An ignorant guys journey to Israel. Pt 1

This past fall I took my first trip overseas. It was to Israel. I have family out there; my uncle Bruce, aunt Rivka, and three great cousins (In order of age; Roy, Yael, and Adam). My uncle left America in 1979 to check out the holy land when it was still a third world country. He met a beautiful woman and decided that's the place for him. Hormones do wonders for people's rationale. He joined the military like any Israeli citizen does, had three kids, and now he's an establised English teacher over there. I couldn't live there, personally. I watch the news too much and it just doesn't feel like a prime time to make your home in the middle east. There were beautiful things to see, but I couldn't not feel tension in the air.
There was a point when I was eating at a trendy outdoor restaurant in downtown Tel Aviv, finally feeling relaxed, when Rivka pointed out that right in front of this restaurant was wear a suicide bomber blew up a bus. I could have just as easily done without that knowledge.
The trip was an early birthday present. The catch was that I had to go with my dad and stepmother, Loretta. Really, that wasn't bad. I was pretty grateful. There is still the teenager in me sometimes that feels you're still a little inhibited when you're with your parents. Bruce picked me up from the airport, the others were in a rental car, and much to my dismay, there was country music playing in the car. I said, "I didn't expect this to be on the radio."
He said, "It's not. It's a cd. Do you like Alabama?"
For fuck's sake, he went out and bought an Alabama cd! He did leave the country in 1979. My uncle just decided whatever he heard in America up to that point is what stays with him. He doesn't need to listen to anything else.
There's Jewish stuff everywhere. I was there for the holiday of Succoth. People create huts and everyone gets together and eats in them, some even sleep. We went over my aunt's niece's house to sit and eat in their succoth. Her husband was trying to tell me all about it. He won't drive, watch tv, listen to music, or even write that day. I asked to exchange email addresses and he told me to do it tomorrow. He can't write. The amount of material in this state of Israel is incredible. It was cool how excited my uncle Bruce was to take me to synagogue for the holiday. "Why?" I asked. "You get to shake a lemon on a tree branch!" Well, shit! I'm sold!
What's interesting to me is that I really meet a lot of people who claim they aren't religious people, but still practice all the rules, more-so even then conservative Jews in America. They say they do it because of tradition, not religion.

Cats are like squirrels. They're everywhere. My cousins think it's weird that I have one as a pet. I love that they're everywhere. I happen to like cats. I asked Yael if anyone keeps cats as pets there. She said with disdain, "Russians do."
"I take it you don't like Russians?"
"They're whores."
Well, I didn't know how to tell her, but that seemed to make them extremely likeable to me. For her sake, I was well-behaved.
It was a huge culture shock. I was a little freaked out.
A very annoying aspect of my trip was I was unable to get a regular coffee. This one guy tried to tell me coffee is cappuccino. No it's not!
Everywhere you go, you get cappuccino! When I tried to explain it, they're like, "OH! You mean Turkish Coffee?!" How the fuck should I know?!
I thought I was accidentally going to cause an international incident.

The popular pub to go to around here is called Leo Bloom's traditional Irish Pub. Do you see the irony? Nobody else understands. I told them it's really all in the name.

One of my aunt's niece and her girlfriend's took me out to experience the Tel Aviv night life one night. We had a great time. The nightlife is incredible. If you're into the bar and club scene it's wild. Not that I was looking to hook up, but things were going great with this group of girls. I thought, "I am so in!" More than likely, they were looking at me like the fun, gay friend. I have to accept my fate. I don't care. I've got someone back home anyway. It's just fun to flirt.
They insisted on getting sandwiches. I didn't want to but they didn't want to eat alone. I ordered a roast beef and cheese sandwhich. They flipped out. "How could you put meat and cheese on the same plate?!"
Needless to say, I had to get a cab back home. What the fuck?!!!!
It says it in the Torah that you're not supposed to do this and they just except it! Somebody needs to explain these things to me .

I went to the Western Wall in Old City Jerusalem. There was a band setting up nearby. I was just blown away by the whole scene. It was a huge open area of so many people praying at this massive wall. There was so much ancient architecture. As I stood there, just staring at the overwhelming scene, I heard Axel F playing loud and clear on a nearby keyboard.
When you try to imagine that your standing in the presence of thousands of years of history. The theme from Beverly Hills Cop will snap right you back to reality. It's incredible how westernized Israel has become over the last few years.
I'll get back to Israel a little later. There is too much to write about really.