Old Grey Goose International : Israel Journal

Sunday, July 6, 2008 - Day Six

Sunday morning we drove from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to play at a school. We received clarification on the way regarding the security wall the Israelis are building: although it is destined to be more than 400 miles long, only 70 miles has been constructed, beginning in some very insecure areas near Jerusalem. Danny says that the government really does not want to build the rest of it, preferring peace negotiations instead. The walled section of highway we drove through the previous day is only five or so miles long and was constructed to prevent random rock throwing and shootings.

The school was near the Knesset and other governmental buildings. There is also a world-class hospital and medical school in Jerusalem. We played for a group of students whose English was pretty good, but the director translated for us anyway. Jackie from the Embassy was pleased with the performance and reception.

We left the school and headed for a falafel stand for lunch, then had watermelon in the parking lot with Danny. From there we headed to the airport where we were treated to a first-class lounge for the two hour wait and Business Class seats for the 45 minute flight. We learned later that although it would have been faster to drive to Jordan, you need to get your visas ahead of time if you plan to do so. This was not feasible for us since the Jordan portion of the tour was added at the last minute. At the airport securing an entry visa is an easy and painless exercise.

We’ve been told, however, that now that we have Israeli and Jordanian stamps in our passports we may have to get new ones depending upon whether or not the countries we visit in the future have diplomatic relations with them.

Amman, Jordan

Amman is the capital of Jordan and is a blend of the old and the new. It has changed dramatically since I was here in 1971—for one thing it is a lot safer-- and construction cranes are everywhere. Old Amman was built upon seven hills, between the desert and the fertile Jordan Valley. The population, comprising about half the country’s total, is now about two million.

We were met at the airport by our expeditors and drivers Yousef and Mohammad. Katie, an intern, and Tania, a cultural affairs assistant were also there, and we went straight to the home of cultural affairs officer David Mees where an 8:00 p.m. dinner and party were planned.

David lives in a beautiful home where an oriental carpet, tables and chairs grace an outdoor patio. About a dozen people were present. The entryway to his home requires one to either duck or push aside palm fronds along the length of the sidewalk in order to enter. The crescent moon was in the sky, and the evening weather was perfect—no humidity as there was in Israel.

We ate and played until about 10:00 p.m., thanked our host and made our way to the hotel.

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