Israel

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to go to Israel! To briefly sum it up: it was AWESOME. But you can see that from my Facebook pictures. Here's the story:

As previously mentioned, Lena invited Stephanie and I to go with her, Fawaz, and her friend Munir to Jerusalem with her. We decided to take her up on the offer.

The story begins on Thursday night. Stephanie and I packed our weekend bags and took a cab to Lena and Fawaz's apartment. There, we met Lena and went out for dinner and drinks (it was apparently a loooooooooooooooooong day at the American Embassy). We then went to the party at the Marine House. I was very excited to go to the Marine House party since I had a great time there on the 4th of July even though there weren't many people there. The Marines are known to throw a real kickin' party, and this one was going to be huge since it was the last weekend before Ramadan. Unfortunately, some of the guests were a little on the immature side. Lesson #1 in my life as a real adult that some people just never grow up. But it's okay- I had a great time socializing with Stephanie, Lena, Munir, and some other people.

We went back to Lena's apartment once the party was over (12am- Embassy standards) and played pool with Fawaz. We then showered and went to bed. (The shower was awesome because there was water pressure! Aka- it didn't take me 15 minutes to rinse shampoo out of my hair! Yayyy!!!)

We slept in until about 11 the next morning. The plan was to get to the border right before it closed at 2:30. The reason? The Israeli police have a hobby of holding people at the border for hours for no apparent reason. Nobody wants to stay much later past their shift, so if we got there right before, we wouldn't experience many troubles.

Fawaz decided that it would be better if he didn't go to Israel with us simply because of his Syrian nationality- he didn't want us to have ANY problems. So, it was just Stephanie, Lena, Munir, and me who went. We left the apartment later than expected, so we had to race to the border (about 45 minutes from Amman). Lena drove like a real Jordanian! I'm so proud of her.

We were late, but we made it across. Going through customs was slightly annoying, but bearable. The Israeli security is really intense! (Understandable, though.) For example, Munir had to fill out separate papers about his family, but the three of us did not. Also, we had to get our bags scanned as if we were going through airport security. Ok, no biggie, but it was shocking afterward to see them scanning TRASH! It was crazy.

I think the whole process only took about 2 hours. We were also the last people to cross over the border that day. I think we got lucky because 2 of us were diplomats. If it was just Stephanie and me, I imagine we'd've probably been denied entry that day.

Our first stop was Jerusalem. We went to the Mt. of Olives first to have a view of the city.

The Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock is controversial because it is a mosque built on the Temple mount. The Muslims believe that this is where the Prophet Muhammed ascended into heaven accompanied by Gabriel. At one point in time, Muslims had to pray facing the Dome of the Rock. Nowadays, they face Mecca. However, the Jews still believe that this is the holiest place on earth. Needless to say, this site will probably always remain controversial.

We left the Mt. of Olives to get into the Old City. Our first stop was the Western Wall. This is the original wall that surrounded the Temple mount. It is a very holy place in Judaism, and many come here to pray. I decided to go say a prayer against the wall, too. After all, Judaism is the foundation of Christianity. 

I didn't feel like just saying a prayer was enough. So, like many before me, I decided to write another prayer on a piece of paper and stick it inside the wall. It was a very simple one, but meaningful.

I wouldn't necessarily say that touching and leaving a prayer in the Western Wall was on my bucket list, simply because I never really sat and thought about it, but I'm glad I did it, especially because it is a dream of so many people. Had I have put a lot of thought into it before, I'm sure it would've been on my bucket list. (I really need to write one out.) So many Jewish women were there crying and reading religious scripture. It was another very spiritual experience.

We then ventured to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is a church that was built on Calvary Hill. It contains the Stone of Anointing, where Jesus's body was prepared for burial by Joseph of Arimathea, as well as Jesus's tomb.

Christ's tomb

I figured that the Stone of Anointing would be blocked off, like a museum piece, but it was out in the open for people to touch and kiss. So, I decided to touch and kiss it, too!

It was not a requirement for women to cover their heads inside the church, but I decided to. I mean, land doesn't get much holier than this.

Again, this was not on my bucket list, but truth be told, I didn't know the Stone of Anointing existed. The Blarney Stone is next on my list of things to kiss, and that HAS been on my list for a very long time. And maybe one day I'll lick the Liberty Bell like Barney and Ted did in "How I Met Your Mother" hahaha.

We left Jerusalem for Tel Aviv around the beginning of Shabbat. We arrived in Tel Aviv about an hour later and checked into a hotel called the "Lusky Suites Hotel". What a sketchy name. 

We all got ready and then got seafood. I had the BEST calamari in my whole life. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. It was a really late dinner and afterward, we went to a bar just up the beach for a few beverages. At the bar, we had very deep, meaningful conversations. And then I went swimming at 2:00 am....

We took a cab back to the hotel around 3ish, went to bed at 4, and then got up at 8 to get breakfast and go to the beach.

Tel Aviv is right along the Mediterranean. That being said, it was really hot outside.

Since it was Shabbat, we figured that everything would be closed and that we'd have to rely on McDonald's. Actually, the McDonald's was closed, but the rest of the cafés were open. Bizarre. We ate a really delicious meal and then headed to the beach. 

We didn't have a lot of time to spend at the beach since we needed to get back to Jordan before the border closed again. So we went swimming. The water was really warm and clear! It was beautiful! Unfortunately, jellyfish in the Mediterranean thoroughly enjoy reproducing around this time of year, so we got stung a lot. Ouch! Once we could no longer tolerate the stinging, Stephanie and I headed back to the hotel to pack up and check out.

Getting back into Jordan was a breeze. I went to bed at 8pm that night.

In conclusion, Israel is an awesome place! I would definitely go back, and I recommend it to others! It isn't nearly as violent/dangerous as the media makes it out to. I felt safe the entire time! (And it was nice to go a full 24 hours without getting harassed!)