A Day to REMEMBER......

My time in Israel has come to a close. Who knew....that the night before our departure, our last night in Haifa, and the day after... would have the greatest impact on me and this trip.

   I will admit , I was slightly "irritated" when we received a notice on our hotel room door that Thursday was Yom HaShoah...Holocaust Remembrance Day. Please don't think that the day would irritate me...but the note read as of Wednesday night at sundown, ALL restaurants, ALL places of entertainment in town will close. Even the non-kosher places. All malls, all stores. Radio stations would only be allowed to play somber, dignified music. The hotel would have a limited menu in the dining room, but you HAD to make reservations...for they would not be open all night. Only till all who had made a reservation ,were served. The lobby bar/bistro would be closed. Limited room service would be available.The billiard room was closed. No TV's in the lobby.(Of course watching it in your room was fine!!...but..... only shows about the Holocaust were on)  Sigh. This isn't lining up to be a fun last night here in Israel.  So, I made reservations for Scott, Rob and I. It was our only choice. We went up to the lounge before hand...that was still open.....but with nothing else to do...it had been wiped out of refreshments. The waitstaff were trying to keep up!! We went down for dinner at 730. The dining room was quiet with no music playing like normal.  But..I had a wonderful "Beef Sword". Chunks of very tender beef threaded with onions on this elaborate skewer that hung ABOVE my plate. A quite impressive display. The food was delicious!!!  We decided to meet back in the lounge afterwards. Rob had a bottle of wine we would share as our last night all together. The lounge was packed...but we got 3 seats. It turned out to be a MUCH better evening than I had anticipated!!!

    Thursday was the actual Remembrance Day. A day to reflect on the nearly 6 million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. Candles were lit in the lobby. I was informed that at 10:00 in the morning...a siren would blare. It was a 1-minute of silence. I wanted to be in town. I was told all cars would stop and people would stand outside and wait. I had errands to run anyway...so off to town I went. After the bank and taking a few pictures of places I wanted to remember.....the moment came. The siren blew. Every person, car and bus...froze. In the middle of intersections, they stood. I looked around. People came out of cafes. It was a picture......no one moved. Frozen in a moment of time. No horns beeping....No buses swishing by.....No people chatting on the streets...No coffee cups clanking in the cafe behind me.....No shoes and boots clomping on the uneven sidewalks. And as we stood there...the stoplights continued to change...but no one even saw them. I started to reflect on MY journey...this is not my home, this is not the culture to which I was born, this is not my heritage. But..... I have had an amazing time. Met amazing people and have traveled to places I never thought I would see. An experience I will treasure for the rest of my life. And in that moment...as we all stood quietly together on the street, I know the same thought was in all of our prayers....PEACE.     Shalom.

A Last Hurrah...

Well, my Friends. My visit in the Middle east grows short. It is Saturday right now and we leve on Thursday for the States. I can't believe the adventure, the experiences and the fun I have had here. BUT.....one last hurrah before we leave...

    The week was a short one as the guys only worked Sun, Mon, and Tues. Wednesday morning, we got up and had an early breakfast. Then loaded the car for a LONG weekend in Aqaba, Jordan. You remember the process.....Israel border, passport, scan luggage, wait in line, Jordan border, repeat----several times!! We arrived at the InterContinental at about 3. Time to hit the beach. Dinner in the Lounge. Then the evening in the bistro, Martini's. Thursday we met at 930 for breakfast. Rob had work to do , so Scott and I headed for a shady cabana on the beach. Got our towels and a small cooler that they start you with containing 2 free waters!! We chilled till noon when Scott and Rob left for a scuba diving reservation. I stayed under the cabana for a bit, till one of the fitness coaches walked by and convinced me to come to a Pilates class on the beach. That was awesome. Went back to my lounge chair, ordered another bottle of water. Feeling quite proud of myself, I took a brief snooze. About an hour later, the other aquatic fitness coach was combing the beach looking for victims for the water noodle aqua class in the pool. Ok..she convinced me. I love how there were a ton of things going on here, for example, the children's center coaches collecting children for a tug of war in the kiddie pool as well as a chance to plant some flowers in a garden. Still PLENTY of pool space to just chill. (Not to mention there was a water bball gane going on) Finished the class....felt good...but I was beat!!! Looked at my watch, hhmmm its almost 330. Wow. Time to go get a shower and wait for the "human fish" to return!! Back to the beach for some more relaxing then Lounge and Bistro. Sounds familiar, huh??

   Friday, breakfast, beach time, strawberry frozen slushie, chill till 130. Scott and I made a very upseting discovery....we had been giving the 1 JD --size of an American half-dollar--- coin as a tip to the cabana boys, towel guy, etc....oops...found out it was  .10  of a JD. Gotta laugh. Guess we owe them a BIG tip when we leave!!! Going through my purse these days is a hoot...US coins, euros, shekels, and JD's. Im not even sure which country I am in!!! Anyway, we left at 2, and took a taxi to Tala Bay, where we borded the submarine Neptune. A chance for me to see all the great coral and fish, that the guys see while diving.  'Cause I am POSITIVE I am not learning to scuba any time soon!!! Beautiful ride. The coral is gorgeous. Saw some brilliantly colored fish. The water was a little cloudy...but it was still nice. After the submarine ride, we climbed back into the taxi, who we got to come back and get us, and he asked if we had a few minutes to venture down the road. Sure!!  Why not?? We drove about 1 mile when I started to see signs....Saudi Arabia Border in 5KM. Ummmm......not sure we are supposed to go there!! We drove to the border..looked across..seeing the Saudi flag, we were quite excited. No, we weren't going over the border......we turned around and had the driver drop us off in "the Souk". The main shopping area. The center of Aqaba. All family owned shops selling everything imaginable. Rob knows this area very well, so followed him to this small shop that sold fresh spices, teas, and coffee. We were offered a cup of Cinnamon Tea upon entering. LOVED THIS!! The fresh ground spices were in large buckets on the counter. The shop owner hadede us some Arabic bread and showed us different spices to try. I started making a pile of spices, Cinnamon Tea, Amber "wax" that is used as a perfume stick, ok more Cinnamon Tea---Shellie HAS to try this, oh ok...more spices. (Fresh Saffron for $5?? How can I pass it up!!) Scott had them grind coffee for Turkish Coffee...alot of coffee. No, he doesn't have the special pot that you make it in....details!! The shop owner then asked would we like a cup of Turkish Coffee. Now, you all know I am a Tea drinker...not a big coffee fan....but......I said I would try. Turkish cofee is ground very, very fine. A powder. The water is sweetened with sugar if you want it...for you dont put the sugar in later. We were offered seats toward the back of the store and we watchd the shop owner magically make the aromatic drink. I took a sip, and though it does have a coffee flavor...I LIKED IT!!  (Hey, Mikey!    lol....sorry had to do that). We talked and drank our coffee...how fun. After the cups were emptied, we purchased our items and off we went. What a great place. Traveled through the streets, in and out of shops. I saw postcards up ahead and decided to get a few. Went in the shop to pay, only to come across the shop attendant and his son sitting on the floor eating dinner, in what looked like a paella pan. He excitedly looked up and said, "Welcome...come eat!!" What nice people we have come across. I purchased my cards. We walked back to the hotel.....and begun night actvities. A small departure from the "norm" tonight. They were having a BBQ buffet on the beach. They had changed out some of the cabanas from sun lounge chairs to white leather couches and colorful pillows. The all you can eat buffet for 25 JD...about $35...included steak , lamb chops, kebabs, and chicken. Baked potatoes, corn, salads, breads, and a ton of desserts. We were stuffed. Waddled to the bistro....and chilled till we couldn't keep our eyes open!!

It's Saturday. The guys are doing one short dive and then should be home soon. I am off to water fitness class. Last night here tonight. back to Haifa tomorrow. Packing for a long plane ride to the States on Thursday. There is soooo much I miss in the States, but am honest to say....I have had a great time here in the Middle East!!

I have to tell you......just did a double take...looked out the hotel window to the pool area and saw a Giant Rabbit. Well...... a person dressed as a Giant Rabbit. Easter is tomorrow here. The kids are doing an Easter Egg Hunt...Too funny. Gotta love this place!!

   Sorry, I don't have pics to post. Scott has the camera. I will catch you up soon!!  Love you all!!  Thank you for your constant guidance and support.

Once more..in English?? ;)

What a fabulous couple of days. Although Tuesday night...I admit being a little sad. Nothing big....but here is the Reader's Digest version. I have an acapella group that I truly enjoy hearing, called Straight No Chaser. A few months ago I saw they were going to be in Austin on Apr 4th. I hemmed and hawed about getting tickets. Then, I guess it left my mind for a bit. Well....when we learned about our trip to Israel, I remembered the concert. Did I buy tickets?? Ck email history..nothing. Ck credit card statement..nothing. Hhhmm. CALLED THE VENUE....no record of tickets. Guess I never ordered them. SWEET!!  Well on March 20, I received an email...my tickets were being shipped. Huh?? Checked the credit card statement...charge popped up. (I ordered them through the GROUP...not the venue.) RATS! Now what??? Well, Scott's youngest son is at the house...email him..watch for tickets. Does he want them. He is NOT an easy one to get to respond to his emails!! Now its Apr 4th..here anyway. Ryan wants to use the ticket...now what?? Called venue....yes..Ryan can use the tickets..have him bring the original confirmation letter...whoops. Long story short...the nice lady changed them to will call...(found out later the tickets were shipped to Delaware)The group emailed me a copy of the confirmation...emailed it to Ryan. Blah..Blah..Blah. Problem solved. EXCEPT....I didn't get to see them!!!

Friday. We are here in Haifa due to Passover tonight. Scott and I got up. Went to lunch and then enjoyed a long walk to the Sculpture Garden. Beautiful day. After a nap...we cleaned up for the Seder. Rob, Scott and I had to drive about an hour to Caroline's house, in Karmi'el. Thought it would take longer. We arrived 1/2 hour early..so we decided to walk around the town area. Cute place...but all boarded up for the holiday. 6:30. We headed to Caroline's with our Kosher wine in tow. We were introduced to her friends Lea, Joanna, niece Gabi and Mother Daphne. This is a fun group, I can tell. After lighting the candles and watching the group say the blessing, we were seated at the table. How beautiful!!

A copy of The Haggadah...the script for the order of the Seder, was at everyone's place setting. Ours had both English and Hebrew, so we could follow along!!! We were told traditional Seder could take 4-5 hours depending on family traditions,timing and of course the chatting!! A fun evening was well in hand.

The table was set with the appropriate dinner and ritual items. Bowls of chopped pickles, olives and cucumbers/cherry tomatoes to nibble on till we get to the meal part. (About an hour away)The Haggadah is filled with lively songs...thankfully some of them they did in English for us..prayers, and stories. Very interesting. One of my favorite parts was the loud song "Dayenu"...meaning "It would have been enough" During the song 15 stanzas are sung reminding the Passover attendants that"If He had brought us out of Eqypt/ If He had split the sea for us..." that would have been enough. The fun twist was the long green onions we were to whack each other with while singing the chorus of the song..used as a physical reminder (see verses Numbers 11:5-6) of their mistake in the dessert to not appreciate the food miracles that they did have.

Some families add their own blessing or traditions..for example.... our rendition of.. "Just a Tad of Charoset helps the Bitter Herbs Go Down"  ...sung to "A Spoonful of Sugar". Charoset a sweet mixture of apples/nuts on the Seder plate to remind them of the mortar used. The bitter herbs..slices of horseradish...yes I said horseradish..to remind of the struggles they had to endure. So...dip the piece of horseradish in the Charoset..it does help!!! Now come the food part. Hard boiled egg served in salt water, Matzah Ball Soup. Gefilte fish ( basically a fish cake) and tomatoes. Dinner was delicious!!! Roast chicken, roasted potatoes, paprika potatoes, sauteed vegatables, a hot carrot/plum compote (the best!!), salad, and quinoa with apricots/nuts/curry. After dinner and more ceremony and songs, Rob was asked to read a light-hearted piece called.."Moses Departing Egypt..A FaceBook Haggadah". Very funny. It's on the web..look it up!! There is also a song...my memory is fuzzy..that we all had a part. I was the water. So every time "the water" was mentioned I had to mimic water. Scott was Fire..but the laugh was Rob. He was the "stick" and every time "stick" was mentioned...he cracked a piece of Matzah!!! Dessert was figs stuffed with walnuts,chocolate covered oranges, and chocolate cakes. It was now about 12:30...what a fun evening...but we were exhausted...and still had to drive back to Haifa!!!

 Saturday...we met Rob at 12. We decided to take a drive since the day was gorgeous. First we drove to a Druze village. We looked in the shops, and had a wonderful lunch of shwarma...a wonderful spit-roasted meal. We then drove to Tiberius. I had not been to the Sea of Galilee yet. We crossed the Jordan River and saw the spot where Jesus was baptized in the river. Fascinating. Next the drive up the mountain to the Golan Heights. We stopped at the top of the mountain and watched hang gliders take-off of the cliff. Now THAT... you have no worries of me doing!!

Next we arrived at "The Valley of Tears" memorial. A tribute to the Israeli army for the "Yom Kippur War of 1973". We listened to the story through a speaker box as we looked out over the valley. From here... you can see Syrian tanks left after they pushed the Syrians back..and of course in the not too distance... the Syrian border. How quiet it was up there. And in amazement , I looked over the peace..and could not comprehend the turmoil that that country is having right now.

 After a break for water and ice cream. We started the long drive back to Haifa. 830pm. The hotel was a buzz with Passover guests. We dropped our stuff off in our rooms and headed to Sleek for dinner. Sleek is NOT a kosher restaurant!!  Day over....weekend over. Great times. Our Israel experience is coming to an end.
                       Happy Easter to all of my Family and Friends!!  I miss you all!!

Houston, we have a problem.....

So....when I last left off, I was waiting for a car to come pick me up and head out to Migdal HeEmeck, where Scott works. We transferred my luggage to Rob's car and we were on the road again to Tel Aviv!! Scott was driving as Rob had work to do. I got to be co-pilot and to help keep Scott awake. (It had been a long day). Another car of travelers were behind us a bit. But their weekend agenda was a bit different. Price was leaving that night for the States. Yenn and Louis were leaving Friday morning headed back to their countries. We knew we would see Yenn and Louis later for dinner after they dropped Price off at the airport. We checked in to the hotel .....noticing quite a stir. Little did we realize this was the week of the HUGE Tel Aviv marathon. After settling in, we headed up the main street off of the beach to Mike's Place. While walking we get an email from Price. His plane was delayed 12 HOURS...now what??  Rob quickly was able to secure him a room at the Crowne Plaza where the other guys were staying. He got his flights reserved for the next day, hopped a taxi and headed to the hotel. Yen stayed behind at the hotel to meet him and pay for the taxi...after all .. he was leaving... didn't have any shekels!! Then everyone arrived at Mike's. One last hurrah together!! Real pizza.....with pepperoni!!! The European Soccer Championships were on TV, so no SHAZAM karaoke tonight.. :(  But fun none the less!! Afterwards , the guys wanted cigars...so I tagged along.

Friday. No pressing agenda. Breakfast at the hotel. Then a LONG walk. First to Max Brenner's---CHOCOLATE!!!! Every kind of chocolate concoction one can imagine!! Scott and I shared a Baffla...Rob said he was a silent observer!!...picture this. 2 Belgian Waffles, with a scoop of milk and dark chocolate ice cream, choc syrup, whip cream, choc shavings, and bananas in a caramel sauce. Yeah... I know!! Well we needed to move, somehow, so we walked to Old Jaffa. After a couple hours there we headed to the hotel. Nap time!! Dinner was back at Mike's. had to get our fix in since this was probably the last time we will be in Tel Aviv. Awesome night. (We tracked the mileage...about 7 miles walked today!!)

Saturday....breakfast. Had to do it. Walked back to Mike's for REAL bacon and SAUSAGE and hash browns.(I miss a good breakfast!) Stuffed. packing at the hotel. A couple errands an such around town. A final walk along the beach. Early dinner at Rustico..then head back to Haifa.

The regular week is here. Although we noticed that the hotel is cleaning carpets and re tiling floors, re-doing the grout in the rest rooms, etc. Thought it was just "spring cleaning"...but as the calendar tells us. Friday at sundown starts Passover. Typically, this is a common ritual, "to prepare your home for the feast". Interesting. Now... as of tonight the hotel will go Passover kosher (till the 14th)...no breads,,,no pasta... anything with wheat/hops/ etc....  Any of the non-Kosher places we eat will remain the same. But it will be a little different here in the hotel. We are staying here for the weekend. Need to be at the Seder we were invited to on Friday at 5. There is an International Flower Show this weekend here, and we may go to the Golan Heights winery. Still lots of interesting things to do!!


Yesterday, Davina sent me a message and asked if I wanted to go grocery shopping with her. She wanted to go the Hadar market and maybe drive to Isifyla to the big supermarket. After taking the never-ending laundry to the wash & dry.. I met her at the bus stop. Well.....must have gotten on the wrong bus...too much chatting I suppose...and ended up at the Grand Canyon Mall!!  No worries. We love malls!!! She found some lovely pillows for the living room couch, we drooled over spring shoes, had the most wonderful fresh fruit smoothie and enjoyed the mall. We then decided to leave the mall and head to her house. We got in her car and drove about 20 minutes past the University to the store. She has nerves of steel to drive amongst these people!!  Not sure I could do it. What a great store it was...some of the items were in English so that helped greatly. Although finding oregano was an ordeal!! We opened all the green leafy looking containers we saw, narrowing our search. Davina then decided to enter "oregano" into her phone and have it translate it. Well..we burst out laughing when she announced, "We are looking for (reading right to left) X, 7,7, upside down "Y", backwards "C", hockey stick!!" But we found it!! We felt quite proud of ourselves!! Learning a new language is hard!! Poor Davina was at the airport till the wee hours of this morning as Garry's girls flew in from the UK to spend their Easter holiday in Israel. They were supposed to land at midnight...but alas the plane didn't arrive till after 200...and they were in Tel Aviv!!  Long night I am sure. Today will be a jet lag day for all!

If you noticed... no pics today. Took a bunch in Tel Aviv. But the card reader on the camera scrambled and we lost the pics of the weekend. :(  Bummer. Rescheduled our plane tickets for the trip back to the States last night. Returning on Apr 19th. Can't believe it's almost over. Wow. What an adventure!!

Stepping WAY OUT of the comfort zone.....

As the project Scott is involved with here gets closer to it's end...another project closes as well. A group of 4 guys from around the world were here (Thailand, China, England and The USA) for  a training class. Thursday was their actual last day, but Rob wanted to treat everyone to a "Fun Day" before the class departed. Little did we know what we were in for!!!

We were up at the crack of dawn in Haifa, as we had to leave the hotel by 630. Breakfast doesn't even start at the Crowne Plaze till then, so breakfast would have to be on the road!! We were to meet our tour guide, David, for the day at 9:00 at a junction in Qiryat Gat (Kiryat Gat) about 35 miles south of Tel Aviv.  We arrived a little early, so we found a coffe bar to grab some fresh made pastries and coffee/tea. We met David, and off we went.

First stop Ella Valley Vineyards. We were met by Elam, who hosted a most wonderful tasting. So good, that there is some on its way to Texas!! After a lovely time we had to head out to our next stop.

This is British Park. What you see in the picture is actually the Valley of Elah. Who knows their 1 Samuels?? This is where the young shepard David, slew Goliath. The river bed that snakes at the bottom was the actual dividing line between the Israelites and the Palestine territory at that time. There are stone markers all through this trail with the verses of this event in the bible. But on to the next location.

We now enter Bet Gurvin-Maresha National park. We are only here to see 4 sites, for it could take you a whole day to see everything!! We are guided through the bell shaped caves that were used as living quarters, and to raise the pigeons.

This was an ancient olive press. At that time the oil was used for ritual purposes prior to entering the temple. Fascinating tour. But..we were STARVING....so off to lunch...after all it was about 2:00.

I realized, I didnt get a pic of the place we ate. Bummer. Lovely little place called, Cramim, meaning vineyard, way out in the middle of nowhere. It was crowded, so evidentally enough people know of it!! We all ordered the Businessmen's lunch which was a choice of starters and a choice of an entree. I had Onion Soup and a chicken dish roasted in garlic and herbs!!  Very nice. No time for dessert....we were behind schedule. Off to the last event of the day......Lord, please help me through this!!!

It wasnt a graceful or very "pretty" entrance...but... I did it!!!  70 feet down.. negative rapell..meaning..you didnt have your feet on a wall just you controlling the rate of speed. Scary!!!

Yeah... I know.. a couple of times I panicked. Thank goodness Scott was there to encourage me!! I actually did it twice. Why???  I have no clue...but another item scratched off the bucket list!!! Now it's 530. End of a very l-o-n-g day. Head back to Haifa.
   Thursday...errands and off to meet Davina for a little "retail therapy" as she messaged me. We hopped the bus to the CineMall. We chatted all the way catching up on the events in the past few days. I love listening to her accent and the phrases she uses!! She said we hope to get together for dinner at their house before we leave Israel. Scott loved the idea... but I laughed when he said I may have to "translate"!!  Now she and I could get into some trouble.. as we both LOVE to look at shoes. But..I restrained. We sat and had a snack at a cafe, then back on the bus and headed back up the mountain. I still have things to wrap up, as a car was coming for me at 330 to head and meet the guys at work. We were heading to Tel Aviv for the weekend.

   I will pick up at that point next time...time to put this blog on the web!!!  Take care!!!

A Teaser......

I have it on video as proof!!! More about the whole day...what a blast...at a later time..

Yeah.......have I lost my mind or what????..........

To Market, To Market......

Dinner last night at Sleek. I love the pork chops there!! We had the evening to ourselves as the rest of the gang each had their seperate agendas to accomplish. Very quiet. Very nice.

On Sunday evening, I got a message from Davina. She was going to the Hadar outdoor market on Monday...and would I like to go. A new adventure!!  We agreed to meet in the lobby of the hotel at 1 after her Hebrew lessons. In order to meet her then, I walked into town early to do a couple errands. I had bday cards for my Mom...hoping they arrive in time in Delaware for her 80th on Sunday. I started a FaceBook campaign to have family and friends send her bday cards, I hope she will enjoy her day.!!

I arrived back at the hotel with time to freshen up then back to the lobby to await Davina. She arrived and off we went to the bus stop. Buses are quite dominate here....surprising you not with my description of the parking issues. The bus is 6.70  ( about $2.00) shekels for 1 1/2 hours. Your ticket is stamped for the expiration time. Not bad!!  We arrived at the market to stalls filled with fresh fruits, nuts and other wonderful items. Purchased a large bag of pistachios...Scott loves them and I thought we could take them on the car ride this weekend. Davina gathered her cauliflower and cheese for a casserole she has told me about..it sounds yummy. I must get the recipe. We strolled around then headed back to the bus stop. Now... we knew which bus # we cam in on...but had to walk a couple blocks to catch it going the other way. Missed our time stamp!  No biggie...just bought another ticket for the ride back up the mountain. We were dropped off right at the hotel... said our goodbyes. What a great day!! Love chatting with her and catching up on her settling into Israel.She is a lot of fun!! Luckily her apartment is right around the corner.

I got back to the room and waited for Scott to return from work. I headed up to the the lounge discovering it was asian food night. The egg rolls they serve are delicious.The dipping sauce is quite spicy....now I love it...but from the foods that we have had in this country...this must be like eating fire for them!!   I emailed the guys and they decided a free meal night would be just what the doctor ordered!! Scott and Rob arrived about 630. Conversations and egg rolls completed.... an early bed time for me. When we got back to the room...our laundry had been delivered...one less errand for me to do!

Rob has scheduled a "fun day" for his staff on Wednesday. An all day celebrate the end of the project getting closer. The guys who were here training will leave Friday. Then just 3 1/2 short weeks and we will head out too. I'v heard a little about the fun day. Begins with a sunrise breakfast...then a wine tasting...then I heard about repelling into a bell shaped cave. Well... I will have to have the tasting before I can try that. I will get pics for sure. Only to prove to myself that I actually did it.....for I am sure fear will have me in a tizzy on Wednesday. Wish me luck.....a few prayers would help too!!