I have been soooo excited about spending Pesach in Jerusalem since the beginning of the year already. This time last year, when we were singing Hashana haba beYerushalaim - after too many cups of red wine - it did not even cross my mind that this will be a self-fulfilling oracle - I mean I did not think that this utopistic symbolic act will actually happen this year.Seder nite - and I knew this already before - did not feel not like at home. After all, Pesach is the holiday of the diaspora - and the idea is to remember one's home - one's origin - which is - ironically - in Budapest, if I look at it from Jerusalem. And of cours, in 'Pest it is the same chevre, the same old jokes, ironic-funny-sederplatting - last year already with an orange - all that just to lead up to an orgy with guitars, matzohs, singing, - until you can't tell the difference between Purim and Pesach....
So I ended up in Yamin Moshe, opposite the Yafo gate, real close to the wind mill., a t a friends family . The place is outrageously beautiful with its narrow streets and passages - so it was already uplifiting. The Seder itself was very accurate, we oops - we did it again - said, dipped, asked, hid, sprinkled, drank - and al that funky shit - and by half past mindight we were already done. We played a funny game which involved -singing and standing up during "Echad mi yodea"....
The following days of Pesach went by without big excitements, except for tha Jerusalem became so crowded that became challenging to do anything in public space. I was happy to be invited for the meals to friends and family - as our kitchen turned into a space ship - covered with alufolia. with no cooking option . My roomate has even taken the couch apart, because she felt the chometz inside. In the end I was truly surprised when I found a pair of shoes under the couch the existence of which were unknown for me before. ...and yes, we found a piece of challah under the couch, also! By the eve of hag seni I was more than fed up with matzah, though. I would not have expected that the highlight of this holiday will be not the Seder in the end, but the chometz-orgy in end of Pesach. A friend of ours, an absolut secular Israeli -took us to a mimouna, a moroccan mufleta-party. The host was the owner of the bar "Avram" , whose apartment had an ca. 100 sqm garden.
Quite a huge crowd of people came together for the big feast. There was a moroccan music band, even - Nino, the master of oud played and sang, and the crowd danced in the colorful dresses
Of course we ate mufleta, that looks like crépe, but has a more raw taste, and is served with butter, honey and marmelade - or whatever those sticky jellies are... there were crazy sweets available there -anyways- e.g. tomato-marmelade! and of course some alcohol ... At some point even the police came. This was unexpected, as the average age was 40 - but party is party - even if you are not 18 any more...
Well, this was the end of the week of affliction - with a grande dolce vita! Everyone should mimunah once!
