I am currently sitting in the smoking lounge at the Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, as this is the only place that has internet at the airport. (not smoking...don't worry mom). Beside me I have a massive carry on bag filled with random books, a sleeping bag, crocs, granola bars, and tied onto the outside of it, a massive pair of galoshes. I am on my way to Kenya for three weeks which will be Phase V. For now though, I would like to reflect on the last week I've had in South Africa.
For those of you who don't know, my family is from SA and I was born in Johannesburg. Though we left when I was just 1.5, I still feel a very strong connection to this country, and although there are so many problems here, SO MANY, I still love coming here to see the family, observe the people, eat some biltong, and try not to get hijacked. Thankfully, this week has been amazing and nothing has gone wrong and have just had the best time.
I arrived on Monday the 21st and was able to spend some time with my family. Didn't do all that much, but just got to relax and settle in.
Tuesday was my birthday, the first birthday I've had in SA since I turned 1. Was nice to be here, and even then I vowed I'd be back. Just didn't realize how long it would take. I was able to go out for a bit with my Gran to go shopping and see a little bit of Joburg.
Now for someone that isn't too comfortable with Joburg and what it looks like, I will try to explain the feeling you get driving through the neighbourhoods around here. Basically, it looks a bit like I would imagine Baghdad looking like. Every house is surrounded by a 12 ft wall, with spikes on top, sometimes broken glass, with electric fencing and barbed wire on top of that. If the street is a crescent, often one side is totally blocked off, and an armed guard stands watch at the other entrance. People don't drive with their windows open, despite whatever heat there is, as anyone can just jump in and hijack you, and you make sure your doors are locked at all times.
Driving to the shopping centre with my Gran, I was also treated to an extra adventure because of her car. I love this car, and think it should be in a museum. and whenever I get in it, I just have the biggest smile on my face. Its a 1981 Toyota Corolla, that is painted a colour of teal that doesn't exist anymore, totally basic, that doesn't even need security features because no one would touch it, even here. I have the utmost respect for my grandmother for being able to drive this car, and am so impressed when we arrive at our destination alive and most often, laughing.
My birthday was great, was nice spending time with family. and went out for dinner with cousins to a fish place which was delicious. They also decided to play happy birthday for me over the entire speaker system, to make sure that every Jew in Johannesburg eating fish that night was sure to know that Adam, had, in fact, returned to Joburg for #23.
The next day, my cousin Dana and I set off for Sodwana, which is on the Eastern coast of SA, about a 7 hour drive from Joburg. I have just received my scuba qualification, and she dives a lot, so we figured we'd go for a dive trip.
The journey to Sodwana was long, but amazing. Once you get out of Johannesburg, everything changes. Now this doesn't necessarily mean that its safer there, although it definitely is to a certain degree, but there is just so much to see. So many rural townships, farming communities and villages, and the Afrikaaners that speak EXACTLY the way we sound when we mock their accents. Despite a bit of car trouble, we made it to Sodwana and checked into the camp we were staying at.
The place we were staying was called Adventure Mania, run by the sweetest people in the world. It is very basic, everything is outdoors, and we each had our own little hut to sleep in. The showers are completely under the sky in a wooden sort of cubicle, and the toilets are also in stalls that are out in the open, where you just put a piece of wood across the entrance to let people know you're in there. At night they light a big fire and everyone sits around cooking their own food and chatting about their diving experiences.
I've realized that there is a sort of secret society of divers. If you scuba dive, you have something in common with someone else, and they want to talk about their experiences, qualifications, anything they have questions about, stuff like that, and everyone is just really friendly. Its like instant friends and people you can rely on, and the dives themselves operate in a sort of way that you can just rely on each other if you need help.
Over two days, we did three dives, to about 18 m each, about 50 feet. We saw such amazing corals and sea life, beautiful fish, spotted stingrays, and even humpback whales, massive turtles, and a manta ray of some kind that jumped out of the water. Under the water is just an incredible feeling, like you're flying, and being so deep you can just go anywhere and explore a totally different world.
The whole trip was just an eye opener. Met some interesting people, saw the most beautiful parts of nature, swam in the Indian Ocean, and ate so much Boerwoers.
The drive home on Friday, though LONG, was also great. Took lots of pictures of what you can see on the sides of the road. So many different kinds of people just walking, and you are always wondering where they are coming from, where they are going to, and how long they have been walking. We also saw cows along the road, sometimes in the middle of the road, sometimes dead on the side of the road, and a variety of different animals. Also watched the sunset on Friday night, which was stunning.
The rest of my time here has just been spent soaking it all in, enjoying time with family I unfortunately don't get to see that often, and observing life in SA.
An amazing thing that has happened here is what the people have done to Nelson Mandela. Arguably the most important figure of the 20th century, Nelson Mandela is a living legend. He saved the white population of South Africa, and taught people that taking revenge is not the answer. On the 18th of July he turned 90, and is extremely frail and old. Because there simply is not much to be proud of in South Africa, people have taken Mandela and turned him into a living god. They have done things to him that is usually only done to someone after they die. There are Mandela shopping centres, coins with his picture on them, roads named after him, statues of him, EVERYTHING. It is just amazing how people feel about this man, how he has been able to touch so many lives, and how they feel they must show their appreciation to him while he is still able to see it.
I must just add one funny thing. Mandela's number in prison was 46664, and is now the name of his charity organization. We found a tshirt yesterday that said "46665: Nelson's Neighbour". Hilarious.
Though there are so many terrible things that happen here, people live here. Often in fear, but they live full and happy lives, bring up their children, and fulfill their dreams. There are many people that are leaving now because the crime is getting worse, the political situation doesn't look very promising, and the country is totally backwards, but I have so much respect for those people who live here. Often they don't have a choice, and they can't simply pack up and leave, and those who make the most of their time here really do get to see that they live in a beautiful country. Though Johannesburg is ofen referred to as 'Paradise in Hell', there is so much that South Africa has to offer, and it is proven in the number of tourists that come to see the country side, the game reserves and the coast every year. Although my connection here isn't all that strong, I do feel somewhat at home here, and love the little things that I can pick up on every time I come to visit here.
Must now run to catch my plane to fly to Kenya, and will hopefully update this when I get back to Israel on the 17th of August.
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Sunday, 20 July 2008
Phase III: Israel Again
Back in Tel Aviv, my brother Mikey had decided to come over from Toronto to visit for a week so that we could spend some time together. In the last few years we haven't spent much time together at all because I've been in London for a year and he's also been away at school the year before that, so it was really nice to finally spend a bit of time together and do something a bit different. We have an aunt Esther who lives in Israel as well, and its amazing having her here because she's amazing, spoils us naturally, and is just another connection to Israel which is always welcome.
On Monday we spent the day hanging out, and on Tuesday after our plans to go kayaking on the Jordan River fell through, we decided to go and spend the day in Haifa. We took the bus to Haifa which took a bit longer than we had expected, and when we arrived were starving. Suddenly, Mikey remembered that one of our family friends always tells us about this amazing place for falafel in Haifa, he calls it the best in the world. So we put in an early morning phone call to Toronto to find out the name of the place and where it was, and decided to go for a wander to find Falafel Halutz!
Now, we had both never been to Haifa, so we didn't know our way around, and after asking a few people, discovered that our wandering had taken us in a MASSIVE circle, eventually ending up quite near the falafel place. When we saw the sign for Halutz Street, we were thrilled... unfortunately, when we discovered the street, we also discovered that there's no such place called Falafel Halutz. We had to go based on the address information we had, which was #3, Rehov Hahalutz. We found some guy's falafel place who told us that he was #3, and although we weren't convinced, the falafel was AMAZING. Usually I'm not much of a falafel fan, usually opting for schwarma. If I ever get falafel, I only get from Tov Li in Toronto... I know... typical Jewish kid from Toronto, but hey... its the best. This place easily challenged Tov Li, and we left satisfied and smelling of Tahina.
That was essentially our day in Haifa. We wandered around for a while, got lost somewhere near the middle of the Bahai Gardens, peed in someone's backyard (possibly IN the Bahai Gardens) and then when we got to the bottom and wanted to walk up to the top, the place was closed. We decided to walk down the street, popped into a mall for air conditioning (where I bumped into one of the students from Manhigut) and then made our way to the bus station. We jumped on a bus at about 6:30 heading towards Jerusalem, and arrived in the Holy City two hours later.
BurgersBar for dinner, checked into our hostel, and then went for a late night wander to the Kotel. The atmosphere at the Kotel late at night is amazing, and it was so nice seeing actually how many people were there at around 11:30. There was a shiur going on in one corner, and a massive minyan of black hats standing right up at the wall as well. We went and did our thing at the wall, and then called home. One of us had the idea to tell our mom about the Live Kotel Webcam that broadcasts online 24/6, and after lengthy explanations that may have included how to spell 'Google', mom worked out how to see the kotel from the coziness of the study in Thornhill, and couldn't believe that she could see her two boys waving at her from Jerusalem. Our dad then naturally called and logged on from his office, and then Justin (our youngest brother) did a tutorial with our Bobba in Thornhill to show her the two of us standing at the kotel. After a while of that, we made our way back to the hostel.
Wednesday we basically wandered around Jerusalem, bumped into some people we knew, ate some marzipan rugalach, had schwarma for lunch and bought some presents for friends.
That was the day in Jerusalem, and went back to Esther's to sleep on Wednesday night.
On Monday we spent the day hanging out, and on Tuesday after our plans to go kayaking on the Jordan River fell through, we decided to go and spend the day in Haifa. We took the bus to Haifa which took a bit longer than we had expected, and when we arrived were starving. Suddenly, Mikey remembered that one of our family friends always tells us about this amazing place for falafel in Haifa, he calls it the best in the world. So we put in an early morning phone call to Toronto to find out the name of the place and where it was, and decided to go for a wander to find Falafel Halutz!
Now, we had both never been to Haifa, so we didn't know our way around, and after asking a few people, discovered that our wandering had taken us in a MASSIVE circle, eventually ending up quite near the falafel place. When we saw the sign for Halutz Street, we were thrilled... unfortunately, when we discovered the street, we also discovered that there's no such place called Falafel Halutz. We had to go based on the address information we had, which was #3, Rehov Hahalutz. We found some guy's falafel place who told us that he was #3, and although we weren't convinced, the falafel was AMAZING. Usually I'm not much of a falafel fan, usually opting for schwarma. If I ever get falafel, I only get from Tov Li in Toronto... I know... typical Jewish kid from Toronto, but hey... its the best. This place easily challenged Tov Li, and we left satisfied and smelling of Tahina.
That was essentially our day in Haifa. We wandered around for a while, got lost somewhere near the middle of the Bahai Gardens, peed in someone's backyard (possibly IN the Bahai Gardens) and then when we got to the bottom and wanted to walk up to the top, the place was closed. We decided to walk down the street, popped into a mall for air conditioning (where I bumped into one of the students from Manhigut) and then made our way to the bus station. We jumped on a bus at about 6:30 heading towards Jerusalem, and arrived in the Holy City two hours later.
BurgersBar for dinner, checked into our hostel, and then went for a late night wander to the Kotel. The atmosphere at the Kotel late at night is amazing, and it was so nice seeing actually how many people were there at around 11:30. There was a shiur going on in one corner, and a massive minyan of black hats standing right up at the wall as well. We went and did our thing at the wall, and then called home. One of us had the idea to tell our mom about the Live Kotel Webcam that broadcasts online 24/6, and after lengthy explanations that may have included how to spell 'Google', mom worked out how to see the kotel from the coziness of the study in Thornhill, and couldn't believe that she could see her two boys waving at her from Jerusalem. Our dad then naturally called and logged on from his office, and then Justin (our youngest brother) did a tutorial with our Bobba in Thornhill to show her the two of us standing at the kotel. After a while of that, we made our way back to the hostel.
Wednesday we basically wandered around Jerusalem, bumped into some people we knew, ate some marzipan rugalach, had schwarma for lunch and bought some presents for friends.
That was the day in Jerusalem, and went back to Esther's to sleep on Wednesday night.
Phase II: Egypt- Day 2 and 3
We woke up early on Friday morning because we had our tour of Saqqara and the Giza Plateau, which was one of the most exciting things in the world for me. Finally...seeing the pyramids! Couldn't wait.
Our tour guide's name was Mike, he was a really interesting guy, and from the way he spoke, both Nick and I thought that he was from a really wealthy family and just led tours for fun. He was only about 26, had just finished university, and was studying Egyptian history, as well as English, Spanish and German.
Our first stop was Saqqara. Now quickly, Saqqara is the oldest man-made stone structure in the world. It is the first pyramid as well, and was built by the great Egyptian architect Imhotep for the Pharaoh Djoser. Imhotep was a sort of Egyptian Leonardo Da Vinci as he was an architect, scribe, doctor, astrologist, you name it. He is also the only person in Egyptian history who was more popular that the actual pharaoh during his lifetime, and became a demi-god after his death.
Seeing the pyramid up close was just incredible, and it was a bit surreal actually being there. It was also just very very hot where we were, literally standing in the midst of sand dunes and the beginning of Egyptian history, and it was all just an amazing experience.
After Saqqara, we got into the car and drove to a papyrus shop where we were each pressured into buying a piece of papyrus art, and then we went to get lunch (coincidentally, fish and chips again...very popular in Egypt).
Then we started making our way over to the Giza Plateau to see THE pyramids. We drove through this little shanty-town and were a bit curious as to how this could be the official entrance to the only surviving one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, but only after we got out of the car at someone's house, we realized where we were. This is where we get the camel ride to take us around the pyramids...and it only cost 35 pounds more each!! (after we were promised that we wouldn't have to pay anything else for our day tour). After a bit of bargaining, we each got our own camel (the name of mine was Abdul, Nick's was Michael Jackson), and we got a tour guide named Adam who was also 22, and a little kid who walked around with us pulling the camels...and his name was Zaeed.
So Nick and I had camels, Zaeed was on foot, and Adam had a horse. After walking for about 15 minutes, we jumped off our collective 'rides' to get some pictures of the pyramids which had just come into view. Nick and I both dismounted our camels, and Adam jumped off the horse and proceeded to take some pictures of us (I refer you to facebook albums). All of a sudden, Adam's horse just takes off and runs away. He turns around and tries to grab it, but its too late and this horse is GONE. He shouts something at Zaeed, and this little 8 year old kid starts running through the sand dunes chasing a fully grown horse. Nick and I cannot stop laughing, and Adam, who naturally doesn't think its THAT funny, decides to distract himself and starts telling us about the pyramids and being a tour guide.
Now, the horse thing was still going on which was really funny, but Adam's commentary was also hilarious, as he clearly had no idea what he was talking about. Based on his information, I was surprised that he was even calling the pyramids by their right names. I knew more about this stuff than he did, and he's supposed to be a tour guide of Giza, and I'm a tour guide in London.
Essentially, after telling us a whole lot of wrong information about arguably the most famous structures in the world, we got back on our camels, and now Adam was leading us by foot, Zaeed still away chasing the run-away horse. After a few minutes, this kid shows up riding the horse! He actually caught it, and we have no idea how, but then the tour proceeded. The rest of the tour was pretty cool, no more information from Adam, but we just went for a ride around the plateau, took far too many pictures, and just admired the absolute size of the pyramids and the entire area. It was unreal actually being there, and being up on top of these two massive camels, wearing our kaffiyehs, while baking in the hot Egyptian sun, made the experience all that much better.
The whole ride lasted about 2.5 hours, then we went back to the starting point, got into our waiting van, and went back to the hotel.
For Shabbat dinner, we went back to the Hilton where we had made dinner reservations at a restaurant called Falafel. The food was delicious (yes, we had fish again... but this time with vegetables), and it came with a belly dancing show which was amazing! AND Nick and I both participated in various ways... was hilarious.
Then we went downstairs and there was a massive wedding taking place in the lobby. So we watched that for a bit, which was really nice actually, and then we made our way back to our hostel, being very careful not to be hit by 40 different cars while crossing at a crosswalk when the little guy was definitely flashing green.
The next morning, we woke up to go and see the Egyptian Museum which was amazing. Basically every piece that could be removed from the major sites in Egypt (that aren't already in Paris or London) have been stored in the Egyptian Museum. We opted not to take a tour, and just wandered around on our own. We finally got to see the King Tutankhamun treasures which were absolutely exquisite, and then made our way to lunch.
After lunch, we wandered around the market area of Cairo, tried to find a Jewish Temple that we are sure they have now destroyed, and also nearly got run over by a cab driver who I PROMISE WAS STEERING WITH HIS LEFT HAND, WHICH ALSO HELD IN IT A GUN. After buying a few cheap t-shirts (I bought two Abercrombie shirts...and only noticed after that the label said 'Apercrombie and Fitch') made our way back to the hostel. We decided that we were going to take the night bus back to Taba and then arrive in Eilat early Sunday morning.
We got a cab to take us to the station, and when we arrived and were about to pay, I took the money out to give to the driver who had suddenly disappeared. We looked around, and found him peeing on a bus that was waiting next to us. He then came over, took our money, and drove away. We walked into the station, ordered two tickets for Taba, and went to sit downstairs and wait for the bus. In the meantime, we were greeted by the friendliest security officers we have ever met, sat next to the most disgusting smelling group of Canadian tourists that we had ever seen (or smelled) and ended up on a bus which took 7 hours to drive back to Taba.
At 7 o'clock Sunday morning, after waiting behind a MASSIVE group of tourists who took forever to get through the Egyptian border, we finally crossed into Israel, and finally had some semblance of what it was like to complete the Exodus from Egypt to Israel. Granted 40 years of wandering isn't compared to 7 hours in an air conditioned bus... but for the blog's sake, I'm making the comparison, and sticking to it.
We spent Sunday in Eilat either sitting by the pool of one of Eilat's finest hotels, or scuba diving in the Red Sea, or relaxing on the beach before jumping on another bus to complete the gruelling drive from Eilat back to Tel Aviv.
Our tour guide's name was Mike, he was a really interesting guy, and from the way he spoke, both Nick and I thought that he was from a really wealthy family and just led tours for fun. He was only about 26, had just finished university, and was studying Egyptian history, as well as English, Spanish and German.
Our first stop was Saqqara. Now quickly, Saqqara is the oldest man-made stone structure in the world. It is the first pyramid as well, and was built by the great Egyptian architect Imhotep for the Pharaoh Djoser. Imhotep was a sort of Egyptian Leonardo Da Vinci as he was an architect, scribe, doctor, astrologist, you name it. He is also the only person in Egyptian history who was more popular that the actual pharaoh during his lifetime, and became a demi-god after his death.
Seeing the pyramid up close was just incredible, and it was a bit surreal actually being there. It was also just very very hot where we were, literally standing in the midst of sand dunes and the beginning of Egyptian history, and it was all just an amazing experience.
After Saqqara, we got into the car and drove to a papyrus shop where we were each pressured into buying a piece of papyrus art, and then we went to get lunch (coincidentally, fish and chips again...very popular in Egypt).
Then we started making our way over to the Giza Plateau to see THE pyramids. We drove through this little shanty-town and were a bit curious as to how this could be the official entrance to the only surviving one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, but only after we got out of the car at someone's house, we realized where we were. This is where we get the camel ride to take us around the pyramids...and it only cost 35 pounds more each!! (after we were promised that we wouldn't have to pay anything else for our day tour). After a bit of bargaining, we each got our own camel (the name of mine was Abdul, Nick's was Michael Jackson), and we got a tour guide named Adam who was also 22, and a little kid who walked around with us pulling the camels...and his name was Zaeed.
So Nick and I had camels, Zaeed was on foot, and Adam had a horse. After walking for about 15 minutes, we jumped off our collective 'rides' to get some pictures of the pyramids which had just come into view. Nick and I both dismounted our camels, and Adam jumped off the horse and proceeded to take some pictures of us (I refer you to facebook albums). All of a sudden, Adam's horse just takes off and runs away. He turns around and tries to grab it, but its too late and this horse is GONE. He shouts something at Zaeed, and this little 8 year old kid starts running through the sand dunes chasing a fully grown horse. Nick and I cannot stop laughing, and Adam, who naturally doesn't think its THAT funny, decides to distract himself and starts telling us about the pyramids and being a tour guide.
Now, the horse thing was still going on which was really funny, but Adam's commentary was also hilarious, as he clearly had no idea what he was talking about. Based on his information, I was surprised that he was even calling the pyramids by their right names. I knew more about this stuff than he did, and he's supposed to be a tour guide of Giza, and I'm a tour guide in London.
Essentially, after telling us a whole lot of wrong information about arguably the most famous structures in the world, we got back on our camels, and now Adam was leading us by foot, Zaeed still away chasing the run-away horse. After a few minutes, this kid shows up riding the horse! He actually caught it, and we have no idea how, but then the tour proceeded. The rest of the tour was pretty cool, no more information from Adam, but we just went for a ride around the plateau, took far too many pictures, and just admired the absolute size of the pyramids and the entire area. It was unreal actually being there, and being up on top of these two massive camels, wearing our kaffiyehs, while baking in the hot Egyptian sun, made the experience all that much better.
The whole ride lasted about 2.5 hours, then we went back to the starting point, got into our waiting van, and went back to the hotel.
For Shabbat dinner, we went back to the Hilton where we had made dinner reservations at a restaurant called Falafel. The food was delicious (yes, we had fish again... but this time with vegetables), and it came with a belly dancing show which was amazing! AND Nick and I both participated in various ways... was hilarious.
Then we went downstairs and there was a massive wedding taking place in the lobby. So we watched that for a bit, which was really nice actually, and then we made our way back to our hostel, being very careful not to be hit by 40 different cars while crossing at a crosswalk when the little guy was definitely flashing green.
The next morning, we woke up to go and see the Egyptian Museum which was amazing. Basically every piece that could be removed from the major sites in Egypt (that aren't already in Paris or London) have been stored in the Egyptian Museum. We opted not to take a tour, and just wandered around on our own. We finally got to see the King Tutankhamun treasures which were absolutely exquisite, and then made our way to lunch.
After lunch, we wandered around the market area of Cairo, tried to find a Jewish Temple that we are sure they have now destroyed, and also nearly got run over by a cab driver who I PROMISE WAS STEERING WITH HIS LEFT HAND, WHICH ALSO HELD IN IT A GUN. After buying a few cheap t-shirts (I bought two Abercrombie shirts...and only noticed after that the label said 'Apercrombie and Fitch') made our way back to the hostel. We decided that we were going to take the night bus back to Taba and then arrive in Eilat early Sunday morning.
We got a cab to take us to the station, and when we arrived and were about to pay, I took the money out to give to the driver who had suddenly disappeared. We looked around, and found him peeing on a bus that was waiting next to us. He then came over, took our money, and drove away. We walked into the station, ordered two tickets for Taba, and went to sit downstairs and wait for the bus. In the meantime, we were greeted by the friendliest security officers we have ever met, sat next to the most disgusting smelling group of Canadian tourists that we had ever seen (or smelled) and ended up on a bus which took 7 hours to drive back to Taba.
At 7 o'clock Sunday morning, after waiting behind a MASSIVE group of tourists who took forever to get through the Egyptian border, we finally crossed into Israel, and finally had some semblance of what it was like to complete the Exodus from Egypt to Israel. Granted 40 years of wandering isn't compared to 7 hours in an air conditioned bus... but for the blog's sake, I'm making the comparison, and sticking to it.
We spent Sunday in Eilat either sitting by the pool of one of Eilat's finest hotels, or scuba diving in the Red Sea, or relaxing on the beach before jumping on another bus to complete the gruelling drive from Eilat back to Tel Aviv.
Phase II: Egypt- Day 1
Ask anyone I know, and they will all tell you that I have been dying to go to Egypt for as long as they have known me. For too long I have wondered the Egyptian rooms in the ROM, and since I have been living in London, stopping off in the British Museum during my lunch break to admire the Rosetta Stone, the collossal statue of Ramses II, or to admire the exquisite hieroglyphics covering the surface of the statue of Thutmosis III.
Now that I've uncovered my extreme nerdiness when it comes to Egypt, you can truly understand why I was so excited to actually get the chance to go to Cairo.
I went with my friend Nick from UJS, and we began by taking an overnight bus on the 9th of July to Eilat. We arrived at about 5:30 in the morning and were able to make it to the beach in time to see the sun rising over the red Jordanian Mountains. We fell asleep on the beach for a while, and woke up only because the sun was shining right into our eyes. We then went to find a hotel to get changed and wash up, then we headed over to the border.
We jumped in a cab with a woman who was a little crazy. When she found out I was from Canada, she could not have been happier because her son is living in Montreal doing some work, and so she loved the connection. Then she asked me how she could get a visa to work in Canada because she wanted to get away from Israel for a while. Naturally, I insisted that there is no reason for her to leave Israel (especially to go to Montreal), but eventually she revealed that she had tried and that Canada just wasn't willing to accept an Israeli woman to come and work as a cab driver in Montreal (I'll let you insert your own jokes here).
We arrived at the border for Egypt, keen on getting across as quickly as possible and jumping into our cab destined for Cairo. We had a group of a few people who were going with us, and getting through the Israeli side was not difficult at all. We paid our border tax, went through security on the Israeli side, went through security on the Egyptian side, and then arrived at the Egyptian passport control desk.
Adam: Ahlan! (Hello! using my Arabic now)
Border Officer: Passport please
Adam: Huna (here)
B.O.: Where are you going?
Adam: Cairo (Cairo)
B.O.: Where is your entry visa?
Adam: I thought we could buy it here? (only took 1 year of Arabic... limited)
B.O.: No. Only from Egyptian embassy in Eilat. Go back and get one.
Adam: But that will take forever and we just went through customs!
B.O.: Get in a cab, and go to Egyptian embassy in Eilat.
At which point we all stopped and looked at each other trying to figure out what to do.
Adam: What time does it close?
B.O.: at 11 am.
(I look at my watch... its 10)
Adam: Can't you just give us a visa here?
B.O.: Only at Egyptian embassy, or a group travel agent can issue you one.
So.... we turn around not knowing what to do. Then all of a sudden this random Egyptian guy shows up behind us who works for a travel company operating inside the border building, and says he can call his friend over to come and give us visas. It will only take 15 minutes.
40 minutes later, a guy arrives with stickers for our passports and demands $40 American for each one (even though it actually says on the sticker '$15'). At this point we just want to get into Egypt so we give him the money, and he puts these stickers into our passports which we're SURE are fake, which would in essence still not let us into Egypt, and invalidate our passports entirely (WHILE WE'RE STUCK IN BETWEEN TWO BORDERS)
We take our passports over to the border officer again. Doesn't say a word, takes the passport, stamps it, and we are in Egypt!
We get inside and now we need to find a cab to take us to Cairo. We go and ask at the Hilton for a bit of help because we assume they know how much it will cost, and after figuring out a reasonable price, this old Egyptian man comes to pick us up in his van which is perfectly white and clean, with fully operational air conditioning.
We jump in and get ready for our 6 hour cab ride.
After 20 minutes, the cab comes to a complete stop in the middle of the road. Our elderly driver takes out his phone and starts talking quickly in Arabic. Now, like I sad before my Arabic is very beginner, and can't really pick up any of the words. However, my deductive skills are incredible, and so I turn to Nick and say "He's arranging a drop off. He's handing us over to Al Qaeda."
After a nervous laugh... the cab starts moving again. Maybe the drop off spot has changed. In any case, let's hope the doors are locked and air conditioner still works.
After another 20 minutes, the driver pulls over and this random guy wearing all white gets in. He's not too old, turns around and smiles at us and says hi, and we get on the way again. After a few minutes, the driver wants to tell us something, and so I move up to the front to begin my first genuine conversation in Arabic.
After a few introductions and Salam Alaykums, I have made my first Egyptian friends. Mohammed is the guy in white, and Abu Ziad is our driver. Now, Abu Ziad tell me that he is not actually going to take us straight to our hotel in Cairo, he is going to take us to a station just inside Cairo, and then we are going to have to take another cab to the hotel from there. Ok, not too bad, and Mohammed confirms all the information.
Approximately 4 hours later, the cab comes to a stop at a junction just after we have crossed under the Suez Canal. There are about 20 people around, another cab, and two small shops selling drinks and chips. The driver turns to me and says "ok, you change here. No more money."
Now like I said, I though he was taking us to Cairo and we were switching there, but apparently we were switching at this random junction I like to call Bakalakadaka Street. We jumped into the next cab, who's seats were lined with an animals fur of some sort, and drove for two hours to Cairo SWEATING, eventually making it to our hostel.
The first thing that struck us in Cairo was the driving. The population of Cairo is 20 million. If anyone thought there were a lot of people in London, thats almost three times the population of London. And it appears that every single one of those 20 million drives a car.
I have to make this point very clear, and although this may seem to be based on an assumption, I can assure you its not: There are no road rules in Cairo. There simply are none. For three days we racked our brains about what you would have to do to get pulled over in Cairo, and we couldn't come up with one idea. There are wide roads with no lines on them, you can drive wherever you want, there are no speed limits, no blind spots to check, and the best thing.... red lights are completely optional. (Needless to say that this made crossing the road an adventure of a lifetime, but just something to add to the list of experiences).
We finally made it to the hostel though, were exhausted, sweaty, and hungry, and wanted to go get something to eat. After a few minutes of wandering, we figured that the safest bet was to head to the Hilton. We had been adventurous enough for one day, let's just go somewhere that we can trust.
Lo and behold, the Hilton does not disappoint. We entered this beautiful air conditioned building, and as though it was lit up by halos, we found the Sherlock Holmes English Pub tucked away in the corner of the Hilton. After lifting our jaws up off the ground, we went inside, and said the most British thing we could have said: "We'll have two pints of beer, and two orders of fish and chips". (Although in England they use Haddock and in Egypt they use Sea Bass... it was amazing).
We then headed back to the hostel and chilled a bit, and then fell asleep in our ridiculously hot room that was mysteriously lacking the air conditioning that was promised to us on the Hostelworld.com advertisement.
Now that I've uncovered my extreme nerdiness when it comes to Egypt, you can truly understand why I was so excited to actually get the chance to go to Cairo.
I went with my friend Nick from UJS, and we began by taking an overnight bus on the 9th of July to Eilat. We arrived at about 5:30 in the morning and were able to make it to the beach in time to see the sun rising over the red Jordanian Mountains. We fell asleep on the beach for a while, and woke up only because the sun was shining right into our eyes. We then went to find a hotel to get changed and wash up, then we headed over to the border.
We jumped in a cab with a woman who was a little crazy. When she found out I was from Canada, she could not have been happier because her son is living in Montreal doing some work, and so she loved the connection. Then she asked me how she could get a visa to work in Canada because she wanted to get away from Israel for a while. Naturally, I insisted that there is no reason for her to leave Israel (especially to go to Montreal), but eventually she revealed that she had tried and that Canada just wasn't willing to accept an Israeli woman to come and work as a cab driver in Montreal (I'll let you insert your own jokes here).
We arrived at the border for Egypt, keen on getting across as quickly as possible and jumping into our cab destined for Cairo. We had a group of a few people who were going with us, and getting through the Israeli side was not difficult at all. We paid our border tax, went through security on the Israeli side, went through security on the Egyptian side, and then arrived at the Egyptian passport control desk.
Adam: Ahlan! (Hello! using my Arabic now)
Border Officer: Passport please
Adam: Huna (here)
B.O.: Where are you going?
Adam: Cairo (Cairo)
B.O.: Where is your entry visa?
Adam: I thought we could buy it here? (only took 1 year of Arabic... limited)
B.O.: No. Only from Egyptian embassy in Eilat. Go back and get one.
Adam: But that will take forever and we just went through customs!
B.O.: Get in a cab, and go to Egyptian embassy in Eilat.
At which point we all stopped and looked at each other trying to figure out what to do.
Adam: What time does it close?
B.O.: at 11 am.
(I look at my watch... its 10)
Adam: Can't you just give us a visa here?
B.O.: Only at Egyptian embassy, or a group travel agent can issue you one.
So.... we turn around not knowing what to do. Then all of a sudden this random Egyptian guy shows up behind us who works for a travel company operating inside the border building, and says he can call his friend over to come and give us visas. It will only take 15 minutes.
40 minutes later, a guy arrives with stickers for our passports and demands $40 American for each one (even though it actually says on the sticker '$15'). At this point we just want to get into Egypt so we give him the money, and he puts these stickers into our passports which we're SURE are fake, which would in essence still not let us into Egypt, and invalidate our passports entirely (WHILE WE'RE STUCK IN BETWEEN TWO BORDERS)
We take our passports over to the border officer again. Doesn't say a word, takes the passport, stamps it, and we are in Egypt!
We get inside and now we need to find a cab to take us to Cairo. We go and ask at the Hilton for a bit of help because we assume they know how much it will cost, and after figuring out a reasonable price, this old Egyptian man comes to pick us up in his van which is perfectly white and clean, with fully operational air conditioning.
We jump in and get ready for our 6 hour cab ride.
After 20 minutes, the cab comes to a complete stop in the middle of the road. Our elderly driver takes out his phone and starts talking quickly in Arabic. Now, like I sad before my Arabic is very beginner, and can't really pick up any of the words. However, my deductive skills are incredible, and so I turn to Nick and say "He's arranging a drop off. He's handing us over to Al Qaeda."
After a nervous laugh... the cab starts moving again. Maybe the drop off spot has changed. In any case, let's hope the doors are locked and air conditioner still works.
After another 20 minutes, the driver pulls over and this random guy wearing all white gets in. He's not too old, turns around and smiles at us and says hi, and we get on the way again. After a few minutes, the driver wants to tell us something, and so I move up to the front to begin my first genuine conversation in Arabic.
After a few introductions and Salam Alaykums, I have made my first Egyptian friends. Mohammed is the guy in white, and Abu Ziad is our driver. Now, Abu Ziad tell me that he is not actually going to take us straight to our hotel in Cairo, he is going to take us to a station just inside Cairo, and then we are going to have to take another cab to the hotel from there. Ok, not too bad, and Mohammed confirms all the information.
Approximately 4 hours later, the cab comes to a stop at a junction just after we have crossed under the Suez Canal. There are about 20 people around, another cab, and two small shops selling drinks and chips. The driver turns to me and says "ok, you change here. No more money."
Now like I said, I though he was taking us to Cairo and we were switching there, but apparently we were switching at this random junction I like to call Bakalakadaka Street. We jumped into the next cab, who's seats were lined with an animals fur of some sort, and drove for two hours to Cairo SWEATING, eventually making it to our hostel.
The first thing that struck us in Cairo was the driving. The population of Cairo is 20 million. If anyone thought there were a lot of people in London, thats almost three times the population of London. And it appears that every single one of those 20 million drives a car.
I have to make this point very clear, and although this may seem to be based on an assumption, I can assure you its not: There are no road rules in Cairo. There simply are none. For three days we racked our brains about what you would have to do to get pulled over in Cairo, and we couldn't come up with one idea. There are wide roads with no lines on them, you can drive wherever you want, there are no speed limits, no blind spots to check, and the best thing.... red lights are completely optional. (Needless to say that this made crossing the road an adventure of a lifetime, but just something to add to the list of experiences).
We finally made it to the hostel though, were exhausted, sweaty, and hungry, and wanted to go get something to eat. After a few minutes of wandering, we figured that the safest bet was to head to the Hilton. We had been adventurous enough for one day, let's just go somewhere that we can trust.
Lo and behold, the Hilton does not disappoint. We entered this beautiful air conditioned building, and as though it was lit up by halos, we found the Sherlock Holmes English Pub tucked away in the corner of the Hilton. After lifting our jaws up off the ground, we went inside, and said the most British thing we could have said: "We'll have two pints of beer, and two orders of fish and chips". (Although in England they use Haddock and in Egypt they use Sea Bass... it was amazing).
We then headed back to the hostel and chilled a bit, and then fell asleep in our ridiculously hot room that was mysteriously lacking the air conditioning that was promised to us on the Hostelworld.com advertisement.
Phase I: Israel Advocacy Trip
I figured I would start a blog in order to remind myself of what has been happening during this adventure, and also to provide a little bit of entertainment to others who would like to track my journey.
This summer I have 7 different phases which are all hopefully unique and different. I have lots to say, and am just about finished phase 3 as I am writing this... so here it goes!
Phase I was when I originally got to Israel for 10 days to help lead a trip through work at the Union of Jewish Students in London. For the last year I have been working there as the education officer, and I was fortunate for this summer to be offered one of the positions as a madrich on their trip called Manhigut (Hebrew for 'leadership'). The point of the trip was to take a few key active students from across the UK, and take them to Israel for 10 days in order for them to meet with top activists, journalists, a number of politicians, and some other interesting people.
The trip was fantastic and I really enjoyed every minute of it. The students made the trip that much more interesting, as they were extremely keen, they knew their stuff, and they weren't afraid to ask the hard questions. There is a big difference between British and Canadian students... but I am not 100% sure what it is just yet, so I am going to think about it and hopefully let you know when I can.
The trip took place as Israel was making a decision regarding a prisoner swap with Hizbullah (which I will address in a further entry), and so that issue, coupled with a number of different ones regarding Israeli policy, made for quite an interesting experience with much to be gained.
In my experience, I find that there are two problems with Israel advocacy on campus. The first, is that the majority of students have no idea whatsoever. Many students take Israel for granted, feel that despite everything that is going on, things are fine, and they only get involved on campus when there is a massive rally, or a fight that breaks out... then they rush to the front lines. There is an intense wave of apathy that has gripped the Jewish student population perhaps because they feel there is simply too much going on that it is too much to handle, or because, like I said before, they just don't care all that much. They may love Israel, but loving Israel and caring for Israel are two very different things.
The other problem with regard to Israel advocacy on campus is simply that students take a course and get to a certain point, and then consider themselves experts. In a place as dynamic and turbulent as the Middle East, I believe it is impossible to be an expert because things change every day. This means that one must always be learning, listening, and ready to change their mind in order for a rational flow of thoughts to exist. In this way, advocacy trips are fantastic and help get this message across to a wide variety of students (and we defintely had a wide variety on this trip).
Not much else to say about it, but thoroughly enjoyed and hope to lead a similar trip in the future.
This summer I have 7 different phases which are all hopefully unique and different. I have lots to say, and am just about finished phase 3 as I am writing this... so here it goes!
Phase I was when I originally got to Israel for 10 days to help lead a trip through work at the Union of Jewish Students in London. For the last year I have been working there as the education officer, and I was fortunate for this summer to be offered one of the positions as a madrich on their trip called Manhigut (Hebrew for 'leadership'). The point of the trip was to take a few key active students from across the UK, and take them to Israel for 10 days in order for them to meet with top activists, journalists, a number of politicians, and some other interesting people.
The trip was fantastic and I really enjoyed every minute of it. The students made the trip that much more interesting, as they were extremely keen, they knew their stuff, and they weren't afraid to ask the hard questions. There is a big difference between British and Canadian students... but I am not 100% sure what it is just yet, so I am going to think about it and hopefully let you know when I can.
The trip took place as Israel was making a decision regarding a prisoner swap with Hizbullah (which I will address in a further entry), and so that issue, coupled with a number of different ones regarding Israeli policy, made for quite an interesting experience with much to be gained.
In my experience, I find that there are two problems with Israel advocacy on campus. The first, is that the majority of students have no idea whatsoever. Many students take Israel for granted, feel that despite everything that is going on, things are fine, and they only get involved on campus when there is a massive rally, or a fight that breaks out... then they rush to the front lines. There is an intense wave of apathy that has gripped the Jewish student population perhaps because they feel there is simply too much going on that it is too much to handle, or because, like I said before, they just don't care all that much. They may love Israel, but loving Israel and caring for Israel are two very different things.
The other problem with regard to Israel advocacy on campus is simply that students take a course and get to a certain point, and then consider themselves experts. In a place as dynamic and turbulent as the Middle East, I believe it is impossible to be an expert because things change every day. This means that one must always be learning, listening, and ready to change their mind in order for a rational flow of thoughts to exist. In this way, advocacy trips are fantastic and help get this message across to a wide variety of students (and we defintely had a wide variety on this trip).
Not much else to say about it, but thoroughly enjoyed and hope to lead a similar trip in the future.
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