Arrival in Israel!!!!!

Shalom!
Hey everybody, welcome back!!

This January I will be in Israel for 2 weeks, starting today. I should be blogging pretty frequently because I have to keep a journal for class.

Yesterday evening we got on the plane in Indianapolis, flew to Philadelphia, and on to Tel Aviv. I dozed a grand total of 30 minutes during that whole flight. Unfortunately, we all made it to Tel Aviv but my suitcase got left behind. In Philadelphia. They said it should show up by tomorrow, but we leave this hotel for the next one at 8:30 AM, which means that they will need to send it to the right hotel. Not fun. This was not a wonderful beginning for the trip. Professors Arnold and Schindler asked me what I needed, and I told them that I was fine because I have all my meds and a change of clothes in my carry-on. When the tour guide found out that I didn't have luggage, he asks, "well what can we do for you? what do you need?" Before I have a chance to respond, Prof. Schindler pipes up with "She's fine, she's an experienced traveler." That made me laugh, which was nice because I was very annoyed and somewhat upset at the missing luggage.

Next, we got on the bus and discovered how pampered we are going to be. Today, we got a large assorted snack box, a water bottle in cloth water bottle holder, a hat, a shirt, an info book, and maps. We went from there into Tel Aviv, and over to Joffa. We walked a bit of ancient Joffa and, for fun, saw a statue of a whale for Jonah, because Jonah was leaving Joffa when he got swallowed. We also saw a piece of modern art, which was an orange tree growing in a large orange shaped pot suspended over the sidewalk by cables.

As we drove around on the bus, I looked down at Tel Aviv and tried to compare what I saw with other places, yet I did not have much luck. It had some of the shorter buildings and tile roofs like those found in Greece. The walls were all weathered and old, like some seen in Greece. Unlike any city I have been to, there is not a central spot full of tall buildings. There are tall buildings, but they are spread throughout the city as if on a whim, rarely congregated in clumps of more than 4 or 5, and never getting as tall as some of the skyscrapers of cities like New York city. It did look like a modern city, but it also looked like it sprang up rather haphazardly, with the height of the building built just for the need at the moment, not with any intention to put the tall buildings together, as is seen in the sky lines of many a city. My only conclusion was that Tel Aviv is like a mixture of Athens and New York City with a few other things thrown in.

After Joffa, we went back into Tel Aviv. We went to a monument in front of Independence hall. As we walked up to this monument, which had the 66 names of families who built Tel Aviv, following our Israeli tour guide, an old slightly darker skinned man waked through our group. He muttered to me and a couple others "Please, don't believe everything he says." (referring to the tour guide). We gathered from this that he was probably Palestinian and did not want us to hear only one side of the story with regards to the beginning of modern Israel. It was a little weird, but we didn't worry too much about it. I had already been warned to think through what I was told, and I try to do so anyway with tour guides. Then, after our tour guide finished showing us the monument, we sat on some benches as he gave us information about how to be safe and about facts we should know. The old Palestinian man came up again and this time stoo, very obviously watching our tour guide, listening to what he had to say about terrorism, staying safe, pickpockets, etc. The man left when our tour guide started talking about the dangers of dehydration. This was probably one of the most interesting things that happened this first day, because it seemed to show tension between the peoples in a tangible way. He did not trust our tour guide to give us a balanced opinion, and our tour guide pretty much ignored him (as he probably should have). So far, our tour guide doesn't seem to be unreasonably biased, and he seems to be making an effort to stay that way. I will reserve judgment until more of the tour has happened.

We next went into Independence Hall, where David Ben-Gurion declared Israel's independence in 1948. By this time I was completely exhausted and barely focusing on anything. They took us into a room to watch a short introductory film on Ben-Gurion, turned off the lights, and closed the door. The lady who set up the movie asked us to do the best we could to watch it, but she knew that many of us would "rest our eyes." I must admit, I made it about 2/3 of the way through before my eyes shut, until Chris (another student), woke me. So, I can't really tell you what was going on in the movie. After the movie, we went into the small room where the declaration was proclaimed and signed. We sat in chairs as the museum guide explained what had happened that day. I was fine with that, as with the passion she had for how amazing and important it was. At some point, however, it devolved into her pleading with us about how important peace is between Israel and Palestine and explaining that they do not live in peace. It is not that I do not agree with this, it is just that when I go to a museum to hear about what happened, I don't expect to hear what amounts to preaching and witnessing on behalf of her cause for Israel. I do agree that Israel and Palestine need peace, and I admire her for having passion for it. It just seemed that the talk quickly went from the story and passion to a persuasive speech designed to make our hearts melt in sympathy. Now, perhaps I was just tired and not very tolerant because of that, or perhaps this is a legitimate impression. Either way, it has colored my first day in Israel.

After dinner at our hostel, almost all of us in my class went out to see the night life of Tel Aviv. I think, perhaps, the night life of Tel Aviv does not start at 8:30, since people didn't start showing up until a few of us were leaving. On the plus side, the place we ended up going was non-smoking and had non-alcoholic drinks, so I was happy and got to spend time hanging out with friends somewhere other than the hostel.

So, the day is ending, a long tired, stressful day. Hopefully tomorrow I will have luggage and I will see a bit more of Ancient Israel (since I truly don't want to dwell upon the modern sections as much as the ancient). Unfortunately, I have yet to have a sense that I am "in Israel." With Greece, I felt it the first day. I think leaving the city tomorrow, however will aid in this perception.

For now, shalom!