Last Friday was the first night of Passover which I celebrated. In preparation for Passover everyone cleans their houses and clears any crumb of bread from their home. Nothing that rises is allowed to be eaten during Passover. Friday during the day Marissa and I walked to town to go to the Shuk. On the way we saw people burning their bread in the streets to get rid of all the bread from their homes. All the restaurants in Jerusalem either close for Passover or have an entirely new menu. The stores do not sell any bread and they cover the areas with plastic sheets. This was my first Passover so I was so excited to experience it all! I decided to keep Kosher for Passover with Marissa which means I kept the normal Kosher laws plus ate nothing that could rice. We could not eat anything with wheat but for some reason we also don't eat corn. This means nothing with corn syrup either.
Friday night we went to a Seder at a families home in the Old City. It was so cool to go into a home that was only 5 minutes from the Kotel. Passover commemorates the story of the Exodus. This is when the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. You eat Matzo because the Israelites did not have enough time to let the bread rise when they had to leave Egypt. The Seder goes through the story of the Exodus and each food you eat represents something else. The Maror symbolizes the bitterness of the slavery of Egypt, we ate horseradish and romaine lettuce. The Charoset is a sweet apple and cinnamon dish that represents the mortar used by the Jewish slaves. Karpas is dipped into salt water to represent tears. Our Karpas was celery. A Shankbone represents the sacrifice that was offered in the temple in Jerusalem. A hard boiled egg symbolizes the festival sacrifice. After you finish going through the story and the prayers we ate a delicious meal! It was so fun to be at a real home with a family. The Seder lasted till 4 am and I did not even realize it! The Seder was a truly great experience. It is only fitting for my life that my first Seder would be celebrated in Jerusalem.
Saturday I slept and rested all day in preparation for Easter Sunday. I bought white lilies for my room so it would be more like my church at home. Marissa was celebrating her first Easter! Mom and Dad even managed to send me an Easter basket (Kosher of course)! Sunday morning we woke up early and made our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This is where Jesus was buried and rose from the dead. I wore a bright Lilly dress and Marissa did too! It was crowded and we pushed our way up the stairs so we could see everything. The Greek Orthodox were having a service while the Catholics were having a service while the Armenians were banging bells. It was complete chaos and not at all what I expected. We could not hear anything because each service was trying to be louder than the other. It was a disappointing that it was not kept a sacred service. But I am very glad I got to celebrate Easter in Jerusalem.
I had to buy a camera before we went on the rest of our journey for the week so Marissa and I went to the mall. I realized it was the same mall I went on my first day in Jerusalem. I was no longer the scared girl trying to figure out which bottle was laundry detergent and which bottle was shampoo. I marched right up to the camera store and bought exactly what I needed. I did not let anyone pass me and we knew exactly which bus to take to get home. I now have chutzpah. It is a Yiddish word that means courage or guts. I have always had chutzpah which all my teachers can tell you about. But I think in Israel I have learned to channel my chutzpah in the right way.
xoxo,
Katy Ann
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