Israel 2010 Post Script

I never realized how much TV I watched, until returning home, too much. I miss Israel already. I miss the evidence of life, interaction of people who are strangers, but don't seem so as there are not all the social physical boundaries. I definitely miss the food. I can't say I have not refrained from the junk after a few days home, but definitely conscious of it. I am amazed at ALL the walking we did, only to return home and scoff once again at walking to our coffee shop here only 3 or 4 blocks away. I am way to spoiled by the convenience of a car, and I am dedicated to overcoming it somehow. I missed our pets, and glad to be home with them. They were nervous a few days, each time we left, not knowing if or when we would return. I have way too much junk here at home, must have a game plan for releasing much of this. There was much ado seeing the kids again, but even more so with the grand babies! How is it such yearning to just hug little tiny people and the world be so complete in that moment? I missed my yard, even though it needs much work come Spring, I love it's invitation to participate. I miss the food of Israel and we are currently cooking Israeli food weekly, both from experience and cookbooks. So there are aspects both here and there to miss.....

Israel 2010/2011

This is my last night here in Israel. There are so many things I did not share, while you were still overwhelmed with what I did post.

In reviewing, I have found blunders, mispellings, tired thoughts, and excitement gone awry. I offer no excuse other than late night ramblings waiting for my turn on the internet, only to have to post some 3 or 4 times, before succeeding with out being bumped. Oh yes, and sometime during all the blogging the year changed, I did not notice.

I have also learned things of myself. Please pray for me that these things stay in my heart upon returning stateside.

Packing was an ordeal. I know I must go through security, so I have to consider security issues, safety, fragile items, art relics and more. I have brought home a huge collection of plastic bags with Hebrew writing for a special project. They are bubbling out the zipper. If security checks me, I am sure the officer will give me looks as he tries desperately to see what might be inside each bag. Feel free to ask me in a month or so how that project is coming along....

In the end I know there are still things to share, so I will post only once more of those things. Know that my daughter and I will return tired and sad from leaving my husband and Israel. I do not cry much, but as I get older and reality has had its time with me, I know that tears will come. I will also rejoice in seeing the rest of family that I have missed so much.

So goodbye for now, see most of you soon enough, keep us in prayer, mostly my husband. And pray for the land of Israel. I hope you will visit or make Aliyah soon!

Israel 2010 Coming into Jerusalem

We have barely left the Negev before beautiful green appears.

Coming into the city.

So many things have changed since our last trip. This bridge is modern marvel. I would like to spend more time understanding and viewing it. Not only is it spectacular visually, but extreme in function. There is a huge banding of light that runs underneath it. It also has a secured and seperated walk way, wide enough that it also allows bicycles.

So much is changing fast, new buildings everywhere. They are relatively in keeping with the past, but as you can see progressing rapidly.

A city is still a city.

Israel 2010 Find

My husband had found this hiking. The glass is a color not found in my bottle collection, plus it has Hebrew writing on the bottom.

2010 Israel Jerusalem

Mount of Olives

Mount of Olives from a distance.

At the base of the cemetary area.

Peeping through a hole in a temporary wall, excavation at another site.

The city at dusk.

A neighborhood, Arab I believe.

Israel 2010 Dung Gate

Israel 2010 Crowding in Jerusalem

Towards the Western wall. The people crowd to say prayers, touch the wall, and place prayers in the creavices.

It is interesting, that while this is not necessarily tourist season, people arrive during the holidays to walk where our Jewish Messiah walked.

There were many barely able to walk, or hear, but have made the journey.

Israel 2010 Scribe

I so wanted to stop here, but our time was crucial, getting to the archaeological project and just passing through. On my itinerary next time.

A Torah usually takes a year to hand write by a scribe. The Word is commonly written on Lamb, and when complete is hung on the Trees of Life. It is rolled and treated with the utmost respect and when the Torah is walked through the crowd, we reach and touch The Word. And the Word was G-d.

Israel 2010 Temple Dig Recovery

During the Muslim escavation of Solomon's Stables, many antiquities, artifacts, and unknown finds were basically dumped. Due to one young man's perserverance, a program is now in place to salvage the piles and allow archaeologist to review them. This operation is ran through the ity City of David.
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This is a larger example of what was thrown away. Keep in mind that most of the temple mount was not allowed excavation at any time due to the area being Holy. With that, remember many different time periods are layered here with different rulership, influences, and cultures.

This project not only sifts through all the dirt and rubble, but they verify knowledge they currently have and also gain new knowledge as each area is sort and sifted. This is extra work as the usual layers have been mixed together, so many different time periods may be found in one bucket of rubble.

Although our guide/teacher here is quite efficient as an archaeologist, it is like playing with puzzles, except the puzzles pieces from many different boxes and styles have been thrown together.

For a small fee visitors can participate. It was more our advantage than theirs, as we learned history, identification of pieces, how to sort, and the relevance of each item. They also take volunteers for daily, weekly, monthly, etc time periods to help with the project.

In our search through three trays we found Byzantine pottery, mosaic tiles, a Muslim glass tile with gold leaf, many other pottery pieces, Roman glass, plaster, metal, shells, bones, some pieces so very small and others quite nice in size. Our eyes are not trained to find the details or spot all the pieces, and so in the end our work is checked and verified, and we learn a bit more.

Israel 2010 Respect

While we did not see many soldiers this trip, there were many in Jerusalem.

Israel 2010 Not Appropriate?

Okay, not appropriate, but I am supposed to share that which may not be as you expected. While I can say the two button water system above is informational, the square....

I keep thinking of the Japanese watermelon farmers which put boxes over baby melons, to make square melons to making shipping more compact and cheaper.

Could it be? Or did some designer have an uncle in the company. It does make more available room in the stall, otherwise, not so functional.

Israel 2010 Things I did not blog

Highway lanes are optional.

Honking horns mean beware.

Many circles exist where multiple roads come togther, get used to it.

Water is cut off weekly for a few hours, still unknown why, but no big deal.

North Israel all signage is in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.

South Israel all signage is in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, and English.

Everything you get in the media is not everything.

If a woman is wearing dark red hair, Clairol in a box, she is most likely Russian, along with hundreds of other red haired women.

Little old ladies are little old ladies, regardless of language, most are sweet baboushkas insisting you should eat more. Some will push you around covering you with blankets on cold mornings.

Since so many people speak English, it is way too easy to ask them to do so, weakening your opportunity to learn Hebrew.

Tiv Tam, the Russian grocery store has brought pork into Israel, for those of you secretly not eating kosher.

The best foods from all these countries are here for your dining pleasure.

My favorite restaurant is Nafis, opened 24/7. Might I recommend the chicken and mushrooms on a bed of hummus. All plates can feed a family of four.

Take out food is referred to as "take away."

Most cars are white, bold colors not here.

Red and white stripes means no parking, period

Blue and white stripes means parking, but with a fee. Rumor has it there are small, unseen boxes low to the ground to purchase parking passes for your car for 5 shequelim. This is currently unconfirmed and we are still looking.

Parking is deceiptive, and tickets are always available for those unsure. And a rental bumper sticker is ideal for meter maids. They get commission on parking tickets.

Parking up on a curb is considered acceptible, just not recommended.

The lost skills and trades of our country still exist here in Israel.

Tourist and visitors often have bumper stickers on their backs, to verify lack of knowledge. It cannot be seen by the tourist or visitor, but evidently everyone else can see it and knows.

Cats are simply part of the food chain as scavengers.

Plants grow in places that make no sense, in a grove or all alone.

Places where plants should never survive, are being planted with great success.

Most electronics now-a-days handle the differences in currents from each country, only needing an adapter for plug differences. Read the tiny print on your laptop or phone.

There is nothing wrong with the water, we drink it all the time.

There is something wrong with our American diet, so when you arrive and eat the abundance of vegetables, and less processed food, your body system will reflect it.

Laundry is luxury. Too far away, and the possibility for shrinkage is great. Everyone does their own, mostly in the sink.

Bring a small rope or retractable clothes line. It is a great benefit to dry your clothes, beyond limited coat hangers.

There are too many places to visit and explore, and never enough time.

Always say Thank you, Todah. Appreciate the patiences for your lack of knowledge, your differences, and most likely some faux paux you have committed,that they have endured.

Find a bookstore, and seek the children's section or some cool magazine in Hebrew. View and find something so interesting that you regret not knowing your Hebrew better. Buy it and plan on translating it. I found one of a sheep who has wild and woolly hair and is refusing to cut it, and keeps trying different creative ways to display it, much to the dismay of the family. For those of you who know me, this one is worth translating for my enjoyment.

Plan on reading, alot. There is very limited TV.

There are radio stations where songs take turns from Hebrew to Justin Bieber to Hebrew to Jackson 5 (Ben) to Hebrew to Bob Dylan to Hebrew to John Mayer, and so forth. Variety.

While there are more choices in Caffe here, somehow Nescafe is still the instant coffee of choice, red mug version.

People push and squeeze, bump and shove all to get by and position themselves. It is never personal, a little uncomfortable, but quite interesting once you have tried it and no one cares.

In spite of my lack of conversational Hebrew, reading without vowels is becoming very comfortable, even if my vocabulary lacks the interpretation.

Sadly, Christmas looks as though all leftovers found their way here to Be'er Sheva, lining a few markets with gaudy tinsel, and freakish looking small santas that might serve better as lawn gnomes.

Be prepared to cook traditionally. Very limited processed or instant foods. Limited even in canned goods. Breads are about the only things available ready to go.

Windows are complicated in the beginnings with louvers, screens, and glass, but serve a great purpose once understood.

Learn to politely avert your eyes, windows are close by, doors left open, and people are close together.

If you are American, it is commonly believed you have money. Most often, compared to most, you do, whether you realize it or not.

Don't forget to tip!

When staying, you do not have to take back every single thing you have acquired. Leave your groceries, spare shequalim, clothes, etc. for those currently making Aliyah, or those who are in need.

Do not assume "our" way is the correct or better way.

Grab a pen pal, or consider an email to keep in touch with the land.

Appreciate what you have, consider what you can give up, and notice the things that really really matter and make a difference.

Share the beauty when you return stateside.

Israel 2010 Bike/Hike Trail

This is an area my husband likes to frequent. It is vast acreage of hills, valleys, rocks, ancient sites , modern art, and interesting debris. The city is only a few minutes in the backdrop.




These areas are sufficient for cars, mountain bikes, hiking, and camels - as evidence can be found. Some areas are so rocky, and metal shrapenel in areas, I cannot imagine biking without sufficient protection and head gear.

This most interesting aspect here is variety. There are smooth areas, rocky areas, historic sections and a lot of modern art scattered throughout.

This modern piece is located right next to an ancient cistern.

Inside the cistern.

Another historic element.

A baby grand along one path.

Israel 2010 Air Force Museum

We visited what we thought was a small museum. was not. They had every plane type ever used, whether in purchase, building, or shot down. Every age, condition, and use was there to see. It was quite overwhelming. To much information to learn, and yet phenomenal to view.

I could not choose pictures between those significant, those historical, those of a special story, or those that just simply were interesting visually. So below is my collage....

Very Modern for the time period made.

Too cool historically.

I liked this shot of showing the quantity of planes, noting that there were many such rows of planes, historical planes, rocket launchers, and more.

So little, cute. Only a girl can say this.

Like in the movies!

Scud missle, after the fact.

One of many - serious business.

Israel 2010 Ipost

After a few parking tickets, we had to go to the post office to pay the fines. Tickets, themselves are another blog.





At the post office, you pass through a kiosk machine to punch in your basic need. Since we were also purchasing stamps, and mailing postcard, we claimed "general." The machine asigns you a number. 766, still 20 + numbers away. Monitor screens were everywhere, noting the current number and which window to proceed. Although everything was announced in Hebrew, the numbers were "ours". It seemed like many people waiting, but it was a short wait.



The lady spok only limited English, but when she saw our four tickets, she simply chuckled and said "bad".

This was the only place, using a credit card, were we required to give a phone number. U.S. not accepted, thankfully the husband had his phone, and since we could not recite all the numbers in Hebrew, we simply handed over the phone for her review. She laughed at our situation, but was courteous.


The stamps were in a tiny area, like a little marketing store to the side, no lines, good selection. It was a hard choice. Do we buy stamps and postcards from sites we did not visit, postcards of the pope visiting Israel, or Disney? Be'er Sheva does not rank as a tourist attraction as a whole. I settled on Israeli flags. It is where we are (Israel) and what we support.

Israel 2010 Gecko Caffe

Late in our visit, we found a quaint little coffee shop in the old city. These youth, after their military tour was complete, ventured to Australia. Often soldiers travel in other parts of the world for a time after serving their country, before returning and most often going to college or learning a trade.


While in Australia they learned all about coffee and different techniques, recipes, and types. This little shop had coffees I had never dreamed of. There is not enough time here to sample them all, ashame....

While this is not the caffe shop I am referring to, it is right across the way and just a great example of the quaintness of the area.

I did try expresso over vanilla ice cream, a Compano which is expresso, with some type of serious dessert cream and a touch of spice, and a milk bar, which is steamed milk with flavoring, mine being honey and Almond. My daughter tried various ones also, including an expresso with rose water, straight up.


Caffe is a serious business here, there are different ones all over, each with their own personality and crowd following. One thing, I am still not used to is that they all have rows of liquor, to add to the coffee, and smoking is most often allowed, although it seems to the side and in moderation, unless outside.


They are most often family or group oriented and many do business in some of these places.

Israel 2010 The Illusive Israeli Porcupine

Tonight, we took a drive in search of the Israeli porcupine. They are bigger than most, and I just had to see for myself. My husband had seen them three different time. I had questioned this, seeing how most internet sites list them as unlikely to site. He wanted to show me. While we drove quite a ways, past Gaza and towards Egypt, I saw camel crossing signs, no camels crossing, and definately no porcupines, the best I could do was come across this gecko. Sitting on sandstone colored cement mud, his coloring was less than desirable, but as tiny as he was, a little over an inch, I can say he was at least "cute."

Israel 2010 Australian Soldier

Although many statues can be said interesting, artistic, and well done, this one is intriguing in it's material content. The sword in his hand, the gun over his shoulder, and the bridle on the horse, along with other elements are the actual historical pieces from the Battle of Beer Sheva. These pieces were incorporated and preserved in with the statue. The sword is the most obvious up close in observation.





Charge of the Light Horse. This was an unusual battle in that the Australian soldiers were well outnumbered and on horseback, yet prevailed. I find it is the nature in Israel, where odds are often the case except for Elohim.

Israel 2010 Sea of Salt

As we begin to descend into the hills, which sounds conflicting, but that is the case, I am nervous. The curves are treacherous and unforgiving, as I spot a couple of vehicles below proving my point. My husband is confident and does not want to hear neither my fussing or the sucking in of air as my heart forces blood through my veins at the same speed it would if I was to skip over the rail.

Finally he slows down to appease me, and then all the others must pass us, which they do even in such a situation of curves and dropoffs.

Right in the center of this picture above is a cluster of people on bicycles. A true perspective of me looking out over this cliff/valley.

This water is the most magnificent shade of turquoise, with brilliant whites where it is shallow. The day is overcast with a hope of long overdue rain. The photo does not do it justice. This lake is 422 meters below sea level (1385 ft). This is lower than my husband's descent in a submarine around the world.

This is a public park, complete with showers to rinse the residue of the lake away. It was too cold to go in past the ankles, and yet there were many who did spend a time completely in. I was hoping to go in like I did on the last trip as the floating aspect here is enough for me to complete feel it is therapeutic. A great place to work as a life guard!

The water level is gradually lower and lower. Here channels seem to be carved in to trap and direct the waters together. The color is even more intense as such. The hills beyond the sea, seen in each picture is Jordan.

Israel 2010 Phone Call

I like the colors!

While the pelephone is quite common here, pelephone meaning miracle phone or as we would say cell phone, the hard lines are still everywhere, unlike stateside where they are quickly disappearing.