If you like to travel, if you're going on vacation on a budget, or if you just want to get to know interesting people and places, I highly recommend checking out couchsurfering. You can find it at couchsurfing.org/index.htlm. They provide a collection of individuals from all over the world with an extra bed or couch and who are happy to have visitors from abroad come and stay for a few days. If you aren't interested in lodging, there are many individuals who are looking to show others around, talk about their home or simply meet for dinner. There are also a variety of tools that facilitate easy traveling. Various groups and chat areas allow visitors to ask locals questions or provide opportunities to meet up with fellow travelers.
Many surfers just want to interact with local people from the region they're visiting to get a more authentic experience that only those familiar with the area can provide.
Each surfer is rated by the people they have contact with so you can see if they provided others with a good experience. Surfers also have a friend list of people they have interacted with so its possible to inquire with those on their friend list about the character of the individual in question. Of course always be cautious, especially when traveling alone. So far I've had very positive interactions with other couchsurfers, but you're meeting up with people you don't know so use common sense.
I met Ilan through the Jerusalem group on the couchsurfing website. He was going to host me for a few days, but I found housing in time so we decided to meet up for a conversation instead. Ilan is an Israeli Jew and extremely proud of his country. He holds the same point of view as the majority of Jews I've encountered when it comes to the work I'm doing, but Ilan was very willing to have an open conversation about our beliefs. Like I said, Ilan (along with any other Jew or Palestinian you talk to) loves his country and could not imagine living anywhere else. He took his own time to show me some of his favorite sites. I wanted to kick myself because I didn't bring my camera; I'll have to revisit the same places and take pictures next time around.
We visited the St. George Monastery first. It was founded about 480CE, but was destroyed by the Persians in 614CE and was abandoned. The buildings of today were erected between 1878 and 1901. In a cave nearby are the remains of the monks who were killed during the Persian advance on Jerusalem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._George%27s_Monaster).
Next, I experienced the buoyancy of the Dead Sea. Formations from the high salt content are scattered throughout the water which has become so shallow you can practically walk through it to Jordan. The Dead Sea is 398m/1,306ft below sea level, making it the lowest point on the surface of the earth. Due to the high salt content (25-30%, compared with 3.5% in the Mediterranean), neither plants nor animals can survive in its waters, though recently scientists discovered the existence of a bacterium that dwells here.
In recent years, Israel has cut off water flow to the dead sea due to the water shortage in the region. So much water has been diverted that the water level has fallen drastically (3 feet per year). The reduced inflow of fresh water means that the salt content is becoming even higher due to evaporation. However, it's theorized the Dead Sea will never disappear entirely since evaporation slows as surface area decreases and salinity increases.
Hiking up local cliffs overlooking the area, I was excited to find sea shells and fossils deposited from a river used to flow into the dead sea hundreds of years ago. While enjoying the view, Ilan talked about what it means to be an Israeli Jew. I'm trying to learn as much as I can about both cultures and perspectives because if you don't understand where both sides are coming from, you'll never truly understand the conflict.
From Ilan's words, in the Israeli Jewish community, culture and religion are the same, even for those that aren't Jewish. They love the traditions of their people and they try to keep them alive by celebrating them (as I said, even those that aren't religious do this). An example would be to get married in a traditional wedding or (as I have heard so many Israeli Jews do) explaining a situation by using a Jewish saying or biblical teaching as a reference. They additionally have an extreme amount of pride invested in they're country. Israelis have been displaced for centuries and invested trust in the idea that the country they were in would take care of them, but this continually failed to be the case. The infamous result of this was the Holocaust, and they fear that if they compromise or act in certain ways, history will repeat itself. This is the ideology they all carry. In Israel, they have their own land and their own army to defend themselves and as such they feel safe. That's why so many are so dedicated to Israel the state.
Ilan says there will never be an end to the conflict. Both sides want all of Israel and they will never compromise. Its interesting because although he dislikes the Arabs and feels Israel is the Jew's country alone, he's not completely detached from the Palestinian perspective. He told me that if he were an Arab, he would hate the Israelis for how they've oppressed and removed him. If it was he on the other side, he said he would refuse to recognize Israel.
Many surfers just want to interact with local people from the region they're visiting to get a more authentic experience that only those familiar with the area can provide.
Each surfer is rated by the people they have contact with so you can see if they provided others with a good experience. Surfers also have a friend list of people they have interacted with so its possible to inquire with those on their friend list about the character of the individual in question. Of course always be cautious, especially when traveling alone. So far I've had very positive interactions with other couchsurfers, but you're meeting up with people you don't know so use common sense.
I met Ilan through the Jerusalem group on the couchsurfing website. He was going to host me for a few days, but I found housing in time so we decided to meet up for a conversation instead. Ilan is an Israeli Jew and extremely proud of his country. He holds the same point of view as the majority of Jews I've encountered when it comes to the work I'm doing, but Ilan was very willing to have an open conversation about our beliefs. Like I said, Ilan (along with any other Jew or Palestinian you talk to) loves his country and could not imagine living anywhere else. He took his own time to show me some of his favorite sites. I wanted to kick myself because I didn't bring my camera; I'll have to revisit the same places and take pictures next time around.
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| St. George Monastery |
Next, I experienced the buoyancy of the Dead Sea. Formations from the high salt content are scattered throughout the water which has become so shallow you can practically walk through it to Jordan. The Dead Sea is 398m/1,306ft below sea level, making it the lowest point on the surface of the earth. Due to the high salt content (25-30%, compared with 3.5% in the Mediterranean), neither plants nor animals can survive in its waters, though recently scientists discovered the existence of a bacterium that dwells here.
In recent years, Israel has cut off water flow to the dead sea due to the water shortage in the region. So much water has been diverted that the water level has fallen drastically (3 feet per year). The reduced inflow of fresh water means that the salt content is becoming even higher due to evaporation. However, it's theorized the Dead Sea will never disappear entirely since evaporation slows as surface area decreases and salinity increases.
Hiking up local cliffs overlooking the area, I was excited to find sea shells and fossils deposited from a river used to flow into the dead sea hundreds of years ago. While enjoying the view, Ilan talked about what it means to be an Israeli Jew. I'm trying to learn as much as I can about both cultures and perspectives because if you don't understand where both sides are coming from, you'll never truly understand the conflict.
From Ilan's words, in the Israeli Jewish community, culture and religion are the same, even for those that aren't Jewish. They love the traditions of their people and they try to keep them alive by celebrating them (as I said, even those that aren't religious do this). An example would be to get married in a traditional wedding or (as I have heard so many Israeli Jews do) explaining a situation by using a Jewish saying or biblical teaching as a reference. They additionally have an extreme amount of pride invested in they're country. Israelis have been displaced for centuries and invested trust in the idea that the country they were in would take care of them, but this continually failed to be the case. The infamous result of this was the Holocaust, and they fear that if they compromise or act in certain ways, history will repeat itself. This is the ideology they all carry. In Israel, they have their own land and their own army to defend themselves and as such they feel safe. That's why so many are so dedicated to Israel the state.
Ilan says there will never be an end to the conflict. Both sides want all of Israel and they will never compromise. Its interesting because although he dislikes the Arabs and feels Israel is the Jew's country alone, he's not completely detached from the Palestinian perspective. He told me that if he were an Arab, he would hate the Israelis for how they've oppressed and removed him. If it was he on the other side, he said he would refuse to recognize Israel.
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