Judean Desert which offers a semi-challenging hike to its peak as well as spectacular views of the Dead Sea and the surrounding plateaux. The story behind Masada is quite interesting: after the first Jewish-Roman War, a siege of the fortress by the Roman Empire's troops led to the mass suicide of the rebels hiding atop Masada. After they had held off the attacks for a long time, and certain defeat and subsequent humiliation and slavery were approaching, the rebels decided the greatest victory they could accomplish would be to kill themselves, robbing the Romans of a victory. The ruins at the top of Masada are well preserved and worth the trip up, as the hike along the Snake Path is not particularly long to the summit (about a 45-minute trek). It is reminiscient of the Grouse Grind outside of Vancouver but the difference is the views along the way and from the peak, some of the best views in Israel in my opinion! We were super early for the hike, arriving at 4AM when the gates for entry didn't open until 530AM, none of us having checked what time the sunrise is on Christmas Day. However, the wait was worth it, the sunrise immaculate and spellbinding (and perhaps eye-damage inducing) from Masada's peak. After heading down, we made a quick drive to Ein Gedi, a nature reserve and national park with fantastic hikes in between its canyons, and filled with nature's treasures, such as springs, waterfalls, caves, and cool little animals called hyrax, looking like a cross between gophers and mini-bears. The hiking was difficult after so little sleep, but very rewarding, as some of the views of the Dead Sea and the canyons below were the best I have witnessed so far from either trip to Israel! Finally, we capped off our excursion by crossing the road to a campsite and rocky beach next to the Dead Sea. For half an hour, we floated carelessly and pleasantly on its super-concentrated salty waves and soaked our skin in its mineral rich waters. At this point in our day, it was only 1PM and we had already climbed a mountain and visited the lowest point in the world! We made our two-hour long drive back to Ashdod and had a quick nap before heading out for Chinese food and to a movie (Tron Legacy), a North American Jewish tradition. All in all, it was a near-perfect Christmas day, aside from lack of family, and one we will all remember for a long time to come.
Now it's back to reality and back to school. The kids had a field-trip today so classes were canceled but tomorrow I have a full lesson plan. My Ulpan classes are dwindling rapidly and today I only had one other companion, making it near-private tutoring for Hebrew due to my continuing diligence. Things in the house could be better, as the electric appliance problems continue (tonight our stove exploded and almost took off someone's face!) but hopefully it will all be resolved soon. After such a great weekend, even a gas explosion can't wipe the smile off my face...
Ciao for now,
Max
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