On Monday night, because of my minimal classes on Tuesday, I decided that I would spend the night in the Old City with Sarah Varon. I got to bed on the early side of things because I knew I'd be waking up early on Tuesday morning. I planned to get up early because I wanted to speak to my Vava (great-grandmother on my Dad's side) about some Seattle Sephardic history. I was given an assignment to write a Historical Fiction essay, and I realized that it would be really cool if I could write it with facts based on my family history. And in order to have enough facts, I planned to discuss it with Vava. We spoke on the phone for about two hours, which was awesome. At some point, hopefully soon, I'm going to write up the things we discussed, and if I do that I will make it available to anyone who is interested. But anyways, it was awesome to learn about life in Turkey, the journey to Seattle, and life in the early stages of the Seattle Sephardic Community.
In order to speak with her at a good time, I woke up at 4:15ish in the morning. But, I had another reason for waking up so early... In the Old City there is a famous jewelry store called Hadaya. They make beautifully engraved silver or gold bracelets, necklaces, and rings. They open each morning at 5:30 am, and they have a deal for anyone who is the first person in line in the morning. I decided that because I slept literally around the corner, I might as well take advantage of my opportunity to get the deal. What's the deal? 50% off of one piece of jewelry. Luckily for me, I got there at about 4:40 and I was the first one there! I took a seat on the ground outside of the store, and spoke to my Vava there as I waited for Hadaya to open.
When the store opened and I went in, I told the girl what I wanted and was waiting for her to write up a receipt. But, I heard the engraver man saying to her that he needed help replacing the 5 gallon water jug since he has a bad back. And because she is pregnant, she obviously couldn't help him. Since I totally have no problem picking one of those up, I offered to help. He showed me where to get the water bottle, so I replaced the old one. He was so thankful that I replaced the water that he offered me a free engraved Jerusalem skyline. Then, he said, I'll make your bracelet first this morning so it will be done in twenty minutes! What a deal!! 1/2 off, free skyline, and done in twenty minutes... Plus I got to learn about Seattle Sephardim while I was waiting for this to happen. How much better can you get?
Afterwards I realized that sunrise was going to happen soon. And, I realized that the sunrise would definitely be visible from all of the spots which lookout over the Kotel. So I booked it towards the Kotel, and this is what I found:
Beautiful!!!!!
What else can I say about this week...
Last night I decided to try a banana, after having not liked them for about 14 years, and for some reason I actually liked it. I must say that my mouth was quite confused at the texture/banananess, but over all I enjoyed it. And I even had another one today. Crazy!
I will be spending my Shabbat on campus. I have spent many of my recent Shabbatot out, and I was looking for some serious reposaring- as we say in Ladino. I'm having dinner at my Av and Eim Bayit's house tonight, and for lunch tomorrow I threw a whole bunch of things in my crock pot. I'm definitely hoping that it turns out good, but ya never know. We'll see.
Shout-out to my Dad, whose birthday it is today-- muchos y buenos!!
Shabbat Shalom, everyone.
Incredible story!! Eizeh tzadikah.... :)
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