I slept in late again- about 9:30 AM. I slept in Ofek's bed which, I late found out, has two mattress on top of one and another. Yasmin joked that Ofek's so sensitive like that story of the Princess and the Mattress. But they're going to give one of the mattresses to the Sudanese soon anyway. Linda brought over two Sudanese to help them pick up an old washing machine in Tel Aviv and drive them back.
Adam and Mohammad were very nice and chatty. They had great English but so-so Hebrew (they just finished Bet). While Adam pruned one of the trees, Mohammad and I practiced our Hebrew a bit and I learned that he came here just a few years ago and his family would come soon and on their way (they just have to survive the minefields of Egypt, I mean, it's practically a death zone). They were very pleasant and I could see that they worked very hard to survive and live in Israel- I was told that although they're supported by an organization, they still have to pay a lot of things that Jewish olims don't have to like ulpan.
When they left, including Maayan and Yasmin who were heading to the North for some friend's party, I set out to check out the mall in Herzliya, near the kibbutz, to see what Cellcom had to offer for cellphones. It was pretty hot! I did find some possible running routes that will keep me in shape but I don't know. It really is hot here and I have to wear that knee brace... Anyway, I made it to the mall and it felt great to be in an air conditioning building! The mall was pretty busy! I stopped at Steinmisky's to pick up J-Post and then to Cellcom. They didn't have much of anything that I wanted so I might have to try another Cellcom store in Tel Aviv. I also stopped by the computer store to check out the laptops. There were some very nice laptops that I'd like to have to replace mine. I wondered if it would be cheaper to buy one here since I can get a VAT. The one I was interested in the most, HP Pavilion Dz2700 series for 4300 shekels ($1,230) with the tax in it. The guys didn't know how much the tax was... so I just left the store.
I came back and we had a quick hot lunch. I tagged along with Linda to run errands and pick up Anat. For the rest of the afternoon, we all just hung out and read papers and watched movies on tv. I catnapped a bit.
While I was talking to Linda in the car, she asked about my summers in DC and I told her how much I loved working for the USHMM and living in DC. I told her that I had gone back for a couple days in June and just basically forgot how much I enjoyed working with these people and living in the city, She basically said that as much she loves living in Israel, it's still hard for her to gain reputation in her workplace and it was important to go where I have good reputation for my first serious job. That's going to be something to ask Allie and the Pollacks about when I see them.
We had Victoria and her new husband, Dani, over for Shabbat dinner. She cut her hair which made her look older but she looked pretty anyway. It seemed like it had been a while since they had gotten together with the Ravids so there was some conversation of catching up and jokes. I enjoyed it all very much. Victoria made a delicious apple-walnut salad that I should e-mail her for the dressing recipe. Linda attempted to make a whole fish- it was huge! It didn't cook thoroguhly at first so we ate a bit while we waited for it to finish. I'm not sure if people were thrilled to see the fish, especially its bones and the head, or not...
On Saturday, I got up a bit late and showered while Linda made breakfast. I stayed inside pretty much the whole day because I was flipping out and trying to rectify the problem with my processor. I began considering leaving Israel early just because if it wasn't going to cooperate and hold out long enough for me to see Melissa on Sunday, then what was the point? I wanted to be able to give my audiologist a big time frame to work with. It's not always easy to wait for the US to wake up since it's 7 hour difference! I kept myself occupied by catching up with the inews online and reading some more J-Post and worked on some Hebrew translations. Then Linda made a hot afternoon lunch and I talked about my research interests in relation to the Diaspora and about my friend Ceci's upcoming Watson fellowship travel trip around North Africa/Middle East to explore the Muslim perspective of the Jewish emigration to Israel. They listened to everything. Talking it out a bit made me reailze although I love learning about the society in Israel, the Diaspora holds greater interest because of the ultimate internal Jewish connection. Once you're in Israel, you're always surrounded by Jews and living on the land but Diaspora has greater challenges of keeping Jews connected from afar.
After lunch, I talked with my parents a bit to discuss my hearing aid issue. Then I went for an hour long walk to clear my head and explore central Herzliya. I came back and Maayan and Yasmin returned from their party which was literally on the Syria-Israel border. After Yasmin left to visit Jerusalem for the night, Maayan did all the story-telling. They had driven up to Akko and Nahariyya to eat some hummos, dirt cheap candy and dried fruit, visit some cousin of their friend, basically just wandering along the road. The party played "trans-music" which in Maayan's definition is techno-music. Ew, I'm glad I definitely didn't go. It did sound very weird- I think it was their first time doing such thing- where it's pretty secretive and people don't know the exact location until at least several hours beforehand and you have to be inside the network. Uh-huh... From the way Maayan described people's dress and behavior, it was Woodstock in Israel with people being high and in dreadlocks.
After all that, we had dinner and I eventually went to sleep.
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