Private tour and Bedouins

In the same vein as our trip in Cappadocia, we hired a private driver/tour guide in the interest of time.  I, selfishly, really wanted to climb Masada and most tour groups didn't offer that, so this way, we were able to customize our itinerary.  We got this awesome driver who has 6 kids and voluntarily chose not to take on a second wife.  In his own words, "I was able to have 4 wives, but I thought 1 was more than enough."  Born and raised in Jerusalem, he spoke Arabic, Hebrew and English.

In the beginning of our drive, he stopped and pointed out Bedouins.  It was the first time I had ever heard of them: desert-dwelling Arabs living semi-nomadic lifestyles herding in the Middle East.  How fascinating, right?  Apparently Bedouins don't formally belong to any nationality with no government-issued identification.  The Israeli government considers them a problem and have tried for years to dissipate the Bedouin tribes.  But I've read that their tribes are so close knit with very strong honor systems, they're not anywhere near being extinct.

Tina Fey in Hebrew and badass cab driver

I loved watching American television in Hebrew, especially 30 Rock.
Also, we met an awesome cab driver who spoke perfect English but born and raised in Jerusalem.  He gave us some great nuggets of info and was a fantastic tour guide on our ride from Mahane Yehuda back to our hotel.  If you're ever in Jerusalem, call him up to take you around.