Petra

For our last day in Eilat, we decided to travel into Jordan, (which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994 allowing tourists and citizens to cross over this border) and visit Petra, an ancient city carved by the Nabataeans in the canyons of the Jordanian mountains. The Nabataeans thrived from 600 BCE until the birth of Christ because of the overland trade routes through the Middle East (the most popular commodities were spices due to the Greco-Roman emphasis on incense and other spices for religious ceremonies). The Nabataeans were later conquered by the Romans and the civilization eventually vanished because of the rise of sea trade. Petra was rediscovered by the West in 1812. The claim to fame of this place for Americans is the fact that Indiana Jones visited this place on his last crusade with his father in what turned out to be, unfortunately, the penultimate movie of that series. You will recognize it in some of the pictures. The sight is no less breathtaking now that it was when I saw that film nearly 20 years ago. From the border, four of us took a cab, which turned out to be several cabs, because we were forced to switch drivers and cars for no easily discernible reason. We finally ended up with a man named Jamil whose English was proficient and showed us pictures of his daughter on his cellular phone. The cab ride took two hours on King's Highway, a winding two-lane affair that rose through the Jordanian plateau and stretched into the mountains. He left us at the gate only providing us with his number and said he would wait for us. The hike into the sight is a lovely one--a winding gravel path that leads down a rocky hillside with several carved tombs in the side of the hills. Arabs rode donkeys, camels and horses, proffering rides for wealthy tourists who didn't want to walk the mile down into the canyon. The tourists are almost exclusively from Europe, the US, Canada, or Australia, most of which are in large tour groups arranged from Israel. The canyon that leads to the ancient city was carved from rivers long gone and reminds me of pictures I have seen of the grand canyon, though much smaller. It is only 5 meters across at some points and usually no wider than 10. As you near the end of the canyon, it opens up onto a square of sorts that is faced by the "Treasury" one of the largest carved tombs. The square bustled with people and camels. I made sure to steer clear of the camels because I heard from the Genie in Aladdin that they spit. We made our way to the amphitheatre, then walked along a promenade with Roman columns before climbing up a mountain to see the biggest of the attractions, the "Monastery" which is more than twice as big as the "Treasury" and from which you can see much of the Jordanian plateau below. We stayed a little too long on top of the mountain speaking with some of the Bedouins who have shops there and descended the mountain as the sun was going down. On the way back, the place was left to us, alone. No little souvenir stands, no donkeys, no Arab children yelling at each other, or loud tourists. The four of us walked back and enjoyed the oddity of such a magnificent place in the quiet. When we entered the canyon, night had fallen and candles had been placed in bags to light the path. It was as if they were expecting us but in reality the candles were for the night crowd, which had not yet arrived. I'm not big on tourist attractions but this one ranks up there as most enjoyable.

Jamil was waiting for us when we reached the gate. We headed back along the King’s Highway, only this time at around 150 kilometers per hour (roughly 90mph) so that we could reach the border by 8 o’clock, otherwise we would have to spend the night in Jordan. Jamil was not pleased with us and was driving altogether too fast on the winding highway, making our stomachs lurch at every turn. As we headed down a mountain side, all of a sudden an animal flashed in the headlights (I could see very well from the front seat that it was a large dog), and the impact reverberated throughout the cabin as I yelled, “ohhh sh@!*&%$#t!” Jamil slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. Enraged, he stepped from the car, slamming his door. He moved around to the front of the car to look at the damage. Tucker, seated in the back and the eternal pragmatist, said very level-headedly, “Well, we’ll probably have to give him a tip now.” Colette, also seated in the back, was in a different place entirely, “Did we hit a person?” I explained that, no, in fact it was a large dog. Meanwhile, Jamil headed back up the highway to see if the dog was dead and probably finish the job if his bumper had not. Whether we all like to admit it or not, we were all thinking what this Arab man was going to do, and this is where our socialization comes into play. Talking afterward, we all shared what we thought Jamil was going to do: I thought he would turn us out of his cab and make us walk, Tucker thought similarly that he might try to extract more money from us, Miriam said she was afraid that he wouldn’t go any further without compensation, and Colette, unabashedly, told us that she was contemplating texting her mother for possibly last time. I think all of us would admit that Colette’s thought passed through all of our minds, however briefly, merely because this man was an Arab. Jamil, however, although transparently angry, got us to the border on time and asked us for no extra payment. Such is the accuracy of prejudice and stereotype. As was only right, we gave him a large tip.

-N

The end of the canyon opening up on the Treasury

In the canyon

Bedouin man's walk to work

Canyon walls

Westerners taking a ride through the canyon

Multi-colored sides of the canyon wall

Smiling camel

Treasury from Indiana Jones fame (the door opens onto only one small room)

Monastery (over 60 feet tall)

View from the top of the mountain

Placing a rock on the pile

Top of the mountain with the Jordanian flag

Yom Kippur and Eilat

For Jews Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement, is the most important Holiday on the calendar. It usually involves fasting for 25 hours, of which I took part, and private confessions of guilt after which you can be considered absolved by God. A number of fellow International School students and I walked (since there is not a single car or bus on the road) to a Modern Orthodox Synagogue. I have been to a couple of reform shabbat services but this was my first foray into the more conservative religious aspects of Judaism. Now, Modern Orthodox do not wear a specific type of clothing, like the black suits and hats of Haredi or Ultra-Orthodox, and engage in slightly more liberal lifestyles but try to retain the strict religious practices and belief systems of the Orthodox. Their Shuul, Temple or Synagogue (I'm not sure which terminology is preferred) is located in a brand new apartment complex that was designed for Modern Orthodox families. This was only the second service ever performed there and, like all synagogues that I have been to in Israel, the men and women are seated separately and kippah's were required by men. In this particular one, the men sat in front in a much larger seating area while the women were above and behind. Other more reformist synagogues sometimes have the men and women sit next to each other instead of in front of or behind. By the beginning of the ceremony all of the seats were filled in the men's area which meant that many women were standing in the back. I spoke with several of my female friends afterward and they all felt not particulary pleased with the situation. The service lasted about two hours, where traditional prayers were read but unlike other services, the Rabbi or prayer leader was not a gifted singer and so the prayers lost much of their rhythm and pleasing melody. In the middle of the ceremony, the Torah, housed in a large wooden cabinet in the front of the room and carried around so that the men could touch it with their tallits (a cloth woven from 613 threads, symbolizing the 613 commmandmants of the Old Testament, and tied in knots at the ends) Tallits are is usually given to men at their bar mitzvah and worn under their clothes by the more observant or else wrapped around them for religious ceremonies). Much of the time we spent standing and, if we had wanted, there was another 6 to 8 hours of prayer the next day. It wasn't particularly enjoyable and it isn't supposed to be. I am glad we attended though.

A couple of days later, a few friends and I rented a car and drove South to the very tip of the country that borders the Red Sea. It is called the Vegas of Israel and is full of tourists, hotels and shops. We drove through Tel Aviv at rush hour and got stuck in traffic for an hour and a half. As we finally exited the city to the South, I accidentally missed the turn and we ended up on a two-lane highway, which, much to my traveling companion's chagrin (and of course my parents'), dead-ended at a Gaza Strip check point. It was dusk and there weren't any guards around because the check-point had been closed as had all of Gaza for some time now. It is amazing how close Gaza really is to the heart of this country and that with one wrong turn, we were standing on those borders that have been scrutinized tirelessly for the last 60 years. We backtracked and continued South, entering the Negev Desert which makes up a majority of the country and reaches all the way down to Eilat. The drive is beautiful, even at night, and especially with a full moon. We drove along the Dead Sea for a bit where the sulfur and salt is almost palpable in the air. We stayed in Eilat for five days and swam and snorkeled during the day, hiked in the mountains (big hills) overlooking Jordan, Egypt and Israel, and listened to live music and danced by night. It was a true vacation experience.

On our last day in Eilat, we entered Jordan to visit the ancient city of Petra.

To be continued....

Tallit or Prayer Shawl

The gang before we left (Nick, Brian, Colette, Tucker and Miriam)

Lots of Camel tours

Tucker and I with the Red Sea behind and Jordan in the distance

The gang again

Barren landscape of the Negev

Yom Kippur, the Golan Heights and the Galilee

The International School here at the University of Haifa organizes trips throughout the school year. Most of the tiyules revolve around the natural environment. There are trips to the Golan Heights, the Dead Sea and the Negev desert. Haifa is located in the northwest of Israel and following from Haifa a valley extends eastwards, which for ancient tribes, Bedouins, Arabs, Christians and Jews was part of the natural division to the land. Ancient trade routes extended from the Mediterranean in latitudinal lines. Thus, when the colonial powers divided the Middle East, combining several of these trade routes into one country, they corresponded to no previously existing demographic divisions. We started our trip early in the morning, destined for the Golan Heights, a plateau that Israel captured from Syria in 1967 in the Six Day’s War. We drove East through one the valleys stretching from the sea, seeing many olive orchards which are overlooked by little hamlets on each hill or mountain. The Galilee, the area West of the Golan Heights is the most heavily Arab populated area in Israel Proper. Israel attempted to populate the area with Jews so that the communities would further integrate, however, this initiative largely failed. Gradually, we climbed towards the plateau and away from the coast. Along the previous border of Israel and Syria, the Jordan River flows and is lined with fields of Syrian landmines where cattle now roam. Large yellow signs mark off these areas. They continue to exist because the Israeli Defense Forces have no idea where the mines are and it would cost many lives and resources to find them all. We were told that once in awhile a cow will be grazing in such an area and suddenly blow up. Our guide thought this was rather funny. Once up on the plateau, the scenery reminded me of the western part of Montana or Wyoming: rather arid, sometimes rocky, with rolling hills for grazing and agriculture, and the big blue sky. We stopped at an old Syrian military outpost with abandoned one story cement buildings surrounded by Eucalyptus trees, which they planted for shade (which allowed the Israeli military to easily identify outposts and part of the reason for their swift victory). These buildings not only housed the soldiers but their families as well. We descended into a narrow canyon and hiked along a small stream with waterfalls and cold and clear pools that we stopped to swim in.

That night we stopped at a Kibbutz and slept in Bedouin-style tents that fit around 60 people. In one giant room there are rugs and mats for everyone. Thankfully, I fell asleep quickly before, I was later told, several snorers began their music. The next day was another longer hike through a different canyon with waterfalls and scenic views. The last stop on the tour was a military lookout over Syria, on top of a dormant volcano. Our tour guide, a native of Britain had made aliya (Jewish immigration) twenty years before and has been in the army ever since, though on reserve for much of it. Having been on several tours already, I was not surprised by the biased and exaggerated Pro-Israeli perspective that we received from him. There are many tour guides in Israel and most are preaching to Jewish Zionist groups so such rhetoric is probably more easily swallowed. But I had a hard time biting my tongue, especially when he painted a portrait of Israeli Jews as modern, progressive and peace-loving while Arabs were backwards, violent and misogynistic. This is not an uncommon opinion here though not the majority. Even in some of my classes I have heard similar points of view from professors. It is a racialized perspective that can be compared to some older trends in the US for blacks and Hispanics, as well as in Europe for Jews, Romas, and even Irish. It is this perspective that I find most frustrating and which, I think, will prove the largest obstacle to finding lasting peace in the region. But Israel continues to surprise me in unexpected ways. The Golan is one of the most beautiful (and disputed) parts of this country. I had imagined this place as only desert and coast but it is much more. As are the people.

-N

Rosh Hashanah Dinner

Rotary Members

Abondoned Syrian military mosque

Tucker, Me, Kerstin, and Annelise

one of the many waterfalls

scenic view of Golan Heights

Tucker in the wind

Syrian outlook in the wind

The Sea of Galilee at sunset