The original idea was pretty simple: do some bowling, eat some cake, go home. Little did I know that if you want to go bowling in Israel, you have to make a reservation or wait, nor did I realize that we wouldn't be able to bring food into the bowling alley--cue Alexis, already on her way to the bowling alley, heading back home to put a cake in the fridge. Meanwhile, Ahuva, her friend Rosanne, and I waited what we were told was going to be an hour and a half for a lane. We ate some really expensive fries and wandered around the arcade for a bit. We discovered that Ahuva's still really good at basketball, and only in Israel is whac-a-mole really whac-a-wolf which looks a lot like whac-a-cat. Also only in Israel: being assigned a bowling lane next to a Haredi family.
The hour and a half waiting period thing was a lie; we really only had to wait half an hour, which was nice except for the fact that Alexis hadn't made it. We didn't realize how long it would take her to get there, so we bought a four-player game and ended up taking turns playing for Alexis. (Bowling is expensive in Israel; 28 NIS per person per game!) "Alexis" almost won, too--Ahuva and I tended to bowl better for "Alexis" than we did for ourselves, though Rosanne was really good all the time. I also learned the importance of having a ball that a) isn't too heavy and b) your fingers fit into; a mysterious new ball showed up at our lane halfway though, and I stopped throwing balls into the gutter. (My hand stopped hurting, too.)
Alexis and LynleyShimat showed up later, after our insanely priced game of bowling and a game of air hockey for Ahuva and Rosanne. I got to whac-a-wolf/cat (followed by Ahuva whacing-a-wolf/cat), Ahuva and Lynley played more basketball, and Lynley and I played this really messed up bowling arcade game where throwing the ball in the middle always caused a split and throwing into the side didn't necessarily result in a gutter ball. Afterwards we sat and ate some popcorn and redeemed our tickets for a couple of spinning tops, which were way too amusing for our own good. A couple of the people who worked at the bowling alley looked at us like we were crazy; then again, I think we've mostly come to expect as much. (Note: you have to turn your volume all the way up and/or plug in speakers to hear the sound on these videos.)
After we left the bowling alley, we wandered into a massive SuperSol which was pretty much a mix between a grocery store and a Target. Seriously; there were a whole two aisles of clothing, and another few of kitchen appliances and electronics! It was sort of amazing, especially when I found marshmallow fluff and a version of Pocahontas that I remember from when I was little dubbed in Hebrew (10NIS!). I knew there was a reason I bought a region-free DVD player last year.
After spending a while in the grocery store (which also, btw, featured a whole aisle worth of ice cream--both sides of the aisle), the five of us squished into a cab and went to Alexis's house for cake and a very late (11pm) dinner. Alexis made fried mushrooms and pasta with pesto sauce, mushrooms, and onions, which was wonderful (especially the mushrooms!). This was followed by a really interesting non-chocolate mousse cake, of which I managed to drop my piece and catch it in mid-air, which was really funny and amazing. There were actually a lot of funny and amazing stories throughout the night, which is what you get when you start Ahuva talking on AHA. Also funny and amazing: Ahuva on birthday candles.
Before we knew it, it was 1:05 AM--way past the time that the buses stopped. I figured it was time to go when I started getting silly and making wing motions with my arms at the mention of something I don't even remember, probably birds of some sort. Almost definitely birds of some sort. Because it was raining we all caught a cab back, first to King David for Ahuva and Rosanne, then to the Kfar for Lynley and me. The cab fare was actually also sort of amazing; for the entire trip from Talpiot to French Hill it only cost me 22NIS when it cost 40NIS from the Old City a few weeks ago. Granted, there were four of us in the car for the first half of the trip and then two for the second, but it was still a really nice price. It made me sorta happy, especially after all the money I spent on the night overall. I haven't calculated how much I spent, and I don't think I will; it was a large amount, but I'm okay with it because I had a fabulous time. I have some very good friends here in Israel.
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