Valentines Day in Jerusalem

It didn't start out too good for many of us here. My friend's husband called her a "bat sharmutah" (daughter of a whore) and mine was less verbal but more Caveman-ish - as in "I'm not leaving my bed today - so fuck off". So much for this holiday.

Israelis celebrate two Valentines days. One is the traditional, ancient Jewish one -Tu B'av - which usually falls out in August - and the other is the more recently acknowledged Christian one, which secular Israelis now celebrate. The only thing good about this holiday, for me anyway, are the sales on makeup and perfume so we can get stuff cheaper for ourselves.

I went to the All Nations Cafe celebration of Valentines Day last night. They had an informal Arabic language and culture lesson in downtown Jerusalem. The place it was held at was pretty funky, kind of a Bordello in a loft. We learned Arabic words of love and had to write a poem with the words we learned. All I could think of was I Love Chocolate and Knafe while others were writing about the moon and their children and sweet honey. We took a break from our 3 hour session for hearty vegetable soup, Arabic pita from Damascus Gate, which looked alot healthier than the packaged stuff I get from the grocers and homemade techina.

Then we learned and sang - rather poorly - a song by Nawal Al Zoughbi - a Lebanese singer - called El Layila (The Nights). The lyrics were beautiful as was the music. I found them online here