Friday/Shabbat – Day 23/24
August 14, 2012
Friday Sarah and I said bye to Or after a delicious breakfast and, were on our way to Jerusalem.
Unfortunately due to some poor planning on my part, we hadn’t arranged accommodation for either of us for the weekend. Thus, in the Sherut (group taxi) Sarah and I planned to book rooms in a hostel for the weekend.
When we arrived at Jerusalem Central Bus Station we collected our belongings and started walking up to the market, only to run into Nadav Prawer; the charismatic husband of my cousin. He inquired as to where we were staying for Shabbat and when he heard that our plans were as yet unset, he immediately invited us to stay with him. Disappointing him, I let him know that we were due for dinner at a family friend’s place in Jerusalem and thus would be staying here. Not taking no for an answer, he whipped up his mobile phone and began dialing through all his friends, looking for someone to take us in. Eventually a lovely mid twenties lady, Terri Gar, said she’d be delighted to take in Sarah and with that settled I rang my cousins, the Slonims, to find a bed for myself.
Lunch was had in the shuk (market), Machane Yehuda, and was a delicious plate of hummus with pita.
The Market – Shuk Machane Yehuda
Afterwards we visited my favourite shop in the Shuk, Fromagerie Basher, an emporium of fine imported European and Israeli cheeses.
Fromagerie Basher
We bought food for Shabbat lunch (Challah and Jam) and were soon off for the evening.
Dinner at the Waimann’s was a delight. The company was spirited and engaged in lively intellectual discussion. Gila’s cooking was superb, and David’s selection of wines matched the meal perfectly (like I know). One interesting idea raised was the possibility of splitting Israel into a canton system, much like that of Switzerland, in order to resolve issues regarding governance of the land.
Following dinner, I decided to walk Eden Akiva, a cousin of the Waimanns home. By this point my legs were starting to tire, having done a good number of kilometers walking back and forth between areas of Jerusalem. Arriving back home at about one in the morning, sleep took me quickly.
Shabbat morning was a bit of a sleep in followed by, you guessed it, more walking! Lunch was a quiet affair with Sarah, with a nap following immediately. The afternoon held, again, more walking, trying to catch up with a dear friend; Merav Blum, who didn’t hear the knocking on her door.
When Shabbat came out Sarah, Daniella and her friend Channie, and I, went to see one of Israel’s biggest musical acts, Dag Nachash (Fish-Snake) perform live at the Sultan’s Pools as part of Chutzot HaYotzer, the Jerusalem International Arts and Culture Festival. With entrance costing a mere 50NIS ($11AUD) it was a bargain for a top evening!
HaDag Nachash
I didn’t notice, but, two rows away from me in the stands, Merav Blum was in fact seated with her friends. As the crows cleared away, we managed to find each other and the rest of the night was spent deep in conversation with her as I walked her home.
Merav and I
Wednesday/Thursday – Day 22/23
August 12, 2012
Wednesday was a poor night of sleep on a floor and more study. Out with friends in the evening.
Thursday was a good deal more exciting with a visit to Reut and the home of my dear friend Or Ben-Hail. His mum is both a professional caterer and a medical practitioner and is an incredibly welcoming person. Upon arriving at his place I immediately felt like I was at home. Leftover sushi was set out for us, however, I feel leftovers is a poor description of the delicious spread that was before us, presented in a delightful manner. This all paled however, in comparison to the simple but delicious dessert as pictured below.
Following that Or drove us to the local shopping center to play pool and white the track and field finals, including the anticipated 200m Men’s Final. Sarah came too and proceeded to mop the floor with us, to her great surprise and pride.
Following that it was a good night’s sleep on a comfy mattress on the floor.
Thursday – Day 16
August 5, 2012
Sleeping at the boys’ apartment is an experience. With people on both day, afternoon and night shifts, the house is always moving. As the lucky one left without a bed, for me this means shifting beds at some point during the night to accommodate for those entering the house and those just waking up. Thus last night I did not sleep particularly well and needed an extra hour in the morning.
Following my wake-up I tried explaining the finer point of scheduling attacks on the WEP WiFi encryption scheme to members of the apartment, who suddenly were interested when they realized it had practical implications.
Sarah then rocked up for me to take her to lunch, which to her surprise, was to be held at the top of the circular Azrieli Tower, the tallest building in Tel Aviv.
At the top of the forty-ninth floor, is a restaurant 2C, kosher and more upmarket, with a 360 degree view of the Tel Aviv skyline. Being a lunch reservation, we were able to order from the business set menu which included three courses for the both of us for the price of ~70NIS each (~$20). I ordered bread and homemade dips, followed by the beef carpaccio with a main of Simia morrocan lamb on a bed of grilled vegetables. Sarah on the other hand took the dips, sweet potato soup and perfectly grilled salmon on mashed potato.
By the time they brought out the dessert menu we were completely stuffed and made a hasty exit, partially due to the impending chime of Sarah’s 3PM ambulance shift.
In the late afternoon I met up with Abi Reisner who has been living and working for the last few weeks on a permaculture farm just outside of the town of Modiin. Over an organic, fresh, eco-passionfruit we had a good chat about the gap year program and various other things.
The evening was Ma’ayan’s party, and on the way there I became a little more than slightly lost. Having been instructed by her to take bus number 25, I cleverly alighted onto bus 125. Following her instructions to get off after a certain number of stops, I found myself in what I would describe as an urban desert. A few buildings scattered here and there, large empty fields to my left, and nary a car in sight. After deciding to walk straight for a few minutes I came across a helpful guy who showed me a map and, when I asked him how to get to Haiim Levanon St. let me know that it was a good hours walk away and called me crazy. Nevertheless, I decided to walk there.
An hour later, and sweating from head to toe I made it to Ma’ayan’s place, where her, her boyfriend and a smart guy, Ariel Davis, were chatting in speedy Hebrew. Though my Hebrew was good, the conversation was a little hard to follow for me and I felt particularly awkward as this was also my first time meeting these people. For the next few hours it followed similarly, with new people coming in and me struggling to connect with them, as I had little in common and there was a small language barrier. I ended up conversing mostly with Ma’ayan’s brother, Elior and his girlfriend Lior. However, a bit later in the night things improved and by the end I was very glad I came and had met new people.