Israel’s 60th birthday

About 60 years ago, Israel was born. Happy birthday.

On Tuesday I mailed some books back to Australia and then caught a bus to Jerusalem. It’s quite an amazing and diverse city with lots to see. The old city is a maze of windy paths filled with shops & tourists. I stayed in the christian quarter, but it is only a short walk to any of the other three areas (muslim quarter, jewish quarter & armenian quarter).

After getting lost in the muslim quarter and playing street soccer for a while, I eventually found the dome of the rock (muslim) and the wailing wall (jewish). I put on one of the free paper kippas (mini jewish hats) and prayed at the wall for a while. Later I followed the path that Jesus supposedly took on his way to the cross (Via Dolorosa) and spent some time at his grave. Poor guy. I decided that Jesus should be in my pantheon of gods. It was all very interesting, though it would have been nice if my family (and religious friends) could have been here too as I think they really would have enjoyed it.

That evening I met up with a Mexican (Liz), Canadian (Alexia) & South African Israeli (Yossi) and we explored the Jewish and Armenian quarters… before sleeping on the roof of the hostel under the stars. It was cold, but the sunrise view in the morning made it worthwhile.

The next day (Wednesday 7 May) we were going to head to Tel Aviv for the independence day party… but in the afternoon I got an e-mail from a Jerusalem couchsurfing ambassador called Karen. She was hosting a CS party that night out at a kibbutz settlement in the west bank, near the dead sea… the “lowest couch in the world”. Couchsurfing. Kibbutz. West Bank. Dead Sea. Party. Perfect!

The party was great. Once again, couchsurfing people have proven to be interesting and good company… and we spent the night chatting, drinking, sparing, smoking hash, BBQing, playing guitar and walking around the desert. At one stage we were joined by a couple of guys will automatic weapons slung over their shoulders. Out of respect for my old CS habits I was drinking cheap goon, and I got totally wasted.

I feel asleep in the desert… and when the early morning sun got too hot I moved into the garden. Next morning (Thursday 8 May) about 20 of us drove down to the dead sea for some floating. Unfortunately, nobody told me that you’re not supposed to put your face under the water. Opps. It felt like somebody had put wasabi up my nose. But otherwise it was all good fun.

Until I sobered up, and finally got hit by the mother of all hangovers.

One of the partygoers (Noam) kindly offered his floor, and so I got a lift back to Jerusalem and am staying at his place now. After a few hours sleep, a shower, falafel and much water… I finally started to feel human again.