How much Israel in One day?

January was a very busy month for me - started well with strong resolutions not to feed my face like a starving creature every time I see food. Which I succesfully acheived for two whole weeks - Yay! Then I started a new job in the second week of the year and before I could absorb my new surroundings, I was off to Isreal for a business trip. How did I feel about going to Isreal? Well, I was really excited to see a new country but because it was Isreal, I did wonder if I would come back at all - what with all the suicide bombers routinely blowing themselves up trying to kill as many civillians as they can. I certainly did not want to be part of the collateral damage for terrorism and decided that I would not go site-seeing and such.

We spent most days cooped up in a conference room from 9am to 7pm and after that I was so tired that there was no desire to go out and my fears were laid to rest - offices are the same all over the world - cubicles and conference rooms. Hard to even think about suicide bombers in thta kind of environment.However, on the second day, at a Swarma stand at Tel Aviv - a misguided suicide bomber blew himself up while our business' director's wife was out site- seeing at Tel- Aviv - fortunately, she did not have a taste for Swarma.I read about it the next morning in the two newspapers the hotel supplied "The Jerusalem times" and another publication whose name I have already forgotten.

The Hotel Dan Arcadia at Herzillia was nice although the room was pretty small for $270 a night - but had a wonderful view of the Mediterranian Sea. The breakfast was very interesting as the hotel is kosher so there was no meat, none of your sausages & bacon ( G-d forbid ;-) )- so they had smoked fish, different kinds of cheese, dolmas,olives,yogurt and a wide array of salads & fruits and an omelette stand. No meat at all but you would not miss it. Very interesting spread.

Overall, the food in Isreal was very good and the irony of this is I can go and eat the same type of food at a Bay Area Palestinian restuarant.It is exactly the same - which is not surprising as food is an outcome of the region. The wait staff at the restaurants are all young, good looking and at least bilingual, they greet you in Hebrew first and when they see that complete look of incomprehension on your face, quickly switch into faultless English. We went to a steakhouse and were offered choice cuts of meat from south America, Australia and Israel - to name a few.We also tried Israeli wines - which turned out really good and I am pissed that I have completely forgotten the name of the label. It might have been "Golan/Golan Heights" but I am not sure at all.That's what happens when you don't keep a journal - memory is so trecherous and flighty as time goes by. Gotta gotta write things down as they happen- otherwise all I have left would be a memory that the visit was great and nothing to back it up with. Overall, I thought people were slim and very good looking in Israel but I have to admit here that these observations are based on the peopel I saw at the company we visited and the cleintele at the restaurants we visted. And I did not see one overweight person.

After sitting in a conference room for three days straight, we got one day to do some site seeing and were taken for a tour of the Dead Sea, Masada and visited a bedouin camp. It was an illuminating trip - first of all, we were told that tourist busses are not targeted- I am not sure if this is true or it was said for our benefit but I took it as a fact and settled down on my seat to enjoy the trip.

We drove through Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and many villages. But the land sure is different - Israelis have turned swamps and desert into a beautiful self sufficient agriculturally viable land with modern streamline apartments dotting the neighborhoods. Tel Aviv has a section of Highrises that is in a separate group of very tall highrises and is locally called "Mini Manhattan" according to our cab driver.You can see that Israeli love their land, they have planted tress even on the hills that look like rock and cannot support any living thing. It was so heartening to see the tress - methodically planted year after year on the hills that were barren for years - the proof growing with different truck sizes bravely standing in varying heights and thickness on hillsides that are not quite populated yet. Acres of hill sides with saplings protected by biodegradable sleeves to populate the bare hills. I could see hope and determination in those sights and I was moved and impressed by this tiny country of six million people. I have tremendous respect for what they have acheived - considering that that are beseiged by problems on all sides every day, yet they take so much pride to make their country so strong economically and in self sufficiency. They have literally turned swamps and desert into a land that now produces food for themseves and enough for export. Before cheap Chinese and Mexican oranges - it was the famous Jaffa Oranges that went out into the world. The amazing thing is there is only one source of fresh water - the sea of Galilee.

We saw the road leading to Ramallah and some Arab villages which stand out as their homes are all the same old prehistoric looking light yellow boxy structure - two-three stories high with tiny windows.The Arab villagers look just like you see on TV whenever they show Palestinians - poor and quite undeveloped and nary a tree around. We did not go into the palestinain side but based on the view from the bus the contrast is very sharp and the Arab villages look very sad and pathetic. There is such a sense of hopelessness in the picture and I hope that view would change soon - they have a new country and I hope they would concentrate on building their country and their infrastructure to enter the new millinium so that one day tourist scan drive through through the highway and not be able able to spot the Palestinian side just because of their improverished look.

The Judea hills are spectacular - sand colored hills that look bare but must have something growing on them because you see shephards herding sheep. We were going toward the Dead sea and driving on the same road that Jesus took to go up to Jerusalem to die. Our guide pointed out the mount of Olives, Gethsemane, where Jesus wept and prayed before he was betrayed by Judas. I wished we had time to see Jerusalem but we did not.

The dead sea is a brilliant green and blue - probably because the land and hills all around it are all the color of sand so the green & blue is so strongly pure as it does not have to compete with green forests lands. The water in mid January is probably in the seventies so it does take a few minutes to get used to but once you are acclimatize, it is wonderful as long as you make sure you do not ingest. The water feels a little oily compared to normal water but very little - it is the taste that is vile and if you had the unfortunate experience of getting some in your eye, it burns like hell and you have to wash is right off. Yes, I can attest that you really do float in the water. It is better not to lie flat becasue the waves will dump water in your eye so lie flat and raise your head so that the waves cannot get into your eye. Float around - locals told us it is very therapeutic and cures skin ailments like psoraisis and other ills.
There is something to be said about the dead sea water - after floating about for 30 minutes or so I got out and my body felt like it went through a very calming light massage. I felt warmer than usual and it sure felt good.

The Masada - Herod's lavish and elaborate winter palace which he never used became the home of the Jewish zealots who kept the great Roman Emire at bay until they stormed it 3 years after Jerusalem fell to the Romas( 70bc ).Masad aalready housed Rebels and more joined them after the fall of Jerusalem and the remaining zealots on the Masada, became the last rebel stronghold of Judea. In 73 or 74 BC, the romans laid seige to the Masada and stormed the stronghold after a few months to find Zero survivors. The rebels slained themselves, women and children included, and thereby showed the world that they prefer death in freedom to slavery. It is an amazing statement - to this day, modern Israeli army trainees take their oath on the Masada and Vow that Israel or Judea will not fall to outside rulers ever again.
Masada is historically important - it took centuries for the Jewish peopl to return to Judea since then. Acheaogically, the excavation showed the brilliance of the civil enginneer of the a time. The water system, the architecture and the decorative features are fascinating topics but too many and varied to be covered here but it is a must read/visit.

On the way back, we visited a bedouin camp and got a brief history on their nomadic lifestyle. In Israel, the bedouins are encouraged to settle and stop wandering across borders so many of them have settled and even joined the army and became trackers.It would, however, take a few generations to fully assimilate them into mainstream society. We were then taken on a short ride on a camel - it was like riding a horse - just taller & slower as the camel just walked.

I recommend it highly and would love to visit Israel as a tourist. This one day tour is just a tiny glimpse into the ancient world of religion & history and I want to see it all. It is definitely on my list to visit.