July 29th, 30th and 31st: Around Naoussa village, Paros

Georgios, Karina and me

Map of Paros island. Karina's place is in the central north coast in the town of Naoussa

July 29th:

Boat laundry

Naoussa from the harbor

The beach near the harbor

Naoussa from the beach

Blue shutters, blue balcony

Walk to the northwest coast near Cape Korakas

The white-washed houses turn pink at sunset

July 30th:

Morning view from the deck of Karina's apartment

Laundry with blue shutters and blue door (I had to enter the church grounds and climb onto a wall to get this view)

Little fish for dinner snack

Delicious octopus

Evening walk to the lighthouse

Karina's brother, Barry, and his daughter, Intan, on the walk to the lighthouse

View from the lighthouse

Naoussa across the bay (from near the lighthouse)

I've been keeping strange hours on Paros, hanging out with Georgios and Karina after they close their restaurant, which is usually after 1AM. On the night of the 30th, we decided to go to the main harbor, where all the young tourists are, to find some live music. It was amazing - at 4AM when we headed home, the streets were still packed with tourists, and all the shops were still open. (There were even children sitting outside the clubs playing cards.) The locals have a love-hate relationship with the tourist industry. For 325 days a year Paros is a peaceful, quiet paradise. Then for 40 days from the end of July through August, the holiday season overwhelmes the place. Many shops are open for just these 40 days. It is mostly young Greeks on vacation. Sitting and watching them, it felt like a fashion show, with their fancy, revealing clothes and high-healed shoes. (I told Georgios I felt like I was in a science fiction movie where they killed off all the old people, and all the people that remained were young and beautiful.) The islanders need the tourism to survive (as Karina said, "They can't make a living just fishing any more."), but it has totally changed the culture and atmosphere of the island. One local musician who is friends with Georgios and Karina said that next year he is leaving during these 40 days.

July 31st:

Morning walk through the town, on my way to the east coast (It is quiet now, but it was packed last night with young Greeks on holiday.)

"This is the magic of Greece. This, what do you call it, . . .labyrinth." Georgios said to me as we walked through the old town late last night. Last night you could barely pass through these narrow streets, but this morning all is quiet.

Really clear Agean Sea on the east coast of Paros.

I went on a really long walk today, it took over three hours - east from Naoussa to the coast, then down the east coast to the village of Ambelas.

View of Ambelas

Umbrella in Ambelas. There is something very provocative about this one splash of color (other than blue, of course).

Laundry in Ambelas

Back to Naoussa (view from my favorite seat in Karina's Taverna)

July 28th and 29th: A very long day

It was a very long day, and it started out poorly. I was supposed to wake at 2:45AM to call the taxi to take me to the train station to catch the 3:38AM train to the airport, but I slept through the alarm, waking at 3:21AM. Too late to catch the train, I got a taxi direct to the airport, and then a flight to Athens.

Leaving Pireas

In Athens I caught a bus to Pireas, then a boat a few hours later to the island of Paros. I bought the cheapest ticket - unreserved deck passage. Greece in the summer is a land of young people. At first I thought I was the oldest person on the boat, but later, after walking all the decks through hundreds of people, I did see one or two other old travelers.

Sunset on the Agean Sea

At the port in Paros, I was met by Karina's brother, Barry, and his daughter Intan

They drove me to Karin's restaurant

Karina and Georgios

Their sweet taverna

Though it was late at night, they insisted on feeding me. Here are three dipping spreads: smokey eggplant, split pea with carmelizing onions, and spicy feta

A delicious plate of roasted vegetables - eggplant, peppers and mushrooms, on a bed of cous cous in a delicious balsamic vinegarette

My day started at 3AM, and I didn't arrive in Paros until 10PM, so this is what I looked like after dinner (it must have been around midnight)

view from the deck - this is the view I woke up to at Karina and Georgios's apartment

Quote from Searching for God at Harvard: "Thus taught the Baal Shem Tov: 'Study for the sake of scholarship is desecration; it is a transgression of the commandment against bowing before alien gods, the idol being mere learning. The study of the Torah is a matter of the heart's devotion."

As my sabbatical is winding down, I have been thinking about why I do what I do, and what I have learned. The passage above is an excellent description of my love of travel. It is not just for the sake of traveling, but my heart's devotion - constantly experiencing and relearning how to live in a "heartful" way - experiencing and relearning about my connection to the universe.

7/26 and 7/27: Good bye to Israel

Hila napping with the ducks

It has been a very nice and slow last two days in Israel. Yesterday Hila and I went for a walk to the park near her house.

Then dinner with my Israeli friends who I had met in India. We all met at an Indian restaurant that serves South Indian food on Monday night - idlis and massala dosas - yum!

Me with Shmuel, Neta, Liat and Hila at the Indian restaurant.

I met Neta, Liat and Hila in Pushkar, and Shmuel in Hampi. When Neta walked up to the table, she recognized Hila, but not from Pushkar. They were childhood friends, but haven't seen each other for many, many years. Interestingly, they were both in Pushkar at the same time. I had met Neta at the guest house where I was staying, and Hila at a cooking class.

Tel Aviv beach

This afternoon I ate that delicious eggplant, egg, tahina pita dish called manai sabeech, then I took a bus to Tel Aviv and went for a walk on the beach, then had a delicious pear and wine sorbet, a little more walking to Old Jaffa, then a pita with Zahatar.

The end of my sabbatical is quickly approaching. I am leaving Israel tomorrow for Greece to visit my friends who I met in Indonesia who run a restaurant on the island of Paros. After a couple of weeks there, I will move on to Paris and then London and then Home. So, I realized as I was walking on the beach today that I am full of fears - fears of going home, fears of falling back into old pattterns, fears of losing who I am, fears of not knowing who I am. It's just about time to meet my fears. It would be nice if we could just introduce ourselves, shake hands, and maybe even be friends.

7/25: Caesarea

Lalie and Hila

Hila likes this picture better (Lalie doesn't care)

Caesarea, about an hour up the coast from Tel Aviv

The first records of a settlement at this location was during the Persian rule (536-332 BCE). The village flourished during the Hellenistic period (332-37 BCE). In 30 BCE the village was awarded to Herod, who built a beautiful Roman city here.

Caesarea was a planned Roman city. It took 12 years to build, complete with a theatre, Hippodrome, bath complex, and of course, a grand palace for Herod. the most impressive aspect of the city was its artificial harbor, a man made breakwater jutting 400 meters into the sea (it collapsed from an earthquake during the Roman period).

The village was transformed into a a great commercial center, and became the head of the Roman government of Palestine.

Mosaic tile floor, remains from the Roman period

This is the most ancient of all the theatres found in Israel. Built 2000 years ago, it could seat 4,000 spectators (It is still used today for concerts). Towards the end of the byzantine period, the theatre was converted into a castle, and was deserted after the Arab conquest.

There is something appealing about the Roman pillar laying in the surf, and the power plant chimneys in the distance being the same shape.

Caesarea continued to grow during the Byzantine period, but lost its political and economic significance after the Arab conquest of 640 CE. In 1101 CE Caesarea was conquered by the Crusaders, and was refortified in 1251 during the crusade of King Louis IX of France. In 1265 it was conquered by the Malemukes, and was then destroyed and deserted. It was not until the 19th century that the Ottoman authorities began the renovation of Caesarea.

Hila and I

Lunch in a town not far from Caesarea. These 16 dishes coae automatically, and do not even include the roasted eggplant with tahini, or the chicken Shewarma that we ordered. It was quite a feast that we just happened upon.

July 23rd and 24th: Jerusalem, Natan and Khalif

Natan and Khalif are on their way home. I spent two wonderful weeks with these two impressive young men, and it makes my whole being warm to just think of them. We ended our time together with two days in Jerusalem.

The Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall

I think this image best portrays Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock is the second holiest site in the world for Muslims (after Mecca), the site of Mohammad's Miraaj, or Night Journey to heaven. It was built between 689 and 691 CE, making it the oldest existing Islamic building. It was built over the Foundation Stone on the site of the Second Jewish Temple. Below the Dome of the Rock is the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall or Kotel. The Foundation Stone is considered the holiest site in the world for Jews, the rock where Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, as well as the location of the Holy of Holies of the Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. The Western Wall is the closest site to the Holy of Holies, the inner sactuary of the First Jewish Temple where the Arc of the Covanent was kept.

Damascus Gate, one of the main 4 gates to enter the Old City of Jerusalem. We spent our entire time in Jerusalem in the Old City, for we arrived just before Shabbat, and everything Jewish closes. Only the Muslim and Christian quarters are open.

View of the Old City from the roof top of Jaffa Gate hostel where we stayed.

The Old City of Jerusalem is about one square mile. There has been continuous habitation in Jerusalem for more than 5000 years, making it one of the oldest cities in the world. It is divided into 4 quarters. The Muslim quarter is by far the largest, with around 20,000 inhabitants. The Christian Quarter has 4,500 inhabitants. 3,000 people live in the Armenian quarter, and about 2,500 in the Jewish quarter (We were told that The Dome of the rock is the 5th quarter - that especially makes no sense to a math teacher - comprising about 1/5 of the total area of the Old City).

Street scene in the Muslim quarter. There are no cars in the Old City, though there are a few tracker-like vehicles, used to collect garbage and make deliveries.

Christian Quarter street scene

Another street scene

It is a little difficult taking photographs in the Old City, for you can only get extracted images, and what is so impressive about the place is the whole view and the whole feeling of the place. And then it occurred to me that our personal realities are, in some ways, like photographs. We can only take a picture of a small part of the whole, and then, after some time, the whole begins to fade, but we still retain the fixed image of the photograph. Events happen, and we reflect upon them and react to them, forgetting that nothing occurs in isolation. There is no other place we could possibly be at this moment than the place where we are, for it is the multitude of experiences that brought us to this experience.

Some good laundry shots in Jerusalem

Vegetable market in the Muslim quarter

Sabra, a delicious cactus fruit

Pyramid of spice. I ate delicious food in Jerusalem - maybe the best hummus ever!

Shopping for a kufiya

Delicious bread snacks, and really large falafel balls (top right corner)

Natan, Khalif and I at breakfast before we went on a free three-hour tour of the Old City

It seemed to me that in Jerusalem, more than any other place I had been in Israel, the Israelis - both Muslim and Jew - very clearly stated who they are by the clothes they wore

Orthodox Jews on their way to the Western Wall

Natan really wanted a picture of the Orthodox Jews wearing this huge, cylindrical fur hat, but I was too embarassed to take a picture up close, especially on Shabbat. this is the best I could do.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre (also known as The Church of the Resurrection)

Of course, Jerusalem is also holy to Christians. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the location of Jesus's tomb, which, of course, is empty due to the Resurrection.

Natan and Khalif inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built in 326 CE, only 30 years after Rome officially became a Christian nation, making it is one of the oldest churches in the world.

A service inside the Church

One of the coolest things we did was on our final evening in Jerusalem, when we went on the Ramparts walk.

Khalif and Natan on the ramparts walk

The boys "looking thoughtful"

The boys "looking sincere"

The boys "looking away"

So Natan is the director of these shots. "Okay, look away. . . . Now, arms crossed, angry face. . . . I need to tilt the hat more. I got to get these photo shoots down."

I think we are supposed to be "thoughtful" here

Natan and Khalif at the airport, just before we parted (I couldn't follow them through "Passport Control." I so much enjoyed getting to know Khalif - he has such a gentle soul. And, or course, it was wonderful spending time with Natan after almost one year apart.

A public/private message/reminder:

No one can tell us who we are.

No one has that right.

We know it in our heads.

And even more so in our hearts.