Shavout. Also known as Pentecost for Christians, it is the day Jews celebrate the day God gave the Torah to their people. This year it was celebrated on June 12th. Awesome if you are Jewish because you get to rest and celebrate- no work! But not the best for us tourists because
in addition to the normal shutdown for the weekly Shabbat- Starting every Friday around 2pm and going through Saturday- there would be another day of the five full days we would have in jerusalem when there would be no Jewish businesses or government services operating. Most important for us- there would be No buses!
In addition to this major Jewish holiday, we were also in jerusalem during Ramadan. Ramadan is the lunar month every year when Muslims fast from sunrise to sundown. This didn't effect us too much but they did shut down entry to Palestinian territory on Friday and Saturday- the days when it is traditional to gather at the mosques. Bethlehem and the Temple on the mount were the only things we wanted to see in Palestinian territory, so we didn't experience too much inconvenience with ramadan. We did become more sensitive to who we were eating in front of though. In jerusalem and more so in Jordan, it is considered rude to eat or drink in front of someone honoring ramadan- unless you ask them. Tourists at Muslim restaurants are asked to sit inside a well - so that you wouldn't be eating in front of people passing by.
We found all this out on the first day there- Thursday- and had to plan the rest of our days around the holidays. We didn't want to leave our trip to the Dead Sea to the last full day-Monday- so we decided we would try to go to the dead Sea and back on Friday before Shabbat would start.
Challenge accepted!
Our trip to the Dead Sea started with our 6am alarm. By 7:20am we got on on jerusalem's one light rail train line at the City Hall stop headed towards the Central Station stop where we were told we would find the Central Bus station. After going past two floors of kosher fast food restaurants and shops of long beachy dresses for I'm guessing Muslim and Orthodox Jew women, that have to be covered from head to toe, we made it to the third floor where the ticket booth and bus gates were. A very fast talking lady from the Egged bus company helped us get our tickets to the Dead Sea and reserve our tickets to the Jordanian border a few days later. We rushed to our gate one minute to 8am, the scheduled departure time and we found a line of pure high school -maybe college-aged youth in shorts and backpacks, most of the guys with yamakahs- ready for a long weekend at the beach.
We got the last two actual seats on the coach bus and were surprised that there were five people after us that ended up sitting in the aisles. About 30 minutes into the ride we saw the sea and we figured our stop was coming up soon. We had gotten advice from our hostel that Kalya beach was an accessible by bus, a good day trip spot and it happened to be one of the closest to Jerusalem. We asked one of the youth on the bus where he was going and he said to "Daniel." That didn't make any sense to us until the following Tuesday when our bus to the Jordanian border passes by a resort town on the southern end of the Dead Sea with huge hotels with the names if David and Daniel. Aha!
Back to the mission at hand- The automatic stop announcements weren't very clear and we weren't sure where to get off or how to stop the bus, when a youth sitting next to Julio pushed a red button and just like that the bus stopped. We were the only ones who got off- not even the guy who pushed the button got off. Luckily we were in the right spot. We didn't get a chance to thank the guy or know how he knew that's the stop we needed. We walked about a mile to the entrance to a big sign that said Kalya Beach and a beach day club that charged 57 sheckels per person for use of their showers, bathrooms, lockers and beach chairs/umbrellas.
A few last pictures and a passion fruit frappe and we were off to the bus stop. Within twenty minutes our green egged bus arrived and we were back to the central station in another half hour. We still had about an hour of time to spare before "the whole world" closed down for Shabbat at two. We did it!
in addition to the normal shutdown for the weekly Shabbat- Starting every Friday around 2pm and going through Saturday- there would be another day of the five full days we would have in jerusalem when there would be no Jewish businesses or government services operating. Most important for us- there would be No buses!
In addition to this major Jewish holiday, we were also in jerusalem during Ramadan. Ramadan is the lunar month every year when Muslims fast from sunrise to sundown. This didn't effect us too much but they did shut down entry to Palestinian territory on Friday and Saturday- the days when it is traditional to gather at the mosques. Bethlehem and the Temple on the mount were the only things we wanted to see in Palestinian territory, so we didn't experience too much inconvenience with ramadan. We did become more sensitive to who we were eating in front of though. In jerusalem and more so in Jordan, it is considered rude to eat or drink in front of someone honoring ramadan- unless you ask them. Tourists at Muslim restaurants are asked to sit inside a well - so that you wouldn't be eating in front of people passing by.
We found all this out on the first day there- Thursday- and had to plan the rest of our days around the holidays. We didn't want to leave our trip to the Dead Sea to the last full day-Monday- so we decided we would try to go to the dead Sea and back on Friday before Shabbat would start.
Challenge accepted!
Our trip to the Dead Sea started with our 6am alarm. By 7:20am we got on on jerusalem's one light rail train line at the City Hall stop headed towards the Central Station stop where we were told we would find the Central Bus station. After going past two floors of kosher fast food restaurants and shops of long beachy dresses for I'm guessing Muslim and Orthodox Jew women, that have to be covered from head to toe, we made it to the third floor where the ticket booth and bus gates were. A very fast talking lady from the Egged bus company helped us get our tickets to the Dead Sea and reserve our tickets to the Jordanian border a few days later. We rushed to our gate one minute to 8am, the scheduled departure time and we found a line of pure high school -maybe college-aged youth in shorts and backpacks, most of the guys with yamakahs- ready for a long weekend at the beach.
We got the last two actual seats on the coach bus and were surprised that there were five people after us that ended up sitting in the aisles. About 30 minutes into the ride we saw the sea and we figured our stop was coming up soon. We had gotten advice from our hostel that Kalya beach was an accessible by bus, a good day trip spot and it happened to be one of the closest to Jerusalem. We asked one of the youth on the bus where he was going and he said to "Daniel." That didn't make any sense to us until the following Tuesday when our bus to the Jordanian border passes by a resort town on the southern end of the Dead Sea with huge hotels with the names if David and Daniel. Aha!
Back to the mission at hand- The automatic stop announcements weren't very clear and we weren't sure where to get off or how to stop the bus, when a youth sitting next to Julio pushed a red button and just like that the bus stopped. We were the only ones who got off- not even the guy who pushed the button got off. Luckily we were in the right spot. We didn't get a chance to thank the guy or know how he knew that's the stop we needed. We walked about a mile to the entrance to a big sign that said Kalya Beach and a beach day club that charged 57 sheckels per person for use of their showers, bathrooms, lockers and beach chairs/umbrellas.
On our way down we saw a sign that said do not immerse your head and do not swallow any water and to seek life guard help if so. Yikes! okay! (Soon we figured out why, with just a drop in your mouth or eye was extremely unpleasant. And a minute I left the water my arms broke out in hives. The lifeguard assures me that this happens a lot due to the 20 some minerals in the water, gave me aloe and assured me that it would go away in a half hour- which it did.)
We slathered on sun screen and slithered in on the super smooth mud that the Dead Sea is known for. It was no normal lake or ocean. You constantly felt an upward push. It was hard to stay standing. The water wanted to force you to float. We took our pictures of the Stunning mountainous background and our crazy-positions-while-floating pictures. We covered ourselves in the famous Dead Sea mud and yes, our skin was silky smooth. Amazing!
A few last pictures and a passion fruit frappe and we were off to the bus stop. Within twenty minutes our green egged bus arrived and we were back to the central station in another half hour. We still had about an hour of time to spare before "the whole world" closed down for Shabbat at two. We did it!
It seemed like the whole atmosphere of the city changed upon our return. It was bustling with everyone making last minute purchases. Orthodox men and women walking the streets with grocery bags and all that they would need for two and a half days. Leaving the bus station, there was a bakery with lively music. The young man at the register was dancing in place and snapping his fingers and periodically yelling "opa!" He told us he was happy that he would be on vacation soon. We asked about the cheesecakes in front of him and he tried to convince us to buy a whole one because "there will be no stores open until Monday." That was a dangerous proposition- two people, one cheesecake, in two and a half days. Definitely a possible challenge, but We opted for the slices instead.
Good job achieving one of your goals! And wow, what all you learned about two cultures and their customs!
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