With plans to go to Nof Ayalon (a Yishuv where one of my teachers lives) with Adina and my friend Emma for Shabbat, we looked up which bus to take and when. Of course, there's only one bus that runs on Fridays and it's not until 2:59. Since there was no chance we were going to miss it we left at 2:25, which would put us at the bus stop at 2:35 at the latest. It obviously had to start raining on our way there, but we finally got there and to the right bus stop with about 20-25 minutes to spare. All we had to do was wait for our 200 bus. There are 3 other buses which go to the same general area as this bus, but the other ones are much more out of the way for our teacher to pick us up so the 200 was the winner. About 10 of the other buses went past us as we waited, but we confidently waved them all off because we knew that it wasn't until 2:59 when our bus would arrive. We waited, got a little wet from the rain, and waited some more. 2:55 rolled around with no bus-- no worries at all. Right? We still have 4 minutes. 3:00 comes around and still no bus-- no worries because it's running a little late with all of the rain. 3:10 comes around? A little nervous to say the least. And, it's been about ten minutes since the last of those other three buses has come through.. What are we to do? So I called our teacher, Dr. Tannenbaum, and I asked her what we should do. "No problem," she said, "just take one of the other three!" We hung up. The watch strikes 3:15 and we were kinda just like... uh oh. I checked the bus times on my phone and it didn't exactly seem like one of the other three lines were going to show up either. So I decided to call a taxi company to see how much it would theoretically cost for us to get to Nof Ayalon. The price was definitely not what we were expecting to pay to get there, but it wasn't out of question. I asked him to lower it, and of course he met me half way between my offer and his. Adina, Emma, and I talked it over and decided that there was no way we could miss Shabbat at Dr. Tannenbaum's house and that the buses were for sure done running before Shabbat. So I said yes to the taxi company man, and he came about five minutes later. It was for sure a much more pleasant ride than a bus would have been, but it was lame because we had gotten there with so much time to spare. It was likely just full so the bus driver didn't even stop at our stop, but what can you do?
We got to their house with plenty of time to help them get ready for Shabbat and meet everyone, which was nice. We went to the Ashkenazic synagogue for Tefilah on Friday night, but we visited the Nusach Sefard synagogue right after because they were hosting some visitors. Apparently, for one Shabbat each year Nof Ayalon pays for a choir to lead Shabbat tefilah services in a couple of their synagogues. And we, so luckily, decided to come for that Shabbat! For those of you who hail from within the four glorious walls of Ezra Bessaroth, do not imagine the choir we used to have. Imagine about fifteen middle-aged men, sitting in the front of the synagogue around a conductor- all wearing matching purple ties. And, a tall black-robed man with a two-tiered black hat with gold tassel things standing at the bimah. I have absolutely no understanding for how someone could legitimately pray listening to all of that going on, because it was way too distracting if you ask me. But basically, they sung out each and every note in every syllable for the whole tefilah on Friday night. It probably took them two to three hours from start to finish-- if they're lucky. It was of course nice-sounding at times, but it seemed a bit drawn out. After listening for a while, we headed back to the Tannenbaum's house for dinner and had a wonderful meal. After eating we played card games for a couple of hours, and then it was time for bed.
I woke up at 7:30ish, which is surprisingly early, but I accepted it and went to synagogue. Since I went by myself, I went to the Sephardic synagogue which was of course a lovely treat. It's so not often enough that I get to follow along in my siddur with the tefilah, and even got to hear a couple of familiar tunes. What a joy. After tefilah I went back to their house and we all had a beautiful lunch at 11. At 1:00 I went with Dr. Tannenbaum to this parsha class that she goes to every week, which is about ten women who take turns preparing a class on the parsha and they go to each others' houses each week. It's kinda the cutest thing I've ever seen, haha. So I enjoyed that class, and getting a feel for the dynamic there, which was great. Afterwards I took a little nap, played some card games, and read a little. Before we knew it Shabbat was over. Dr. Tannenbaum got us a ride back with her neighbor's parents, who live very close to us. Buckets!!!! It was unfortunately trafficey on the way back, but we made it home pretty quickly. I went to bed relatively early last night, which is why I was more than surprised to look at the clock upon waking up and see that it was 2:00 pm. No clue why on earth I was that tired, but that's what break is for. Right?
I went to the grocery store with my program director this afternoon... We shopped for our big super bowl tailgate tonight, and I bought some meat for myself so that I will actually be able to eat this month! Hurray!! I also bought some nuts and dried fruits in Bnei Brak, which look great and were quite cheap compared to most places. I'm just hanging out for a little while as we all anxiously await our midnight super bowl tailgate, to be followed by the 1:00 am super bowl. It will definitely be different than the usual hangout with my family, but I'm looking forward to being with all of my friends as we watch a game for which I have no care between teams that don't matter to me. But that's always the case, so the only new thing is the location and the people I'm with. That's how it goes, though, so I am excited.
Wherever you may be and whoever you are with for the super bowl this afternoon, whether you are watching it, feeding people who are watching it, or you have nothing to do with it... may you enjoy what you are doing and be safe while doing it! I'm looking forward to watching the commercials, and you should be too!! Have a wonderful week.
No comments:
Post a Comment