Leilot Levanim?!
Some things are too good to be true.
Music, thankfully, is not. =D
In Israel, during the summer they have this thing called “Leilot Levanim”. It translates into “White Nights” and happens every Thursday night, throughout the whole country. The buses run until 3AM, the trains go until past midnight and every business stays up until about 5AM. There are street festivals and carnivals, the roads are full of traffic and bands play on the street for tips and your entertainment.
It’s fricking awesome.
That said, we were in Englewood and it was a balmy Thursday evening in September—the evening of my annual “Back to School Night”. El Madre and I had just finished up with my piano interview (apparently a year of begging makes parents realize you’re actually serious about something) and were looking for a place we could have a quick and tasty meal.
Now, the majority of Englewood’s restaurants are either typical Jewish/Israeli cuisine, Chinese food, Mexican Tapas Bars, or delis and takeout. We passed by several Israeli cuisine-type restaurants before finding one that looked easy and tasty. We decided to sit outside and were enjoying our lemonades and pita when we heard music.
Live music?
Nearby?
On the street?
My traitor of a heart started beating faster in anticipation as I looked across the street. Leilot Levanim in Englewood?! It was too good to be true.
So we ate our meal, enjoying the musical stylings of some random, unkown yet kickass jazz-rock-blues band. At one point El Madre looked at me curiously as I sang/hummed some phrases that I knew, but couldn’t put my finger on (one turned out to be The Meters' Cissy Strut;I’ve forgotten the others by now).
It was, in essence, lovely.
After checking the time, we packed our stuff up and jumped into our dumpy Ford (the only car we had left since our accident). However, the route to get back home from Englewood put us on the street driving right next to (and past) the band. El Madre and I were really happy and excited from the music and so I wanted to show them our appreciation.
While we were driving by them, I flashed them a brilliant grin and a thumb’s up.
The guy closest to the front, the sax player, smiled back, then put both hands over his heart.
We were laughing all the way home…