Evening Outing in Jerusalem

In a continuation of my city-desert walks in Jerusalem, today I hiked from Talpiot Mizrach (southeast neighborhood) to Givat Ram (central western neighborhood) to go to the reopened Israel Museum, which houses the Shrine of the Book (Dead Sea Scrolls) as well as a huge collection of Israeli and Jewish history. I met my friend Yael (from my aliya flight) there to enjoy a concert that was included in the price of admission (even my student admission, which I fought for and got). We saw Shalom Hanoch in concert; I enjoy live music of all sorts so it was a lot of fun, though if I had been more familiar with his work and if the wind had been a bit less ferocious I would've enjoyed it all a bit more. Walking back to my bus stop from the museum, Yael's friend Sa'ar took us on a slight tour of the Rehavia neighborhood, pointing out some highlights. We walked right in front of the heavily guarded Beit Rosh Memshela (prime minister's residence), though I didn't opt to take a picture lest I bear the scorn and questioning of the armed guards.

Returning to the dorm, I was passively greeted by a new security guard - one of the many curious and playful cats on campus. I usually don't care to play with cats or be around them, but they were pretty cute and not bothersome so I couldn't resist hanging around to watch them on my way to a restful evening.