Family trip to Israel

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My family and I went to Israel during the summer of 1993, a trip I wish now I'd documented more thoroughly. Being in high school, I spent a lot of the time listening to music on my walkman (pre-ipod days), but considering we spent a bulk of the time on a very academic historic tour of the country, I think I listened to as many of the lectures as any teenager would.

We flew into Tel Aviv and spent a few days there first before our tour started, relaxing on the beach (beautiful turquoise blue waters and white sand, my first glimpse at the gorgeous Mediterranean Sea) and visiting family friends who lived there. This was my favorite portion of the trip. I loved the energy of Tel Aviv, the hot weather, the frozen chocolate-covered bananas sold on the beach, playing paddle-ball with my sister during the day and walking Ben-Yahuda Street at night to look at the art galleries and stores in the balmy evenings. I also remember going to a wonderful craft fair in Tel Aviv in the Nachalat Binyamin pedestrian zone, a cool scene with street performers and so much stimulating art to peruse, and the “old city” with its fascinating architecture. Before visiting Israel, I had never seen visual representations of human history this old outside of history books or PBS. It really blew my mind.

One order of falafel without chick peas please.

It was in Tel Aviv that I had a classic childhood Carrie moment while ordering food from one the many falafel street stands. “One order of falafel without chick peas please.” Chick peas to me sounded completely unpalatable. Yeah, I made a fool out of myself, but at least I brought some levity to the moment, and after that delicious meal I’ve loved falafel ever since.

After Tel Aviv, we embarked on a serious tour through the country by bus, learning about the amazingly complex history of the country and, of course, Jewish history as well. Though we went to many, many sites, places I remember off the top of my head that we visited along the way were Haifa, Eilat, the Golan Heights, Jaffa, and of course Jerusalem where we spent another few days visiting many important religious Christian, Jewish, and Islamic sites. The magic of Jerusalem is unparalleled and would take a book to describe. The whole city vibrates. I was humbled by the atmosphere of so many different cultures honoring their respective beliefs, and by the tenuous feeling of potential danger even as you're walking down the street (still nothing then like it is today). What also impressed me were the street markets. Intricate in design, overflowing with merchandise, and overwhelmingly colorful, noisy, and frenetic. I walked through wide-eyed, taking in the sensory overload.

We also had a sunrise hike up the Massada, a mountain with ruins on top of it that was an important site in the First Jewish-Roman War. I’d like to say I remember more of the significance of the site, but all I can remember is the incredible heat once the sun came out and my legs wobbling as we descended the steep paths. My mother poured water over my sister and my heads because we both complained of feeling dizzy in the desert heat.  At that time in my life I played tennis almost daily, ran often, and in general was in pretty decent shape, though I do have notoriously low blood pressure, so perhaps others would fare better. Still though, wear a hat and bring plenty of water. The Massada, now a World Heritage Site, is also accessible by a tram that carries tourists up the side of the mountain so they don’t have to hike. Given the choice, I'm sure I would have taken the easy route, but the experience on foot was indeed rewarding.  Nearby is the Dead Sea, where we covered ourselves in mud for its healing properties (actually, I just did it because it was fun), and floated in the water, reading newspapers.

One of the highlights of the whole trip was a visit to the village called Neve Shalom, where my father was doing some conflict resolution work. Not only is it visually beautiful, but the intention of this community is incredible as well. It is a cooperative village that was co-created by Israelis and Palestinians so the two different peoples could live together in peace. Neve Shalom has many educational efforts for its residents and others and is an outstanding example of peaceful dispute resolution in action. It is definitely worth checking out in person or just on the web. Here’s a site that will tell you more: http://nswas.org/rubrique22.html

I could go on about this trip and its significance in my spiritual evolution, what I learned about the ongoing conflict going on there, my expanded understanding of other cultures and the broadening of my world perspective in general, but that’s for another day. For now let me just say that I am grateful to my parents for promoting education through travel and for taking us on so many enlightening trips!

I will dig up some photos and post them here soon.