Snacks
Grace shot this video of Omri and I at the grocery store by his home in Jerusalem. We returned to Jerusalem from Tel-Aviv the previous night, where we had just flown in from Eilat after crossing back over to Israel from our Petra excursion in Jordan. I recruited Omri to help me put together a care package for the folks back at the KYW Newsradio studios. I had been reporting on my adventures and wanted to let them know I was thinking of them and of Philadelphia. Of course all the chocolate and treats were marked in Hebrew and when I returned to Philly, my collegues told me it was fun to try new things, but they didn’t know what they were trying — like the “Bamaba” for example. It’s a snack that looks like cheese puffs, but tastes like peanuts. I guess that can be confusing when you’re expecting cheese and you get peanuts instead. Anyway, I was surprised how quickly the snacks arrived at the studio. It was nice to get the thank you emails from back home while I was traveling abroad.
Entering The Old City
After running my errand at the grocery store and the post office, Grace and I spent our final day in Israel with Omri in the Old City. Although my cousin lives in Jerusalem, he doesn’t often go to the Old City. For me, it’s not a trip to Israel without stopping into Jerusalem’s Old City.
Jerusalem 40
The “Jerusalem 40″ signs were up everywhere. They’re still left over from 2007, a reminder of Israel’s acquisition of its capital city during the 1967 6-Day War.
Falafel
A food break in the Jewish Quarter.
Jerusalem Old City Market
Chaos and shopping! That’s the best way to describe the Old City market. It’s really beautiful and colorful, here. It’s another world in here — and if you don’t know your way around, you could easily get lost in the maze of streets.
Kotel
Finally at the Western Wall. I pulled out paper for all of us. It’s customary to write a message to god and push it into the stones of the wall. Each of us took a private moment to pray, reflect, meditate or just think. Honestly, we did a lot of running around on this trip. It was nice to stop for a moment and reflect before heading off on the next leg of the adventure.
