Monday - Ayalon and Anna Ticho

Monday morning we took a local Jerusalem bus to the Central Bus Station (viewing the new bridge of strings) then boarded an inter-city bus to Rehovot.  When we went to buy the bus tickets, the man thought Adam was a minor!  He asked me how old he was.  Of course, I’m terrible with numbers, so I said 82, meaning 28, even though he’s 29.  I was so confused!  The guy behind us jumped in, saying, give her an extra discount, she’s wearing a kipa!  Oh yah, what’s it like wearing a kipa all the time in Israel?  Fun for me.  People stare.  Very few ask me anything directly.  A few store people have commented, either sharing that they used to be religious or asking what seminary I was ordained at.  It’s easier when I wear a black kipa, not my white or pink with butterflies, or my new kippot from Rhea (one is pink with a Wedgewood design, one is metallic sparkly, and one is a very unique rendition of the bush from the JTS logo).  Anyway, it was nice to be on the bus, a good chance to read/sleep.  From the station in Rehovot we caught a cab and found Park HaMada, which is also known as Har HaKibbutzim, and the place of Machon Ayalon, the Ayalon Institute.  So many Israelis don’t even know about this place!  There we had a very cool tour of the secret bullet factory that they created in the 1940’s to trick the British and supply the Haganah with bullets.  It was a great tour.  Very interesting, especially since I’m reading (rereading actually) Ruth Gruber’s Raquela, A Woman of Israel, which describes the same time period.  From Rehovot a return trip back home (with bad-for-you borekas in the bus station while we waited) and then all the way to our hotel.  Elisabeth came by to visit and we had a lobby date with her.  Then we went downtown and met Ben and Shira for dinner at Ticho House.  We ate outside, trying different dishes and sharing everything.  It was great and so wonderful to catch up.  There was a wedding happening in the courtyard right by where we ate, so after dinner we watched the huppah and sang and danced (not actually in the wedding though) for a bit.  Ayzeh kef!  Adam and I went on to Ben Yehudah street for more shopping and ended the night with a chocolate crepe.