December 1, 2013

WOW! I cannot believe that it is already December first. My time here has gone by so fast which means that I am going home so soon ;( Anyways, today was a fun day. Paige, Leetal, Gabrielle, and I had planned on going to Haifa today to see the Bahai gardens. We have been planning and trying to go here multiple times but something keeps happening or getting in the way. Most of us woke up early and were really excited to go but them Gabrielle wasnt feeling well and Leetal slept through her alarm. By the time she woke up, we had missed the train we were planning on taking. Gabrielle decided she did not want to go to Haifa anymore, so Leetal ended up going by herself to visit her family. At this point, Paige and I were bored so we were trying to figure out what to do and where to go. We decided to go to Jerusalem for the day! Paige and I got ready and headed to the bus station to take a bus to Jerusalem.

The bus ride only took about an hour, so we got there by 1pm.  Once we arrived in Jerusalem we got a little lost. We were trying to get to the shuk, by walking, and ended up walking right past it. Eventually we got there and walked around and got lunch and snacks and goodies. Paige and I realized that we had not tried shawarma yet in Israel, so we found a shawarma shack and tried it! Lets ust say taht i Paige and I both agreed that that was our first and last time trying shawarma. It was really fatty and oily and HUGE. Paige and I were not the biggest fans! After lunch we walked around teh shuk a little bit and i found some really good tea that I bought to bring back home. We also bought some banana chips and nuts for the bus ride home.  As we were walking through the shuk, some places were handing out free samples of food. Paige and I both tried coffee flavored havla and it was delicious! We also tried flavored tahina and watched the machine make it. It was sooo myummy and really cool to watch. After about an hour or an hour and a half or so, we were tired of the shuk and were ready to go to the Kotel. WE bought train tickets to get there and got on the train. Once we arrived at the Damascus gate, the train stop of the old Holy city, we got out and that is when everything happened! We found a nice couple and asked them how to get to the Kotel. They said that it was really easy, you just walk down these steps and keep walking straight and you will get there. We followed their instructions and ended up walking through the Arab shuk. This was one of the scariest moments of my life. There were tons of creepy Arab men staring and looking at us and muttering to themselves about us. I have heard before that this Arab shuk is not a safe place to be, and of course the two of us girls wind up walking through it. We were really scared and lost and could not find the way out. Paige and I kept asking the soldiers guarding the area how to get to the Western wall and they said to just keep walking straight. We did not believe them at first and then finally made it out, ALIVE and wound up at the Kotel. We got there just in time for the Menorah lighting for Hanukkah. This was the main reason why we wanted to come to Jerusalem today. Paige and I walked around teh Western wall and went up to it and then once the sun started to set at about 4:30, a rabbi came onto the stage with the menorah and sang the prayers and blessings and Hanukkah songs and then lit the Menorah. There was a small menorah right at the Western Wall and there were also torches above the wall, to make a menorah. It was really cool and special to be at the Kotel, the most holy site for the Jewish people, on Hanukkah. I was really glad that we decided to do this. Once the menorah was lit, there were Hanukkah songs blasting through the speakers. At this point, we were tired and decided to head back to Tel Aviv. Once we left the Kotel, we got really lost trying to find our way back to the tram station, to take the train back to the central bus station. As we were walking out, we walked through the residential section of the old city. There were rabbis outside lighting menorahs on the street and you could see into houses and apartment and see their menorahs. It was a great and cultural day! I had a lot of fun!