From Jerusalem to Tel Aviv
A few more details about Shabbos. I keep remember the good parts after I get everything written. Yehuda, my nephew, the newlywed, and his new wife, Avital, were late to the lunch on Saturday. Very late. Over an hour late. Not only that, but he'd been a no-show to Shul (aka Synagogue) that morning.
On Friday night I witnessed a discussion between Yehuda and my brother (entirely in Hebrew, translated for me later). Yehuda came over and said he was relieved that he would be called to (read) the Torah on Saturday. My brother, B2, said, Oh, but you will. Then began a lot of Yehuda arguing his case that he wouldn't have to, it wasn't important, etc.
In the Ashkenazi tradition, the groom is called to the Torah the Saturday before the wedding. And Yehuda had read from the Torah that day. In the Sephardic/Yemeni tradition, the "groom" reads on the Saturday after the wedding. Yehuda was balking at having to do this twice.
According to my brother, this reluctance is due to shyness. I'm not so sure. "Shy" isn't exactly how I would describe Yehuda, but B2 knows him better than I.
A boyhood friend of Yehuda's showed up at the Saturday lunch expressly for the purpose of making a speech in his honor. He said to B2 (my brother), "Did you forget to invite Yehuda." B2 laughed.
A woman at my table said a few times, "Are they both late sleepers? They must have slept late."
B2 said, "I don't think that's it." I had to agree with him.
The happy couple did arrive eventually. And graciously accepted all tributes. Yehuda even made a speech. However, he had not read from the Torah that morning.
Sunday
I didn't leave myself much time in the morning, but I thought I could sneak out for coffee before heading to the train station. Dad and Susan were gone, though they left a note telling me where to drop off the keys (mailbox #6). After I had my coffee, I ran back and gathered my things. I'd left myself about 12 minutes for the taxi ride to the train.
Somehow, we made it. The cab driver knew when the train left so he took an alternative route when we ran into some traffic. I got on the train a minute or so before it left. Not bad.
The ride from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv was a little over and hour and uneventful. The scenery for the first part of the journey was remarkable. We rode through an isolated valley where the hills were covered with terraced gardens and olive orchards. I saw an older woman and a donkey. Later, I saw two young men sitting on the ground, talking, with a donkey nearby. It was almost completely undeveloped--in the modern sense.
When I told Spesh about it, he said, "They're planning to get rid of all that." What a shame. Apparently, mostly non-Jews farm there.
Spesh was waiting for me at the train station. I have to say, this trip required the least possible knowledge of where I was going and how to get there of any vacation I've taken in recent memory. That was kind of nice.
We hoped on in a ten-seat mini-bus called a "service." These mini buses follow the municipal routes but will stop wherever you request them to and charge a little less than the regular bus fair. How much do they cost? I have no idea because Spesh paid both times we took one.
We went to Spesh's girlfriend's place. "A" gave me a friendly greeting and sat and talked to us for a while. Then Spesh said he was hungry, I said I could eat and we three went to lunch. They took me to a neighborhood called the "Yemeni Vineyard" and we ate traditional Yemeni food in a tiny hole-in-the-wall place. Fried dough with a tomato spread and soup. All very tasty.
We strolled around a bit after our early lunch; it was around noon. A had to run errands and she left us on our own. Spesh toured me around a bit, showing me a clothing market which he claimed sold "high fashion" items at a discount. It was not even name-brand stuff--rather off-label, discontinued lines and the like. And you had to paw through it to find anything good. Spesh said, "This is where my mother buys clothing for me. I should buy her something and see how she likes it."
We continued to stroll and he took me to the tree lined Ben Gurion Boulevard. Like a few other streets in Tel Aviv, this one had a wide pedestrian/bike path lined with benches in the middle of the street. We were both tired, so we found a bench and sat for a while. Spesh called his friend, G, the women who had been with him to meet me at the airport and she came to meet us.
Ben Gurion Boulevard:
We walked some more. I have to say, those two were on their cell phones A LOT. Usually, they took turns so someone was free to talk to me. Annoying, especially when you can't even eavesdrop.
We were hungry again, at least G and I were, and we found some falafel. Very good. Spesh said, "It's better than that place in Adams Morgan, right?"
"Yes."
"Everything's better--the toppings, the bread."
"Yes. The pita is much better and the falafel are softer and hotter. But the fries there are good. They don't even have fries here."
"Harumph." [Not really.]
While we walked, I kept stopping to take pictures. I tried to take pictures of things one couldn't find on postcards. Then again, I didn't buy any Tel Aviv postcards. Oh well.
I apologized to G for slowing us down. She didn't mind. "It's good when someone is taking pictures. You pay attention to things you wouldn't see otherwise." Ideally, anyway.
I joked about all the cat pictures I was taking. "It's so strange for me to see all the feral cats."
"It's just like it's strange for Israelis to see all the squirrels in America."
"I guess so. There sure aren't any squirrels around here."
"Yes, but you have them as pets too. So it's the same."
"Uh, well, no. No one keeps a squirrel as a pet. They're not domesticated."
"Really? They're not pets."
"No, they're too wild." Spesh was on his phone during this exchange so he missed the entire thing.
After a while, G had to head home and Spesh and I go fetch my things. It was 5pm by then. A came to the door in a towel and was annoyed with Spesh. He said we could catch a 5:15 train or a 5:30 train. We barely made it to the 5:30 train, taking another mini-bus. The train ride was fine but not as pretty as the ride from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Spesh's mother picked us up at the train station.
The family fed us well, as usual, but I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. Spesh's parents and sister wanted to take a walk, but his mom didn't want to leave all the dishes undone. I said, "We'll take care of it." And they practically ran out of the house. I realized I'd volunteered Spesh, so I didn't mind doing most of the dishes myself.
Even though we both almost fell asleep at 8pm watching tv, we still stayed up past 11pm watching yet more tv. First Groundhog Day and then The South Park Movie. Spesh later commented that "That South Park Movie was crap, but Groundhog Day was good."
"I thought it would be too sentimental for you." I said.
"I'm a sentimental kind of guy."
"Really."
On Friday night I witnessed a discussion between Yehuda and my brother (entirely in Hebrew, translated for me later). Yehuda came over and said he was relieved that he would be called to (read) the Torah on Saturday. My brother, B2, said, Oh, but you will. Then began a lot of Yehuda arguing his case that he wouldn't have to, it wasn't important, etc.
In the Ashkenazi tradition, the groom is called to the Torah the Saturday before the wedding. And Yehuda had read from the Torah that day. In the Sephardic/Yemeni tradition, the "groom" reads on the Saturday after the wedding. Yehuda was balking at having to do this twice.
According to my brother, this reluctance is due to shyness. I'm not so sure. "Shy" isn't exactly how I would describe Yehuda, but B2 knows him better than I.
A boyhood friend of Yehuda's showed up at the Saturday lunch expressly for the purpose of making a speech in his honor. He said to B2 (my brother), "Did you forget to invite Yehuda." B2 laughed.
A woman at my table said a few times, "Are they both late sleepers? They must have slept late."
B2 said, "I don't think that's it." I had to agree with him.
The happy couple did arrive eventually. And graciously accepted all tributes. Yehuda even made a speech. However, he had not read from the Torah that morning.
Sunday
I didn't leave myself much time in the morning, but I thought I could sneak out for coffee before heading to the train station. Dad and Susan were gone, though they left a note telling me where to drop off the keys (mailbox #6). After I had my coffee, I ran back and gathered my things. I'd left myself about 12 minutes for the taxi ride to the train.
Somehow, we made it. The cab driver knew when the train left so he took an alternative route when we ran into some traffic. I got on the train a minute or so before it left. Not bad.
The ride from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv was a little over and hour and uneventful. The scenery for the first part of the journey was remarkable. We rode through an isolated valley where the hills were covered with terraced gardens and olive orchards. I saw an older woman and a donkey. Later, I saw two young men sitting on the ground, talking, with a donkey nearby. It was almost completely undeveloped--in the modern sense.
When I told Spesh about it, he said, "They're planning to get rid of all that." What a shame. Apparently, mostly non-Jews farm there.
Spesh was waiting for me at the train station. I have to say, this trip required the least possible knowledge of where I was going and how to get there of any vacation I've taken in recent memory. That was kind of nice.
We hoped on in a ten-seat mini-bus called a "service." These mini buses follow the municipal routes but will stop wherever you request them to and charge a little less than the regular bus fair. How much do they cost? I have no idea because Spesh paid both times we took one.
We went to Spesh's girlfriend's place. "A" gave me a friendly greeting and sat and talked to us for a while. Then Spesh said he was hungry, I said I could eat and we three went to lunch. They took me to a neighborhood called the "Yemeni Vineyard" and we ate traditional Yemeni food in a tiny hole-in-the-wall place. Fried dough with a tomato spread and soup. All very tasty.
We strolled around a bit after our early lunch; it was around noon. A had to run errands and she left us on our own. Spesh toured me around a bit, showing me a clothing market which he claimed sold "high fashion" items at a discount. It was not even name-brand stuff--rather off-label, discontinued lines and the like. And you had to paw through it to find anything good. Spesh said, "This is where my mother buys clothing for me. I should buy her something and see how she likes it."
We continued to stroll and he took me to the tree lined Ben Gurion Boulevard. Like a few other streets in Tel Aviv, this one had a wide pedestrian/bike path lined with benches in the middle of the street. We were both tired, so we found a bench and sat for a while. Spesh called his friend, G, the women who had been with him to meet me at the airport and she came to meet us.
Ben Gurion Boulevard:
We walked some more. I have to say, those two were on their cell phones A LOT. Usually, they took turns so someone was free to talk to me. Annoying, especially when you can't even eavesdrop.
We were hungry again, at least G and I were, and we found some falafel. Very good. Spesh said, "It's better than that place in Adams Morgan, right?"
"Yes."
"Everything's better--the toppings, the bread."
"Yes. The pita is much better and the falafel are softer and hotter. But the fries there are good. They don't even have fries here."
"Harumph." [Not really.]
While we walked, I kept stopping to take pictures. I tried to take pictures of things one couldn't find on postcards. Then again, I didn't buy any Tel Aviv postcards. Oh well.
I apologized to G for slowing us down. She didn't mind. "It's good when someone is taking pictures. You pay attention to things you wouldn't see otherwise." Ideally, anyway.
I joked about all the cat pictures I was taking. "It's so strange for me to see all the feral cats."
"It's just like it's strange for Israelis to see all the squirrels in America."
"I guess so. There sure aren't any squirrels around here."
"Yes, but you have them as pets too. So it's the same."
"Uh, well, no. No one keeps a squirrel as a pet. They're not domesticated."
"Really? They're not pets."
"No, they're too wild." Spesh was on his phone during this exchange so he missed the entire thing.
After a while, G had to head home and Spesh and I go fetch my things. It was 5pm by then. A came to the door in a towel and was annoyed with Spesh. He said we could catch a 5:15 train or a 5:30 train. We barely made it to the 5:30 train, taking another mini-bus. The train ride was fine but not as pretty as the ride from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Spesh's mother picked us up at the train station.
The family fed us well, as usual, but I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. Spesh's parents and sister wanted to take a walk, but his mom didn't want to leave all the dishes undone. I said, "We'll take care of it." And they practically ran out of the house. I realized I'd volunteered Spesh, so I didn't mind doing most of the dishes myself.
Even though we both almost fell asleep at 8pm watching tv, we still stayed up past 11pm watching yet more tv. First Groundhog Day and then The South Park Movie. Spesh later commented that "That South Park Movie was crap, but Groundhog Day was good."
"I thought it would be too sentimental for you." I said.
"I'm a sentimental kind of guy."
"Really."
posted by Jamy at 4:00 PM
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