Interesting Characters

One of the best things about staying in hostels is that you meet so many interesting characters. In Israel, this is extra cool, because you meet some interesting characters that also happen to be slightly loony (although completely harmless) religious fanatics.

I met my first friend yesterday morning as I was washing my hands. We started up the usual backpacker small talk: Where are you from? What are you doing here? How long have you been traveling? Where else have you been?

She was a petite, energetic older woman with silver blonde hair and a shimmering cross around her neck. I don't think I should continue using actual names, so we'll just call her Ruth. When I mentioned I'd been working at an HIV center in Nepal, she said "Oh Bless you! That's so wonderful!" She then proceeded to tell me that she'd seen G-d heal AIDS twice and that you could heal anything through prayer, although most people just didn't try hard enough. I find this line of reasoning both ludicris and downright offensive and hurtful. But I didn't want to start anything, so I just kind of nodded and smiled. In my head, I wrote her off as a crazy and looked for an opportunity to leave the bathroom I was now trapped in. Ruth was quite a talker. But as the conversation went on, she seemed more and more interesting and less and less crazy. She told me stories of a preacher friend of hers who'd dedicated his life to providing meals to those with HIV/AIDS and how she'd spent some time working with him. She said she was trying to get a work visa for Israel so that she could help on this small farm in the Galilee. We ended up spending a bit of time together and talking. She was an incredibly sweet and friendly person, and I enjoyed talking to her. She had the attitude (as most of the Christians here do) that being Jewish is something to be admired and that we should all be allowed to believe what we choose. We just need to realize that we're all together in the faith thing, just practicing in different ways (Which is what I believe).

After a bit, we parted ways and I headed to the mall. Let me tell you, I missed the first world. I love Nepal and Egypt and I definitely don't need the comforts of the first world. But it was sort of comforting and familiar to be in a giant commercial mall. Plus, this particular mall has some really unique and gorgeous architecture and has very few chain stores. I didn't buy much, just some essentials (leggings for the cold and a conservative top for visiting Orthodox areas). After that, I went to the beach!!!! Oh man the beach. Let me tell you, the Mediterranean is gorgeous this time of year. The water is warm and the waves are incredibly pictaresque and magnificent. I walked along the beach for a few minutes and then met my second interesting character.

This woman was standing in the surf, looking out at the sea with such love and joy. As I walked past, she said something to me in Hebrew. I said "I don't speak Hebrew," and she immediately switched to English. She started up a conversation. She's Swiss and her accent reminded me of my roommate from Nepal. She's a Christian and a believer, as she says. She told me this story about how she suddenly heard Jesus's voice and started to really believe (I don't remember the story exactly). She also admires and loves Jews. She was such an interesting character because she took such joy from life. She'd randomly start laughing at the simple things like when a big wave came suddenly and came up to our knees. She was so full of life, which was refreshing. She says she doesn't like the official christian churches because she feels they've diverted from the real teachings. She says she was raised Catholic but turned against it because of how judgemental etc it can be. She said Christians shouldn't be focusing on Rome because nothing's really there. True religion and religious teachings came from HERE, Israel, and more Christians should get in touch with the religion's true roots. She was really sweet and at the end of the conversation, she gave me a giant hug and told me she'd really enjoyed talking to me. I've decided I really like all the Swiss people I've met and someday in the future, I'm for sure taking a trip to Switzerland.

Later, back at the hostel, Ruth ran into me and invited me to dinner. We went to a nice restaurant on the beach and I spent way more than I'd budgeted, but it was well worth it. The conversation was even more fantastic than the food! Ruth has lived an incredibly interesting life. She's a minister of no particular branch of Christianity, but she chooses to spend her time working with the homeless. She said she lived in the largest homeless shelter in the country (which is in Washington, DC and is nicknamed "hypothermia") for a year or two ( I can't remember which). She made friends with all the women and saw what it was like to live in a shelter. She says that it's the Church's responsibility to help the homeless, and it's doing a really lousy job. She says a while back, the church was doing such a sucky job that the government had to take over. Now the church just expects the government to do it. When I asked her what she thought about people saying America was a "Christian Country" she said that was ludicris because, among other things, if it was truely a christian country, we'd be doing a better job taking care of homeless people. She firmly believes in freedom of religion too. She says that religion shouldn't be politicized and she fiercly supported Obama. She's pro-choice because she said it's not government's responsibility to regulate morality or religion. It was an interesting point. People should have the power to choose so that they can prove their faith and choose whatever they think is right. No one else should be able to decide your morality for you.

I mentioned to her that I've thought about becoming a Rabbi. She says she can tell I have "The Calling" and she thinks I would be an amazing religious leader. I take this with a grain of salt, as it seems like everyone thinks I could be amazing in their profession. In Nepal, a Spanish woman I met told me I reminded her of her mother-in-law and because of that thinks I'd be an amazing college professor. Birat told me I should become a travela agent. A Europe tour guide on my Egypt tour told me I could be a great tour guide. So clearly, I need to decide for myself and not really listen to the conflicting advice I get. But regardless, Ruth's comment was sweet and flattering.

On the way back, we ran into a man ruth had met earlier. He's an Israeli named Tal and he works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I accidentally went on a date with him earlier today, and now I think he's in love with me, but that's a really long story. The short version is that I gave him my phone number so that he could meet me and Ruth later that evening, but then we were all tired and it didn't end up happening. He called me today and invited me to coffee. I was concerned he might think he was asking me out, but decided that was silly and it would be nice to meet an Israeli just to have someone to talk to. So I met him for coffee. He told me I was beautiful and insisted on paying. He proceeded to make comments like 'I'll take you to the dead sea some time!' "When you have free time on the Kibbutz, you can come visit me!" and "You're so beautiful, I have to see more of you!"

He was nice and totally harmless, just really really desperate. I mean, seriously. We just had coffee. He'd neglected to ask if I had a boyfriend (To which I would have responded "Actually, yes. His name is David and he's studying in Haifa next semester" (David is my close friend, who happens to be gay, although he could totally be my pretend boyfriend). He neglected to ask me if I was interested in him (To which I would have responded "Actually, I'm a lesbian, sorry!"). But anyway, he invited me to a movie to which I responded "Actually, I'm supposed to meet a friend in 20 minutes" and promptly left. He called me about 2 minutes after we parted to tell me again that I was so beautiful and amazing and that he'd like to see me again and would call me later tonight. He's called me twice and txt messaged once in the last 20 minutes, but I didn't pick up. I'm going to gay bars tonight, so hopefully I won't run into him. I believe I neglected to describe him. He's a foot shorter than me, rather pudgy, kind of old (he said 28, but I think more like 38), and a computer scientist. Oh those computer scientists. I thought I'd get away from them by leaving cmu!!!

So that's been my life of late. I'll try to keep you updated better in the future! Peace out!

Oh and Israel is so awesome that I may one day move here. I'm seriously thinking about it.