I was invited to Esther's apartment for lunch at 2pm today, and it is only right across the street so I had plenty of time to dilly dally until it really was 1:57 and I set foot out the door. I climbed up the stairs to her 3rd floor apartment (probably the same number of stairs I have to get to mine, I'm working on these buns of steel) and found my friend Deb (who was at Da'at, a travel company used by Hillel and Birthright) and her fiancee Nimrod (in Hebrew, it's pronounced Neem-Road, just clarifying), walking up the stairs as well! Turns out they were invited to Esther's for lunch, so we all walked in together.
Esther's apartment is BEAUTIFUL! She has huge cushy chairs and couches in the living room, a kitchen that has a breakfast window (my favorite touch to an apartment) and a patio that looks onto the street. Although I spent over 3 hours in the apartment, I never even got to explore the other side of her apartment; I'll have to save it for another visit. Esther introduced me to one family who was already there - Robbie and Dara, and their two boys Gavri, almost 3 years old, and Noam, just over a year, who is learning to walk! Another friend of Esther's Aliza, is also there. We start off as this relatively intimate group, which grows throughout the 3+ hours I am there. Aliza's husband Kobe and her 2 boys Yonatan and Nadav also meet us there, and another family, Jessica and Daniel bring their twin boys, almost 2 years old, Zeev and Lev. Lots of boys running around in here creating lots of noise with lots of toys! It's like a daycare center.
All of Esther's friends were so interested in hearing about my background, how I knew Esther, what I was doing here in Israel, and my plans for the remainder of my time here. So almost one by one, I spoke with everyone answering all kinds of questions about the WUJS program. Some of them knew what it was already; some knew that the program existed in Arad (its former location in the desert) and others didn't even know what it was. I felt a little bit like a broken record, but was also so comforted by the fact that these strangers took interest in me, as a young person (probably) and a friend of Esther's, and we were having a meal together, so what better way to form a warm kehilla/community than to get to know the people around you. Robbie knew a bit about the program because he works at Pardes, an organization with which WUJS has a partnership. The Jerusalem Learning track (and I will too, on the Peace and Social Justice track) combines with Pardes for classes. Jessica told me that my background and story seemed much like hers. She came here when she was 26, a few years out of college, trying to figure out her life, and to make a long story short, she decided to stay and is now married with twin boys, raising her family in Jerusalem! In our conversation, she did mention that it was just her, and she obviously doesn't know me well enough to determine if I'd be following the same path, but just kind of chuckled over the similarity. I told her I am going back to NY (hear that Mom and Dad and friends all over NY? I'll be back :) So not to worry!).
The food, of course, was plentiful. Seriously, it was a good thing I didn't bring anything, because there was enough food on the table to feed 30 of us! Noodles, green beans, marinated vegetables, sushi rice salad, wild purple rice, chicken and meatballs (not for me, but everyone else enjoyed them!), and after a while, dessert as well. Homemade cookies, brownies, and a bobka-type cake which was absolutely delicious. Many cookies later, I found myself playing with the boys and the toys and the noise, helping them clean up and dump the bucket onto the floor all over again. The sweet sounds of laughter and pitter patter of their feet continued to fill the room until people slowly started saying their goodbyes. I made my exit after 5:30, almost at time for Havdalah/separation, going back into the regular week, no longer the sacred and holy holiday.
I crossed the street back to Tsipora 5, and of course the doors of "the dorm" are open everywhere. "How was your lunch?" "It was great! Three hours long!" I made my way up to my apartment, hopped on the computer, and saw that the group was celebrating Avi's birthday that night, going out to a restaurant for dinner. I'm a social butterfly, count me in! I met everyone downstairs at 7:45 as requested, and 19 of us hopped on a bus to the Ben Yehuda area. We got off at King George Street and walked to "Spagetim" an Italian restaurant where we had a reservation. The place was pretty empty when we arrived there, indicating that most people had not been out yet after the holiday ended. Well we walked in with lots of spirit and excitement, and were thrilled to be celebrating another birthday. Everyone was very impressed with the menu; I ordered a pesto dish which was fantastic - since my stomach still wasn't back to normal, I decided that I'd be sharing a lot of my food with everyone else, so I played the mother card and brought my plate to others, sliding off penne noodles from my dish to theirs. Everyone was really pleased with their meals; some got dessert. I got te nana (tea with nana/mint leaves) for the first time since being here - such an Israeli treat. We paid the bill and left the restaurant.
Outside, we split up into some smaller groups - some couples were meeting friends or going home. Some smaller groups of friends made plans with others. We ended up with about 10 or 12 of us left and we decided to do a little bar hopping. We started at a bar that we thought we could dance at. We were not all allowed in (because some places in Israel require you to be 24 to get in, creating a much older crowd and no soldiers), but it was too early (11pm) for the dancing (12am) so after a whole hassle, we went to meet the others who told us they'd be at MIA bar, one of the places Yonit showed us on our pub crawl. We got to MIA but couldn't find our 3 other friends (they said they'd be there, and we are there, and they are not, hmmmm, ok well we are here to have some fun anyway). We spoke with the owner/manager to refresh his memory as to who we were, and either he pretended really well, or remembered us from 2 weeks ago. Most everyone ordered a drink but me (unhappy tummy = no drinking tonight) so I just enjoyed the company and conversation! We were probably there for a little over an hour before we decided to head out. I was ready to go home but I wasn't sure if anyone else was with me. As we walked toward a potential next place (some of the girls still wanted to go out dancing), I expressed my desire to head back. I was happy to take a cab by myself if necessary; I wasn't feeling great. Turns out, Avi was ready to go home (and was really happy about her birthday celebrations!), and so was PJ and Rachelle. So the 8 of us split into two groups of 4 and we hopped into a cab to come home. Home sweet home! Bed! Sleep!
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