We are a few
minutes outside of Tel Aviv and the pilot has just announced that the
temperature is 27° Celsius, which would be about 83°F.
Stepping off the plane onto the runway, it is actually
about 80°F. It is very humid. We have about 425 passengers,
so it is taking a little time to debark.
Stepping down the stairs now, it is about a quarter
past 5pm as we leave the plane.
Boarding a shuttle to take us to the terminal. I
seem to have lost the rest of my group. I think they must have
taken the shuttle ahead of mine.
Long lines at the passport booths--takes several
minutes. Baggage is already ready.
We are led down a corridor to our guide, David
Jacobs. Ken and Rich knew him previously. He guided their
tour last year.
It is Thursday evening here. We are on a very
deluxe Mercedes bus on our way to Netanya where we will spend the
night. It is rush hour and so it will take about an hour to get
there.
David is warming the crowd with jokes. We are
moving down a very modern freeway through Tel Aviv and over to the
Mediterranean.
It is the beginning of the weekend here--Sabbath
begins tomorrow--which is the cause of the rush and traffic jams.
Our driver is Abraham, or Ibrahaim. He speaks
very little English.
We are almost out of Tel Aviv now. On one side
of the highway is Tel Aviv. On the other side is Ramah, where
Samuel is buried. This is Ramah of Samuel (I Sam. 1:19). Joseph of Arimathea's name is a corruption of
Ramah.
At the airport as we were coming out we saw an
Ethiopian family. There is a story behind that. Some of
these people were Jews who were smuggled out of Ethiopia several years
ago by bribing Sudan officials. Then there was a crackdown--Sudan
is a Muslim state--and the remainder of the people who were in transit
and still in the Sudan were put into camps. Some of the people we
saw tonight were brought out of those camps after several years to
reunite with their families. This is an ongoing process to give
people from 163 countries a chance to regather in Israel.
Because of traffic jams on the highway, we have taken
a side road through a small town. It looks very much like parts of
San Francisco, except that some of the signs are not in English. A
lot of them are in English. The hills are also like SF, but not as
steep.
The main highway is a very ancient road. In the
Roman days, it was known as the Sea Road, or Via Maris. Now it's
been turned into a modern multi-lane highway.
Tourism
is down to less than half. This means that a lot of the places we
are going to, we can just go right in. David says, for example, at
Capernaum there might be as many as 25 buses there at one time, but the
last time he was there by himself.
The hotel
room in the Netanya Sheraton is more like a suite than a room.
There's a separate area with table and couches, and then a balcony, a
room with a couple of single beds, and quite a large bathroom.
Closets all over the place.
Excellent dinner on
arrival. After dinner some of us walked down to the town
square. Business is so slow that the owners came out to invite us
into their various eating places. We walked back to the
hotel. The other men were ready to turn in, but I walked around to
the back to find the Mediterranean. There is a wide brick
promenade, but no way to get down the cliff to the beach which is only
10-15 feet wide here. I followed the promenade maybe 1/2 a mile
down several sets of stairs, but didn't find an entrance. Lots of
couples out.
Came back to the hotel and
discovered from the balcony that there is a wider beach to the
south. Followed the promenade 1/2 mile or so south and found steps
to the beach just to the right of the town square. Almost
deserted. It's after 10pm--shortly after 1pm at home. Called
Elaine and the office from the beach, using the cell phone. Good
connections.
Am sitting on the balcony to write
this using notes from my recorder. I am wearing shorts and
T-shirt. Very pleasant, even though it's past midnight. A
slight breeze and sounds of crashing waves. Very little sound from
traffic or the clubs nearby. Should be able to sleep now, although
my body is still on Utah time. We are getting on the bus at 8am to
go to Cesarea. Breakfast will be ready from 6:30am.
