Shabbos in Jerusalem

Since I last wrote, I have spent most of my time around the apartment. Later on Thursday when Avital got home from gan, she really wanted to play with me which was wonderful but I was dead tired. Jetlag hit me really hard this time and by late afternoon I could hardly keep my eyes open. Even with Avital jumping all over me, my body wanted nothing more than a nap. When I told her this, her response was, [cue the puppy eyes] "But Mommy told me that when I got home from gan that Jenn would play with me..." so I persevered until later that evening. Then by about 3am I was wide awake and stayed that way for a few hours. This continued for the next couple days.

Friday was spent preparing for Shabbos. Aaron and Calanitte prepared the vegetable soup, turkey stew (I left that for them), potato kugel, and apple-strawberry pie that we were to have for dinner that night. I relieved Aaron of some of his regular duties by doing the dishes, vacuuming and mopping the floor (Israelis have their own way of doing everything so I had to learn), and helping with grocery shopping. Shabbos was quite relaxed as it is supposed to be, and Avital was with her father, so it was also pretty quiet. Since I hadn't really ventured beyond a few hundred feet of the apartment by this time I was still unsure exactly where we are. Early Saturday morning this thought was brought mind as I heard what sounded like recorded chanting and music. Being that it was Shabbos, there was no way that this sound was coming from within the Jewish neighborhood--it had to be from a nearby Muslim neighborhood. In the Jewish neighborhood the only regular loudspeaker alert is the Shabbos siren which is sounded just before sundown when it is time to light candles on Friday evening (it is an actual siren so if you don't know what it is it could be quite disconcerting). For 2nd meal (lunch on Saturday), we went to the home of a family in a neighboring building. From my count, they had seven children ranging in age from six to twenty. Both of the parents were born in the US, so everyone in the family spoke English as well as Hebrew which was nice since most of the families around here speak only Hebrew (for example, a few minutes ago a girl came to the door asking something that I didn't understand and Calanitte is busy feeding so I had to ask her to come back later--after Calanitte told me what to say). The family that hosted us loves babies so much that they were practically ripping Feyga out of Calanitte's arms, but luckily Feyga didn't make a fuss while we were there.

By Saturday night the weather became very windy and rainy. The pouring rain and howling winds lasted through to Sunday morning, so I postponed my plans to go into the main part of Jerusalem. (FYI: Sunday is a regular work/school day in Israel.) Aaron came home from work early so that we could have lunch together. Every time I visit Israel I make a point to have falafel, so we got some from the place down the street (ironically, I eat more falafel than my brother who lives here). Falafel is a fluffy pita (not like most of the stuff of the same name in the US) stuffed with falafel balls (a ground garbanzo bean mixture that is fried), salat (cucumber and tomato), hummus (pronounced choomoos), tehinah (seasoned sesame seed paste), spicy sauce, eggplant, pickles, and topped with french fries. One of those costs a little over $2.

Today I finally ventured beyond the apartment into the city. Aaron had to go into the office of his work which is located across town. I went along with him because we needed to pick up a baby swing from a store across the street from his work. After we bought the swing and he went to work, I realized there really wasn't much to see over there (as Aaron had been telling me) because it is mostly an industrial/commercial area, and it was getting to be quite stressful crossing the street (or walking around for that matter) because there were cars all over the place. So I made my way back to the shouk which is the big outdoor produce market. I am semi-familiar with this area of Jerusalem because I have been around there a lot on previous visits, so I got off the very crowded city bus a few blocks before the shouk. I spent the next couple hours literally walking in circles so that I would not get myself lost. One of my goals today was to get some old bonds cashed at Bank Leumi. Seeing as this is one of the biggest banks in Israel I thought this would be no problem...think again. I must have passed five other banks before seeing a single one. Finally, I found what I thought was a Bank Leumi (the sign said Bnei Leumi in Hebrew so I assumed it was the same thing) so I waited awhile to talk to the right person who then told me that I need to go to the main branch, but by this time it was 12:20 and in Israel banks close at 12:30. Having failed that mission I started walking around the shouk aimlessly. I got a big cup of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice as I was quite thirsty from the hurrying around. The shouk was not all that exciting since I didn't need to buy any produce and I had been there a few times before. Having been to this area on all prior trips here, nothing seemed all that new or exciting, but it was still interesting experiencing it on my own for the first time. My proudest moment of the day was when I realized that I gave correct directions to an American couple that had approached me earlier asking how to get to a restaurant I happened to have gone to once a few years ago. I also found a nice cheap sling purse at a shop off Ben Yehuda street where they were selling almost nothing but these purses--this was a nice reward after spending hours looking for one in LA with no success. Just before meeting Aaron back by the shouk, I gave in to getting another falafel after passing dozens of shops and being tempted by the yummy smells.

Aaron and I made our way back to Ramot by late afternoon. (Another proud moment: I told someone the correct time when they asked in Hebrew!) The bus rides around town gave me a better idea of where we are in relation to the rest of Jerusalem. Ramot really is on the outskirts, with Arab villages just beyond to the northwest.

As I realized today, this particular trip is really about family because I've seen the touristy sites and they're not so exciting the fourth time around (especially by myself). So I'm going to continue enjoying the priceless moments with Aaron and his wonderful family.