The REAL trip

Okay.. so for the past few days I've been traveling around alone with some of my friends, completely without guides and chaperones and a structured schedule. It has been an entirely different experience. Now back to where I left off --- we went to the airport to drop off everyone going home after getting about two hours of sleep the night before. We had already changed our plans, deciding to head up to Akko for the first day, instead of Haifa, and to sleep in Karmiel at Pavel's , who was the medic and guard from our trip who offered to host a bunch of us at his apartment. Sage, Jen, and I were going to meet up with Dina (Lisa and Jen's friend from home who came on the trip with us) and Jason (one of my room mates on the trip). At the last minute, another guy named Seth joined our trip because all his plans fell through. So the six of us headed up to the North with Pavel and dropped our luggage off at his apartment where his mom had baked dozens of Russian meat bread puff things for us... very odd.. but appreciated greatly. We got in a taxi and made it back to Akko to see the old city fortresses and maybe the beach.

Walking into the old city, we realized that it was a completely Arab village. Everything was in Arabic, no one was speaking Hebrew, and some kids threw rocks at us as we walked by. We found a map and navigated our way into the main Arab market bazaar where we were surrounded by the smells of spices, stores and cafes full of hookahs, cheap plastic knock offs, stray cats, women selling all types of baklava and dozens of things that look like it, and textiles hanging from shops and roofs. It was such so surreal to come from a very sheltered and organized trip to an incredibly real and lively Arab shuk, alone, guiding myself, and with two hours of sleep the night before. We found a place called Hummus Said where everyone recommended we go to get the "best hummus in the North".. whatever that means. It was delicious though. We wandered down to the marina where fishing boats were pulling in and unloading their catches, and where a little Arab kid spit on Jen's leg. We watched the local kids jump from the 60 foot high walls of the fortress into the green Mediterranean below while the minarets of the mosques played the call to prayer. It was hard to soak in the enormous contrast between where we were standing and what we had been doing the week before. We were VERY sheltered on the organized trip.

We went to find a beach to nap on, but were confronted with a sign with a skull and crossbones at one entrance that showed a message in Hebrew, Arabic, and Russian. With our collective skills in Hebrew, we picked out the phrases "not allowed", "here", and "murder", so we decided to pass on the "no murder" beach, and we continued down the road. (Later we found out it really meant "no swimming", but we were happier not taking any chances). We never found a beach, but we stopped to rest at a soccer field and met a local Arab social worker who worked with the kids in Akko to organize a soccer league and the keep them busy and off the streets. We made small talk about Israel and the US, but after realizing that we were Jewish, the man started asking us what we though of the Arab aspects of Israel and especially what we saw in Akko. He was suggesting that neglect of support and guidance for Arab kids was a major problem in their culture, and he left us with the statement "enjoy your visit, pray for us here..... and pray for peace." After seeing the negative aspects of those kids spitting at us and throwing rocks throughout the day, his statement was encouraging.

We made our way back to Karmiel and Pavel dragged us around his town meeting all of his friends. This too was surreal, as anything is after a day of walking around in the heat with almost 36 hours with barely any sleep. We ended the night smoking a hookah at a random friend's house in Karmiel overlooking an Arab village that was celebrating a wedding with music, prayer, fires, and fireworks echoing through the valley late into the night. And to think, just a day or so ago, we were touring Mini Israel, one of the most touristy places you can imagine.

Being able to travel on our own is making this experience for me. COMPLETELY different, and MUCH more exciting.

I still have more to update before the blog is caught up to real time, but it's too late, and I need sleep.

Until next time ---