SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE: ISRAEL PART 2

10.9.8.7.6.5.4.3.2...BORING.

Happy New Year.

As 2006 finally ground out its last few seconds (thank God for that), I found myself sitting in a lousy hostel in Tel Aviv with an American nihilist sipping cheap red wine.

Not what I had in mind. Enough of this, I mumbled.

I'd heard about a New Year's jam going down in Jerusalem, and (at worst) I figured sitting on a bus was better than sitting in a hostel listening to some dude moan about how he didn't care about NYE.

So I stepped outside, caught a bus downtown and hopped in a sherut (shared taxi) which took me 45 minutes into the hills surrounding Jerusalem.

Long story short, I arrived at the Khan complex -- a stone theatre dating from pre-Ottoman times -- to find a long line up party people crowding around the building's iron gates.

The party was put on by a small Jerusalem-based techno collective called Pacotek, and the beats drifting from inside sounded hot.

After plenty of pushing and shoving, three shots of arak (an Israeli liquor which tastes like ouzo's goth cousin) and a glass of grapefruit juice, I was finally on the dancefloor and kicking it to the sounds of this dude Aaron Hedges, who is an American living in Berlin.

The music was minimal but the party was maximal. Above is a photo I stole off some guy's website. If you look closely, you will see me in the bottom right corner teaching a young Israeli how to do the robot dance.

At 6 a.m. the lights came on, and I made my way back to Tel Aviv, exhausted, drunk and incredibly thankful I took the chance.