Random extras

July 13, 2010
At the end of today we have been here 2 weeks. I can't believe how the time has flown and how much there is still to see! This is just a post on random things that we have observed. First of all, the fruit and vegetables here are amazing. They are always fresh and so much tastier than we get in Canada. There are many micro-climates here because of the extreme varience in elevation and because of the three large bodies of water (mediterranean, red and Galillee seas). We have seen such a wide variety of plants growing. There are banana, palm (date), apples, lemon, olive, grape, mango, and many other orchards all over the place. The variety of fruit depends on where they are in the country. There are also so many different flowers and plants planted for beauty. Plants we have in our house are huge trees here. It is amazing.
We are also amazed by the wide diversity of people here. There are many ethnicities, and a wide range of religiousity. There are Jews who look and dress like us, those who wear all black suits and cowboy type hats, those who are dressed all in black with long curled hair growing down their sideburns, and those who wear elaboate garbs and big black furry pillbox hats. There are Arabs and Palestinians as well with a wide variety of garments, signifying the degree to which they are religious. There are many young people in the army and they go on the buses and into public areas with their uniforms and guns. We don't even look twice anymore.