Dear Jerusalem Day 30,

Hey ya’ll! This is your truly comin’ at you from the JC 3-10.

If you can’t tell, it was Arab Night tonight. :) hahaha If you knew my friend AJ, you’d understand. He’s probably the most gangster white kid I’ve ever met. He turns any dance party into the night of your life. Sometimes, I like to pretend to speak his language. Hahahaha just roll with it, ok?

Today started and ended great…and let’s face it, it was great in the-in-between too. :) I think I’m going to make an album in my iPhoto called “The Regulars of Jerusalem” because I realize there is a bunch of daily-routine stuff that has become so second nature that I don’t even think about it anymore. If I’m anything like Brielle, I’ll probably miss all that kind of stuff once I’m home. For example: breakfast of sliced citrus, deep fried French toast, hot chocolate, yogurt-frosted-flake-healthy-cereal-banana parfait. Pretty much what I eat whenever I can. And I still enjoy it…haha…it’s just not as exciting as it was the first day I was here. I’ll make sure to post the album once it’s complete. :) I like my daily loves of Jerusalem. Especially the walk to the city. Same route, different every time.

Had a roomie reuniting day in the Old City w/ Madelyne and Rach. It was kinda fun to just have us again. It feels like forever since winter semester…

Anyway, we mainly just went shopping for our dinner festivity tonight. I went to the city with 100 NIS (New Israeli Shekels) and came back with -5. Hehe opps. (Don’t worry mom and dad, that’s only like 40 USD.)

15 NIS = shwerma

15 NIS = dried fruit

30 NIS = Arab shirt

5 NIS = earrings

25 NIS = scarf

15 NIS = another scarf

Then, it was time for “Arab Culture Night.” It has been talked up forever in my world, so I was excited to experience it.

Call to prayer. (Real Call-To-Prayer-Ers or Pray-Call-Ers as Sarah and I would say, from the al-Aqsa Mosque. Aka they are SUPER legit and their voices are beautiful.)

Arab food buffet. (Complete with Achman-style baklava, meat pastries, rice, and tomato sauce. Yum.)

Dancing. (Started out as Arabic dance instructions and ended with previously stated D.J. AJ dance party.)

Every time I walk away from an experience and say to myself, “That was so awesome I don’t even know what to do with myself right now,” I am reminded of why I am here.  It’s because I love those precious moments. Sometimes they happen in our day-to-day lives, but I think it’s safe to say they happen a lot more frequently in foreign countries. I think I’ll start looking for more of those.

Sorry. No pictures tonight. I tired. Goodnight/it’s only 1:00pm for all those in the States but no matter. Bed time for me. –Chloé