Singing For Your Supper

My preemptive apologies for the forthcoming plethora of "goodbye" posts.  We just feel like we have met all of the nicest people in Jerusalem - all of them - and we are so pleased that we get to see most of them before we go.

Meet some of them.

Last night I met up with Max and his a cappella choir at "Marakia" or "The Soup Pot" for a farewell dinner and what turned into an impromptu choir concert.  Check out the video and you'll see what a hippy dippy place this restaurant is.  The smiling, but seemingly homeless employees make huge pots of, you guessed it, soup and dish it out to the seemingly homeless patrons.  Part of the restaurant is actually covered by a tarp and held up by two by fours.  It's pretty wild.

Just as people were finishing their soup Max's choir director Shelly went to the piano and plunked out a few notes.  Then the group erupted into song.  They sang song after song for about 2.5 hours.  Everyone clapped after each song and the scruffy employees couldn't stop smiling.  It was one of the neatest things I've been a part of.  The good will from the members of the choir and the other people in the restaurant was overwhelming.  Max has really enjoyed this choir and they expressed many times how sad they were to see him go - and who wouldn't, he's a nice guy. 

By the end of the night Max had the room singing along to Beatles songs while he accompanied on the piano.  It was the perfect send off.