Before I tell you the story of this Shabbat, know that I am deeply disturbed by close contact with four things: slobbering dogs, slithering fish, grocery stores, and new food.
Shara and I woke up at 2 pm on Friday. Already we knew it would be a glorious day.
We packed for the weekend and bought chocolates for her Aunt Marcia, who is actually her second cousin (but these are minor details on which we mustn't waste time). Marcia picked us up around 4 and we drove with her to her moshav near Netanya. A moshav is a capitalist's kibbutz, if you will. She owns everything (house, horses, land), but she pays moshav dues for a guard, some programming, landscaping, and they have a plot of land for farming that is bordered by other plots of land for small farms. It is a great system, and many kibbutzniks are moving in this direction.
The house was a big ranch style home, with a big open room for kitchen and tv and many bedrooms. Shara and I actually had our own apartment attached to the house where Marcia's mother usually lives (she's on vacation in America). Everything was decorated with older furniture so it had a very homey feel. Nothing was fancy, but it was all beautifully kept. The three horses and two donkeys lived in an open stable in the backyard.
We arrived after dark and there was a REALLY BIG DOG named Whiskey waiting at the front door. There was a problem finding a key so I had to interact with the dog for an amount of time that really pushed my comfort zone limit. We walked inside and we were welcomed by a tall Israeli man with a ponytail, Tamir (Marcia's son), and three more dogs!!! Shara and I retired to our apartment until dinner time.
Five of us packed into a compact car (Marcia, Marcia's two sons Tamir and Eden, and us girls) and we drove off at an alarming rate to Rishon Nitzion (it actually might be Rishon Le Tzion, I have no idea, they didn’t enunciate). Forty five minutes later, we ended up at a beautiful apartment complex and took the elevator to the top floor. The apartment was stunning, and it was two floors, and modern, spacious, brand new, and filled with a big family and lots of food. There were tables set up on the big balcony porch and probably 25 of us ate comfortably there. It was not a religious family, but they were incredibly lovely people, extremely welcoming, friendly, and warm.
As nice as they were, they were even better cooks. I ate so many new things, and I didn’t even know the names of half the things I was eating. I do know that there were definitely many baby tomatoes on my plate and I ate them right up. The food situation was metzuyan and we all enjoyed ourselves heartily.
Over the meal, I talked with Eden, Marcia’s 17 year old son, and another boy who was 17. They were both in their last year of high school and about to enter the army. Eden has a long-distance runner’s body, shaggy hair, a nose ring, and big left-wing opinions. He said he hates the army and is not excited about it, but he has to go anyway next year. The other boy was just his opposite, a football player in physique and a gung-ho soldier in training. He said he did well on his army exams so hopefully he’ll get to be a medic, but whatever he does, he wants to fight Arabs. They were both really nice, relatable guys, and it’s hard to imagine them in uniform in just a few months.
The dinner ended quite late, and by the time we got home, I was exhausted. Shara and I washed up, read for a minute, and fell straight asleep. I didn’t wake up again until nine in the morning, but I thought it was actually eleven because the clock on my side of the bed was wrong. Shara didn’t wake up, so I had breakfast and a long chat with Marcia. The dogs were all up in my grill the whole time, but I got to learn a lot about her amazing life, how she made alliyah, her family’s story, her travels, her opinions, her book recommendations. She went on a gap year program in the 70’s and moved here with her husband after living in South Africa and England for a while, and now her life is horses, farms, army, and her family’s screen printing business.
Once everyone woke up, we went to the beach for a few hours. It was a gorgeous, hot day, and we packed our lunches and brought an umbrella. I went into the water right away, and it was so beautiful words can’t begin to explain. It bore an uncanny resemblance to the beach in The Little Mermaid when she has legs and she is wearing a silvery dress and everything is sparkling, and there were cliffs in the distance along the coast just like in the movie! The sky was a bit hazy so everything was silver and white and the water looked like a million diamonds were floating on top of it. I swam by myself for an hour or so, and I just took it all in. There were many, many fish in the water (not just minnows...actual fish sized fish!) and they swam near my legs and I was tempted to get out but everything else was so perfect that I just sucked it up. I thought this would be a good time for me to grow up, because I don’t think that squealing at fish and dogs is cute anymore. I’m not sure what else occupied my time in the Med Sea, but I know I was planning how I would describe that moment in my blog. Unfortunately, my thoughts don’t stream so easily in my current environment (my dorm room at 12:45 am). Just know-it was perfect.
Shabbat wrapped up with a visit to Marcia’s factory, and then we were on our way. We took a bus from Netanya to Jerusalem, ran into people we know on the ride, and walked home from the central bus station.
Sunday morning was the beginning of a big day. I will have to summarize quickly because I’m exhausted right now, but here’s what happened: I woke up early because Debbie had gotten locked out of her room so she slept in my bed (which was a very pleasant surprise) and we all went to breakfast. I then went grocery shopping at a supermarket and the shuk, and it was a really stressful experience but I did it! I even compared mass: price ratios for cereals, and I was seriously a mental math machine. I planned in advance with a budget, the number of meals I plan to make from my shopping results, and a list of suggested food items. I ended up under budget and I got all my foods!!
I felt very accomplished. I made my lunch and got ready for school, and then I was off with Shara and Tali to catch the city bus. It was a trial, and we cut it really close, and an old blind man sat next to me and calmed me down when I thought we were going to be late for our first class.
Art History of Israel was AMAZING! It really stimulated me and I love the teacher (she made alliyah about thirty years ago, she’s probably about 50, and she’s just awesome). I can’t wait to go to class tomorrow!
We got home, we had a girls’ program for Rosh Chodesh (new month, cycle of the moon, feminism, everything like that) and then I just sat and talked with a lot of people that night. The program was cool because I learned really interesting things about girls I don’t know that well yet.
That brings me to today, which was long but great. I davened this morning starting at 6:45 am, and it was a very long service because of Rosh Chodesh, Hallel, Mussaf, and Torah. We had just enough time for breakfast and then we boarded the bus to go to Hebrew U for Hebrew class, which was great. Then I got homework done in the library, ate lunch, got free stuff at the student center, and laid on the grass with friends and listened to a concert. It was time for class again, four hours later, and I went to Talmud As A Cultural Adventure. It was awesome, more to come on that later. Right after that was Israeli Society and Politics, which I liked a little less because the lecturer did not pace himself well so we really missed out on the second half of the topic.
I got home from school at 6:45 pm, helped Josh grocery shop and grabbed falafel with him, and then I went on a run, took my vitamins, flossed my teeth, put in my retainer, cleaned my feet, and showered. And now, finally, I am ready for bed. Lailah tov.
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