היה בסדר – Yiheye beseder – It will be all right
I have always tried to look on the bright side of things. When life throws lemons at you, you make lemonade (I imagine the lemons are being thrown rather than peacefully given).
So, when you discover that the reservation fees for the already incredibly expensive Eurorail pass are five times the price you initially thought they would be you just have to roll with it, and grumble about hating the people who run the TGV. And when the weather is cold and drizzly you have to take comfort that it is also pouring rain in Irvine, though it is sunny and beautiful in Israel.
Leaving Israel is never easy. Even when leaving means starting the next leg of our adventure. Saying goodbye to my family is always the hardest part because I never know when or under what circumstances I’ll be seeing them again. This last week has been a blur of Israeli adventure. From the army ceremonies of a friend and my cousin to traveling through Jerusalem David and I have had a chance to sample all Israel has to offer, both tourist-wise and culturally wise.
David and I had a chance to see the changing of beret ceremony for a friend from Irvine, Ari Friedman, and the commencement of boot camp for my cousin, Gilad. At both I was overcome by a strong feeling of national pride and love for my country. When we sang the Hatikva and raised the Israeli flag I stood in awe of the brave soldiers that stood before me. At last, we Jews have an army of our own. Young Israeli boys and girls grow up seeing real life heroes at every bus stop and train station. They fall asleep safe and sound to the belief that these brave men and woman are keeping them safe from the enemies pressing at all sides. They grow up believing they can be more than doctors, lawyers or accountants (no offense to American Jews). They can be anything they want in a Jewish state all their own.
The last week of our trip we visited the Old Cities of Nazareth, birthplace of Jesus and Jerusalem, death place of Jesus (though not for that reason obviously). We headed north to Nazareth with Eran to check out the huge church there and grab a very tasty lunch and an even tastier Arabic dessert; knafeh. When David and I visited Jerusalem in the last week of our trip it was almost like an exercise in resourcefulness. Once we arrived at the train station in the city we realized that neither of us had any idea how to get to our ultimate destination. Thinking quick David and I headed to the local mall for Wi-Fi and figured out the bus that would take us to Ben Yehudah. After touring around for a bit, snagging some souvenirs and eating our packed lunch we made our way to the Old City. David decided to go off the beaten track (Jaffa St.) but we ended up at the right gate in the end.
The big church in Nazereth
Inside the Old City I decided we should try and see the Holy Seplechure, a place David has never been to. After getting hopelessly lost and ending up in the Muslim Quarter we retraced our steps, found Wi-Fi again and figured out the path to the church. Once we finished with the church we went to the Jewish Quarter for lunch and some more walking around. From the rooftop view we could see the Kotel, our next destination. After praying at the Kotel David and I decided to try to go to the underground tunnels, luckily getting the student ticket which was half the price of the normal one! I had never been down the tunnels under the western wall and the tour not only taught us about the political history of the region but also about the social dynamics of the excavation problems today. At the end of our Jerusalam we had another long walk to a different bus stop to take us to the train station. We missed it by a minute and had to wait quite a while for the next one. We made it to the train station five minutes late and had to wait an hour for the next one and by the time we got back to the kibbutz both of us were too exhausted to do anything and passed out.
Despite the difficulties of the day I was happy with our adaptability. Wi-Fi ended up being a necessity since I can’t use my network plan abroad and it was a good lesson to learn to have all of our buses and foot trips mapped out ahead of time. It also taught us to try and remain calm and not let our emotions get the best of us when things don’t exactly go our way.
Paris
We left for Paris on Thursday the 27th of February and after a short plane flight (only five hours) we arrived in the city. After reuniting with David’s mom, who had been in France for the past two weeks, and meeting her aunt an uncle whose home we would be staying at for the beginning, we finally headed to sleep for the night. David got sick right before we left so he wasn’t having the best time. Our travel pass didn’t start until the Monday after but we still got to see a little bit of the nearby business area La Defense. Nothing in France is pronounced as it is spelled but luckily David already knows his ways around, though his accent makes it incredibly difficult for people to understand him even when he is pronouncing things.
The first weekend we spent meeting the family, but really meeting everyone. On Sunday one of David’s cousin’s was having a baby naming for his daughter, Sarah. We headed to the synagogue and I was overwhelmed in a crush of Jewish Persian French Family that David’s mom had me meet but luckily I had met a few of them the Shabbat before. All of David’s family are incredibly welcoming. They instantly began treating me as a member of the family and it made it so much easier to get used to everyone.
The past week has been a whirlwind of visiting places that David has been dying to show me. With our Navigo cards traveling around Pari is a breeze sine we can take any bus, metro, train or tram that we want. All we have to do is wake up in the morning, decide where to go that day and figure out which lines to take to get there. I wish public transit was as efficient in LA because then no one would have to drive. The traffic in France is terrible too though, probably why so many people take the transit to and from work.
In a few days we head off to Italy. All of our hostels are already booked and the itinerary is mapped out, which reminds me I still have to print everything. I am equal parts excited and nervous because it will be the first time for both of us traveling in Italy so we will have to adapt quickly.
I will post more pictures very soon, I promise, and hopefully I will be able to put up another big blog post next week after Italy!!
Au Revoir
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