Well, I've been talking about he beautiful weather we've had recently, and the storm is finally trickling in. This is one of the most bizarre storms I can remember.

The set up was yesterday, which was probably the spookiest night, weather wise, I can recall having witnessed. The temperature wasn't that cold - the wind was dry and actually a little warm - and as the day progressed, the winds grew stronger and stronger, causing messy whirlwinds of leaves and litter all through the streets. By night, there was a sheen of hazy dust in the air, making everything blurry; black sky, but huge glowing auras around streetlights, tall buildings disappearing into this weird alien haze as they climbed up. Sand was visibly blowing on the roads near the ocean. We parked our car in Jaffa, on a high parking lot by the sea, over the port, waves crashing against the wall; when we got back to it two hours later, the parking lot was in the midst of getting flooded, ocean water visibly creeping towards our car, which was parked in the back. This wasn't just the tide, or a regular nightly occurrence, but a product of the wind, chucking ocean spray in increasing volumes. Walking against the wind was a struggle, and the wind was polluted with sand; just two minutes of walking outside made me feel like I had a mask on my face, and I could taste the salt on my lips. From two freaking minutes. And the sounds were just -- eerie: rustling leaves and faraway banging and clanging, sheets of tin rumbling in abandoned houses, the crash of waves. It was a dray, warm, dark and stormy night.

This morning, my car was covered in a thin sheen of sand and dust. Like, all over. The winds continued to grow over the day, and the sky is basically a weird shade of yellow - not dark, not light, just kind of yellow-beige, growing stronger and stronger. And then just a few minutes ago it started to hail. I don't even know, this is just - bizarre. When I opened the window, I felt a warmish, dry wind, combined with gusts of freezing air. Let's just say, I would buy this weather in a dystopia movie. And now that hail has paused - not even five minutes. I... am curious to see how this continues to develop.

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The restaurant I went to last night was Blackout, a pitch black restaurant operated by and at the Na Laga'at Center, which is a cultural and education center for deaf/blind/deaf-blind and the general public. The staff are all blind/visually impaired, and it was a pretty amazing and delicious experience.

I went with two friends. The evening started with a drink at the bar, deciding on the dishes we wanted to order outside, and our waiter then leading us into the restaurant, the group of us walking hands-on-shoulders, like a conga line. He introduced himself, asked to learn all of our names so he could then address us by name throughout the evening (most obvious way to distinguish between us), and seated us all at our table, explaining what was in front of us, recommending how to pour ourselves water from the jug without spilling anything, and telling us to feel free to ask him anything we want at any point. If we want to call him, just say his name.

The space itself really was pitch black; as the evening went on I found myself closing my eyes more and more. I ordered a salad for my starter which I mostly are with my cutlery, and a fish (fillet) as my main dish, which came on a bed of roasted eggplants and cherry tomatoes, olives and labane. It was a complete guessing game of what my fork would latch into for any given bite, and at around the halfway mark I just sidestepped cutlery and ate the rest with my fingers, first feeling up the dish to kind of get the general shape of what was in front of me and finally just digging in, ending with literally licking my plate, it was so good. Dessert was also delicious, and our waiter was kind and conversational (he works here on the evenings the restaurant is open - four times a week - while also having an office job at the center, teaching clay work, being a medical massage therapist and a night travel guide.) It was really interesting to also learn the small details about how such a restaurant operates: each plate came in a different shape, to help differentiate between them; waiters' carts had little bells on to indicate where they were; each waiter was in charge of a few tables, and was stationed relatively close to them, so they could hear when they were being called. And considering that whenever our waiter handed us a dish, or a napkin, or a drink - considering that he either placed it on the table in front of us with perfect accuracy, or handed it to us in a way that included brushing fingers but minimal skin to skin touch (in a situation where, you know, touching strangers has potential to be uncomfortable), it was overall just an incredibly skilled staff and super well done.

Overall it was an awesome experience, would go again, do recommend :-)