One Friday, we made a reservation for twelve of us from the Guest House at the Jerusalem Hotel for a delicious meal and an evening of Palestinian music. I had the best mussakhan ever: pita is placed in a baking dish and covered with a mixture of onion slices that have been sautéed in olive oil and ground sumac. This is topped with chunks of lightly spiced chicken, covered with the rest of the onion mixture, baked and garnished with pine nuts. Delicious!! Dale enjoyed a mixed grill: skewers of chicken, lamb, and beef served with the best French fries! The food, interesting conversation, excellent music, and the narghile (the traditional Middle Eastern water pipe)—enjoyed by some—, all combined for a delightful evening.
The following week, we actually did some entertaining at the Guest House. We had got to know Diana (pronounced Deeana) and Jakob, a young German couple, shortly after we arrived, as Diana was a member of the Ecumenical Accompaniers who lived at the Guest House for her three-month term. Her husband, Jakob, is employed by the Arabic congregation of the ELCJHL. They had initiated a number of enjoyable joint meals while living here, and so we invited them back for dinner. We ended up being a group of 12.
Our menu consisted of a version of Tex-Mex Chili served over sweet potatoes, and a green salad with fresh strawberries, tangerines, green grapes, red peppers, green onions, raisins, and slivered almonds. It was topped off with a version of Ada’s layered dessert of graham wafers—imagine being able to buy them in East Jerusalem!—, pudding, and bananas. The food and the wine set the stage for some interesting, if not at times, heated discussions about the situation here.
A visit to the American Colony Hotel once in awhile for their Saturday Buffet provides a treat for the pallet. Although it’s expensive ($35 U.S.), you can eat yourself into oblivion if you wish, or opt for only the soup, salad, and dessert bars ($15). We’re told that they usually serve bacon! However, neither of the times we’ve been there has it been on the menu, although they served ham on our first visit. It was a pleasant way to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
Our eating extravaganza continued when we joined my former colleague from Cameron Heights, Vern Allemang, at his hotel for dinner. He and his group were just finishing a tour to Cairo, the Sinai, Jordan, and Israel. Unfortunately there was no time in his itinerary or ours to do any sightseeing together, but they were fortunate to have a Palestinian tour guide to give balance to the visit. We had a wonderful evening with Vern and his friend Dale whose wives had opted out of the trip.
A couple of days later, when my taxi driver, Musa, picked me up to take me back to the checkpoint, he informed me that another couple we knew from church were at his house for “tea”; Musa had taken them sightseeing on a previous occasion, and they were back to finish off the missed sites. He asked me if I’d like to come back for tea with him and meet his family. As he’d made this offer on a previous occasion when I was in a rush, I decided this might be a good time to take him up on it as Jolene and Michael were already there, and also save a separate trip to the checkpoint. “Tea” turned out to be a full meal of Mansaff—rice, lamb, yogurt, and pita—complete with coke, and then coffee poured over cardamom seeds, followed by fresh fruit! We had the wonderful opportunity to meet his wife and 5 of the 6 kids (the missing boy was at school as they have two shifts—morning and afternoon).
The older son, Ahmad, is a student at Bethlehem University studying Business Administration. He’d really wanted to study Engineering and had actually started his studies at Al Quds (Jerusalem) University. However, in order to get to and from the university, he needed to cross the Bethlehem checkpoint twice a day, and travel by bus into Jerusalem. This ended up being a 12-hour day at least. As he’s only a ten-minute walk from Bethlehem University, the family decided it was in his best interests to switch universities, even though he couldn’t get the programme he preferred. If it weren’t for the Wall surrounding Bethlehem, this wouldn’t be a problem as he’d only be going from one part of the West Bank to another. (If the Wall followed the Green Line as, if there must be a wall, it should, he’d have free access from Bethlehem to East Jerusalem.)
Even a pleasant meal with a lovely family ends up with another example of how the Israeli incursion into the West Bank affects the lives of Palestinians!
The following week, we actually did some entertaining at the Guest House. We had got to know Diana (pronounced Deeana) and Jakob, a young German couple, shortly after we arrived, as Diana was a member of the Ecumenical Accompaniers who lived at the Guest House for her three-month term. Her husband, Jakob, is employed by the Arabic congregation of the ELCJHL. They had initiated a number of enjoyable joint meals while living here, and so we invited them back for dinner. We ended up being a group of 12.
Our menu consisted of a version of Tex-Mex Chili served over sweet potatoes, and a green salad with fresh strawberries, tangerines, green grapes, red peppers, green onions, raisins, and slivered almonds. It was topped off with a version of Ada’s layered dessert of graham wafers—imagine being able to buy them in East Jerusalem!—, pudding, and bananas. The food and the wine set the stage for some interesting, if not at times, heated discussions about the situation here.
A visit to the American Colony Hotel once in awhile for their Saturday Buffet provides a treat for the pallet. Although it’s expensive ($35 U.S.), you can eat yourself into oblivion if you wish, or opt for only the soup, salad, and dessert bars ($15). We’re told that they usually serve bacon! However, neither of the times we’ve been there has it been on the menu, although they served ham on our first visit. It was a pleasant way to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
Our eating extravaganza continued when we joined my former colleague from Cameron Heights, Vern Allemang, at his hotel for dinner. He and his group were just finishing a tour to Cairo, the Sinai, Jordan, and Israel. Unfortunately there was no time in his itinerary or ours to do any sightseeing together, but they were fortunate to have a Palestinian tour guide to give balance to the visit. We had a wonderful evening with Vern and his friend Dale whose wives had opted out of the trip.
A couple of days later, when my taxi driver, Musa, picked me up to take me back to the checkpoint, he informed me that another couple we knew from church were at his house for “tea”; Musa had taken them sightseeing on a previous occasion, and they were back to finish off the missed sites. He asked me if I’d like to come back for tea with him and meet his family. As he’d made this offer on a previous occasion when I was in a rush, I decided this might be a good time to take him up on it as Jolene and Michael were already there, and also save a separate trip to the checkpoint. “Tea” turned out to be a full meal of Mansaff—rice, lamb, yogurt, and pita—complete with coke, and then coffee poured over cardamom seeds, followed by fresh fruit! We had the wonderful opportunity to meet his wife and 5 of the 6 kids (the missing boy was at school as they have two shifts—morning and afternoon).
The older son, Ahmad, is a student at Bethlehem University studying Business Administration. He’d really wanted to study Engineering and had actually started his studies at Al Quds (Jerusalem) University. However, in order to get to and from the university, he needed to cross the Bethlehem checkpoint twice a day, and travel by bus into Jerusalem. This ended up being a 12-hour day at least. As he’s only a ten-minute walk from Bethlehem University, the family decided it was in his best interests to switch universities, even though he couldn’t get the programme he preferred. If it weren’t for the Wall surrounding Bethlehem, this wouldn’t be a problem as he’d only be going from one part of the West Bank to another. (If the Wall followed the Green Line as, if there must be a wall, it should, he’d have free access from Bethlehem to East Jerusalem.)
Even a pleasant meal with a lovely family ends up with another example of how the Israeli incursion into the West Bank affects the lives of Palestinians!
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