Photos by Gloria Beck I left for Israel with the highest of expectations and a lot of advice: • My cardiologist—Don’t climb; pace yourself • My endocrinologist—Watch your carbs and sweets • My gastroenterologist—No legumes; be careful of the salads • My rheumatologist—Wear good shoes; don’t bend or lift heavy things • My opthalmologist—Wear sunglasses • My dermatologist—Stay covered from the sun • My dentist—Be careful of what you bite into • My friends—Don’t drink the water unless it’s bottled • My sister—Don’t let anyone talk you out of your aisle seat Believe it or not, with all of this in mind I still happily flew off to a place I only dreamed of. But before we even take off, I find someone sitting in my seat on the plane. The woman haughtily says, “This is my seat because I got here first.” Really? Not only that, she says she’s saving the next two seats for relatives. She wouldn’t budge. I guess she really felt “possession is 9/10ths of the law.” Whatever happened to assigned seating? I thought to myself, “She’d better be careful of what she asks for?” Maybe I’d have to sit on her lap for 10½ hours. That would teach her a lesson! However, being democratic, perhaps I’d switch places with her once-in-a-while. What would happen if I wanted to recline and she didn’t? That could be another problem. Thankfully she finally moved somewhere else. Believe it or not she did the same thing there. I wonder if she really had a seat on this plane? It’s a good gimmick, but can you keep it up for the whole trip? The 10½ hours would go by quickly… if you were unconscious, but that wasn’t going to happen. Before we left NY, the clocks were rolled ahead. When we landed in Israel, there was a six-hour difference. Then a few days later, they rolled their clocks ahead. Now there was a seven-hour difference. With all the time changes, I was now in “La La Land.” Who uses a watch? I was now living from meal to meal anyway. Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. was now 2:30 p.m. in NY; dinner at 6:30 p.m. was now 1:30 a.m. in NY. My body was screaming, “Are you kidding me?” I’m lucky I only put on six pounds or was it sixty? Remembering all my medical advice, I ate only bread and butter. Oy, the carbs!! Occasionally something would appear which looked familiar. One time as we walked through the Mahane Yehuda food market, we went to a Georgian pizza restaurant. Our guide ordered in Hebrew for us. What came back was a pizza shaped like an eye with a fried egg in the center. How appetizing can a jaundiced eye look or taste? Ick! I don’t know. I only ate the crust. Days later while still a bit energized, we climbed this enormous bank of steps to the Old Jewish Quarter in Tel Aviv. Do you remember the scene from “Rocky” where Sylvester Stallone ran up the steps before his championship fight? Well, that’s exactly what I envisioned. However, after the climb I felt more like “Rickety” than “Rocky” and my exultant cry was more of a kvetch like “oy vay iz mir.” I barely made it. Thank goodness, I didn’t know we were going back that night for a “Light and Sound Show” at the King David Tower or I really would have kvetched more. I began thinking, “I hope they have a 911 system in Israel.” They do. It’s 101 just in case. Every now and then I did find a meal I loved. One was at a Bedouin Tent. The food was amazing, more the Eastern European style I was used to. Don’t ask me why. In a Bedouin tent? The Bedouin turned out to be a guy originally from Chicago and went to camp with a son of one of my fellow travelers. The whole thing was staged. I didn’t care. I finally had a meal I liked. The option was to walk from our bus to the tent, take a golf cart or ride the camel, the same in reverse. I realized I’m not one of those people in the old cigarette ad, who would “walk a mile for a Camel.” I’d rather walk a mile to avoid a camel. In my case, I think the camel was relieved after he took one look at me. When we finished eating, the camel which I liked, if I were to ride him, looked at me and suddenly fell to the ground prostrate. Faker!!! But I didn’t blame him. My seeing all the historical places I read and knew about truly took my breath away. My mom used to say, “Life is a dream,” and I was truly dreaming big time. To feel the walls of Masada, to walk the streets which our ancients walked thousands of years ago, to be at the Western Wall, to see King Herod’s palaces, to walk in the Dead Sea, to visit Yad Vashem and see the Chagall Windows was amazing. To see and feel the electricity of everyone and everything around me, despite Israel being a dot on the map surrounded by countries that don’t wish her well; to see what has risen out of the desert and the progress that’s been made, made me feel honored and proud to be among them. To be able to have enjoyed and participated in everything available to me, despite some personal challenges, made me feel proud of myself. Shalom! The Old Grey Mare Ain’t What She Used to Be… A view from my window in Tel Aviv Independence Hall where David Ben Gurion proclaimed the foundation of the State of Israel May 2017 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 17
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