The Kinneret—the Sea of Galilee, shaped like a harp—gives a completely different impression from the Dead Sea where we visited yesterday. You approach the Kinneret through flourishing farm fields and orchards rather than monochrome desert landscape. The shoreline is crowded with Israelis celebrating the holiday of Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day) with a trip to the sea. Cars are festooned with Israeli flags, picnic and camp sites are packed, and the sea itself is buzzing with speedboats. Barbecues are a primary feature of today’s holiday, like our own Independence Day in the U.S., and from the bus we see smokey signs of this modern-day sacrificial offering.
It is said the Galilee is sweet because it knows how to take and to give (receiving three rivers in the north and flowing via the Jordan on to the south), while the Dead Sea is bitter because it only knows how to take (receiving the Jordan but stopping there and continuing no further)...
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Drink Your Water
Well, we’ve pretty much gotten used to hearing drink your water, drink your water, keep drinking constantly. Our Tour Leader, Tracy, has taken on the role of reminding us just before disembarking from the bus, to take your water, bring your water. And she usually reminds Arnie twice.
Poor Arnie. I swear I thought I saw him swimming off the bus last time we stopped.
Now, under the proverbial banner of TMI (too much information) Shari our tour-guide has taught us the most basic test for determining dehydration. And she swears every Israeli knows this one.
Here is what you do: After making your “peepee” (Biblical Hebrew for urinating), one needs to either turn around or look down, female and male respectively, and note the general color. If one’s peepee is fairly clear, then you have “Peepee Levan” and you are basically pretty well hydrated. However, if ones peepee is any other color you have “Peepee Shachor” and are probably at some stage of dehydration. Thus we’ve each become an expert on this litmus test for checking hydration levels.
Yeah yeah, I know, TMI.
Poor Arnie. I swear I thought I saw him swimming off the bus last time we stopped.
Now, under the proverbial banner of TMI (too much information) Shari our tour-guide has taught us the most basic test for determining dehydration. And she swears every Israeli knows this one.
Here is what you do: After making your “peepee” (Biblical Hebrew for urinating), one needs to either turn around or look down, female and male respectively, and note the general color. If one’s peepee is fairly clear, then you have “Peepee Levan” and you are basically pretty well hydrated. However, if ones peepee is any other color you have “Peepee Shachor” and are probably at some stage of dehydration. Thus we’ve each become an expert on this litmus test for checking hydration levels.
Yeah yeah, I know, TMI.
Yerushalayim
This poem was written by Cate back in Jerusalem, immediately after emerging from the Western Wall Tunnel (Sunday 4/22/07):
Yerushalayim
The sacred is everywhere and it is nowhere.
Cameras click, guns are silent.
What is holy when the holiness
is surrounded by everyone else's holy and
the vendors sell the crucifix next to the Kippot.
Good deals on both.
The muslim prayers resound by the
Second Station of the Cross
while armed men watch a veiled woman walk by
just before a cross is paraded along the Via Delorosa.
No one cries.
Yerushalayim
The sacred is everywhere and it is nowhere.
Cameras click, guns are silent.
What is holy when the holiness
is surrounded by everyone else's holy and
the vendors sell the crucifix next to the Kippot.
Good deals on both.
The muslim prayers resound by the
Second Station of the Cross
while armed men watch a veiled woman walk by
just before a cross is paraded along the Via Delorosa.
No one cries.
I too am not Sylvia!
This is Cate from somewhere just north of the Kinneret, which until 12 hours ago I only knew of as the Sea of Galilee. I never thought I would be in this part of the world and it is amazing. I am most definitely a tourist, not yet able to absorb but simply observe quietly and with all preconceptions smashed. Loved the Dead Sea, you really can float with no effort. And it really does taste foul, even just a drop. I'm getting used to seeing soldiers everywhere--streets, malls, the beach--carrying machine guns, casually slung over their shoulders. Laila Tov! Cate
This is Steve, not Sylvia.
Sylvia is making me write this, and will not let me have dinner until I write at least 50 words. Our trip has been remarkable. This is a complex country. Jerusalem is unbelievable in its vitality and vibrancy, and in its beauty. Muslims, Christians and Jews live side by side, walking in and out through each other's neighborhoods - and as long as there are all those Israelis with machine guns walking around, they all get along wonderfully. Talk about brotherly love. The ruins from the Roman period throughout this country are incredible - including the Temple Mount - who was the Jewish King under Rome. Yesterday Sylvia and I climbed Masada to see more of Herod's ruins. Two palaces rising high above the Dead Sea. The place is in ruins, of course, and I believe it would be a great place for condos - and perhaps a Starbucks.
Last night was the start of Israel's Independence Day. There were fireworks (which can be really f**king scarey in a country in which "boom, boom, boom" is not normally a harbinger of something good), and there was a huge festival in downtown Jerusalem, with the streets blocked off (by those guys and gals with the Uzi's), and once inside the secure area, there were bands playing (including a Hebrew Hip Hop stage). Independence Day follows Israel's Memorial Day. Everything is closed, and the television shows only the faces and stories of those lost to war and terrorism. I haven't said anything about the Dead Sea - an incredible source of beauty products (leave it to the Jews), and a great place to get wrapped in mud, have a massage, and float. What's gay life like in Israel - suffice it to say, "what happens in Israel, stays in Israel" unless of course you plaster it all over a blog. I understand that Sylvia will now allow me to eat dinner, so I'll sign off. Be well.
Last night was the start of Israel's Independence Day. There were fireworks (which can be really f**king scarey in a country in which "boom, boom, boom" is not normally a harbinger of something good), and there was a huge festival in downtown Jerusalem, with the streets blocked off (by those guys and gals with the Uzi's), and once inside the secure area, there were bands playing (including a Hebrew Hip Hop stage). Independence Day follows Israel's Memorial Day. Everything is closed, and the television shows only the faces and stories of those lost to war and terrorism. I haven't said anything about the Dead Sea - an incredible source of beauty products (leave it to the Jews), and a great place to get wrapped in mud, have a massage, and float. What's gay life like in Israel - suffice it to say, "what happens in Israel, stays in Israel" unless of course you plaster it all over a blog. I understand that Sylvia will now allow me to eat dinner, so I'll sign off. Be well.
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