The window guy didn't show up today. He was supposed to be here at 12, and no-one answered the work or cell phone when I tried at 12:30, 1:00 and 2:00. Israel (especially, Jerusalem) shuts down early on Friday in anticipation of Shabbat, and if no-one answered at 2, there's no reason to try again until Sunday. I'm a bit bummed because I wanted to get that taken care of. I'll follow up on Sunday morning.
When I dropped the boys off at school today, they both seemed to be doing well. The CK wasn't unhappy at all, and even requested that I let them walk home alone without us (to which I agreed). He was angry at me before we left the house because he didn't have a Biology book that he thought he needed, and, actually, the WK was angry, too, because he wants to have all of his school books. As you may recall, when Pentheus and I spoke with the teachers before school started, everyone agreed that it would be a waste of money for us to buy the boys' school books when they can't understand them now and because we're leaving at the end of December. I spoke to the teachers again this morning, and we decided to get a few of the books for each boy. Maybe the kids will be able to follow some of the texts, and at least they will feel like they are participating to a greater extent in class. While I am sure the boys are picking up more Hebrew than they (or we) realize, I am looking forward to the time when they can speak Hebrew and feel comfortable with it. We're very much hoping that will happen before we leave.
After the boys were at school, I took the "agahlah" (the backpack on wheels) to a nearby shopping area. Before I did any shopping, I ordered a cup of "natool" with warm milk at Cafe Doovshahnit (Little Honeycake Cafe), a well-known cafe. I sat at one of the outdoor tables and while I sipped my decaf, I listened the conversations at the tables around me. Most of the conversations were in Hebrew although there were a few in English, too. There was a table of 6 men, all wearing biking clothes, and I guess they met there after their ride. It was interesting how easily they spoke to each other, while switching from English to Hebrew almost mid-sentence.
I then went to the prepared food place to get our Shabbat meal. Whereas we only had chicken as the main dish the first 3 Shabbatot (plural of Shabbat), I ventured out and also bought some beef with carrots and onions, plus some "chareef" (spicy) carrot salad, rice pilaf-stuffed red peppers, and some other foods. My next stop was Angel Bakery, which has the very best challah in Jerusalem, according to some. I got a plain challah loaf for the boys and a whole wheat sesame challah for Pentheus and me. While I was bringing them to the register so that I could pay, I took a small piece of cinnamon ruggelach (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ruggelach) to eat as well. The woman at the register asked what I was buying, and I told her the two challot and the piece of ruggelach. She said, "l'breeyoot" (to your health) about the ruggelach (i.e., she didn't charge me), and she said it was 5.80 shekel for the challot. I thought I misunderstood her because 5.80 shekels is only about $1.45, so I asked again how much the challot were. Again, I heard 5.80. Not wanting to embarrass myself by not giving her enough money, I gave her a 50 shekel bill and was planning on counting the change carefully, so that I could figure out how much the two challot actually cost. The woman gave me 44.20 shekels in change. Still not sure how they could be that inexpensive, but we'll see how they taste at dinner! By the way, the cinnamon ruggelach was amazing, probably the best piece I have ever had, and it was all I could do not to go buy more.
Then I went to the Coop Shop grocery store and bought a few things we needed. I've taken to buying an English newspaper each Friday with the plan of reading it over Shabbat. I have been buying a different one each week to see which we enjoy the most. I bought the International Herald Tribute (the international version of the NYT) which also has an English version of Ha'aretz, an Israeli newspaper. The newspaper was 17 shekels ($4+ dollars), which makes it even harder to believe the two challot were only 5.80 shekels.
We don't have big plans for this Shabbat. Tonight we are going to Friday night services at Shir Chadash, the synagogue the boys liked very much the first Saturday morning we were here. (It's the place that had the great food after services.) Tomorrow morning we are going to what we think is an egalitarian service (i.e., both men and women participate, although there is a mecheetzah) held at the community center in Baaka (where my Hebrew class meets). Then we're going to friends of Pentheus's for Shabbat lunch at noon. We had lunch with them when we were in Israel on vacation 2 years ago, and it will be lovely to see them again.
Shabbat shalom.
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