Museum On the Seam and Shabbat
06.25.2010
I got up and packed up my stuff at the hostel. Luckily I had left some of my things at Rachel’s earlier this week, so my pack was relatively light and easy to carry. I checked out of the hostel and left my pack there until later. My plan for the morning was to go to breakfast first, then the Museum On The Seam and finally the souk one last time to get some fruit for Shabbat.
I have become quite fond of Café Hillel, just down the street from the hostel. They have great coffee and they also have a nice menu with healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner options. I stopped there first and ordered the yogurt with muesli and fruit plus a latte. The presentation of the dish was beautiful. There was a layer of fresh fruit on the bottom, a layer of yogurt, a layer of muesli, another layer of yogurt, with muesli sprinkled on top and a nice drizzle of honey on top. OMG! It was so good! It was the perfect way to start my morning.
I had a basic idea of where the Museum On the Seam was and headed that direction. This museum specializes in exhibits that make you think and is geared more towards socio-political types of art work. I found it and was the only person in the place for the first twenty minutes. It had a combination of photography, mixed-media, video, and other kinds of art work. The artists were from all over the world, including Israel, China, and the United States. I really enjoyed it and am glad I was able to see it.
I walked back towards the souk to find fruit. I really wanted to get cherries but they were the most expensive, about $10 for a kilogram, which is 2.2 pounds, so about $4.50 a pound. I asked for a half of a kilo and then I was going to buy a half a kilo of something else to take for Shabbat. The guy was a total jerk about it and I almost walked away to another place, because there were plenty to pick from. I found another booth with the most beautiful plums and the price was good so I went ahead and got a full kilo of plums. With my shopping done, I went back to the hostel to get my backpack and check the bus schedule so I knew where I was going.
I figured it all out and decided to walk to the Central Bus Station. I should have taken the bus! It was further away than I thought. I went ahead and went through security and headed up to information to find out I was in the wrong spot! I needed to be across the road, so I set off to where I needed to be and found the place the bus would pick me up.
The bus arrived about fifteen minutes later and I got on. Luckily it wasn’t too full and I was able to put my backpack on the seat next to me. We were making our way to Ma’ale Adumim when one of the passengers noticed a huge traffic jam the way we were supposed to go. Now, I am not sure of this, but it seemed to me that the bus driver decided right then and there to change his direction and instead of going south, he went north to the northern entrance to Ma’ale Adumim. Once we got into the settlement, I told him where I needed to go because it seemed to me he wasn’t following any set route. He dropped me off on the corner of the street I needed to walk down to get to Rachel’s place. It’s a good thing I had been here before because it might have been confusing for a first time!
I knocked on the door and Linda greeted me barking like mad. I think she had forgotten who I was. Or she’s just a good guard dog. I guess she does that to everyone. She finally mellowed a bit and greeted me with a wagging tail. She is the most precious dog. She has some Bassett Hound in her and they are not sure what else. After reacquainting myself with the dog, I introduced myself to Baruch, Rachel’s husband and to her two boys, Yoseph and Nathan.
Rachel saved making challah bread for when I arrived, so after I had a light snack, I got my lesson in making challah. Rachel made the dough, then it had to sit and rise for about an hour. Then she mixed it up again, had it rise again for about twenty minutes, and repeated again for a third time. Once the dough was ready, Rachel showed me how to braid the challah. I got to make two little mini-challahs.
As sundown got closer, preparations became a little more hurried. Eventually, we sat down for the beginning of Shabbat. Baruch lead the family in the opening prayers and blessed the beginning of Shabbat. We had fish with couscous and a salad for dinner. We also had a concoction that started out as a lemon/mint drink, and slowly progressed into more of an iced tea taste as the boys started adding sugar and other things to it. Dessert was homemade icecream, which was awesome!
As the evening progressed, lights on timers started going off, which I found entertaining and to them, they are just used to it. I think we eventually went to bed around 11p.
I got up and packed up my stuff at the hostel. Luckily I had left some of my things at Rachel’s earlier this week, so my pack was relatively light and easy to carry. I checked out of the hostel and left my pack there until later. My plan for the morning was to go to breakfast first, then the Museum On The Seam and finally the souk one last time to get some fruit for Shabbat.
I have become quite fond of Café Hillel, just down the street from the hostel. They have great coffee and they also have a nice menu with healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner options. I stopped there first and ordered the yogurt with muesli and fruit plus a latte. The presentation of the dish was beautiful. There was a layer of fresh fruit on the bottom, a layer of yogurt, a layer of muesli, another layer of yogurt, with muesli sprinkled on top and a nice drizzle of honey on top. OMG! It was so good! It was the perfect way to start my morning.
I had a basic idea of where the Museum On the Seam was and headed that direction. This museum specializes in exhibits that make you think and is geared more towards socio-political types of art work. I found it and was the only person in the place for the first twenty minutes. It had a combination of photography, mixed-media, video, and other kinds of art work. The artists were from all over the world, including Israel, China, and the United States. I really enjoyed it and am glad I was able to see it.
I walked back towards the souk to find fruit. I really wanted to get cherries but they were the most expensive, about $10 for a kilogram, which is 2.2 pounds, so about $4.50 a pound. I asked for a half of a kilo and then I was going to buy a half a kilo of something else to take for Shabbat. The guy was a total jerk about it and I almost walked away to another place, because there were plenty to pick from. I found another booth with the most beautiful plums and the price was good so I went ahead and got a full kilo of plums. With my shopping done, I went back to the hostel to get my backpack and check the bus schedule so I knew where I was going.
I figured it all out and decided to walk to the Central Bus Station. I should have taken the bus! It was further away than I thought. I went ahead and went through security and headed up to information to find out I was in the wrong spot! I needed to be across the road, so I set off to where I needed to be and found the place the bus would pick me up.
The bus arrived about fifteen minutes later and I got on. Luckily it wasn’t too full and I was able to put my backpack on the seat next to me. We were making our way to Ma’ale Adumim when one of the passengers noticed a huge traffic jam the way we were supposed to go. Now, I am not sure of this, but it seemed to me that the bus driver decided right then and there to change his direction and instead of going south, he went north to the northern entrance to Ma’ale Adumim. Once we got into the settlement, I told him where I needed to go because it seemed to me he wasn’t following any set route. He dropped me off on the corner of the street I needed to walk down to get to Rachel’s place. It’s a good thing I had been here before because it might have been confusing for a first time!
I knocked on the door and Linda greeted me barking like mad. I think she had forgotten who I was. Or she’s just a good guard dog. I guess she does that to everyone. She finally mellowed a bit and greeted me with a wagging tail. She is the most precious dog. She has some Bassett Hound in her and they are not sure what else. After reacquainting myself with the dog, I introduced myself to Baruch, Rachel’s husband and to her two boys, Yoseph and Nathan.
Rachel saved making challah bread for when I arrived, so after I had a light snack, I got my lesson in making challah. Rachel made the dough, then it had to sit and rise for about an hour. Then she mixed it up again, had it rise again for about twenty minutes, and repeated again for a third time. Once the dough was ready, Rachel showed me how to braid the challah. I got to make two little mini-challahs.
As sundown got closer, preparations became a little more hurried. Eventually, we sat down for the beginning of Shabbat. Baruch lead the family in the opening prayers and blessed the beginning of Shabbat. We had fish with couscous and a salad for dinner. We also had a concoction that started out as a lemon/mint drink, and slowly progressed into more of an iced tea taste as the boys started adding sugar and other things to it. Dessert was homemade icecream, which was awesome!
As the evening progressed, lights on timers started going off, which I found entertaining and to them, they are just used to it. I think we eventually went to bed around 11p.