Thursday, November 17th after a day at home

The last flight from JFK to Fort Myers was an easy one.  Less than 2 1/2 hours, no customs, no immigration, no currency to change, most everyone spoke English and I slept most of the way, even missing the free snacks and beverages on Jet Blue.  Here's a photo of me taken yesterday at the airport in Fort Myers, similar to the one taken on October 15th when this blog began.

I might look a little worse for wear.  A bit tired, somewhat in need of time to process the experiences, and happy to be home, if only until next Monday.

Regarding travel, Phyllis and I have enjoyed writing this blog and we will look back on it periodically as we have the last year's blog.  I recommend you learn it before your next nice journey.  It's easy to learn, at least the Google blog system was, and I found it enjoyable reviewing the day of traveling abroad for friends and family.  

This was almost certainly my last visit to Ukraine and Moldova, and hopefully, my second of many visits to Israel.  I seem to be understanding more and more of the importance of Israel to me and to so many other Jews living in the Diaspora.  I know that even before my first visit to Israel last year that if there were no Israel as a safe haven for all Jews, life would not seem so comfortable for me as it does.  I expect, as many Sar-El volunteers do, to volunteer again and again to do my small part in maintaining the continued existence of the State of Israel.

Some tips about traveling and blogging not in any order of importance.

1.  As soon as possible after taking pictures (we all take three of the same picture), delete the one's you won't want in your blog.

2.  Write every evening so as to avoid it becoming a burden of information that's piling up in your head.

3.  To pack efficiently I used the vacuum bags from Dollar Tree stores.  They work well to compress clothes and somehow they don't come out too wrinkled.

4.  To avoid getting sick from breathing the same air as all those other people on  the plane, I had with me the following items:

a.  Antibacterial wipes to wipe down the seat, armrests, tray table and back of the seat in front of you.

b.  Triple antibiotic ointment (from the dollar store, not Neosporin because it contains some inhibiting ingredient).  I learned this one from my doctor.  Before board or when you take your seat, wipe some of this stuff inside your nostrils.  My doctor swears that it will catch a lot of airborne bad stuff before it gets into your respiratory system.

c.  Ear plugs if you hope to get some rest on planes and trains and buses.

d.  Dust masks, the ones that are virus proof if you are feeling susceptible to illness more than usual.

e.  Pre-dose with zinc, vitamin C, Airborne, or other concoctions to strengthen your immune system.

f.  Wipe down all surfaces you may come in contact with in hotel rooms including the phone and the TV remote.

g.  Apply for Global Entry.  It costs $100 for five years.  PreCheck cost $85 for five years but only helps on domestic flights.  Global Entry makes re-entry to America so easy you won't believe it.  It's well worth the time it takes to apply.

That's all  I can come up with for now.  I want to thank you all for following along and for your comments.  it's been a pleasure writing this blog.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels,

Vic

Wednesday, November 16th, Back in the USA

My connecting flight in Frankfort didn't leave me any time to blog.  The German security personell also didn't like the way my excessive number of refrigerator magnets looked on their fancy equipment.  Also, they had the more powerful x-ray machines instead of the metal detectors.  I opted out as I have always done and recommend you to do also, and I was "hand inspected", putting it mildly by a German guy who was all business and his method of checking me for dangerous devises on my person I would not recommend to anyone.

By the time I got to the gate for the flight to JFK they were beginning to board.  The aisle seat that I felt lucky to get was in row 45.  There were 46 rows total.  By the time I got to my seat I thought I had walked across the Atlantic.

The flight was as good as more than 8 hours in the air can be.  The Lufthansa food was okay and the free wine was nice and the cognac after dinner was even better.  I watched some forgettable movies and old TV shows and arrived at about 830pm Eastern time.

I recommend anyone traveling abroad apply for Global Entry from the TSA.  It allows you to bypass the long lines at Customs and Immigration and go to a kiosk, have your passport  and fingerprints scanned, and answer a few questions on screen.  You're through in two minutes and for me the wait was for my checked bag.  Once I got it I caught the air train to the shuttle stop and I called the hotel for the shuttle to pick me up.  The driver was a friendly guy with a West Indian accent.  Upon inquiry I learned that he grew up in St. Thomas and he was thrilled that I had lived in St. Croix.  He regaled me with the inside scoop on Virgin Islands politics to this day.  I got my room which is okay and got some sleep but woke up before 5 with plenty of time to make my 930am flight to Fort Myers.  I'll enjoy the complimentary breakfast that is included in this $125/night room in the Bronx and catch the shuttle at 730am.  The thought of unpacking and packing again to visit Phyllis in California for Thanksgiving isn't too appealing, but two weeks in Northern California should be adequate time to decompress and appreciate this month long trip.  I'll say goodbye from New York for now thank you for reading the blog.

I plan to write more about travel tips and what I've learned about blogging when I get home.  I haven't said it before and its time to say it feels good to know that friends and family have followed me and Phyllis through New York, Ukraine, and Moldova, and have followed me on my Israeli adventures.  I thank you all for your interest.

Tuesday November 15th...the wait continues

I guess my last entry flowed into this morning.  The Lufthansa counter opened and I was lucky and got an aisle seat for the flight from Frankfort (I mistakenly thought I was going to Munich....an you tell how exhausted and jet lagged I am?).  I got through security after a thorough examination and unpacking of my carry on bag which set off alarms due to the excessive number of souvenir refrigerator magnets contained therein.  They unceremoniously unpacked my bag which also contained underwear and socks (in the event that my checked bag travels to somewhere other than New York).  They didn't attempt to repack it and left me to figure out just how I had originally packed it.  I ate a terrible airport sandwich which I never do because I always carry something better, but not this time.  Hopefully, the transatlantic fligh
t will have something to eat.  I have some items in my hand luggage which I'll avoid eating and describing  because they're going to Thanksgiving at my Sister's next week.  I'm rambling and the charging stations at this airport are all being hogged.  I'll write again from New York tonight.  Here's the view out the Kiev airport window.

It's quite cold outside but I shouldn't have to be outside until I get to JFK.  It will feel good to return to America, regardless of how crazy things are....

Sunday night Nov. 13 through Monday Nov 14th.

THIS ENTRY IS BEING WRITTEN ON TUESDAY MORNING AT THE AIRPORT IN KIEV UKRAINE WAITING FOR THE SECOND OF MY THREE FLIGHTS TODAY TO GET BACK TO NEW YORK

On Sunday evening my Cousin Ephriam came to my hotel and we walked to a Mexican restaurant in the area.  The food was great but the waiters and waitresses spoke no Spanish at all, only Hebrew and some English.  We said goodbye and I told him that I will probably be back next year as a Sar-El volunteer.

On Monday, the first of my flight to Kiev and then Lviv Ukraine was scheduled to leave at 2 pm.  In Israel you have to get to the airport 3 hours before your flight due to the enhanced security screeneings for you and your luggage.  I checked out of the Abraham Hostel/Hotel and caught a taxi.  By the way, for anyone traveling to Tel Aviv on a budget, the Abraham Hotel private rooms are excellent.  Perfectly clean, free breakfast, and about $75 per night and they give a 10% discount for Sar El volunteers.

My flight was late leaving and I worried that I would miss my connection in Kiev but all went well and our Ukranian guide Alex was waiting for me at the airport when I arrived at 930pm very tired and cold (it had snowed a lot in Ukraine and the temperature was about 25 degrees Fahrenheit).  

Roads were icy and Ukranian drivers were even more adventuresome.  I stayed over at Alex' and met his wife and two children.  They live in an old building that looks like its out a a spy movie in Russia.  The inside is different.  They joined two apartments together and modernized it completely.  Chicken soup, mutton and chicken awaited me.  The food and company was great and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.  5am came too quikly and Alex made some breakfast and we were in his car back to the airport by 530am.  My flight from Lviv to Kiev was on time at 7am and I slept soundly for the one hour ride.  Now I have 6 hours to pass.  The lufthansa counter doesn't open until 11am and I don't have a seat reserved yet on the Munich to New York flight.  It'll be a much longer flight if I can't get a window seat.  There was some explanation regarding "code sharing" as to why I couldn't reserve a seat in advance.  So, I wait and wait and wait....

Saturday, November 12th to Sunday November 13th

After being up too late Friday night with my Cousins, they agreed to pick me up at the later time of 930am for a trip to Caesarea, about 70 miles to the North.  Because Israel is a small country and, for many reasons including your own personal safety, you can't drive across any borders into Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, or Jordan, a 70 mile drive is considered to be real road trip.  Even though it was Shabbot in Tel Aviv, many less observant Jews go on such excursions so the highways were pretty crowded.  Caesarea was a complete surprise to me.  I hadn't heard of it at all.  Caesarea is an Israeli National Park containing ruins from as far back as 500 BC.  I'll present pictures instead of lecturing and putting you to sleep.  Anyone who wishes to see the brochure can stay after class:   

We spent more than two hours walking among these amazing ruins which included deluxe accomodations and a seaside pool for King Herod.  From Caesarea we drove to the town of   Zhiron Y'acov, a quaint small town established by Baron Rothschild, complete with it's own vinyard.  We had a bite to eat and headed home.  I slept comfortably most of the way.

Sunday, November 13th

I awoke, still with a bit of a cold sapping my chi, but determined to make something of my last day in Tel Aviv.  With my trusty map (provided by the Abraham Hostel/Hotel, basically a very well run hostel with a bunch of private rooms with baths) I headed for Jaffa, a small old city adjoining Tel Aviv.  On the way to Jaffa, as I walked the streets of Tel Aviv, I continued my charitable donating to the poor.  Pictured below are a Russian woman who tries to make a living as a street entertainer.  The next person, Richard, is a disabled Israeli Elite Force soldier who was injured in Iran in 1979 in a failed attempt to capture a scientist in Iran just after the Iranian revolution.  While looking like many other down and out people on the street, Richard was very smart, knowledgeable in world affairs and involved in civic matters in Tel Aviv.  I am better for meeting him.

 Jaffa has ruins of an old walled city, a famous clock tower, park area and narrow streets with shops and a flea market. Jaffa has a beautiful beach on the Mediterranean as shown below. 

 

Tomorrow I say goodbye to Israel until the next time....

WHILE I LEAVE MONDAY AFTERNOON FOR HOME, I WON'T GET HOME UNTIL WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.  I MAY STILL BE BLOGGING AND I EXPECT TO RECEIVE SOME MORE PICTURES FROM MY SAR-EL MATES WHICH WILL CAUSE MORE WRITING, SO PLEASE KEEP ON CHECKING UNTIL I LET YOU KNOW THAT THE BLOG IS FINISHED.

Sunday November 6th to Friday November 11th

I had arranged with Debbie Sher, my Sar-El mate from Australia to be at her hostel at 630 am so we would have plenty of time to get from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv to catch the chartered bus back to our base in the South of Israel.  I was up very early and went to her hostel at 545 am and figured I would use the wifi until she appeared in the lobby.  She was already there and we took a lite rail trip a few stops to the central bus station and then we got in line for tickets for the Tel Aviv bus.  Even at 615 am it was getting very busy with soldiers traveling back to their bases after having the weekend off as most do.  We were on a bus at 630 am and were in Tel Aviv at 730 am with lots of time to spare.  We met up with our Sar-El mates and took the long (by Israeli standards) ride to the base.  It was less than 3 hours.

The above picture is of our barracks from the assembly yard (which look a bit better at a distance).  We occupied the upper floor and male soldiers ocuppied the lower.  We unpacked and had lunch and did not have to work in the afternoon so we swapped stories of our weekend adventures.  My experience at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene topped them all.  

The work from Monday through lunch on Wednesday consisted of two and a half days of "working with tanks" (which I thought would be seeing the mechanical side of these 80 ton monsters).  For me and three other volunteers it consisted of checking the covers on countless tanks for open areas.  The Israeli Defense Force stores lots of tanks and armored personell carriers in the desert.  Each is contained in a giant zip-lock like bag.  The bag has two halves.  They drive the tank onto the bottom half.  The seal is about three feet above the ground and the fit the top have of the "bag" on the tank and then close the seal.  There are ports for electric cords for a battery charger and a dehumidifier and a drain for a dehumidifier.  That was the easy work.  The hard work was dragging obsolete covers out of the parking spaces so they could bring in a new tank.  The covers weight at least 400 pounds for each half and they're very thick and ultra violet proof.  Thankfully I brought my back brace and avoided serious injury.  We dragged and folded a lot of these covers in the dusty desert 90 degree heat.  It was doing work like this that made me glad I went to college.

While the work was hot, dusty, and exhausting we didn't lose sight of the fact that young Israelis are drafted for three years to do this same work.

On Wednesday I caught a cold and begged off "tank work" for the afternoon.  I was assigned to "Intelligence" which sounded cleaner and much less strenuous.  Me and two of my Sar-El mates, Sidney Conn who I described earlier, and Eric Goldberg who is an indescribable New Yorker and a Sar-El representative for his area.  Eric is a perpetual prankster and I will be making prank phone calls to him on a regular basis for the forseeable future.  Our "Intelligence" assignment consisted of the three of us being supervised by two very nice female soldiers.  One spoke English and the other none.  I used the opportunity to parrot back the Hebrew phrases I learned from my CD course.  "Where is the Hotel", "Where is Rabin Square", "How much does that cost", etc.  Our intelligence work was the counting and boxing endless maps made by aerial photography of "relevant" areas of land in the event of war.  By the time we quit at 4pm my cold was far worse.  We weren't to have work on Thursday and instead would start the weekend (or end of service for me) with a tour of the Israeli Air Force Museum.   Before we left I raised the flag after breakfast.  I then changed from my incredibly dirty uniform into my own clothes and said goodbye to some of the soldiers I had befriended.

The Air Force Museum tour is entirely outside.  Lots of planes going back to Israel's war for independence in 1948.  I didn't last too long as my cold symptons weren't going away so I cut my part of the tour short.  I did get my picture taken in an old single engine trainer.  

We continued on the bus ride to Tel Aviv and I said my goodbyes to my Sar-El mates, most of whom are staying on another week.  In Tel Aviv I found a taxi and headed through terrible traffic to my next hostel/hotel.  This time a great place called the Abraham Hostel.  I got a private room with a bath and a fridge and fast wifi, all spotlessly clean and I got a 10% discount for doiing volunteer service with Sar-El.

I stayed in Thursday night and got up early Friday with the best intention of visiting a busy street market and some museums.  I walked to the Carmel Market which also has an art component but I knew right away I wasn't going to have the energy to walk to museums.  I drank some water and people watched after walking through the market.

I walked back to the hotel and I'm about to sleep for a bit before Shabbot dinner with my Cousins.  I'll do more later and hopefully Saturday and Sunday will be more action filled than today.  

Sunday October 30th through Saturday November 5th

I'm back to blogging after 4 and a half days without wifi.  My overnight accomodations in Tel Aviv were adequate, overpriced, and a giant step down from what I had become used to in Ukraine.

On Sunday Morning, having been strictly instructed to be back at the airport between 9 and 930am, I was on the street in Tel Aviv at 730am looking for a taxi.  After rejecting one taxi with a greedy driver who would have sapped my chi in no time, I was happy to pay 150 Shekels to a driver named Elijah (Eliohou in Hebrew) who gave me a 10 Shekel discount for my volunteer service.  We had a nice conversation and he thanked me for volunteering as we said goodbye at the airport named for David Ben Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister.

I arrived at the airport at 8 am and met the volunteer coordinator for Volunteers for America and was told to relax and wait.  

At about 11am groups were formed, apparently by language spoken (there was a group from France) and by age and we were sent to our respective buses after briefly meeting our leaders (Madrichot in Hebrew).  Our Madricha is a 21 year old woman who is a corporal in the Israeli Defense Force and is Mexican-Israeli (fluent in English, Spanish, and Hebrew) and a "lone soldier", meaning she serves Israel and her parents live abroad. (I'm having problems posting pictures but will do so later, when the tech Gods are smiling on me)

We traveled for about two and a half hours with a stop at a restarurant for lunch, finally arriving at our Army base in mid afternoon.  We were a group of 8 men and 5 women, all 60 or over except a young French Canadian woman in her 20s, an American woman from St. Louis age 27 volunteering with her mother, and a 24 year old former forest firefighter from Oregon who hopes to join the Israeli Army.  There is a married couple, 4 New Yorkers, and a former Canadian, now American citizen from Birmingham, Alabama who holds several world land speed records on a motorcycle.  Somehow, I can clearly hear my Mother saying "a nice Jewish boy does not ride a motorcycle".  I still think she would like Sidney Conn of Birmingham, Alabama.

We were outfitted with uniforms, mostly ill-fitting and beat up, but we accepted them in good humor.

 We had our first Army meal Sunday evening and it was surprisingly good.

 We also had a look at the soldiers serving in our area of what we learned is a very large Army base.  They seemed a bit standoffish as, I'm sure, we did to them.  Within two days we had met and dined and joked with many of them and they are amazing young people.  Unlike any other army in the world, everyone in Israel grows up knowing they will serve in the Army or the Air Force or the Israeli Navy when they grow up.  They come into their required service (three years for men and two years for women) knowing they are responsible for protecting the people of Israel from enemies who have sworn to destroy Israel and kill all the Jews and live right next door to Israel. 

On Monday the 31st we had breakfast at 745am and the obligatory flag raising ceremony at 830am.

 This was the schedule every day followed by our work assignments. The work was mostly warehouse work.  Removing and reorganizing equipment and supplies for combat soldiers.  Sometimes a bit of heavy lifting but mostly dirty and dusty work.  We are supervised by soldiers as young as 19 and its great fun interacting with them.  They are very curious about us and very grateful to the point that it's embarrasing.  We remind them that its we who thank them for what they do to protect Israel.  Tuesday and Wednesday brought us closer to each other as we learned more and closer to the soldiers from whom we learned so much.  The work continued to be dirty, sometimes tedious, and tiring.  I'm sleeping on an Army steel frame single "bed" which sags terribly even with three foam mattresses stacked on it.  That being said, I sleep soundly every night.  After dinner at 730pm we have some kind of activity.  On Sunday we introduced ourselves and told the group of Volunteers what our motivations and expectations were for our time in Sar-El.  Monday the base commander met with us and expressed his gratitude for the help we provide.  Tuesday, two former elite soldiers, now reservists, told us about their difficult training and service in the days prior to Israel's leaving Gaza in 2005.  Wednesday we talked about our work experiences and played charades with animal names and the answers had to be given in Hebrew.  Thursday we worked for an hour and a half and had an early lunch before boarding a chartered bus to Tel Aviv.  There we said goodbye to three of our Sar-El mates who were serving just one week.  I and two others, Debbie from Australia and Ed from London took a bus to Jerusalem and then the Jerusalem light rail train to our neighboring Hostels/Hotels.  Mine is a Hotel on Jaffa street, right on the lite rail line and in the middle of a nice commercial area.   It took about six hours traveling from our base to finally arrive in Jerusalem that we (me and Debbie and Edward) didn't do much besides get something to eat and rest up for Friday.  Friday I got up early and went to Jerusalem's main market area at Kahane Yehuda, a 20 minute walk from my hotel.  It was intense and crowded with people buying things for Shabbot/Shabbas/the Sabbath, beginning at sundown, but most of the the Jewish owned stores are closed by 3pm.  The market is wonderful and I found myself just standing and watching all the people going about their business in, what seemed like organized chaos.

 

I should mention that one purpose I have for this trip is to give away $51 to the poor or otherwise needy.  This started for me when I rented a phone for Israel from an Orthodox Jewish owned company in New York.  The phone and charger arrived with a folded dollar bill in the box with the explanation that it should be given to someone in need when traveling abroad.  It's a Jewish tradition  I wasn't familiar.  I was sufficiently moved by their gesture that I got 50 other single dollars to give away.  I started Friday, both with the poor who are begging and some street musicians.  It felt good even if they didn't say thank you, or maybe just didn't speak English, or maybe I just didn't undersand them.  Ultimately, giving is not about "thank you", it's just about giving.  

From  the market I walked to the Old City where I read about 50 prayers for family and friends and folded each and inserted them in cracks in the Wall.

 From the Wall I went to King David's tomb

 King David' Tomb is in a room adjacent to a small operationg synagogue.  So to see King David's Tomb you walk throgh the Synagogue and nobody seems to notice.

 I went upstairs in the same building and visited the "Upper Room" which is the site of the Last Supper.  Very few people were there and it sure feels like it really is the site of the Last Supper.

 I had visited both last year and just wanted the same experience again.  Because the Jewish businesses close early (2 to 3pm) on Friday, I took the light rail train back to the Hotel and went in search of a falafel that Phyllis and I found last year.  I searched for a while and just as I was about to give up, there it was....

It was busy and pushy and I enjoyed one of their giant falafel made in a large soft tortilla, a cross cultural culinary wonder if ever there was one.

I went back to the hotel forgetting that food would be hard to find later on Friday, but I had blog to write etc.

I got up early and ate the limited free breakfast at the Hotel.  Toast, salad, and many spreads for toast.  Some salad and four slices of toast later I set off on foot (no buses or light rail trains on Shabbot) for the Old City area.  I went to the Garden Tomb first, this is one of two places that Christ is said to be buried.  Last year I was alone in the tomb for ten minutes.  Today the Garden was full of tourists from all over the world and it would take 10 minutes standing in line to get into the tomb with a bunch of tourists.  I declined  and kept the memories of my last visit close to me.  

I returned to the Western Wall to say two more prayers for friends I had forgotten about and remembered last night.  The Wall was crowded because of Shabbot and lots and lots of tourists wearing matching hats so they don't get lost from their tour group.

Then with much trepidation engendered by the many tour groups who clogged the sidewalks I set out to visit the Church of St. Mary Magdalene on the Mount of Olives.  Some of you reading this have heard of my visit last year to the site of the remains of Prince Philip's Mother.  She was known as Princesse Andrew of Greece or Alice of Battenberg.  She was deaf since birth, spoke five languages fluently and could read lips perfectly.  Her Husband was a drunk and a gambler and disappeared before the Nazis occupied Greece.  She was living in an apartment in Athens and in 1942 she was contacted by a Jewish family she knew before the war.  They asked if there was anything she could do because the Nazis were executing all Jewish males age13 and up, and the rest of the Jews were being shipped to death camps.  Without hesitation she took them into her apartment and kept them safe until 1945 when the war ended.  On several occassions Hitler's Gestapo came to her door to search her apartment.  Every time she feigned that she didn't understand them and each time they became frustrated and left.  Had they discovered the Jewish family in her apartment, she would have been taken away with them.  Princesse Andrew is recognized as Righteous Among the Nations (a term to describe those non-Jews who risked their own lives to protect Jews during the war) at Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Museum.  She had an aunt who was a nun and was buried in Jerusalem which caused her to want to be buried there also.  Princesse Andrew, herself, became a nun, late in life, founding her own order.  Okay, enough back story.  

Last year I arrived with a stone given by my Synagogue on Holocaust Remembrance Day, intending to place it at the resting place of Princesse Andrew.  (this is the short version...if you want the long version of last year's visit you can look at last year's blog by just removing "2016" from this current blog address).   I was directed to find the nun in the gift shop.  An elderly nun (wait, I'm 72, she could actually be a little younger than me) was selling souvenirs.  I waited and then asked her if she could direct me to the burial place of Princesse Andrew.  Without hesitation she asked "are you a friend of the Royal Family?".  I said no but I had written a letter three weeks earlier to Prince Philip expressing my admiration for his late Mother and telling him of my mission to place a stone at her burial place.  His response arrive while I was gone and wished me well.  I did my best and most convincing argument ever as to why I was worthy of admission to the grave site of Princesse Andrew, and after what seemed like a long speech the nun reached for a key and said "follow me"  she took me to a small room behind oak doors which contained only an oak coffin raised off the floor.  She closed the doors and we talked for 15 to 20 minutes about Princesse Andrew and she showed me pictures she had taken of Prince Philip standing where I was.  The experience had me in tears and I couldn't stop thanking her for letting me in.  

Okay, fast forward to today.  The Church and the approach streets and sidewalks are overrun with Russian tourists and I'm sure that 1. the nun won't possibly remember me, 2. She won't buy my argument about why I'm worthy of visiting Princesse Andrew's resting place, and 3. I'll leave disappointed and shedding a different kind of tears.  instead, a miracle happened.  The same "elderly" nun was selling souvenirs in the gift shop.  I smiled uncontrollably because I then knew something good was happening.  When she finished with the last customer I asked her if she remembered me.  She said "of course I remember you".  Now I know that nuns aren't supposed to lie, but I couldn't believe that she actually did remember me.  She summoned a younger nun and directed her to take me to Princesse Andrews remains.  Just like that I was in.  It gets even better.  The young nun took me to the room and said she had work to do and she would leave me there alone and to find her when I was done so she could lock the door.  By now I'm in a total state of amazement.  I spent ten minutes talking to Princesse Andrew thanking her for her heroic acts during the Holocaust, and taking pictures and lo and behold, the stone I left last year was exactly where I left it and I left this year's stone besides it.

 After, I returned to the gift shop to thank the older nun (she wouldn't tell me her name or allow me to take her picture because her work is about helping others and not at all about her.  A scene from last year repeated itself.  Last year I purchased a $2 refrigerator magnet with a $10 bill and told her to keep the change for the good work she and the other nuns do.  I had to fight her to keep the $8 but I won and she cleverly snuck five post cards into the bag with the magnet.  Today, there was only one refrigerator magnet in the whole shop.  It was a duplicate of the one I bought last year and I gave her a $10 bill and reminded her that once again I wasn't taking any change.  She was fine with it and gave me some brochures about a girls school in Jerusalem where the money goes.  We shook hand and agreed to see each other again next year, God willing.  A day in my life I will never forget.  I wasn't going to top that so I headed back to the Hotel.  I took a short cut through the Arab Quarter of the Old City and felt fine without seeing anyone else who wasn't an Arab and without seeing any police or any soldiers.  I had never been in the Arab Quarter but I somehow felt safe and comfortable.

I did some writing this afternoon and waited for the sunset and the opening of Jewish businesses, more particularly the falafel place I had rediscovered yesterday.  I went there with the two Sar-El friends who are staying nearby.  Debbie Sher is an Australian and Ed Newman is a Londoner.  At the falafel stand I met a family of 8 from Mexico City and had a great time using what little Spanish I have.  Their picture (I asked them all to say "caso" before I snapped the picture) will appear here when I have faster wifi.

I better pack and get to bed.  We have to be in Tel Aviv at 9am.  That will require a light rail ride and a bus trip.  Sunday morning is expected to be a madhouse at the bus station with all the soldiers returning to duty (and all the Sar-El volunteers) so I better be out the door by 630am.
THE NEXT BLOG ENTRY WILL BE NEXT THURSDAY OR FRIDAY FROM TEL AVIV WHERE I'LL BE FOR THREE DAYS BEFORE FINDING MY WAY BACK TO FORT MYERS BY WAY OF L'VIV UKRAINE AND NEW YORK....FEEL FREE TO LEAVE COMMENTS OR CALL ME ANYTIME AT 831-713-4359...shalom leitraot from Jerusalem