Youngs Around the World

We took a minibus from Penguin Village to Taba and walked across the border to Israel without any problems. We were traveling that day with an Israeli guy, named Yura, whom we had met in Dahab (he was on the Sinai hike with us and did it in flip flops!). After crossing the border, we approached a taxi driver to inquire about a ride to the bus station in Eilat, where we would then catch a bus to Tel Aviv. The driver said that there were no buses running to Tel Aviv because of the Jewish holiday, Sukkot, and subsequently offered to drive us to Tel Aviv for a thousand sheqels (about $250 US), which we firmly declined. We agreed to have him drive us to Eilat to find a place to spend the night near the bus station. When we arrived, the driver demanded 13 more sheqels than we had previously agreed upon and referred to a small sign on the rear side passenger window stipulating an extra fare for baggage. We begrudgingly paid and the three of us walked to the bus station to check on the earliest bus to Tel Aviv the next morning. As it turned out, buses were running to Tel Aviv that afternoon, departing every hour. The scumbag taxi driver had blatantly lied to us in order to extort $250 out of a couple of unemployed travelers! And that was our first encounter with a local Israeli – not a great first impression – but we decided to go to Tel Aviv anyway.

The bus ride was about five hours long, which included several stops, and Aaron was inconveniently suffering from “intestinal discomfort” the whole day. We are traveling with a small arsenal of pharmaceuticals but neither Immodium nor Cipro seemed to appease the microbial devil inside. With no lavatory on the bus, he was a much better sport than I would have been. When the bus finally arrived at the Tel Aviv Bus Station, the largest bus station in the world, Aaron ran for the entrance, only to discover that we had to stand in line to have our bags searched before entering. We later learned that this is a common security practice in Israel; our bags are searched at malls, at McDonalds…everywhere. Once inside the station, we urgently searched for a restroom and when we finally found one, it took Aaron a good five minutes to figure out how to get in because you had to deposit a coin and then rotate the turnstile. Thankfully, we had obtained some Israeli coins at the border because he was in a serious state of panic at that point. These are the least glamorous moments of our journey. We are exposed to so many different foods along the way – you never know what’s going to disagree with you – and, unlike our new friend Andrew who is now back at work in Texas, we can’t sustain ourselves solely on French fries.

Tel Aviv is the first place that we had landed without already having at least our first night of accommodations prearranged and I was not happy about it. I prefer to have at least one night booked so that you don’t have to 1) figure out how and where to get to the general vicinity of cheap rooms and 2) lug your heavy pack around after a long day of travel and try to negotiate a rate at the last minute. Aaron had a general idea of where we needed to go to search for a place to stay – we just needed a ride. Outside the bus station, we came upon a row of taxis. We had been warned not to pay over 20 sheqels for a taxi from the station to the beach, where the cheap accommodations were supposed to be. We approached a group of three drivers standing together and showed them a piece of paper that had the name of the street we wanted at the beach. Despite my protest, one of the drivers snatched the paper from my hand and began speaking in Hebrew to another driver. The stress was mounting after our long day of travel not to mention Aaron’s personal issues and when the driver quoted us 70 sheqels for the ride, my weary husband (usually a pillar of poise and diplomacy) uncharacteristically blurted out “F – – – you!”, which incited a testosterone-fired rebuke. Being the only one of sound mind, I grabbed Aaron, who was still in shock from his own actions, and we hurried away, eventually securing a cab at the end of the taxi line for the extorted fare of 40 sheqs. We made it to the beach and took a room in the third place that we tried.

We had planned to meet Saba around noon the next day, in front of our hostel, and we sat on a bench outside to wait for her. When we first saw each other from a distance, we excitedly waved and smiled and it suddenly seemed like not a day had passed since we last ordered cheeseless pizza to save calories, made Rice Krispies treats and ate them out of the bowl, shared clothes, and found so many reasons to laugh at ourselves. We had spent a year together as roommates during our freshmen year at Iowa State. Saba and I were two peas in a pod – curious, happy, adventurous souls, making the most of our first experience away from the safety and supervision of our parents’ nest. Amazingly, in our all-girls, non-alcoholic, non-smoking, quiet dorm, we had one of the best years that either of us can remember.

There are people in my life who have touched my heart in such a way that, while our lives have taken us in different directions and we have lost touch for lengthy periods, I will always long to know them. It has been twelve years since I last saw Saba. After freshmen year, I moved into the sorority house and Saba roomed with another friend. We both left Iowa State after our third semester but we had already lost touch by then. Saba did some interesting things after that – joined the Peace Corps, lived in the Dominican Republic and Ecuador, got a Masters in Public Health in New Orleans, learned to salsa in D.C., and now lives in Haifa, Israel as a volunteer at the Baha’i World Center – and I…well I have certainly had my share of adventures but that’s another story for another time.

So the three of us – Aaron, Saba and I – headed off to the beach, which was only a ten-minute walk from our hostel. We bought some sandwiches at Aroma (“the Starbucks of Israel”) and found a shady spot in the sand. It was wonderful to see that Saba is still the same Saba (still skinnier than me – damn!) but with a few more years of wisdom and experience under her belt. We reminisced, shared travel stories and caught up on each other’s business over the last twelve years. After lunch, we walked on the beach and found an unusual spot where the crests of the ocean waves actually folded sideways into each other, creating a shallow walkway (perpendicular to the shore) toward a rock island about fifty yards from the beach. We walked through it, feeling like the sea had parted just for us, and changed into our bathing suits in the privacy of the rock wall. The water was warm and inviting so we went for a swim, treading in the ocean and riding the gentle waves toward the shore. After our swim, we dressed and walked into town for gelato, then watched the sunset from an outdoor café. The evening ended early because Saba had to head back to Haifa and we would plan to meet her there the following morning.

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