Is it really different bowling in Israel?

Somehow, I managed to bowl plus for the day (more than 200 per game is considered “plus). In this bowling center, that’s a big accomplishment. Even in Israel, Ramat Gan Bowling is now known as a great center to bowl in; when we would tell other bowlers (especially Israelis) that we are practicing there, they had very few nice things to say.

So many people ask, “What’s the difference between different bowling centers? Why do you travel with so many bowling balls?” At its base level, bowling is a simple sport: take a round ball, roll it down a flat lane toward ten pins and hope for a strike. At a more competitive level – whether in league or competition – bowlers are thinking about so much more: cover stock, oil pattern, axis of rotation, revs, break point, and more. Those who are students of the game are constantly thinking about the physics and geometry of the game. To really understand all aspects of the game, it takes a lot of thought off the lanes. By the time you step onto the approach, all your thinking should be done and muscle memory should take over.

For some reason, at Ramat Gan Bowling, my muscle memory ceases to exist. If I’m lucky, I’ll get on a stretch of a few frames and ride out the smooth motion. We all went through it many times over during the practice time at Ramat Gan – one shot you could be in a groove and the next shot you are just scratching your head, wondering where your smooth shot went. It’s all part of the fun, I guess. So to bowl plus for my two games I was pretty happy.

Our day of touring included our trek to the Dead Sea, Masada, and dinner at the Bedouin tent. All three are interesting for their own reason. There is nothing better than watching a bunch of people slather mud all over themselves and then float in the Dead Sea. For the record, I neither slathered nor floated – the mud thing doesn’t interest me much and I find the water gross to the touch. It has a viscous feel to it because of the salt and all the minerals in it. So, I was content putting in my feet and just sitting on a chair for a while. It did wonders for the callous on my toe.

From there, we ascended Masada and took in the glorious views of the entire area, where you can see clear across to Jordan and all the way to the edge of the Judean Mountains. Masada has become one of those “go-to” places on any organized trip – aside from the incredible story of what took place there with King Herod and our ancestors hundreds of years ago, there is the sheer accomplishment of just ascending the mountain and making the trip back down. As has become tradition, we rode the cable car up and took the path down near twilight. Watching then entire Team USA snake down the path was a truly amazing site. (Note: pictures will be posted tomorrow … my camera is upstairs and I don’t have those pictures downloaded onto the laptop yet).

Finally, we gorged on delicious vittles prepared by our Bedouin hosts, complete with homemade pita bread and chicken kabobs. These are people that can cook and entertain! Martha Steward has nothing on them.

Tomorrow, we go in the other direction, up north to the Golan Heights and the Kinneret.