Learn at Home, Cook on the Road

Besides tips, plenty to eat, and a free bed, I picked up a lot of recipes and friendly invites from the oft-inebriated hostel denizens. I've since made myself deliciously handy on a long sailing trip, was invited to have my own room in a New York apartment if I'd cook dinner every night, and saved a lot of money when I lived in Japan by having dinner parties chez moi.

The Hard-up Traveler is a Lonely Hunter

When I cooked in Jerusalem my boss liked to yell at me. He was a little crazy, maybe. Actually, I cooked for this whole hostel full of crazy people, but he was the only one that yelled.

"This," he said to me, "Is not a fruit. This is a banana."

The hostel was called The Petra, in the Old City of Jerusalem at the top of King David St. My first night there I shared a bunk bed with my girlfriend at the time in a dorm room, and this woman who thought she was Jesus Christ (really) started yelling at us in the morning for having sex.

We didn't have sex, we were just really cold and the hostel didn't give us enough covers so we thought sleeping together on the twin mattress would keep us warm. It's funny that people think of Israel as a hot place. There are parts that are warm all year round but Jerusalem can get very cold and once every great while sees snow.

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