December 8, 2013

Today I went to Akko. I went there with Paige and Leetal. We left early in the morning because we had to catch the train and Akko is way up in the north, almost on the border of Israel and Lebanon. The three of us got on the train and were on it for two hours or so. Since it was an early morning train, it was filled with soldiers going back to the army or back to base or coming home from base. Once we made it Akko we got off the train and were lucky enough to muss the rain. It was raining the whole time we were on the train. We found a cab and got a ride to the old city and old part of Akko.

Akko (Acre in Hebrew) is an old city. It used to be the "new" Jerusalem after the first temple was burnt down in Jerusalem. It was run by the crusaders in the 1100's. The old city looked very European and Roman -- lots of old stone ruins. Today, Akko is an Arab city and modernized. We decided that the best way to see the old city was to do a walking tour through the old city. We bought our tickets and got started! The first area we walked through was the underground village, which was created by the crusaders in the 1100's. It was very old and fun to walk around and learn the history of it. After that we walked through the Turkish Bathhouse. Once we were in the Turkish Bathhouse we were forced to watch a really creepy video about the history of it. There were creepy Arab men that were basically making fun of the Jews. I did not really understand it. Once we were done with the Turksih Bathhouse, we walked through the Arab shuk and got REALLY REALLY lost. We kept following signs to get to the Templars Tunnel and the Port, which were supposed to be the main attractions, but could not find either one. We followed every sign and somehow could not find these two places. We asked many people how to get there and still got lost and couldn't find them. At this point we were starting to get hungry, so we ended up finding the hummus restaurant that Leetal's uncle told her about. It was delicious. We ordered the typical Israeli/ Middle Eastern meal -- hummus, falafal, pita, tahina, and french fries (very unhealthy but delicious). Once we were done with lunch we decided to try finding the Templars Tunnel and the Port again. Yet again we got super lost and confused and ended up walking back and forth through the Arab shuk again. The people working at the stands and restaurants must have just been laughing at us because we were so obviously three American girls who had no idea where they were or where they were going. We finally asked a police officer were these sites were and he told us exactly how to get there! We followed his directions and YAH we found it! We first walked through the Templars Tunnel which was not even that cool, it was a tunnel underground with the ocean water running under the boards. At this point we were too tired to read the history about it, so I still have no idea what it actually was. Once we got out of the tunnel, we were at the port. It was so pretty to walk around there and see the water and sunset. There were two mules chained up to a bench outside and we got pictures with them and Paige and Leetal rode them. They also got taken advantage of because the guy who said they could go on them made it seem like the mules were not even his and then at the end he wanted Paige and Leetal to pay him forty shekels each. It was such a rip off. Anyway, they had fun riding on the mules and I got some really cool pictures of them!

Then the strangest thing of my whole life (I think) happened to us. The three of us were walking on the port and taking pictures of us and of the water and sunset. There were tons of tourists also on the port. They were all Nigerians. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, all of these Nigerians started "attacking" us and trying to take pictures. The were literally standing in lines to take pictures of us, like we were famous or royalty. The Nigerians were hugging us and kissing us and holding our hands. They told us that this was the first time they had seen white people, and it was such a big deal. It was SO WEIRD! Paige, Leetal, and I had to pull each other away from them and force ourselves out of the Nigerian herd. Once we finally got out, we were very ready to leave. We had a long day of walking and getting lost and being attacked. It was a great but strange and culturally different day; like nothing I have every done by myself. Today was for sure a day of culture shock!