Shalom. It means both hello and goodbye in Hebrew (this is a very context heavy country). This is my second night in the Holy Land, though it seems like a week or so. I landed (only) yesterday morning at 4am, was picked up and taken to Jerusalem by my brother-in-law Ben, slept a couple of hours until 8am then woke and headed to the old city in hopes of seeing some goats slaughtered. Alas, there was no groggy, jet-lagged, where-am-I? experience because we didn't see any blood being spilled. Can't say I was totally heartbroken. It's a Muslim holiday now- the time of year that people make the haj to mecca. Today I ran around Tel Aviv, thru Jaffa, which is just the old city part of the city, on a hill by the water. I stood at the top of the hill, saw a storm coming in over the Mediterranean, felt the wind and looked out. I immediately remembered times I would do a similar thing when I lived in Barcelona, and indeed this was the same body of water, just the other side of the pool. Tomorrow I am teaching Palestinians video editing. This is one boring frikkin' trip....
So, some pics so far. My sister and her bosses. The excitement for a change of leadership is obvious in her office.
This guy was banging on metal in the middle of the sidewalk, yet somehow didn't want me to take his photo. Must be shy. He was apparently saying something about my mother's privates as I snapped this. How does he know....mom??!!!
Cool view from the top of the old city's walls. The surrounding hills are filled to the gills with graves. Old place. 
This man had made the holy trek to mecca, and in his honor his door was painted white. There were a LOT of doors painted white. Apparently there is some points system where your prayers count for more from a more holy place. Religion is stupid, and one day, sadly far off in the future, everyone will realize it. Thor, Zeus, other pagan gods are all gone and... somehow... the world is still working. Whew. 
This is German. Language is amazing, and the less I understand it, the more easily I realize that truth. 
