To be a guide

can be a wonderful spiritual experience. I meet with lovely people from many different backgrounds both geographically and spiritually. To show people the Holy Land is a true privilege. I am in the situation where I add knowledge and spiritual awareness to those who listen and I am fortunate to learn a lot myself from the people that I take around.
But in our walk in life we are not only on a spiritual journey. The body and the soul come along as well. As a tourist guide I need to keep my eyes open for people’s physical needs and to make sure that rest rooms are available and that people are not being exposed to too much sun as I do my explanation. People need to drink, to eat, to get some rest and it is important not to talk too much……(which of course is very hard for me …)

The travel agent is usually not very visible to the tourists, but they are working “behind the curtains” all the time. Tourism is a business. Families are depending on the income from this business. As a guide I am “recommended” to visit certain restaurants and souvenir shops along the way. The agent has made agreements with the owners and receives commission from visiting tourists. ( as do the team on the bus ) This is not something that is special for Israel but it simply is the way it works all over the world.
Don’t worry, it is not as bad as it may sound. Actually the system with “tourist restaurants” and “tourist shops” is a great help to us. These places make it possible to get lunch quickly and also to do shopping without wasting time and loosing people. The problem occurs when shopping become more important than the itinerary.

The driver is an important part of the trip. A guide and a driver is very much a team and the “taste of the trip” can depend on the relationship between the two. I have often recommended tour leader to ask for an Arab bus driver working for Arab Bus Company. It makes life easier for groups visiting Bethlehem or Jericho.
Jewish Bus Companies and drivers are not allowed into these areas. The group will have to change bus on the border if the itinerary includes visits to Palestinian Authority controlled areas. It is the “tourist shop” owners in these places that provide the bus for the visit and so of course they will make sure that the tourists are not only taken to see the Holy Places but also to visit their shop. In those cases where tourists are not interested in shopping but rather want to meet with people this can be a problem.
On the other hand we have a problem with Israeli Arab bus drivers working for Arab Bus Companies because they are not being paid.
People are so busy criticizing Israel for treating the Arab population bad. This is just one small example to illustrate how they treat one another.--- When I work with an Arab bus driver every conversation with him is about money. They loose money before they start working because they have to pay bribes to the person in charge of deciding which driver goes with which group. They have to pay the parking fee at the air port from their own pocket. If they do not live in Jerusalem they often have to pay for over night stays themselves. ---At home they have a wife and four, five six….children waiting for them to make a living.
My priority is always to spend enough time at the places according to the itinerary. When I work wit an Arab bus driver this is a constant source of confusion. If they do not receive commission from tourist shopping and a nice tip at the end of the trip they simply come out loosing money as they work.

So, pray for me. It is not easy to balance the different needs.

Elin Elkouby