In Tel Aviv, next to the Jaffa port there is a wonderful place called the “Nalaga’at Center”. “Na” is a form of “please” and “lagaat” meants “touch”. We have all see the sign “Please Do Not Touch”, 
but this center, educating the public about the lives of Deaf people and Blind people, who experience the world much more through touch than hearing and sighted people, encourages the opposite: Please Touch.
When you enter the Nalaga’at center, before you is the entrance to the theater, where performers are fully or partially Deaf, Blind, or both. To the left of the theater you see Café Kapish, which is run entirely by Deaf staff. There you learn some Israeli Sign Language from pictures in the menu and on the table cloth, and from your server, who is Deaf. You learn how to order in the situation where speaking will do you no good, and perhaps realize it is not as difficult as you might have presumed. Beyond Café Kapish is the restaurant Black Out. However, you may not recognize it at first, as you can see no tables or chairs through a doorway or window. At this restaurant, you choose from the menu before entering, and are served in total darkness by blind servers. Here, there is no “watching what you eat”, since you simply feel, smell, and taste it, rather than evaluating its appearance.
http://www.nalagaat.org.il/home.php
Last year, as I applied for this Fulbright scholarship, I was introduced to a former Fulbright scholar to Israel who is earning his PhD from Gallaudet, the same school where I earned my MA. He tutored me in Hebrew and Israeli Sign Language for the year while we waited to hear if I would be moving to Haifa this year. Now he is living in Jerusalem, and I was thrilled to meet up with him in Tel Aviv to visit Nalaga’at and practice some of my ISL with him and “real live Deaf Israelis”! Nalaga’at was hosting a children’s festival, so we joined that, enjoying the children’s art on the center’s suka, signing with our server at Café Kapish, and watching the children’s play performed all in Hebrew and ISL.
Between the little Hebrew and ISL I've learned, the costumes and clear children’s-theater acting, and simple plot, I was able to follow along just fine, and even learned some new words in both languages. :-D I will definitely return (and drag some other friends with me!) to see the other shows that run while I’m here.
I spent the night at the Old Jaffa Hostel, so I could go on the free English tour they have of Old Jaffa every Wednesday morning at 9am. The hostel was a nice one, and has a good price if you ever plan to visit. The only drawback was the staff member with whom I interacted. The stressed and burdened manner she exuded would have been a bit upsetting to me if unexpected. However, thankfully I had read about her on reviews of the hostel before choosing it (she's that famous)! Knowing that every review had mentioned a bad staff member set my mind at ease that her attitude had little to do with myself and the other guests, and kept it from spoiling my stay. Keep it in mind if you choose to visit. :-)
The next morning, I had a lovely breakfast at a restaurant overlooking the sea (I really chose it not for the sand and waves, but for the surfers playing just in front of the restaurant). Of course I cannot afford to buy a surfboard while I am here, but I have somehow convinced myself that I can glean some skill just from watching and analyzing those I see catching and riding the waves, that my next time out I will be a veritable expert at the sport. Right. It’s nice to dream, though.
The tour gave a nice overview of Jaffa's history and current layout. :)
We met up at the clock tour and heard a bit about the city walls that once protected the area from bandits in the desert, etc. Then walked through some of the narrow streets over to the bazaar and the tour guide walked us through an alley that has the best deals. I spotted some products I decided I'd have to return for, and made note of our location. :)
Then we walked through restaurant row, if you will, to the artists' quarters. Many of the apartments in this area are abandoned property (people fleeing during war times), so the government rents them out, but it has been designated the area solely to artists. Some are performing artists, but many create visual art, and the narrow alleys are full of exhibits in the windows and in front of the apartment/studios. Even the street signs show the artistic flare in the area.
The tour was pretty long, but now, a month later I don't remember a lot. But we heard about how Napoleon conquered Jaffa in only three days and it was his plan to create a country for Jewish people. Our guide called him the first Zionist. He had planned to work his way up the coast to Akko, but didn't make it. I am not really clear about what happened, but apparently he was ousted shortly after arriving.
And I cannot remember if it had to do with him or another conqueror (there have been many throughout the centuries here), but at one time the city walls were surrounded by orange groves. But the conquering army used them as cover when attacking the city. (The image makes me think of "Macbeth"!) The defending party then cut down the orchards, securing the walls a bit. Heard of "Jaffa Oranges"? This is where they used to come from! Apparently now all oranges grown in Israel take that name, but anyway, an artist wished to honor the symbol of the city and created a beautiful living sculpture at the entrance to the artists' community.
After the tour, it was a walk to the bus station (yay for maps and good shoes), and a wait in line at the information booth to find the bus to Jerusalem. Oh, that’s right. Israeli culture is similar to Italian culture in respect to lines—or lack thereof. The nice, naïve American that I am, it took me four tries, and three “butt-ins” before I was able to have a turn asking direction to the bus I needed. Thankfully I had remembered just in time that I’m supposed to “elbow my way in” here, rather than wait. No sooner had she answered my question and I’d walked to the indicated gate than the bus loaded. I paid my ticket and plopped myself down, texting my friend in Jerusalem with an ETA.
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