Take that 120 #5A

When I was packing up my apartment in New York (120 w. 9Xth #5A), as I prepared to leave, my roommates frequently liked to taunt me that I was going to get fat in Israel and would eat multiple shawarmas (like a meat gyro of amazingness) a day. In order to prove them dead wrong, I have abstained from eating shawarma since my arrival. I decided to save my first shawarma experience for when my family is in town over the Sukkor holiday in about 2 weeks. Needless to say, I am excited for their arrival.

In order to go all out and put it to Bubbles and the Shine (roommates), I also did not have a falafel for nearly my first month in Israel… that ended today. The day after Rosh Hashana is a fast day called Tzom Gedalia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_of_Gedalia) which in short is a day or mourning commemorating the murder of Gedalia, who was the ruler of the Jews in Israel under Babylonian rule after the destruction of the first temple – after his assassination, the most of the Jews fled Israel and the land was nearly uninhabited by Jews for ~65 years. After 65 years, the Jews returned and eventually built the 2^nd temple, but enough with the history lesson for now.

I left work at 5:30 not having had anything to eat all day. The fast ended at sundown, about 6:15. My bus arrived in Jerusalem at about 6:45, but I did not bother to stop to grab something to eat at the bus stop. Rather, I went straight to a really good falafel and shawarma place near home to have my first bites of deep fried Middle Eastern deliciousness. The restaurant I went to was called “Hashamen,” which means – and I can’t even make this up – “The Fat.” It’s as if McDonalds would call itself Grease Bucket or Kilo-Calories. At least Hashamen was honest about it. The food was great though, I had a half-falafel lafa (gyro wrap) with all the sauces and fixings. It was really yummy, now I am all the more excited to have my first shawarma… pictures will follow.