Thursday night in Israel marks the beginning of the weekend. This weekend started back at Beit Canada, the absorption center where ulpan takes place and where a lot of my friends live. There was a group activity in honor of Tu B'Shvat in the evening. We sang and danced and had a good time. After the program, I went back downtown with a couple of friends. After walking around and getting the requisite falafel b'pita we decided to go sit in a bar. All was going well: we found a table, sat down, and ordered. When the first of our drinks came out, our waitress spilled it. It wasn't really a big deal--only a quarter of it spilled--until the person whose drink spilled asked for a new one. It was so Israeli when our server would not replace the drink stating in English, that it was "impossible." In the US, nobody would have thought twice about the request: if the server spills the drink, it is replaced no questions asked. We ended up canceling our order and leaving--I guess you could say we were being Israeli too.
Friday, (the first day of the weekend) was a good one. I slept in, visited an artist friend who was working at the art fair a few blocks from my apartment, went to the shuk, and did some pre-Shabbat cooking. I spent Shabbat with a group of friends from the states on Har Hatzofim, the campus of Hebrew University. Friday night, we were hosted for a meal by a religious family in Maalot Dafna, a nearby neighborhood. What we thought would be an intimate (or somewhat intimate, considering we alone numbered 12) meal turned out to be a huge gathering of people from all walks of life. A rabbi and his wife and 14 children host a huge Shabbat meal for about 80 people every week. It was cool to see so many people coming together from such different places in life. Throughout the meal, people stood up and offered words of wisdom, family traditions, or a song. It was a very festive (and delicious) meal.
Saturday was spent mostly in bed. I slept in and then had a picnic with some friends. The Jerusalem sun was divine. I was warm in just a long sleeve shirt and skirt! After the picnic, I decided that a nap was in order and thus slept the rest of the afternoon. That evening, after a potluck dinner, I turned in early because I had ulpan bright and early Sunday morning.
Yesterday (Sunday--not a weekend here) was a pretty typical day. I woke up, went to ulpan, ate some lunch, ran a few errands, came home, cooked, ate, and relaxed. In the evening, I met up with some friends to watch the Bears game, only to be met with devastation. It was nice to watch the game and have a taste of home, but at the same time, it was so Israeli when my friends and I munched garinim (seeds--in our case, sunflower seeds) throughout the game. I have finally mastered the art of eating them without making a mess of myself.
Today (Monday) has been an interesting one. The good news is that I am moving up a level in ulpan! The bad news is the class is full to capacity. I had to wait for someone else to switch out of that class before I could join. Tomorrow is the day! More interestingly, though, I have no electricity in my apartment building today. I got a call from my roommate this afternoon saying that the people above us (who no longer live there) didn't pay their electricity bill, so the electric company shut off the electricity for the whole building. The landlord is apparently working on it, but as I have not yet signed the lease, there is nothing I can do about it. Luckily, there are plenty of coffee shops with internet, and prepared girl that I am, I brought two flashlights with me to Israel. I'm not too worried. It just adds to the spice of my new adventure. Wish me luck.
should i be surprised that all this is happening to you?
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