We spent about a half an hour roaming around, both getting what we needed for the weekend (please, after the Friday fiasco last week, I am going to try to avoid grocery stores on Friday for the next many months). It was great to have the class with her and then spend some time together afterwards. I'm happy I will be seeing Aviva twice a week until January for this class! Great bonding time :)
I returned home around 6pm with some groceries in hand (and wine for Shabbat of course, man carrying liquids from Shufersal is hard work!) and talked to Marlowe about the plan for the evening. The Hadag Nachash concert (popular Israeli hip-hop/funk/reggae band) started at 10pm, doors opened at 9. We wanted to be there so we could scout out some seats in the venue. We had to plan backwards based on this time, so we could get ourselves some good eats. Marlowe and I LOVE to eat! We decided that we'd head out to eat, and go directly to The Lab which is where the show was being held. It's only about a 15 minute walk, but we wanted to get there early! We knew we could find something on the way or on Emek if we wanted to. We stopped at BaCafe first (see, we live in an area called Baka, so that's why BaCafe is a great time for a place here!) but it's more of a breakfast and lunch scene on the menu. We continued walking on Derech Beit Lechem, briefly looked around but then walked to Colony, which we knew was a bar but we figured we'd check out the menu. We walked up and asked the hostess for a menu in English, so we could see if both of us could find something. I see meat for Marlowe to enjoy, hmm maybe this is just a meat restaurant. I scan the menu to see Macaroni and Cheese listed as well. I ask the hostess, "So this is not kosher?" She shakes her head no. As I turn back around to the menu again, I think I've probably just upset her because she thinks, here we are, coming to this restaurant to eat, but because it's not kosher, we aren't going to stay. Little does she know. "No no, actually thats really good for us! We'll stay." She smiles and seats us at the bar.
We each order a beer. Marlowe orders the lamb kebab (that comes with tehina and tabouli) and I order the soup of the day (pumpkin coconut) and the foccacia appetizer. Everything is presented beautifully and we slowly devour everything in front of us. The foccacia is the best bread either of us have had since being in Israel. The soup is absolutely perfect. I didn't try the lamb of course, but Marlowe enjoys it! Especially the tehina. We are both so satisfied with our meals that we couldn't even consider dessert. Too bad, we'll have to come back again! The ambience and music and everything in the restaurant were so cool; we will definitely be back again. Around 8:50, we head out to The Lab, which is less than a 5 minute walk, so we know we'll be there when the doors open. There are teenagers EVERYWHERE! Teenagers and 9 year olds and 12 year olds and parents. There's a small line by the entrance; we make sure to stake our claim. After a few minutes, some familiar faces walk by - Abby and Evan! Abby is a WUJS student; in fact we are in the same ulpan class. Her husband Evan is studying at the Conservative Yeshiva this year. Their new friend Jonathan is also with them. So Abby comes and joins us in the line while Evan and Jonathan go back to the restaurant they ate at - they forgot their credit cards there! Uh oh! Abby stays with us as the line fills up, but once they open the doors, Marlowe and I head in without her. We get 2 seats at the bar, as the doors to the performance venue have not opened yet. PJ, Avi, and Jessica, other WUJS students come in and find us, followed a few minutes later by Abby and Evan and Jonathan. Our group is slowly growing in number! Once the doors open to the concert area, we go in and claim some seats just to the left of the stage - we are 20 feet away! Great view. The teenagers, the hardcore fans, they are all on the floor in the middle, right in front of the stage. I feel like an old lady sitting in my seat :)
I can't actually say TOO much about the concert itself, because I didn't know any of the songs (well, not really anyway), and I didn't understand most of the lyrics (hello, they're all in Hebrew!). I did enjoy the concert VERY much - let's not be confused. They have a great sound, and know how to work the crowd! I even found myself cheering when they said, "YERUSHALAYIM!!!" into the microphone. You know, I usually only respond to "NEW YORK CITY!!!" but this is my temporary home for now, so hell yeah, I've got Jerusalem pride! The band consists of 9 members, one of whom (his name I found out after the concert, is Shlomi Alon) played a number of instruments, AND sang, and completely impressed me musically. And also, if he wants to father my future unborn non-yet-existing children, that would be OK too. Pictures of the concert will be posted on Facebook soon (and here if I can finally figure it out AND find the time).
In the meantime, it should be said that the concert was great - partly because of the band's energy and ability to GIVE a great show, but also because of the people that I went with! We all stood there together and had a ball. Although we didn't get back until after 1am, the walk back together was great, and showering off the smells of cigarette smoke were a must. Clothing? Straight into the laundry. Febreezed. Only a little bit. Another night in the books. Check!
No comments:
Post a Comment