I got up early this morning to catch a ride with Shlomi to school to drop off my stuff. I got on the bus to Jerusalem about 9:30 so I arrived there around 10:15.
First, I walked to the shuk to get some pastries from Marizpan that I had been looking for. However, I decided to stop in a spice stall to find this Moroccan spice for Grandma. The first two didn't know a thing. The third, the largest one, had it. So I began my shopping spree for spices for me, Grandma, and Mom. I got them all, about 8 or 9 of them, for less than 1/2 kilogram per bag at about 50 shekels. Pretty darn cheap. Then I went over to Marizpan and ate some of the pastries on the way to Phyllis and Moshe's place. Uh oh, Marizpan had gotten rid of the spinach burekas because what I thought was spinach, ended up being olives. YUCK! But the pizza ones were just fine!
I managed not to get lost on the way to their apartment. Moshe greeted me and we talked for a bit while we waited for Phyllis to come up. We mostly talked about Zev's living situation and health, as well as my thesis project in San Francisco. Then Phyllis came home. We got ready to go back out to spend the afternoon together.
First, we stopped in a bookstore at a theater near them, thinking that we'd have time for lunch before her dentist appointment. We didn't so we browsed around a bit. She offered to buy me a book so I tried to find one, even though I really didn't need another book at the moment. But we found an appropriate book- The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million. Then we went to her dentist appointment and I read some magazines.
Finally, we took a cab (or two...) to the new Mamilla mall next to David Citadel hotel. Toby had told me how beautiful it was so I was curious. I was very impressed. It almost felt like walking in the mall near Stanford University in the open air, surrounded by white stone. In other words, this would what the Old City would look like if it's scrubbed down to the last layer of dirt and grime). The place was combined with residences as well so it was "upscale" as Jerusalemites described the mall. It was certainly filled with foreign stores like Nautica, North Face, Tommy Hilfinger, and coming soon, Israel's first GAP! It's not that upscale but in Israeli terms, it's certainly was. I know that the Israelis will be happy to see the Gap since they're always asking their American families and friends to bring back quality clothes.
While we walked, I could really smell the spices! I apologized to Phyllis, "I'm so sorry but can you smell the spices that I bought?" She said "Yes, what did you buy???" I explained why I got so many spices... The bags' ties weren't pulled tight enough so I had to stop at some point to get them tighter to trap the scent.
Phyllis and I sat down in a cafe to have lunch. I got some eggs- very happy to be eating them after not having had them since I left the U.S.! We had a very nice conversation about a lot of things and I appreciated her perspective as a long-time Jerusalemite and occupational therapist. She urged that I order dessert even though it was getting late and I wanted to be hungry for dinner. I gave in and ordered a white chocolate filled chooclate mousse cake, which was delicious. Afterwards, I mentioned that I needed to get some olive oil for Mom. So she took me to this Liv-O, a specialty store in olives and olive oil. The oil also came in a tin can, which was convinent for flying but I worried that the taste might be different. So I stuck with glass bottle and got it bubble-wrapped.
After I left much appreicated Phyllis who thanked for taking the time to spend a whole afternoon with "an old lady". I said it was not a problem at all and I appreciated spending time with her as well. I went over to the Old City to find that olive wood store to buy that horse. On my way down to Via Dolorosa, I ran into Meredith and her friend, Ted, from her program who was studying Arabic in Alexandria, Egypt. It's always so funny running into people around Israel! We tried to find the olive wood store and walked up and down the annoying steps at least 3 times until we figured out that this pair of closed doors belonged to that shop and it was closed. Maybe it wasn't meant to be!
Then we began walking towards the shuk and detoured through Ben Yehuda. There, we ran into Rebecca even though we didn't need to meet her for another 45 minutes! We all headed up to the shuk to do some shopping. I stopped in Marizpan to get 25 rugalechs as a gift for the Nalaga'at group as I was extremely thankful for them, and a few little treats for me later on. Meredith did her own shopping for a few things. Then we began walking down Jaffa, which was extremely difficult because the sidewalk was destroyed so there were lots of bumps and rocks along the way. I had a hard time looking at Rebecca and talking to her about her national service. She was volunteering in a home for Holocaust survivors and just basically being there for them. She told me how National Service worked and it sounded like a very nice option. As we walked along Jaffa to a vegetarian restaurant, I realized that the road was pretty much closed. Soon enough, I think, buses and cars won't be able to travel along this section as the light rail will take over (Phyllis thought it was all a waste of money and time).
At dinner, we all talked about the Middle East and Ted's life experiences (he's 31). It was unbelievable to hear what he had done in his 20s- gone to Colby for undergrad, went to Indiana U for MA/PhD in German but dropped out after 2 years, converted to Mormonism, went to Italy for missionary work, then he taught ESL in China, and then came back to the US to start the Middle East Studies program at U of Utah (that's how Meredith and Ted knew each other). And while living in SLC, he taught some languages, mainly German and Italian, in high school. It was enough to make me dizzy. With his degree, he hopes to work in the government even though he really enjoyed teaching and having meaningful dialogues with students. We also attempted to book a ticket for him to go back to Eilat in order for him to get back to Cairo to pick up his bags for his Wednesday flight back to the U.S. He had been traveling around Jordan and Israel in the last week... lucky him for being a guy!!! He reported that the Arab countries are loving Obama and have signs and such devoting to him like "We (heart) Obama!!!" It was shocking. Even more so, they now love Americans and treat them with more respect. I guess, finally, after 8 years, it's safe to be in the Middle East an American without getting harassed. (Ironically, I had read an article about Bush's After Life in Newsweek while waiting for Phyllis at her appointment... it was strange that we survived him.)
Then it was getting late for me as I still needed to get back to Tel Aviv. So I left the group and took the bus to the CBS. Normally, I'd walk but I was so tired that I couldn't think about navigating Agrippas and onto Jaffa. I caught the 9:30 bus and made it back to the University dorms around 11....
I'm so ready to sleep for a whole week after Friday.
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