To Jerusalem

We left the kibbutz and got back on the bus to continue our tour. Our tour guide was an Armenian man named Nazar. Because he was not Israeli meant that we could go to a few places in Arab areas without question. One was Samaria. Apparently some tourists could not see the well, where Jesus met the woman. We did. We had lunch in Tiberias on the edge of the Sea of Galilee. It was quite a strange restaurant. They served fish. The problem was that they caught the fish in the sea; threw it in boiling water to kill it; and then served it head and all. They gave you a knife and fork. You had to cut through the scales and bones to get to the meat. All with the eyes staring at you. It was like being in disecting class in Biology. In addition, the restuarant had windows that looked out over the water, and you could watch the fish being caught. The water had a gas slick on it, and folks just lost their appetites. I didn't eat fish for years after. After an afternoon of more sightseeing, he got to Jerusalem. We checked into our hotel and had dinner. It had been a long day. After dinner, Sandra, Judy, Talula and I went walking near the hotel and came upon a souvenir store a block from the hotel. We were looking for mother of pearl things, especially Bibles. The store had a lot of those things. There were three guys who ran the store named Sam, Omar and Sam. At least, that's what they told us. The guys were in their twenties and were smitten by the three girls. We began talking with them, and it was decided that they would take us on a walking tour around the area, after they closed their store that night. Each guy took a girl for the walk, and I was walking behind Sandra at the back. The boys had their arms around the girls, as we walked around the neighborhood. At one point, Sandra waved at me behind the boy's back, and I got the idea that she wanted me to get lost, so they could be alone with the guys. So, I proceeded to truly get lost. I wandered through neighborhoods that made the NYC ghettos look like swanky hotels. It was pretty scary. I came upon a group of orthodox Jews to try and get directions back to the hotel, but they didn't want to talk to me. It was getting close to midnight, and I was very lost. I found a cab and asked him to take me to the hotel. It turned out it was around the corner from where I was, and I gave him a dollar. As I got back to my room, Mr. Vivian was waiting and was very mad. Where had I been? Why wasn't I with the girls? Where had they been? I couldn't answer the questions. They got back to the hotel before me and didn't know where I was. It turned out that Sandra was just waving hello to me, not to get lost. They were apprehensive being with the guys without me around. So, Mr. Vivian changed the rules. From now on, I was to stay with the girls including Sha as their companion/bodyguard for the rest of the trip. Everything they did--I did. I was okay with it, but the girls didn't know that yet. It was a night, where we truly did experience the city that the tourists didn't usually see.