Ma = What? (Ma! The Meatlof!)

Shalom Shalom,

For the most part, when I walk around Israel, I really can't tell that it's not actually the U.S. (Except for the occasional Hasidic Jew walking around). However, every now and again I notice a subtle difference that reminds me I am not at home...

• You can't turn right on red here
• An apple martini is apple juice and vodka (Apple juice from a juice box no less...just kidding)

• Their family restaurant (Similar to a Chilis) is called Moses (I'm thinking of opening one called Jesus). It has a dog/cat face as a logo.

• Twenty-one year olds are just starting university
• Fourteen year olds are out at three in the morning
• Its sunny 360 days out of the year

Israel has its share of fast food places (McDonalds and a place called Burger Ranch being the main ones), but everywhere you go you can always find a falafel/shwarma stand. I don't know why this hasn't caught on in the U.S. It cheap, fast, and delicious and seems to be somewhat more healthy than a burger. In Egypt, however, fast food is rampant. Surprisingly, the most popular fast food restaurant I found there was Hardees (Weird), but McDonalds and KFC are all over the place as well. There was even a TGI Fridays and Chilis on a anchored boat restaurant on the Nile (Mmmmm Nile burgers).

Switching gears. Over the past couple of days I have gone to some interesting touristy sites around the area.

First, I went to the Ayalon Institute, located at a kibbutz in Rehovot. Underneath the laundry facility here is a room the size of a tennis court where Jews secretly manufactured ammunition during the British occupation pre-1948. When the British left and the War of Independence started, this was the only ammunition the Jewish soldiers were able to obtain and so allowed them to win the war and establish a Jewish state, etc. Thirty hard core machines were run day and night for three years in secret while workers came and went through hidden entrances in the laundry room (Hooray history).


Next we went to the "Stalactite Cave". It was full of stalactites (Looks like some alien shit). That's all I have to say about that.


Finally we went to the armored corps museum/memorial. On display, they have Israeli tanks throughout the years as well as tanks captured during numerous wars (There's nothing like a big tank to get the testosterone goin).


The memorial here is setup similar to the Vietnam memorial in D.C.


Today we went shopping and made a trip out to Jaffa. This was completely different than anywhere else I have been in Israel. It was run down and dirty (It reminded me of Cairo). Everywhere you looked there was a shop of useless crap. Thankfully though, I found the used refrigerator stand and all was well.


I'm pretty sure I am going to Jordan tomorrow, which I am incredibly psyched about. I'll tell you all about it when I get back (Come on, I know you're excited!).