Camels!

Yes, there were camels! I don't think I had ever seen one outside of a zoo before. The one on the road seemed very blase about our approaching taxi--just took its own sweet time meandering across the road. One of our group, Haya, actually got up and rode on one, brave woman--I am saving that for my next trip :-) (it looks really high up on top of one of them!)

Sinai activities

Mary brought a kite from England and one windy day we all took a turn at flying it. Mary and Ellen got pretty good at it...I was pathetic and gave up quickly, but it was fun to watch. As soon as we started, three Bedouin children came over so of course they had turns too. I just love this picture of this girl who was so delighted with it. I don't think they get a lot of time to just play in their lives.

On New Year's Eve we headed over to a camp a few properties over...several Sudanese people ran it, and made a huge feast, then there was drumming and dancing. Our waiter from the Sultana came over too and impressed us with his incredible dancing--I don't even know what it's called--Arabic dancing? Belly dancing? Anyways, he looked like he had no bones in his body--amazing. It was great to usher in the new year on a beach with a diversity of people...reminded me last year of being with our friends Oscar and Mau on the beach in Guatemala.

K

Sinai, Egypt

Hi again!

More chronicles of holiday travel...Dec. 27 Mary and I took the bus from Jerusalem to the Israel/Egypt border, and then a taxi into Sinai. It is a great trip--amazing scenery past the Dead Sea, and incredible rock formations. Crossing the border required the most production of my passport that I think I have ever experienced. then we had to wait for a final stamp because the one guy who could do it was at prayers. Now THAT is something I haven't experienced in North America!

We stayed at a place called Sultana Village--separate stone cabins, on the beach--a really fun and funky place. It was sunny mostly but windy--I gave up trying to sit out in my bathing suit, but Mary is a tanning trouper so she was out there, despite the wind. I took a clue from the Bedouin women and wrapped a scarf around my head--really was much warmer!

One of the fascinating experiences for me was seeing Bedouins riding by on the beach, wearing robes and headresses, galloping along on their camels.

The area was really popular with Israeli tourist until several bomb attacks a few years back. Now they have done so much building of hotels and resorts, but some of them are half-finished, and some of them finished by abandoned because there are just not enough people. We were told though that later in the season, it is pretty busy there. Given the water shortage (it IS the desert) I can't imagine the ecological ruin of the area if all of the available accommodation was ever filled.

OK, I am going to do several posts so I can comment on the pictures--can't figure out how to intersperse them throughout the text.

K

forgot a picture

Hi again...here is a picture I left out in the last post...Mary in the Old City, in a bead and jewellry store.

Another post coming soon about Egypt--I need to get Mary's pictures of camels first!

K

PS--Good news, Mary's place in Vancouver is rented for February...not sure for how long but I think it is at least for a couple of months.

Jerusalem

Happy new year to all! Mary and I are back from our trip to Israel and Egypt, and I have been sorting through the pictures (discarding the many blurry and pointless ones I took--I'm telling you, digital cameras were MADE for photographers like me!)

I have so many impressions and memories, it's been hard to know even where to start. I just loved Jerusalem and was astounded by it. Even though I'm not at all religious, I have a Catholic upbringing and being in the places that were talked about in the Bible felt quite profound. We went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (one of the pictures here) where Jesus was laid after his crucifixion. And saw another church where Mary (the mother of Jesus) is purported to be.

And it's not just Christianity of course...I have never seen so many Orthodox Jews in my life--I remember going to New York City and being struck by all the men with black clothing, hats and forelocks--well, that was NOTHING next to Jerusalem! I was dying to take pictures but thought it would be kinda rude.

One of the pictures here, the gold roofed building, is the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim mosque. A memory that really sticks with me is being in the Old City, where so many stalls are, and hearing the Muslim call for prayers being broadcast...I have never heard anything like that before.

It is so quiet on Saturdays--almost no traffic, no businesses open...because it is the Jewish Sabbath and the city of Jeruselum is influenced greatly by Orthodox Jews. Commerce comes to a halt and there is no driving. It is truly a day of rest.

It was a delight to go to the market to food shop. All the fresh produce, the breads, spices, meat and fish, dairy--it was just gorgeous and everything was so delicious! Coming from the land whose national cuisine is fish and chips, or bangers and mash, well it was a delight. I ate homous there that tasted like none of the homous I've had in Canada...I swear I could have eaten it every day, and then alternate it with the falafel. Mary and I both swore to start diets once we got back to England, but she is doing better with it than I am.

We bought some Armenian painted tiles for our bathroom renovation this summer--there are so many gorgeous ceramics that it was bewildering to choose. And of course every shop keeper is like, how much do you want, I'll give you a good price, here look at these, do you want to take two? At first I felt bombarded but then I got into the spirit, either ignoring them or else haggling the price, even to the point of walking away til they lowered it. One of the pictures shows Mary in a bead stall--but I wish I could capture the beauty of the old city, with stall after stall after stall filled with gorgeous coloured things.

Because we were there at Christmas, there were TONS of tours, and many Christians overcome with emotion I guess, kissing altars and such. Christmas Eve we made dinner with the fabulous friends we stayed with, Ellen and Anat--both secular Jews, but quite happy to help us celebrate--you'll notice our "Christmas" tree, a big plant of theirs we decorated. On Christmas Day we went to Tel Aviv, about 45 minutes away--a much more modern city, also beautiful with some really great architecture. It felt so nice to have no Christmas hoopla--it was just a regular day there, people sitting outside having coffee, lots of great shops to look at.

Mary and I were so thrilled to stay with Ellen and Anat--they were so hospitable and we were so glad to have friends to share time with, after being a lot on our own here in Peasedown. And of course it is always interesting to see a place with people who live there.

We went past the Women in Black demonstration, where women (and men) are protesting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. I think, how hard to be a citizen of a country that you love, but whose government policy you hate...well, I guess I am starting to get a taste of it with Harper in power in Canada, but of course Israel has so much more conflict. It felt very peaceful and safe, though I would be reminded at times of the threat--like, going into the bus station to catch the bus to Egypt, you had to walk through a metal detector, and put your bags through an Xray machine...and also had to do that coming off the bus from Egypt, to even get into the bus station and then exit onto the street.

Another fascinating thing for me was hearing about being in the army. All Israeli Jews do mandatory military service when they're 18. I realized that I have never talked before to anyone who has been in an army--nor to anyone who has even held a firearm, let alone fired one.

I'll write another posting later about being in Sinai, in Egypt. There is just so much and I don't want to blab on and on and lose my readers! :-)

I guess to sum up, I think somehow in my mind Israel had an almost mythical status--it is so much in the news, so discussed, and often the images I've seen were of bombs or conflict. And when I went, I discovered a green and beautiful place, with flowers and great food, and a vast number of people living their daily lives, just like we all do.

I really loved it.

So more later--I have to get pictures from Mary's camera of the camels in Sinai--they made quite an impression on me. Last Christmas, being in a seaside town in Guatemala, it was the pigs roaming the streets that really struck me--this year it was camels wandering across the highway.

More soon!

Karen

Cheddar--not just cheese

Mary and I are so happy to have our friend Bill visiting from New Hampshire--he was working in Africa and was coming home through London, so added on a few days to come see us. We went to the village of Cheddar--yes, the original place where cheddar cheese was made, and is still made, and it is delicious!

but it is also the home of Cheddar Gorge, the largest gorge in England and now I know where the word gorgeous comes from haha! really you can see the amazing limestone cliff in the picture--we went up on top and went for a 3 mile hike, and it really is beautiful. There are tons of mountain sheep, or goats (I am revealing my ignorance of animal species here--maybe we saw both?) I took pictures of them but when I looked at them after, all you could see was a hillside with a vague brown speck on it so I thought I would spare you all the sight.

Bill and I went to the Roman Baths yesterday. Unfortunately I didn't think to take my camera but they really are spectacular. I had seen them once before but was impressed all over again. Those Romans were incredible engineers! Tonight Bill Mary and I are going to the Thermae Spa to enjoy the natural hot springs in a visceral way. Looking forward to it!

Mary and I are leaving next Tuesday for the holidays. We are heading to Jerusalem, to visit her friends Ellen and Anat. Another friend of ours from Galiano Island in BC is there too, so we are looking forward to a sociable time. Then we will head to the Sinai in Egypt for New Year's. Mary has been to these places before but I haven't, so I am very excited. We are leaving Dec. 18 and returning Jan. 6--what an interesting way to spend Christmas! Mary seems to think we will be posting to the blog while we are away--personally, I am not so sure, so if there is nothing new here for a few weeks, you'll know it's because we are just enjoying ourselves too much.

Look forward to hearing from all our friends about your holidays too. Hope they are happy, restful and fun for all.

Karen

Lisbon

Here are some pictures of Lisbon, which was really a lovely city. It wasn't hot, but much warmer than here, and sunny, so we really enjoyed the chance to sit outside on a patio, having a coffee or a beer. It was such a laid back city, easy to walk, friendly people, and very safe feeling too--we both just really liked it. It reminded me in some ways of Vancouver, being right on the ocean, two huge bridges as well as a ferry to get to the other side of the city...but then Vancouver doesn't have a gigantic statue of Jesus overlooking it (which is fine by me!)

The yellow tram or funicular climbs up the steep hills of Lisbon so we took it--because the hills are kind of steep, but mostly just because I wanted to take it. We also went and heard fado music Saturday night, while having dinner--we liked it, but got shushed by the management when we started to have a conversation over dinner while the music was on. Luckily they took lots of breaks so we did get to talk as well as listen.

I love all the pastel colours of the buildings, the tile work, the clay tile roofs. I thought there was a LOT of graffiti though (you can see it in some of the photos) and I thought that spoiled some of the beauty. Mary didn't agree--she liked seeing the expression of political views, so we agreed to disagree on that one.

The other thing that took me aback was that smoking was allowed everywhere--taxis, bars, restaurants--so we were in a lot of smokey places, and I am not used to that. I think we washed every item of clothing we took once we got home!

We didn't do so well on finding other lesbians. A couple of places we found on the internet were closed or no longer existed...and the bar life started a little too late for us (they didn't even OPEN til midnight, and not get going til 3 am.)

Mary has developed a bad cold, so is coughing and sneezing away, and just trying to rest up. We have company this weekend--Bill, from New Hampshire, who has been working in Africa and is coming back through England, so will stay with us for four days. We are SO looking forward to his visit.

Hard to believe it is December already. Weather here has been pretty good--not too cold, nt too rainy. We missed two stormy days while we were in Lisbon, which was nice.

All in all, life goes on and we are happy in our little country home. Hope you are all well too!

Karen