coming back to Israel

Our bus arrived back to Taba around 4 am. As we were crossing through the Egyptian side, Caroline decided she needed to go to the bathroom. Knowing that the Egyptian side does not believe in the practice of toilet paper, I decided to wait the next 200 meters and pee in Israel. After paying the 2 pound exit fee, we approached the Israeli side and were shocked: it was 4 am, and apparently everyone in Russia had chosen this hour to enter into Israel. Seriously, this was the time to go in and conquer, because no one was left watching the motherland, even Putin might have been there and in the throngs no one would ever have known. And because when entering Israel, the border guards question everyone, particularly non-Jews, and because seemingly none of these Russians spoke any English, let alone Hebrew, it would be more than four hours before we got through the last 200 meters of the border. So close, yet so far. And no bathrooms. Ouch.
When we finally got through, Caroline and Chelsea had no problems. I, on the other hand, had entered, left, and re-entered Israel once already since I had been here, and was still waiting for my official visa, which I need to be here longer than three months. Although we had chatted in a friendly manner, the immigration official meant to stamp my passport called the higher-ups, and informed me that while yes, I would get my 3 month tourist stamp now, if I have not received my actual visa before I leave, the next time I come back again they will only give me a one month stamp.

On the way back to Jerusalem, the girls and I decided to stop for the afternoon at Yam haMelech—the Dead Sea. It may have been late November, but that didn’t stop us from donning our swim suits and playing in the lowest place on earth. I think the girls were glad I had convinced them not to shave for the entire week previous.

We then came back to Jerusalem, settled back a bit into Mayanot, and then went to meet Jess, who had kindly agreed to host Caroline and Chelsea. Not wanting to stop, after a short respite from the previous few days, along with Jess, we all went downtown for a night out. New York never sleeps, and neither do New Yorkers.