Faces from around the world

I love faces. I love traveling. The following are portraits of people from around the world that I shared incredible experiences with.

Location: Hutongs, Beijing

Description: Brother Ben and mother went to make a suit and I was sent to the Hutongs to take some pictures. This schoolboy noticed my camera and was intrigued by it. We couldn't communicate but the moment was unique. He felt so special for a moment. I've never really had a kid pose with such seriousness. He was like a little man.

Location: Rishiskesh, India

Description: The city is home to the Vishnu god and is a huge location for touritsts to see in Norther India. The Beatles visited the Ashrams here and was home to many musicians in the sixties. The city is located on the holy Ganges river and in the Himalayan region of Norther India.

This man is a sadhu(Hindu ascetic). He finances his needs only through others charity and dedicates his life to Hinduism. As brother Ben had the runs, I made it my duty to sit next to the guy and snap a shot. We were chatting in English and I got to know of his lifestyle a bit. When I left, i popped him a couple of rupees as gratitude for the time he spent chatting with me(even though he wasn't really rushing to any meeting). The city itself is wild - cows walking around the streets and monkeys are everywhere.

Location: Border crossing into Nicaragua

Description: As we entered Nicaragua, children would collect our change from our previous country. I sat with this boy for a second and took a quick shot of him. We enjoyed a quick moment together.

Location: Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yunnan Province, China

Description:The first picture is of an elderly man that I met on our 2 day hike. The second lady was a seriously disabled lady who was just lying on the ground. It was a frightening experience.

Location: Shangri La, Yunnan province, China

Description: Similar to my experience in the Hutongs in Beijing, this kid returning from school knocked into me while I was wandering with my bike and camera for the day. Shangri La for a typical backpacker in the Yunnan province is where one begis to feel the Tibetan Culture. Approaching the Tibetan border, you begin to see less of the Han Chinese culture and much more of Chinese minorities. This schoolboy felt like he was in hollywood for one moment. I have never photographed someone who enjoyed the experience so much.

Location: Baisha village(next to Lijiang), Yunnan province,

China

Description: This man was probably the most

welcoming and hospitable person I have ever met in my life while traveling. While trying to find my hostel in Lijiang, I bumped into a backpacker from France

who was always on the way to the hostel. We ended up traveling together for 2 days and biked to the village of Baisha, where we got a better local taste and met with the famous Taoist medicine doctor, Dr. Ho. While wandering around the village, this lovely man invited us into his house and even gave us his address to send the pictures to that we took with him. He introduced us to his entire family and even insisted on us staying for dinner.

Bored on a Sunday night?

Just last week I grabbed some mojtos with friends at a great cuban restaurant in TLV that I used to go to a lot after playing volleyball on Gordon beach. They have happy hours every night(other than sunday night) from 7-9 P.M. I recommend checking it out on Sundays - 1+1 mojitos the entire night. If you've got no plans and are in the mood for some overly sweet, very tasty cuban cocktails, for sure check the place out.

Atmosphere - not overly loud Cuban music, inside smoking area with high chair tables and outside non smoking normal tables. Music isn't too loud. Really nice waiters. Great place to kick it with a couple of friends.

Drinks are about 45 nis each - Sundays 2 mojitos for 45 nis!

Havana

106 Dizingof & Frishman St Tel Aviv

03-5271005

Dont be fooled by the Shekel

I have stopped believing in those zionist pitches that tell you "You might receive less income in Israel, but expenses are significantly less compared to a city like New York City".

I have just finished my day of school and I popped into Arcaffe in Raanana before my haircut. The NIS sitting at $1USD/3.76 NIS might be good for Israeli consumers and buying power, but for foreigners translating NIS into USD, life at least for now seems to be expensive. Looking at sandwich prices at Arcaffe made me realize that one should think about how much the price tag really is. With wages considerably lower than other western economies and expenses being high, how is one to build wealth here?

Another typical Friday in Israel

As we walk out of class on Friday at 12 o’clock, my friends and I decide how we should spend our Friday afternoon. The die-hard hummus fan that I am, I convince my friends to come with me to Abu Hassen in Jaffa. On Eilat street we hit heavy traffic and head for the local route. Joseph and I end up getting lost and ask these two Rastafarian looking guys how to get there. Joseph pulls down his window and says, “Guys, how do we get to Abu Hassen”?. They tell us that they are going to Abu Hassen as well and we tell em’ to hop in. They end up being really active in the Israeli reggae and nightlife scene. I dropped Joseph and them off to stand on the line and I went to look for parking. Abu Hassen on Friday is a typical TLV thing to do and the lines get crazy. All of us are waiting on line for a bout 30 minutes and just schmooze.

Abu Hassen is owned by Arab-Israelis and is probably the best Hummus in Israel (one can argue Abu Gosh). The hummus is like heaven in your mouth. Its not too heavy like other places such in Raanana and has a great flavor. Everyone takes the Masbacha, which has warm chickpeas under the hummus. The place was so busy, people were about to kick people out of their chairs as they stopped eating and were just chatting. The “waiters” are on auto pilot and do whatever they want. We must have asked several times for drinks, but he didn’t even care. If Abu Hassen started reporting with the SEC, I wouldn’t be surprised for them to be a FORTUNE 500 company. Companies should go there and study their efficiency.

The guy then yells “Five!”. We quickly sit down with the 2 Rastafarians before others behind us trample us. We end up having a lovely meal with them speaking about past travels in Central America, the music scene in Israel, rent prices in Manhattan and comparing Hummus restaurants around the country.

My ordinary Friday once again turned into an exciting day in Israel. No one-day is identical to another in this crazy country. Life is exciting and never gets bored. The warmth and casualness of Israelis is of its own kind. At first glance, it might be a bit much but when you settle into the culture here, you begin to love it.