Good morning from beautiful Tel Aviv! This is the view that greeted our group as we woke up and started our day. A rainbow touching the Mediterranean Sea. We knew it would be a blessed day in Israel.
For me, I awoke feeling very differently than I did yesterday. The guilt I was feeling was gone, and I was able to face this day with renewed strength and optimism. It is as if I gave myself permission to really be present and enjoy the experiences of being in Israel even with the horrors of Auschwitz. I felt so grateful for this gift I seem to have given myself, and I was able to breathe deeper and easier as the weight that I had placed on my shoulders was suddenly lifted. I could hardly wait to start the day, as I knew our group would experience some amazing things.
We said "shalom shalom" to Tel Aviv as we drove north towards Caeserea. I could not wait to share this unbelievable place with my friends, for I knew that they would have never seen anything quite like it. Caeserea is one of Israel's most important cities in the Roman Period, and the excavations here show an incredible city built at the command of King Herod. Ron gave us some background into King Herod, a name we will encounter many times as we move forward during our trip, as he was behind the Second Temple construction as well as Masada.
Once we arrived Ron took us to a model of the Caeserea to show us the most incredible part of this ancient city, the man-made port. Listening to what the workers had to do to create the breakwater so ships could dock safely was incredible. While there are some signs of the port in the excavation, most remains at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.
We then walked into one of my favorite places in Caeserea, the Herodian Theatre. In this large theatre we retraced the history of the Jewish people to understand the role King Herod and Caeserea played in history. We were sitting in a two thousand year old theatre, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in awe of the construction. And, the fact that the theatre is still in use today is remarkable, as it is one of the most prestigious places to play a concert in all of Israel.
After watching a movie we walked out and saw the most beautiful view.
This is my third visit to Caeserea and I am still totally awe-struck by this view. I remember at each visit how hard it was to pull our group away from this sight. Today was no different.
Check out the seaside pool enjoyed by the king.
Ron shared with us that because of the rain, a lot of the dirt gets washed out and uncovers pieces of ancient pottery, some more than 2000 years old! We searched for some of the more impressive pieces of history. How amazing to be able to hold them in my hand.
At the beach we took this group picture in front of the Mediterranean Sea.
We then walked past the Hippodrome, the huge stadium used for the chariot races during the Roman period.
And then we went to this increbidle display of mosaics uncovered in terrific condition. We were able to walk on them and really explore what appears to be an ancient palace of some kind.
A quick soak in the hot tub...
After some delicious ice cream in the ancient 900 year old Crusader town we boarded our bus and made our way all the way to the top of Mount Carmel, about 1600 feet above sea level to visit a Druze Village and enjoy a home hospitality lunch. The views from atop the mountain were incredible!
We sat with a Druze gentleman to learn all about the Druze life. We learned that religiously, like the Baha'i community, they are an off-shoot of Islam, although they contain elements from Christianity and Judaism as well. We learned that there are 140,000 Druze in Israel, and they speak Arabic. They also learn Hebrew and English in their schools. They always tried to remain neutral in terms of the Israeli Arab conflicts but were forced to make a decision as to who to back and chose to stand with Israel. While they are very proud of their Druze heritage, they are also proud Israelis. We learned about their belief in reincarnation, and that with each life we get better and therefore closer to understanding God. One lifetime is not enough to truly understand God. We were interested to learn that no one can convert into the Druze community. You are a Druze by birth. If a Druze marries someone from another faith, they give up their place in the Druze community. For this reason, there is not much intermarriage. 85% remain a part of the Druze community for life. We all loved how much focus is placed on family and togetherness, and our Druze hosts were so calming and gracious.
After our conversation we sat down to a delicious lunch.
We went outside following lunch to enjoy more of the view, and we saw this rainbow greeting our group.
We also had the treat of seeing many Israeli F-16 fighters doing their training missions in the skies above us, including an in air refueling exercise that was amazing to witness. It was like a private air show for TAE.
After some cookies and delicious coffee it was time to say "shalom shalom" to our Druze friends and make our way to our next activity. As you have seen in this blog, weather has played a role in our choices of what to do. Because of the potential of rain, Ron and I decided to change our next activity that would leave us exposed should the rains come and go instead to Haifa to see the beautiful Baha'i Gardens.
Haifa is a really terrific city and the gardens were breathtaking.
I am so grateful that I gave myself permission to enjoy this, it was wonderful to take in a beautiful view, to really appreciate where I was simply because of the beauty of that place. And I was grateful to be sharing it with so many people I care so deeply for.
As we boarded our bus to begin the 2 hour journey to the north we settled in for the long ride. Within minutes it became very quiet on the bus as more and more of fell asleep. I felt really good about our day and was reliving some of the more beautiful moments like the view of the sea from Herod's palace and the beautiful garden we just left. I closed my eyes and began my own nap that I thought would last until our arrival at Kfar Blum in the north of Israel. I felt my breath get heavier and heavier and I became more and more relaxed.
And without warning our bus was brought to life with a loud boom. Immediately, the bus came to a sudden stop. We were all startled, and as we came out of our sleepy state we found our bus had blown out a tire. We were on a single lane highway, one of the major highways in Israel. It was the height of rush hour and we were stuck. Shlomo, our driver who incredibly maintained control of the bus following the blowout tried to drive the bus to the side of the road so the cars behind could pass, but the bus would not move. Almost instantaneously both he and Ron were up and out of the bus. We could hear lots of Hebrew being exchanged and both took out their phones and started placing calls. We were still confused on the bus.
After a few minutes, Ron filled me in... Turns out that when the tire blew, it damaged some of the air pipes that are responsible for both the brakes and the cushioning of the bus. The tubes were destroyed and the computer on the bus did its job by shutting down the vehicle to ensure our safety. Ron had already called the police because we were blocking the highway and our tour company was already working on getting us a new bus. I walked to the back of the bus and saw this.
Cars as far back as I could see... This was not good. I saw some Israelis coming around to offer to help. There was a lot of talking, but there was a clear absence of honking horns. Even those cars that were too far back to see what was going on didn't honk. People were really patient. With the reputation Israelis have of being impatient and pushy, they were so respectful and helpful here. Then we saw some cars actually trying to get by us...
It was incredible to see these cars and SUV's so close to our bus.
Within a few minutes the police had arrived. Our stuck bus was creating quite a back up, now nearly 3 miles long. We learned that we were on the Israeli news as word of the major backup was broadcast on all of the radio stations. We were told that a new bus was on its way and would be here in about 40 minutes. The police would have to stop traffic in the other direction to allow the bus to drive and then turn around and back up to where we were.
With no choice but to sit and wait we decided to take out our instruments and put on a little impromptu klezmer concert. I played my mandolin, Brian his guitar, Cyndy her flute, Ron his clarinet and Penny her tambourine. We played for about 30 minutes. As we began to play we felt the mood in the bus start to change. People started singing along and clapping their hands... It became a party. I think at one point I was so into the music that I jumped up on the seats. I hope someone got a picture of that!
After about thirty minutes of music we saw this welcome sight coming towards us...
We immediately packed up our belongings and moved to the new bus to resume our trip. Once all of the passengers were safely on board a few of us stayed to transfer all of our luggage from one bus to the new one. Being on the outside of the bus allowed us to get a look at what was happening.
Once all was transferred we were off and on our way, this time in a new bus with a new driver. Shlomo will hopefully join us tomorrow after his bus is repaired.
I need to say a couple of things. When something like this happens, it can often ruin your whole day. I am so grateful that this group of travelers did not let this get in the way of our having an amazing time... In fact, this event bonded us closer together than ever! I am also so grateful to Ron, Shlomo and Dana, the ARZA World rep who immediately began to resolve the situation. Normally, we would have been stuck out there for hours upon hours. The truth is that from blowout to boarding our new bus was maybe an hour in total. It is another reason why we choose to work with this company. They took care of it and resolved it as soon as possible.
One more thing... Ron shared with me that two mechanics from a local village came to try to help us. One was under the bus and the other was working on the tire as Ron and Shlomo helped as well. There was no reason for these two gentlemen to come to our aid, they did it because we were in need. Their presence was so appreciated. This is what Israelis do for each other. They have each other's backs.
Oh, did I tell you that the two mechanics were Israeli Arabs? It didn't matter that they were helping two Jewish Israelis, or a bus full of people from the temple Adat Elohim Comminity. We were not "other" here, just people in need, and they were there for people in need. They even went as far as to apologize to Ron when they discovered that they would not be able to fix the bus for us. With all of the things we have seen this trip that question my faith in humanity it is sure nice to have that faith renrwed by these two Arabs, these two human beings coming to the aid of other human beings. What a lesson for us all. In a place where all we hear about is the conflict between two peoples, it was so nice to hear of these groups working together to try to help a bus of stranded people.
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