Introduction: The video is about a world traveller from England who spends most of his life travelling to different countries. This may not be very unusual as other people also do that but the man in this video is both blind and severely (=very, strongly) deaf (=unable to hear).
Tony Giles's journey to Israel
0:02 My name is Tony Giles. I’m from England. I’m totally (=completely, 100%) blind and severely deaf in both ears, and I’m travelling around the world trying to visit every country.
0:13 We’re in the Old City. Israel is country 124.
0:18 I travel alone because it’s the biggest challenge (=a difficulty that can make you stronger) I can get and travelling by myself – Excuse me! – I get to interact (=do sth with other people, esp. talking) with more people.
0:29 If I travel with someone, particularly (=especially) someone sighted (=a person who can see and is not blind), they’d be doing all the work, they’d be doing all the guiding and I wouldn’t get to touch as many things and find as many things as I do by myself.
0:43 Today I’m going to catch a bus into the Old City, to go to the Western Wall.
0:50 Bus driver – Western Wall? Tony – Western Wall, yes. Bus driver – OK, let’s go. Tony – Let’s get a bus. Bus driver – I will help you. Tony – OK.
0:58 Tony – Let me hold your arm like that. Bus driver – Where are you from? Tony – I’m from England. Bus driver – Ah? Tony – England!
1:04 I was lucky that the bus driver was sort of (spoken =kind of) nearby waiting. So it was really easy to find the bus.
1:13 OK, I got it. Let go (=stop holding sth).
1:17 New Orleans (a city in the south of the United States) was the first place I went to by myself. I was in a foreign city by myself. I didn’t know where I was going, I was blind, and I just froze (past tense of “freeze” =not being able to move anymore).
1:29 And then I took a couple of deep breaths (=taking air into your body) and said to myself: “Tony, this is what you want. If you don’t want it, go home.” More deep breaths, turn left, walk down the street and the rest is history (storytelling =the rest of the story is not important).
1:45 You have to be patient, you get lost all the time. It’s very difficult if you’re looking for something specific (=particular, special) when you can’t see, because obviously (=of course) you can’t pinpoint (=show sth, esp. with your index finger) it.
1:54 Excuse me! – You might get 10 people walk past (=pass by) and then someone will stop, “Are you lost?” or “Do you need any help?”, and then you can interact (=do sth with other people, esp. talking) with them. That’s how it works.
2:05 Tony – Excuse me, is this Damascus Gate? Man – Yeah., Tony – This way, yes? Straight in front of me? No? OK. Man – Come, do you want me to help?
2:34 I like this. I like the atmosphere (=the feeling that people get from a place) and the smells. It’s all close and compact (=small but having everything you need). It feels authentic (=true and real, not fake).
3:02 We’re approaching (=getting closer to sth or sb) the Wall? Man – Yes.
3:05 The Wall is separated, male and female. The guy took me to the male section (=part) and then took me up to the Wall.
3:18 All right, there’s all these notes (=small piece of paper with writing) in it. Massive (=very big) blocks. Very smooth (=not rough, without anything sharp), the texture (=character of a material), the shapes of the Wall, the bricks (=little rectangular building blocks). This is historical and spiritual (=giving you deep feelings) here for me, worth visiting.
3:37 Tony at the Western Wall.
