In And Out Of Holy Lands Part One (standard:adventure, 288 words)
Author: DeadBeatGirl	Added: Oct 13 2005	Views/Reads: 3390/0	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
spiritual journeys

I have just arrived in Jerusalem. It is late at night. I walk into the
room I am to share with 6 other people. My bed is on the right hand 
side against the wall, it is narrow and the mattress is thin, the frame 
is made of plain rounded steel painted with dark green peeling paint. I 
put my suitcase underneath the bed and take out my little book in which 
I will keep a diary of my journeys. I begin...'I am here with some 
trepidation.....'. 

A woman sits opposite me on a bed by the window, against the other wall,
she is sorting her possessions out. No-one else is in the room, they 
have either not arrived yet or they have already gone out. She has her 
head covered and wears a long skirt. Orthodox? She looks at me, her 
kercheif is a pale blue pastel colour, framing an oval moon-like face 
with large dark eyes, clear translucent. She smiles a little. Bei Mer 
Bist Du Shayn (to me, you are beautiful) I want to say to her. But not 
yet. I WILL, soon. I know only a few Yiddish phrases, mostly curses, 
stick your Shvantz up your OWN Nafka, Schmuck. She begins to speak to 
me, after a long while, in Hebrew. I look up from my diary, and raise 
my eyebrows, with a thin face of bewildered surprise. 'Arabic?' she 
asks. 

'No.' 

'AH, you only speak English.' 

'Yes.' 

'I've been watching you write. You write down a few lines, then you
groan and lean forward with your head on the bed for a long time. Are 
you praying to the Lord, asking for the words to come to you?' 

'Yes, of course. How else?'


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