Jordan Day 2

moin moin!

ok lets review my last weekend trip more!

breakfast at 7 - but my hotel serves it from 8 on... no problem we are flexible - perfect. so i could started to Petra at 7.30... jordan highways looking nice... but more the landscape around... until... until a camel mum gave milk to camel baby - on the highway!!!
ok... arriving petra and paying entrance. >21EUR... tourism in jordan can be expensive!
anyway i dont know when i am comign again... so stop thinking, started just doing :-D

Petra - the ancient city. well to be honest its hard for me to describe it. its one of these 1000 places you have to see before you go to your next life! see pics

back form petra i tried the beach south of aqaba... how is it feeling to be just 2km away from saudi arabia - i really thought about just going to border and asking for a stamp... but due to the israeli stamp stigma they wouldnt let me in even for a single second. and they require a visa ahead... ok so time for beach... almost no one here... so it looks when off season is... thai off season was not so dead...


being back in aqaba city showed be that ramadan started - because it was ca. half hour after sunset... all Muslims were eating and drinking. and i thouhgt about who they survive working in desert (even in the shadow) without drinking any water for 12h? respekt!!!

i took a shower and looked for a local restaurant or at least local meal. with a fruit cocktail, service & tax and tip 5EUR... outside the restaurant i saw an old mercedes with interesting car plates... a cloer look and you could find the original german car plates. they just fixed the jordan ones on the top...




afterwards i walked thourhg the nightlife, bought post cards and looked for local beer - but its ramadan, so no one is selling anything with alc... even not to tourists... i found mango, strawery and lemon heineken...

... and slept early again. petra took a lot of my energy!

"Seven days in 'Jewish Germany'"

For at least another dozen generations or so, flying into Germany will remain an unsettling experience for Jews, even if the Jews in question haven't experienced a single moment's turbulence.

It's also a feeling, for better or worse, that will stay with most Jewish travelers as they continue on their trip, which in my case was a seven-day tour of "Jewish Germany" organized by the country's Tourism Ministry.

'Wilkommen', in other words, to the Germany of 2007, a place actively seeking Jewish visitors and hoping to show off, if that's the right expression, the remnants of a culture it almost wiped out.

17th September 2007

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1189411416218

some more things i recognized in israel

traffic... using the horn as car driver seems to be allowed only when someone hasnt gone on after red traffic light within 0.1 second after getting green...

sun glasses everywhere... in trains, busses, ... and if not latest before leaving you must put them on your nose... cool baby

while walking around you see much less reminders concerning the (holocaust) history than in germany - wow

- smoking is allowed - (alomost) everywhere :-( i saw a hair cutter lady which smoked during serving a client - cigarettes are cheap... ca. 1.5EUR per package

- food and drinks are horror... expensive... milka is 250%, milk just 50%, meat same level, noodles/spaghetti... dont ask, fruits are a bit cheaper

experiences, impressions and what else got my attention

Moin moin!

today its time to reflect things i recognized during my last 7 weeks...

Israelis... are quite relaxed at work... but when they come out in the streets they are always in hurry... bus drivers not waiting until you have a seat... and at bus and train stops you must press yourself out... the locals dont think about let the others first getting out and then entering... nooo

traffic lights for human beings have an interesting function... like in Paris they illuminating something... most of Israelis not taking care if red or green... and crosswalks at streets... just go the israelis slowing down or even stopping... more than at traffic lights :-)

food... i asked my supervisor - originally from england he does not know typical Israeli food... its a mix from everywhere... i think the arabic humus and falafel comes at closest

trash, waste and environmental issues... my co worker, native US guy, said its even worse than in the USA... well at least the reach the same level... always taking one way cups (2 because otherwise it would be too hot) and plates and... and plastic bags in supermarket are used for everything... even salami packs :-/

money matters... your 3rd question can be about incoming - its normal. the minimum salary is like in Germany, academics too... just the average is much lower...
the great thing of israel is that you can pay every really small amount everywhere by credit card. every coffee machine on platforms accept credit cards for an amount of <0.5EUR :-)
i dont have the problem with coins...

security... baby face soldiers with machine guns everywhere. you must know even at the wekend for family visits they have to take there gun home (or at the western wall in jerusalem for starting shabat or going out in the night to disco or...). in general army service for men is 3 years and for women 2 years. mostly after high school. in this tiem they are earning 350 schekel (ca. 60EUR) per month... but free transport in the whole country.
every supermarket, every dorm, every trainstation has at least one armed guard checking your bags and pockets and sometimes also your ID card. even every buidling of work places have guards. like in the USA everyone has the right to carry a gun. so its a really normal querstion when at a mall or train station the guard asks if i have a weapon. "no sir"
if you drive in the golan hights or in the negev desert close to the eastern borders you see the anti aircraft missiles and other defence equipment around... aiming to - you know where

education & travelling... high school ends after 12th class... and 56% of an age group getting the university allowance... wow. after army service many yound people saving money for a trip to latin or south americe for several month... europe is to expensive and the people i talked havent really considered asia instead. from adults i think every second one was at least once in germany.

family - parents are mostly proud when their kids are soldiers. they defending the country. and the avreage family has 3 kids...

language... ok for me its like last year thailand. pressing in brain how 'exit', 'toilet' and so on looks like. but israel is the first country where i am not asking the people if they cans peak english... i just approach them in english and ca. 98% can speak english!!!

public transport... tel aviv new bus terminal is supposed to be the biggest in the world. the domestic bus company egged is definetely the second biggest in the world (after london buses). all egged buses have a line number which is unique in the whole country... besides that in tel aviv Dan buses running on lines too (most of them) and you have sheiruts, kind of service taxi in form a mini bus.
the train schedule for the whole country fits on two A0 pages (!!!) like the departure schedule for hanover or dusseldorf central station. one is for direction north, the other one for south driving trains.
during shabbat almost all buses and for sure all trains are stopped... and at yom kippur also taxis and sheiruts...
(besides that its more than recommended not to drive as 'alien' - for jewish its forbidden like washing, eating, tv, sex, ... 26h)

waether... hmm... during my first 6 weeks i never used a blanket to cover myself while sleeping... in august an early morning temperature of <25 degrees was rare... like clouds at the sky. for desert see my report of the trip.

i think i will add more impressions soon

Jordan Day 1

moin moin!

well last weekend we had jewish new year - 4 days off... great for a longer trip... jordan with the ancient city petra was calling.
i took the night bus (the national bus company Egged operated 17 busses on this one line at this one departure time!!!) and arrived next morning close to sunrise in eilat. thanks to god that i had to take the bus just oneway :-)
I took a coffee and passed the border. just walking through and stopping for exit fee and passport controls. a few m9inutes later i was in aqaba.

at arrival in aqaba it was already 8am... time to find a budget accommodation... wasnt so easy because not everyone had 24h reception and most of the otehrs were openeing at 10 or so...
but done quickly - afterwards i slept a bit andf started preparing my trip to petra next day (and wadi rum teh day after)... several options like paying a taxi (after negotiating) or taking the minibus which is 'scheduled' for 7am but leaves when full... or a tour operator... after a while this was managed too. time to get to knwo aqaba... yeah

while walking on the footprints of lawrence of arabia i discovered this city... later swimming at the public beach which was horrorable full of glass and so on... swimming with sandals... as i was the one and only non arabic there i was teh attraction for the kids. half an hour i played with them in the water.

sitting at the beach i enjoyed the sunset over teh egypt mountains and talked with yound arabics like my age. one invited my for a drink and we exchanged email addresses. was really nice. his grand parents are originally form palestine but he was really neutral and opend minded. a wonderful talk and nice way to get an impression of local minds.

at 9pm i left for shower and dinner... the locals told me already its off season and have is closed (thats why my hotel was empty). humus, falafel... everything i know from israel... i headed on for local food. later i enjoyed the promenade with perfect view on illuminated eilat and went to bed early. i could the bus riding night in my bones...

"Shas ministers refuse to accept German-made cars"

Providing Israeli cabinet ministers with German-made cars is "offensive" and "irresponsible," Shas ministers said Monday, adding that they would not accept the vehicles as their new official transport.

[...]

"I think it is very inappropriate for the government to provide ministers, its highest elected officials, with German cars," Minister-without-Portfolio Yitzhak Cohen (Shas) said. "It is a very sensitive issue, especially for Holocaust survivors and their descendents."

During the Second Reich, Adolf Hitler and other top Nazis were often photographed in Mercedes cars. Mercedes and other German-made products became associated with the Nazi regime and were subsequently boycotted by Jews across the world.

"Israel has a long history of avoiding products that are associated with the Nazi regime," Cohen said.

[...]

11th September 2007
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411379645&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Golan heights, sea of galilei...

Moin moin!

last weekend we traveled to the north east - well known as golan heights. and for everyone who does not know it -it belonged to syria until teh 6 days war in 1967. if you think this is enough to be too dangerous... the evening before syria proclaimed that the israeli air force entered their air space and the thinking about a 'suiting answer'...

ok... except the air defence troup with there anti aircraft misslies standing around (well hided more or less between trees) nothing pointed out the war history and presence of this region. after it should change soon... we arrived at our first destination... fences with a nice yello plate saying that behind everywhere are mines... and to teh other side too... particular the path wide was less than one (!!!) meter. and of course its desert region. desert... i think form movies you should expect dead animal bodies and bounes laying around next to streets... almost right... but the cow with broken leg was directly in the middle of the path... well the bones left form the cow... further ahead our way we found many more...

after a while the trial got really cliffy - i couldnt follow the others with my right leg (still after last years november shit)... i lost them and hiked on 2h... i asked before if we will go tback or if the trail is a circle... yes its a circle - hahaha... 2h later it became already dark i asked a local for help, gfirst i got water and then we tried to call my mobile phone because i left it with my wallet in someone else backpack for water and loose protection. after picking it up the connection was so bad that they just understood names i said... but replied in english... i got scared - may be i was wroing with my number. anyway without my mobile i had also not the numbers of the others.. internet should be teh solution because i got other mobile number s by mail or commjunities. the nic elocal guy dorve me to the next police station. they were more than helpful but without internet they oculdnt help me in any way. they advised my to call my embassy... welcome to the visa department - ahhhh... in emergency case please call... finally
the woman at the german embassy emergency phone asked we what she should do. she had no idea - me neither at the beginning. i just gave her my log in data and password and guided here though my mailbox... after a while and mor emember sin this 'rescue' chain i got the others and they picked my up. later they told me the ywanted to alrert the army... not thinking about police. alright :-D why taking just half things.



the night we spent at a camping ground at the sea of galilei... nice expect the horror duck walking around and the flies form sunrise on. last one is everywhere in israel :-(
the day was perfect for spa... recovering... 36 degrees outside... with hto thermal water of 42 degrees - welcome in a cooking pot :-D
anyway i more than enjoyed it. on our way back we stopped in tiberias for dinner and little sight seeing... you knwo its the place where jesus walked over the water accoring to the bible... i think we all thinking it was the dead sea where i walked over...

Daniel the potential terrorist

Moin moin!

The last 7 days.. hmm... lets start today. Like every day i went to the train station today. The security guard checked my and randomly (at leats in my eyes) they are asking for passports. I showed him my German ID card. He took it with my backpack to the side and i had to wait :-(

then he lokked closer to it. After checking the content of my backpack he saw my digicam and told me not to take pics in the train. yes sir, but sorry i am commuting every day - dont take pics... rest you can think on your own... while i waited a lady told him in hebrew that i am every day taking the train. we are taking the same bus... it was the first time my german Id card blocked me! normally it fasten up the security check... hmm... i need an id card showing me as an IDF officer - its like god here

ok i went up to the platform. half minue later an other guard came and before passing by at my point he took his gun in his hand...

i am dangerous!!! even without having real weapons.

oh by the way last week i was at the rabin memorial (whewre the prime minister was assacinated in 2005). its just 4x4 meters but for a better photo positionj i put my backpack on the ground next to a chair and walked around... thanks to god no one called the police or IDF but many passing by people looked at it more than scared

besides that i asked my supervisor for a typical israeli or hebrew restaurant - we dont have typical local food. its a mix form everywhere esp. russian and arabic food...

Trip to little Arabia and Beaching

Moin moin!

Hmm the week is half over - or still half to go?

Anyway last weekend i really recreated... a whole day at the beach without accident or similar things. On thursday night i went to Haifa, the big city in the north. The had a beer festival - i got local, german and irish beer :-)

on friday we went to Akko, a small city half hour ride from Haifa. What is so special? Its arabic dominated. Besides typical markets and mosques and water pipe smokingwe walked a bit around the former fort of the city directed to the sea. just a half day trip. in the evenig we just went out for a drink

as you can see i can spend my time are on an energy filling way too.

Oh i just forgot to mention the best Humus restaurant in whole Israel - even the Israelis saying that the arabs can make better Humus