Shabbat Shalom

Instead of Saturday and Sunday, the Israeli weekend is actually Friday and Saturday. It's because Shabbat lasts from Friday afternoon or night to Saturday. I going to try not to make too many generalizations about what exactly that means culturally, but it does mean that, yes, I have classes from Sunday through Thursday. It means that a lot of people go out on Thursday nights instead of Friday or Saturday night. It means the shuk--the big open-air food market in the middle of the city--is ridiculously busy on Fridays with people buying all the food they need for themselves and their guests over the next day.

I had an excellent Shabbat, going to the shuk on Friday afternoon, and then spending all of Saturday hanging out and eating with some friends from college; we ate lunch on Jose's patio with the most beautiful view. And the thing that struck me most was on Friday night, while I was walking back from dinner at the Yeshiva, I couldn't quite figure out why the streets where so empty. Until I got back to the apartment complex where I'm staying. All the apartments look into a central courtyard, and as I walked through the courtyard, I could hear singing, laughing, talking coming from most of the apartments as I passed. Everyone I know in the city called on Friday morning to make sure I had a place to go for dinner and lunch during Shabbat, because religious or not, Shabbat--and the spirit of community, rest, and relaxation that it represents--is a cultural institution. Cheesy, I know, but awesome.

Other noteworthy things: 1) I finished my first day of classes today, which went extremely well. But I'm not going to talk about that right now. I'll have lots of classes over the next year, and I'm sure I'll talk about them plenty. 2) I'm very careful to stay hydrated and protect myself from the sun, but I'm also starting to get a little color, which means I'm no longer translucent. Yippee!

Picture 1: One of the amazing views from Jose's place.
Picture 2: People coming in and out of the shuk on Friday.