ARRIVAL
“Ah. Hahagana Station. It’s just one stop. You stand right here. Actually no, you go to the other side. It’s the next train.
No. Actually it’s the one after the next train. See the 8:05 PM? Haifa Center. It’s the 2nd train. OK? Don’t worry, I’ll be here if you need me.”
Nick & I nodded gratefully at this smiley man – Office Manager it says outside the office he just came out of. We just arrived at Ben Gurion Airport and have now decided to take the train as we head to our hostel.
“Can we walk from the train stop to Abraham Hostel?” Nick asked Office Manager.
“Everyone goes there, huh? What street? Let me see.”
I scrambled to get my phone out. Luckily I bought a local sim card (shipped in the US!) so I have some internet access. Levontin St.
“Should we take a cab instead?” I asked while Office Manager was looking at my phone.
“ Well, it’s 20 minutes walking from Hahagana Station to that street,” he replies, looking at our carry-ons. “The cab drivers, they’ll know you are tourists. Ah. That’s not good.” He nods his head, shaking it emphatically.
“Are they sharks?” Nick joked.
“Sharks? My friend, they are worse than sharks!”
Poor cab drivers. Poor tourists. We are walking. It’ll be good exercise, anyway.
***
FIRST DAY
After walking around for about two hours, our eyelids heavy, our bodies confused — we gave in.
Finding a shaded spot in the Old Jaffa park, we lay down with other jet-lagged travelers and lazy stray cats. I fall asleep right away, lullabied by the breeze and the sounds of school children playing in the background.
The weather was hot and cold, the ground was hard and damp. After more than an hour, we get up, still dazed.
We walk some more to end up in the beach, signs of no swimming everywhere and yet not so far away are surfers who could care less about signs and rules.
We walk some more and end up in a park where generic workout equipments are free to use for the public. We try them all for 10 seconds each, hoping that is enough to build our muscles for the day.
We walk some more and end up getting hungry. We find a restaurant that served a whole fish – fried and fresh, with all the trimmings of an Arabic meal — hummus, baba ganoush, yogurt, pickled vegetables and olives.
We walk some more and end up at our hostel, where a band is playing.
We sit in the corner, listening to the soulful music, dozing in and out; awake enough to watch the people dance in enjoyment but still asleep to the possibility of dancing with them. We stay like that for a while, just soaking it all in.
We walk a little bit more and end up where we started. In bed. Thus is our first full day.
