It's been a few days since I've had access to my blog. Lots to catch up on.
So the dinner at the neighbors house was funny. The family was a really wealthy, clean, and proper family. Most of the other guests were grandparents of the family who immigrated to Israel in 1948 from Romania and Hungary. I had my first gefilte fish in a very long time. It gets gross though... So apparently the family tradition is to eat a fish head because for the new year, you want to be more like the head than the tail (in life). But this time they switched it up and served cows head meat. I tried it because I was feeling adventurous, but that was definitely a one time thing. Besides that, the food was great.
The next morning, I decided not to go to the service at the kehilla. We were planning on going to Jerusalem on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, and I wanted to do my own thing in the mountains. I stumbled upon a secret trail off of a road winding through Tivon and heading towards the mountains. Naturally, I followed the trail and found the most amazing spot where I could see the mountainous landscape through a shady forest area. I set my intentions for the new year, did some breathing and movement, and grounded myself in the soil. It truly was an amazing way to start the year.
That night, my aunt and I drove to Ramat Gan where my cousins Yoni and Ronit live. I hadn't seen them in three years! They looked the same but I didn't. Their father recently passed at the age of 95, and their mother is still alive at 93 and lives with them.. Their parents came from Poland around the founding of Israel in '48. We had a nice dinner together and I had the chance to comfortably practice more of my Hebrew. We drove back to Tivon that night.
In the morning on Tuesday, we drove to Jerusalem to go to a service. It was probably one of the most amazing services and form of Judaism that I have ever experienced. It was so spiritual and musical and communal and amazing. They held it outdoors in a garden. People were meditating on mats, playing guitar and djembe to the Hebrew prayers, and of course, dancing. It was so heartwarming to finally feel connected to my people.
After the service, my aunt and I had lunch that we brought to a park next to the kehilla. She drove me to the hostel I was planning to stay at, and we parted ways. She went back home to Tivon and I stayed in Jerusalem for a few days.
Jerusalem was deserted until around 9pm. It was eery but also fun to have the city to myself, even if nothing was open. The whole city shuts down for holidays. I met three cool German guys on the hostel rooftop and hung out with them for a while. Then, I had plans to meet up with my childhood friend Davida. We met on Ben Yehuda St and went to this super cool outdoor bar called Birdman. They had live music too which is always fun.
The next day, I wandered around Ben Yehuda St again when it was more alive and bought some great colorful flowy pants. 2 pairs for $15. So incredibly cheap. I met up with Davida around lunch after she got out of work and we got some shawarma which was GREAT. We walked around a lot of Jerusalem, but avoided the entire Old City because there were recent stonings and I wasn't trying to risk it. It's so fucked up and confusing that one of the holiest places in the world can be so violent. There are just so many radicals of all kinds who constantly clash with each other. I plan to return to the Old City later on in my trip because that part of Jerusalem really is incredible and historic. We walked through Machane Yehuda, which is a huge shuk (open air market type thing). One of my favorite things about Israel is the fresh squeezed juice. So I got fresh orange juice to get some good vitamin c. The amount of walking that we did was insane, but I got to see so much of the city that I had not seen during my past visits. I actually grew to appreciate Jerusalem much more than before, which I'm happy about.
That night, we went to the old railroad tracks to get dinner and a drink. It's so cool and kind of hard to explain, but it's like a huge plaza but also a boardwalk without the sea. They have lots of vendors and stores and even live music. We got Italian food because we hadn't had it in a while and chilled out on these outdoor pillows. I slept at her place that night because she had an extra bed. Saved some money from the hostels for a night.
On Thursday, Davida had lots to do at work, so I said goodbye and backpacked my way through these crazy mountain trails to the Israel Museum. I had been there in the 8th grade, but obviously couldn't appreciate it then as much as I can now. I think this was my first museum experience ever being alone. It was actually spectacular and going at my own pace was so nice. They had exhibits on Humankind, World Art, Jewish life and synagogues, Arcaheology and more. The land here is so ancient and rich with knowledge. Outdoors, they had the Shrine of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which I went into. They also had an outdoor model of miniature Jerusalem (which was still huge). I wandered through the rest of the art garden until the museum closed.
I continued my journey by hiking to the central bus station and traveling to Tel Aviv. At this point, my feet were in bad shape from the amount of walking, plus the fact that I was starting to get blisters from my sandals. When I got to the bus station in Tel Aviv, I walked (still with my heavy ass backpack) 45 min to the next hostel. Got some falafel along the way which made the walk somewhat bearable. I checked into the hostel, then walked to the beach down the street. It was dark at this point. It was amazing to finally take off my shoes and walk along the water. I walked another 45 min south to Jaffa, but it was a nice, slow, relaxing walk. I met up with a family friend, Estee, from NJ who lives in Israel. We were going out with a bunch of people for her birthday in Florentine, a grungy hipsterish neighborhood in southern TLV. It was a lot of fun, and the walk back the hostel was easier than the walk there. I got back around 4:30am, bought some Bamba at the market, and passed out.
Now, I am feeling SO tired from walking and partying. My aunt is en route to TLV for the afternoon, so I'm going to meet up with her and swim for a bit (which I didn't get to do yesterday). Then, I'm hoping to go back to Tivon and rest for Shabbat. I plan to paint, play some guitar, and get away from the hype of the city for a little. It's so easy to get to Tel Aviv, so I'll come back next week or something to explore more. Now, I am enjoying the hospitality of the hostel, as well as their free breakfast, including burekas (which are one of my favorite things about Israel) and rugelach. That's the latest update of life so far. It's been fun being alone when I travel. It's more fulfilling in a way when I know I got from Point A to Point B using nothing but my inner strength and my own two feet. And my wits to order a bus ticket in Hebrew :)
Goodbye for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment