Entry 5: CouchSurfing and Hitchhiking in Israel

Diary

Holy cow eveything that's happened since my last blog update has been a wild ride, almost constantly moving place to place thanks to tons of CouchSurfing and Hitchhiking.

This blog post won't be as literarily styled as my last, as there's way too much to talk about and I want to spend more time expiring Greece than editing. Perhaps in the future I will come back and revise it after its posted publicly, so keep in touch.

The way I do my blogs is that I keep a diary in my iPhone's notes of brief words and phrases of each day's events to jog my memory. Later on when I finally sit down to write my blog I expand on each of these notes, fixing spelling and grammar, adding detail, better language, fancy metaphors and the like. Expanding on my notes like this takes a lot of time, and I simply haven't had many large chunks of time available in the past month. ...ok, that's not completely true as I still struggle with internet addiction so lots of this free time is spent browsing reddit. But I did (and still do) have planning to do for Greece and Northern Europe this summer.

By the way, I'm considering going to the UK this summer, I'm thinking Scotland, because it's out of the Schengen Area: a group of countries in Europe where those from outside of it can only be in the Schengen for up to 90 days. After those 90 days you must spend 90 days out of the Schengen before coming back in.

So I need a schedule that allows me to visit France during November and December for the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, helping with organizing the protests there. The UN hasn't done shit about climate change, so we're there to protest that and start changing the system ourselves. But that's a story for next year.

Sun Feb 1

Arrive at Hostel in Ramallah

Mon Feb 2

Uh, this day was blank in my notes as are some others, so I'm just going to skip over them.

Tue Feb 3

Did you know there's a Krusty Krab in Ramallah? Yes, that restaurant from SpongeBob SquarePants caters to patrons of the West Bank. Hardly anyone was there though because the food sucks when tasty falafel and lamb are all around.

That night I went to a yoga class in Ramallah with an Australian aid worker, who has spent much of his time in Gaza, and James, an English guy traveling around the Middle East. It was a typical yoga class, full of Westernized appropriations of Indian culture, attended mostly by Palestinian women. It was very relaxing, and during the meditation part at the end my mind was bouncing off the walls, as I couldn't focus on the instructor's voice at all.

That night I met a Palestinian veterinarian atheist Richard Dawkins fan from Hebron invited me to his place, though I never did. We talked about atheism, and our experiences of being an atheist in each of our own cultures. I've never felt persecution for my beliefs whereas he has.

Wed Feb 4

The Hostel in Ramallah has activities everyday, and today's was a hike. We saw Tel Aviv from the top of a castle upon a high hill, as well as a nearby settlement.

Thurs Feb 5

Fri Feb 6

Today's activity at the hostel was a "political tour," which meant visiting and participating if desired in one of the weekly demonstrations that take place in Bil'in, a town near Ramallah. I met Roi, a Tel Aviv Israeli Jew of Anarchists Against the Wall who comes to demonstrations every other week.

The Palestinians march as close to the apartheid wall as they can with the ultimate goal of tearing it down. On the opposing side are the Israeli military blocking the Palestinians from advancing, mostly by launching tear gas in a high arc to land amidst the protestors. Occasionally the IDF will fire rubber bullets and even more dangerous weaponds like projectile tear gas canisters, which are designed to penitence buildings to spread tear gas within closed walls. There's a monument erected for Besem, someone who was killed when one of these projectiles hit him in the chest.

Toward the end of the protest the IDF advanced very rapidly, and we all retreated rapidly in response. Tear gas landed in front me as I was walking quickly away from approaching IDF, I felt tear gas for the first time. Despite how little gas was around me it stung pretty badly.

Sat Feb 7

I had to leave the West Bank back to Jerusalem because of visa complications. A bus took me from Ramallah to the checkpoint, and when I got off the bus I was pretty confused. What exactly was I supposed to do at this checkpoint? Where do I go? It was very crowded, with lots of lines and gates everywhere. Fortunately a Palestinian noticed my confusion and gave me free taxi ride, as he bought a taxi for himself to go to another, easier checkpoint at which I didn't even have to show my passport.

He dropped me off on the outskirts of Jerusalem and I still had ways to go, so I turned around and stuck out my arm to hitchhike and immediately found a ride. That never happened to me before but it was pretty cool finding a ride so quickly in a city.

He dropped me off at the Old City from which I easily walked to Abraham Hostel, where I ran into James, who I met at the Hostel in Ramallah.

I met yet another Birthrighter at the hostel, one of the many I've ran into.

My friend Zoe took me to an underground (literally and figuratively) death metal show, lots of loud noises with no rhythm. Not my style but it was fun knowing that exists in Jerusalem.

Sun Feb 8

Mon Feb 9

The Israelis must be very proud of Kafka's judaism because they stole every bit of his nightmarish bureaucratic themes. My appointment at the office for Ministry of the Interior in Jerusalem ended with them claiming that I needed the original copy of my birth certificate in order to extend my visa. Fuck getting that mailed here, there's no way I'm going to travel around the world with that in my possession. But they said I could stay until I get berth cert even though my visa expired the following day, so I figured they don't care that much anyway so I can spend as long as I want here with an expired visa just because I'm Jewish, so I left Jerusalem for Ramallah. Only once I got there I realized that having an expired visa in the West Bank is not smart because there's checkpoints everywhere. While my white and Jewish privilege can get me pretty far, there may be that one time they decide to examine my visa and give me trouble. So I need to get out of the country and come back.

Tue Feb 10

Left the Hostel in Ramallah, dropped a book my CS host Mohanad loaned to me off at Ramallah Cafe, took a bus to Jeru, found my Mexican phd researcher friend on bus, went to Citadel Hostel a her just to charge my phone, left to try hitchhiking to Eilat, people said I was in wrong spot, took tram to other spot without paying for tram, got busted for not paying, but screw that I'm not gonna pay the over 100 shekel fine. Got lost in Jerusalem. Made it to Abraham Hostel. Found James White again. Eavesdropped on a Jerusalem LGBT club member who mentioned free pizza, went there for the pizza, went to CS host and stayed the night there.

Wed Feb 11

Stressed about visa situation but friends got me to relax.

Thurs Feb 12

Bus ride to Eilat. Someone gave me a free ticket that would've cost me 80 shekels ($20)

Went to wrong border, too late for border crossing, which closed at 8pm. Camped on beach

FrI Feb 13

Charged phone got water at local Eilat bar, met Israeli who worked at Towson Mall selling Israeli products. She's been to that now closed Falafel shop in Maple Lawn.

Went to Border crossing. At that point I was three days over my visa, this border cared about that more than the Ministry of the Interior did, gave me a strict talking to but let me go.

Taxi to Aqaba because they don't allow walking to there.

Met CS host Ibrihim, talk with him at cafe, he's Palestinian, his family left Palestine in '45 by *choice*, that is: they chose to leave because they were farmers and had no match against the military. This destroys the black and white thinking of whether Palestinians left because they chose to or because they were kicked out, and paints a more complicated picture. Yes, some Palestinians left by choice but it was because they had no other choice, it was face the British/Israeli military or leave.

Met Mutaz Teto, studies accounting at works at bus station. Gave me the rest of his dinner. Drove me and his work buddy on a ten minute business run. No idea what was happening but got milk and oreo cookies.

Ibrihim bought me falafel for dinner as we watched Training Day.

Sat Feb 14

Left Ibrihim's, crossed border crossing, Israel gave me one month instead of the usual three because I had overstayed my visa three days and I only spent one day in Jordan. I'm Jewish and have family in Israel, which might have been a factor in them letting me back in Israel.

Found Liran on CouchSurfing. Hitchhike there with old couple who drove me straight there. Met German girl and Araik from Russia. Went to pool bar, Liran's friend harassed German.

Sun Feb 15

Liran asked me for massage. Creepy.

Mon Feb 16

Left Liran's and hitchhiked with Araik to Mitzpe Ramon. Three different rides, noon to five.

Saw Makhtesh Ramon, a huge canyon. Very pretty.

Visited hostel, met Simon from France. Met Noam our CS host, his two cats, two kids, and a homophobic woman surfer from Russia.

Tue Feb 17

Left Noam's for Beer Sheva, said goodbye to Araik.

Got to Beer Sheva and met up with James White who I had met in Ramallah and coincidentally in Jerusalem too.

Surfed with Nataly and her two American-Israeli flatmates, one of whom went to a house party with a NOLS Amazon buddy. Went to awesome music jamming session with her friends.

Wed Feb 18

Left with James to hitchhike for Ein Gedi. This was the first time I headed for a place without a secure host in place before hand. Hitchhiked with an awesome guy who fed us lunch and connected us with a host in Arad on the way to the Dead Sea, stayed night with them.
Check out my friend James' blog entry of these events!

Thurs Feb 19

It was supposed to snow in Jeru and flood roads on way to Jeru, so James and I did a day trip to hot springs in Dead Sea.

Luckily, hitched with a geologist on way there who told us about the terrain.

Another hitchhike ride was the third person I met from Silver Spring (a town very close to my home town in Maryland) in one month in Israel. Very friendly, fed us pizza during car ride. Drove to far but no big deal, hitched back to find hot springs. They were hot. Now I smell like sulfur despite rinsing off in the Dead Sea and taking a shower.

Fri Feb 20

Hitchhiked with James from Arad to Beer Sheva. Got to out host Aaron Zalcman who wasn't there but his flatmate Micah was. Went to dinner with Moshe, another CS guy in the city.

Sat 21

Spent day planning for Greece

CouchSurfed w Aaron Zalcman

Sun 22

More planning for Greece.

Bakery w a friend, went to Asham Hazman, a cool bar/music scene. Made campfire, had beer, roasted sweet potatoes in tin foil in the fire.

Monday 23

CouchSurfed w Moshe

Tue 24

Hung out w friend in middle of the day shopping for Purim costumes

CouchSurfed w Moshe

Wed 25

CouchSurfed w Ram, a student at Ben Gurion Uni

Thurs 26

Left Ram's to hitchhike to Tel Aviv. First time I got picked up by a truck.

Arrived at Milk and Honey Hostel, stayed night there

Fri 27

Did lots of emails, aka surfed reddit.

Sat Feb 28

Sun March 1

Still at Milk and Honey hostel

CouchSurf w friend from All That's Left, Jewish activist group against the occupation, she gave me free ukulele! Very, very happy about the ukulele.

Mon March 2

Stayed w Tomair Friedman.

I met this guy summer 2011 at Landmark College. I was a tour guide and he was a prospective student I gave a tour too. He never went to Landmark but we stayed fb friends since.

He saw I was in Israel and messaged me saying he lives there. We tried for a while to meet up then it finally become convenient.

Played basketball and watched Walking Dead. 

Tue March 3

Train back to Milk and Honey

Hitchhike to Jeru

Stay with friend

Wed March 4

Get stuff from Ari, a guy from america visiting Israel that my Mom and Dad gave a phone charger, power cord, harmonica, etc. to give to me as more supplies for Greece.

Through the end of Israel, stayed with friends and prepared for Greece.

Last day, one more night at Milk and Honey hostel.

Forgot to give key back to my friend, so I had to rush to do that before my flight.

Flight to Greece, met Alberto on the train and flight there, spanish-German traveling around the world.

End notes:

I often say to myself "Holy fuck what the Hell am I doing," as I travel, wondering why and how I'm actually going to survive. But I say this less and less as I'm continuously amazed at the hospitality of strangers.

Update 3, Jan 17th, '15; Milk and Honey Hostel

It's been a while since my last update, and unfortunately I did not make detailed notes to use for the blog like I did for my last posts, so this will be more... general.

Let's see...  There's sooo much to talk about since my last update. Sorry it's been so long!

Typing with my thumbs as my head rests on my pillow makes me pump out these blogs sooner yet with the literaracy of a lysdexic ephelant, so bear with me.

I arrived at the Milk and Honey Hostel on Shalma 4 in Jaffa, Israel on Friday morning, December 5th. It was just some place I found at the last minute to work in exchange for food and shelter but by the end of my stay it became a home.

Between seven and nine other coworkers, we each worked around 21 hours per week, cleaning the four full bathrooms, making beds, sitting at the computer as a receptionist, buying groceries at the local supermarket, and making a breakfast of Israeli salad (chopped cucumbers and tomatoes), bread, hummus, tahina, and labina (a spreadable cheese without the distinct flavor cream cheese has). If I worked more than 21 hours, which was often up to 30 hours, I got 25 shekels per hour or 200 shekels per week ($50) to spend on my lunch and dinner. Total occupancy is at around 40 beds, which only happened around Christmas and New Years, though these guests supplied the staff with a steady stream of alcohol. I'm thankful for the many Russians that visit here.

The people I met here have been a blessing to my burgeoning travels, from my coworkers I grew friendships with to the myriad and diverse travelers who rested here for one night.

My manager, Kenya (like the country, yes that's her name), is a Yemeni Jew who co-owns the hostel with two other people, although I've never met them since they don't work nearly as much as she does. Her husband often works here too in addition to playing bass for the Israeli singer Ester Rada. They sometimes bring their adorable toddler with them as well as wine or pastries for special occasions (like my going away!). They are a very chill family, super friendly and welcoming, who invited me back to stay whenever I want.

Except for the two Israelis, Ori, a Tel Aviv University political philosophy student who gave me fantastic feedback on my Birthright essay, and Atar, an art student with an amazing tahina cookie recipe, staff here are also travelers, coming and going to make a steady stream of new faces to meet. When I first got here my coworkers were Selena, Cormoron, and Daniel, an American from Virginia who funds her travels by teaching yoga and giving massages around the world, an Israeli who changed his name to the bird of the same name because why not, and an eighteen-year-old American who paid over ten thousand dollars to work at this hostel and learn about Israel in a separate program. Then came Ilhan, a crazy French guy with one enormous dread-lock who incessantly asked people how they were doing over, and over again even if we told him we were fine just minutes before. Eventually, we couldn't take it anymore and my manager asked him to leave. There's Elmar, the Dutch artist born one day after me, carrying a book of the hand-prints of every person he meets on his travels. I just met Rabea before I left, a German girl who's spent four years on the road. Finally there's Valentina from Italy, who's looking over my shoulder as I type this -- wait, she just went away so I can talk about how evil she is. Probably my best friend after Christmas eve mass together at a nearby Arabic Church. We go from deep, meaningful conversations to spontaneous bursts of laughter, late night talks to walks in the local market. Thank you for everything, I will miss you! Come visit me in Ramallah!

There were even some hostel guests who have stayed here so long we became friends, like Jeffrey the Dutch philosophy student who spent his vacation here during Christmas and invited me to his home in the Netherlands this Summer. There's Michael, an American immigrating to Israel who is temporarily living at the hostel until he finds an apartment. And Harvey, a French guy traveling around the world who rambles incoherently and left his tent here for me to take (I think?). I met Ryan from the Virginia side of DC on his way out of Saudi Arabia where he taught English for six years. After growing sick of the fundamentalist country where his kids praised Hitler for killing Jews, he drove away in his expensive sports car, which he takes all over the world, getting it ferried across oceans and seas. Attempting to ship it to Cyprus, it got a flat tire on his way to the port in Haifa in Northwestern Israel; hopefully he can find the rare tires it needs in Turkey. He takes pictures of famous places with his sports-car in the foreground -- that's his shtick, a lot cooler than a garden gnome, right? While in Saudi he converted to Islam just for the fun of it despite secretly being atheist, and he became a minor celebrity in the country for a few weeks since it's very rare for a white American to do that. News networks tried interviewing him but he declined, saying that in his culture religion is more personal so it's not polite to sensationalize.

Gabrielle, a guest here, deserves a story on her own. She did Birthright in 2009 and stayed afterward with her boyfriend to participate in activist demonstrations against the occupation. At one of these, the IDF was shooting rubber bullets at the protesters and hit her boyfriend in the head, permanently paralyzing and leaving him brain dead. She's here to try to sue the IDF for what happened, courageously coming back to fight for justice. The court cases haven't been going well though, as the Israeli bureaucracy shuts down anyone attempting to resist.

Update: I found this article where it clarifies it was a high velocity tear gas canister, not a rubber bullet

http://electronicintifada.net/content/tristan-anderson-civil-suit-delayed-new-evidence-emerges/10649

There were unwelcome crazy guests too, like a creepy old Israeli man who verbally harassed women every chance he got and an annoying French lady who accumulated so much trash under her bed I needed a giant black trash bag and vacuum to clean everything. Send me a message if you want the details of her stay that are too gruesome for this blog.

In a weird connection to recent news, every French person I met here has been crazy and Islamophobic, from simply saying Israel should take over the West Bank as if its ours to a couple that thanked me for making breakfast as they don't eat anything made by Arabs -- the TV told them that Arabs poison Jew's food.

Countless guests here have been Birthright participants, as they find the closest hostel they can after ending at the nearby Ben Gurion airport. Most recently, two were on their way to visit their IDF friend who promised to take them flying in his Apache helicopter. I routinely see Birthright buses in the city, and talk with the participants about my time here, casually asking how the brainwashing is going. So many Israelis, most of them liberal, consider Birthright a propaganda exercise; it's such a common notion that it is joked about in the Israeli version of Saturday Night Live.

While most of the people I befriended were at my hostel I did meet Zoe, an American who did the same thing I did but a year ago: Birthright to escape America and travel around the world. Coincidentally, she knows a Landmark College friend of mine back home and is familiar with the Maine based Beehive Collective, that artist activist collective I volunteered with this past August through October, since she's from that state. She's been all over Europe since first coming to Israel but she came back here for the Winter. I had Christmas dinner with her and her friends and I'm about to go visit her in Jerusalem on my way to Ramallah.

There's only three of us Birthrighters left in Israel, Eitan, Andrew, and myself; the rest of us had left the country a long time ago. Last night I had a mini Birthright reunion with Eitan and Noga, an IDF soldier who was with us during the trip. Hopefully I'll see Andrew at the farm he's volunteering with soon.

Well, there you have it, what matters most in traveling is the people you meet rather than the places you see. The connections created are a metaphor for how we are all connected in the world by human emotions, not photoshopped geography. Now that I got that cliche out of the way I can avoid social interaction the rest of my time, right?

I leave Jaffa today and will start volunteering at the Hostel in Ramallah (that's the actual name of the hostel) on February 1st for two months. Between now and then I will CouchSurf in Jerusalem for the rest of this week and then spend a week CouchSurfing in Ramallah to get used to the city before working there.

One point about Tel Aviv before I go: it feels too American, a Western city in an Eastern land. Israelis even consider it practically a different country than the rest of Israel. While it certainly has its differences and I enjoyed running barefoot on the beach, I have been ready to leave for a while now; my heart aches for more to see.

OK, I need to start packing, this procrastination habit is hard to beat.

Shalom and Assalaam alaikum

Addendum: I just realized I did something a little stupid.

My tourist visa says I can stay until 10/2/2014, so I had originally interpreted this as October 2nd, 2014, without realizing it actually means February 10th, 2014. Which means I have a little more than twenty days left in Israel.

I want to stay longer however, as you know, so I have a couple options. One, I can make a trip within the next couple of days to Cyprus, Jordan, or Egypt to reset my visa. Or two I can try to extend my visa, which is a lot easier I think.

In order to extend my visa, I'm told that I need to list an Israeli address as my place of residence, so for the next few days I need to find someone who will let me use their address even if I don't stay there like my new friends or my distant family here.

Or I'm going to Jordan and back! Where should I go?

Also, I've actually been trying to leave Jaffa for the past few days now but my procrastination, planning, and packing habits reek of -- breaking fourth wall here, I just got distracted for five minutes after writing that -- ADHD distraction fest. It's a running joke here at my hostel that I'm never going to leave. By Tuesday at ten o'clock at night I finally finished packing to head to the bus station for the hour journey to Jerusalem. My friend Valentina however (thank you very much!) suggested I call Abraham hostel to try to reschedule my stay for Wednesday night, which fortunately worked out with no money lost only because I'm a hostel worker myself.