It's been a crazy few days--a crazy few days without an internet connection. There's lots to report so I'll split it up.I was sure I was too tired to go out Friday night. I was wrong. My new pal from Atlanta (when I come home saying, "Shalom y'all" you'll know who to blame) and I started in the hotel bar like good little tourists. We drank local wine with local people and then joined the rest of the MASA group for drinks.
Joining us was a girl from NY who recently made alyaih. I asked her how big a role religion played in her decision. She said she thinks that being here itself is a mitzvah and that being Jewish wasn't part of the actual decision-making process. I think it will be interesting to talk with the MASA program participants about why they are here and how they made the decision about how long to stay.
We spent the next day hearing about local politics from Gil Hoffman of the Jerusalem Post (a Northwestern alum and originally from Chicago) and then headed to the Old City. The rest of the day was overwhelming and kinda ruined my ability to write about what happened earlier in the day... so check the next post for my impressions of the Old City, the Western Wall and the Kotel Tunnels.
(Also, I swore that I'd get off the Elvis thing but one of his songs was playing in this bar we were in. Just saying.)
