Israeli Culture Day

The day began at Hebrew University, where the prolonged professors' strike, which has lasted nearly six weeks thus far, prompted the student body to take action by...striking. Even though only half of our courses are available, the Student Union decided to show the government who is boss by locking the campus' gates to those students and professors unfortunate enough to still want to be involved in education. Jon's first class, Talmud, had only six of its usual thirty-five students, so was let out after only twenty minutes. Three and a half hours later, sitting in a room with only three other students, he came to the realization that his other classes of the day probably wouldn't run either. To make matters more ridiculous, the striking students didn't seem to realize that the campus is completely isolated from the rest of the city, and their message therefore reached nobody but the student body itself. The event didn't even make it to the news.

With Rina spending the evening at a wedding, Jon decided to continue his Shwarma search. Tonight's experience - אוכל בכייף. Having been told that this establishment was run by the same people as מלך הפלפל, our long standing front-runner, Jon expected great things of tonight's competitor, and it delivered. We're not sure if the server was new or this is the most amazing shwarma-place in town, but the wrap was so stuffed with meat, french fries, eggplant and the like that it could not be closed. After eating some of the dinner's entrails, it was over to the salad bar that was stocked with both the usual salads as well as a fluorescent and spicy cauliflower concoction that was outstanding. Watching the natives stalk their prey Jonathan came to a realization - you can take the salads and put them in a bag, rather than in your wrap. Sadly and deliciously, this opened up new, very large doors to his gluttony. The bulk, taste, and indoor-seating experience all combined to make this the new front runner in the most delicious competition ever.

Rina's evening was spent at the wedding of a classmate from Matan. The event was a mixture of many different cultures, including Israeli, formal, and Persian. The groom wore an untucked pullover shirt, and the chupa ceremony was filled with speeches, poetry, and raucus singing (as well as Birkat Kohanim, for some reason). The party had a cool mechitza, made of bamboo stalks, with lounge chairs and couches on either side, and the dancing was wild (especially when the music turned from standard wedding fare to standard Persian dance party fare). Overall, the entire experience was a lot of fun, and a cultural eye-opener, especially the dancing.