may 19-22, 1999 hadera, israel ever since my arrival two weeks ago, the big event in alternative circles - besides the election - is the shantipi world music festival. somewhere a mix between cultural anthropology, serious party, and rampant capitalism, it's a long five day weekend during the shavuot holiday just off the coast between haifa and tel aviv, near a small town called hadera. an outgrowth, but now well-marketed version, of the renowned rainbow people festival, the roving ecological, modern-day hippie festival still promoting and living
Middle East, 1999, chapter 8, a little (feminist) reflection
may 24, 1999 haifa the train north from tel aviv stops abruptly - like many things in israel - blunt, abrupt - and i am in haifa. it's over 100 degrees in the shade (fahrenheit), but once again i am fortunate, a servas day host picks me up at the station. we go to her house, about half way up well-mannered, forested mount carmel, and from her balcony, we can see the immaculate white marble bahai temple. a much less daunting city than israel's other two leading religious and secular capitals, haifa feels like a working class city of russian i
Middle East, 1999, chapter 9, haifa, akko, and the dungeon master
may 24, 1999 haifa the train north from tel aviv stops abruptly - like many things in israel - blunt, abrupt - and i am in haifa. it's over 100 degrees in the shade (fahrenheit), but once again i am fortunate, a servas day host picks me up at the station. we go to her house, about half way up well-mannered, forested mount carmel, and from her balcony, we can see the immaculate white marble bahai temple. a much less daunting city than israel's other two leading religious and secular capitals, haifa feels like a working class city of russian i
Middle East, 1999, chapter 10, the tzaddiks of svat
may 25, 1999 safed, israel the next day i'm on my own again. i take the bus from haifa to safed, one of the four holy cities in israel. just like the three other holy cities which are connected with a specific element: hebron - earth, tiberius - water, and jerusalem - fire (naturally), sfat is connected with air. perched high up in the eastern mountains of the galilee, overlooking the hula valley, on the opposite side of the golan heights, svat (yet another city of multiple spellings) is home to the jewish mystics, or "tzaddik
Middle East, 1999, chapter 11, sleeping with camels
Sleeping with Camels this piece can be heard as it was radio broadcast on npr's "the savvy traveler" on december 7, 2001. click http://www.savvytraveler.org/show/rundowns/2001/20011207.shtml then click "Listen to the Whole Show", and fast forward to 32:40. "sleeping with camels" is an adaptation/condensation from the longer and preceding piece, "the great sinai". ------------------------------------------------- may, 1999 salaam/sholom, it's may, 1999. the middle east. israel. ehud barak has just been elected prime minister, appeared in rabin square at 3 in the morning in tel aviv,
Middle East, 1999, chapter 12, wadi kelt, jericho, marc chagall, & silence
"gold sky jerusalem" by yitzhak greenfield may 26 - june 1, 1999 jerusalem it's the next day. i've taken the "long" bus ride back to jerusalem from the upper galilee through tiberius, the "big" city on the "kinneret" (hebrew for sea of galilee). of course, "long" and "big" are relative terms in a country that is only 280 miles long and 85 miles across at its widest point. the one-time, 2nd century roman capital of the land of israel, tiberius, is now a rather middle of the road tourist attraction with trendy mud baths and expensive "st. peter's
Middle East, 1999, chapter 13, the great sinai
june 2 - 6, 1999 finally. this is the place i've been hearing about since arriving in israel almost a month ago. everyone, absolutely everyone, says "go to sinai." they say "the best" israelis go to sinai. the holy no-man's land wrestled over by egypt and israel for millennia. the home of the bedouin. the vacation play land of israel. the place to meet women. the place to kick back and chill. to forget about time and civilization. the best diving in the world. the price paid by israel to egypt for peace. now there are two ways to go to sinai
Middle East, 1999, chapter 14, cairo, mother of all cities
june 7-9, 1999 cairo so i never make it further south to another bedouin camp in sinai. i'm too full and content with my own ras es-satan/head of the devil. i do hitch a ride to terabin for a few hours, where i buy some more local sinai souvenirs - a black and white checkered pair of billowing bedouin pants and two copper decorative plates, one engraved with a smiling sphinx, the other with a frowning pharaoh. on the way back, i stop off at big and little duna, and i am even more convinced that i've made the right decision. i'm just not the k
Alexandria, Egypt, 1999 Middle East Chapter 15, Looking for Larry 2,
june 10-11, 1999 alexandria so now i'm on the 11:30 a.m. express to "alex". alex--andria. pride of the conquering alexander the great in 333 b.c.. home of cleopatra. marc antony. julius caesar. seat of learning of the entire ancient world. western outpost in the islamic diaspora. home of muslims, christians, copts, jews. the sensual, worldly, convoluted, mysterious -- al-iskandariya. but none of these are what brings me here. no, i'm here for one thing - for one man - only. lawrence durrell. and his great literary masterpiece, "the alexandri
Middle East, 1999, chapter 16, alex to jerusalem, the history of the tower of david
june 12, 1999 alexandria, egypt it's 4:30 in the morning. the sky is pitch black. i'm at the main bus station in alexandria. i have twenty four hours to make it back to jerusalem for lihran morav's bar mitzvah. i don't consider taking a plane - it doesn't fit my budget - or my philosophy. but when i say "main bus station", it's a bit misleading. there are three or four bus lines tumbled together in front of this larger station. it looks like a marketplace, completely chaotic. i'm running back and forth from one tiny stand to another trying to find my bus. no one speaks english. i've t