I returned from Israel last week after two weeks. Ale and Jacobo will be there until the end of July 2008. We stayed with Silvestre in Elat, and saw the sights. Silvestre is approaching his third year anniversary working at a copper mine there. One of Solomon’s mines. His stay is indefinite. I’ll post some photos of our adventures eventually. Ale still has the camera over there.

The family time and rest were great. Silvestre’s apartment was so simple, comfortable and cool. Lot’s of naps, Bible-reading and Uno games with Jacobo. I took the Bible as my trip reading. I got through the Torah (first five books of Moses) by the time I left. Reading it there was really interesting, especially visiting Jerusalem, the Sinai and Negev deserts and Egypt.

~Trying Tourism: Israel, Jordan, Egypt~

The tourism was difficult–everything overpriced, everyone seeking money, everyone treating you like an American tourist. The Israeli people had little respect for waiting in lines or other people’s space. Navigating the streets, sidewalks and businesses seemed like a constant competition devoid of rules or sportsmanship.

We swam in the crystal clear water of the red sea at Elat a couple evenings at the beginning. We took a group tour to the ancient city Petra in Jordan, and drove around Aqaba before returning to Elat.

~Weekend trip to Jerusalem: A nice visit~

We drove by ourselves through the Negev desert, past the Dead Sea and through the West Bank to Jerusalem for two days over the “Shabat”–sabbath–and saw the main sights in the Old City. I enjoyed Jerusalem the most. We went without a tour group and Silvestre was a very knowledgeable and efficient guide after visiting several times. We spent the night at the Pontifical Institute of Notre Dame, a modest hotel run by priests to host tourists, pilgrims and priests to the holy land. The hotel was situated at the upper gate of the Old City–perfect location. We made friends with two of the priests–Josh from Atlanta whose brother is named Jake, and Father Kelly from Ireland who spoke Spanish. They did a scientific presentation on the Shroud of Tourin at an exhibit in the hotel. The tourists and merchants in Jerusalem were much nicer there than everywhere else, though a Spanish couple did cut in front of us in line to see Jesus’s enclosed tomb inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. WWJD? I learned so much about ancient Israeli history at the Tower of King David museum. The nexus between history and the Bible became much clearer. On the way home, we stopped at the Dead Sea and Jacobo and I took a float.

~Egypt: Land of pyramids and tipping~

We took a “group” tour to Cairo, Egypt for two days. Our Egyptian handlers created the group in our 15-seat mini-van: driver, tourist police escort, guide, “accountant,” and customs “major” who was actually a lieutenant who hitched a ride back to Cairo in our empty van. It was supposed to be a group tour, but we were the only tourists. A lot of one-on-one attention for better or worse. We saw the pyramids and many other sites. We went to the old museum and hit the highlights with Nasr our knowledgeable guide. Learned lots of Egyptian history in a nutshell.

Everyone wanted “tips.” For example, a tourist police officer in his white uniform and machine gun stood in the pyramid parking lot. He caught Ale’s attention, who was shooting photos from inside the van. He posed proudly with his gun and motioned for Ale to take a photo. Why not? I said happily, and she did. Then he motioned for a tip with the international gimme-gimme hand gesture. My happy mood vanished, as it did so often, despite my constant attempts to maintain a positive attitude. She should have taken a photo of that pose too. We ignored him in the closed van.

~Israeli Security~

The Israeli security was very refreshing after living on the US-Mexico border. They were so professional, polite and nice, a real treat. They are mostly young men and women in their late teens, early twenties doing civil (or military?) service. They never stopped us at the several checkpoints to Jerusalem, and gave us no hassle at the Jordanian and Egyptian border crossings. I walked through multiple metal-detectors and never had to remove my belt or shoes.

They only really questioned me once, when I departed at the Elat airport. A young woman questioned me briefly before handing me off to her supervisor, another young woman. She questioned me for about 25 minutes–”for my safety”– and I recounted our whole trip day by day. She wanted to see receipts from the places we visited. She asked my occupation and then wanted to see my card. I gave her one, but she continued questioning me undeterred. She questioned Ale and Jacobo separately within my sight in the lobby. She finally thought she tripped me up when I told her Silvestre didn’t go to Egypt with us. “You came to visit your father-in-law, but you went to Egypt without him? Why?”

“Because it was our only opportunity to go,” I said.

“And where is your father-in-law now?” she replied.

“In Geneva…for work,” I answered.

“Oh really, Geneva? Why was he there?” she asked as my complicated story unfolded.

“Because he speaks English, and he needed to buy some mining equipment,” I replied.

She finally relented, and said with a smile and accent, “Okay, you can go through,” and another young woman did a thorough bomb check through my luggage, rubbing each layer of packed clothing with a swipe and then running it through a machine. Luckily all my clothes were clean, literally and also literally!

~Survey by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism~

I flew to Tel Aviv to catch my flight to Newark, NJ. While waiting alone, reading my Bible at the gate in the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, a young woman approached me. She was from the Ministry of Tourism, doing a survey. I politely participated and the questions were benign at first–where did I go, how did I travel, how much money did I spend, etc. But then she asked me to rate the experience. “Fair,” I answered, which was only above “poor.” Would I return to Israel? Probably not. Would you recommend it to others? Probably not. Do you have some comment? The people are so rude, but the security is really good, really professional. She said that maybe if I had stayed longer, I would have had a better time. I shrugged and smiled, but didn’t reply. Maybe. Maybe we’ll find out next time.

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