The long flight over from Newark gave us some indications of the breadth of culture we were entering. Lots of Orthodox Jewish parents from the New York area working continuously to corral, entertain, and control their many infants and toddlers. Crying, praying, ipoding, movie watching while our professional airline hostesses worked non-stop to keep us fed, watered, entertained- and at times just seated. 4 bathrooms & 250 denziens waiting for the right moment to make a dash thru the tight aisles. Of course, it was a long flight and nightfall and sunrise were opportunities for the more religious Orthodox men to move to the front corner of the cabin facing east so that they could doven, swaying back and forth, to mutter the scheduled prayers.
The 5,000+ mile trp came to an end and we landed at Ben Gurion Int'l Airport on time at 9:22am Wednesday morning, Israeli time. We had been checked vigorusly by Israeli security at the airport back in Newark, so the processing thru customs at Ben Gurion was minimal and 30 minutes after landing we had gotten a "shayrute" (shared taxi) for the 1 hour's drive from the outskirts of Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem. The driver dropped us off directly in front of our apartment building. We had been forwarned that the building looked a bit shabby. It was. But the apartment itself is great! Modern, fresh and clean with a nice kitchen, wi-fi for our computer and a large maple kitchen table, pull out couch and TV in a common room off the kitchen. We cleaned up a bit and conferred with Duncan & Jem who had showed up on an earlier flight. Then it was off for a lenghty walk all the way into the heart of the modern city of Jerusalem. We could have taken bus or taxi but chose to walk 7-8 miles for the round trip. The day was warm and lush with Spring flowers and exotic vegetation everywhere. The city is in a dry climate, but irrigation is in all the public spaces, kinda like L.A. The buildings encompass a full range of heavy limestone block construction which has hues of rose and gold and is why Jerusalem is known as the city of gold. Although the buildings vary greatly in age, there is a uniformity in stone construction and general sense of style that gives Jerusalem a very distinctive style. The newer part of the city had 5-6 large construction cranes looming over the uptown area (Jerusalem is built on a hill). The bustle and traffic and people on the streets of all ages , from many different levels of Jewish tradition creates a hum of vitality and purpose.
We enjoyed our 3-4 mile stroll into town observing beautiful flowers and vegetation: orchids, bouganvillea, date palms, cedars, cactus, and lots of olive trees. We spotted lemon and orange trees around neighborhood dwellings throughout, many heavy with fruit.
Getting tired, we were running out of steam and settled in at a coffee/pastry shop for nourishment, rest, observation and reflection. Recovering a bit some small time shopping was next-up. The ladies shopped for scarves and hats (mostly scouting out for future purchases) and Duncan, Steve, and I bought Keppot (a.k.a.Yamulkes-the skull cap that male Jews wear ...some for religious reasons and some for more cultural reasons). It feels very good and right to be so openly Jewish, not being so assimilated into the wider culture of the non-Jewish world that makes up the largest part of our social experience. We put them on and wear them. We are Jews in our own land that openly declares that we belong here.
We confer as a group about getting a bus home, but the day has been too good and we don't wish to leave hurriedly, so we walk back as the day is dimming to our neighborhood, katamon, slightly below the German Colony. Jem & Duncan order pizza and the rest of us order combinations of pita, salads, hummus, grilled veggies. We eat at small tables set out on the sidewalk. Pretty exhausted, but no longer hungry. We make our way the last few blocks to our apartment and after minimally sketching plans, phone calls, email,&etc.- we collapse.


We walk thru Liberty park full