Haifa is a large port in the North of Israel. My friend lives with his family in one of the Haifa “s suburbs, and I always enjoy meeting with him. He “s one of a small number of gifted people who knows everything about everything. I always learn something interesting from these rare meetings. BTW, I forgot to tell him this little story, I “m sure he “d liked it:

A man puts Encyclopedia Britannica on eBay for sale. In the description of the item he wrote, “I don “t need it anymore. Just got married. She fucking knows everything. ”

We spent a day talking, eating, drinking and sightseeing.

Bahai gardens are just beautiful. I “ve learned about Bahai Faith, which is about spiritual unity of the mankind. While being under the Bahai influence, I took a picture of an Arab bride and groom right there.

I don ‘t like when people take photos of themselves covering some beautiful creation of the mankind. They want to declare, “I was here, and this is the most important thing. Who cares what “s behind my back? rdquo; And here I am, doing the same thing in the Bahai gardens. I was there, and you weren “t.

In Israel, Jews have to get married going throw a special religious ceremony. If you don “t want it or it “s a mixed marriage, you have to leave the country somewhere else and then approve this marriage in Israel. Most of such couple go to a nearby Cyprus, but now local businessmen are organizing mass marriages (don “t confuse with orgies) in Prague. Several couples fly there, go through the “I do rdquo; procedure and then spend a couple of nights in beautiful Prague.

In the afternoon, we went to see grottos in Rosh Hanikra located right on the border with Lebanon. Since visiting Moscow, Russia three years ago, I pay close attention to the prices they charge tourists at the museums and other places of tourists attractions. I was really surprised to learn that in Russia, foreigners have to pay several times for the tickets than locals. Even though I was speaking in Russian without an accent, somehow they managed to figure out that I was a foreigner and charged me more for the entrance. It never happened in any other country I “ve been before. A ticket is a ticket and everyone has to pay the same price for it. This year in India, I had the same experience. I guess, it “s OK when poor countries are trying to squeeze a couple of extra coins from filthy rich foreigners.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that in Israel, they don “t have special prices for locals ndash; everyone pays the same. Actually I even managed to get a dollar discount presenting myself as a benzug (a husband) of a woman who serves in local police. I know, I know, it “s not nice, but I couldn “t stop myself making a quick shekel.

In Israel, people don “t like religious orthodox Jews. Vast majority of them don “t serve in the army. Most of them don “t work ndash; they just pray. Many of them are just fanatics that have no problems with throwing stones at people who drive a car on Saturday, in some areas they force women take only back seats in the public(!) buses ndash; the USA had similar restrictions with blacks sixty years ago. One 16-year old girl told me how she boarded a plane Tel Aviv – New York and her left and right neighbors were orthodox men ndash; they forced he to find another seat cause their rules didn “t allow them to sit next to a woman unless it “s his wife. So why won “t you get your fat ass and move it to another seat, or even better purchase the entire row to ensure that your rules don “t harm other people? It “s just disgusting.

A bunch of orthodox rabbies from Israel went to Iran asking their president Adolf Ahmadinejad to wipe the state of Israel off the map because such a state should not exist till the arrival of Messiah.

If, God forbid, orthodox Jews will become a ruling party in Israel, expect a mass exodus of Jews from there.

My next blog will be about the wedding.