ngorongoro

to commune with the remains of Rumi and watch the Sema of the Whirling Dervishes.

A great place. I last visited in 1999 and loved every minute of it. My most memorable moments include attending Shabbat services at Ashkenazi Ha’Ari Synagogue, visiting the relatives of a dear friend at their home in Kibbutz Malkiya and meeting Ethiopian-Israeli students: then, my second encounter with other Jews of Color like myself.

Many years ago when I was a student at Andhra University, I was delighted to travel to Tirupati as a member of the university tennis team. It was quite the experience to play in the South Zone finals with my friend and co-captain Jayanth Bhayankar. After the tournament was over, we and other team members made the walk to the Tirumala (Sri Venkateswara) Temple at the top of Venkatachala, the seventh peak. Quite the holy place and quite the experience for a young African-American student.