Sunday 9^th December

The previous home exchange people had left us a note reminding us to visit the Eastern Markets within Washington DC, so we made that our first call.  Unfortunately the rain was just hovering and holding off and I suspect it had kept some vendors and customers away for the morning, however we did manage to view most of the stalls, commenting how similar it was to our Australian weekend markets. Our lunch was eaten in one of those close range type of restaurants, with very generous servings as can be seen by Bob’s Belgian hot chocolate drink.

From here we walked about 5 km to see an exhibition at one of the Smithsonian museums titled “Roads of Arabia” archaeology and history of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As I had recently visited Dubai on my 60^th birthday trip with my two school friends, I was keen to understand a little more and see some historic treasures. I was busy taking some photos of these three stone statues when the security guard tapped me on the shoulder to remind me that no photography was permitted.  

I replied that I had not seen the notice and certainly would have respected it and politely asked him to show me the sign.  I had been too busy taking my explanatory pamphlet to notice a very small sign above it forbidding photography.  When I spoke to him he immediately thought I was British and proceeded to earbash me for at least the next 15 minutes about his aspirations to be the president of Sierra Leone in Africa from where he migrated. He wanted to show me his “dissertation” (not sure to whom) and hardly drew breath.  Didn’t matter that others around me were probably doing the same as I had been – i.e. taking photos, as he had his captive audience in me and was going to bleed himself dry explaining to me about the political party he formed etc etc etc etc – do you get the picture?  I was able to exit by saying that my husband would be looking for me and that I was a little time poor and wanted to see the exhibition – WHEW!!!

The exhibition was extraordinary because artifacts thousands of years old were there in front of me.  Sometimes I have to pinch myself when confronted with these beautiful and very ancient objects and I realise what a dot in time we are now occupying.

We had collected our tickets during the week to be at the “Lighting of the Menorah”, a Jewish ceremony which celebrates their Season of Hanukkah, or “Festival of Lights”. This was held in the Ellipse, an area which is located in front of the White House. 

As we lined up the dampness of the afternoon soon vanished as we met a couple and their daughters who were standing next to us.  The girls were about 6 and 7 years old and this was their second year to attend the event, so they were looking forward to seeing a character known as “Dreydlman” appear.  

From what I understand the dreidel is a four-sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side. It is used during Hanukkah to play a popular children's game that involves spinning the dreidel and betting on which Hebrew letter will be showing when the dreidel stops spinning. Children usually play for a pot of gelt, which are chocolate coins covered in gold colored tin foil, but they can also play for lollies, nuts, raisins – anything really!

We ended up sitting in the row behind this family, however they made room for us to join them.  It was very special because they were of the Jewish faith and explained a few of the meanings to us.  

The US Navy Band played a few songs and three Jewish cantors also sang.  A competition had been held for children to write about what Hanukkah means to them so the two winners recited their stories to the gathered audience. At the conclusion of the ceremony after the Menorah was lit the children were given one of their own to take home, however one of these dear little girls, Laila gave me hers as a present. They featured in a photo today in the Washington Post online.

 We had planned to include a visit to the Zoo after this event, however the fog rendered visibility to a minimum, the damp was settling some more so it was time to head home, stopping into a family restaurant on the way to have dinner.