Hello all!
Adventures to share!
I have left Jerusaslem now and I am in the town of Tzfat- a place that I didn't make it to on my birthright trip earlier this year because there had been some reports of rockets coming over the Jordinian border. not so this time. The town is actually not on the map here, but it is about 16km away from Tiberias on the map.
I had a bit of an adventure coming here. I planned on taking the public bus from Jerusalem, and since they only start running on saturdays after Shabbat is over, I was going to take the first one at 8:18 pm. I got to the bus station with about an hour to spare to find the place. however the bus stop was outside the station, and no matter how hard I tried, no matter how many times I walked up and down the street, and no matter how many people I asked who responded to me in broken english- I could not find the place. I missed the bus obviously... and I sat down for a kosher mcdonalds to think about my circumstances- haha. ( ps it is cool though because mcdonalds here has a seperate little shop next store for it's icecream and stuff- so that the milk and meat are in seperate kitchens). It does not help that all the signs are in hebrew. Thank god I atleast know the hebrew alphabet so I can recognize names and stuff.
Finally after my mcdonalds I found the stop- which was there all along- however the sign at the stop only listed that particular bus on one side of ther sign- which I did not look at. So I proceeded to wait ther 2 hours in the surprising cold till the next bus. ofcourse, by the time I got the bus-the guestouse I had called ahead to hyad shut off their phone. I was a little worried but I figured some hotel would be open when I got there. but as we pull up I realize that literally everything is closed.
So thankfully the two orthodox guys I had befriended on the bus took pity on me and walked me to this study center that takes guests- knocked on the door at two am- and was begrudingly let in. Otherwise I probably would have been on the street.
So this place I am staying is center for the study of Kaballah (madonna anyone?-- haha not really though.... it is the study of jewish mysticism). This town is kind of the center of that study. anyways... they have classes and stuff-- and for every class you take they will give you ten shekels off your stay. I might go tonight just to see what is up.. They are pretty welcoming though- and there are a lot of other women there who are wearing pants--- haha- so clearly I am not the only one there who is not super observant.
Anyways- yesterday in Jerusalem was pretty cool too. I took a free tour in the morning- which was good because I saw some christian sites too... like the walk that christ walked to the crucifix- and the place where chirst's empty tomb is ( according to everyone but the protestants). Later I took the public arab bus up to the mount of olives. That was sort of n experience tooo- and I might have been overwhelmed if I hadn't experienced the tro tro in ghana. I mean- I have qualms with how people value personal space all over europe as well- people literally knock into you all over london- and spaniards will not move out of your way, no matter how clear it is that they right in the middle of a path-- however people were pushing to get on this bus like I had never seen.
Anyways. got on the bus. met this other traveler and this old arab man who ended up living right next to the bus stop and brought us out tea when we arrived and told us about his amazing life ( he is like this leader of a small group here- and has traveled literally all over the world and has met with leaders all over the world to give peace talks and stuff- and had the newspaper articles and pictures to prove it-- his name is Ibrahim Ahmad Abu El- Hawa-- i have to look him up more). He apparently puts up travelers in this guesthouse he has and told we should come back and stay with him for free anytime- and he gave us his card. wild wild wild.
Anways- we went to the cemetaries on Mt. of Olives- which are signifigant because jews believe that when the messiah comes- the first people to rise from the dead will be on this mountain- so they all clamor to be buried there.
otherwise-- it has continued to rain. I was caught in a downpour climbing back up into the old city of jerusalem- and I was soaking because there were literally rivers flowing down the old roads. However, I was near the western wall- and already wet- and I was curious to feel what it was like there in the rain- so I went and got some pretty cool pictures. I have been to the wall 4 times on this trip haha.
Ok- well time to stop typing forever and go explore more.
More to come!
xxoxoxox
http://rebeccasworldadventure.blogspot.com
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