The Western Wall & Burger Bar

Last night I had the opportunity to go to the Rabi's house again for dinner! It was another awesome gathering and I had a lot of fun listening to what he had to say about the feast of Purim. He said unfortunately, it is often used as an excuse to get drunk and by doing so, most people miss the significance of the holiday. Purim is also the feast of which most charity is given, and people are overly generous to anyone and everyone. I thought that was really neat. In fact, on the way to the Western Wall, I walked past a full-scale meal where the needy were being served a really nice, hot meal for the feast. I almost wasn't going to make the trek out to the Rabi's house last night, which is about a 25 minute walk, due to the rain but decided to bite the bullet and go. The company and food made the walk really worth the trouble. It was really distracting however because there was this one Jewish grandpa type character who had a flask of whiskey in his coat pocket and routinely made a habit of offering me, and anyone else interested, some of the stuff. He was incredibly noisy the whole night and at one point tried to pour some on Stephania and myself! She took it from him and wasn't going to give it back, which of course agitated him immensely and exasperated the situation. Other than that, I had a really great time and would like to try to attend every Friday. I can't adequately articulate the atmosphere.. There is just something really special about being at his house that I really love.

Today I was REALLY tired and slept in until 1! I don't think I have ever slept in that late before, as far as I can remember. Please pray for me if you remember; I have been feeling ever so slightly under the weather. I don't have a fever, but my throat hurts a bit and my head just feels kind of weird. I've been staying up late and getting up early, and after two weeks, I think it is starting to catch up with me. The weather has also been interesting as of late. The first week I was here, the sun was shining, the highs were in the low 70s, and I wore short sleeves everyday. The past few days, the temp has dropped dramatically, and it has been raining since Thursday almost nonstop with scattered thunderstorms throughout the day and night. I like the cooler weather, but I fear it will have a devastating effect on my tan!

After taking it easy this morning and afternoon, I went out to the Western Wall to pray (whenever I say "I", I mean with other people; I don't go out alone due to safety). After being at the Wall for a while, I walked around to Mt. Zion and enjoyed the incredible array of architectural beauty the city offers. I went for dinner at a place called Burger Bar. Of all the places I've been to eat since I've been here, this is one of the best. They serve burgers (obviously), fries, schnitzel, wraps, salads.. I got a schnitzel and it was delicious. Everyone else grabbed something to eat at an Italian pasta place down the road, and I met up with them after I got my meal. Just as I had sat down to eat, the manager came to serve my friends dinner. He saw my food and told me it was not kosher, and that I was going to need to eat somewhere else. Because that request seemed so absurd, I almost didn't know what to say. He kept repeating himself until I "got it" and walked back to Burger Bar. I didn't want to eat there because one of the guys had already asked me out, and another had offered me a beer, so Stephania came with me.
Because tonight was Purim (I was wrong in my previous post - Purim was not on 2/25) everyone was wearing a costume of sorts. I always love Ben Yahuda because there are so many people having a good time, tons of music and dancing, and really, really good food =)