[travel] Shiny happy tense border crossing

[mattbell]

I crossed back into Israel from Jordan with a couple of people I had met during my Wadi Rum trip. They had been to Syria, so they had some hassle getting through. While they awaited their fate at the ultra-secure waiting room, I noticed the music that was playing in the background --- Monty Python's Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (unedited). This was followed by a saccharine Somewhere Over the Rainbow. This is especially interesting to hear while being surrounded by border guards with machine guns. It also recalls a particular scene from the 1997 movie Face/Off, which also featured men in machine guns superimposed with that song.

In other news, there appears to have been some kind of Christian holiday this past weekend, as loads of them (Copts, I think) were streaming out of Egypt into Israel, presumably to visit Jerusalem. I suppose that back in the day, the Christians needed something to compete with Passover.

 

Comments

[miriam-thisflighttonight.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

I totally remember that scene from Face/Off, with the little boy wearing the headphones.

[amysun.livejournal.com]

Palm Sunday. It makes sense that people would want to celebrate that one in Jerusalem. It's kind of the lead-up to Easter.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

That sounds about right. The Copts look interesting... like they stepped straight out of a Medieval church painting.