Working Stiffs

With the sun rising over 2021, Misha and I allowed ourselves a moment to reflect on the completely wacky start to our Foreign Service adventure. Two years have passed since Misha began her career at the State Department, and if there is another A-100 group with claims to a crazier start to their careers, we’d love to hear it. Since Misha first reported to Washington, her A-100 class has experienced a furlough, a global pandemic (including three lockdowns here in Israel), two impeachments, an attack on the Capitol building, and now, an administration change. I have held three jobs in three different cities in addition to being unemployed for eight months. Most importantly, Misha and I were married (woo!). Most unfortunately, we haven’t taken a honeymoon (boo!).

It really is wild. What else is bizarre is that we are both working legitimate full time jobs for the first time since early March of 2019. Although I was working a lot of hours at 3 Stars Brewing in DC, my schedule was dependent on the brewing schedule. This meant plenty of weeks under 40 hours and even more days working fewer than six hours. Plus, they were really generous about time off, so it wasn’t difficult for me to ship up to Boston for a long weekend if that’s what I wanted to do. All of this is to say, the main reason we haven’t posted in a few months is because there hasn’t been much to post about. All we do is work or relax around the apartment these days. There are other factors as well, such as colder weather and lockdown protocols, but we’ve reduced ourselves to working stiffs who use the weekends to watch Cobra Kai or the latest episode of The Stand.

As I’ve indicated in previous posts, Israel is tiny. It’s easy to see a lot of the country without having to drive more than a few hours. This is perfect, as spending several hours at a new beach or park just outside the city makes us feel accomplished despite limited physical exertion. Since I started working full time in October, we have squeezed in a few day trips along with a full weekend in desert. If you follow us on Instagram (@beeranddiplomacy), then you’ve probably seen some of these pictures. If not, enjoy!

First Day Trip: Carmel Mountain and Tel Dor National Parks

Located just over an hour’s drive from Tel Aviv, Carmel Mountain National Park provides beautiful views overlooking the city of Haifa and the Mediterranean Sea. We took the Kelah Stream “Little Switzerland” trail, an easy 3km hike through woodland and cliffside scenery, glancing views of the sea as we went. Thankfully, the park also allowed dogs so long as they are kept on leash. Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed at some parks due to fear of contact with local wildlife. Specifically, ibex are susceptible to a bacteria often found in dog feces.

After a pit stop at Carmel Winery to restock, we spent the rest of the day on the beach at nearby Tel Dor National Park. Tel Dor is home to archaeological sites that date back to the late Bronze Age around 12-1300 BCE. Misha was a little too freaked out by the schools of tiny fish nibbling her toes, so we decided to read and lounge on the beach, lulled nearly to sleep by the musical sound of waves washing over seashells.

Second Day Trip: Appolonia National Park

Most Americans who work at the Embassy Branch Office in Tel Aviv live around the city, however many people with families live just north of the city in Herzliya. This suburb of Tel Aviv offers larger living arrangements for families, as well as better schooling options for kids. Also in Herzliya is Appolonia National Park, home to the ruins of an ancient Roman villa from the first century CE as well as a Crusader fortress from the 13th century CE. We haven’t been to the better-known Roman ruins of Caesarea, but we’ve been told that Appolonia is both better maintained with its well-paved footpaths and more enjoyable due to its proximity to the sea and the variety of ruins on site.

Weekend Escape: Masada, The Dead Sea, and Ein Gedi

There is a lot of history in this part of the country. A little over two hours southwest of Tel Aviv lies the Dead Sea, which makes up part of the eastern border with Jordan. From what we are told, the Jordanian side is home to nicer accommodations, but the border has been closed throughout the Covid crisis. The sea is usually packed with tourists, and although it wasn’t as busy as it normally would have been when we visited, there were plenty of people around us. We didn’t stay at a hotel because of Mochi, so we’ll likely come back another time just to muddy ourselves and say we did it.

Before immersing ourselves in a layer of saline skin, we drove the short distance north of the Dead Sea to Masada. Masada is the mountaintop home of two palaces built by Herod the Great in 37 and 31 BCE. Just over 100 years later, Roman troops led a siege on the fortress that, according to legend, saw 960 Sicarii rebels commit mass suicide rather than submit to the Romans. Dubious history aside, the ruins are beautiful and the views are breathtaking, making Masada a must-visit for anyone traveling to Israel. For a small fee, you can take a lift up and down instead of making the hike up the mountainside, which is what we did. Included in the fee was an argument over the electronic pay confirmation. Six months of Hebrew lessons led Misha to prevail. Huzzah!

Last on our weekend tour of the desert was Ein Gedi Reserve, a seemingly out-of-place oasis of life jammed in between the mountains of the Judean Desert. The Reserve is much greener than I ever would have expected, with water trickling down the slopes and giving life the a variety of flora and fauna. Rock hyraxes (rodent-looking creature pictured above) and ibex are the most common animals here. As you hike up the mountainside, the view of the Dead Sea gets better and better. My camera roll is full of rather repetitive pictures of the view at ever-so-slight variations in elevation. I just couldn’t help myself.

My favorite part of the weekend, and not pictured above for obvious reasons, was a star tour in Ramon Crater. Ramon Crater is the world’s largest erosion crater and eliminates over 95% of all light pollution, making it the perfect location to lay back and scan the stars. We booked a tour through Astronomy Israel, who is the source of the picture above. It was a two hour long group tour in English and included two powerful telescopes, which we alternated using through the second half of the demonstration. It was well worth the 350 NIS for the two of us, and we’d gladly do it again.

While we hope to have more travel to write about soon, our next blog will cover the bidding process. This is the process that precedes finding out our next post, and can be both exciting and stressful. Although we are not allowed to discuss the list of available posts, we can talk about bidding strategies, the difference in the process as you progress through each tour, and tips we’ve learned along the way. We expect the winter bidding cycle to begin next month, which means we are that much closer to finding out where we’re going for our second tour. Until next time…