Brian's Brain

I'm in Tel Aviv right now on a 9-day business trip. Israel is 9 hours ahead of the time-zone I'm used to in the United States. This means I'm only 3 time-zones away from being on the exact opposite side of the world. Night is day, day is night, and I'm always tired because I can't sleep when it's dark. It's honestly no wonder the people in this part of the world are always cranky and fighting.

Warning: Semi-Serious.

I've had a number of thoughts rolling around in my head about the place I'm visiting (Tel Aviv). I've learned tons about myself, the U.S., and the world in general in just the few days I've been here and this is the perfect forum for posting those thoughts.

First, the drivers. Before I came, I inquired of Eran (a traveling companion, and an Israeli who's lived in the U.S. for over a year now) if I needed to rent a car while I was here. He responded that I didn't want to drive in Israel and that I'd see what he meant when I got here. Not being one to question the locals, I trusted him. And I'm glad I did. These people are NUTS. 4-way stops are nothing more than a competition to see who can get through the quickest. They actually have a yellow light to warn you that the light is about to turn GREEN. (I think it means 'start going, because it's going to be legal to go in a second'). I've seen people LITERALLY invent lanes in order to pass cars (yes, they just zip right between you). The accident rate here is very high, and I've not seen any vehicles that don't have dents in them.

I've also learned that the taxes are crazy here. The income tax is set (deductions are not an option, you simply pay what the government says you'll pay). Consequently, they don't have a 'tax day'. The deductions from their check are always accurate. The problem is that the deductions are in the 60% range. On top of that, the sales tax here is 18%. That means by the time you've spent your money, the government has taken close to 80% of it. The use of that money is no secret. Tanks and F-16's cost a lot of money -- and for a country with a population of about half that of New York City, it's very expensive to maintain a world-power militia. There's no question they need it, however. A country of 6 million people surrounded by over a billion people who don't want them here.... let's just say the locals consider it 'money well spent'. Additionally, to further aid in the defense of the country, all Israeli's are required to serve 3 years in the military. It's simply how it is.

The culture here is fascinating. More than 80% of the population here is Jewish, but less than half of them seem to actually participate in their religion. Those that have moved here recently claim that in their previous countries, they did all of the normal 'jewish things' (going to church, shopping in 'jewish places', the usual rituals involved with the religion, etc.) yet they stopped when they came to Israel. It's almost as through they no longer need actions to convince themselves that they're Jewish. The mere reality of being here is 'enough'.

Those who do practice their religion seem to be divided as well. There are a small number of the Jews here considered 'extreme orthodox'. (they're the ones who dress like they're from the set of Fiddler on the Roof). They've also managed to be exempt from military service, many are on welfare, and they're very outspoken about the direction they want Israel to go in. There's a tremendous feeling of resentment from the non-practicing Jews toward this culture. They're viewed as 'freeloaders' in the society and it's difficult to find people outside this culture who have very many nice things to say about them.

This group (the ultra-orthodox) also has extreme political and cultural views. They don't read newspapers, watch TV, etc. And there are rumors that people who have tried to set up newspaper stands in their neighborhoods are harassed and even bombed until they leave. These are most the Jews willing to live in the West Bank. They feel the religious rewards are worth the risk -- that God will protect them. It also helps that the government subsidizes the housing. This makes a double-incentive for those groups to live in the dangerous areas.

The food here is amazing. I was told that there were a number of things here that were simply not available in the U.S. -- I was told correctly. There's a huge amount of unique food here -- I'm hoping to find recipes when I get home. The vegetables here are incredible. Delicious. Like nothing I've ever tasted in the U.S. Salads are very popular with every meal (including breakfast). It seems strange, but then... why not? It makes a lot more sense than a chunk of meat.

People here are very friendly toward Americans -- it's obvious why the Jews would like Americans.. But even the Arabs seem nice. It's as though they dislike American foreign policy, but also recognize that I'm just a person -- and it's not my fault (which I'm grateful for, because I dislike our foreign policy, too).

Eran took us around the city last night. It was fascinating as he pointed out all of the places that had been hit by suicide bombers in the last 10 years. No part of the city had been unaffected. People still frequented the night clubs and restaurants that were hit, and life goes on. One of the night-clubs that was hit 2 years ago is about 200 yards from the hotel I'm staying in -- and another is just 2 miles away. It's all very surreal, but as I mentioned, there's nowhere to go in Tel Aviv that hasn't been hit at least once.

Eran pointed out that there didn't used to be suicide bombers in Israel. The palestinians would go into a crowded area and open-fire with a machine gun, hand-gun, knife.. whatever they could get their hands on. This worked for a while until the residents of Tel Aviv started carrying concealed weapons. The palestinians discovered that they could barely get off one shot before getting shot themselves. They've moved on to bigger and better things, realizing that if they want to kill someone, a gun is just one of many possible tools. Many years ago, the israeli's learned lessons that America would do well to learn for itself. 1> If someone wants to kill, not having a gun won't stop them and 2> The fastest way to stop gun violence is to arm the public.

There are security cameras and guards everywhere. Americans frown on surveillance, Israeli's wouldn't live without it. Security is tight no matter where you go. Bags are checked on the way into stores (as opposed to America, where they check them on the way out). Trunks are checked when you drive into parking lots. People boarding airplanes to Israel are triple-checked by security. And yet life goes on.

Eran had another appointment tonight, so I was on my own for dinner. I got back to the hotel after work, took a shower, and decided to try one of the restaurants that were next door (there are about 10 within 1/4 mile of the hotel).

I didn't really expect to find anything open (was hoping maybe the Kosher McDonald's would be open long enough for me to grab a cheese-less cheeseburger). But boy was I wrong. Stores, restaurants, even the MALL was open. I headed up the street, and started noticing some pretty scary-looking guys hanging out in front of all the shops and restaurants (I'm not talking about one or two, these guys were LINED up and down the streets). They didn't seem to be bothering anybody, so I didn't think much of it.... until I tried to walk into one of the restaurants and they veered toward the door, blocking my way. I thought this was strange, but I obviously didn't understand what was going on, so I backed off and tried the next place. Same thing, different person. It was then that I noticed that they were ALL holding portable metal detectors (the kind they use at the airports). They weren't thugs, they were security, checking every person that walked into every restaurant or shop.

The food was, as usual, incredible. I ordered the fresh fish at the recommendation of the waitress. Apparently, it's the culture here not to bring your check unless you ask -- so I waited for a while until I figured that out. They just kept bringing me more water and smiling politely. This gave me a chance to sit at my outside table and watch the traffic and the people. I noticed that the cars here are very small -- nearly everyone drives compact cars. Probably due to the price. Apparently, the government has a near 100% tax on vehicles (meaning they pay roughly twice as much for their vehicles, compared to the U.S.)

I spent some time afterwords walking up and down the streets near the beach. It was midnight before the restaurants started closing -- I decided it was probably best that I get back to my hotel room, even though the streets were still crowded with people. I've never seen a city that stayed up so late (even Vegas starts to slow down a little at midnight). I felt surprisingly safe the whole time -- the crime rate in Tel Aviv is very low. I guess people have bigger things to worry about than hurting each other.

Time for sleep. It will be another long day of meetings tomorrow.

It's actually Thursday night, but the weekend here is Friday and Saturday (sunday is a work-day). The Jewish "shabbat" (sabbath day) is observed from Friday night until Saturday night. This means Thursday night is the "out on the town" time for most Israeli's.

One thing I've slowly noticed is that most of the residents of Tel Aviv seem relatively fit. There are very few people here who are overweight. I was asking Eran about this, and he figured it was due to the fact that people rarely 'stay home and watch TV'. People are prefer being active. Traffic-jams at 2am in the city are, apparently, not uncommon because people prefer the city-life to the home-life. It should also be pointed out that, while they do have fast-food here, it's not common and seems to generally be avoided by the locals (the tourists, apparently, are the ones funding that industry). As I've mentioned in previous posts, salads are very common with every meal. The general lifestyle combination of frequent activity and healthier eating is clear when you look at the people compared to most random American cities.

I've also discovered (the hard way) that restaurants won't bring you your check until you ask for it. It's considered rude to do so -- since it's assumed that if they put the check on your table, you'll leave. Meals here are a very social activity for the people and a stay at a sit-down restaurant can last much longer than we're used to. A few years ago, Starbucks made a huge push to open locations in Tel Aviv. It wasn't long before they all closed, citing lack of profits. The locals don't understand why Americans like Starbucks so much. "They give you your coffee in a portable cup and there aren't enough places to sit". Apparently, 'food services to go' is a model that the culture here has a hard time accepting. (However, to be fair, they are very fond of 'ordering in' for office lunches -- they view going out to lunch as a major distraction from the work-day.

I'm constantly surprised at the number of people here who speak english fluently. So far, I've, not run into anyone who doesn't speak english well enough to carry on a basic conversation -- and most speak it so well that they sound like an American with a slight accent. As if that weren't enough to make me feel like a single-language-ignorant-american, many people here speak a third language as well (Hebrew, English *and* Russian!)

It's well past bed-time here. I'm sure I'll have more things to say after my tour of northern Israel tomorrow.

I spent the weekend here (Friday and Saturday) with a hired tour-guide (one-on-one) exploring the sites of Israel. Israel is a very small country (about 400 miles north to south and 80 miles east to west). You could easily drive through and see all of the cities and sites in one day. However, it would take weeks if you were to stop at every place that had historical significance.

Day one was the trip to the northern part of Israel. The sites included Mt. Karmel (the site of many of the stories in the Old Testament, especially relating to the prophet Elijah). We saw Ceasarria. We stopped along the side of the road up Mt. Karmel to eat pita's with cheese from the Arab-descended religious culture knows as the "Druiz". We saw the Sea of Galilee (spent nearly half the day there, looking at the different sites where Christ visited). We saw Nazareth (a mostly Arab village). We were very tired by the end of the day.

I learned so many things about the cultural climate here, both in the past, and now. I've finally put the finishing pieces on what I understood the history of the Israeli land to be. I visited, what I considered to be, some of the most sacred sites in the world, and there was no question that I was standing on sacred ground.

Mostly what I felt was a regret for not having learned more about these sites before I came. This land holds significant to nearly every major world religion (including my own) and I was embarrassed that a Jewish tour guide had to explain the full significance of these sites to my own religion (some of them meant very little to him, except from a historical standpoint). It was humbling to see groups of students arriving on tour busses sit on the ground near these sites and read from their Bibles the sections that related to the place they were sitting. I tried to listen as much as I could, but there wasn't time. There were so many other places to see. I hope when I return, I can come for a long enough to allow for a chance to ponder each place and really immerse myself in the things that happened in these places.

Day two was the trip to Jerusalem -- which is not far from Tel Aviv (nothing is far away in Israel). The trip took us up into the mountains (Jerusalem is several thousand feet above sea level, and it's only about 40 miles from the sea). The city is divided into two parts -- Old Jerusalem and New Jerusalem. The latter basically looks like any other major city. It's built on very hilly terrain (similar, perhaps, to the bay area). In the center of these modern buildings are the remains of a three-thousand year old city, probably the single place in the entire world where we know more history than anywhere else, mostly from the Bible. The things experienced here can only be describes as surreal.

Prior to the 1967 war, Jerusalem was divided in half by a wall (literally, right through the middle of the city). One half belonged to Jordan, and the other half to Israel. The wall was ordered removed after the war was over, but the cultural remnants are still a way of life. Three distinct groups of people live here. The Jews, the Muslims, and the Christians. Note that these three groups, combined, represent approximately half of the total world population. Each occupy a specific section of the city, and while there are no physical walls or lines that separate each of them, the difference is clear when you have crossed from one to the other.

Old Jerusalem is the same, just confined into a smaller area and divided into 4 quarters. The Jews, the Christians, the Muslims, and the Armenians. This city of 3,000 years still has active markets, shopping, restaurants, children, and religious services. Is is estimated that there are more than 40,000 people living in this area of about 4 square miles. It is considered one of the most densely populated areas in the world. And again, while there are no markers or lines distinguishing the 4 quarters for each of the groups that live there, even a blind man would know when he had crossed 'the lines'. People in all 4 sections are friendly toward Americans there, but many of the Jews I talked to afterwords indicated that it was unsafe for them to visit the Muslim section (Since the cultural separation between the western world and the muslims is massive, I found this area to be the most fascinating). Again, the desire to see all of the sites here left us in a hurry, and I didn't get to spend as much time here as I would have liked.

The shops and the markets are divided into two sections -- one is clearly for tourists (selling mostly junk, similar to what you might find in Mexico), and the other is for the locals (selling fish, meat, bread, toys, duct tape, light bulbs, clothing.. anything you might find at WalMart, basically -- but of much lower quality.) Everything felt 'dirty' -- as though I had entered a 3rd world country. Each of the shops were very small (maybe the size of a common American bathroom) and the crowds were so thick you could barely breath. I was awe-struck, and felt as though I didn't want to leave this place until I had observed every last detail about how this culture lived. The jewish quarter was relatively low on activity because it was their sabbath. I would love to return to see 'every day life' here as well -- I was told it's not much different from what I observed.

We saw the wailing wall -- the only remnant of the 2nd temple of Jerusalem, and probably the most sacred place in all the world for the Jews. The ultra-orthodox jews live in Jerusalem and devote their lives to their religion. The wall is their central point of worship for their daily prayers (read out of prayer books). I found it interesting that they allowed outsiders to walk through and around a place they considered so holy and sacred (we were, however, required to wear a yamacha, which they provided).

While at the wailing wall, we saw an orthodox jew (identified by the black hat, black suit, and long beard) running around the court-yard area with a megaphone, screaming repentance to the visitors (and the women, who were wearing pants). He was quickly arrested and didn't resist. It was clear he knew what would happen.

You simply can't ask people who are so passionate about their religion to compromise. The challenge is that we have 3 different major religions who all believe, for different reasons, that this is the most sacred place in the world. The muslims believe God is offended that non-muslims are there. The Jews and the Christians believe it's okay to share, but with restrictions so as not to offend God. What you end up with is the Jews and the Christians being seen as 'the good guys' because they are willing to let others enjoy this place. The Muslims are viewed on the western stage as the bad guys because they believe God will not dwell in these places as long as non-muslims are there and, if they had their way, they would be the only ones allowed in these holy places -- and some sects of ALL SIDES have endorsed murder as a way of achieving their goal (the horrible things the Christians did to the Muslims during the crusades make the palestinians look like saints). I'm afraid there is no answer to the crisis. Would you compromise if you were sure that God told you not to? None of these people are 'right' from a political perspective, and yet none of them are wrong from a religious perspective.

I will never forget this experience. It's my belief that Americans are naive and can't understand why the world won't just adopt our way of life. How foolish and ignorant we are. How arrogant to think that democracy is the answer to the problems of a culture we have no concept of. How horrible to force it upon people. How evil to make others adopt our way of life by pointing a gun in their face. Terrorism isn't a result of people who hate Christianity, or hate America for no reason. Terrorism is a result of a people who believe their way of life, religion, and culture are being threatened at every turn -- and they believe America is the cause of that threat (How would you feel, in their situation? Knowing you had no weapons to fight a war that you needed to win in order to preserve that you believed in?). I don't endorse terrorism. Violence is a horrible thing, but it must be understood that this is a war that can't be fought with conventional weapons or by forcing the world to see things our way. We are no better than the Palestinians. We are no better than the Crusaders who murdered because people would not accept their beliefs. Humanity, I fear, is incapable of letting history teach lessons. America will one-day be humbled as the cycle of history repeats itself.

While the appearance is identical, the traffic lights here are different than America. They have the same red, yellow, and green, but they have 5 different signals. Red, Yellow, Flashing Green, Green, and Red+Yellow.

Red means stop (just like in the states). Apparently, they had a problem a while ago where people were running too many yellow lights -- so they added a 'flashing green' (which is supposed to tell you that the light is about to turn yellow). This still didn't solve the problem completely, so a little while later, they made it against the law to go through the intersection in a yellow light (big fines, from what I understand). So now they effectively have TWO red lights (yellow and red), a flashing green (equivalent of our yellow), and green. I wonder how long it will be before they add a 5th signal to tell you that light is about to start flashing green and then make it illegal to cross on a flashing green light. Also, while you're waiting for the red light to turn green so you can go, just before it changes there is a yellow light that appears along with the red. This tells you to get ready to go. People take this signal VERY seriously and if you don't take your foot off the brake when the red+yellow comes on, you get honked at -- and believe me, you'd better be moving when that light changes. It's like Nascar out there.

In Tel Aviv, everyone is required to serve in the military when they get out of high school. While you're serving, you are issued a gun. As you travel about the city, it's common to see many of these soldiers (often in civilian clothing) walking around with their M-16 strapped to their back. The soldiers aren't always male, either. I saw a gorgeous female with a mid-riff top and low-cut jeans walking around with a fully automatic weapon strapped to her back (I've got to believe the boys thought twice before hitting on her). At first, all of the weapons make you feel a little uncomfortable, but the people here seem to derive a sense of security knowing there are so many weapons on the street carried by people who are on their side. I admit, I started to find it comforting as well.

Eran took me to a shopping mall last night so I could look for gifts for Ellie and Melanie (The touristy things sold by the street vendors in Jerusalem were just junk). The people working in the stores were the first ones I've encountered that didn't speak english. I'm not sure why this is.

Tonight at 11:30pm, my flight leaves for the United States. I've reached a point where I don't feel nearly as much like a tourist or a foreigner in this city. I'm learning what's normal and what's out of place. The people here, both the Jews and the Arabs, are very friendly toward Americans. I've enjoyed my time in Tel Aviv, but I miss my family and I'm ready to go home. Before coming here, Israel was near the bottom of my list of possible vacation destinations. Now it's near the top. I wish the best of luck to the people of Israel and the middle east. This country and these people (both the Jews and the Arabs), deserve peace.