Jam Packed...

Wow, it's been absolutely crazy here! Since the moment I arrived I've been around and about.
Erev the Chag, my mother let me know that I had a date on Motzei Shabbos, with several backups if the first didn't work.
So, instead of going out to a Simchas Beis Hashuevah like I usually do, I went to a hotel lounge. Thankfully, I found a place where there wasn't a single person I knew. As a matter of fact, the hotel was virtually empty.

That's because the hotel in question was in East Jerusalem, and aint no religious Jews hangin' out there!

Sunday was exclusively me-time. I went shopping for gifts, and then went visiting my various and sundry friends who are lucky enough to live here. I stopped in at a yeshiva that caters to "at risk" (ugh...that name!) kids, where a lot of my friends volunteer. They were having their own party, with a band, and they let me sit in on the bass for quite some time. After that, I went to Doodlehead's apartment, and chilled there for a while.

Later that evening, I attended a parlor meeting for Operation Open Curtain. OOC is one of the original programs created to do kiruv in Russia, and my parents are very involved with the organization. I go to this parlor meeting every year, and I see people that I only see at these gatherings. It's actually a lot of fun, and very inspiring.

Monday I went for a round two with this girl. We went to this park about 20 minutes outside of Jerusalem, and there are natural springs there. It's really nice, and just walking through the whole place took several hours.

Today I went to Bethlehem and Hebron. I haven't been there in quite some time, so it was pretty shocking when we got near Kever Rochel and had to go through this whole corridor made out of huge, twisting, concrete walls. Shocking and saddening. Every year the place changes even more...

I took pics, but I forgot the USB interface for my camera, so when I get back, I'll add the pics...