Friday and Shabbat

On Friday I decided to take the morning off and relax a little.

My flat-mate was going to look at puppies in hopes of getting one, so I decided to go along. We wandered down to Emek Refaim, which is a street a few blocks from the apartment. This street is well known because of the plethora of restaurants in a several-block portion of the street.

After wandering for a while and not seeing the dogs we headed back to the apartment so that I could go back to Ben Yehuda Street to meet someone from my Ulpan class to review before out test on Monday. The good news is that I retained more than I thought. We’ll see what that translates into on Monday.

As for the dogs, we left about 30 minutes too soon to see them on Emek Refaim. My flat-mate when to an area near Ben Yehuda that also has puppies, but came back empty-handed this time. I guess he’ll go next week and try again.

After a bit of quizzing each other, my classmate and I started walking back towards my apartment. It turns out that she is staying only a few blocks away from me. It was a nice pleasant walk and, once we got back to my apartment my flat-mate invited her to stay for Shabbat dinner.

We had a very nice dinner and pleasant conversation. After dinner my flat-mate and I walked her home and came back to relax for the evening.

Shabbat was very peaceful. I went to a synagogue about a block from the apartment. There were one or two familiar melodies this time, which helped make me feel more comfortable. After services I met a gentleman that lives right across the street from me, so I am sure that I will be seeing more of him.

After services I naturally had to take the obligatory Shabbat nap. When I awoke I practiced some of the cantorial pieces that I had been given on Wednesday. The pieces are getting much more involved now, but the melodies are quite beautiful. I am looking forward to mastering and sharing them with my congregation at home.

As Shabbat came to a close I walked back to Ben Yehuda street (this is a pedestrian mall with lots of shops and places to eat). When I arrived I found it to be in full swing already. There were tour busses dropping off their tourists and revelers on the mall. There was even a group of Orientals that formed a small group and were playing music and singing, much to the delight of the tourists.

I met a number of friends there and stayed for a while. We eventually made it to a pizza place just off Ben Yehuda, where I was treated to some of the oddest (at least to me) pizza. I had one that was topped with sweet potato and mushrooms. It was actually quite good. I headed home after that as Sunday was being set aside for me to practice and also to review more before the test.

All in all, it was a wonderful Shabbat.