Feb 6th and 7th – Back from the desert for Shabbat

For the first time in the trip, morning came WAY too early. I struggled through breakfast trying to hydrate myself and was helped by the fact that they had the best cream cheese and fresh pita of the trip. We headed directly to the camels after breakfast, it was still before 8 O'clock. We split into 2 groups and had about a 15 minute ride each. For those people who had never ridden a camel before, I am sure it was a nice experience, but for me it was uneventful save a few laughs and a nice view of the desert.
Before we hit the road back to Jerusalem, we stopped by the grave of David Ben Gurion. Turns out this guy was a total nut in the best of ways. I would continue to learn about his eccentricities throughout the trip and am looking forward to reading more about him when I have the time. He chose his resting place because he loved the desert, and I must say it was hard to argue with him as the view from his grave was equal to that of off Masada.

We caught some Zs on the ride to a Jerusalem market known for fresh goods including vegetable, fruits and pastry. Upon arrival in Jerusalem we also picked up the 7 soldiers who would be spending the following 5 days among us. Naturally, we didn't know quite what to make of each other, but they would soon become an integral part of the group. We perused the market and had a shwarma before heading to our hotel in the new city where we would spend Shabbat. After dawning of our “Sunday best”(for me naturally a t-shirt and jeans) we met to meet a young rabbi who would guide us through candle lighting, a short presentation and dinner.

The evening activity would be a ice-breaker with our new soldiers and that would turn into quite a nice party, as it seems I was not the only one to purchase his fair share of alcohol at the market. The only barrier was the 2 hour nap everyone took between dinner and the event. Everyone showed up looking like they were in the grip of death. Luckily for us the ice breaker involved a lot of movement and laughter and soon everyone was back in the spirit. The night flew by and we continued to forge bonds with each other and began to with our new soldier friends.

We were given a gift on the sabbath of a late wake-up call even though our party was certainly not the holiest of events happening in Jerusalem that evening. Around 11 we met and, though some people even overslept and others were looking a touch rough around the edges, the group was in pretty good spirits. No buses for us on Shabbat, so we went on a walking tour of the government buildings and spaces near our hotel including the Supreme Court, national rose garden and the Knesset (Israeli Parliament). All the building were closed, but it was good to get a feel for the new part of the city and the political landscape of the country which are guide touched on.

The late afternoon consisted of eating and resting (if you are sticking to Jewish areas as our trip certainly was, there isn't a lick to do). We met all together for a discussion about anti-semitism which got a little heavy and then had a short havdalah service to close the Shabbat. After the activity we were able to board the bus again and head to Ben Yehouda street, a popular shopping avenue for tourists, expats, crazies and Israelis alike. The shwarma was decent and the people watching was excellent. We saw Israeli's dancing in the street to celebrate Jerusalem and the coming of the Israeli arbor day which we'd participate in the next morning, a vagrant looking former American man smelling young girl's hair and asking for money who relayed to me that he puts acid on his cream cheese every morning, and saw a bit of an uglier side when we saw a youngish Israeli girl try to stop a Korean choir group from exercising their right to perform.

When we returned to the hotel we had a few people over to our room to relax and smoke the Nargila (Hooka), but we made it a relatively early night.