Erev Shabbat and Shabbat #2

Wow, what a Shabbat it was. 

On Friday morning, Ilana, Dena, and I woke up and definitely took our time getting ready for the day.  We knew that the goal was to shop for food for Shabbat, but we weren't totally sure about what time or where that would take place.  At about 11 we headed out with two of my friends from school, with a two food-carrying devices in hand (a rolling cart, and a small rolling suitcase).  We caught the 164 bus to B'nei Brak, after finding out that there is a Yesh (Israeli version of Walmart) there, and got off at Tzomet Geha.  We had no clue where it was in B'nei Brak, so we called one of my program leaders for some directions.  He said that the way we had been walking for ten minutes was the wrong way, and sent us right back where we came from and beyond.  After much doubt and a fifteen to twenty minute walk we finally found our street.  Hungry because most of hadn't yet eaten, we searched for food.  But unfortunately we were unsuccessful, presumably due to the fact that Shabbat was quickly approaching.  So we gave up on the whole food concept and made our way to the store. 

Not having a plan for the food, we searched the aisles until things just started coming together.  A few challot, frozen schnitzel, frozen vegetables, some cold cuts... We had a plan.  Two guys, who would be eating with us for Shabbat, said they would bring grape juice, pita, hummus, and some salami, so things were looking good.  I also bought some stuff to have just for my apartment.  I bought a warming plate for Shabbat, a pan, candles, matches, foil pans, etc, and thus far I am very happy with my purchases. We realized that it was really getting late in the afternoon and that we did not have so much time until Shabbat, so we hustled out of the store, packing our food cart, and made our way to the nearest bus stop.  Too bad the nearest bus stop doesn't help us get to Ramat Ef'al (where I live).  So we walked for five to ten minutes back to Tzomet Geha, where we got off of the bus, and found our way to the appropriate bus stop.  The wait was not too long before our friend the 164 arrived.  We got to our stop at about 3 PM, and realized that there were a couple of things we had forgotten to purchase.  Thinking that the Mega (grocery store down the street from where I live) closed at 3, but hoping it closed at 4, my friend Faye gave us her groceries and ran there... We were more than happy to find out that 4:00 is their Erev Shabbat closing time, and she purchased all of the necessary goods.  Meanwhile, Ilana and I decided to begin the Shabbat preparations. 

After putting all of the groceries away, we washed, peeled, and cut many potatoes.  Sprinkled them with olive oil, paprika, salt, and pepper and threw them in two foil pans into the surprisingly awesome toaster oven.  Then we threw the frozen peas and carrots, along with a can of corn, into a foil pan, and didn't do too many exciting things with them but put them in the other toaster oven.  My friend Rachel made some great rice, with a hint of lime-- yum! We washed two extremely large heads of lettuce and cut cucumbers for a salad, and stuck the hummus, cold cuts, and matbucha in the fridge.  I gotta say- I was super surprised at how well and quickly everything was coming together.. It was great! The final component was to throw the Schnitz in the oven once the potatoes were done.  Dena and Ilana went to shower, I was talking to a couple people on the phone, and before you know it it was twenty minutes before Shabbat.  The candles were ready to light, the blech was plugged in, our table for three was set, and I also got a chance to shower.  Success! We actually made Shabbat happen in like seven hours. 

Dinner was awesome! It was just me, Dena, and Ilana and we really enjoyed being together again.  I made kiddush, Dena said Ha'motzi-- good stuff.  The wine we bought, though cheap, was not very good at all.  I drank a cup of it for kiddush on an empty stomach and I was for real a little drunk for most of the meal, which was totally unexpected and not so comfortable.  But it was funny.  Mostly because the wine was only 12.5% alcohol, and very similar to the Bartenura Moscato.  We had a great salad, green beans, potatoes, and schnitzel.  It all turned out great.  Our dessert was awesome, too! We bought not-so-good Rugelach, but the cinnamon cake was beautiful.  After dinner, we cleaned up and headed to my room to talk and hang out.  My friends came back from where they went for dinner, and they and the two boys who were also on campus for Shabbat were sitting around outside of our dorms.  But, let's just say that there was a rather large fiasco when the discovery was made that our entire kitchen counter was covered in hundreds of small, very nasty ants.  For some reason it was decided that the guys would Raid (the poisonous bug-killing spray) our kitchen, so that happened then the kitchen door was shut.  This didn't really make me so comfortable for multiple reasons, but mostly because all of our food was in there (being subjected to poison) and there wasn't really any air flow,  So I covered my mouth and nose with my shirt, ran in, and opened the windows and the door.  While I was in there I noticed that the once-living hundreds of small and nasty ants were now dead-on-the-counter small and nasty ants. If you ask me: YUCK.

Post-ant fiasco I was totally ready for bed and even got into bed.  But, it was not yet time for me to sleep.  We had two visitors, mid-twenties Israeli men, who made some of my friends a little bit uncomfortable.  Using my usually spot-on internal people-reading technology, I sensed that these really were just two guys walking home from dinner.  But, not everyone felt that way.  So one of the guys ran to alert the Shomer of our campus.  I suggested that everyone just lock their doors and hit the hay, and believe me I was the first to do so.  I'm not totally sure how much longer everyone stayed outside, but the whole fear of a security breach thing lasted for like twenty-five minutes. So by the time I got to bed it was about 11:45. 

This morning, I woke up at around noon to one of the guys calling my name to ask when we would be having lunch.  I said around 12:45 or 1, and found Ilana and Dena awake in their room.  I told them what time lunch would be, and headed to the kitchen to assess the dead ant/Raid situation.  The smell in the room was a bit strong, and it seemed that somehow the number of dead ants increased over night.  Ew.  Oh, also... my friend told me that earlier in the morning she had found a CAT in our kitchen, which they assumed got in threw the barred window.  No words. 

I knew that the de-ant'ing our counters was going to take a number of layers of cleaning, so I planned it all out.  I must mention that the cleaning skills I used for this job are totally thanks to my mom, so props and a shout-out to her.
Step one: Wipe off the actual ants.
Step two: Wipe off the counters with water to ditch the bug juice. 
Step three: Windex.  Definitely the only cleaning solution we have, and I figured that the label on it which said "Lo Ye'echol- Don't eat/consume" meant that it was strong enough to do what I wanted it to do.
Step four: Scrub the counter with a soapy sponge.
Step five: Wipe down the soapy water and dry off the counter.

Somewhere in there I stuck the food onto the blech, by the way.  Once I sufficiently cleaned the nasty counters meal preparations began.  The two guys took our building' and the next building's picnic tables and put them together in the shade.  We put on a plastic table cloth, set the table, poured wine, and brought out the hummus and matbucha.  We made a salad, and grabbed the challah which had been warming on top of the food, and headed outside.  One of the guys made kiddush, we washed, and the other guy made ha'motzi.  Everyone sat down, and we really enjoyed the first course of our meal.  Then, it was time for the real food.  Cold cut sandwiches, carrots/peas/corn, green beans, and rice... It turned out to be so nice.  Oh! Forgot to say that at some point between the de-ant'ing and lunch preparations, another cat made it into our kitchen and ate one of the challah rolls. Get outta here-- rude.

Back to lunch.  Half of our lunchtime conversation had to do with the various cats around us.  Whether it was arguing about whether or not we should feed the cats, discussing the fact that two cats made it into our kitchen, or more arguing about feeding the cats... We talked a lot about cats.  And argued a lot about cats.  For those of you who don't know, I do not at all consider myself to be a cat person. So I don't totally 'feel it' when people feed cats, especially when it's within fifty feet of where I live.  But, I am not the only one who lives here so that definitely happens. 

Anyways, after lunch we ate the delicious cinnamon cake, some Rugelach, and great seeded grapes as we played Taboo and Apples to Apples.  That was really fun.  When it was about 4:30 Dena, Ilana, and I headed to my room and we just hung out and talked for a couple of hours.  About an hour before Shabbat was over, Dena and Ilana fell asleep and I warmed stuff up for Seudah Shelishit.  No one was really hungry, but you gotta do what you gotta do.  We had a light seudah, and Shabbat was over.  We found the necessary "ingredients" for Havdalah, and made that happen, too.  Dena and Ilana started packing, and I did the dishes.  At about 8:15 they left, and the kitchen was totally clean.  What a beautiful thing to see.  Not much going on tonight; just taking it easy because we have classes tomorrow morning starting at 9. 

Overall, what a wonderful wonderful Shabbat.  I got to spend it with two of my best friends, as well as four of my new friends, and we really made it great.  The food was awesome, and the fact that we made it happen by ourselves and in this country is even more awesome.  Love it.  I'm so happy that I could be with them, and we will absolutely be doing this again. 

Shavua Tov, to all, and to all a good night.