Entering Israel from Cairo and First Crazy night in Jerusalem

Yesterday was amazing, I got to the Turkoman Station after taking a taxi ride from the friend's apartment in Dokki. I ended up not sleeping at all, I was so excited to be going to Israel. I stayed up all night getting ready and making sure I had everything I needed. So I arrived at the Station at about 4'30 am. Way to early for my bus ride at 6:00, and I had to wait outside the gates of the station with a couple other people, because the gates didn't even open until 5:30. The station is built
under a huge western style mall, with foodcourts, theaters, shops, everything. Or you could say the mall is built over the bus
station.
While I was in the station, a Japanese man approached me and I realized that this was the same guy whom I helped on the
streets of Cairo about 2 days earlier, him and his two other friends. Two of them spoke perfect english and the other just a
little. It was amazing seeing them again especially in a city of about 17 million people, if you include the outlying areas of
Cairo. They were Christians from a church in Kobe, Japan. So we rode together on the bus, which ended up being late, as
well as breaking down once while we were on our way to Taaba. I heard a one time breakdown is very good, sometimes I
guess they will break down 2-3 times on the way. After about 5 or 6 hours, we reached Taaba. We descended from the bus
and walked the half mile to the border, taking pictures and video along the way. We got our stamp out of Egypt and entered
the neutral zone (I think that is whats it's called), there was a liason between Israel and Egypt in the middle. So we continued
walking and entered the Israeli Building got everything scanned and was questioned. And got our stamps and we were in
Israel!!!!!
I was being questioned by 2 beautiful Israeli border patrol agents my age or a little older. It was funny because they asked me
the same question 4 times each and I gave a different answer four times! I was so excited to just about be in Israel. They
finally ended with a huge smile and told me to pass on through. So I passed on through, and then waited for my Japanese
friends, who came finally and we took a ton of pictures of our first arrival to Israel. Also I had almost forgot how BLUE the
water is around here. I remember it being like this when I took a cruise from and to Greece and Italy. It was beautiful. The
Nile in Cairo was absolutely filthy looking.
Anyways, we ended up walking to one of the hotels outside of Eliat, and got a taxi to Jerusalem (4-5hours) since there was no
Public Buses due to Shabbat. We payed quite a bit, but it was nice that we split it four ways. The Japanese friends were
staying at a Messianic Jew Village. So we went to Jerusalem, having the taxi driver talk to us, and telling us bible stories about
the various citys we had passed. Finally we reached Jerusalem, it was nighttime, and Shabbat!, we entered around Central
Jerusalem or New Jerusalem, I had no idea where anything was so I just told him to stop when I saw a big American flag and
a soldier/worker standing underneath it. We got out, while the taxi driver asked the man about how to get out of Jerusalem!
Then the taxi driver asked where Yad Masada (Don't know the exact name) village was, where my friends were going. The
guy spoke english which was great and said the village is far from here and they need another taxi, he promptly hailed a taxi,
haggled a price about 12 dollars for the 3 of them and helped put their luggage in their new taxi. The Israeli asked me if I
was going I told him No. I asked him if there were any places nearby to get connected to the internet since I was so busy in
Cairo the day before getting the new visa, rentry visa, bus ticket, taxi to the station, cleaning clothes, 4 hours of Arabic classes,
and saying goodbye to friends in Cairo, moving stuff to the new apartment, and moving out of the hostel which I had stayed
at for 6 weeks, booking the hostels in Jerusalem, checking times for buses returning to Cairo, and I know there was many
other things as well. So because of all that, I had forgotten to print out my information about the hostels in Jerusalem. The
only thing I remembered was that both of them were near Jaffa Gate. So I realized I might be wandering around Jerusalem
for awhile, at night, on Shabbat, without a Map, which I had also forgotten! haha.
So firstly I asked him which direction East Jerusalem was, so I would know what direction not to go. He looked at me with
wonder, and just told me straight up, "It's this way, you DON'T want to go that way, the Arabs will probably kill you" I then
asked him where Jaffa Gate, he then preceded to point me to the exact same direction! haha. But he said that its only a little
ways and is very safe. I then asked where there was a internet, maybe a 24 hours mcdonalds with free wireless, he told
me"We don't have that crap in Israel", jokingly haha. Then he showed me where an internet store was and that there was a
mcdonald's near there. He was very funny and friendly!
So I walked the directions he told me and found the internet store, which was closed and ended going to the mcdonalds
which was open and delicious! I heard a girl order in English, so after I ordered I went up to her and awkwardly asked if she
was staying and eating, she said yes, and so I asked if I could join her. She kind of smiled and said loudly, "What?, you mean
with my boyfriend?" haha. I ofcourse said yes ofcourse, I just got here I am just looking for anyone who speaks English. So I
met her boyfriend and her and ate together, they helped me out a lot, got me a map and accompanied me on my walk to jaffa
street and found out the exact directions for me to Jaffa Gate. They even told me if I couldn't find the place to come back to
there hostel and they will let me in and sleep there. By this time I was on 36-45 hours no sleep.
So we stopped at a supermarket, they bought some Israeli beer and we walked and then they went to one of the bars and I
thanked them for everything. It was so dark, and I walked the main street, which was still fairly filled with a few Jews and
tourists, most of whom spoke English, nice change from Cairo. So I walked, taking pictures and video, and ended up along
the wall of the old city. Got to Jaffa gate, walked through and wandered inside, finding what I thought was my hostel,
unfortunately it was locked down, so I had to make a decision, to sleep outside, or just find another hostel. The swedes gave
me a hostel/hotel map, so I just went to another hostel called the Citadel youth Hostel and luckily, that actually was the one
that I reserved for 2 nights. A very nice Palestinian guy, maybe a little older than me, helped me out and showed me my place
to sleep, which was on the rooftop outside haha, with a beautiful view of everything, including Dome of the Rock.
Unfortunately it was where about 15 other people were sleeping too! In a fairly cramped area, but it was still great. I brushed
my teeth and wanted to check my email so I went to a common area and did that. I then met a very pretty french girl and we
talked about everything, then I met her friend, another french girl and we all just sat and talked about our life and experiences
. It was so fun with them, finally I retired for the night! Amazing first night in Jerusalem!!!!