We started off with a Thanksgiving dinner at the apartment of one of Rina's classmates. Although there was no football, there was an entire roasted turkey, sweet potatoes with marshmallows and pecans, and pumpkin pie. Yay! We gorged ourselves like it was a Jewish holiday*, and then got ready to walk it off for our next event.
Like last weekend, Thursday night starts off the weekly carnival Chamshushalayim, where the city's museums are open to the public for free until late in the evening (morning?). We hiked over to the Old City, where we toured the Migdal David complex. The museum is, as we recall from teen-trips, interesting in the daytime, but at night it takes on a whole other reality. The glass sculptures shine in what little light there is, and the walls are lit up by spotlights - all very dramatic and pretty. Next we wandered over to hear a Balkan ensemble toot on its horns and bang on its drums in an interesting polka-klezmer-ska combination that even had some of the crowd dancing. Lastly we walked through Mamilla, the new chic shopping and upscale residence plaza next to the Old City, to get to a small amphitheater. Minutes later the troupe showed up dancing wildly to a massive drumbeat, with torches and wheels on fire. The ensemble, which was dressed in what looked like army-fatigue body stockings with plumbing glued on, then gyrated to the rhythms in what we can only hope was an interpretive dance of some sort. The whole scene was like something out of "Lord of the Rings" but without the budget. Or dialogue. Or imagination. yeah. But still, lots of fun! Then it was home to cook a little, and then off to bed for our few hours of sleep before a tour tomorrow morning!
*There was even a short improptu dvar Torah: How do you say "turkey" in Hebrew? הודו. And what country is named הודו? India, exactly where Columbus was attempting to sail. And what is the word for thanks, which is our feeling for the explorer who accidentally located our home? הודו.
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