The Old City
An Open Letter To My Mother (And Everyone Else's Parents) - aka What exactly we're doing spending 10 days in Israel and ignoring you the entire time.
Hi Mom (and everyone else's amazing parent's, family and friends reading this),
Yes. I'm still alive - and yes I'm still fine. I know you're worried - but I've just been very busy - with doing stuff. You know - stuff.
Stop worrying - I am in fact being social and making new friends. And yes - I'm having fun. I will show you all the pictures and tell you all about what we did when I get back; but luckily I had a few minutes to tide you over until then.
As you know - we landed in Israel (I honestly don't even know how many days ago, you kind of lose track of time when you're on the road and disconnected from the world - but after I checked:) 5 days ago and haven't stopped. We went right to the Kibbutz spent 3 days seeing the Golan Heights, learning about Shabbot, relaxing, meeting everyone and getting ready for our journey. By day 4 we were already in Tel Aviv learning about Israeli independence, how Tel Aviv was founded and why Jaffa is so interesting (if you don't know - take a moment, wikipedia it, or I can chat with you when I get back). But yes - Jonah's boat is still there.
Amazingly in Tel Aviv - we had a nice opportunity to sit and relax on the beach and enjoy a night there.
The first four days were great.
They almost didn't really even begin to prepare us for day five.
We woke up much like the other four day: early and groggy. My two roommates and I shuffled along trying to coordinate and make sure we all got our showers in before 7:30 so we could get breakfast before we headed off. And shuffled we did. While the rooms previously allowed for a nice amount of space, Tel Aviv was a little cramped. But it was nice to really get to know your roommates by cuddling up. Even so, Dan, Evya and I had a great night. That morning we each got in a nice shower to prepare for the day - and made sure to dress nice for where we were going.
Unlike the Kibbutz, which had a nice small breakfast, breakfast at the Tel Aviv wasn't as much as you would hope; it was good - there were eggs and toast and coffee - but I've had better. However, one interesting fact: there is no bad coffee. I know you are well aware of the fact that I'm absolutely addicted to coffee - and the instant (yes, I said instant) is worth moving here alone. That being said - every corner has a wonderful coffee maker - making fresh, hot espreso and doling out craftfully created iced coffee. The iced coffee is something the way of a Coffee Coollatta you'd get at Dunkin Donuts or a Frappaccinno you'd get at Starbucks, but a million times better; its like Shabbot in a cup [roughly translated as 1/60th of Heaven].
But even as the day started off and the itinerary was reviewed - there was just no way of understanding where we were headed and what paths our day would take. Someone tells you where you're going, you read it twenty times before you leave - you know exactly what day this is, Sally and John and Ronen all give you bite sized pieces of information about where you are going - still, you're not ready.
I was excited to start the day even before Sally read through the day:
1. Yitzhak Rabin Square
2. Jerusalem
3. Lunch in Jerusalem
4. The Old City
5. Hotel
6. Dinner
7. Group Activity
Simple enough, right?
Yitzhak Rabin Square is in the middle of Tel Aviv, therefore getting on and off a motorcoach bus can be a little tricky - but somehow - we made it work. With the bus pulling right up to the curb - we all leaped off the bus to see what the whole excursion was about. The square was wide enough but upon initial inspection you may have missed it with all the hustle and bustle within the center of the city; cars flying by on all sides of the square, coffee shops, yogurt and smoothie shops pandoring to passers-by - a typical Monday in Tel Aviv.
But there was more here: on one end a large metallic sculpture, the other an unobtrusively large government building. Lining the sides were small pools of water many local Israelis were coming to relax and read the paper or talk with a friend or simply walk their dog. For those not familiar, I'll fill you in on the information as relayed to me via Master Tour Guide Extrodenaire Ronen Gurievski:
Yitzhak was attempting the unthinkable when he was assisinated. Former Prime Minister Rabin was working to establish peace within the middle-east, a feat that no one thought could ever come to fruition, but with him they were on the doorstep.
On Saturday November 4th, 1995, Rabin had come to the square to address 11,000 Israelis with the hopes of peace. After he had finished his speech, Rabin took to the back stairs of the area to get into the waiting limo. As Rabin got to the bottom of the staircase - so did his assassin. His assassin was able to get arms length, about 3 feet from the Former Prime Minister without anyone touching him. He fired 3 shots in Rabin's back before being tackled to the ground.
After this event, the peace talks fell through, Israel was deflated, and since has not felt the same.
With this information, we took - quite literraly - to the streets. In small groups, armed with one of the Israelis who were lucky enough to come with us, we began talking to different people in the square. I had a chance to 5 different people about their thoughts on the tragedy. All were greatly effected by the situation, and echos of John F. Kennedy's assasination were present. The themes of being inadequet without Former Prime Minister Rabin to pass laws and get things accomplished were everywhere - everyone we talked to was hurt, outraged and still waiting for the times to change so they didn't have to keep waiting for the next shoe to drop in the conflict in the middle east.
In talking to all these people, we began to get a sense of how people lived in Israel, what some thoughts were in terms of the political aspects. For most, it was impossible to start talking about the tragedy without turning to policts. Without realizing, most would start by answering the question on the assassination itself - but then would turn the response they were giving us into displaying how it effected them individually as well as Israel today. It was amazing; we have five wonderfully honest conversations. One woman in particular, I could have spent talking with her about everything political in Israel. As we were talking, the moment she heard my name, Ricky, she laughed aloud, "Ah, Ricky Martin! Wonderful! I love 'La Vida Loca'!" We all chuckled, Its nice to bond over a joke most schoolmates have made over the years in the states thousands of miles away. We had our longest conversation with her, and had an opportunity to ask more than just questions about the assassination itself - I even had an opportunity to talk about her thoughts on how to move forward politically - to which she was happy to indulge us with her very intelligent opinions.
Before we walked away, she called me over and grabbed both my hands to ask when I'd be releasing my next album. I laughed and said I was currently in the studio. We talked another moment and before letting go and ending the wonderful yet truncated conversation - she looked me in the eye and simply left it, "Have a wonderful life my friend."
Where could you - and who would - ever say such a thing?
Packing back onto the bus, we headed to Jerusalem. We got to a nice area on the outskirts of town and went for lunch. Luckily, we had enough time to walk around a bit and find a nice place to eat. Five others and I found Kosher Cafe based on a recommendation from one of the Israeli's.
I certainly appreciated it. The six of us had a nice opportunity to eat something other than shwarma (which we all could probably eat every day) - they had just about everything else there: sandwiches, pizza, pasta, salads. Someone had pizza, others had sandwiches, I on the other hand had some pasta - or what I thought would just be pasta. It ended up being baked cannolli - and some places in the states don't make this even remotely as they did here. Add that to Coke in a glass bottle - and you've got one of the best lunches you'll ever eat.
From there we ventured forward to the Jewish Quarter.
I - like many others - didn't think it would effect me as much as it did.
You walk in and the first thing you approach is the building outside the city walls for King David's tomb. A statue sits across from the entrence to the tomb. You enter, greeted by those offering kepahs and prayer books - and immediately it is very clear you are not in the same religious stature by those who are around you. Being respectful, mindful and careful are the only things on your mind; you don't want to disrupt one person or a group praying at King David's tomb. LIke all religious prayer areas, women are split from the men to approach King David. You walk through a room and into what feels more like a library or classroom than a tomb. You snake around a short corridor, and for me - it was next to impossible to approach. There was a minion praying in front and a few more and getting close would require trying to squirrell your way through them - it was that small. I let them be and we continued.
The first thing you realize is that this isn't a defunct city that you just visit; this is a city, a real city, and in real cities you have numerous people living within the city walls. Resdents were driving out of the main gate and we all were just shocked at how a car could fit through doorways as small as they werte. We entered the city limits. We were greeted by small shops, selling trinkets, sodas, bottles of water, prayer pieces - various odds and ends. We walked forth and were given a small glimpse into the old city. There is so much there that we could only just begin to scratch the surface. But scratch we did. We continued along, winding our way through the pathways and small alleyways only to find ourselves looking out onto the western wall.
Before I go on - I know you guys have seen pictures of the western wall, the both of you may have known more than I did, but when you finally get there - its not exactly what you imagined.
The wall is about 6 stories high, and maybe a football field long on a good day. It the western wall of the temple - that is still there - Jews just can't access it - long story - we can talk about it when I get home. Its large, its impressive, but not as much as you think it would. But, there is it - the Western Wall. You walk up to it and still don't think its going to affect you. You see thousands of people huddled over the wall, praying, hoping and waiting for something to happen.
Approaching the wall, something changed. There was an odd electricity. I cannot put it successfully into words but imagine doing something for 26 years, that you didn't really think you would have a chance to do - and you finally get there. There's something to it.
Everyone came back from the wall close to or completely in tears. Most were shocked at their emotions; they weren't expecting the overwhelming response they had to the wall.
After the wall we rode to the hotel we were staying at in Jerusalem, took showers, had a nice dinner and settled in for the group activity.
The group activity was to get ready for Yad Vashem the next day - the Israeli Holocaust Museum.
We were able to go around and discuss certain aspects of the Holocaust and how it applies to us. Very quickly, we were starting to see that the subject matter was very close to everyone - that it was effecting everyone and resonating throughout the room.
At the end of the day - we were all drained, but the day had so much to it.
Mom [and all Moms, Dads, family and friends out there] I love you - we'll talk more when I get home - but I have to get back to actually doing things here
Ricky
