I almost bought a donkey.
Last night, mirideee and I were walking back from the Old City, and as we walked through Sha'ar Yafo1, we saw three yeshivish-looking guys taking pictures next to a donkey. Now, donkeys are not uncommon in Israel, but generally, they are not owned by twenty-five-year-old yeshiva guys. Anyway, I noticed that they were speaking English to each other, so I asked them, in English, whom the donkey belonged to.
They said that it was theirs, they'd bought it for two hundred shekel the previous night, and they were looking to sell it for a hundred shekel (obviously not for a profit, but because they lived in a dorm and weren't able to keep it). My first (out-loud) reaction was, "Hey, a hundred shekel--I can afford that!" (A hundred shekel is about twenty-two US Dollars or twelve British pounds.)
Then I realized that I don't have room to keep a donkey, and I have no grass/hay to feed it, and that my landlord might object. Miriam wanted to take it, too, but she would have no way to get it back to her house (aside from riding it, and it might take a while). So we just stood there for a few minutes, hanging out with and petting the donkey, while the guys tried to convince us to buy it.
For anyone who was concerned, we did not end up buying it in the end.
1. The Jaffa Gate
They said that it was theirs, they'd bought it for two hundred shekel the previous night, and they were looking to sell it for a hundred shekel (obviously not for a profit, but because they lived in a dorm and weren't able to keep it). My first (out-loud) reaction was, "Hey, a hundred shekel--I can afford that!" (A hundred shekel is about twenty-two US Dollars or twelve British pounds.)
Then I realized that I don't have room to keep a donkey, and I have no grass/hay to feed it, and that my landlord might object. Miriam wanted to take it, too, but she would have no way to get it back to her house (aside from riding it, and it might take a while). So we just stood there for a few minutes, hanging out with and petting the donkey, while the guys tried to convince us to buy it.
For anyone who was concerned, we did not end up buying it in the end.
1. The Jaffa Gate