Coral Beach in Eilat

The dive site:


Across from the dive site:


Me taking a picture:


Me with dive buddy Hagai (he's the one with hair):


Me with dive buddy Hagai:


Me:

Hi!

Moi:

Coral:

Near coral:

On land after the last dive:

I'm Certified!

....or is that certifiable?

Yea! I passed the Open Water and written tests and will receive my PADI certificate tomorrow. I didn't want to ask, but I may be one of the oldest persons receiving the Cert in Israel. It turns out the PADI standards in Israel are more stringent and comprehensive than those in the U.S. Here they require additional Open Water classes (which wasn't a problem) but they want anyone over a certain age (like me) to have a stress test hooked up to an EKG before taking the course. I guess they have ambulance chasers here too. As it turned out, the dive center's doctor couldn't schedule the test in time so I kept taking classes. And lo and behold I finished the course....without the test....and I'm still alive!

Perhaps it's the physical effort, the excess nitrogen, the water in my ears, or the years, regardless, I don't recall feeling so tired....ever. I'm exhausted!

Tomorrow I'm taking an "advanced" Open Water dive, and they will have a photographer in the water. If I like the picture, I'll get it and post it here. But if everyone in a full wet suit, mask, and regulator, with hoses all around looks alike, you may have to settle for my photos of tropical fish and coral.

Stay tuned....

Underwater photo

Here's a photo from the dive shop's website. It shows more concentrated marine life than what I saw on my first dive, but it'll do for now.

Sign in Eilat

Eilat has a problem that many cities have.
















For those who didn't double click on the above photo, here's a close-up of the sign.

Scuba

Terrific! Had classroom instruction each of the first three days and practice sessions in the pool the first two days. Today was my first open water practice session/dive. Beautiful! Saw a spotted snake, a lion fish, lots of small colorful fish - some up to a foot-long, lots of coral and other marine life. No pictures yet, maybe tomorrow.

I don't recall scuba diving being so exausting!

Double click on the Eilat harbor picture and...

you'll see the Jordanian flag.

Eilat

I didn't realize the airport is in the middle of the Eilat....literally.

Eilat harbor and neighboring Jordan.


Plane landing.


DC-3 permanently parked at the edge of the runway.


Close-up of DC-3 permanently parked at the edge of the runway.

Rainbows north of Tel Aviv

One is a full 180 degrees. The second is just a partial.

Quick....make a wish!

Tour of Tel Aviv - last day with IDF

Rabin Memorial where he was murdered.



Old Tel Aviv: Old door:


Old Tel Aviv: Inside of Art Gallery near external door:


Old Tel Aviv: Interesting harware/sculpture near window. Is it advertising?
Turn it down = Woman at home alone, so come on in:


Old Tel Aviv: Turn it up = Man at home, so stay away:

Netanya north of Tel Aviv

A relatively new city growing by leaps and bounds.

Group photo and me with Cert

Hanna and her daughter Gil with me

Who checks if the gas cap is there when renting a car?

I didn't!

I always check for dents, scrapes, hub caps, spare tire, jack and damage to interior upholstery. Never for a gas cap....but I will from now on!

Another hint: all Israeli rental cars have an anti-theft device - an internal keypad for an ID code. Without it the engine will crank but not start. I rented from Budget and neither the gal siging me out or the guy at the garage told me about the code. I drove about 45 minutes north of Tel Aviv and parked. When I tried to start it, it didn't. I called local service and was told about the code which was written on the key fob.

The second weekend I rented from Eldan. It's an Israeli company which I understand is the largest car rental company in Israel. Both the gal signing me out and the guy at the parking lot told me about the code.

Everything about Eldan was first rate!

Message: rent from Eldan, not Budget!

Hanna's little Cookie and daughter Gil's two large dogs

My second cousin Hanna and her daughter Orly

Warm and terrific!

First weekend

View of the Mediterranean from the hotel.

It rained - no it poured - for two days

The unusually heavy downpour over two days was welcomed by Israelis because most of the country is in the middle of a draught.



On the second day I asked if we should start building an ark.

Me in fatigues getting Volunteer epilets

The Group - week 1

You're in the army now....

....and then you're not. Wow! Two weeks have gone by so fast it's hard to believe. Glad I have terrific memories, an I.D. card, a Certificate of Appreciation, numerous pictures, and cuts and scraps to prove it....so I guess I really did it.

Also met a lot of great people: a retired, non-Jewish lady from Ireland (who volunteers six months a year!), a Jewish man from Ireland who emigrated a year ago, a couple from Calgary, a retired ex-NewJoisey man from Florida and his significant other, a man from LonGiland, an ex-NewYawker from Phoenix, a couple from Calgary, an ex-LDS/Mormon now from Seattle who has the wisdom of the Dali Lama, an amazing, dedicated couple from Florida who have done this more than fifteen times (he's 88 and she's modest) and others. Even a twenty year old from Sweden who is in the process of making Aliyah - and has applied to join the IDF.

Like many of the others, I inspected and rebuilt antennae and mounts for armored vehicles. And while I did not, many inspected, rebuilt and tested the communications gear incorporated in helmets.

On a macro basis, we all knew what we were doing really does affect lives (my thanks to Jack Nicholson for his monologue in A Few Good Men).

As it feels good when you make a difference, I highly recommend it to everyone.

Pictures next.

Israeli salad

Yummy....nothing like it.

And the matjes herring was a mechaia!

Enjoy! and Bye for a while....

Typos

Sorry about bladder and airport. I guess jetlag got the better of me.

Check it out....I'm going to ask questions :)

I'll sleep when I get back to Atlanta....

So I went for a walk. Nearby is an art gallery and here are two interesting sculptures:






A block away is the Promenade....along the Mediteranean....all the way to Jaffa. While the waves were not as large or as loud as those at Orchard Beach or Coney Island, still....it was the sound of water. FYI, Old Jaffa is a terrific place and it's only about 2.5 miles away from my hotel.



Guess what's along the way?



Here's an Old Jaffa street:


Then guess what happened....the camera battery gave out! So from here on out you'll just have to read.

I really enjoyed walking in and around in Old Jaffa. Of course I knew which direction to go. Not! There seems to be a little rust in my mind's compass. I kept walking and fortunately my bladded outvoted my testosterone and I asked for directions. I was going in the opposite direction! I must have walked half way to Jerusalem!

Interesting - while walking some of the deserted back street of Old Jaffa I realized I felt very safe. Nice feeling!

Another observation - I haven't yet seen a soldier carrying a weapon - not even at the airpirt. The other three times I've been here, it was commonplace. Maybe it'll be different in Jerusalem. It certainly will be on an army base.

That's all for now Folks!