jerusalem
I was in Jerusalem for Yom Kippur this last day and a half. It was full of wonderful things and crazy adventures.
Two of my friends wandered off from the group, and we had no idea where they were for about five hours. We sent out search parties and one of our counselors even notified the police. They were all right, but they'd walked all the way to the Western Wall, thinking we knew where they were and would meet them there when in reality we had no idea. Turns out they'd snuck into the tunnels underneath the wall and wound up in the Muslim quarter, where people get stabbed sometimes. Also, neither of them had any money, or a phone, and they don't know Hebrew. It was some crazy shit.
Jerusalem on Yom Kippur is really amazing because there are no cars in the streets, so everyone goes outside and walks around and talks to their friends and the kids ride bikes. My kvutza (Group) walked down to the Western Wall in the Old City at midnight or one in the morning, and it was really relaxed and enjoyable.
Tonight on the way back to the kibbutz we stopped at a restaurant in Abu Gosh, an arab village near Jerusalem. We got off the bus, hungry and nauseous because many of us had been fasting the whole day (I didn't actually fast, but I didn't really eat anything, either. I neglected to remind my counselors that I'm a vegan, so there was nothing for me to eat except peanut butter sandwiches.) But we go into this restaurant and we find this amazing vegetarian middle eastern banquet laid out for us. There was pita, falafel, hummus, babaganoush, salads of every type, (including coleslaw like I have never tasted before) amazing lemonade, mint tea, turkish coffee scented with cardamom, and my favourite, BAKLAVA. We ate outside, the whole place smelled like roses, and there were cute cats running around. It was perhaps the best food experience I've ever had.
Dara wants her computer back so that is all. Also, the address I gave in the last entry is slightly inaccurate, so check my facebook.
Two of my friends wandered off from the group, and we had no idea where they were for about five hours. We sent out search parties and one of our counselors even notified the police. They were all right, but they'd walked all the way to the Western Wall, thinking we knew where they were and would meet them there when in reality we had no idea. Turns out they'd snuck into the tunnels underneath the wall and wound up in the Muslim quarter, where people get stabbed sometimes. Also, neither of them had any money, or a phone, and they don't know Hebrew. It was some crazy shit.
Jerusalem on Yom Kippur is really amazing because there are no cars in the streets, so everyone goes outside and walks around and talks to their friends and the kids ride bikes. My kvutza (Group) walked down to the Western Wall in the Old City at midnight or one in the morning, and it was really relaxed and enjoyable.
Tonight on the way back to the kibbutz we stopped at a restaurant in Abu Gosh, an arab village near Jerusalem. We got off the bus, hungry and nauseous because many of us had been fasting the whole day (I didn't actually fast, but I didn't really eat anything, either. I neglected to remind my counselors that I'm a vegan, so there was nothing for me to eat except peanut butter sandwiches.) But we go into this restaurant and we find this amazing vegetarian middle eastern banquet laid out for us. There was pita, falafel, hummus, babaganoush, salads of every type, (including coleslaw like I have never tasted before) amazing lemonade, mint tea, turkish coffee scented with cardamom, and my favourite, BAKLAVA. We ate outside, the whole place smelled like roses, and there were cute cats running around. It was perhaps the best food experience I've ever had.
Dara wants her computer back so that is all. Also, the address I gave in the last entry is slightly inaccurate, so check my facebook.