Day 20 – 23

On Saturday we had a party up at Kaddarim for the kids birthday / barmitzvah. Because only close family came to the temple for the bar mitzvah more extended family and friends were invited to come and bbq with us. It was fun – it was the last chance for me to spend time with the kids before I leave. We played poker and chess and rode around the kibbutz on bikes.

After the party Herbie drove us back to Tel Aviv and we stayed the night in a place Called Bat Yam – which by night is a bit dodgy but by day is really nice. Its right on the beach and theres lots of cafes and restaurants.

At about 11 Einav came again and together we went to some crazy bar cafe place where one of her friends were celebrating her 21st birthday. First you had to take off your shoes then you walk in and theres many low tables and nooks and crannys and lots of pillows and cushions to laze on. Next theres almost no white light except for a few candles here and there the whole place is dimly lit with black light so everything white glows! The tables are all painted so they glow neon and the menu’s are glowing too. I had a good time – unlike some occasions when the Israeli’s I meet in groups prefer to just talk hebrew with themselves I had a bit of conversation and it was a nice way to wind down the hectic day! We all left at a decent hour and Einav set off to the airport at 3am that morning for a flight to Barcelona for a vacation.

The next morning Mum and I had brekfast at a cafe on the beach then waited for Avi to come. After dropping mum in shiller I went back to Tel Aviv and just chilled. At about 4 I met up with Yoav and together we went to an awesome Hummous place that played non stop reggae music and sat and ate hummous and full. Yum. After eating we wandered over to a rally that was being held in a public square in Tel Aviv by Sudanese refugees to Israel to highlight the genocide that has been taking place in Darfur for a long time with little to none international coverage of the issue. We hung out there for a while and enjoyed the atmosphere and sat in solidarity and listened to music. After that we took a tour of Sheinken which is a street roughly comparable to Krd in Auckland or Brunswick St in Melbourne. Once the cultural hub of the city and now dotted with Nike Town and McDonalds – although interestingly enough I disovered that Starbucks opened here a few years ago and actually didnt survive!! Thats a first. The tiki tour took us to a pool hall where we met with Michal and played pool – I won some lost some then Michal and I paired up and kicked Yoav and Matzi’s asses. Very satisfying. After some investigation of gig guides we went to a bar nearby and saw a band play which was actually lots of fun. A hot chocolate later and I was so tired I crawled home and slept like a baby.

This morning I went out to get a Jerusalem Post (a newspaper in english) and boy it was hot! And it was only 9.30 in the morning. After a coffee Avi and I went for a swim at a beach in Tel Aviv – water was actually quite cold but very nice on such a hot day. After an hour we moved down the road a bit to another beach where some friends of Avi’s were sitting – Yossi is the son of Beni the Fisherman and is a hilarious kind of character – he insited we drink much vokda with red bll and forced a few shots on us too. I was downing the water as fast as I could or else I’d really be toast in the middle of the sun. Every 20 minutes or so you need to jump in the water and get yourself wet or else you die of heat stroke pretty much.

Later that night I visted Shuki and the kids one last time and helped them shower (which was a very wet affair I must add!) and then played guitar for them while they fell asleep. I can’t wait to be back to see these kids again I really love them with everything I got. Shuki, Tali and I sat and talked for awhile about how the journey was for me and what feelings came up. After a quick supermarket visit I came back and fell asleep.

This morning on the last day after the obligitory coffee in the morning Avi and I set of on what would be a 3 hour sivuv (tiki tour) to find shoes for me – I originally wanted some replacement chucks for my tatty pair but found some other ones instead. Also went round one of the markets and had a squizz. We ended up in another food joint (avi definately knows the best) and had Sabich which is hard boiled egg and potato and eggplant and salad all in a pita pocket.

Now we’re sitting around on Shiller soon to go to airport to leave this place for two days in Thailand!

Lehitraot!

(Click for big photo + caption)

This morning after a better hotel breakfast than the the last one we set out with our suitcases down to the parking garage where we had left our car the night before. En route we passed my mums great aunt’s old house which is kinda in ruins now but that was quite amazing for her because she used to stay there when she lived in Israel 20 years ago.

We drove and parked under the council buildings and then made our way to Alatefer The Museum on the Seam which is a gallery of art about coexisitance and promoting peace and justice. The exhibit we saw was called Bare Life and has some really awesome pieces – mostly multimedia.

After the museum we made our way into the heart of the shuk (market) in the old city of Jerusalem via the Jaffa gate and soon got buried deep inside the myriad of cobblestoned lanes and alleys. Theres no real way to describe this shuk but its world famous and there are many people roaming around and many slick salespeople calling you their friend and asking where your from and what your looking for. Mum loves a good haggle and we roamed around abit looking at scarfs and other bits and pieces. You really need hours to search this place its just awesome. For lunch we eventually found a hummus place we were recommended and sat down to eat. I can’t explain how good it was. Actually. It was amazing. Best hummus I think I’ve had in Israel so far (and I’ve had alot.) I basically died.

On the way out we bought a few things and did a bit of haggling to get prices down then we went back to our car and started our drive back to Rekhovot. We got stuck in traffic and it took hours then I got lost trying to find Rekhovot. It was bad.

(Click for big photo + caption)