I know I need to catch people up. I arrived last Wednesday, July 11; unfortunately, my luggage didn't catch up with me until Friday afternoon, July 13. Here is how I described my first couple of days before shabbat on facebook:
No time to blog so the last two days in a nutshell: Museum on the Seam, meh; Going to mahane yehuda with Abby Kerbel, fun; Big Apple Pizza - passable; hanging out with Dina G-David
at Cafe Lev Smadar - fun; waiting around apartment for 6 hours for
luggage that doesn't come - sucks; only getting 2 hours sleep - sucks;
waking up queezy - sucks; getting baked goods from Pe'er for Shabbat -
yummy; seeing the Rabbanit Kapach, even
for just a few minutes - awesome (in the true sense of the word);
receiving luggage - relief; hanging out at the Yehuda Winery -
Excellent. Shabbat dinner (chicken oregano, pasta, zucchini-carrot
mixture, green beans, water melon paired with a tishbi French Reisling
and a Yehuda shiraz) prepared. going to shower before Shira Hadasha.
Shabbat shalom everyone from the very quiet city of Jerusalem.
It was a quiet shabbat in Jerusalem. Friday night Abby and I went to Shira chadasha with our friends Yossi and Dina David and their daughter Adva; Daniel Novick was there (he's at the Conservative Yeshiva) and Abby saw a lot of friends from New York. We had a nice dinner in the apartment that I cooked with some help from Abby. We were well satisfied.
Abby and I got up early for a Shabbat morning (7ish) to walk to Agron Street to pick up my nephew Micha, who is on Pilgrimage (Group 4); we went back to Shira Chadasha; singing was only so-so, no dvar Torah and the locals never introduce themselves (unlike what I've grown used to at all of my shuls in Maryland - at Shaare Tefilah, Ohr Kodesh, Bnai Israel and Bnai Tzedek newcomers are warmly greeted and introduced around). We then had the honor of being hosted for lunch in the home of Mitzvah hero supreme Alice Jonah and her husband Efry, with many other friends in attendance. Alice is an amazing cook, specialized in Indian cuisine. there were chicken meatballs, Daal over rice, schnitzel, a blend of white and sweet potatoes, Gazpacho made by her friend Judy Montegu and an amazing chocolate mint frozen pie for dessert. Needless to say it was well after 3:30 when we rolled down the hill (in considerable heat) from talpiot back to the German Colony. We variously slept, read and schmoozed the rest of Shabbat.
After havdalah, Abby was meeting her boss-to-be Rabbi Steven Glazer at the Inbal, so Micha and I went out for Pizza at Big Apple, and then I drove him back into town to meet the rest of his group at the Mamila Mall. I came back and watched some TV and read for awhile.
Sunday morning we had a pretty relaxed schedule. Danny, Arnie and I had a breakfast meeting to go over our schedule for the week, and Abby joined us, at the new Marzipan bakery on Rachel Imeinu; Abby and I shared a breakfast - Omelet, bread, salad, labane, another cheese - it was enough for two along with the complementary chocolate rugelach (yes, they are as good as you remember). then Abby and I got a ride part way into town to run a couple of errands - my sunglasses broke on shabbat and I was able to get them repaired quickly, and then a chanukiah of ours that broke was quickly replaced by the wonderful David Yomtov at the Ethnics Gallery Shop on Jaffa Road. He is such a nice guy!
Abby and I enjoyed not having much of a schedule - we leisurely walked up Ben Yehuda (where we ran into Hazzan Ramon Tasat), I stopped for a carrot juice at Tutti Fruiti, my favorite juice bar, and then we took a bus back to the apartment. I contacted my friend Shaiel Yitzchak who is a great mitzvah guy, first serving still (I think its been about 8 years) as a big brother for Ephraim, a young man who came from Ethiopia at age 6 with polio who with Shaiel's guidance and support finished high school and is not almos done with his Army service. Shaiel runs a day came for kids to learn robotics called Techno-Play, and we came to see what happens there and to deliver a directed donation that covers the tuition of one of the campers.
After our visit we stopped for a quick burger at Burgers Bar (no chips, in case my doctor hears about this) and I was unable to finish eating the smallest (150 gm) burger. For you Hebrew speakers "Aich naflu giborim" (How the mighty have fallen). Then I drove Abby to the central bus station to catch her 3 pm bus to haifa (I made one slightly illegal turn but otherwise got in and out of there safely) and then I stopped in Talpiot to shop for a few grocery items (including the grapes I'm noshing now. Sunday night I was kind of worn out from the heat of the day, and I had a glass of the Shiraz left from shabbat and my favorite snack - watermelon and Bulgarit cheese (very similar to feta). The sweet and salty remind me of other yummy things like chocolate covered pretzels. Knowing that Monday was the first USY group which means a 6 am wake up, I went to bed early.
I think I'll write up Monday as a separate post, as this is getting too long.
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