a Sunday in the life of me

Dear Friends,
I am still around, though picture me plastered to the front of a fast-moving train with my hair streaming back in the wind... life moves a bit too fast at times.
Yesterday is a good example.

In the morning I went to a lecture at the Albright Institute in east Jerusalem. That meant leaving the house at 8:45. Because I hadn't gone to bed exactly early the night before this wasn't that long after rising time. Caught the bus down to route one near the Mea She'rim entrance (for those of you who remember), but went down a side road on the Arab side. Found the the Institute after asking a very English- looking lady with a lovely accent.

Got there early and sat through another lecture (only half hour) before the one I was intereted in came up. It was all about old photos of Israel from around the turn of the century. When it was done around 11:15 I crossed back over to the Jewish side of the highway, stopped at a second-hand book store and bought three books. Then I ate lunch- soda and some horrible pastry that seemed to be three quarters grease and one quarter cheese with a bit of pastry to stick it together. People over here don't seem to eat in public much, so I got odd looks as I sat on a low wall by the side so the road, swinging my legs and muching away. But now I am impervious to odd looks and only smile happily back at them.

On to the shuk for groceries! Due to a fit of vanity I hadn't brought my backpack along- who wants to show up at an institute of higher learning for a highbrow lecture carrying something so plebian? As a resut I have to lug tomatoes, apricots, plums, raisins, cucumbers, walnuts, cheese, and carrots down to the bus stop by hand. My fingers get funny ridges in them and are an odd color.

Home again! 1:30ish? can't remember. Eat something, gather myself together, and call the Nesher sherut system- I have to go down to Tel Aviv this evening to get our laptop hard drive from someone coming from the States. The Sherut guy says he'll pick me up at 3:30. I spend the time reading out loud to Lisa while she cooks and generally being slothful.

3:25 I am sitting outside our house on a low wall, reading my book while I wait. The Sherut comes and we proceed on a torturous path around areas of Jerusalem that I have never seen before picking up othe people headed for the airport. At one house we sit for five minutes while the driver periodically calls the tardy passengers on his cell phone and honks his horn at regular intervals.

On our way again and we passed a normal width suburbian road with a row of large eucalyptus trees growing right out of the middle of the pavement. The scenery passes to the accompanying melody of my neighbor's very loud gum.

At the airport I find a spot to watch incoming traffic. I have never seen the people who are bringing my hard drive, they have never seen me. We e-mailed each other vague identifying characteristics. I know when they flight comes in, but I don't know from where, what the number is, or what the name of their tour group is. I think they sent my that info, but I left it at home. I call home, but Lisa has already left for her Hebrew exam.

An after arriving at the airport two people matching description come out with a huge group that must be their tour. Sure enough! We greet each other, she passes over the hard drive, and we arrange a meeting for next week in Jerusalem, all in two minutes.

They head out for Samaria and I leave by another entrance to find a sherut to Jerusalem. It is almost full- the only options are two seats in the very back- one next to a secular lady, but she has her bag on it. The other is next to a religious young man of about 20. I decide on half of each seat so as not to disturb the bag of one or the religious sensibilities of the other. But the driver wants to wait for one more person to complete his bus load. At this point I should have been praying for a skinny passenger because the four seats in the back were made for four of my younger siblings, not four adults. I didn't pray, and we were blessed with one huge European man. I saw him coming down the aisle and a moral crisis was met and passed in a second- do I make him climb over me and sqeeze into the seat next to the religious young man, or do I move over so he can stretch his legs out in the aisle? I move over. What followed I found highly amusing, but it might have just been defense mechanism on my part; I don't think anybody else was amused. This was the proverbial rock and a hard place. I sat with my shoulders hunched forward the whole way, except when I leaned forward with my elbows on the seat back in front of me to relieve the pressure.

There we sat, or existed, the young religious fellow on one side listening to a tape on headphones and occationally glancing at me- probably because I was grinning like an idiot (it was that or cry)- and the big guy on the other side hunched up in miserable silence. But God was good- the first passenger off the bus was the secular lady on the other side of the big guy. She climbed out and the rest of us practically burst out sideways, with a sigh of relief.

I got dropped off near the Old City- it is the evening before Jerusalem day I wanted to see the festivities while I waited for Lisa to get out of her Hebrew class. I bought a candy bar and some nuts for dinner (cough, cough) and sat on Ben Yehuda reading a book and people-watching and feeling lonely. But friends of mine passed by- Daniel and Michelle Ramsey- and invited me to dinner with them. They were just coming from church, but it took some discussion to convince me that it was actually Sunday. I tend to loose track of days especially since the system over here is a bit different than at home. Sunday is the first day of the week, and a work day. We go to church on Saturdays.

Swarma (Middle Eastern food) is certainly more filling than a Snickers, though probably not a lot more healthy. Other friends passed by and stopped to chat as we ate, and I ceased to feel lonely.

Caught a bus to the Old City around 9:00, found Lisa on her way to the Western Wall. We stayed there only a little while- apparently the real festivities begin tomorrow. We did watch a folk sing-a-long in the sunken section of the Cardo near Hurva Square. The words were all on a big screen, but Lisa couldn't read them (blind as a bat). So I read what I could out loud to her, and even recognized one song from Ulpan.

Left around 10:00, walked back to the New City to catch a bus, and home by 11:15 or so.

There you have it.
Today I have Hebrew class, Tuesday and Wednesday I teach classes, Thursday is my last Hebrew class and exam.... I might slow down a bit after that. Lisa never seems to be rushed, but she has close to the same load as I do- but her exam is over and her teaching doesn't come til next week.