From Dahab, Egypt to Perdonone, Italy

3/15 - 3/19
Today was our typical chill before travel day. The biggest thing to happen was having dinner with Matt and Katie - the guys I was originally going to couch surf with. In hindsight, I wish I would have because they didn’t live that far from where we were staying anyways.
The next morning we took the 10:30 bus to Taba - the border of Israel and Egypt. As we drove along the Red Sea the landscape mesmerized us and all the opulence of the Hilton’s and Marriot’s disturbed us, lol.
Crossing into Israel was a treat. Though the security was tight and our bags were checked thoroughly, the people were lovely. On the other side, we exchanged some Egyptian pounds into shekels and took a bus to Eilat. Eilat is like a playground for the rich - malls, Imax, pubs, haunted houses (yes, there was a haunted house). We found the cheapest place we could and grabbed some falafel on the street. After hitting a supermarket we chilled in the room. It’s very bizarre being in a 1st world country again. Buses that run on time, pedestrians having the right of way at cross walks, restaurants that sell margherittas!!! Lol It’s going to take some getting used to.
The next day we ran a bunch of errands - Eric bought a watch, we bought our tickets to Milan, Italy and our bus tickets to Jerusalem. We had been hearing a lot about rioting and stuff going on since Biden’s visit but we figured, what the hell - ADVENTURE! Most of the scenery along the way was desert until we reached the Dead Sea. Gorgeous!! We actually should have planned better and went there first but no worries.
We arrived in Jerusalem and were overwhelmed by it’s beauty and history. From the station, we took a cab to Old Jerusalem in search of a cheap hostel. Once there - amidst many (and I mean MANY!) armed guards, we walked through Damascus gate and were confronted with commercialism. It seems as though very square inch of space is occupied by shop after shop selling everything from pashminas to pomegranate juice. I just never expected it I guess. These worn down cobblestone streets where hundreds of years of footfall have echoed are not home to such extensive retain, wow.
We inquired at several places until settling on a 35 shekel a night hole in the wall. Also, it’s winder here and COLD. We had to borrow a heater the first night to sleep. Once situated in our room we went out in search of food and money. In the process ended up at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - where Jesus is supposedly buried. It was unexpected and kind of a madhouse. We tired to wind our way back through the streets to our hostel - discovered a great little falafel place. The man informed us he’d been making them there for 53 years. Yowza! That night sleep was difficult because it was so cold and my mattress was shit.
Today, I awoke long before the boys (as usual) and after my morning rituals decided to venture out on my own. I decided to follow the stations of the cross along Via Delorosa. It was sort of amazing to be seeing these places I’ve heard so much about growing up southern Baptist and even now - through I don’t feel any strong connection to them - am still sort of awed by the energy of the place.
The stations ended at the Holy Sepulcher. I stood in line to go inside and see Jesus’ tomb. While waiting, I met a fascinating woman who was there on a pilgrimage with a group of people from Canada. We had a wonderful conversation about spirituality and religion and I met some other people from her group, including a very handsome priest. AT one point, they made the remark that I was now part of their group and he then said to call him ‘daddy’..I’ll call you daddy alright!
I then meandered through the ever winding streets until I happened upon the wailing wall and the dome of the rock…where there is supposedly a footprint of Abraham before his ascension. I sported my yamulca and walked down for a closer look. I don’t know much about Judaism, but watching and listening to the men pray was fascinating. Some outside with the shawls over their heads and their low voices while the Hassidic Jews were inside, wavering back and forth while chanting something from a book.
I walked around for a bit trying to get in to see the rock but it seemed like there were guards at every entrance checking ids and I’m certain (though I didn’t have it) that my passport would not have been sufficient.
I grabbed lunch (falafel yet again) and walked around the Armenian quarter. Somehow I found myself outside the walls so I wandered up Jericho road before realizing I was at Gethsemane. From there I saw the tomb of the virgin Mary and proceeded up the Mt. of Olives, exploring all the churches and graveyards along the way. Once on top, the views of Old Jerusalem and the encroaching city were spectacular. I then retraced my steps, found an outdoor market for some dinner and returned to the hostel. The boys are not back yet but I am sure they have equally interesting stories to tell. I did forget to mention that directly across the street from the Jaffa entrance is a newly build mall that houses everything from Tommy Hilfiger to the Gap.

3/20 - 3/29
The next day the boys wanted to do Mt. Olive and I wanted to see the room of the last supper as well as Shindler’s grave. We accomplished all that and in addition, I bought 2 new T-shirts for cheap! We had thought we’d finish in time to do Bethlehem, but that was not the case.
The following day we headed to the Dead Sea. It took some time getting there and the first bus didn’t drop us in the greatest place but 2 bus rides and 60 shekels later we were rewarded with a float in the sea and a little exfoliation mud treatment. Once again we thought we could squeeze in Bethlehem but time was not on our side. Nick and I decided to go early in the morning.
We arose around 7 to catch the bus by 8 for the 8 mile ride to the city of Jesus’ birth. Bethlehem is still in Palestinian territory so it was interesting to see all the guards with guns again. We visited the church of the Nativity which was beautiful, had some falafel and then headed back to the bus stop for the return trip. We were told we had to go through a specific checkpoint but no one seemed to know where or what it was.
We got on a bus heading back to Israel (or so we thought), the driver said that yes it was the correct bus. Once at the border, everyone got off and passports were checked. When it was discovered that we were American, we were not allowed back on the bus (it proceeded without us - even though we had already paid for the trip). We were told we had to go through the other’ checkpoint but again, no one could tell us where it was or how to get there. I mean, seriously? Is this your fuckin’ country or what?
Finally, a female soldier instructed us to stand at a place on the road and catch the next bus to the other checkpoint. Okay, so Nick, myself, and a elder Chinese gentleman (who’s English was not up to par)…waited. Upon arrival of the bus, I began to explain to the driver the situation but he stopped me with a grunt and an ‘I know, I know’ and told us to sit.
At this point, we figured he has dealt with the situation many times before and we would be taken to the other checkpoint at last. Oh us and our assumptions. This bus takes us back to where we started and then stops and says this is his final stop - where is it we want to go exactly? What? We want the other checkpoint!…but he doesn’t know where that is and can’t take us there regardless…hmmm.
We exit the bus to a line of cab drivers who all start fighting for our attention…wanting to charge an outrageous price to take us about 2k. I had already lost bus fair and wasn’t about to lose more, so we refused and began walking - with the Chinese guy following and the cabbies yelling about how far it was.
We enjoyed the walk through the city - being asked repeatedly by other taxi drivers if they could take us (the price got lower and lower but I became more and more obstinate, lol). We began to see the wall (the one separating Bethlehem from Jerusalem)…it was tall and ugly and covered in graffiti. All of which seemed to shout at the unfairness of the situation ad how everyone longed for peace. I don’t think I’ll ever understand how something that has gone on for hundreds of years had not found a resolution.
We eventually made it to the ‘300’ border and when we showed our American passports were whisked through without so much as a bag check. Now why couldn’t they have done this on at the other checkpoint? With China man in tow, we grabbed another bus and made it back to the Jaffa gate.
We met up with Eric for lunch and then I had decided to head off to Tel Aviv cause I was finished with the Old City. I was supposed to meet up with Shaya, the couch surfer by 3, but since I didn’t make it there till an hour later, I was forced to kill time walking around the ‘gay’ area (yes, I said gay area), malls and yes, a gay beach as well. Now I KNOW I’m in a 1st world country again.
When I discovered that he didn’t get off until 11, I touched base with the other guy from couch surfing (Asaf) and made plans to catch up with him for that night instead. HE ended up living very close to where I was hanging out.
Asaf is a nice guy who works for some sort of hi-tech company working on eco-friendly technology. He was very hospitable and opened his flat to me. I showered, we smoked some sheesha - called nargilla here - and then decided to go out to a gay bar - after a few glasses of wine that is, lol.
Okay, first it’s been awhile since I’ve been in the ‘gay\ scene and 2nd, Israeli men are beautiful. 3rd, I was definitely ‘fresh meat’. It made for an interesting night of head turning and I actually had it in me to approach someone for conversation and flirting. After about an hour and a half we went home and crashed.
The next day I explored some more and waited for the boys to arrive. Once there, we chilled out, then me Asaf when he came home between jobs and we coordinated with Shaya to meet him for a key and directions to his place. Shaya is an American who now lives here. He’s amazing and generous and full of information about the history of Israel, Judaism, etc.
The next day we explored Old Jaffa, enjoyed the flea markets and waterfront and made out way back towards Asaf’s to use the internet. We decided to cook dinner at his place so went shopping for supplies and told Shaya to meet us there. It was a very interesting night meeting more gay Israelis and watching their interaction along with Shaya’s commentary. I’ve gathered that though Tel Aviv is very liberal, open and gay positive (you can even marry here) that self-identity among gay men still seems to conflict with hundreds of years of culture and tradition. So most |Israeli men are comfortable having sex with other men but relationships are rare. (update: it wasn’t until we reached Italy and Eric and I were talking that he told us that a lot of the conversation that night had been negative and had been aimed at us. That they had slammed the meal we had provided and were talking about how scruffy and worn we looked. I wish Shaya had told me personally that evening cause I would not have stayed any more nights with Asaf. As generous as he appeared on the surface, I cannot stand people who are two-faced).
That evening I found myself having a wonderful conversation with a cute guy who I felt was equally flirting back with me. An hour or so into it, I told him I thought he was handsome (why wouldn’t I say that?) and it seemed as though I had dropped a bomb on the situation. Within moments he had changed his position and lost all interest in me whatsoever. Even Nick had picked up on it and wondered what the hell had happened. That sort of spoiled the rest of the night for me but to add insult to injury, I somehow had misplaced the Asaf’s 2nd set of house keys he had given me and he was forced to repel down his balcony in search of a spare set at a neighbor’s. I felt as though I was now the center of the negative conversation that ensued…going back to that old familiar territory of feeling backed into a corner and being picked on - which causes me to shut down, get angry and become overly sensitive. It’s embarrassing and it’s a process I wish I could eliminate from my reproiatoire. I went to bed that night angry with myself and a little sad.
The next day Asaf had said he was taking me rock climbing but instead, left early to take a friend out and ‘train’ him to repel - saying we would go later. Later never came and ultimately I felt like I was being punished. I got over that QUICKLY! I chilled most of the day and later when he returned, he had more friends over and we ended up meeting the boys and Shaya at |Laika, a neighbourhood bar. It was nice and low key but as the night wore on, found myself not getting to sleep until 5 am - with some help from a sexy Moroccan guy, lol.
The next morning - or later that same morning - I found myself hung over (which I hadn’t been in quite some time) and throwing up repeatedly before finally mustering the strength to walk the 2k to Shaya’s flat. That evening he took us on a tour of Old Jaffa - he knew tones about its history. It ended with tea and nargilla at a Turkish place where the guy tried to WAY overcharge us for everything. Shaya spent some time arguing in Hebrew to stop cheating us, lol. I returned to Asaf’s, thinking I was going to go right to sleep, but once again, there was a house full of people. Much flirtations and offerings of sleeping partners and all I wanted was to crash alone.
The next day, Sunday, we chilled and made plans to head to Akko, in the north, early the following day, in order to return before the country shut down for Seder. Late in the evening our plans changed when Shaya invited us to his Kibbutz in Lotan - in the south. We went to bed late and got up very early to catch the bus.
Yesterday, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery and arrived in Lotan about 11:30. A kibbutz is a commune, usually farm based and self-sufficient. I found myself really loving the concept and wondering if something like this could work in Africa. The evening ended with Seder, my first, and I was overwhelmed by the peace and wonderfulness of the strangers around me. It was beautiful and fun and warm and steeped in 1,000 years of tradition. It made me long for more structure and/or roots in my own beliefs. I want to study Buddhism more intensely when I get stateside.

3/30 - 4/1
Our second full day at the kibbutz was spent getting a tour of the entire place by Shaya. It’s a smooth operation - everything fro ecology programs to goat cheese making. Quite impressive. That evening we were invited to dine with Leah and David’s family - friend’s of Shaya’s. Once again, fantastic food, great company (Leah is a Rabbi) and we all watched the movie UP. Cute and quite funny.
The next morning we arose quite early in hopes of catching a ride to Eilat to change our bus tickets for earlier. We wanted to get back to Tel Aviv early enough to run some errands. Everything worked out and we were back by 4:30. I met up with Tom - a friend of Asaf’s and hung out before he went to work and I headed to Asaf’s to say goodbye. I spent a few hours with Asaf and then decided to head back to Tom’s to sleep. A free bed is much better than a floor ANY DAY!
This morning we got up early to get to the airport 3 hours early for check-in. It was quite thorough and exhaustive and at the same time, I was very happy for the security measures. We fly to Milan in about an hour. Another country…another continent…whew.

4/1 4/8
The flight to Milan was quick and uneventful but unfortunately it was delayed a few house so by the tie we took a bus to the city center, it was too late to buy a phone card and contact our free place to stay from couch surfing. We snagged an inexpensive hotel, grabbed some food and slept.
The next day we explored Milan, taking in Duomo, the largest gothic church in Europe and a walk along the most expensive shopping arcade - fairly boorish. We then took the train to Pordenone where Marlene was waiting to take us to her place in Aviano. This country is beautiful and as we drove through the small towns on the way, I realized this is what I always thought Europe would be.
Marly’s place is huge and we all felt like we were back in American for a bit - a fridge full of American food, meat in bulk size containers. It still seems strange though we only left Africa a short time ago. That night w chilled out, had dinner and slept. The next day we took the train to Venice. I had assumed we were going to spend a few days there, but a long afternoon and evening was sufficient. It was amazing and romantic - all the stories were true.
The following day we went to the base to do laundry and to see the base exchange (which is basically a Wal-Mart) and the commissary - which is a large grocery store that carries only American items. There is also a Taco Bell and Cinnabon there. We discovered that American military bases are ball designed to be these little bubbles of America so that soldiers and their families feel at home. I found it rather denigrating. It’s fine that my taxes go to help keep America safe but do I really need to pay for them to have Hershey’s chocolate and El Paso refried beans? Doesn’t make sense - especially seeing how in Peace Corps we are designed to adjust to our new surroundings by shopping locally - there isn’t any other option for us.
Walking around the ‘faux’ Walmart was weird and I felt strangely guilty. I wonder if that feeling will ever go away after my 2 years in Africa? We rented some movies and Leo (Marly’s Italian squeeze) got his Ps3 and games to bring back for us to play. We spent the next few days (guilt free mind you) spending hours upon end, gaming away.
Before going back to the house, we drove up and over the mountain to Piancello, a small skiing town where I had my first snowball fight in 3 years. That, and we froze our butts off. We then went to a beautiful, quaint village for some wine and cheese. Sitting there, looking out across the lake to the snow covered mountains……beautiful turquoise colored lake….damn.
After sitting down one afternoon and mapping out the final 7 weeks of our trip, we decided to do a quick 3 day trek to Switzerland - not taking into consideration how expensive it was going to be. We ended up spending more getting there and back than we did for our 2 weeks in Zanzibar, lol. BUT and it’s a big but…the train ride to and from Zurich was breathtaking. Winding in and out of the Alps, through tiny farm towns, raging water falls and rivers and snow capped mountains….STUNNING!
Zurich is an amazing city - clean, westernized, yet still retaining much of that old European charm. The hostel we had planned on staying at was full, so we found a cheap hotel and bought food at the local supermarket. The next day we explore our asses off amongst the streets, lake and river. Again, I continued to be impressed with the city. I really wanted to have a drink at a gay bar so did some research online and found a place I thought would suit me for later.
Let me also just say that the Swiss are definitely NOT prudish either. Every other corner has some type of sex shop or strip cabaret place. They seem to be like Starbucks (or Starfucks, lol) which are also everywhere! While piddling around at the hostel waiting to go out, I struck up a conversation with a woman my age, who was there alone. Turns out she’s there for the Dali Lama’s conference which would start the day we were leaving. She was fascinating and has studied all sorts of pro-active psychology and spirituality. She’s also recently discovered her own bi-sexuality, so between the discussions on Peace Corps, AID in Africa, ecology, materialism, sexuality, and spirituality - it was a brilliant evening. THIS is why I prefer staying hostels and couch surfing. Mel ended up inviting herself along to my gay bar excursion and Eric also joined in. We headed out around 11 and after walking about an hour, found the place and it was closed. Upon returning to the hostel, the gay bay close to there was just closing and we decided to head home. Along the way we found a dance club and enjoyed a drink and more great conversation.
We are now on the train heading back to Marly’s…tomorrow we are either heading to Slovenia or Croatia or Prague….hmmm…decisions…decisions…

4/9 - 4/10
We decided on Croatia and Slovenia cause they were closer and Marly didn’t feel like driving too far. We stopped first in Porec to explore and eat lunch then headed to Rijeka for the night. It’s much colder here and you could still find snow on the upper parts of the mountains. We stayed in a wonderful (probably the best we’ve come across this trip) hostel. The next day we headed to Lake Bled in Slovenia. OMG. This is definitely one of the most beautiful places on earth. It would be the perfect honeymoon place OR a wonderful place to spend Christmas. The lake is charming with an island housing a beautiful old church. A winding road leads up the largest rock face to an ancient castle. Though cold as hell, I LOVED it. The day was a bit overcast so my pictures didn’t turn out that well, but so be it. The images are forever burned in my memory. I also discovered my love for blackjack in the casino and wasted 20 Euro. We then made the 3 hour drive back to Pordenone.