It's Skyline Time!!

It was Skyline time at our apartment last night!! Mom and Auntie sent me a bunch of Skyline chili spice packets, and once Jim and Ari found out about it (and by that I mean, once I told them about and said I was ready and willing to cook it for everyone), we set a date for Skyline night! Joel and Lisa (from LA and Miami, respectively) decided to join us, but were certainly skeptical about the (obvious to the rest of us) deliciousness of Skyline chili...

...but boy did we prove them wrong! We made believers out of our California-bound classmates who ate a three-way and a five-way! I bought kosher ground beef at SuperSol (our grocery store) for a whopping 45 dollars for about 3 lbs!!! Ari came over to help me stir the four quarts of chili, chop onions, cook beans, and boil spaghetti noodles. And then... it was time for Ari, Jim, and me to enjoy our Skyline and time for Lisa and Joel to start their first Skyline experience, which of course, they loved! Please enjoy the pictures of our Skyline adventure...

The girl from Cincy ready to introduce Skyline to the city of Jerusalem

Skyline before it looks even remotely appetizing

Chopping onions for a possible 4-way

Jim, Ari, and Joel studying the Skyline packet and preparing for dinner

Lisa feeling a little skeptical about the Skyline

Just like home...ish...

Post-Skyline, we met up with Leslie, Jaclyn and Adam, and Mirah and Josh to go to the Jerusalem International Arts and Crafts Fair (it's called something-ish like that) located in the Artists Colony in the Gay Hinom Valley (this is the phonetic spelling, it has nothing to do with "gay"... this actually means "Hell"). The fair was HUGE, very exciting, and attended by tons of Israelis. There were lots and lots of artists' booths selling everything from Judaica to knit items to hand-blown (?? is there such a phrase?) glass to beanbag chairs to photographs, etc etc etc. There was also tons of food, a live circus-like performance, a small stage with a cover band, and a main-stage with a big-time singer (in our case, it was Gali Atari, who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1979 with the VERY popular Israeli folk song "Halleluya"). None of us really bought anything, but we had a great time!

Today was the first meeting of Zehut L'Chaim/Parallel Lives, a program that about 15 of the students at HUC are doing this year. Parallel Lives is a program that brings together young Israeli soldiers from Special Operations Units of the Israel Defense Force and young Jews from the Diaspora (outside of Israel) in order to foster dialogue and long-lasting relationships between the two groups. The program aims to enhance Jewish identity for the participants on both sides, increase solidarity with Israel, and create awareness for the Jewish soldiers regarding Judaism in the Diaspora. We traveled with about nine soldiers to Ein Kerem, a beautiful location outside of Jerusalem where there is a lot of history, beautiful gardens and mountainous areas, and a natural spring. We toured together, relaxed by the spring, ate dinner, and discussed their lives in the army, their families, and their plans for after they leave the army, as well as where we're from, what we studied in college, our lives in the US, why we want to be Rabbis, Cantors, Jewish educators, etc, and what it's like to be Jews in the US. We had a great first meeting, and plan to see the soldiers again in September.

Another important note... I saw Sean on Monday!!! I traveled for an hour and half to get to the airport, saw him for about ten minutes, and then spent almost three hours trying to get back to Jerusalem... but it was totally worth it :) He has spent the last few days traveling in the Golan Heights, a mountainous region in the north of Israel, and will be arriving in Jerusalem TOMORROW NIGHT!!

Tomorrow is the start of a fun weekend with Sean, Ari and Leah's birthdays, and a hopefully relaxing Shabbat.