locusts, flash floods, & hummus left israel 15 years ago now getting chance to rediscover this land of contradictions and surprises
been traveling the north of the country lake of galilee, land of mountains, ancient city of safed hills full with graves that are considered sacred each grave with specific miracle attributed to it grave for infertile women to visit and get pregnant grave for single women to find husband grave for healing from physical sickness the old city of akko sitting on the mediterranean sea muslim city from 638 ad captured by baudouin I during first crusade 1104 changed hands several times taken by turks 1517 besieged by napoleon 1799 occupied by british during world war I became part of israel after war of 1948 gigantic waves breaking on the ancient walls walking in the narrow alleys going through busy fruit and vegetables market leading us into the golden spoon hummus place which receives from us rating of 3.5 chickpeas on the hummus index jerusalem with its rare mix of religion and secular life old city inside the walls surrounded by the new city arab quarter besides the jewish quarter churches, mosques, and synagogues blending into each other intensity bursting out of each brick city regulations require all buildings to be built from what is called jerusalem stone creating unifying look to this metropolis even in the new neighborhoods walking inside the walls of the old city jesus burial church via de la rosa where jesus walked carrying the cross on his back the wailing wall dome of the rock walking outside of the wall through the gate across mt olive downhill full with old graves and colorful churches full moon is rising above the mountain painting everything in silver color back inside the walls heading to lina restaurant for rich thick creamy hummus 4 chickpeas in the hummus index escorting friend to jewish orthodox yeshiva for women so she can inquire about studying there been asked to stay outside the building the only men allowed inside are the teachers and janitors sitting in silent meditation in the yeshiva's garden the sun mixed with the caressing jerusalem mountains breeze after long while a voice of man bringing me back to earth "you can't do this here, it is very disturbing" laughing with eyes shut and asking the man to simply go away what could be disturbing in person sitting silently? but the man insisting "you can't do this here, it is very disturbing" opening my eyes and noticing two orthodox women sitting at my feet both have silently joined the meditation driving east from jerusalem on the hills above us the separation wall that the israeli government is putting up to cut itself off from the palestinians tall and cold concrete wall crawling like snake up and down mountains on path of division reminding me of my visit to east berlin after the fall of the berlin wall will duality melt into oneness in jerusalem? the road east of jerusalem goes downhill from 2600 feet above sea level all the way to the lowest place on earth the dead sea at 1300 feet below sea level from the city that gets snow in the winter sudden exit into desert land the dry and yellow soil of the desert mountains surprisingly covered with thin layer of green sign of the rare rain storm from several days ago at one of the curves of road the dead sea reveals itself changing the color of the water and the jordanian mountains from yellow to purple to pink receiving inspiration from the angle of the sun driving along the dead sea white salt crystals shores from rich minerals palm trees and desert plants feeding from underwater springs heading up steep and narrow road to metsoke dragot on top of cliff overlooking the dead sea visiting the small community called hamakom referred to as yeshivashram by its founder rabbi ohad ezrahi coming from ultra orthodox and jewish settler background and shifting his energy into neo-kabala and neo-hasidic teachings bringing in ideas of openness and experimenting sunset time from the road along the dead sea getting off to dirt road then walking towards the water natural mineral spring with very hot sulfur water creating small pool the water then pours down into another pool and finally into the dead sea getting chilly outside inside the water warm and pleasant big round moon rising above the jordanian mountains on the other side of the dead sea playing hide and seek with the clouds taking dips in the cold mineral rich dead sea water that makes anyone big or small, fat or thin float effortlessly on the surface getting closer to the place where the hot spring blends into the sea playing game of cold and hot water walking the arugot canyon river running at the bottom herds of ibexes with big horns walking around standing on two legs to reach the leaves of thorny trees mountain rabbits sunbathing at night tigers and other wild cats come to drink tall mountains on both sides of the canyon hidden waterfall ends in natural swimming pool two hours walk from heaven to paradise ending at spring that feeds the river putting hand or head into the narrow spring feels very erotic warm water coming out from the ground very tasty with lots of minerals large sweet water crab standing nearby pretending to guard the spring noticing gun pointing in our direction from behind few rocks getting closer and finding young guy greeting us telling us he's here to guard the canyon from robbers and terrorists few weeks ago terrorist arrived in air glider carrying on him explosives our young guy surprising the terrorist from behind the rocks handcuffing him and handing him over to the army happily receiving $500 reward telling us "i wish everyday a terrorist will come" on the way out of the canyon where the river meets the dead sea noticing the road gets cut of strong flash flood washed away the bridge it could be very sunny in the canyon and dead sea area when rain comes down miles away in the mountains since the soil of the desert can't absorb much water small streams join each other and pour into the canyon resulting in a wall of water mixed with trees and huge rocks that seems to suddenly show up out of nowhere driving south of the masada mountain what seems like long and narrow black cloud is passing low above us turning to be endless stream of large pink locusts that made their way to israel from egypt millions of them flying above and around us landing next to us eating the desert plants locust is one of the biblical ten plagues considered as sign of social injustice indicating there are too many poor people in the country surprisingly few days prior to the locust arrival official report was published showing that there are over 1.4 million poor people living in israel huge percentage for such a small country locust is considered kosher the newspapers ride the wave and with the reports on the locust invasion and its damages to agriculture sneaking in recipes for roasted, grilled, and fried locust thought of creating recipe for raw marinated locust oops, we're vegetarian spending the nights in the ein gedi kibbutz located on mountain overlooking the dead sea and the arugot canyon where the kibbutz also gets its abundance of water the entire kibbutz is one big botanical garden with over one thousand species of cactus and desert plants from around the world a green jungle surrounded by the yellow desert mountains as part of every dinner in the kibbutz hummus is served tastes somewhat industrial 2 chickpeas on the hummus index the dead sea is gradually evaporating and shrinking in size big parts of it becoming dry land and islands along the shores big pits suddenly appearing as result of the land drying up some areas dangerous to walk in since the land opens up and swallows itself group of american women going for first swim in the dead sea shouting at each other with excitement "oh my god i'm floating" leaving the dead sea area heading to tel aviv going for hummus in the yemenite quarter good creamy hummus with fava beans 4 chickpeas on the hummus index so what's up with this hummus fetish? the tel aviv newspaper dedicated ten pages to the hummus places in the city with an economy that's far from skyrocketing inexpensive hummus places sprouting all around the country each place having its secret style and formula some hummus places have mythologies created around them abu hassan in the old city of jaffa makes fresh hummus in the morning and closes before 2 pm when all the hummus is sold out visiting different hummus place every day enjoying the variety in texture, flavor, ingredients, serving style, and vibes hummus can also be prepared as raw dish by sprouting the chickpeas instead of cooking them usually people feel heavy after eating hummus surprisingly it's not the hummus creating the heaviness it's the pita bread to enjoy hummus without traffic jam in your intestines let go of the bread try eating hummus with spoon or fork or even better as a dip using cucumbers, broccoli, or other veggies instead of pita bread or indulge in creating hummus lettuce wrap taking lettuce or any other dark leafy green such as kale or collard greens spreading hummus along the center of the lettuce adding in some of the arab salad then rolling the lettuce and eating it as you'd eat lafa/burrito/wrap satisfaction guaranteed did any hummus place receive the 5 chickpeas rating? of all places it was small restaurant in ramat hasharon where i grew up as a child rumors say that the cook from abu hassan in jaffa prepares it for them planning on visiting israel again soon many more hummus places to explore you can see photos from our past and future trips at http://www.alokhealth.com/retreats.html ===== Alok Holistic Health Community http://www.AlokHealth.com http://www.BodyTemple.info
