From the Mid-West to the Mid-East

Such a Great Weekend

It's true, this past weekend was incredibly good.

This past week the WUJS people still in Arad had a tiyul in the North. While they were trekking across rocks and waterfalls I was sitting (much as I am now) at work doing odd jobs between checking my mail and googling. One of my guiltiest new pleasures (especially guilty at work) is taking all the quizzes at ynr.blogthings.com, mostly because I agree with all their answers for me (I am a great girlfriend, I'm not a challenge, I will be a modern bride). Brian would call me at night to tell me about the stars he was looking at (he's learned well from my real boyfriend Yohoshua) and the latest gossip from the trip. Poor Daniela seemed to have had an awful time, but trooper that she is she just kept going past the sprained ankle, lost glasses, and having to wear prescription sunglasses at night.

So everyone came back on Thursday evening, and Brian, Erin, and Daniela came straight to Jerusalem. I took Brian over to our local falefel stands (there's two about 20 feet from each other owned by cousins) for dinner and then he slept while I did his laundry (I knew the quiz was right!). Friday we went to Ben Yehuda to get him a new kipah (Jewish head covering) at the Kipah Man's. It's this tiny little closet of a store and because the owner is so friendly and has such a nice schtick you feel good buying your kipahs there over anyplace else. The Kipah Man even recommended lunch over at Pinati's, which was an incredible find. We shared a plate of hummus with meat and were proud to be off the tourist-beaten-path. Full, we went to a park opposite the US Consulate and Brian took a nap while I talked with Yohoshua on the phone and relaxed in one of the few green spots in Jerusalem.

During the afternoon, Brian checked his e-mail and found he's been invited to his friend Madoka's wedding in Japan. He asked me along as a date. My only previous experience with Japan is a Sesame Street special in which Big Bird says "Ohio" to everyone in greeting, a few scenes from "Around the World in 80 Days," Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado," and the sushi rolls I bought from the library at OSU. So, unless I'm greeted by a group of Englishmen holding up the corners of their eyes singing "we are the gentlemen of Japan..." and a large puppet and Passepartout perform circus acts while chanting my universities alma mater, I think I'm in for a surprise. Genuinly, I'm thrilled. I think it will be a full body culture shock and I'm really excited about it. I wouldn't want to go with anyone else, not just because hanging out with Brian is a lot of fun, but he's so passionate about Japan and I think he wants to show me around as much as I want to experience everything. Bonuses also include the fact that I will be meeting Madoka, one of Brian's oldest friends; I will also be traveling with Vo, another friend of Brian's who is really funny; and I may meet Brian's parents and sister (which begs the question "What am I going to wear?" And where will I buy it in Israel?) Other surprise: my parents are very supportive and excited for me to go.

That night we went out to a little alley which has a few very nice looking restaurants and ended up at a Japanese restaurant. Better to get the chop-stick lessons in now, and I'm going to need a lot of them. On Saturday Brian and I went to the Israel Museum, because he's only ever been to the gift shop before. He got the obligatory picture in front of The Shrine of the Book and we posed together in the scultpure garden on the Ahava (Love) sculpture. Then we went in and found that there were a bunch of great temporary exhibits, 3 of them relating to Japan. It can't be a coincidence. One exhibit was Far and Away: The Fantasy of Japan in Israeli Art, which wasn't very exciting beyond an old "Visit Palestine" poster redone in a Japanese style, but it did cause me to question the Western ideas of Japan in general, and how Israel, already an dealing with it's own stereotypes of vast deserts and tents, dreams of an even more Oriental world. Then there was the scandalous Rising SUn Melting Moon: Contemporary Art in Japan which included spoofs of famous masterpieces depicting Japanese culture and not a few nudes. The most exciting was an exhibit called All That's Not Me by a Japanese photographer, Kimiko Yoshida. She used artifcats from all around the museum to create a series of 30 "brides" in which she wore the headdresses and veils from over the past 2,000 years and at least 15 countries while she was painted Japanese-style to match the background of the photographs, either white, gold, red, or black. It was such a vibrant way to see the artifacts.

We left the museum and asked a taxi driver to take us someplace open on Shabbat with good food. First there was the haggling, and I think the driver thought he won when we agreed to a decent price but he took us to East Jerusalem (little did he know I live there and it was incredibly convenient). He took us to Philadelphia, which is a restaurant in all my guide books, Jimmy Carter's favorite in Israel, but I could never find it. The food was good, Brian and I split a mixed grill and a few salads (of course hummus). When it came time for dessert Brian wanted to see a menu, but the waiter went right over to a recently vacated table, picked up the leftover baklava, went to the kitchen (which I could see into) added a few more baklava to the plate, and served it to us. When in Palestine.... we ate it.

Brian was supposed to leave Saturday night, but we had fun and fell asleep, and then it seemed silly to leave. So Sunday (I don't work on Sundays) we went to the Old City. We entered through Damascus Gate into the Muslim Quarter (I've only done that once before) and we walked straight to the Via Delarosa to Abu Shukri's, one of the best hummus places supposedly in all Israel. We split the usual, including incredible foul (fava beans I think) and then continued down the road straight to the Kotel and Jewish Quarter, but not before passing Muslim Barbies with headcoverings and martyr posters. Leaving the Old City we walked towards a Russian church on the hillside and ended up instead at Schindler's grave. I'd seen it once before, at the end of Schindler's List, and had thought it was solitary on a big green hill, but there must have been trick photography because it was amongst a lot of other graves in a pretty decrepid looking cemetary, we could only find it because it was the only grave with stones on it (a Jewish tradition). We then went to my favorite museum, the Museum on the Seam dedicated to coexistence and dialogue. I really get a lot out of being there, and I was hoping Brian would too. Not that he would have to agree with my politics, but that we could discuss certain exhibits and their impact on us. He really didn't like it, and didn't seem to get anything out of it the way I do. So we argued, not a bad thing to argue about. I was actually a bit shocked to realize he's so right-wing (he's not a Netenyahu, but definitly makes me look crazy leftist). I suppose it's so personal to me because the museum doesn't reflect my politics as much as it reflects my beliefs, my future career, what I do in my free time, and some very special memories.

Brian left Sunday night and I went with my flat-mates and a hoarde of other WUJSers to the Jerusalem Circus. My roommate Rachel is interning there and it was a real pleasure to do something so fun and support her at the same time. The circus, so you can picture it, isn't under a roundtop but on a stage. It's made up entirely of Jewish and Arab kids under 18 who work together to perfect their "circus arts." I was as impressed with their ability (some incredible trapeze work and scarf climbing) as I was with their confidence (One juggler kept going after dropping his balls, a little girl just couldn't quite get her balancing act to work). We had a good late dinner at an Itlaian restaurant and now it's back to work and all the fun it entails until the next weekend.

posted by A Mus-Ed Blogger @ 3:46 AM