It’s not a Jewish holiday without Jesus. (Or, my first Rosh Hashanah.)

Celebrating Rosh Hashanah in Colombia.

One of my favorite things about traveling is getting to learn about different cultures and share in traditions from around the world. Most times those customs are from wherever it is I happen to be. But, sometimes, since I meet people from all over too, I get to share in something from somewhere I’ve never been.

I was in Cali for Rosh Hashanah — the Jewish new year. A few Israelis were staying at our hostel and they decided that they would cook dinner for all of us to celebrate. They joked that since none of them were particularly religious they’d serve pork, shrimp, and lasagna. But instead we got a spread of ceviche-like fish, beef, mashed potatoes, rice with vegetables, pasta, salad, and garlic bread.

We dipped apples in honey. We shared a glass of wine. We looked up blessings on the internet.

Afterwards, all stuffed on plates of amazing food, we gathered up all of the leftovers and delivered cups of food to the homeless sleeping outside of our hostel.

Being so far from home it’s always nice to be able to find new friends, new family, to share important days with. And it’s always nice to be able to help someone else share in an important day.