Day 4
Another day I woke up early. (Actually every day turned out to be like this). I spent a lot of time just hanging out with my new friends which made it difficult to function. I walked over to the other side of town to meet another group of friends and did some errands. I ended up just getting postcards and a fridge magnet. Nice and simple.
After buying the postcards, Gini and Rob went to get coffee and Eva was nice enough to go to the Wailing Wall with me since I didn’t get to see it. She took pictures of me there. I didn’t know really what to feel. I was feeling more awkward than anything else because clearly I was a tourist there and there were a lot of devout Jews praying there bobbing back and forth. I just touched the wall, said a quick prayer and turned around and walked back, putting back my borrowed Yakima for someone else to use. Men have to have something on their head.
Eva and I then met with Rob and Gini and went to Shorashim which is a shop which only sells merchandise based on scripture. So if there are drawings they have something to do with the Bible. We spent about an hour speaking to the store owner because he really loves to debate. I am too ignorant in theology to debate so I just asked questions, which led to even more questions. I eventually had to cut myself off because the other three were getting pretty tired of waiting for me. It was really fascinating to me and I now I better understand the conflict between the Palestinians and the Jews. Its definitely not something that they can just “get over”… If you think otherwise, you are not well versed in what’s going on over there.
Afterwards, I came back and took a nap and then got ready for the rehearsal dinner which was put on by Nomi’s sister’s friend (I think). It was a lot of fun because it was about 30 people who just met but had a common tie to Graham and Nomi. Mr. Bennetts youngest brother made it to Israel and those two together was just hilarious. It is apparent where Graham gets his sense of humor. However, the mood was subtly changed when Mr. Bennett got up to talk about Graham. There were some tears shed. He said many moving things.
Afterwards, the four single people went out to a bar and had a bachelor/ bachelorette party since there wasn’t one. We were regulars at this one bar and the owners were super nice to us always talking to us and making sure everything was fine.
Went back, fell asleep for the big day. Not mine, but Grahams.
Day 5
Next morning, I got up and Rob and I headed over to Gini and Eva’s again. I’m assuming you are wondering “why didn’t they just stay closer to each other”. Well since our hosts were so nice, they put us up in church-oriented places. Therefore, there would be no girl/guy mingling, which was fine because it was a free place to stay, and our host, Tim, was awesome. An Irish guy who works at the church who was so welcoming. I wish I had been able to speak to him and get to know more about his story.
Anyway, we met up, and ate lunch. Eva, Gini, and Rob had to leave early because they were setting up for the wedding. I went back to the church and took another nap before Tim work me up, offering to take me to the hotel so that my wedding clothes wouldn’t get sweaty. So I got dressed in twenty minutes and Tim drove me to the hotel.
I got to the hotel and met with Graham and the other groomsmen. The other groomsmen were Mr. Bennett, Mr. Bennett’s brother, and Graham’s brother… then me. I felt honored to be a Groomsmen with his family, but then again, I was the only one from NC to be there. We helped each other get ready and then waited around for pictures. James, the photographer, came by and got everyone together. All dressed, the four groomsmen, eight bridesmaids, and the bride and groom walked around the Old Town taking pictures. It was really funny. James was hilarious. He is really good at his job. This is what he does back in Seattle. He is a wedding photographer and he knows how to get people to be relaxed but also be assertive. He just has a really good way of doing it without being offensive and asking people to wait when we were taking pictures in the middle of the street. Really fun.
I thought it was funny that when we were walking around, tourists would stop and take pictures of us.
We then went back to the hotel and got in vans which took us to the wedding place at Yad Hashmona. It was beautiful. Looking down the aisle, through the Hopa and seeing the beautiful background at sunset. It was perfect. We all got ready and boom, it was show time. It was an awesome wedding.
Graham, the genius that he was, told the wedding planner that I would sing at the wedding because they didn’t have enough guys to sing the deeper parts. Well, I lost my voice and he didn’t tell me I was singing until the day before at the rehearsal dinner. I was very self-conscious because I didn’t know when my voice was going to go out. It didn’t. Praise be to God. I was self conscious the whole time.
There is something about seeing one of your childhood friends get married. I regretfully wasn’t able to head back to Jon’s wedding last year. Jon is the closet thing to a brother I will have but this was the first time when I really got to be there and see this. It is weird. Who would have thought… Couldn’t be happier for him and his new wife though.
The reception was right down the hill and it was awesome as well. Graham made a nice slideshow showcasing his and Nomi’s childhood and then both of them together. Graham found some pictures from middle school with me in them which was certainly a surprise as I had not seen them before. My new friends were kind enough to point me out…
After the wedding, we got a ride back to Jerusalem with the pastor who led the ceremony. Really cool guy, Lindel. It took a while because when someone went off to find someone else, that person would get lost and then someone else would go off to look for that person, not realizing the first person came back. After 40 minutes of this, we had everyone and off we went.
Again, we hung out and talked about Graham and then passed out. Long day.
Day 6
After the night of the wedding, it was hard to get out of bed but I had promised Lizzie and Mike that I would meet them at 9 the next morning. I got ready and walked out the door. I had to take a friend across town first and as I did, I saw that there was a “Jerusalem hotel” across the street from a bus terminal. I kept this in mind because Mike had told me they were staying at this place. So as I came back, it was ten till 9, and I walked into the hotel asking where Lizzie and Mike were.
They weren’t there. Apparently they were at the “Jerusalem GATE hotel” which is near the NEW bus terminal on the other side of the city. Crap. So I got on the tram and took it to the other side. When I got there, I didn’t have a clue what my next move was so I just walked around. Unlike the old town, no one here knew any English. Asking around proved to be futile. But what else do you expect from the holy land than for divine intervention to come down upon me. Somehow, I ran right into the hotel. I found the room and visited Mike and Lizzie.
Mike’s experience of Israel had not been as good as mine. Not nearly. It was complain after complain, albeit funny. They wanted to leave to go back to Tel Aviv so I went back and had lunch with the wedding party. Shortly thereafter I got went back to the church and packed my stuff, to be stopped by Tim asking if we would help more furniture. We were on a schedule, but how do you say no to a guy like Tim who had gone way out of his way to help us out?
So, after helping him move, we then made it to where we were going to meet Eva and Gini, some forty minutes after we had agreed on. But, with good reason.
We took the one hour bus/taxi ride to Tel Aviv. We didn’t know where anyone was, so we went over to Eva’s friend’s house for the time being. Mike and Lizzie weren’t at the hostel, so I went with Rob, Gini, and Eva to the beach to meet the other guys.
Beaches at Tel Aviv are amazing. Though I ran into the same problem I did at the Sea of Galilea, it was still awesome. (By problem I mean going 30 meters into the water only to find myself up to my knees in water). Sweet. We were there for the sunset. It was a great way to cap off my week with my new friends.
Afterwards, we took showers and then everyone helped my take my stuff to the hostel where I was staying due to Mike and my flight out in the early morning.
After dropping off my things, I went out with them again walking by the water to a restaurant to have dinner. I had a burger after Kent convinced me it was the ride thing to do. He was right.
Walking back it was sad knowing that I had to say goodbye to this awesome group who I had become friends with. They all live in Vancouver, so there isn’t much chance that I will see them regularly. However, now remembering Israel, I will always remember this bunch and the amazing time we had there.
Day 7
After two hours of sleep in the hostel, Mike and I got up at 4am and got ready. We had our things packed and ready to go, so we just shoved everything into the taxi. At 4:30am, taxis in Tel Aviv are not cheap, especially to the airport. The taxi cost us 40 dollars for a thirty minute ride. I guess to most of you reading this in the States that is not much, however for someone who had to pay 6-7 dollars to go to the airport in Armenia, which was out of the city, 40 dollars is outrageous…
At the airport: this part is awesome.
So everyone knows that security at Ben Gurion Airport is one known for its security. Before you even get to the check-in counters, you are met by an Israeli lady who asks a million questions. Since Mike and I were traveling together, she was asking questions to find some discrepancies in what we were saying. She found none, but asked if we were partners, as in gay. I don’t know what business of hers it was but I wasn’t about to tell an authority figure in Israel that I was offended (I wasn’t anyway-whatever). After the Spanish Inquisition, our checked bags were X-rayed, then hand searched, the security officer swiping almost every piece of luggage in my bag for explosive residues. The man was super nice and I looked over to Mike and he and his security lady were going back and forth about Texas or something.
Then we waited for about an hour for the counter to open since we had gotten there during the suggested time, three hours before our flight, only to find we were the only shmucks to have done so… We got our tickets and headed toward security. Real security.
Depending on your “threat level” of when you went through the first screening, you are assigned a number 2-6. Two being nothing to worry about, six being – take off your clothes and hold onto your ankles. I very quickly went though. I didn’t even get my bags searched. It was super fast. I went through passport control with no problem and I was in the duty free area thinking of ways to spend my 20 shekel coins. After 40 minutes, Mike came through. He found me sitting in a chair around the center. Mike’s experience was not as great. Apparently, they found some kind of explosive residue somewhere on his bag, or passport or somewhere and made him check everything. He met me with only his passport in hand. Nothing else. They told him it would be a security threat.
Then he went from being a “2” to being a “6.” He was interrogated and asked to “undo” his clothing for them to check him out. He refers to the security guards as the “Tailors of Israel.” Needless to say, he was ready to leave Israel.
I was so tired, I passed on in the terminal, shoveled myself onto the plane to again just pass out for three of the 4.5 hours we were flying. As I mentioned in my last blog, during our 2 hour layover in Heathrow, I ate and tried to write as much as I could. Here am I now finished with Israel and in Paris France. I’m going to try and get those done soon.
Until next time…
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