After nearly a month in the U.S., I’ve been back in Jerusalem for a bit and finding it difficult to get back into my regular groove. And so working out and writing are two things that seem to have fallen off (thus the lack of posts, and my lack of muscle tone). It’s been aContinue reading “Waterfalls, Wine, and Whisky in New York”
Author Archives: The Next Dinner Party
My Washington DC Tried and Trues
I lived in DC for six years before starting this Foreign Service life. I had some of my most fun, formative, lonely, educational, frustrating, exciting, lovely times of my life here and coming back, not surprisingly, makes me so darn nostalgic. I just stroll around and picture 22-, 24-, and 26-year-old Emily walking home afterContinue reading “My Washington DC Tried and Trues”
Terraces, Olives Trees, and Roman Baths in Battir
There’s a quiet, terraced, Arab village outside of Bethlehem called Battir where water from a cold spring flows through an ancient water system to hydrate abundant olive trees and vegetables that have grown here for thousands of years. Battir is off-limits to me for personal travel, as are many towns in the West Bank andContinue reading “Terraces, Olives Trees, and Roman Baths in Battir”
Nothing a Literary Lecture Won’t Fix
A little more than a year ago, I was feeling out of sorts and depressed. Trying to make a life in Jerusalem, write my book, and even just fill my days felt like a struggle. Once, I burst into tears in my Arabic class and my teacher took my outside and was like “What isContinue reading “Nothing a Literary Lecture Won’t Fix”
Sabih in the City
Falafel and shawarma: You know ’em, you love ’em. But I’d like to introduce you to another mouthwatering sandwich commonly found in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv: The sabih. I eat sabih (or sabich – it’s that aspirated sound that somewhere between a “k” and an “h” in English) all the time, and I’m a littleContinue reading “Sabih in the City”
Wadi Wadi, We like To Party
As I mentioned in my last blog post, the parental units came to visit for us in Jerusalem for ten days along with my aunt and uncle and wow, did we pack in a lot. I borrowed a minivan from our friends and we put some miles on their 1997 Honda Odyssey, hitting most ofContinue reading “Wadi Wadi, We like To Party”
A Mediterranean Island Weekend Fit for DMFs
When I wrote this, I was in the midst of a chill out day at home – relaxing on the most beautiful sofa in the world and decompressing after an awesome go-go-go nine-day visit from my mom, dad, aunt, and uncle. I’ll blog our family visit to Wadi Rum in the future, but for now, here’s aContinue reading “A Mediterranean Island Weekend Fit for DMFs”
Easter and Passover in Jerusalem
Jews around the world say “Next year in Jerusalem!” at the end of the Passover seder. I know because, while I’m not Jewish, I’ve joined Mr. Em in Jerusalem’s family seders pretty much since I’ve known him (and we even co-hosted a particularly interesting one at our hotelpartment in Yemen). I’ve now spent two Passovers inContinue reading “Easter and Passover in Jerusalem”
There are Two Sides to Every Hike
On the first day of Passover, a group of friends and I went on a hike. Our plan was to start just outside of Jerusalem in an Israeli National Park and end up in the Palestinian town of Jericho. We figured it would take us about six hours, because some ultra-fit friends said they ranContinue reading “There are Two Sides to Every Hike”
Stormy Beach Camping
There was a time when I thought I’d be a person who is really in to camping. In my early twenties, I slept outside in a tent a few times — along the Rifle River in Michigan; in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland; one night on the Appalachian Trail, that time on the lawn of anContinue reading “Stormy Beach Camping”