Ending reflections

Aw, Beth just moved out. Only my second real roommate ever. I've gotten so lucky with both. :)

Mostly I wrote about the big things; places I go, class, or crazy things that've happened in Jerusalem or Israel. I decided to sit down and try and remember some little things that happened but I never really wrote about, since I couldn't make much a story out of them.

Hopefully, by at least making a note I won't forget the following little things about life here I enjoyed:

*My first trip through the Muslim Quarter and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - the most total culture shock I'd ever had at the time.

*Seeing the Syrian border from a hilltop, and the Jordan River valley north of the Galilee from Tel Hai.

*Sitting with Anna in nargileh bars and cafes in Jerusalem for hours.

*Shopping in the souq and shuk.

*Getting fresh-baked chocolate croissants (rougula) from Marzipan. They’re a treat here that I usually don’t like, but are freaking awesome from that place.

*Trying to deal with taxi drivers in only Hebrew, and mostly succeeding.

*The limestone in every building.

*Sitting in Zion Square trying to help Madi assemble the nargileh she bought, and listening to a bunch of drummers performing. Walking up and down Ben Yehuda and commenting on which of the violinists who perform there are better than me.

*The rather creepy Jeff Seidel, who owns the right-leaning if not right-wing student center near the dorms and promotes it kind of aggressively among students.

*Opening and closing this trip by sitting in front of the Kotel, thinking about things, touching the stones and walking away. Five months ago it was in broad hot daylight, with hundreds of women milling around the space. Last night it had long been dark by the time I got there, and only a few women sat quietly in front of the stones praying, dressed in coats and scarves to ward off the chill.

*People-watching the Orthodox neighborhoods from the bus, which is the only way I can do it. Hope none of them caught me staring.

*The feeling of being the odd man out. Usually that's a cause for discomfort, but being the non-believer among the students I've met here has rarely been uncomfortable. Being one of only a few non-Jews in most of my classes sometimes meant I was left out, but only in that I didn't immediately understand some of the things others did about culture and tradition here.

*The smell of Arabic coffee, spices, vinegar, dust and garbage that permeates the souq, and how compressed the air feels in the Old City.

*Ringing in the New Year with a few good friends, sitting on a dome on the roof of some building on Mount Zion, likely part of the structure over King David’s tomb. Seeing fireworks set off over the Old City and hearing the bells ringing. Walking back to the dorms through the nearly empty Old City, and stopping to try and help Nari make a joke in Hebrew to the IDF guards posted in the Old City.

*The feeling of sitting on a bus headed towards Jerusalem, after an exhausting but satisfying couple days travelling in Egypt or Jordan, thinking how nice it is to be back in a place you know and how beautiful the sunset is over the Negev.


I'll be home soon, but I had a great time, and I won't forget what I learned here.

L'chaim.