Travels with Keven - Israel

My brother Keven took a week off of work to visit us in Israel. It was great! I was so excited when we picked him up at the train station on an early February morning. During the car ride to the apartment, we heard about his layover in London. His Houston-to-London flight arrived late so he missed his London-to-Tel Aviv connection. No worries though, the airline put him up in a fancy hotel. Rather than catching some shut-eye, though, Kev decided to walk the streets of London. While recalling his walk to us, he said, “Man, London really is an international city. I saw people from India, Pakistan, Turkey, Nigeria... I even saw a couple British people too!”

Keven's arrival at the Haifa train station

After we arrived at the apartment and showed Kev his room, we went out for a walk.

Keven and Sheer walking at the souk (market)

A couple Israeli ladies sheltered Sheer from the rain

while crossing the street

We stopped at a couple cafes, had drinks and caught up.

Sheer at a cafe

Brothers at a cafe

It was all good fun until we could see Keven starting to slip away in the middle of conversation. You could see the jet lag seducing his attention, drawing him away, leading him to sweet, good, warm, sleepy comfort. The distinct forms of words melted like butter, they began to sound distant and muddled. They kind of felt like soft cushions. “I don’t know what my brother just said,” may have crept into Keven's thoughts at moments when his consciousness lost ground. Then maybe there were a few more alarms of consciousness fading, falling down the abyss, ever so smoothly “what are we talking about? talking about.” He began to see me less and less, as his eyelids gave way more and more to the weight. “Hey, Kev. Kev! You need a nap.” we said to him. Like earthquakes, it was not a question of “if” but “when.” The answer was ASAP. So Kev took a 90 minute nap, then woke up for the pizza party that was covered in the previous blog entry.

The next day we left for a hike in the Golan Heights. Even though it was wet and rainy, it was a good hike.

Hiking in the Golan

Sheer and Abba

Three Texans hiking in Israel

Neat-looking rock formations

Coffee and snack time

Sheer and Emma

After the hike, we treated ourselves to sweets and lounging at a chocolate cafe in Rosh Pina (aka the chillaxin place). Rosh Pina, founded in 1882, is one of the oldest Zionist settlements. Today the town boasts art galleries, cafes, restaurants and guesthouses.

Rosh Pina

Chillax central

Cake

Chocolates

The next morning, we caught a bus to Jerusalem.

Passed out on the bus ride to Jerusalem

When we arrived, we checked in at our hotel then set off on a walk.

Independence Park, Jerusalem

Keven walking in an alley Alley cat

The most beautiful YMCA in the world

Three house cocktails at the King David Hotel

Cheers to life!

Big news arrived later that evening and Keven was its messenger. At dinner Keven announced to us that his girlfriend of six years was pregnant! Yep, a boy or girl will be born in July of 2011 son or daughter to Keven and Christina. We said “Cheers!” ("L'Chaim!") to new life and good fathers.

Congratulations dad!

It was a big night, I’ll remember it always, and it all happened just around the corner from where the First Temple was built (3,000 years ago), Jesus was crucified (2,000 years ago) and, according to Islamic belief, the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven and talked with God about how many times to pray per day (1,400 years ago). The next morning we set out for a day of exploring the Old City.

Kev on our way to the Old City

The Old City

The Western Wall

Israeli soldiers

Kev-dog

The stone slab upon which, according to Christian belief,

Jesus' body was prepared for burial (inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre)

This structure that, according to Christian belief, contains Jesus' tomb

Mount of Olives

A view of Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives

After a couple full days of Jerusalem, we rented a car and headed to the Dead Sea. We took the quickest route which happens to go through the West Bank. Now this may sound shocking to some of you but don’t worry it’s the same route that tour buses take (filled with Christian groups from Alabama). We even stopped at a rest stop for lunch.

Rest stop in the West Bank

Lunch

We arrived at the Dead Sea and went straight for the water. Here’s a brief fact refresher regarding the Dead Sea: it’s the lowest elevation on the earth’s surface (1,400 ft below sea level), it’s one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world (about nine times saltier than the ocean), no fish or plants live in the sea, and it borders Jordan, the West Bank and Israel.

The Dead Sea

I was the first to go in, followed by Keven, then Sheer. I went in with my Tevas (sandal-shoes) because the salt encrusted rocks on the seabed are very hard and sharp. When I got about mid-thigh deep, I slowly sat in the water, laid back and stretched out my legs. The buoyancy carried me high on the water while I paddled out away from the shore (careful not to splash too much). As I laid back floating effortlessly, I found the cool temperature of the water to be perfectly balanced with the heat of the sun. I carefully leaned my head back in effort to wet my hair but keep the salty water away from my face. I smiled and looked back to the shore excited to witness Keven’s first experience swimming in the Dead Sea. He already had his feet in the water and was making his way toward me. I could see Sheer just behind him still on shore preparing for her swim. Keven was barefoot so it took him a little longer to get to mid-thigh deep water but he got there. Now, days before we arrived, I told him not to shave, clip cuticles, pop pimples or pick any scabs at least a day before entering the Dead Sea because the water will make any parted flesh sting like a mo-fo. What I forgot to advise against, however, was diving in headfirst! Yep, just 10 feet in front of me, he plunged headfirst into the Dead Sea. I gasped! When his body was completely out of sight (submerged under the water) I looked up and matched Sheer’s wide eyes and gaping mouth with my own. At this moment, I felt a drop of water from my hair touch the very edge of my eyelid. It stung like H! I couldn’t keep my eye open. It hurt too much. Through one eye, I saw Keven emerge with his body, hair and face saturated and glistening with Dead Sea water. Sheer quickly gathered freshwater and a towel while I started paddling back to shore. With my teeth clenched and lips stretched apart in anticipation, I watched him open his eyes. He was, floating, waiting, assessing and blinking. Then, all of a sudden, the results were in. “Get to shore now!” was his body and mind's only command. He rushed through the Dead Sea water while Sheer yelled from shore, “Come to me! Come to water!” I passed Sheer, took care of my eye with another towel and looked back (with both eyes now) to see Keven flushing his eyes with freshwater. Then it was over. wheww!!! It must have been very painful for Keven. We sat down, caught our breath and reflected.

Getting in the Dead Sea

Keven emerging from the Dead Sea water after plunging in

The salt starting to sting

Then it started to get kinda funny. We laughed in relief and soon found our way back in the Dead Sea floating and swimming but much more carefully this time.

Enjoying the Dead Sea

That night we stayed at a hostel at the foot of Masada.

Sipping coffee at the Masada Guesthouse

Masada is a fortress/palace/refuge/beach house that overlooks the Dead Sea towering over 1,000 ft above. It was built by the Romans for King Herod about 30 years before the birth of Jesus. About 70 years after Jesus’s birth (during the First Jewish-Roman Revolt), a group of Jewish extremists took control. A few years later, though, the Roman Army returned and laid siege to Masada. After the siege was months old, the siege-ers and siege-ed saw the end near: in less than a day, the Romans would succeed. The Jewish inhabitants of Masada, soon to be slaves, raped, humiliated, tortured and/or killed, committed a mass suicide. When the Romans charged into the fort, their weapons ready and held high, their ears awaiting a counterattack to break the silence, they found no fight. There were over 900 dead. Only a few women and children were left behind to tell the tale. So fast-forward about 2,000 years and you’ll find people like us waking up early in the morning to make the 45 minute hike up Masada just in time to see the sun rise over the Dead Sea and beyond the mountains of Jordan.

Beginning our hike up Masada in the early morning

Masada

The sun rising beyond the mountains of Jordan

and over the Dead Sea from Masada

King Herod's penthouse

We left the Dead Sea for the last stop of Keven’s visit, Tel Aviv. Before Tel Aviv, though, we drove back north to Kibbutz Ein Dor for Sheer’s grandmother’s 87th birthday party with the whole family. On our way to the kibbutz that afternoon, we stopped for lunch in Caesarea. Caesarea was a Roman port town that was later rebuilt by the Crusaders. Today it's a beautiful place to have lunch and walk the beach.

Cat at Caesarea

Roman aqueduct in Caesarea

Then we arrived at the kibbutz for Sheer's grandma's birthday. Before we had cake and did the birthday thing, though, we took Keven on a tour of the Kibbutz. He was very interested and asked very good questions.

Sheer's grandma's birthday

Sheer and Savta

After the birthday party, we arrived in Tel Aviv late but not too late. We checked in at our hostel and went out for beers. The next day we walked around Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv

beer break

The port in Yafo

We wandered into this art gallery

Another beer break

We had dinner at this really good Arabic restaurant in Yafo

We almost called it a night but decided to go out in search of something. We found it! After a disorderly sequence of decisions and directions we ended up at a dodgy looking bar door. I went in to scout it out and returned to the street to tell Kev and Sheer that it made the grade. It was a dive with a small music stage. We had a few beers and chatted until the performances started. The first one was good but the second one was awesome. The second performance was a band behind a girl and a keyboard. She sang in Hebrew and had the whole bar wrapped around her finger. There were many music nerds drooling over her.

Great show on Kev's last night in Israel

The show was a great way to end Keven’s trip to Israel.