First off understand I was going to come to Israel with my friend Justin but he cancelled and couldn't come. I had no time to plan all on my own so I found the only tour company that aligned somewhat with my days in Israel. The company is an LDS group called Israel Revealed. I had to be in Israel a week earlier than initially planned to make it on the tour. That is why I had to go fast in all the countries before this, because I had to cut a week's worth of traveling out to get here one week earlier. Luckily that included a couple days in India :)
This tour was really expensive to me. But it is probably the most reputable company since the guide is a Mormon and a Jew who grew up in Israel. I have been ecstatic about doing this tour and have even felt somewhat grateful my friend Justin couldnt come so i could do this hopefully awesome tour. The commercials for Israel Revealed are always on at conference time. Even though the cost was high, I feel it is worth it to do this trip right! I will be in Israel 15 days because I had already bought my flight out of Israel on May 29th thinking my friend Justin and I would leave that day. The tour is 7-8 days so Israel Revealed has helped me fill the days in with other things to do like Petra Jordan, Eliat, Haifa and Tel Aviv. Israel revealed has been great and they were willing to negotiate the price down a lot for me which was great.
So why was this arrival not how i imagined it? On arrival I was still depressed from my backpack being stolen. Goodness i felt sad. It wasn't so much the items I lost as feeling a little violated and sad for the thief.
On the flight over I had spent a half hour on a blog post and it didn't save so I lost it. That sucks! Then at the airport I decided I needed to exchange some USD and Euro for Shekels in case I get robbed again I won't have a lot of money on me. They raped me on the exchange rate, but i didn't know where I could find in the city and if I'd have time. This is just not my day at all. Wow I felt awful coming into Jerusalem. I was sad I felt this way to top it all off haha.
First impressions of Israel were wow, it is not a desert here! And there are mountains and valleys all over. It looks awesome! Also the obvious culture change of now being in a Jewish state.
Tel Aviv!
I caught a shared taxi van from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Upon arrival i met the other two people that will be on my tour with me. An older couple from Bountiful. I worried if this was a mistake. Me and two old people on this tour and that's it lol. I think i was just down from the other things.
I checked into my hotel and just had to say a prayer to get over all these things that were weighing me down. I had a half day to do whatever and so I went to the mall to get a new phone charger since mine was stolen. This turned it around for me. Israel is a cool place and feels a lot like America inside the mall actually. I met a guy who has been to Utah and we had a nice chat about traveling and religion. I met and talked with many other people and really really enjoyed it. Israel feels completely safe where i am. The Jewish culture is also very very interesting to be in. All the things we see in movies about Jews are how a lot of people dress. Many many Jews and Arabs live here together in peace and look and dress like westerners. I also saw some of the most beautiful woman I have seen in a long time which never hurts :)
I got a new charger but completely forgot to get a new adapter since that got stolen too, ugh. No charging my phone tonight.
My room has an incredible view of Jerusalem!
I was pretty disappointed that most all of my Israel Travel information had been stolen with my bag. I had no knowledge of my itinerary and had planned on reading scriptures related to each day the night before. All I knew was we would be in Jerusalem tomorrow.
I'm stoked and ready to see the Holy Land!!
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