It’s a Small World

Yesterday I was too tired to write. Also we had gone to places I had written about before like En-Gedi, Dead Sea, Masada and Lots wife. We also found a new hike called the Wadi Murabba’at hike that was deliciously narrow and steep. It ran along a gorge to some caves where they recently found items from the Bar-Kochba revolt in AD 72. We scrambled in the caves for a spell but they were like chicken barns there was so much bird dung. The hike itself was gorgeous and it was right at sunset so the huge empty desert was amazing. Supper was a friendly restaurant in Jericho where we feasted like kings and paid for it. They are so welcoming there it’s thrilling!

In the evening I staggered up the five flights of steps to the roof top to do laundry. It was beautiful up there with a large moon rising, street noises wafting up and a fellow border smoking and chatting on the phone in rapid Arabic. I drank it all in and felt blessed.

And now today! We headed back into Jerusalem for, of all things non typical, a guided tour of the Old City. We have spent lots of time there but were curious if we were missing anything significant. Getting to the meeting place caused me a small conniption cause the elevator numbers on the parking garage were all incorrectly marked. Getting up was ok but when I quick went to grab my shades from the car the fun began. Luckily as I roared past the floor I needed and stopped at every slapping one I didn’t, another couple joined me and we made a game out of punching a button and sticking our heads out at each stop. They were as confused as I was. Eventually we got it figured out, so now I feel like an Elevator Connoisseur on that particular elevator.

We were nine people from UK, Germany, Switzerland, Israel and the US. Our guide had been an Orthodox Jew but now was a heavily pierced woman with a wife. Yes.

That’s quite something going with a group. We aren’t used to the pace but it was fun. There were enough political arguments to keep it interesting and definitely some sights we hadn’t totally discovered. We got a fairly nice tour of a huge Synagogue. Also the Indian from UK had quite a few inappropriate comments like asking the guide if the reason she puffed so bad on the stairs was cause she had Covid 2 weeks ago🙃. She said it was cause she was pregnant.

We hit it off with Chris and Sarah the Switzerland couple so that was great fun. They are a lot like us, hate commercialism/resorty stuff, love the road less traveled. We ended up spending another hour with them after the tour just cause they were so nice.

Evening was spent at Mahane Yehuda market. That’s a really large indoor/outdoor market absolutely loaded with food and people and entertainment and pretty much anything else you can think of. It’s a bit touristy, but mostly a local joint. At night the stores shut and it turns into a wild night life destination with Orthodox Jews sneaking in to party. We had some traditional Jachnun and Malawach for supper. Jachnun is a Yemenite bread that is typically prepared the day before Shabbat, stuck in a low oven and basically steamed for 12 hours. Jews are not allowed to turn their ovens on on the Shabbat so it’s a convenient meal. It looks like a rolled up tortilla so you unroll it, fill it with all kinds of vegetarian goodness like hummus, fried onions, mushrooms etc. and have a feast. The Malawach are thin circles of dough baked in a skillet so they look like large pitas. You plop the same goodness on them, roll them up and chow. It’s all really informal at the market so you perch with strangers and generally mingle.

The best thing about trips is the random people you meet. The world is full of great people and it’s absolutely refreshing!