We visited Jerusalem with our tour guide Eli in the morning. We drove to the top of Mount Olive, where a giant Jewish cemetery is located. King David’s son, Absalom, was buried at the bottom of the hill, and new graves are still being dug out near the summit. Down the hill lies the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus and his disciples stayed the night before Judas betrayed him. Walking among thousands of years of religions was such a surreal experience for all of us.
Later in the day, we visited the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, including a beautiful exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls and a recreation of Jerusalem during the time of the second temple. There is so much history around Jerusalem.
We then traveled to an Arab village in Karmiel, where we saw how they made a traditional Arab dinner, which we then ate. The main dish was called Makluba which is cooked in a large pot and then flipped onto a giant serving plate. Throughout the dinner, the people served us different foods such as sesame pita, lamb, and vegetables. We then ate a traditional Arab desert which consisted of a pastry filled with honey and Goat cheese. We had then realized that the Arab community and the Jewish community do not traditionally interact and have dinners with each other. The Hoffman family is a very unique Jewish family, and they mingle and are friends with all the diverse people of Israel. We had white leaf savory tea to end the dinner. We don’t usually have the opportunity to as experience a meal like this as Americans and this is probably the same for Israeli Jews. The atmosphere was warm, welcoming, and genuine. There were no cats. They also seemed very excited to have us eat there, as they live-streamed part of the experience.