Firstly, I was bringing home a bag of stuff for Sally. This is not really a big deal...except when you are getting on a plane, and especially in Israel. It took a little time, but after explaining to literally four different people, and getting the bag x-rayed, scanned, searched, searched for bombs and explosives, they finally let me check it in and tagged it as safe. No big deal in the end, since I had arrived three hours early for my flight. The airport was busier at 4 am than I have ever seen any airport be ever. Here is a picture of the hubbub:The duty free store had maybe an hour long line up to get out, despite having 20 lanes open. Redonc.
Lufthansa...meh. Not ideal, but it wasn't so bad. Which is good because my next flight will most likely be with them too! (keep reading to hear about that one) I ended up having to switch seats because my screen didnt work, but they gave me a bottle of wine to take, so that evened it out.
Then I got home to my house, and was happy and relaxed...and watched the Canucks beat the San Jose Sharks in game 4. After that I kind of didn't know what to do with myself, but that is not part of the trip anymore. Back to a semblance of real life.
I have some closing thoughts. In Jordan, the people I met didn't want to travel to Israel because they weren't religious and didn't know if there was anything for them to see there. I then started thinking about what I had done, and realized that there IS SO MUCH to do there that has nothing to do with religion. Of course the social aspects of the Israeli society are largely dominated by the interactions between secular and religious Isreali's, and of course Jerusalem has a lot of religious things to see, the rest of the country does not. I went on a wine tour and got free wine. I went ATV-ing and overlooked the entire Hula Valley and Golan. I swam in the Mediterranean Sea and drank on the beach. I ate the most reducilously delicious shwarma, falafel, and beef.
Meat from Eatmeat in Tel Aviv The best barbecue of my entire life (from start-finish)
(From 'Yom Ha'shoah and Tuesday')
And the people are amazing. In the north they are much much more friendly than in TA, but still will help you get around. And everyone speaks English.
The bars are fantastic and the women are beatuiful. There is so much history from the different nations who have conquered the region over the past 4000 years, that you could travel around and see and learn so much. Including going to the Dead Sea (which I did last time), or going for a tour to the Weizmann Institute to see what breakthrough science they are currently working on, especially with solar power.
The people I met and became friends with are truly amazing, and I hope that they get a chance to come stay with me in Canada, or that I get to return to Israel and see them. I know we will maintain our friendship. Facebook is actually good for that.
Finally, i would like to announce my next adventure and when this Blog will be restarted.
I am going to Africa. Tanzania to be exact. At the end of June for 4 weeks. I am going to be travelling with my cousin Jory Cohen, who can be seen in this Tanzanian rap video here:
He is the white guy. Jory has been in Tanzania for almost a year now. After graduating from Ivey, he went there to work on his passion, which is micro-credit projects for the poor in developing countries. Read this book to find out more:
Also, his sister and mother (my cousin and aunt) will be going down, and I am going to go with them. It will be another amazing adventure. I am hoping to get a chance to visit some micro-credit projects currently in use, visit an orphanage, and maybe some other sustainable water projects.
Pictures have been uploaded on Facebook from Israel, so check them out on my page.
Thank you very much for following my travels, and I will see you back here in five weeks!
Sincerely,
Elliot S. Weinstein
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