Some other students and I planned a trip to Jaffa, just down the coast from Tel Aviv. We played frisbee on the beach and wandered the streets (and the flea market, my favorite) of Jaffa. Unlike Jerusalem, which is like no other place on earth, Jaffa could be any port city. It’s relaxed, fun, and quintessentially Mediterranean.

The unique thing about Jaffa, though, is that it’s the oldest port city in the world. According to tradition, it was founded by Noah’s son Japheth after the flood (the name Jaffa comes from Japheth). Israel’s largest archaeological site, Caesarea, is only a few kilometers from here, and in Old Jaffa we saw ruins of a wall built by the Egyptians three thousand years ago.

Me, Dave, Brittney, and Jade (that thing above Dave’s head is a frisbee, not a UFO)

Jaffa is much more relaxed than Jerusalem. It’s not an Orthodox religious center, just a beach town, where everyone is Jewish and all the restaurants make kosher fish.

Kristi and I loved Old Jaffa’s flea market!