I returned yesterday to Jerusalem after spending 4 days in Eilat, Israel. Eilat is Israel's southernmost city with gorgeous beaches and triple-digit weather. Basically it seems to be the place where everyone goes to to escape from work and responsibilities for a few days.

After about 4 hours cramped in a car, we arrived in Eilat in the evening and were greeted with pool-friendly weather. Since I went with 3 family members and a friend of the family who go every year, they had already decided to rent an apartment for our stay. This made it more economical when we split the cost by 5 people instead of staying at a hotel. We stayed at the Royal Park apartments, which were nice and had a big swimming pool. The apartment itself had 2 rooms: a living room connected to a kitchen and a bedroom. Two people stayed in the living room and three in the bedroom (each had their own bed). And of course there was a bathroom. The place wasn't big at all (going by "California/US standards") but it definitely fit the bill for the few days we were staying, and also for the fact that we spent most of our time outside the apartment. 

Of course, for additional savings, we came prepared: enough food was brought to last 4 days, as well as cups and plates much like when you go camping. Thankfully, we also found a local place to buy very well-priced foods. It is really ridiculous how high the prices were in Eilat, but also how much they differed depending on location!! (which seems to be the case all over this country...!?). Most of the food we ate that week-end consisted of hummus, 2 different kinds of salads, eggs, sausage, bread and soda for breakfast, and barbecued chicken, kebab meat, onions, hot peppers and again that salty "100% fat" that everyone seems to love, for dinner. Cocktails were consumed all throughout the day as well. Again, eating that way for a few days felt great, but it's definitely not a diet you'd want to keep going much longer than that!!!

Eilat is pretty small, so I'd say the things you can do can be limited and you only need a few days to really see and know what Eilat is about. There is one mall with 3 floors, and right outside there is a boardwalk filled with shops. I'd say the shops are definitely catered to tourists, but you can also find cute beach-friendly clothes at bargain prices. I found a pair of very cute (even if 'exaggerated') harem pants for only 50 shekels (about $13). Bonus that the material is cotton, which is always what I look for when purchasing clothing. If you go to the regular or more high-end shops, the prices are "Eilat prices" AKA, very high. IE: someone bought ONE bar of soap for 6 shekels (about $2) when in Jerusalem I bought 6 soaps for 15 shekels (around $4). 

In the evening, you can enjoy one of the many 'cafes' that line the beach, many with low seats that you can sit/lie down on while you have a drink just literally a few steps away from the water. I had never seen bars/cafes with this kind of outdoor seating and I must say it was so lovely and relaxing!! All throughout the city, music was blasting from one corner to another, well into the night (I could still hear it blasting around 3am when I once fell asleep at the apartment LOL). There is definitely a 'party vibe' to the city and I think most people come to Eilat for that. I heard that there are dance clubs but sadly I did not see or visit any of them. Bars and shops stay open until pretty late so that you can enjoy drinks and being out in the hot weather well into the night.

Aside from 'doing the drinking thing,' Eilat also has water activities, amusement parks and aquariums that you can enjoy. When at the beach, we decided one day to pay a fee and do 3 water activities, which included lying down on an inflatable 'bed' which, attached to a boat, basically pulled us through the water and tried to make us fall off. I don't know the name of this activity but it was my favorite, and so much fun!!!! The second activity was similar, except you'd sit on an inflated banana and get dragged through the water. I learned that keeping your balance in the water while sitting is very difficult indeed! LOL Finally, we kayaked for some time as well. We got a good arm work-out, and came out of the water red from the sun and covered in a 'white film,' thanks to the Red Sea's saltiness. On another day, we visited Coral World, which had different exhibits such as sharks, turtles and stingrays, rare fish and red sea reef. It was entertaining, but small in my opinion. We had planned on visiting King City (which was close to where we stayed), but when we got there we were told we only had one hour until they closed, so we skipped it. The sight of that massive orange structure standing in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere was unlike anything I had ever seen. Something about that orange color... or was it the architecture?! Not sure...

One thing I sensed about Eilat is that it seemed to have a bit of a "hippie" vibe. I saw many shops with rasta-like themes, and a few times when we hung out at the beach I heard songs that basically sounded like Jewish/Israeli reggae. I saw tons of people with tattoos-- and of course that's not to say that they were all from Eilat-- but judging from some of the tans, they definitely could have been. Seeing tattoos definitely stood out to me since 1. you rarely see them in Jerusalem and 2. I hear it's looked down upon by religious Jews, and that there is a tradition that says that a tattooed Jewish person can't be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Maybe tattoos are becoming part of the mainstream in Israel as well? In any case, Eilat's hot weather allows everyone to show off their body art (and hot bodies!!) if they are so inclined. 

Another thing I definitely noticed was the city's prominent Russian Jewish presence. Most places had Hebrew and Russian signs, which testify to that. The apartment we stayed at also had a lot of French Jews. I would say Eilat did not look particularly 'diverse' as most people there were Jewish. Jews from different parts of the world indeed, but mostly Jews nonetheless. Saw maybe 5 Arabs and a few Africans (who themselves also could have been Jewish...). And this detail only underlines part of the political situation in Israel. Seeing so few Arabs only reminded me that many Arabs--with the difficult issue of identity being what it is--are not allowed in Eilat due to its proximity to Egypt and Jordan. For many Arabs, permits are issued for other parts of Israel but Eilat is the one forbidden location. 

What did I enjoy? It was definitely nice to get away from the city (Jerusalem) for a while, and see something new. Of course it was more laid back in Eilat... the things you do are limited and very relaxed! Spending your day mostly drinking and swimming is not going to be a source of frustration, so what is there to complain about? LOL The scenery... definitely gorgeous. Eilat is bordered by Egypt in the south and Jordan to the east. I definitely loved swimming at the Red Sea beach (even if the water was cold and salty!) and contemplating swimming straight across to Aqaba's shore, staring right at me... Yes, I was googley-eyed, remembering that scene from "Lawrence of Arabia" with T.E. Lawrence and his Arab troops capturing that port city... How could I not be?! *sigh* 

Driving back through the scorching desert, my imagination roamed, filled with images of camel-riding people trekking through the never-ending vastness...
And I was reminded that I love me an air-conditioned car indeed!!!!

Eilat: simple, layed back, hot, somewhat cliche in some ways... but definitely to be experienced. 

SPF 45+ sunscreen mandatory. +

A week ago, on Thursday April 21st, my cousin and I ventured to Ramallah... on our own. The experience was a mix of exploring, shopping, cousin seeing her old friend, but eventually, frustration.

As expected, getting there was no problem. We found parking and then started on our walk to check out the shop-filled streets. I bought a dress at a Mango store within 5 minutes of being there... What can I say? I know what I like and I'm a quick shopper LOL =) It wasn't noon yet and the streets were filled with shoppers. It seems people in this country are early-risers, but I've also noticed that when it comes to some foods, some prefer to buy what they need on the day it will be cooked rather than to stock up ahead of time. Guaranteed freshness, right? While I might be used to "getting moving" later on in the day, here the hustle and bustle of life starts quite early.

As we ventured on, all we saw were shops, shops and more shops, many of which have what I consider to be funny English names. It was also interesting to be roaming the rugged, narrow streets only to hear a radio blasting Rihanna and other typical American songs... right. My wandering eyes eventually caught a big green and white label, and I soon realized I was greeted with Ramallah's very own version of Starbucks, renamed... "Stars and Bucks." Yes I did have to laugh at that one, and just had to snap a picture. As anywhere else, you see some dressed in more religious attire and others mixing it up to make it fashionable, with matching colors/purses/shoes, etc. Speaking of shoes. I think out of all the stores we saw, we mostly saw shoe stores... my goodness. No shortage of that here, and of color variety either!!

All went fine, until we decided to head home. The main checkpoint in Ramallah is the Qalandiya checkpoint which is the one that gets the worse traffic and is notorious for ridiculously long waits. It happens to be located off the main street, which we figured wouldn't be so hard to find. Big mistake. We soon realized how much Ramallah is lacking in adequate, if any, road signs, so that we drove around for at least a good 30 minutes, looking for signs leading back to Jerusalem, before realizing that we were heading towards other unknown towns. We asked for directions at least 4-5 different times from people, police and Palestinian soldiers until we finally found the road to Qalandiya. But that in itself was only part of the solution, as there was terrible traffic ahead of us. We knew another, easier checkpoint to go through to get home besides Qalandiya, but required a longer drive, so we realized we'd be sitting in that traffic for some time. The worst part? We needed a bathroom. Sure it sounds silly in retrospect, but things like this just serves to remind you that 1. always look for/use a bathroom when you can because you never know when you'd be able to find one next and 2. in some parts of the world, you can't just 'park your car on the side' and go look for accomodations, etc. The traffic is such that your car is just stuck there and there is absolutely nowhere to go but straight ahead, period. 

So, sitting in bumper to bumper traffic, cringing all the while... We took the longer route and it seemed like we'd finally be reaching home in a few short minutes until the car died... just steps away from the other checkpoint we'd driven all this way to reach. My goodness. It was like the ride home was destined to last forever... We tried to re-start the car several times, without luck. My cousin's husband quickly came to the scene to try to figure out the situation. He stayed on with the car while we drove home fast because yes, we still needed that bathroom and had been waiting an hour by now to use it (really not good for the bladder, in case that's a surprise to anyone). I will say I have never before felt such relief to reach home...

In terms of the car, it seemed it had over-heated and it went unnoticed, so that by the time we had reached the checkpoint, it had reached its limit...?? I'm not sure and this still puzzles me, when we are told this never happened to the car before. Go figure. A nice thing amidst the craziness: while we waited for my cousin's husband to arrive, a car pulled up and a Jewish man came over to try to help us out with the car situation. I already would have been surprised for that gesture back in CA, but here in Israel/Occupied Territories where tensions abound, this stood out even more in a lovely way.

Lessons of the day? Even for my cousin who has lived here her whole life, it may be wise to consider how 'adventurous' one is willing to be. Honestly, I wasn't really frustrated by the whole thing as much because I saw it as part of the experience... Part of me had indeed thought, "hey we might get lost, but we'll just figure our way out..." which we eventually did do. But the bathroom and car dying thing? Would have never seen that one coming in a million years. Next time we go it will surely be with people who know the area... and with our own cars (we had taken someone else's car). The bathroom thing has also been rather painfully noted. Perhaps these issues wouldn't have been a big deal in the States, but here? Where many streets lack names, probably don't appear on a map, with construction being done all over the place, and one hill looking exactly like the next?

Hey, you live and you learn. =)

After 3 weeks worth of Easter-related events, it all came down to Easter week-end. A lot happened in just these 3 days, and the following is a long entry concerning my experience.

On Good Friday, April 22nd 2011, we went to St. Jacob's in the late afternoon for mass. After that, we watched the 'burial of Jesus' in the courtyard of the Holy Sepulchre (which is right outside). The procession came out of St.

Jacob's church and the body of Jesus, in a coffin, was paraded around the courtyard 3 times.It was EXTREMELY packed. People were getting pushed and voices were raised, but I guess in the end it all worked out (LOL?!). It started to drizzle slightly and after the procession, the crowd slowly dispersed. I did not know it yet, but this crowd I had witnessed tonight was nothing compared to what would occur on the next day, Holy Saturday...

On Holy Saturday, April 23rd 2011, I practically spent the entire day in the Old City, watching Arab Christian scouts and traditions displayed at every corner of the city... It made me realize how easy it can be to lose all notion of time and place, to be lost in yourself, your family, customs, and basically enter a whole other world. At least it felt that way for me, who was seeing all this for the first time. This may have become 'routine' for other people who see it every year, but this was all new to me.

We left the house in the morning around 11am and headed to the Old City with 4 other people to watch the lighting of the Holy Fire. But what ensued was a series of things I will surely never forget. Partly due to the spiritual aspect of the experience, of course, but also partly because a lot of it was pretty insane and also downright scary, at least for me. My cousin had warned me on the way there: "get ready for more pushing and craziness today." Some things you really can't imagine until you experience them for yourself... As we walked in the Old City, it did not take long for us to see how packed the streets already were, and the lighting of the fire wasn't going to happen until 2pm... 

As we neared the church, and got more engulfed in the crowds, I eventually got separated from my girl cousin and her crew, and instead drifted off with my cousin's friend/coworker. We were literally stuck against walls, barely able to walk, literally having to push your way through (and I hate doing that because of course I consider that rude, but we really had NO choice!! Assertiveness is key here!!). Granted, although every second wasn't excruciating per se, the few times that there were 'panics' and such, they were bad enough to make us worry and feel as though this could end up badly. A few times we felt like we couldn't get enough air, so intensely packed it was.

At some point, there was such bad pushing and 'stampeding'-like behavior that a man had opened the doors to his shop to let people in while the crowd kept moving, hopefully making it easier for people to walk. He had grabbed my arm and my partner-in-crime and I had gone in very briefly... Sheesh. I am all for being devoted and strong in your faith but this?! Fighting for my life indeed!!!!!!!!! I'm sure some found this an 'opportunity' to get close to cute girls and help them out in this crazy situation... Of course I found it very sweet when some guys were being extra helpful, getting a protective-like stance as they tried their best to help girls move along, even when all were packed like sardines LOL. I'll say helpful, protective gents are welcomed in any situation =)

Thankfully my cousin's friend had experienced this before--even though she did say it had never been that bad before-- so she knew what she was doing and was determined to get as close to the Holy Sepulchre as possible. She wanted to at least be able to hear the bells, which would signify the Holy Fire had been lit. Well we didn't get far, but eventually we found a spot right at the corner of Greek Patriarchate St. of the Christian Quarter. We waited here about 1.5 hours until the lighting of the Holy Fire. There was nowhere to go, barriers/'checkpoints' were being set up all over the place by Israeli soldiers, so we knew movement would be limited. Where we stood and waited, right across from us a barrier had been set up, so that here we were, 2 groups of people waiting, separated by a 'gap' in which stood the Israeli soldiers. I suppose this 'gap' came in handy for making room when the 'fences' came down, to let the scouts pass through what was a narrow street (as pretty much all streets are in the Old City).

Someone eventually appeared with a bundle of candles that were ablaze (this bundle consists of 33 thin candles; to signify the number of years Jesus lived), and everyone just went crazy trying to reach that candle so they could light their own... I was really concerned. So much fire and constricted space and movement, I was just trying to make sure no one would set themselves, or someone else, on fire!!!! I didn't know anything then about 'supposedly the fire not burning you the first 33 minutes it's lit' but what I do know is that I felt the heat radiating from the flames all around me, and that was enough to make me extremely cautious. Maybe it was the intensity in the air, the short but awkward event between a Palestinian and a soldier, and the crazy crowd, but I just wanted 'safety first' at this point. 

After fighting for our lives (LOL), we were hungry and went and got pizza from Yerevan, the Armenian restaurant right at the corner by the New Gate. We took it home and it felt amazing to 1. have gotten home alive in one piece!! and 2. that fasting was over and we could finally eat cheese and meat again!!! Simply amazing =)

That had been in the late morning/early afternoon. It had already been an event-filled day, but I was nowhere near being done. It was 4:30pm, and I knew that I would still be going back to the Old City to watch the Ethiopian celebration of the Holy Fire and the Catholic scouts later in the evening. THEN, at midnight I would be heading with my uncle and aunt to the Russian convent for mass, until 5am... I had tried to rest for 2 hours since I knew I had all this ahead of me, but I guess the excitement got the best of me and I just stayed up the whole time.

Around 7:30pm, we were back in the Old City to watch the Ethiopian celebration. We went in through a narrow passage on the right side, outside the Holy Sepulchre. We went up narrow steps and hallways, all the while seeing crowds of typically white-clad Ethiopians praying everywhere. The air was thick and humid inside, with so much body heat and candles all over the place. We eventually reached the roof and we were outside, where more Ethiopians were sitting and praying against the walls. Others, younger crowds and tourists were standing and waiting for the lighting to begin. We had thought that it wouldn't be as crazy packed as it had been during the morning's events, and at first, it truly seemed that way. We breathed a sigh of relief... but not for long. We were given candles by the gentle and sweet crowd and chatted as we waited. It was almost pitch-black on the roof, and you could actually see the stars. Eventually the lighting of the candles happened, and everyone started singing and it really felt rather fun and exciting... but it was too packed, again!!!!! My short arm was trying so hard to reach as high as it could to catch as much footage on my camera as I could, and the result was 30 seconds at best (LOL). Hey, I tried... Sadly, we didn't stay long at all, but I am glad to have seen at least some of it. 

We then headed to watch the Arab Catholic scouts play, which of course they had done in the morning, but this was night-time. I really enjoyed the tune they play, which apparently is a rendition of the song "Sidi Mansour." Makes sense now; I was wondering why the tune sounded vaguely familiar!!!!! All in good fun... =)

I headed home and I had about an hour to get ready for the Russian Orthodox mass... I wore my outfit, which was basically all black: long skirt, black jacket and black scarf on my head. Maybe it's my European upbringing that makes me default on black when I'm not sure what to wear, or when it comes to religious events, but it turns out apparently I didn't need to wear all black. Women were indeed wearing long skirts and covering their heads, but if anything they seemed to be wearing lighter colors and flower-patterned scarves. I guess black was just my preference (and usually is in general, LOL). I hadn't been in a Russian church in a long time, and I had forgotten that Russian Orthodox churches usually seem to have consistent singing, even if really low and 'in the background.' The female choir was really nice and relaxing to hear. The church is small and the people seemed exclusively Russian, who may have only spoken Russian too. It lasted about 4.5 hours, during which I stood pretty much

the whole time (and yes my legs did hurt!). After the mass, we had breakfast which consisted of sesame bread (ka'ak), an egg, chocolate, a sweet piece of bread, some kind of sweet salad, and tea. I'll admit this early in the morning (around 5am), I didn't really have much of an appetite and was really dreaming of a nice cozy bed to sleep in. I had been up and about for almost 24 hours by now, so yes the fatigue was really kicking in. I know I had wanted to see the mass and mostly do it for my great-grandmother who is buried there. It was required by no one; it's just something I wanted to do and I'm glad to have had the opportunity. +

I slept from about 5:30am until 11:30am. The rice with meat and chicken I had for lunch tasted amazing, given I hadn't had any meat in about a month. The day was relaxing, and in the evening the cousins (meaning us adults) went to Beit Sahour to eat and have a drink, just to go for a drive and be out on Easter. 

On top of the 3 weeks leading up to Easter, this week-end alone felt extremely busy and intense. It has been a bit of everything for sure: relaxing, rejoicing, worrying, stressing... longing. I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to do so, and even to have seen the crowds, as frightening as it may have been at times. That was indeed what I had hoped for; to see multiple people coming together to witness what is considered to be the most important Christian celebration. Due to the small Christian Palestinian population here, I really wanted to witness their traditions and perhaps even retain some of them myself. Only time will tell...

Al Massih Kam, Hakan Kam!!! +