The food, What took me so long to blog about this?

Just a salad prior to the main meal AND See the onion to use as a scoop?

I thought I was pretty familiar with Middle Eastern food before we went on this trip.  We eat a lot of hummus and pita and salads.  Well I was very surprised about what I did not know.

Every meal, 3 meals a day, we could have a variety of salads.  At sit down meals, we were served salads which easily could have been the entire meal AND then they brought out the main meal.  The salads were amazing, Turkish salad, Israeli salad, Red cabbage salad, garlic salad (this one we had at a restaurant in Bethany and I definitely need to replicate it).  

In Haifa, my second favorite restaurant on the trip

Once I got home for the first few days I repeated the salads to hang onto the memory of how good they were to eat and for us.

In Haifa, we visited a restaurant Villarica which had just been open for 2 days.  They touted their salads, and we were still early in the trip so we did not realize why.  Now we know why.  They had spectacular food as well, such that we went back a second night when we were on our own.  Ordering and paying for our meal the first night is an entirely different blog post.  Stay tuned.

In Tel Aviv, based on recommendations from a couple in our building we went to Balinjera, which was Ethopian.  This was probably one of the best meals we had.  It then caused us to research why there were so many Ethopians in Israel.  Operation Solomon

And the sweets.........one of the travelers had not had Halva before this trip.  She became the Halva lady.  Another woman loved hummus, any meal any time and she became the Hummus lady.  

In Tel Aviv our local guide asked us "What is Israel food?"  It was a trick question.  There is no Israeli food since Jewish people came from all over the world and brought their food back.  She brought us to a Hummus kiosk in the Carmel Market which had amazing hummus.  She also taught us to not waste the calories on pita bread and to use "leaves" of quartered onions to dip in the hummus.  We tried three different kinds once which had really soft eggplant inside the outer covering of hummus and one that had broken up falafel mixed in.

Some spectacular things we had were tamarind juice, fresh pomegranate juice, Bakar's Ice Cream in Rammaloh, a hummus restaurant in Haifa which had the moistest falafel and we watched it being deep fried.  

Owner of the best ice cream shop in Ramallah

In Nazareth, we went to a Schwarma place that was the equivalent of their fast food.  We also went to a spice shop there, which smelled amazing.  The clerk taught us about Mom's spice.  All the mothers there use 7 spices mixed in everything they cook so this particular shop calls it Mom's spice.

We also bought a small bag of some menthol crystals which we melted into water and sniffed it to cure our colds.  Definitely cleared out our sinuses.

Because of bad media this man has lost 5-6 busses 
cancelling a day

Appropriate restaurant in Israel

Home hosted meal at Christian Palestinian

In the Carmel Market, we sang YMCA with them.  They sang and danced all day

Home hosted meal in Jerusalem at Esther's house

The Halva lady and her patient husband

On the spot he made us Nutella and Labne in this bread

Where to buy the Mom's spice in Nazareth

Perfect timing I would say

I asked to take her picture.  "Whatever you want"

Meditating / Praying / Prcessing AND the houses of worship

I have not done an accounting yet AND I think we were in close to 40 houses of worship in 3.5 weeks. I guess it might be even more if we count some of the ruins of them.

Granted we were processing a lot of history, information, vistas, and complex human dynamic situations past, current and future.

For a start our guide in Jordan, Nad brought us into a mosque on our first day.  It was a Friday, and Friday noon prayers are the most important one of the week (I think I remember that correctly).  It was about 45 minutes before prayer and the carpet cleaner was busy vacuuming.  Nad knelt down in the middle, and we all sat crossed legged around him.  He pointed out on the carpet the lines where people praying knelt.  DUH!  I have been in mosques before but had never observed those.  Nad spoke very softly to not disturb others who were already getting themselves ready.  He pointed out the Arabic sayings in a circle around the walls just below the ceiling, the "Names and Attributes".  This was such a great introduction to mosques and Muslims.  

That noon call to prayer was the most powerful one for the entire trip.  All of the mosques in Amman announcing their calls to prayer, and us positioned on the hill near the Citadel listening to all the sounds.  

Mt. Nebo

After that for most of the houses of worship we entered, I was drawn to a seat/pew, folder my hands, closed my eyes and meditated.  It centered me, it calmed down my racing mind about something I had just heard that was outrageous or touching.  It slowed my heart down.  It allowed my heart to open to the next opinion we heard, or next invasion or genocide we heard about.  

In Abu Gosh in Israel, Issa actually showed us how he put his hands together, where he put them on his stomach and repeated the prayer.  After that I folded my hands the same way when I meditated.  As a Unitarian Universalist, this is creating my theology and spirituality from the world religions.  Pretty soon on our journey it did not matter whether it was a Romanian Church, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic or sitting on a bench in a quiet part at the Israeli Museum. The meditation could take a few seconds or a few minutes.  I listened to what my mind and body needed.

Found this just walking around the Old City

Mosque in Bethlehem

Mount of Temptations

Once again the Media is doing us no favors but I guess that sells ads

Young women from Nablus at Mount of Temptations

 The media is doing us no favors again.  Before we went on our trip and for years before when I mentioned I was going to Israel almost everyone said "This is not a great time to travel there" or "Do you feel safe traveling there?"

Mostly in Palestine and Jordan, and to a slight degree less in Israel, everyone we met treated us so well.  In Palestine, everyone we talked to thanked us for coming and asked us to convey to the folks back home that it is not a dangerous place.  I am not so naive to think that there is not tension in this area, or that people are NOT being killed because of political tensions.  People are being killed every day there.

I was in despair the lunch we had in Samaria when the owner said that tour groups are cancelling at the rate of 5-6 busses a day.  I think this is mostly because the media is conveying to US viewers that the area is not safe.  The company we travel with would never put us in danger and I suspect that we spent a bit more time on the bus rather than getting out to enter another house of worship, or make our way around another set of ruins, or shop in another souk.  

In Jericho, as we waited in line to go up the cable car, some young women from Nablus were taking pictures of us secretly and giggling.  We gestured that it was OK to take our picture and in fact a few of us did selfies with them.  The teacher said they don't see that many Americans.  I stopped to engage them in conversation as we made our way up to the Monastery on Mount of Temptations.  I spent so much time with them that my group was pretty far ahead of me.  I was not nervous at all to be separated from the group.  At the entrance to the Monastery were piles of shoes, so I took my shoes off.  I was pretty used to removing them by then.  When I caught up to my group the guide said "Where are your shoes?"  "I took them off as everyone else was doing" I said as I looked at the rest of our group who all had their shoes on.  He was genuinely worried for my shoes I think.  I was not worried at all and was actually glad I removed them.  Most of the other visitors were Ethiopians on their sabbath making a pilgrimage.  We saw the rock that Jesus allegedly sat on and fasted for 40 days.

He walked around to shake all our hands

All this to say that the media is doing a disservice by conveying that traveling to Israel and Palestine is dangerous.  We are hurting businesses in Palestine who depend on tourism.  They are being pushed and constrained in so many ways that this is just adding to their plight.

He is having 5-6 busses a day cancel

I am so glad I went on this trip and interacted with the local people and learned so much.  I never felt unsafe, in fact I feel less safe sometimes walking through City Hall Park, a block from my condo.

2023 - Jordan Israel Palestine - "Did I saw it's complicated?"

This will the first of many posts about our trip to the Middle East.  

Did I say it is complicated?

In Tel Aviv we had a local guide Moran.  Early on she taught us how to pronounce it (emphasis on the MO not the RAN).  She had been a tour guide for the entire 2-week trip but then had 2 children so now just does the daily Local Tour.

The highlights of Tel Aviv during our time with Moran were the Graffitti/Wall Art and the visit to the Market.

Our group always asked many questions and after a particularly complex answer she would tilt her head and say "Did I sat that it's complicated?"

This stuck with me for the entire trip.  EVERY topic we discussed was complicated.  It is a small geographic area with so much different kinds of history and culture and geology and religious history.

She asked us whether Graffiti is art or vandalism.  A 30 minute discussion ensued.  I posted this same question on Facebook and got many responses.  One particular one paraphrased was "Anything done to another person's building to deface it is Vandalism".  

Vandalism or Art?

That sort of entrenched opinion was what I experienced during every home visit or conversation with someone on our trip.  The Israeli Settler, the high priest's brother who was a Samarian, the Orthodox Jewish woman etc.  

Moran introduced us to a Very Very Very good Hummus shop in the market.  She also taught us to eat hummus with quartered slides of onion.  Try it.  We had three different types of hummus and this quick visit has blown my brain about making hummus in the future.  Stay tuned.......

This vendor danced and sang all day

"Better to be looking at it than for it"

Me with Annemarie, the originator of the expression "Better to be looking at it than for it"

One of our fellow travelers on our latest Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) trip used this expression early is our travels.  

"Better to be looking at it than for it".  

At first I had no idea what it meant and since my learning style it to do it and talk about it, by the end of the 2+weeks together I had a clear understanding of the phrase.

Just now in a text conversation with another fellow traveler I used it and chuckled once more.  Today's situation is a discussion of whether we need a PCR test in order to enter Jordan on our upcoming trip.  The Jordanian website and our detailed materials from the travel company disagree so I called the travel company.  They also referred to the Jordanian official state website that appears we DO NOT NEED A PCR test.  However, the customer service persons at OAT said, sometimes airlines have a different requirement than a country so be safe we are going to get the PCR test.  In other words:

 "Better to be looking at it (the results from the PCR test) than looking for it (a test center in the airport to get a PCR test)"

We must have said this 100s of times in Africa on that trip but I have not really thought about it since until just now.  It is a very worthwhile phrase and has a lot of uses.  

Good and Bad Customer Service Experience AND Counting my blessings

I am not going to name this institution because why bother.

It is Saturday and I am trying to make a hotel reservation for a relative who needs to be near their sick relative.  I go to the website of a hotel my family has used since the 1970s and there is a phone number to make a reservation.  I do that, good doobie that I am and for 45 minutes I am on hold "32 callers ahead of you" "31 callers ahead of you" "21 callers ahead of you" etc.  

I lost patience since I was on our road trip with dodgy cell coverage so I decided to hang up. Mind you I had been on hold for a while, and my relative was waiting to hear what hotel I had booked so I called and got through to the front desk.  

The person at the front desk could tell that I was frustrated and did the exact wrong thing "Ma'am I cannot talk to you with that tone in your voice" and hung up on me.  I was gobsmacked.  We have been staying at this hotel for 50 years and had never had anything but stellar customer experience.  I empathized with him knowing that COVID and PTSD has hit us all including me. AND I was frustrated and angry and impatient. 

I called back the same number I had just been on hold for 45 minutes with.  Why did I keep trying this hotel?  I am a loyal person and our family has used this hotel for over 4 decades.  I got "32 callers ahead of you" etc.  I waited 25 minutes this time.  I finally got a live voice and requested the room.  

It was so painful to give her my personal information to rent the room and the personal information of my relative.  Multiple times she repeated back the wrong name, number or letter.  AND just as she put me on hold right after getting my credit card number and security code she said "I am going to put you on hold to get your confirmation number........" 

Wait for it, the line went dead.  

You can ask Murg but I could have had a heart attack right then I was so frustrated and angry.

I called the hotel right across the street from this one and made a reservation in 10 minutes.  The two experiences were night and day.  I know this is a first world problem and I lead a very privileged life and in the grand scheme of things this was not a huge deal.  My relative had just had a stroke and it was unclear how bad it was.  This put my own life in perspective.

A few days later I called the original hotel back, explained the situation and the Manager was excellent.  He said they had rooms that night and the process was for the front desk person to make a reservation. He reassured me he would address it and gave me his email address.  I felt much better and might stay there the next time I am in that area.

My learnings,

• In the grand scheme of things it was not such a huge deal that I insisted on making it
• The person at the front desk, and the person on the phone deal every day with impatient, demanding, angry people like me.  YIKES I cannot imagine implementing all those techniques I taught so long ago in customer service training.
• COVID has effected me and most of the rest of the world
• I have a choice about how to react to things and do not have to wind myself up the way I did
• I am human and will make mistakes AND hopefully learn from them

EPIC Road Trip 2022-2023 Sofy's experience

She learned to push the button 5 miles from home on our return

We got back on Friday January 13th from an epic road trip.  Murg collected the statistics on the trip and posted on FB:

"Epic roadtrip complete

Sat 11/19/22 thru 1/13/23

54 Nights in 2 houses, 8 hotels, 3 AirBnB

21 States (one new one for me - Michigan)

8,080 miles

19 families with 45 individuals visited

Sofy lost count of the number of dog parks visited but did learn to open the car window herself during the last three days on the road."

The biggest reason we drove to Tucson was because of Sofy. OK, not the biggest reason but a huge factor.

Our car was a Tetris puzzle and Sofy's block was right behind the passenger seat. Before you start to even feel sorry for her for one single minute, trust me, she had plenty of space. She could not have the window opened on the highway but we opened it a crack or a few inches when on non-highway traveling.

We had her water dish and food dish readily accessible and a few toys to play with which she ignored and looked at disdainfully: 

"You want me to play with that thing AND keep track of every truck, car, RV and squirrel on the horizon?"

On our VERY LAST DAY we found a marrow bone at a truck stop, bought it on a whim and she gnawed at that for the entire day. Why did we not buy her a bone before that? As an aside, truck stop convenience stores are the BEST, and change depending on the part of the country you are in. We could have wasted a lot more time browsing them if we did not have a destination for that evening.  

DOG PARKS: Our most common search on Maps was "Dog parks close to me". We found some terrific ones. The best one was the dog park combined with a Disk golf course. I cannot understand who thought that was a good idea. Sofy only chased and stole one disk from a dog owning player. When we pulled up to this particular course, it was not fenced in like many of the others, and Sofy took off like a bat our of hell across a ravine. She usually kept an eye on us, because who wants to be left in the middle of Oklahoma or Minnesota? Rescue dogs in general worry about being left and apparently Australian cattle dogs are attached to a single family member. Truth be told Sofy kept her eye out for Rod, and if he was not in view she looked for me (chopped liver). As long as we got her a long dog park run, she was tired enough to sleep for an average of 23 minutes in a day of driving. Someone in the car had to keep their eye out for those squirrels.

SLEEPING: Every hotel we booked had a king size bed. The first few nights we brought her dog bed in from the car and gave up after that. She slept some where around us on the king size bed more often than not on Rod's side leaving him about 9 inches of space for his legs.

The very best hotel for Sofy in the entire trip was Magnolia in St Louis. They have a person with a job description of PET CONCIERGE and they do not charge for pets. Sofy got a bag of dog biscuits upon arrival and because she is so special she got some when we left. We had a 20 minute chatty conversation with the pet concierge. They hand out a list of pet friendly restaurants, close dog parks, vets, doggie day care facilities, pet stores etc. Take note all of you hotel owners (usually chains) who charged us $75 as a non-refundable pet cleaning fee. Part of my search for the nightly least expensive hotel, was their pet charge. In a pinch we had to pay $75.

Once we got to Tucson we discovered that our AIRBNB was .5 miles from a really nice dog park. We met a lot of snowbirds, and their dogs. For 6 weeks Sofy was a regular there.

EATING: on our westbound trip Sofy ate one bowl of food for the entire 4.5 day trip. Even at home she is not food driven and does not gobble her food. Eastbound she averaged one bowl per day on the 10 day trip. She did finish ice cubes from drinks and I bought her Slim Jims as her treat.