In reply to:

I do hope that I gave no offence by using a greeting in the other official language of Medinat Yisra'el.

Max - no offence taken - only, just now, I'm afraid it's very hard to stay interested in learning or speaking any Arabic - the more bombs they detonate against us or the more shooting at us (with AK-47s, I might add) or throwing stones (and believe me, these are not pebbles, rather they are large jagged pieces of hard limestone - remember that stoning used to be a regular form of execution here... and is quickly becoming so again, it seems)... killing people who are just trying to go about regular daily lives... killing people who are NOT in conflict with them, except in their minds, just by our existence..., they more I simply stop trying to get along. [please excuse my rambling emoticon]

Well, that's not exactly true - I'm always interested in getting along with those who are different, but I want them to respect me in the same way that I am supposed to respect them, and unfortunately, it seems that it just doesn't work that way.

It all just makes me tired... [heavy sigh emoticon]

Shoshannah

Oh, and thanks for writing the name of the State of Israel in correctly transliterated Hebrew! Not many understand the word Yisra'el, so it's nice to meet someone who does!

Whoops - now I show my ignorance - what is Noho ora mai????


suzanne pomeranz, tourism consultant jerusalem, israel - suztours@gmail.com