A Busy First Week

So here it is, Thursday. A full and action packed week has gone by.

We had a quiet first Shabbat. Between residual jet lag and just being overwhelmed at being here, all we wanted was to be home alone.

There is a quality to Jerusalem on a Friday afternoon. I've written about and experienced this countless times, and it never gets old. Jerusalem is overcrowded. Too many cars and buses on the streets, too many people and not enough sidewalks. It's very busy and noisy. But on Friday afternoons everything glides to a halt, as people close their stores and businesses, go home and prepare for Shabbat. It's utterly magical and it doesn't occur anywhere else on the planet.

The week revs up again on Saturday night. We went to a program at one of the nearby synagogues; the topic was Nahal Haredi, a niche social experiment that has been very successful. Without going into details, which would be way too time-consuming, Nahal Haredi is an ultra-Orthodox army unit. The soldiers are assigned very hazardous duty - going after terrorists where they live. Because of their background, many of these soldiers have special difficulties entering civilian society after they are discharged from the army. There is a support organization that assists them with the re-entry process, and they have a website (who doesn't?) nahalharedi.org. They do very important work and they are worth supporting.

Sunday we walked over to Machane Yehuda - it's hard to stay away. Even tho we didn't need to do much shopping, there are things you can get at the "shuk" (market) that are just better than any grocery store.

Monday it was really time to get down to business. I had my 3-hour womens' class, and it was as if I had never left. Then it was off to Krav Maga, with the teacher I took private lessons with last year. It was great to be back and it's a wonderful class - 3 religious men and me. Because this country never ceases to surprise, one is Haredi (see above and google "Haredi"). We train outside, in the rose garden next to the Knesset, rain or shine. The weather this week has been exceptional, and training outdoors gives a sense of realism that I don't get in the ring when I train at home. And that's the point. Moshe, the instructor, is very very good at what he does. And I ached when I got home.

Tuesday we had to get ready to move, so we repacked and prepared to say goodbye to the palace we lived in for the first week of our visit.

Wednesday was another big day. I met Batsheva at 9AM for a ceramics class. I'm not the craft type, and not at all creative. I dabble in beading, and that's about it. Batsheva, on the other hand, can do anything. I tried to convince her that this might not be my thing, but she said just try it and besides it gives us time to be together. Well, it turns out it's not just a ceramics class. It's 3 different classes - 2 hours each - beading, ceramics and vegetable carving. I learned new beading techniques, which was fun. But the big surprise was the ceramics. I started working on a horse head, and despite my aversion to getting my hands dirty, it was a lot of fun. Regrettably I could't stay for the vegetable carving because we had to change apartments.

So I rushed home to vacate apartment # 1 and move to apartment # 2. The new place is only about 5 minutes from the old one, and it's quite nice. A big kitchen that opens to a living/dining room. Two very good size bedrooms, a very large bathroom with 2 sinks and something I've heard of but have never actually seen - a washer/dryer that's a single machine. We haven't tried it yet, but no matter what it sure beats hand laundry. We hired a taxi to move our luggage, and spent the next hour or so unpacking and getting settled.

Then it was off to my Israeli daughter Yafit's birthday party at a new Georgian (as in Russia) restaurant. We didn't get home till after midnight.

And today was an intensive (2 hour) krav maga class, home to shower, and off to see my grandson Nir play basketball.

Tomorrow we go to Dori's kibbutz for Shabbat.

More next week..................