Meanwhile, here in Israel there is hardly time to gather my thoughts enough to write a coherent post, so this will probably serve more as notes to revisit.
Finally made it to the sea - even waded in up to the shin. The water is warm-ish, about how it is in NYC in May. The day was very warm, but we saw Israelis walking around wearing jackets. I guess it's the only time of year they get to wear them. The nights here are pretty cold. Nobody in Israel has central heating (you'd only need it a few weeks a year - we just happen to be visiting during this exact time).
I enjoyed the Gogol Bordello concert, thought the drive and the energy was very good. Moisha was less enthusiastic about it ("Я не хочу портить тебе настроение, но сказать честно, мне не сильно понравилось", he diplomatically told me right after; "Это было отвратительно!" - next day to a more sympathetic audience.)
Yesterday I met with my classmates from twenty years ago - we caught up as much as possible in three hours. I hope to write more about that later.
We're going to Jerusalem in an hour or so.