#makefriendsandmemories

  Israel

When I arranged a shabbat stay off Shabbat.com, in a neighborhood bordering Silwan ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silwan ) , home of some of Jerusalem's Palestinian community. I stayed with a family with 5 kids; a newly wed couple, of course. The husband is from Romania, and was about 6'10. Seriously. And then he invited a cute orthodox girl to dinner (which featured romanian food), giving me a teaser of what life could be like if I acquiesced to the religious life style. Two daughters, 6 and 6 months, with their three misbehaving sons inbetween. The daughter only spoke to me in Hebrew, besides exclaiming the word "fish!" in English. And I always enjoy entertaining kids in front of women my age, trying to appeal to their maternal instincts. (This hasn't worked....). The guy who invited me taught me a passage in the Old Testament about wrestling with an angel. It showed you could interpret every line in a different way, effecting the story and lesson learnt. 

So the next morning after Shabbat dinner, we are practically a convoy (no cute girl from the night before!) walking 40 minutes to the synagogue. On the walk to morning services, we stop three times. Once to overlook the Judaen desert, a view unobstructed by anything as we are on the edge of Jerusalem. I could see a light shade of grass that only occurs when there has been rain. Then, we got a perfect view of the Temple Mount from so high up. If you are inspired  by the old testament, you can imagine perfectly what the old temple must have looked like, sitting there.  And then we passed a British cemetery. Services was followed by ice cream cake and snacks. We then went to a park outside a hospital, where I got to act like a camp counselor one last time, leading games and hijinks. Night fell, and soon I was on the train back to my apartment. We said there must be a next time, but he saw my message 3 months after I had left Jerusalem. Oh well. Next time.

Thailand

I hosted a guy from Thailand in Jerusalem, and he agreed to hang out with me whenever possible in the city. On the boat to see the grand palace, we met a couple from the UK who tagged along with us. Although filled with hundreds of people (including fleets of Chinese tourists, sticking together in groups), it was fun. And the mango and sticky rice purchasable at a food court for a dollar. Everything, including a full on meal, was a dollar! Costs one can get used to.

Laos

Celebrating Chinese New Year with the Chinese girl I had traveled to Luang Pubrang from since Pai in Thailand, and the group of friends we made (fellow Chinese citizens). I learned the word "Ganpei!" which is cheers. We went to a resturant where you sizzle your own food at the table. Watching raw beef turn into something edible, everything unlimited, with the good spirits that new year brought... plus the fact that I had seen a wonderful waterfall with most of them the day before. Plus me assigning English names to everyone and then only addressing them by it. Myanmar (Burma)

My first departure from Yangon to Bagan was with a 28 year old dude from South Africa, a 28 year old chick from the UK, and a 22 year old Israeli girl just getting out of the army. We were a group of 4, and we stuck together for those days, loyal and being complete ease with each other. I thought this was easily to replicate; it wasn't, I never traveled with girls again after I separated from them. 

Anyway, the older girl booked a different hostel so we separated momentarily from her, she was replaced by a Dutch welder. This was good because he could drive a motorbike, so could the South African guy, and we followed around a 10 year old girl they had met earlier, with good English, who showed us her favorite temples. It's not a touristy area at all, but the authenticity of this moment was off the charts. I bought her a soda and then a water bottle (when I realized she was saving it for later) and made sure she stayed hydrated, our little tour guide. I was happy as a passenger of the motorbike, letting the Dutch dude  drive through the uncertain dirt. I paid for his rental later. Nickname: E.E., and the Dane, Kells.   

Cambodia

Angkor Wat did not provide one definitive moment, but I would say everything combined made it. Plus the hostel interaction with a dude that looked like John Lennon, from the UK, who showed me a hip restaurant with a good omelette, free water, wifi and AC. plus everyone else at that hostel. plus sneaking into a hotel swimming pool two days in a row, with another dude. In that heat, chillin in water was just the thing to do. Vietnam

Lukas, Arthur and I went on a trek in Sapa (the two dudes I traveled almost 3 weeks with). It was advertised as a home stay but really it was a hostel with 18 other people, $1 per water bottle. We were getting kind of annoyed with the lack of adventure, so we decided to climb up a hill in the "touristy" village we were staying at. Once we got up that hill, there were multiple discoveries. The first was the gigantic beetles flying around, I tried and failed to catch them. The second was a dude in all black, carrying a knife in sheath to cut the plantation in front of him if necessary. The third was a parasite thing, that hissed when you touched it. An old lady came out and prodded it with sticks, that she held like chopsticks. I took a video of it! And then I saw a group of girls carrying heavy farming equipment, and when I said hello to them they began to laugh. A reaction different than all of the other kids I had seen in Sapa; who were used to tourists and considered them only dispensers of money. We kept waving to each other as I said good bye, and continued waving as I kept looking backwards at them. I would disappear out of view, and then reappear, and they'd still be waving, so would I. Now I've disappeared for good, haven't I....

Korea

I met a Korean guy commuting from Chang Mai to Pai, we were in the same Tuk Tuk. After we separated, we met again when I was lost driving a motorbike. I got to follow him, driving around, sight seeing. This would come into play for later, because we kept in touch on Facebook, and he took me and my couchsurfing host on a hike in Seoul. Following this; spicy red noodles. which he paid for. And then we walked through a zoo to get back home. 

Japan Okay, there's a lot of these. So I'll just say a little one. My last host in Tokyo, a 20 year old guy I met in Laos, I went out to dinner with him, his grandparents and dad. At this tempura fast food restaurant, there was no English on the menu. Always a plus for me. We had the most polite waitress ever who could not have been above the age of 22, the eye contact we had every time she was summoned by the press of an electronic button at the table. a bit unfair I never said anything at all besides thank you. Even though you know you'll never see her again, it's just something to appreciate in the moment, fleeting meaningful eye contact.