Last month in Israel.  A lot has happened here.  I've seen a lot, and felt even more.  There's simply no justice that can be done in describing everything I've experienced.  I really feel that I've grown in so many ways, and I know the process will continue as I move forward.  The future feels heavy to me; at times I just don't know how to handle everything coming at me from every which way.  There's just so much to think about.  When people ask me how my trip was here, I won't know what to say.  Time and again I've felt and mentioned in my blog many feelings which I cannot adequately describe with words.  Amazing.  Incredible.  Awesome.  Awesome, though, is a word which has really lost its meaning.  What it should mean is full of awe, which in turn implies something which can't really be expressed but only felt.  So, if I describe my time here to you with the word awesome, I mean it that way.  Not to say, though, that it hasn't been a totally rad experience, dude.  It's been a mixed bag: a wide-range of thoughts and feelings about myself, the world, the future, the past, life, death, meaning, purpose.  Lots of questions.  No answers, just possibilities.  It's daunting sometimes, but in the end, for better or for worse, it's all stahm: a Hebrew word which doesn't translate well to English, meaning something along the lines of "just is."

I can't begin to wrap my head around time.  Looking back it always seems like it moves so quickly.  But it can so easily feel as if it progresses with the speed of molasses.  Yet it's constant.  And yet again, it's all made up by us; by man.  The passing of events makes time tangible, or at least palpable.  My mom and my sister had planned to visit for a while; then they came; now they're gone.  Bam, time.  I digress.  Or perhaps I progress.  Here's what we did:

I went to Tel Aviv on Friday and stayed at Nir's house.  He had to work most of the night, and I took the opportunity to make up for a lack of sleep resulting from the continuous late nights spent with my friends or following the start of NBA games during the wee hours of the night.  Like the brother he is, Nir took me to the airport the next morning and we waited together for my Mom and sister Emily.  After their welcomed arrival, we had a great meal overlooking the beautiful sunny beach before taking a service bus to Jerusalem and their hotel.  Shabbat's presence permeated the air, as there was scarcely a person to be seen in the streets.  The ladies were naturally tired after their long flight, so after a little nap I took them around the downtown area, which had gained some life amidst our slumber, and, after a bit of a tour/wrong turn or two, we had some very good shawarma at the scrumptious "HaShamen," which can loosely be translated as "Chubby's."  (I made sure not to tell them this part!)  I had to leave a bit early on to work on a midterm paper due later in the week.  The next day, Sunday, I met up with them again after class for dinner in the upscale German Colony.  I enjoyed hearing about their day and relished the opportunity for a first-class meal (and the leftovers later on).  It was fun hearing their opinions thus far about Israel, and I enjoyed chiming in with my own, often elaborating on the aspects which I've discovered time and again which they'd only begun to see.  

Monday classes finish earlier than Sunday and Tuesday, so I had them meet me at my place and I took them to the god-sent falafel joint down the street from my dorm.  It was nice having them experience something I've been doing on a weekly basis since I've been here.  After the successful (although unfortunately not THE best – the problem with falafel is that, largely depending on how fresh it is [how recently it's been taken out of the oil], it's got a wide-range of texture, temperature, and overall enjoyability) chow-down, we headed to the Shuk, killing two birds with one stone by getting some much-needed shopping done as well as exposing Mommy and Emmy to one of my favorite areas of Jerusalem.  They quickly caught on to the loose sampling-rules, following my lead in tasting various nuts, fruits, halvah, and, of course, going a bit nuts (No pun intended. Seriously, didn't even recognize it until I re-read it.) in purchasing various kinds of nosh.  Thusly, by the time we were headed back to their hotel, which was very centrally located, we were all totally wiped out and soon succumbed to what our bodies were demanding, falling asleep shortly after getting back.  I still had work to do for my midterm, so by the time we were ready to move it was a bit too late for me to join, and I headed back to my place as my girls did a bit of exploring on their own.  

Tuesday I came again after classes, this time having finished my mid-term, and we went for another delicious dinner, sampling various Israeli delicacies, from Kubeh (or Kibbeh) to Mjadra and more.  We then sat around at a coffee shop and attempted to plan out the rest of the week, in which we'd hoped to go to both the Dead Sea, just south of Jerusalem (you can actually see it from my friend Jacob's bedroom window), as well as travel around the beautiful north.  We had a nice time sitting together, talking, moving past our various trivial, albeit somewhat heated, arguments from the prior days.  I'd felt a bit stressed at points about making plans, then also a bit disappointed in their ostensible lack of faith in my guidance abilities, but we're family, and we worked it all out and had a terrific second half of the week.  I left the coffee shop to study for my Hebrew mid-term the next day, still without a plan determined but looking forward to the unforeseen adventure.  

As it were, we decided to head north Wednesday just after I finished Hebrew in the morning.  The plan was to stay the night Tiberias and travel from there, but on the fly we changed our desired-lodging to Tzefat, another ancient city which came to be the epicenter of Kabbalism.  After getting off our bus in Tiberias, we met up with a cab driver who would end up taking us around throughout the entire trip around the north (which was a mega-condensed 2-day affair).  I'd gotten some recommendations from Ronen, and we set about hitting the various sites he said would be worthwhile.  First we went to Ben Tal, a mountaintop from which Ronen explained we'd be treated to a wonderfully expansive view, including both Syria and Lebanon.  After stopping along the way to overlook the Syrian city of Qunetra, which has long been at the fore of the Israeli-Syrian conflict, and gorging on some apples and nuts with friendly vendors, we made it to the summit.  I immediately recognized it as a place where I'd been both on the Birthright trip and with the Rothberg Program earlier in the year.  We quickly explored the army base and thoughtfully observed the views before succumbing to the cold and getting back in the cab, en route to Tzefat.

We arrived to Tzefat and checked into our hotel, of which the three of us were immediately fond.  Its elegantly-rustic style reminded us all of similar lodging in Colorado, and the cold made the nostalgia all the more fruitful.  After a short nap, we walked around the Old City of Tzefat, and I really dug the stone streets and iridescence from the various purple and blue lighting of the shops and dim streetlights.  It's a fairly religious city, so I was pleasantly surprised with the somewhat lively feel of the night.  We then sat down for a great dinner, hoarding the myriad plates of salad and dipping pita with hummus before moving on to the various delicious meat platters soon at our fingertips.  Little wonder that, after some dessert and coffee down the street, we all walked back to the hotel feeling like bowling balls rolling down the lane.  We didn't have the energy to do much else, and, after reading some of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (which I've subsequently finished and really enjoyed), I followed Emily and Mama to rest.  

The cabbie picked us up the next morning, Thanksgiving (!), after a delicious and plentiful hotel-included Israeli breakfast overlooking the beautiful mountainside which was hard to leave, and we continued along the Ronen-recommended journey, heading now to the Hula Valley, internationally renown for the masses of birds which stop there for respite from their migration.  Unfortunately most of the birds must have already gone along their merry way, for as we walked through the paths the animals we saw most were the catfish in the marshes below.  We were, however, treated to a Disneyworld-like movie, equipped with squirts of water and moving chairs, which turned out to be an interesting account of bird migration and the importance of the Hula along the way.  The next, and final, stop was the hot springs known as Chamat Gader.  Along the way, however, the cab driver became antsy and lost his patience, ultimately essentially demanding an increase on the price we had already determined.  He and I had a rather heated argument in Hebrew as he was driving toward the springs.  It was frustrating, but great practice on the language.  Ultimately we made a compromise, but I think we all lost a little respect for the man, who up to that point had been very accommodating and overall nice company.  The springs were nice, like a big warm bath, smelling of feet because of the sulfur, with plenty of old people to be found.  We'd realized that Ronen's recommendations were somewhat touristy, which my Mom deftly analyzed as indicative of the strong Israeli nationalism.  Politics aside, Israelis love their land and want people to see it.  

We made it back to Jerusalem that evening, Thursday, and I headed back to my place with plans to meet up with the ladies the next morning to pursue our yet-to-be-determined plans.  My friend Josh was celebrating his birthday weekend, so ten of us guys took a ten-seater service bus to Tel Aviv at around midnight and had a terrific time chilling on the beach for a bit before heading to, in essence, a rave.  Tons of people dancing, floating in their own worlds; lights flashing and music blaring.  I had a great time, and it was a very interesting sociological experience, seeing such people in such an environment.  Hippies danced about as if they were controlling the music with their own hands.  It was a terrific, albeit long, night, making it back to my bedroom in Jerusalem at about 5 AM.  

I met up with the fam the next day in Jerusalem, who'd been perusing the street market right outside their hotel.  After a quick bite, we took a sheirut (small bus) to Tel Aviv, checking into our hotel about a block from the beach.  Not wanting to disrupt our routine, we took a little nap before Nir picked us up and took us to his house for a lovely dinner with his family.  It was really nice all being together, and the BBQ was delicious.  After dinner and some nice cross-cultural conversation, Nir took my mother back to the hotel before he, Emily, and I went out for a night in Tel Aviv.  We went down to the Namal (port) and walked around a bit on the boardwalk.  It was kind of chilly, but both Emily and I agreed that the fly boardwalk was not being utilized to its fullest extent.  After waiting in line for a club, surrounded by endless Arsim (basically the Israeli version of Guidos), we were quite keen to leave and start our own dance party.  In the end, we settled on a nice outdoor patio-bar where I'd been a couple times before.  We shared a few drinks and smoked some Nargeela and overall had a very nice time together.  Soon enough the late evening had turned to early morning, and, as Emmy had an early flight, Nir took us back to the hotel.  I slept soundly, waking up only early in the morning to say goodbye to my family before slipping back into the comfortable hotel bed, the room mine alone just as if I was the dude (Kevin McCallister?) from Home Alone 2.  

I spent the next day walking around Tel Aviv, mostly chilling on the beach and reading my book.  It was a day of mixed-feelings: my family had left – a sharp reminder of my dwindling time in Israel; I was feeling somewhat lonesome, as none of my friends were available; yet I was happy, enjoying the environment and feeling like I had a sound grasp of where I was and where I'm headed, or at least a grasp and understanding of the fact that it's okay that I don't know.  I headed back to Jerusalem in the evening, eager to see my friends.  Upon making it back, I reflected upon the past three days and the intense traveling I'd done which made it hard to believe that it had all happened in such a short amount of time: from Wednesday afternoon to Saturday evening I'd gone from Jerusalem, to Tzefat, to Jerusalem, to Tel Aviv, to Jerusalem, to Tel Aviv again, and finally back to Jerusalem.  It was nice to be back, needless to say, and it would be an abbreviated week as one of my classes had the week off to work on our take-home midterm exam. 

The next weekend (this past one), I fulfilled my desired plan to go to the Dead Sea.  Along with my buds Josh and AJ, we took a southbound bus, equipped with a tent, a bit of food, and some warm clothes in preparation for the desert night, toward Ein Gedi, getting off at a trail called Metzukei Dragot.  We headed down away from the uphill trail, toward the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth.  Immediately we were exposed to what would become a common theme of the trip: hippies.  Naked hippies.  By far the biggest hippies I'd ever met.  Soon after we'd set up our tent, we went to hang out with a couple of them who were right next to us.  Two of the three had dreadlocks which were at least 5 feet long and who'd apparently been living in India for an undeterminable amount of time.  The third, who apparently resided on the beach, explained that he'd been traveling for eleven years.  (No dude, you're just homeless.)  Soon enough they were jamming on their violin and bongos while AJ and I also dabbled a bit on their guitar.  We'd brought little food with us, with a container of hummus representing a large portion of what we had.  We weren't warned about the high moochability of the hippie community, and thusly Josh brought over the hummus and some pita to have a quick snack.  Soon enough, most of the hummus was gone, and our dinner plans had turned bleak.  But, oh my, was it ever beautiful.  We walked a bit around the bay, hoping to collect some firewood for the evening (which turned out to be extremely difficult to find amidst the unforgiving climate), taking in the beach and the landscape.  It was almost like being on a different planet, or the moon.  Everything was grey.  There were strange, warped rocks along the sea, which we later found to be formations of the thick mud that comes from the Sea which is used by many for dermatological purposes.  At one point we walked up a small cape which instantly reminded us of Pride Rock from Lion King, and looked out at one of the most amazing views I've ever seen: mountains in the background overlooked the calm expanse of the sea, which, combined with the awesome (again, in the better way) sunset, created what seemed to be a rainbow enveloping us.  Looking toward the mountains over the sea I could clearly discern red, yellow, green, blue, and purple.  It was incredible.  Soon, though, it was pitch-black, by about 6:00.  We were able to get a meager fire going and cooked some potatoes, with some spices and oil we'd brought, to just barely edible, still essentially raw, but enough substance to satiate our hunger.  It was exemplary of the extremely rustic time we experienced together.  We had almost no food, and the main sustenance we did have were potatoes, which are not easy to cook in such circumstances.  We really roughed it.  After watching the stars for a time and digging the yellow moon rising over the sea, we moved into the tent and went to sleep.  

The next day, after some dry oatmeal and a granola bar for breakfast, AJ and I took a dip (or a float, rather) in the salty sea before heading to a fresh-water spring about 30 feet above it, which was really great for getting the irritating salt off our bodies, but not so great in that there were 4 naked men chilling in the spring little bigger than a hot tub.  We then attempted to read a bit of ancient Josephus texts for our Jews of the Greco-Roman World midterm.  AJ pointed out that it was quite the experience to be reading such texts in such a place, but we soon realized that this was not the place to get work done.  We collected our things, packed up, coaxed Josh from his fascination with the intriguing mud, and made the ascent back up toward the road.  From there, since it was about 2:00 on Shabbat, we had the option to either catch a ride or wait about three hours for the bus.  We opted for the former, taking turns holding out our hand at a 45-degree angle (as Ross explained was the Israeli sign for hitch-hiking).  It took patience; few people stopped, and those who did often weren't going toward our destination.  Eventually, after about an hour and a half, a nice, old man who'd been in the South for a bicycle race picked us up with plenty of room in his car for all of us and our things, and, to all of our reliefs and great thanks, dropped us off within walking distance of the dorms.  The excursion hadn't lasted so long, but it sure felt like an adventure; overall it was a really great and totally worthwhile experience.  

Just turned in my midterm, gotta presentation tomorrow, then it's the weekend!  Planning on going to Egypt a week from tomorrow (Wednesday, December 16).  Doing my best to make the most of the last couple weeks here...  Look out for pictures soon!