Hanukkah at the Paley's

Today is the first not-so-nice day since I got here. Outside is cloudy and windy. Somehow the weather is in unison with my body; my legs are exhausted from the past few days of navigating the hilly streets and I was already planning a rest day before I looked out the window. On Monday I went to the Biblical Zoo. It was supposed to be a 20 minute walk there that became closer to a 2-hour one. I got pretty lost in this neighborhood and kept ending up at the same spot from every possible angle. Finally I found a way out of the criss crossing streets and to a main road. Then the only route I saw possible to the zoo was a very indirect one, but it was better than giving up. It was very nice to walk around the zoo, there were a lot of animals (duh). My favorite is the Red Panda. I spent a good hour and a half exploring and then began my very uphill, roundabout trek back. It

took me so long that it was dark outside, but I still found my way okay

Yesterday, Tuesday, I went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial site. The museum is very graphic, informative, and touching. They do a very good job of taking you from the factors that inspired the propaganda and Hitler's role, through the entire events until the end and the freedom of those who survived. It starts out very much like a museum, filled with artifacts and history, but as it progresses there are videos of peoples testimonies and pictures and their belongings. It takes an event that we usually think of as something in the past and makes it very present and personal. There are pictures of the Nazis and so many of them are not much older than me, just kids who were brought up in a society that enabled them to know longer consider Jews as humans. The whole system of propaganda and trickery and the length of time for which it went on is astounding. They have recreated barracks and pieces of railway cars, with the video testimonies right next to it explaining their relationship with each relic. It's very moving and while not at all a happy place, a place worth seeing

Hanukkah has now started, last night was the first night and I lit candles with the Paley's. This Hanukkah I will be staying with about three different people/families..so different! I really like seeing how traditions are the same and different from my home to the next. Richard Paley is a bit like my dad, except much...faster. Not to say my dad is slow, just that Richard is always talking fast, moving fast, never stopping for more than a moment. But he put on the same dorky Hanukkah songs that my dad usually does, only he accompanied them with some nice dance moves. His son is a lot like him, they're both characters. Shirah is more down to earth and I've had some nice conversations with her. She's very sweet and, as I've said before, a very good cook. She works as a florist so there are always flowers around their house. All in all, it's a nice place to start the holidays