I leave Monday around noonish and will arrive in Tel Aviv at 9am Tuesday.
I'm going to spend a few days in Jerusalem getting a feel for the place and doing tours.
Thursday I'm going to Ein Gedi, the Dead Sea, and Masada
Somebody I work with gave me a few contacts in Jerusalem, so I may or may not be spending the first Friday I'm there at a Shabbat dinner with an Orthodox family (if anyone could comment on what the hell to do/wear/bring, I'd love it - so far, loooong black skirt, long sleeved white button-down shirt, hair up, but that's it...what kind of host/hostess gifts do you bring Orthodox Jews on Shabbat - or don't you??)
I have a friend in Tel Aviv who mentioned hiking and stuff on the weekends, but if I get an opportunity to go to dinner somewhere Friday night, I will not see him until Saturday.
Sunday, since work starts again, I'll either head down to Eilat, or if I spend Saturday with my friend, I'll fool around in Tel Aviv.
Once I get to Eilat, whenever that is, I'll see what there is to see there, maybe do a camel/desert tour thingie, then plan my border crossing to Jordan for a few days.
I'm only going to Jordan if I can't think of something to do in Israel. I like to focus on one place for an extended amount of time, but I'll be honest, Lawrence of Arabia is my favorite movie, and I know I'll wet myself for a chance to go to Wadi Rum/Aqaba.
I'd head back up to the center of Israel for my last weekend, then spend my last Sunday saying "goodbye" to Jerusalem.
I think I've pretty much decided to stay out of the North. My traveling theory is "I'll always go back." I know that it's not 100% true, but I can't beat myself up for missing things, when I know I love to do this. I'm just going to try to feel out the situation and if I get uncomfortable, I'm going to change my itinerary. I think the fact that I have a disorder I like to call "random ethnic face" (Are you Turkish/Spanish/Lebanese/Mixed??) is going to be 50/50 on this trip. Maybe it will help, maybe not.