Today is already hard, and it’s not even 10am.
When you learn about the death of someone you know, regardless of how close you were, it hurts. It’s a reminder of how little time we actually have here on earth; it’s a reminder to live and live and live and love and love and love because we might only have today. So as silly and meaningless as my stories are, as pointless as this blog is, I will continue to write and take risks and try my hardest to enjoy and be grateful for every single moment. It’s all any of us have, isn’t it?
Jerusalem is a truly amazing place. It is hardly 45 minutes away from Tel Aviv, and feels like a different world. The entire city as an old-timey feel, even though many of the buildings are from this century- it’s because they were built in an old-timey style. It seems that everyone here is religious: more women than not wear headscarves, I couldn’t count the number of men with black hats if I tried, and nearly all the girls wear skirts.
When I first arrived and checked into my hostel and all that jazz, I headed to the shuk for some food and drink. The cool thing about the Jerusalem shuk is that by day, it a lively shopping area, and by night it turns into a bunch of bars and becomes nightlife hub, and feels like a completely different place. I had some hummus and beer while I finished my book because I’m a huge nerd. After my lunch, I headed back to my hostel, met a cool American guy in my room, and after awhile we went to happy hour at the hostel together.
I was feeling like we should PROBABLY meet a few more people, so weirdo Genevieve randomly approached a couple random guys that seemed to be sitting alone, and soon we had a nice little group of the two of us Americans plus an Italian and an Israeli. It was just cool to sit and drink beer and talk about our lives and finding similarities and differences between the way that all of us live. We live in completely different places on the globe, but we are all people and can all be friends. This, by the way, is why I love hostels.
We went to grab some food, and then Israeli Guy took me and Italian Guy to a jazz bar that he likes (he’s a Jerusalem local, and likes to hang out at hostels to meet people.) It’s a place we never would have known about without him. And then, even though I was Sleepy McSleepypants, I accompanied Italian Guy on a midnight walk through the Old City, which was one of the most amazing experiences. I hadn’t been to the Old City yet; it’s incredible. You feel like you’re living thousands of years ago, walking through narrow winding streets in a walled-off city that’s entirely its own thing. We went to the Western Wall, and went right inside the gate where still SO MANY PEOPLE were praying, even though it was the middle of the night.
Religion (any of them) is still a thing I have trouble understanding. Even though I was raised Catholic, I never felt any connection with it and rebelled against it from a young age. And my feelings still haven’t really changed. I don’t get why people pray. I don’t get why people kill each other over religion. It was literally INVENTED to control people, to make them behave and follow laws. (Kind of the way that marriage was a way to control women, but I’m not going to get into THAT right now.) I don’t understand why some people are so sure they are right about what they believe and that everyone else is wrong. Honestly, if you’re going to be religious, realize that every monotheistic religion is essentially the same, so why would you fight over anything? Also, most people talk about polytheistic religions like they’re silly myths and stuff, even though they came before most monotheistic religions…and I think of pretty much every religion as I do about, like, Greek and Roman gods and shit. I don’t care what people believe, as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody (which it often does). I think religion is fascinating, especially from a cultural point of view. But I doubt I will ever be anything but atheist.
MOVING ON. The next day, I did a free walking tour of the Old City, where we went through all four quarters (Armenian, Jewish, Christian, Muslim.) I think it’s incredible that people of so many different religions can live in harmony in so small a space. I wish it could always be like that. Also I met a cat that I was obsessed with. Most cats in Israel aren’t friendly, unlike the INCREDIBLE CATS OF GREECE. Also I have a habit of trying to pet every single feral cat I meet, even though they might have fleas/rabies/be not very nice, but I don’t really get scared of animals like that. Like, if it bites me I’ll get treated for rabies. Bam. Anyway, I met this one that was sooo rubby and sooo cute and I wanted it with me forever and I miss her still.
I met the Italian guy at my hostel because he was driving to Ein Gedi, and I decided I wanted to go along and also it was a million times cheaper than doing a tour out there. I also convinced him it was in his best interest to go to the Dead Sea that day, because I really wanted to go to the Dead Sea. It was our first stop and if we were smart and followed the tour group in, we would have gotten in for free, but alas, we were stupid and paid for tickets. But you guys, the Dead Sea is SO FUN. You float. Like. You just FLOAT. I’m not sure it’s possible to drown. Maybe if you end up upside-down or face down and then you’re stuck like one of those toys- what were they called? WEEBLES. They wobble but they don’t fall down. That’s how you feel in the Dead Sea. Like a Weeble. We covered ourselves in mud several times, floated around, and then headed to our hostel right outside Ein Gedi.
We had to go to the Kibbutz for the supermarket, and we got lost several times inside because the signs are all in Hebrew. Since we didn’t have a kitchen in the hostel, we grabbed things like hummus, cheese, crackers, veggies, and other snackable items for a full and complete dinner. We sat outside, ate, and split a bottle of wine, and then walked out in the desert to look at the stars. The Big Dipper was upside-down, and I couldn’t find like, any constellations I knew. Stupid different continent.
Anyway, at some point we started kissing, under the stars, in the desert…if this sounds like a romantic night, you are half right! You are half wrong because we were sometimes in the middle of the road almost getting hit by cars! But it was mostly pretty okay. We found a picnic table which was both useful and uncomfortable, and we really were far from people so nobody found us but then also we eventually got cold because outside and went to bed.
The next day, we went to the botanical gardens, which were way more beautiful and interesting than I had anticipated. The highlight for me was definitely the mini-zoo: I saw a giant tortoise, was literally face-to-face with a meerkat, and there were peacocks just walking around the whole place, like on the same paths we were walking. It was very exciting when one of them flashed his tail at us.
Driving through the desert was super beautiful, especially because I’ve never driven through a desert before, and it’s pretty much just an overwhelming number of sand dunes. Just like, no water anywhere. Except the sea which will kill you if you drink it. So yeah, no water. But indescribably beautiful. So yeah, we did some more driving to Masada. Which might be one of my favorite things I’ve done this entire trip.
We hiked up the mountain – took about an hour, and by the end we wanted to die and were covered in sweat and had shed all our layers. No idea how people do it anytime but January. When we (finally) got to the top, I was blown away. I thought it would be like this cool little thing that would take half an hour to walk though. NOPE. It’s HUGE. Basically the dwelling of an entire village. And ruins in excellent condition. Palaces and bathhouses and storerooms galore. You really need hours to properly go through the whole place, and we did our best but we didn’t quite see it all. But if any of you ever go to Israel, I 100% highly recommend Masada.
We had opted to hike both up and down the mountain, but by the end of all this we were a) wanting to make sure I didn’t miss my bus back to Jerusalem and b) not feeling like walking all the way down. The place was closing down, and when we went to get tickets for the cable car (there’s a fancier name for these and I can’t remember it) they were closing down. OH WELL. I was like bro, I got it. I went up to the cable car runner guy and was like (slightly dramatically)…the ticket station was shut down. Can we please get on this last one? Well, what were they gonna do, leave us at the top of the mountain? They let us on for free. CHA-CHING.
I caught the bus to Jerusalem, and met my friend from Tel-Aviv there for a couple hours for dinner and drinks. It was lovely and necessary for both of us.
Today. Today I’m in a weird mood. I didn’t sleep as well as I’d like, and once I heard the shitty news, I’ve mostly been just up being sad and thinking about how shitty it all is. My plan is to go to Bethlehem for awhile today. It’s a small city and everyone says you don’t need much time there, so I’m guessing I’ll go for a few hours and then come back here. Nothing too crazy. I’m giving myself permission to take my time and not push myself today, but just to take each moment as it comes.
Love each other, guys. Have so much fun, do stupid shit, and don’t take life too seriously.