1 january 1999		israel: shabbat be where you're going by 2.
Today's itinerary: The Nachlat Beniamin crafts fair. Shabbat in Tel Aviv.		Darin had contacted his friend Marianna, who is an Israeli who works at General Magic, about getting together in Tel Aviv. She and her hubby and their new baby had gone to Israel to visit family for the same two weeks that we were going to be in Tel Aviv, and Darin really wanted to see her baby. So instead of flying 400 miles to see her in Sunnyvale, we were going to fly 10000 miles. Sadly, Marianna and Darin could not coordinate. So no baby for Darin. Marianna did tell Darin some things we could do during our last two days in Tel Aviv. One of the activities was the Nachlat Beniamin crafts fair, which is set up near the Carmel Market. I had no idea if we were anywhere near the Carmel Market--all those tiny, twisty roads are not good for one's sense of distance--but it turned out to be about a mile from the hotel. So the 6 of us set off. The crafts fair is much like a crafts fair anywhere--jewelry, knickknacks. More Jewish themed things than at your average crafts fair, I suppose. Mitch and I commented to one another that we kept running across things we liked, but the thought of toting them home was enough to Just Say No. We stopped at a booth set up by some traditionally-dressed ladies, who made some crepes on a hot dome and then filled the crepes with either a vanilla or chocolate paste. I got in line and bought a chocolate one, which was shared by me, Carole, Mitch, and Scott. Everyone had a bite and then decided they didn't want any more. (Whatever that chocolate paste was, it was pretty darn sweet.) We still had it with us when we found Darin and Steve, and I think Steve finished it. We started walking home--we walked over George Hamelech Street (that's "King George") to Dizengoff. We passed a particularly cool public fountain. A really cool public fountain We stopped a small neighborhood restaurant for lunch and had to order quickly--the sidewalks roll up at 2pm on Fridays before Shabbat. I had falafel (big shock); Darin, Mitch and Scott divvied up turkey shashlik and a few other dishes. Of course, we had hummus. In fact, we weren't going to order hummus until the owner said, "You want a plate of hummus?" We said sure. When he walked away, Scott said the funniest thing of the entire vacation: "'You want hummus?' is the Israeli equivalent of 'You want fries with that?'" We returned to the hotel. Darin hung out with Mitch and Scott in their room for a couple of hours--yes, they actually like hanging out together; it's weird, no?--and I settled in to read yet another Sharon Kay Penman book. I began her Welsh trilogy in Jerusalem and set about finishing it as quickly as possible, which is a neat trick with 3 books, each about 1000 pages long. But I enjoyed them quite a bit: Here Be Dragons Falls The Shadow The Reckoning In case you can't tell from the titles, things get progressively worse in these novels--for the Welsh, at any rate. It was pretty heartbreaking, but if you're at all interested in the Middle Ages, you might really enjoy these books. (They cover the reigns of Richard the Lion-Heart, John, Henry, and Edward.) I went down to Mitch and Scott's room and told them I was incredibly happy that they hadn't been alive during this period--for one thing, they were guys (and pretty much life sucked for everybody, but if you had to fight...ick), and, for another thing, life really sucked if you were Jewish. Once again we had dinner in the hotel, because it was Shabbat and it was arranged. Another buffet.
		Copyright 1999 Diane Patterson Send comments and questions to diane@spies.com