Hey folks,
So it's been a great week of celebration, new developments, and lots and lots of eating! First with the celebration...
Chanuka is not really much different from back in Canada, but that's not such a bad thing. After all, lighting the candles, playing with dreidels, and eating lots of delicious food is good no matter where you are. I went to Tel-Aviv and Haifa for the weekend to spend some time with family and I really have to focus a little bit on the unbelievable food I sampled (or rather, gorged on) this weekend. On Friday, I slept in and then went for a walk with my cousin Shira and her husband Omer around the crafts market and the shuk. Omer is a man who knows good food and wine and he didn't disappoint. We went to a restaurant that needs no name (there is actually no sign or name outside); it survives on reputation and just plain good food. All of the ingredients are taken directly from the shuk and are completely fresh. They serve many strange items on their menu such as beef testicles, brain on toast, and one I have already tried in Israel, cow tongue. However, we stuck to more well known dishes and each one was better than the last... tasty fried cauliflower with a garnish of fresh herbs and tomato and onion... a dijon glazed raw beef on toast that was surprisingly delectable... corn polenta with some sort of old cheese and mushrooms sauteed to perfection... a "butcher's cut" of steak with potatoes and arugula (this particular cut of beef is the diaphragm and named after the fact that the butchers often will save this cut for themselves)... but the best dish by far was the one I expected to be the most plain. You see when I heard Omer order, all I heard was the word "bureka" and the rest were words I didn't understand in Hebrew. Burekas are cheap pastries you can purchase at any bakery and usually contain potato, cheese, mushrooms, or some sort of fish or other vegetable. They are good, but generally something I buy when I'm in a rush and stay away from because of their high fat content. However, this bureka was unlike anything I have ever tasted. It was 3 times the size of a regular bureka and teaming with hot melted cheese sauce and fresh crab. Every bite was a little taste of heaven and it was probably the best thing I have had yet in Israel. It reminded me of home because the outside bit tasted like my mom's homemade tourtiere pastry but it had the decadence and sophistication of a five-star restaurant with its mouth-watering crab and French cheese flavours (no offense Mom!). It will be the bureka to which I measure all other burekas in the future, and sadly no other bureka will probably ever measure up. A return visit to the *insert name here* restaurant is in order before I leave! Other great meals included a spicy, spicy green chicken curry dinner with my cousin Yoni and his wife Ayelet at their place on Friday night and a day full of eating at my aunt and uncle's in Haifa. In Haifa, I got the chance to eat amazing latkes with applesauce as well as mushroom and onion quiches, fresh guacamole, some of the best pickles I have ever had (garnished with coriander and cinnamon among other things) and homemade soup that would be ideal for most winters, although it was a cool 28 degrees today. That brings me to my next, and less happy news to share with you.
This weekend, starting on Thursday, the Northern region of Israel, specifically near Mt. Carmel, was devastated by a horrible fire that has burned through 20% of the forest and was spreading uncontrollably until today when other countries aided Israel with better planes to combat the blaze. Unfortunately, despite the often hot conditions in Israel (especially this winter), there are not enough firefighters (one brigade per 7,000 citizens compared to the usual one brigade per 1,000 citizens in many countries) or a lot of water to fight the flames. One tragic consequence of this fire has been the death of over forty soldiers when a bus tried to turn around from the fire and tipped over, trapping most of the passengers in the overwhelming takeover of the flames. This was very sad news to receive amongst the Chanukah celebrations and many Israeli citizens have been glued to their TV sets this weekend, watching the events unfold and witnessing this tragedy and the excuses of the government, unprepared for a fire of this magnitude. Tonight, on my way home from Haifa, we actually ended up a few feet behind the bus while it was being transported elsewhere. It was like a funeral procession, police cars clearing the road both in front of and behind the bus, and traffic slowed down to honour those who lost their lives on Thursday. There was only a skeleton of the bus left behind, hard to believe from the reports of the incident and how fast it had unfolded. The only glimmer of hope stemming from these events is that this country has had its share of tragedy and is well equipped to deal with it. People will grow stronger and will learn from this disaster to prepare for any fire in the future.
On a different, more optimistic note, other new developments have arisen and have gotten me super excited for the future. First off, my good friend Bianca will be making her first trip to Israel in just a few weeks! I will be taking some time off school and we will be visiting all the hots spots: the Dead Sea, climbing Masada to watch the sunrise, Ein Geti and its wonderous waterfalls, and a trip to Jerusalem where we are free to explore on our own (something I have anticipated for awhile). I am super excited for her and all the fun we'll have in just a few short weeks! At the top of my list, however (sorry Bianca!), is the fact that I have found two people from my program to travel Thailand with! This means that my first month in South East Asia will no longer be spent alone. Because I now have two people relying on me to have things figured out, I have started to plan and look into activities and tours and it has reinvigorated my excitement in the traveling I'm doing after the program ends in Israel. Ziplining in Chiang Mai... scuba diving in Koh Tao... full moon party in Koh Phangan... rock-climbing in Krabi... river-rafting under the Bridge Over River Kwai in Kanchanaburi... kayaking from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi to see Maya Bay (where "The Beach" was filmed)... climbing crags in the middle of the sea off the island of Koh Yao Noi... and so much more! It is going to be the trip of a lifetime and I am now counting down days till I will be gracing Thailand's beaches. That's not including the rest of my trip to Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia. But I'll figure that out later...
I'm off to have a great new experience this week with the program, but I'll leave that as a surprise for now and fill you in when I get back. Hope you're all doing well and not suffering too much in the cold. Enjoy the weeks leading up to Christmas and don't forget to check in. I love to hear about your adventures in Vancouver!
Ciao for now,
Max
P.S. As always, if you know the title of the song from which my blog title is derived, feel free to post!
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