Disclaimer- I was not actually in a jeep, rather a 4x4. Jeeps are just a "shitty brand name", paraphrased from our driver/guide. Normally the class in the fall semester would fill up two jeeps but this semester not a lot of people signed up. Only 7 people signed up for this trip and luckily we were able to go with only one jeep. Saturday morning, we met outside the dorms and were of course running late. We were waiting for one more person... She came wearing a dress and sandals... Not exactly what you should wear when you're going to the desert/west bank. As you can see in the pictures the jeep had a big UN sticker on it, it was just a prop in a movie so they kept the sticker. Maybe makes things a bit safer when you're in the middle of the desert/west bank? Our teacher and driver were pointing out things along the way like how easily you can tell the difference between the Israeli and Palestinian territory, plants=Israeli. Our first stop was in Abu Ghosh, a place known for its amazing hummus. Arab hummus > Israeli hummus. There is one famous place there with a secret hummus recipe. The cousins of that family opened their own hummus place and that may have caused some family tension... We got our lunch at the cousins place (but we didnt eat it there, sad face). We just had a small amuse-bouche, some amazing falafel. And pickles, Israel does great pickles. Perfect for picklebacks. If you are or were in college you should know what these are.
After picking up our lunch, we continued to the west bank (should that be capitalized?). We stopped by one of the pulsating springs for lunch. I don't remember the names of these places, lots of Arabic and Hebrew. Such tasty food, but we couldn't even finish it between 8 people. Leftovers for dinner. We did a little hike and saw some cool things, look at the picasa album. We also found lots of jimson weed. Look it up. After we left we hit a traffic block, a herd of goats. We made our way through some bumpy desert/old army testing grounds. We stopped at Hell Mountain (literal translation) and had the option of a camel ride. We could see the three towers of Jerusalem from there. We then continued, via donkey, one at a time, towards the cliff opposite a Greek Orthodox monastery that was built into the side of a mountain. No girls allowed. Seriously though. The founder's mother wasn't even allowed in, they just a bare bones small rock house for her at the top of the cliff. We saw a lot of water collection tanks and a bush/tree that the Bedouins use for marriage proposals. A male will follow a female and see her daily travels. He will then make a knot on a special plant out of the branches. If she responds with another knot and the parents approve. They get married. Whole new meaning to tying the knot. (Maybe that's where it is from.) After that we had dinner by a narrow canyon where we shattered oil shale and inhaled the fumes. Nature's garage smell. We had a little fire going and had a nice dinner and conversation about how different some of Palestinian society can be. Another concept people had a hard time grasping. The first being that honor killings are a real thing in modern times with certain groups.
After dinner we got to use our teacher's night vision goggles, pretty cool. It also allowed for a lot of scaring people by jumping into their line of sight. I may or may not have started that trend. Once a little brother, always a little brother. We cleaned up and took the night vision goggles on the road. Then we got to take out the handheld spotlight. We saw a bunch of (I think) deer and a rabbit or two. Most of the animals don't come out till later. We also stopped by an onion field and may have taken a few... Lastly we stopped by the famous Elvis cafe on the way back. Two of the largest Elvis statues. Also, two of the largest Elvis crotches. Some things I forgot to add- we found a button plant and "brought it to life" and went to the bathroom off the side of a mountain. So I was able to cross a few things off my bucket list this trip. And in case the picasa slideshow doesn't work here is the link
After picking up our lunch, we continued to the west bank (should that be capitalized?). We stopped by one of the pulsating springs for lunch. I don't remember the names of these places, lots of Arabic and Hebrew. Such tasty food, but we couldn't even finish it between 8 people. Leftovers for dinner. We did a little hike and saw some cool things, look at the picasa album. We also found lots of jimson weed. Look it up. After we left we hit a traffic block, a herd of goats. We made our way through some bumpy desert/old army testing grounds. We stopped at Hell Mountain (literal translation) and had the option of a camel ride. We could see the three towers of Jerusalem from there. We then continued, via donkey, one at a time, towards the cliff opposite a Greek Orthodox monastery that was built into the side of a mountain. No girls allowed. Seriously though. The founder's mother wasn't even allowed in, they just a bare bones small rock house for her at the top of the cliff. We saw a lot of water collection tanks and a bush/tree that the Bedouins use for marriage proposals. A male will follow a female and see her daily travels. He will then make a knot on a special plant out of the branches. If she responds with another knot and the parents approve. They get married. Whole new meaning to tying the knot. (Maybe that's where it is from.) After that we had dinner by a narrow canyon where we shattered oil shale and inhaled the fumes. Nature's garage smell. We had a little fire going and had a nice dinner and conversation about how different some of Palestinian society can be. Another concept people had a hard time grasping. The first being that honor killings are a real thing in modern times with certain groups.
After dinner we got to use our teacher's night vision goggles, pretty cool. It also allowed for a lot of scaring people by jumping into their line of sight. I may or may not have started that trend. Once a little brother, always a little brother. We cleaned up and took the night vision goggles on the road. Then we got to take out the handheld spotlight. We saw a bunch of (I think) deer and a rabbit or two. Most of the animals don't come out till later. We also stopped by an onion field and may have taken a few... Lastly we stopped by the famous Elvis cafe on the way back. Two of the largest Elvis statues. Also, two of the largest Elvis crotches. Some things I forgot to add- we found a button plant and "brought it to life" and went to the bathroom off the side of a mountain. So I was able to cross a few things off my bucket list this trip. And in case the picasa slideshow doesn't work here is the link
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