My first New Year's Eve overseas...

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My first New Year's Eve overseas...in Tel-Aviv, Israel...

After having spent Xmas in Athens, Greece, I flew down to Tel-Aviv, right on December 30th, 1980...
So, I celebrated the beginning of 1981 in Tel-Aviv... and I was officially for the first time in the Middle East.
 
An interesting point to make is that I was in a country where their Jewish calendar doesn't mark a New Year the same day as we do...for them 1980 was the year 5,740 and 5,741 wasn't coming until September!...

They do live their daily lives, as most countries do, with the internationally accepted civil calendar the 'Gregorian calendar', however, there are no celebrations on New Year's eve as there are in many countries around the world.

So, it was pretty quiet in town, no decorations, no announcements, no big anything, apart from the 'SALES' at stores, where they do kind of get into the commercial side of it...of course, as it is a very cosmopolitan city.

As soon as I arrived in Tel-Aviv I realised it was going to be a different game there, somehow I learned quickly not to jump into taxis that may overcharge you or unmarked vehicles with drivers saying "Shaaalooom my friend, where are you from? I can take you, where are you going?  I'll give you good price..."
-Yeah, nah... I smiled and caught the local bus to the place I was going to stay at.

I had learned to avoid things like that thanks to a couple of books that many backpackers carried and used to travel with, they are like a travel a guide for backpackers. Yes, a 'hard copy book' that could tell you what to do, what to avoid, where to stay, what to eat, the regular prices for things and all kinds of different tips and ideas...

One of the books was called "Let's go Israel" (there are "Let's go" books for many countries and cities). There was also a book called "Israel on a shoestring", with similar content...Those books were absolute gold in those days before the internet and mobile phones existed.
​
I stayed in a Youth Hostel, as usual, but not as cheap as the one in Athens, I think it was about $5 dollars including continental breakfast, which meant, coffee, cereal, toast, jam, and maybe a hard boiled egg...not great but, ok...

December 31st arrived and ... - what are we going to do to celebrate?

Well, after my experience in Athens at that bar, another one of those was out of the question!
Learned my lesson real fast.

So, what then?...
No one in the Youth Hostel had great plans, and they all seemed to be very excited about the fact that after dinner time, around 8 pm, they were going to show a Video in the dining room of the Youth Hostel, and somehow many thought it was going to be awesome!

I was like... ok, so let's have some dinner and let's get to it...
What is the name of the movie? I asked?
They said, "it's the 'BLUES BROTHERS' man!... Have you watched it?"
and...frankly speaking I'd never heard of it and had no clue why they were so excited about it... nevertheless, I decided to go along with it and pretend to look excited...and said... "Cool!"
I'll be here to watch it...

Well, it was a cool movie, I guess...with lots of music, although I couldn't quite understand why the BIG DEAL...
Maybe it was because I was just beginning to watch something in just English, which I was just beginning to get the hang of, and couldn't quite understand it all and... the subtitles were in Hebrew!... which didn't help....

All those with more advanced English and those guests from English speaking countries were laughing and singing along to some of the catchy tunes, some which I'd never heard before...
I think I might've dozed off a bit, now and then, as all of a sudden the movie was over and people were saying how cool that was!! (*You can view the movie trailer below, hope you know the movie)

We said our "Happy New Years" and "Good nights" and went to bed... I even learned to say both in Hebrew right there ....'Shana Tova'! (Happy New Year) and  'Laila Tov' (Good night)...

We woke up to a New Day and a New Year for my New Adventure, in a fairly New Country as we know it now. (Israel was recognised as a new nation, just 32 years before I got there, the State of Israel was formed on May 14, 1948)...

However, I was quite aware that I was  in a very old land, that has gone through some major upheavals and changes throughout thousands of years of history...
It is a land which is regarded by Jews, Christians and Muslims (the 3 'Abrahamic religions' ) as their Holy Land....and for that reason and many others, it may forever be in some kind of conflict...

More about this incredible place and my adventures in the Middle East in future posts...

​What a start of a year...
Shana Tova!