Blog 2 Turkey, Blog 3 Israel
Blog 2 Turkey, Blog 3 Israel
February 9, 2009
Jerusalem, Israel
Dear Friends and Family,
Excuse us if we are writing too often, but we want to share our travels, experiences, and thoughts with you.
We just returned from a great week in Istanbul were we stayed with our old friends that we first met in 1960. By the way, their flat is on the 7th floor and it is 105 steps up – we only did it once a day. There are chairs to sit on and rest on each landing – thankfully, and Hinda needed to use them.
Istanbul is one of our favorite cities, and we have concluded that we could easily live there. It is a city of neighborhoods, and in each neighborhood there are all kinds of shops and restaurants. It is a city of 12 million people, and the traffic is horrendous, but there is a large bus system as well as a very nice subway and an above ground tramway. And many people walk.
A day or two before we left the weather turned very nice and warm and made the remainder of our stay quite pleasant. We took a ferry with our friend to the largest of the Princess Islands – Buyuk Ada (Large Island), and the return trip to Istanbul at night with the city all lit up was truly beautiful.
Because of the speech in Davos by the Turkish President, Israeli travel to Turkey from Israel has dried up. Usually there are lots of Israeli's going there because it is close and cheap. On the day we went, on a Boeing 737-400, there were only 40 passengers. We actually were told not to tell anyone we were Jewish or that we came from Israel. So, despite President Erdogan's tough talk, the Turkish travel industry is offering trips to Turkey for 4 days including air, hotels, and all meals for less than $200, but it doesn't seem that many Israeli's are taking up the offer. Hopefully things will calm down soon. In fact, Turkey is trying to get an Israeli prisoner who has been held by Hamas for a couple of years released. Politics is interesting isn't it? We should also remind you that Erdogan is running for re-election, and on Turkish TV we saw his party giving away large major appliances, (they said it was for poor people – but who do you think those poor people are going to vote for?
We left Turkey with a bit sad because we will miss it and we will miss our dear friends, as well as the best food and desserts in the world as far as we are concerned. To be sure, we will be back for we will need to return to where our married lives began more than 48 years ago.
Here in Israel, we have been bouncing around between one or another of our family, all of who are anxious to have us stay with them and all of them are very gracious hosts. It is very nice of them and we are very thankful.
We spent a couple of days in the north, in the Galilee, and just this afternoon returned to Jerusalem where we spent the last day and a half in the Negev. This is a small, but very beautiful and diverse country – deserts; oceans, including the Dead Sea which is 400 feet below sea level and is the lowest place on earth; forests; rivers; fertile agricultural sections; and of course everywhere you step, you go back into history millennia.
One of the highlights of being an AJWS volunteer is meeting people from all over the world. One of these people we met in Uganda in 2004 and she was also volunteering there. We met up with her here, and tomorrow she is talking us to the tunnel under the Western Wall and to the City of David located just outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.
On this visit to the Negev we had a very interesting experience. In our guide book there was a description of an African Israeli community, and so since we were passing through Dimona where this community is located we tried to find them and find them we did. Guess what? This is a group of some 3,000 African Americans who started coming to Israel in the 60's. They do not consider themselves Jewish, but nor are they Christians or Muslims. In the 60's, they went to Liberia for 2 years to learn how to live in a place that was not like America, and many of them returned to the USA. The rest came here. It was fun talking and listening to this group with their American slang and customs. It seemed to us that they spoke very little Hebrew. They told us that they just got licensed to begin a kibbutz after 40 years of trying. In fact only one of their group has become a citizen and the rest are permanent residents. We remember a lot of the controversy surrounding this group over the years. Should they be allowed to become citizens? Who knows – it is not our decision. They are loyal to Israel, and even though their children at the age of 18 are not drafted into the army, most of them volunteer because they want to be like most other Israeli's. Anyway, it was an interesting experience talking and eating with them.
Well, tomorrow is a big day in Israel – Election Day. Nearly everyone tells us when asked that "Bibi" Netanhayu will be elected although none of them want him, but want Tsipi Livni instead. So if he is going to be elected and no one we have spoken to will vote for him, obviously some one will. We'll see what happens tomorrow. If he does win, it may be a challenge for the Obama administration, since he is a pretty conservative politician and the leader of a fairly conservative party.
So, Shalom for now. We leave for the USA on Saturday – Valentine Day. We had a great trip both here and in Turkey. After we get back, we will start thinking about our next big jaunt – volunteering in Kenya for 3 1/2 months beginning in mid June.
Love,
Peter and Hinda
February 9, 2009
Jerusalem, Israel
Dear Friends and Family,
Excuse us if we are writing too often, but we want to share our travels, experiences, and thoughts with you.
We just returned from a great week in Istanbul were we stayed with our old friends that we first met in 1960. By the way, their flat is on the 7th floor and it is 105 steps up – we only did it once a day. There are chairs to sit on and rest on each landing – thankfully, and Hinda needed to use them.
Istanbul is one of our favorite cities, and we have concluded that we could easily live there. It is a city of neighborhoods, and in each neighborhood there are all kinds of shops and restaurants. It is a city of 12 million people, and the traffic is horrendous, but there is a large bus system as well as a very nice subway and an above ground tramway. And many people walk.
A day or two before we left the weather turned very nice and warm and made the remainder of our stay quite pleasant. We took a ferry with our friend to the largest of the Princess Islands – Buyuk Ada (Large Island), and the return trip to Istanbul at night with the city all lit up was truly beautiful.
Because of the speech in Davos by the Turkish President, Israeli travel to Turkey from Israel has dried up. Usually there are lots of Israeli's going there because it is close and cheap. On the day we went, on a Boeing 737-400, there were only 40 passengers. We actually were told not to tell anyone we were Jewish or that we came from Israel. So, despite President Erdogan's tough talk, the Turkish travel industry is offering trips to Turkey for 4 days including air, hotels, and all meals for less than $200, but it doesn't seem that many Israeli's are taking up the offer. Hopefully things will calm down soon. In fact, Turkey is trying to get an Israeli prisoner who has been held by Hamas for a couple of years released. Politics is interesting isn't it? We should also remind you that Erdogan is running for re-election, and on Turkish TV we saw his party giving away large major appliances, (they said it was for poor people – but who do you think those poor people are going to vote for?
We left Turkey with a bit sad because we will miss it and we will miss our dear friends, as well as the best food and desserts in the world as far as we are concerned. To be sure, we will be back for we will need to return to where our married lives began more than 48 years ago.
Here in Israel, we have been bouncing around between one or another of our family, all of who are anxious to have us stay with them and all of them are very gracious hosts. It is very nice of them and we are very thankful.
We spent a couple of days in the north, in the Galilee, and just this afternoon returned to Jerusalem where we spent the last day and a half in the Negev. This is a small, but very beautiful and diverse country – deserts; oceans, including the Dead Sea which is 400 feet below sea level and is the lowest place on earth; forests; rivers; fertile agricultural sections; and of course everywhere you step, you go back into history millennia.
One of the highlights of being an AJWS volunteer is meeting people from all over the world. One of these people we met in Uganda in 2004 and she was also volunteering there. We met up with her here, and tomorrow she is talking us to the tunnel under the Western Wall and to the City of David located just outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.
On this visit to the Negev we had a very interesting experience. In our guide book there was a description of an African Israeli community, and so since we were passing through Dimona where this community is located we tried to find them and find them we did. Guess what? This is a group of some 3,000 African Americans who started coming to Israel in the 60's. They do not consider themselves Jewish, but nor are they Christians or Muslims. In the 60's, they went to Liberia for 2 years to learn how to live in a place that was not like America, and many of them returned to the USA. The rest came here. It was fun talking and listening to this group with their American slang and customs. It seemed to us that they spoke very little Hebrew. They told us that they just got licensed to begin a kibbutz after 40 years of trying. In fact only one of their group has become a citizen and the rest are permanent residents. We remember a lot of the controversy surrounding this group over the years. Should they be allowed to become citizens? Who knows – it is not our decision. They are loyal to Israel, and even though their children at the age of 18 are not drafted into the army, most of them volunteer because they want to be like most other Israeli's. Anyway, it was an interesting experience talking and eating with them.
Well, tomorrow is a big day in Israel – Election Day. Nearly everyone tells us when asked that "Bibi" Netanhayu will be elected although none of them want him, but want Tsipi Livni instead. So if he is going to be elected and no one we have spoken to will vote for him, obviously some one will. We'll see what happens tomorrow. If he does win, it may be a challenge for the Obama administration, since he is a pretty conservative politician and the leader of a fairly conservative party.
So, Shalom for now. We leave for the USA on Saturday – Valentine Day. We had a great trip both here and in Turkey. After we get back, we will start thinking about our next big jaunt – volunteering in Kenya for 3 1/2 months beginning in mid June.
Love,
Peter and Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 6:42 AM
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