Always Seeking More…

This last week has been has been a turbulent one for me in Jerusalem. My phone charger broke, which meant I had no way to communicate while out and about. That same day, my electricity went out while I was gone. I did not know this, and assumed that the still cold yogurt in my fridge would be fine. After days of being violently ill, I am finally back to 100%.  Feeling great! Then I wake up to an email saying my lodging in Tel Aviv has been cancelled. So, what does this have to do with the theme “always seeking more”? Let me attempt to explain.

In between my frequent trips to the bathroom, I spent a lot of time in bed reading. I came across an article about St Ignatius of Loyola, ancient Knight and founder of The Society of Jesus (better known as the Jesuits). St Ignatius did many great things, but I think the most wonderful of all was his focus on “Magis” (Latin for “More”). Before anyone starts quoting a Dan Brown novel about some secret plot of the Jesuits to take over the world, let’s take a closer look at this.

What he believed was simple: you should always being doing MORE to better yourself. Not just to be the best at any one thing, but to seek out betterment in ever aspect of your life. If you continually better yourself and examine how your choices affect others, you will be able to do more for the world, and serve God better… I know, I know. Still waiting for the correlation.

This is how I see it: When I was sick, I could have given up on my workout plan and justified taking a couple of days of rest; but I wanted MORE. When my phone charger broke, I could have just stopped communicating; but I wanted MORE. When my reservations got cancelled less than a week before I was supposed to go there, I could have got frustrated and just gave up; but I wanted MORE. I dug down and finished my workouts as planned, because it was bettering myself physically. I kept communicating with people who were giving me invaluable insight, because it was bettering myself mentally. When the plans changed for lodging, I didn’t get down on myself, because the new place I found is going to better my trip tenfold compared to the other place.

Ignatian Spirituality says that God is actively involved in the world and intimately involved with us in every moment and place. Regardless of religious affiliation, I think if you simply reflect on things and strive for MORE, any situation can be turned into a positive.

This is just my perspective on life.

You are awesome!

-Mike

Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Please leave them down below. 

The “Secret Garden”

I’m sure it’s not really called the secret garden, but that’s what I call this place. Located directly across from the Jaffa Gate of the Old City, neighboring the Montefiore Windmill, and right above the Artist Colony. Perfect for reflection or taking in all of the splendors of Jerusalem. If you ever find yourself in the city, I suggest you come and visit this hidden gem.

View of the Dead Sea

Shabbat Shalom everybody! When the words are said together, they convey the message “may your day of no work be peaceful”, and can I say it really has been very peaceful for me. Let me explain why.

This week I have traveled to Jericho, Bethlehem, and the Dead Sea.  I used Egged Tours to book these tours because: 1) this is WAY cheaper than the taxis, the guides have a lot of insight into the areas you are going, the mini bus is very comfortable, and the people who take the tours with you are an interesting bunch. In addition to how amazing each of these places were (order of importance for me: Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, Jericho), it also officially finishes my list of everything I wanted to see/do in Israel.

(In My Billy Mays Voice): BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! 

A neighbor of mine invited me to their house for an Orthodox Jewish Shabbat dinner. This was a very pleasant surprise for me. The Shabbat (or Sabbath) begins on Friday at sunset and ends Saturday at night. During this time, when basically everything shuts down, it is a time to reflect, relax, and spend time with friends and family. Now, I’m a Catholic American that doesn’t have much experience or knowledge of Jewish traditions, so I can’t begin to explain all of the rules and beliefs of what the Shabbat entails…but I can describe the very lovely dinner I just had.

I arrived at the home around 8:30pm, and was introduced to everyone (husband, wife, son, daughter). These folks were from the US, so I instantly felt right at home when the conversation started. After getting to know everyone, the whole dinner was explained to me. There’s washing of the hands, prayer, singing, blessings, and other rituals were involved at different times. I basically followed along the best I could, except the parts in Hebrew, and there was no pressure on me to know everything (which is good, because I was lost in the sauce).

There was wine, soup, bread, and a spread of food that was amazing! Fish, salad, noodles, stuffed peppers, lasagna….ALL SO GOOD! In between the singing and prayers, a conversation took place that is reminiscant of so many family dinners I have participated in before. We talked about life, school, current events, travel, Grandma posting on Facebook; I really can’t stress how refreshing this all was.

I learned a lot about the traditions, ate some great food, and had wonderful company through it all. I’m not Jewish. I’m not Israeli. If I wasn’t invited, I would have never thought I would have this experience; but I am so very thankful for this wonderful night!

Moral of the story: When doors open for you, put a smile on and walk right through that door.

Don’t Let Fear Stop You 

View of the Old City from East Jerusalem

Fear can do strange things to people. It can make us paranoid, delusional, and worst of all it can close off our world.

When I first got to Jerusalem, all of the news reports talked about how unsafe East Jerusalem was. There were emails that I received cautioning Americans not to travel into East Jerusalem. There was an event where 10,000+ people participated in a so-called “Day of Rage” which resulted in police getting involved and people being killed and injured. With all of this being at the forefront of my mind, I weighted any travel into East Jerusalem very heavily when completing my risk analysis of places I wanted to visit (I know, nerd alert. But hey, I’m an American traveling alone in a country where I don’t look like most of the people and don’t speak the language). I didn’t want to travel into East Jerusalem at all; there’s just too many other places I could see with much less risk involved. That all changed when I met a group of Brits out at dinner in the Old City one night. I struck up a conversation with them, and it turned out they were working at a place called the Garden Tomb and invited me out there. Not knowing where exactly it was from their directions, I agreed to come visit them out there the next time they worked. WELLLLL. Turns out the Garden Tomb is in East Jerusalem.

I now had a decision to make: Should I be a man of my word, throw caution to the wind, and go visit them OR should I do the reasonable, prudent thing and just explain to them why I wouldn’t come visit them? I was never mistaken for a MENSA candidate, so of course I went to visit. When you enter East Jerusalem, it’s very noticeably different from the rest of Jerusalem in that there are many more people wearing traditional Muslim attire and it is a very different environment. Different how you ask? Signs that were usually in Hebrew/Arabic/English were now only in Arabic. The types of food being sold in the street were different. There were burn marks in the street. And most notably: the Israeli police/Army seemed to have an unusually large force situated right across the street from the entrance to East Jerusalem. I made it safely to the Garden Tomb, had a wonderful time taking the tour, and catching up with one Gerry (one of the Brits I met earlier).

When I made it back to my apartment that night, I reflected on the whole situation. I’m alive, how can this be?…Okay, maybe I wasn’t that melodramatic about it, but I was surprised how easily I transitioned in and out of there. It was settled, I was going to explore the rest of East Jerusalem, and I am so happy that I did. I got to see so many amazing places, took that wonderful picture of the Old City (Above), and met a tour guide that actually used to live in my home state of Arizona (he insisted on showing me his ID to prove it).

Moral of the story is: don’t limit your options because of fear. I didn’t fly thousands of miles into a country at war just to limit the places I would visit. I’m going to see all the places I wanted to, and that’s that. You never know what kind of adventure you can find outside of your comfort zone.

Have you had a similar situation? When did you decide, enough is enough?

You are awesome!

-Mike

Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Please leave them down below. 

Everyday I wake up and have the chance to take in the views of Jerusalem. Contrary to what media outlets will have you believe, there are no bombs going off, no mass rioting in the street, and I have not felt in danger at any time I have been here.

The part of Jerusalem I am staying in is known as “The German Colony”,

about one mile from the Old City portion of Jerusalem. It’s a quiet neighborhood, but in close proximity to the First Station which is both a historical landmark and lively cultural place for food and fun.

Some Useful Information: 

CURRENCY. So here is the currency known as the Israeli New Shekel, or just “shekel”. Right now, it’s about 3.40 shekels to 1 US Dollar. So don’t freak out when you get that 50 shekel bill for the awesome four course meal! One negative concerning the currency is that they still have coins for 10, 5, 2, 1, and 1/2 shekels. You can hear me jingling from a mile away!

TRANSPORTATION. Like many other large cities in the world, there are many options for getting around town. Light rail, bus, taxi, and shared taxis. One major difference between here and most places is that there are days where they do not run due to Sabbath, plan accordingly. More info about transportation options here.

EMERGENCIES: POLICE – DIAL 100. AMBULANCE – DIAL 101. 

OLD CITY. Get a map. You will thank me later.

Now, that you have the most important part out of the way, enjoy everything that the Old City has to offer. If you have questions, be sure to stop in at the Tourist Information Centre near the Jaffa Gate. Everything is very safe, most shop owners speak english, and there are many Police/Military available. When looking for food, follow my simple rule that hasn’t let me down yet: if it doesn’t have items listed in your language, you are probably going to have issues ordering.

Also, Don’t use the post office in The Old City….As you read reviews of this post office online, phrases like: “Great for people watching”, and “don’t be in a hurry” show up. Okay. Not being in a hurry is one thing, but the udder disrespect shown to anyone that looks Western is huge. I don’t claim to be fluent in Arabic, but I certainly know threatening and derogatory words, and they were used pretty liberally towards me and a British guy in there. That’s fine, sticks and stones, and all of that. Well, the concept of a line seemed to only apply for Non-Westerners. Once the British guy got up there, everyone else rushed the window and he just gave up. Determined not to have the same outcome, I stood my ground. When I got to the front of the line, the same thing happened. Ah, but I played basketball and started boxing people out! Still when I handed my postcards through the window, the teller looked at me and refused to take my postcards. Epic fail. I ended up sending my postcards somewhere else with no problems, but man oh man.

PUBLIC TOILETS. Because crap happens, no matter who we are. The signs for public restrooms are marked with “WC” or “oo”.

Jerusalem is an amazing, important city. If you ever get the chance to come here, make sure to explore. There’s fun around every corner.

You are awesome!

-Mike

Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Please leave them down below. 

Sunrise in Jerusalem

Not too long ago, I would have been described as “just some guy”, and in fact it was someone describing me as such that prompted me to make a drastic change in my life. That change took the form of the current adventure I am on right now: traveling the world until I don’t want to anymore.

By all accounts I had lived an above average life, with some speed bumps along the way: I played sports all year round as a child, served in the US Army, graduated with honors from Arizona State University (Go Sun Devils!), owned my own home, worked in the world of politics, and worked as hard as I could at whatever I did. All things I don’t regret and am very thankful for having the opportunity to do.

Then something major in my life changed. A long term relationship I was in had suddenly ended. I shut down emotionally and immersed myself even more into my work. While this had wonderful results for me professionally, I was simply a shell of a man. When a good friend of mine pointed this out to me, I promised that I would go and experience new things every month to sort of “jump start” my zest for life again. I learned how to fly a plane, discovered scuba diving, finished a “Spartan Race“, and even went running with the bulls. I thought I was doing well, until I heard a friend of mine describe me as “just some guy”. This really caused me to reflect on what I really wanted to do in life, and what I came up with was: I wanted to travel. 

I sold my house, put in my two weeks notice, paid off all of my debt, and bought a ticket to Israel (Which is where I am writing to you from now). I have always wanted to come here, so I did. I also have a list of other countries I am going to visit soon after Israel. So my adventure begins….

How do you see your life? Is there something you have always wanted to do, but thought there’s no way I could ever do that. I don’t have the time. I don’t have the money. I can’t just pause what I am doing to do what I want to do. I’m here to tell you that YOU CAN.

Believe in yourself, you’re more awesome than you ever imagined. 

-Mike

Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Please leave them down below.