Since the fourth Thursday of November isn't a holiday in Israel we had class. However being a Thursday, it was a field trip day. This week we went to Abu Ghosh, an Arab town west of Jerusalem. First stop was the town mosque and then we got to visit the elementary school that's associated with it.
One of the residents of Abu Ghosh giving us the history of the mosque.
Melanie and I inside the mosque.
The first grade classroom in the school.
The second part of our day trip consisted of what we were told was going to be an Arabic cooking class. What the teacher really meant was she was about to unleash 15 international students in an operational restaurant's kitchen. We entered the restaurant and were immediately beckoned into the back. After a little awkward shuffling around to fit all of us in, production began. There was little explanation and a lot of activity. Commands and questions went back and forth in Arabic and English as students began chopping ingredients, preparing food, and frying falalel. It was productive chaos as students began doing anything and everything in the kitchen. Activities included just as much coffee drinking, socializing, and hummus spilling as it did anything productive, but I think both the restaurant workers and students had an immensely enjoyable time out of it. And in true Thanksgiving style, it ended with an absolute feast worth of food.
Frying falafel.
Hanging out with chef master Taisub in the kitchen.
Jasper cooking potatoes like a boss... and getting in some practice rounds before being on potato duty for Thanksgiving dinner.
Kitchen selfie with the restaurant owner's brother and my classmates.
After our first feast we all returned home to work off our lunch feast by preparing for Thanksgiving dinner. Although there are plenty of activity options for a Thursday night in Israel, I decided that I really wanted to just enjoy some good food and company so I opened an invitation for people to come over for Thanksgiving dinner at my apartment. The only catch was everyone had to bring some sort of food. After all, I had dessert covered.
الأميرات all dressed up for Thanksgiving dinner.
My part of the pot-luck. Three pies and spice cookies with pumpkin dip.
My abroad-family dinner.
From the left is Jasper, Taisub, Melanie, Nora, Lisa, myself, and Teresa. Noah's behind the camera per usual.
Our Thanksgiving feast consisted of salad, mashed potatoes, pomegranate seeds, pad thai, chicken wings, and lots of dessert. Honestly, I'd take Taisub's pad thai and chicken over a roasted turkey any day... he knows how to cook! Our dinner was blessed in a variety of languages and religious traditions before dinner continued in the same way. Noah was outnumbered 7 to 1 by Arabic students and so more often than not Arabic slang was being thrown around the dinner conversation. Overall though it was a great holiday and it's hard to be anything but thankful about a day full of food- Arabic, American, and otherwise.
To all of my family, friends, and sisters back home - I hope you had a great holiday and I miss you all! And to all of my friends here in Israel (at dinner and otherwise) - it's hard to be homesick when I have you as my family here abroad, I am so thankful to have you all as a part of my study abroad experience. I hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving as much as I did!
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