Finally, an Israel post

So yeah, internet has been surprisingly elusive over the past little while, leaving me with no serious second entry for Israel as of yet. Well, until now anyways.

Cruising around the Holy Land with the family was unsurprisingly excellent. The trip had its definite high points. Haifa was a fun night getting to know the teens on the trip, Petra (in Jordan) was absolutely stunning, praying at the Western Wall (once during the week and once for Shabbat) was an earthshattering experience and hiking Masada was...well...sweaty. Jerusalem solidified its position as one of the greatest cities I´ve ever had the pleasure of staying in and Eilat solidified its position as a bad ripoff of Vegas. There was quality bonding time with the Mom and sisters, Chinese food, hookahs and enough falafel to kill a smallish sized bear. I made some friends among the younger folk in the audience and wound up enjoying Jerusalem visit number two with good company. Yad Vashem was a nice shift from the US Holocaust memorial´s brutality (which is not necessarily a criticism, just an observation), to a message of hope for the future.

An interesting sub-plot to the trip was the state of Reform Judaism in Israel. In the Holy Land (I love saying that) Reform Judaism seems more poised to try and create a sea change in the country, letting people see religion as something relevant to modern day. Congregations here seem to face constant harassment from Orthodox communities, discrimination in local politics (making it harder to get access to public land, recognized conversions and marriages, etc) and a vast community of secular Jews who aren´t necessarily begging to return to religion. In this light the Reform movement seems almost revolutionary, aiming to bridge the gap between secular and orthodox Israeli communities not only with regards to faith, but with regards to politics as well. My impression of the American Reform movement has always been that members often join more out of the desire to justify eating pepperoni pizza, than to link the past with the present. Needless to say, being in the presence of a community of true "reformers" was really nice.

Anyhow, since the trip I´ve split my time about evenly between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, enjoying the former far more than the latter. Jerusalem had a nice blend of faith and fun, whereas Tel Aviv is all clubs, bars, beaches and strip clubs. That´s not to say Tel Aviv is boring (no I did´t go to a strip club), but rather that it feels too seedy to be the centre of the Jewish state. In the end, a few more days in Jerusalem would have been a good call, but hey...hindsight is blah blah blah blah.

I´m off to the airport in 2 hours for a quick lunch stop in Ethiopia (I´m thinking Chinese food) before I return to Kenya en route to Zanzibar. Whew, 2.5 months left.

Before I head off, here´s some more Fanta for you.

Fanta Strawberry (UAE import)- Pure sugar. It tastes like a more natural version of Robitussin.

Exotic Fanta - I have no idea what´s in this, but it´s gross. Too much sugar, not enough distinguishable flavour.

Grapefruit-pineapple Fanta - Just amazing. The fruits play off each other surprisingly well, creating a sweet, yet crisp soda with just enough tart to create a flavour one could actually call "complex". A rare soda indeed.

That´s all for now. More Fanta to come I´m sure.

Cheers,

-Dave