Living life almost normally

I spent this past shabbat in Yerushalyim at my "adopted family" from Yeshiva days in Katamon. I had never slept over there before, but during Yeshiva I'd frequently go over for Shabbat meals, so their kids knew and loved me. They have 7 kids (1 pair of twins) ranging from 6 mos. to 11-1/2. I tried to get a sense from them how the war was affecting their lives, if at all, over shabbat. Uri's neighbor, Eli, has been in the army more than a week, he told me. I ate at his house for dinner only a month earlier, but life as normal means that in times like this, you go to the army for reserves. Uri's kids, friends with Eli & Eli's kids, who has been on the border in the Golani Brigade since last week, thought that he was "guarding the border with Russia." Not trying to overanalyze this, but its either that the kids misunderstood what they were told, or this is what Eli's wife told them as to not to let them worry.

I asked Uri if he thought he'd get called up any time soon, and he told me he actually got a call this past week. He told me that since he has more than 6 kids, it is voluntary for him to go and serve; however, he is seriously considering it. I can't imagine how he'd want to leave for war with 7 young kids at home, but that’s the Israeli mentality, I guess. One night this week, I overheard the following quote from one of my fellow Yavneh participants, "Is Israel really in a war right now?" It's sad, here in Yerushalyim, its much harder to see. Where I work at Machon Lev, the place seems a bit emptier, right now they are in the midst of moed bet exams, where basically in Israel you get a 2nd chance (everyone does) on the final, so the place is a little less full from the students who don't need that opportunity, but about a week and a half ago, you'd see students in their uniforms all over the place. Other then that, the YU campus is hosting 20 or so families from the North who had to flee their homes. There is a heightened security presence in Yerushalyim during the evenings, I have seen on more than one occasion Border Policemen examining papers of random Arabs walking down the street, but that's really normal. So on one hand while the person who said that was probably being a little sarcastic, the routine in Yerushalyim is not so different than what I am used to, or anyone who has lived in Yerushalyim is used to.

On Monday night, I went to dinner with Ian and 2 of his friends for his birthday. After which we created a new tradition, watching Tigers day games using Ben Yehuda's free wireless on MLB.TV. Whoa! Let me break that down. So, Ian has MLB.TV, which is a paid subscription to basically watch any MLB game you want at any time live or on demand for any team. Next, Ben Yehuda (and Emek Refaim) have free wireless. Ian has a computer. We had a game Tigers vs. Twins starting at 2 PM ET, perfect! We got stares for cheering but probably close to 10 kids and adults peering over our shoulders, asking what we were watching and also where Ian bought his white (Apple iBook G4) computer.

This afternoon I am hopefully taking my fan that I purchased from the Israeli equivalent of Home Depot, called HomeCenter, back because about a week ago it stop oscillating. The oscillation of our fan is key, based on our room setup. I actually feel bad for my roommate, because right now the fan is stuck in my direction, and well I don’t really feel like moving it to his. With only 2 weeks left in the program, all I really want to accomplish is to have a fan that we can sell at the end of the program, and make back atleast part of our 100 shekel ($22) investment. While the investment was certainly worth it, and even if we only make back half of it, at this rate a non-oscillating fan will be a complete disaster if we try to sell it. The one potential snag is that my roommate bought it with cash and has no receipt. I am hoping that since I think the fan is a house brand, they will realize that we did buy it there and either repair it for me or give me a new one, but I really can’t know. What happens in America if your fan stop oscillating and you are receipt-less? Please feel free to share your experiences with me, so I can compare them to the one I will have later today.

Also, while I'm at it I am going to add another picture from last Tuesday's Kotel Tefilah that I stumpled upon via a friend. This one really shows how many people were there:

(click to enlarge a bit)
Photo credit: Rachel Klapper via Aviva Horowitz