I ATE FISH!!!! and had such a great weekend I didn't have time to post

I am in a jittery frame of mind right now because I just got out of my Freshman Writing Class and I am waiting to turn in my class registration form to my academic advisor. Freshman Writing was wholly dissatisfying and while I like the teacher, a young religious woman who just finished her masters here at Hebrew U, I really wish that I wasn't relearning sixth grade English. And I wish I didn't have to do the same thing, only harder, at Cornell next year. And I wish that the class didn't exist.

But I will not let a silly little writing course get me down, because I have just had the greatest weekend! I will start where I left off, with Friday night. Friday night was the beginning of Simchat Torah, and I went with Cori, Noah, and Reuben to Yakar. We didn’t stay with the boys once we got there, but we had very good conversation on the walk there, a good deal of which was spent incredulously discussing how Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize (I don’t really know what the American sentiment is, but I am up to the ears in the Israeli opinion on the matter). A bit after services began, it got extremely crowded and there was a girl practically sitting in my lap, and there were people listening from outside! For Hakafot, the singing and dancing part of the service, the men went outside so we could move the mechitzah and take up the whole room. We danced around with the case of the Torah, and not the Torah itself, because Yakar is Orthodox. I didn't mind though, because there was so much joy and dancing and community. I actually ran into three people I know there, two of whom are grown up Israeli women I met in Jerusalem, and the other who is a teenage Brightonian that I never spoke to before running into her repeatedly in Israel. The only issue I had that whole time involved Israelis’ general lack of respect for personal space, especially when Torahs are involved.

At this point, I should inform you, I have successfully handed in my course registration and I am eating a salad at the Frank Sinatra Cafe at a high table by myself overlooking an academic quad and typing furiously on my laptop--basically my collegiate dream. I am a vision of academia! (I have spotted friends who threaten my fleeting moment of solitude and I think I’m going to pretend to not know them. Is that wrong?)

So services were a blast on Friday night, and then we were a bit late to dinner at home but it was fine. After dinner we had a tisch that included many Marzipan baked goods, a lot of songs that reminded me of Wheels, and a U-shaped table formation that I definitely would have altered had I been king. The tisch was a great end to my Friday night.

Friday morning I woke up early in order to wake up Razie and Judah, who are keeping Shabbat. We went with a big group to Yedidya, a shul in Bakaa that I attended last summer with Chen, my pilgrimage staff. There were hours and hours of dancing and praying in the morning, and at Yedidya, which is a modern Orthodox minyan, we were able to hold the Torah, attend a women’s only Torah service (women led, read, gabbi-ed, etc) and we even split into small groups to reread the parsha so everyone could have an alliyah. It was as if I had died and gone to heaven. I am thinking I will try to go there on Saturday mornings, because it is what a shul would be if I invented it, to the tee. The only thing is that we had to walk through the entire Judean desert to get there.

As luck would have it, I ran into Chen and her family there, and she invited me home to lunch. They live in an apartment with a view in Talpiyot (even further into the wilderness, and by wilderness I mean suburbs), and they were just the greatest family. They introduced me to so much Israeli food and culture, and they spoke in English (very engaging and intellectual conversation!) except for a small portion of the meal when Mama Beck tested my Ulpan skills, because she is an Ulpan teacher herself. This was also the location of the historic event delineated in the title of this post took place: I ate fish! Balakala or something? I don’t remember what it was called, but I doused it in lemon juice, took small bites, and ate a whole piece! I was so proud of myself, and they were too. After lunch, we sang a few Shabbat songs and benched, and I got to talk to Chen a bit before walking home by myself in the blazing Jerusalem heat. I did feel pretty cool walking by myself though, and I wasn’t worried because I carried with me my siddur, water, and a map! What else is needed to survive?

I got home in time for a quality date with Ariella, and we sat on a balcony in an alcove and talked about everything under the sun. We are both actively pursuing a more observant way of life here, and I really feel the presence of God in our friendship. It might be a weird thing to say, but I think it makes a difference.

Following girl talk was Maariv, Havdalah, dinner, and a group trip to the park for Hakafot. I was a bit Hakafot-ed out, even though the band sounded nice from the little I heard, so I was easily convinced when Adam asked me to go to a comedy show with him. It turned out to be an excellent decision. The comedians were all olim (people who have made alliyah, in this case from America) so I could understand pretty much all the jokes (and my friends helped me with the jokes that required Hebrew knowledge). There was a lot of bashing the Israeli government, borderline distasteful remarks about Palestinians and terrorism, and some marriage/relationship stuff. Most of it had to do with Israel though, and I thought that made it even more worthwhile. After the show we met up with some friends of my friends, went to a bar where I ate all the popcorn while my friends had a drink, and then we went dancing at a club on a school night!!! We only stayed for a few songs, but long enough for me to be on the bar (at this point, it’s just a game I play), and we left when the tv screens stopped showing music videos and started showing pornography. I was not okay with that.

There were a lot of people around when I got home, even though it was late (for me, at least, but you’d be surprised at the number of nocturnal Nativers here), so I hung out a lil bissle before heading to bed. What a great weekend.

That brings me to today, the writing course, the registration, the dairy lunch. Back at Hebrew U, and I am so glad I am here.

PS. I boarded a city bus right after finishing this post, and I have to say, I was comforted by the driver’s friendly demeanor and articulate English, and SCARED OUT OF MY MIND by all the close calls. The bus is bulletproof too, which is kind of cool, but the windows were open!!! What!!!