...she asked us to get in her car...

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, and with Hanukkah comes candles, fried food and a ton of parties.  I took a few pictures on my walk tonight to the first of two parties.  It was amazing to see menorahs lit throughout the town in all shapes, styles, and sizes.  The first picture is of my menorah that I bought last year.  Tonight my roommates and I all lit candles together.  Then as I began my walk, I saw a menorah lit at the International Christian Embassy.  They had one too many candles lit, but it was nice to see.  I also passed a yeshiva on my walk and saw all of the bochurs (young men studying Torah) lighting their candles.  Then I walked through a family-friendly neighborhood and saw windows full of menorahs and colored candles.  It was a sight to see.

After a delicious eating (and social) extravaganza at the first party, I headed to another party.  Throughout the walk, we passed smells of food frying and heard Hanukkah songs from the windows.  It was truly magical (I know it's cheesy  walking through the neighborhoods of Jerusalem, and I just felt such a sense of joy that I live here and can see and be a part of such celebration.

And celebration there was.  After a second celebration of more friends, food, and fun, I was ready to head home.  I stood outside with a friend for a few minutes though, catching up and waiting with her for her ride.  It was so Israel (?!?!?) when a woman who had been idling in a huge SUV across the street asked us to get in her  car...and just sit in it for a few minutes.  She wanted to run into the party because the person she was picking up hadn't come out yet.  I guess she had heard us speaking English and saw that we came out of our friend's apt.  It was all very strange.  She said she assumed that we wouldn't drive away (we joked that the car was too big and scary to take anyways), and then she dashed into the party.  We though it was weird that she didn't turn off the car before leaving it...if she was nervous about getting towed or ticketed, we could have prevented that by standing next to it.  The only other option is maybe there was a kid sleeping in the back seat.  She looked like she could have been a mommy, but she didn't mention it.  I guess we'll never know...