Road Trip to Be'er Sheva and Hatzor

Yesterday, I woke up in Jerusalem.  After breakfast, I cabbed over to the Central Bus Station.  The CBS in Jerusalem is a three story building that is so closely modeled after a European train station that there is even a large clock on the outside.  Pam already described security.  Buses depart from.....the third floor!  Travelers line up at one of 17 gates (there may be more, but I could only account for 17), and everything is automatic from there.  At approximately 12 minutes prior to departure, passengers move from the gate through the door to the bus which is locked.  Three minutes later, the driver arrives, gets on the bus and closes the door.  He inspects the inside of the bus and dons his tie (blue and white, I thought it was a talit at first!).  One minute later (8 minutes prior to departure, he opens the door, and passengers get on.  Soldiers flash their ID's, rifles are stowed under the bus.  Luggage doors are activated by the driver INSIDE the bus (Catlin Gabel needs to get this installed!)  I told the driver I wanted to go to Masmiya and asked him to tell me where the stop was.  He said OK and reminded me to take my ticket.  There was no reason to take the ticket, but I did.  At 10:30 (departure time) on the nose, the bus pulled out!  Talk about punctual!!  We were quickly out of the city heading down.  Jerusalem is a high point, so every way out is down.  Passing villages, I was amazed by the vehicle traffic heading towards Jerusalem.  It was literally a solid mass of cars and trucks for about 20 minutes!  Villages became smaller and smaller.  The driver would pull over to a bus stop, but nobody got on or off.  Finally, after about 30 minutes, single passengers would get off.  Jay had sent me a great map, so I could track where we were.  I knew we were close to Masmiya, got ready to get off, and was waiting for the driver to tell me we were there.  My phone rang and Jay asked if I had missed the stop....I asked the driver if we were at the stop AFTER Masmiya.  He said "Ken," which meant I grabbed my bag and raced off the bus.  Jay arrived three minutes later, and said it was a good thing I had gotten off since the next stop was a long way down the road!  The whole area had a very rural feel about it.

After working for a couple of house at Akhava College, we left for Be'er Sheva.  Talk about straight roads!  And, if the Florida orange crop is damaged this year due to the cold, we will all be eating Israeli oranges.  They are growing a lot of them....lemons, too!  arriving in Be'er Sheva, we stopped at "the best falafal stand in the city."  Jay had asked students to create a Google Map showing their favorite falafal places, and this was the winner!  Falafal was very tasty! 

According to many, the Be'er Sheva campus resemble the University of Chicago....I didn't think so, but it did resemble a lot of high schools built in the 70's.  Concrete building, courtyards, open stairs, etc.  The plaques were often ONLY in English, a testament to American support in the construction of the campus.  The quad area was gorgeous with an artifical stream running through it.  Boys were flirting with girls, and a traveling marketplace had set up shop.

After Jay's class, we headed to Kibbutz Hatzor, stopping to pick up his oldest son and a friend.  Hatzor is home to about 600 people, housing is in duplexes.  After a delicious cheese omlette, fresh vegetable dinner, Jay's daughter, Jay, and I played Set.  The Hebrew word one says when one finds a set is "Set."  Jay and I managed to collect 8 sets....Hila, a precocious 12-year old, collected the other 15.  Sigh.  After Jay and I had eaten, his two sons foraged for food.  Both teenagers, they grazed the refrigerator.  Finally, Tzipi, Jay's wife arrived home.  We figured out sleeping logistics for me, they figured out water logistics (showers before washing the dishes, downstairs shower before upstairs shower), and then it was off to a good night's sleep after a very long day.

Breakfast today was 6:45-6:53, then it was off to Tel Aviv.  90 minutes later, we arrived.  Everything about horrific Tel Aviv traffic is true.  I'll leave it at that.  Normally, Jay commutes 10 minutes to work....enjoy the pictures...falafal stand, Be'er Sheva University, Jay's house.  The plant pictures are of a plant at Hatzor.  No, Jay and Tzipi are not green thumb types, but the neighbor is .  If anybody recognizes the plant, please let me know what it is.

I'll post the return bus trip later today or tomorrow.

Road Trip to Be'er Sheva and Hatzor

Yesterday, I woke up in Jerusalem.  After breakfast, I cabbed over to the Central Bus Station.  The CBS in Jerusalem is a three story building that is so closely modeled after a European train station that there is even a large clock on the outside.  Pam already described security.  Buses depart from.....the third floor!  Travelers line up at one of 17 gates (there may be more, but I could only account for 17), and everything is automatic from there.  At approximately 12 minutes prior to departure, passengers move from the gate through the door to the bus which is locked.  Three minutes later, the driver arrives, gets on the bus and closes the door.  He inspects the inside of the bus and dons his tie (blue and white, I thought it was a talit at first!).  One minute later (8 minutes prior to departure, he opens the door, and passengers get on.  Soldiers flash their ID's, rifles are stowed under the bus.  Luggage doors are activated by the driver INSIDE the bus (Catlin Gabel needs to get this installed!)  I told the driver I wanted to go to Masmiya and asked him to tell me where the stop was.  He said OK and reminded me to take my ticket.  There was no reason to take the ticket, but I did.  At 10:30 (departure time) on the nose, the bus pulled out!  Talk about punctual!!  We were quickly out of the city heading down.  Jerusalem is a high point, so every way out is down.  Passing villages, I was amazed by the vehicle traffic heading towards Jerusalem.  It was literally a solid mass of cars and trucks for about 20 minutes!  Villages became smaller and smaller.  The driver would pull over to a bus stop, but nobody got on or off.  Finally, after about 30 minutes, single passengers would get off.  Jay had sent me a great map, so I could track where we were.  I knew we were close to Masmiya, got ready to get off, and was waiting for the driver to tell me we were there.  My phone rang and Jay asked if I had missed the stop....I asked the driver if we were at the stop AFTER Masmiya.  He said "Ken," which meant I grabbed my bag and raced off the bus.  Jay arrived three minutes later, and said it was a good thing I had gotten off since the next stop was a long way down the road!  The whole area had a very rural feel about it.

After working for a couple of house at Akhava College, we left for Be'er Sheva.  Talk about straight roads!  And, if the Florida orange crop is damaged this year due to the cold, we will all be eating Israeli oranges.  They are growing a lot of them....lemons, too!  arriving in Be'er Sheva, we stopped at "the best falafal stand in the city."  Jay had asked students to create a Google Map showing their favorite falafal places, and this was the winner!  Falafal was very tasty! 

According to many, the Be'er Sheva campus resemble the University of Chicago....I didn't think so, but it did resemble a lot of high schools built in the 70's.  Concrete building, courtyards, open stairs, etc.  The plaques were often ONLY in English, a testament to American support in the construction of the campus.  The quad area was gorgeous with an artifical stream running through it.  Boys were flirting with girls, and a traveling marketplace had set up shop.

After Jay's class, we headed to Kibbutz Hatzor, stopping to pick up his oldest son and a friend.  Hatzor is home to about 600 people, housing is in duplexes.  After a delicious cheese omlette, fresh vegetable dinner, Jay's daughter, Jay, and I played Set.  The Hebrew word one says when one finds a set is "Set."  Jay and I managed to collect 8 sets....Hila, a precocious 12-year old, collected the other 15.  Sigh.  After Jay and I had eaten, his two sons foraged for food.  Both teenagers, they grazed the refrigerator.  Finally, Tzipi, Jay's wife arrived home.  We figured out sleeping logistics for me, they figured out water logistics (showers before washing the dishes, downstairs shower before upstairs shower), and then it was off to a good night's sleep after a very long day.

Breakfast today was 6:45-6:53, then it was off to Tel Aviv.  90 minutes later, we arrived.  Everything about horrific Tel Aviv traffic is true.  I'll leave it at that.  Normally, Jay commutes 10 minutes to work....enjoy the pictures...falafal stand, Be'er Sheva University, Jay's house.  The plant pictures are of a plant at Hatzor.  No, Jay and Tzipi are not green thumb types, but the neighbor is .  If anybody recognizes the plant, please let me know what it is.

I'll post the return bus trip later today or tomorrow.

Behind Closed Doors

Yesterday, Pam and I headed into East Jerusalem. On our way, we passed through the Old City (seriously, it was a shortcut! And, there is no car traffic!!) Most shops were open, but many were still closed. Behind one partially open door deep in the Christian Quarter, near Via Dolorosa, Pam and I observed children using computers. We were maybe three steps past the door, when I stopped and said, I need to take that picture. I poked my head in the door, walked to the man behind the counter, and asked if I could take a couple of pictures. I wanted to take them quickly before the kids began posing. While shooting, I noticed that all the kids, boys and girls, were playing various games. Nobody was surfing, nobody was practicing a school subject, everybody was playing some form of computer game. We subsequently noticed three other such places in the Old City. Now, we don't know if this is some new form of daycare or if these kids are just training in game playing. It certainly caught our attention, though. With all of their computer game skills, will these kids want to grow up to take over the family shop? Or, will they leave for places where they can put their skills to use.....

Behind Closed Doors

Yesterday, Pam and I headed into East Jerusalem. On our way, we passed through the Old City (seriously, it was a shortcut! And, there is no car traffic!!) Most shops were open, but many were still closed. Behind one partially open door deep in the Christian Quarter, near Via Dolorosa, Pam and I observed children using computers. We were maybe three steps past the door, when I stopped and said, I need to take that picture. I poked my head in the door, walked to the man behind the counter, and asked if I could take a couple of pictures. I wanted to take them quickly before the kids began posing. While shooting, I noticed that all the kids, boys and girls, were playing various games. Nobody was surfing, nobody was practicing a school subject, everybody was playing some form of computer game. We subsequently noticed three other such places in the Old City. Now, we don't know if this is some new form of daycare or if these kids are just training in game playing. It certainly caught our attention, though. With all of their computer game skills, will these kids want to grow up to take over the family shop? Or, will they leave for places where they can put their skills to use.....

Need an e-book? Use Amazon!

Update: The Wall Street Journal reported today that Barnes and Noble cut its outlook....I view this as an admission on their part that I am correct!

While I don't really want to get in the habit of endorsing companies which aren't paying me to do so, the following e-mail correspondence with Barnes and Noble speaks for itself. Feel free to share all or part of this post with your families, Facebook friends, and Twitter followers. To set the scene, I attempted to purchase Nurtureshock (a terrific read) as a Barnes and Noble e-book....After they declined my purchase because I was not PHYSICALLY located in the US/Canada, I tried to reason with them....

Original Message Follows:

------------------------

Dear Barnes and Noble folks,

You recently canceled my order for Nutureshock because I am not physically located in the US. It is true. I received a Fulbright Distinguished Teacher Award and am conducting research in Israel until April, 2010. I wished to download Nurtureshock to the same device I have downloaded the other e-books I have purchased from BN. My credit cards remain the same, I will be returning to the US, I continue to pay my bills, and my passport remains American. I am not engaged in nor do I intend to share my BN library in any deceptive practice. I am lecturing about education and parenting to Israeli educators. A friend recommended NurtureShock and I wanted to read it prior to engaging in a distance learning Webinar where it will be discussed. Please consider my request and continue to allow me access to my Barnes & Noble account while I am travelling and conducting research.

Thanks,

Paul Monheimer

Fulbright Distinguished Teacher

To their credit, BN responded the next afternoon....

-----Original Message-----

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your request.

Unfortunately, our eBooks licensing agreements prohibit us from distributing eBooks outside the US and Canada. We are unable to make exceptions, even to US soldiers and teachers currently abroad. While we are working on alternatives for our customers, we must be sure we do so in a way that does not compromise our ability to sell eBooks at all.

Toryn

Sales Audit Agent

Barnes and Noble

877-379-0036

Clearly BN was in over their head. So, I replied....

Dear Sales Audit Agent,

How unfortunate for Barnes and Noble. While waiting for your response, I downloaded the book from Amazon. It is an exciting read. I highly recommend it. Amazon seems to have a much better e-book licensing agreement which I will now recommend to my friends and blog followers. While I have been a long-time customer of Barnes and Noble dating back to my teenage years, it is clear you are no longer a market leader in the e-book field.

Please feel free to contact me if you are ever able to again serve valued customers traveling abroad. Do you really suppose all those iphone/android/nook/kindle/new tablet device readers are going to support your totally unsatisfactory e-book business model? Perhaps you really should just stop selling e-books altogether and send your customers to Amazon instead. That would save them the trouble of going through what I did.

Bottom line....if you are going to travel and you can't think of all the e-books you might want prior to departure.....use Amazon. It just works and sends the books to where ever you are...what a global concept.

Need an e-book? Use Amazon!

Update: The Wall Street Journal reported today that Barnes and Noble cut its outlook....I view this as an admission on their part that I am correct!

While I don't really want to get in the habit of endorsing companies which aren't paying me to do so, the following e-mail correspondence with Barnes and Noble speaks for itself. Feel free to share all or part of this post with your families, Facebook friends, and Twitter followers. To set the scene, I attempted to purchase Nurtureshock (a terrific read) as a Barnes and Noble e-book....After they declined my purchase because I was not PHYSICALLY located in the US/Canada, I tried to reason with them....

Original Message Follows:

------------------------

Dear Barnes and Noble folks,

You recently canceled my order for Nutureshock because I am not physically located in the US. It is true. I received a Fulbright Distinguished Teacher Award and am conducting research in Israel until April, 2010. I wished to download Nurtureshock to the same device I have downloaded the other e-books I have purchased from BN. My credit cards remain the same, I will be returning to the US, I continue to pay my bills, and my passport remains American. I am not engaged in nor do I intend to share my BN library in any deceptive practice. I am lecturing about education and parenting to Israeli educators. A friend recommended NurtureShock and I wanted to read it prior to engaging in a distance learning Webinar where it will be discussed. Please consider my request and continue to allow me access to my Barnes & Noble account while I am travelling and conducting research.

Thanks,

Paul Monheimer

Fulbright Distinguished Teacher

To their credit, BN responded the next afternoon....

-----Original Message-----

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your request.

Unfortunately, our eBooks licensing agreements prohibit us from distributing eBooks outside the US and Canada. We are unable to make exceptions, even to US soldiers and teachers currently abroad. While we are working on alternatives for our customers, we must be sure we do so in a way that does not compromise our ability to sell eBooks at all.

Toryn

Sales Audit Agent

Barnes and Noble

877-379-0036

Clearly BN was in over their head. So, I replied....

Dear Sales Audit Agent,

How unfortunate for Barnes and Noble. While waiting for your response, I downloaded the book from Amazon. It is an exciting read. I highly recommend it. Amazon seems to have a much better e-book licensing agreement which I will now recommend to my friends and blog followers. While I have been a long-time customer of Barnes and Noble dating back to my teenage years, it is clear you are no longer a market leader in the e-book field.

Please feel free to contact me if you are ever able to again serve valued customers traveling abroad. Do you really suppose all those iphone/android/nook/kindle/new tablet device readers are going to support your totally unsatisfactory e-book business model? Perhaps you really should just stop selling e-books altogether and send your customers to Amazon instead. That would save them the trouble of going through what I did.

Bottom line....if you are going to travel and you can't think of all the e-books you might want prior to departure.....use Amazon. It just works and sends the books to where ever you are...what a global concept.

Up to the Temple Mount

Visiting the Temple Mount is not for the faint of heart or faith. Religious Jews believe no one should walk on the Temple Mount lest they step on the spot where the "holy of holies" was located in the Second Temple. Religious Muslims believe non-believers have no business on the Temple Mount. Christians believe Christ will return through the Golden Gate on the east side of the Temple Mount. All three faiths have cemetaries outside the Golden Gate area.....possibly the most expensive burial plots on the planet it they were ever to be sold.....If the Palestinians ever get their state off the ground, this could provide their entire federal budget! Ok, back to the visit. Visitors from West Jerusalem enter the Temple Mount through the Mughrabi Gate just south of the Western Wall. Yes, directions matter here....a lot. We waited nearly 20 minutes to pass through the metal detectors. Personally, I think the Israelis set up the detectors just to be able to look tourists in the eye to decide if they are wacko or not. The detectors are only looking for metal. No, the shoes don't come off. A Japanese tour group was behind us in line. While there were probably Christians in their group, it was more fun theorizing that practitioners of Buddhism and Shintoism were going through a Jewish run checkpoint to visit a site holy to Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Once through the checkpoint, we walked up an enclosed wooden ramp past gun-toting Israel soldiers, a raftload of plastic riot shields, and finally past two heavily armed (as in body armor in addition to their sidearms) Israeli policemen. Walking onto the Temple Mount was an unbelievably peaceful experience. OK, once past the gauntlet of Arab tour guides; "$5 each or $20 for all of you (there were 3 of us!)," it was peaceful. Muslims enter the Al-Aksa mosque, but tourists may not. Most folks head for the Dome of the Rock, we headed for the southeast corner, away from everything. Amazingly peaceful. I could have stayed all day. The smells and sounds of the market stalls seemed so far away. No sign of conflict anywhere. OK, after you realized there were heavily armed Israeli Police up on the buildings, there was no sign of conflict. We were walking along eastern wall, skirting a soccer game being played by young Arab boys (on damp, slippery, sloping stones) when a man who belonged to the same union that employs people on the Acropolis came running at us. "Hey, what are you doing? Don't go there," he screamed. At least the Greeks let these guys use whistles. And, so much for the peaceful part. There are piles of rubble on the Temple Mount. They cannot be removed since they might contain something of historical value. Right now, I suspect they serve only as rock piles for the Palestinians who throw stones on the Jews praying at the Western Wall. The Dome of the Rock was our final stop. Somehow it seemed much smaller and less glorious than I had imagined it. Yes, it is beautiful to observe in changing light conditions, but it still has a run-down feeling to it. Again, I imagined something glorious along the lines of the Duomo or St. Peters. Instead, the building looks in need of major renovation.....which is currently happening on the inside, judging from the noise coming from the mosque. 10:30 was approaching which meant it was time to leave (actually, it was only 10:00, but we weren't going to argue with people shouting at us that we needed to "please go NOW." We departed through the gate of the cotton merchants and were treated to the old city waking up. Men on hookahs, children hanging with their fathers, not a daughter or wife in sight. Shops opening up. Wares being displayed. It was quite a contrast to our Saturday afternoon visit just three days ago. We could actually walk through the narrow streets. We found our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre once again. Empty, this time, we walked down into chapels, up into chapels, came upon a service being conducted in a chapel, and were amazed at the contrast to the Temple Mount. Tourist groups moving through at breakneck speed mixed with religious folk who were trying to pray. The whole scene reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. There is no flash rule in this church so people were taking pictures of everything! They were posing together, talking loudly, etc. Compared to the tranquility of the Temple Mount and the sheer religious bent of the Western Wall, this place reminded us of Disneyland. We left shaking our heads and headed out for some lunch. Note on the pictures....The closeups and cemetaries were shot at full digital zoom with a Nikon Coolpix 630. The apple pic is meaningful to those studying Rosetta Stone Hebrew....Tapuah!