After planting trees, Natalie, our Guide gave us an overview of Israel and spoke briefly about the wall dividing Israel. Then we took pictures, one of which I posted below. You can see Jerusalem in the photo behind us.
This is the group in Ramla, a combination of those who have been here for a while, and those of us that just arrived.
After the Kotel, we went to City of David, where we did an awesome water hike in a covered tunnel. It was pretty quick - about 30 minutes of walking. At first, the water was freezing, but after a while it was rather pleasant. I finally had a chance to use my water shoes also, which was fantastic.
When the tour ended, we left, and headed off. At the Jaffa gate, there was a disagreement on which way to go. Jeff and I decided to take a walk instead of just sitting there during the arguing. We ended up going pretty far from the group, but eventually found the hostel. You had to go through a fruit stand to get into the hostel, which I thought was awesome. One time, the owner of the fruit stand gave me a free Clementine, which was really sweet - in both ways.
That night, we went out for dinner. Steph, Nick, Jeff and I had spent the afternoon walking together, and lost the others. We ended up eating with just the four of us at this great little restaurant near the American consulate in the muslim quarter, just outside of the damascus gate. Delicious food, good tea, and very reasonable prices. After, we caught up with the rest of them on Ben Yehuda street for some debauchery.
The problem with free shots with drinks are two fold. They also give a free Nargila, but that's not relevant. The problem is first that the shot, regardless of what you order, is some sort of rubbing alcohol. The other problem is that you are mixing. Beer - Tequila / rubbing alcohol - Beer - Tequila / Nail polish remover - Beer - Tequila / paint thinner. I had a lot of fun, we met up with Nick's friend, we drank, we explored the area, and because it was very late, Nick crashed at our Hostel with us.
The next morning, we got up early and headed out, exploring the city. I really liked the muslim quarter, which unfortunately, is not even mentioned really that much during taglit trips, so was new for me (though pretty similar to Souks in Morocco and Turkey.
We went for shabbat dinner with Charedi (very religious) family, it's something that is arranged by an organization in Jerusalem. Just show up at the Kotel, and they send you with a family. Of course, being the holiday for the trees, at the end of the meal we had to eat between 50 - 75 fruits, and nuts. I was so full, I couldn't imagine eating more at that point.
I woke up early on Shabbat, it was freezing, in the middle of the night I put on gloves and a hat that I use when I go skiing or in the mountains, and extra layers. Spent the day exploring, and ran into Nick by the wall. Was planning to go for midday meal, but changed my mind when we didn't get out of the hostel in time. I wanted to go to Havdallah, and so we went to the Heritage House. I was only expecting to say blessings, and smell spices but was also treated to a wonderful dinner, and an interesting sermon from an orthodox rabbi relating trees and humans and traditions and connections. I really enjoyed the talk. It was nice to be able to share a meal with other jewish young people before leaving Jerusalem. In the picture above, Izy (my roommate) tunes a guitar he bought in the souk while sitting on the rooftop with the Dome of the Rock in the background. Ben reads while Jeff and Josh look on.
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