my first houseguest

The past few days have been very eventful, in a non-eventful way. Thursday night, my best friend Rebecca, who I’ve known, according to a weird slip of my tongue, “since conception,” finished Birthright and spent the weekend with me. It was a bloody good time. Thursday was our official HUC Jerusalem Day, in which we learned text (Psalms, Mishnah, and modern Israeli poetry/songs) about Jerusalem while walking around the Goldman/Haas Tyelet in the morning and the Hinnon Valley (one of Jerusalem’s 3 valleys... ask me to name them) and Old City in the evening. Our afternoon, the hottest part of the day, was a free session, during which I ran to the shuk, ran home, ate lunch, did a load of wash, hung my wash out to dry, took a quick nap, and then received Becca.

Thursday night she decompressed at my temporary apartment while I concluded my “Yom Yerushaliam Day.” Afterwards, I picked her up from my apartment and we went to a delicious dinner of street falafel and shwarma, on the edge of Ben Yehuda, people watching everyone out on the town on a Thursday night (the Israeli equivalent of a Friday night). Then we met up with some classmates of mine for a drink or two, and then turned in.

Friday was spent shopping, schmoozing, and eating our way through downtown Jerusalem, followed by a very lovely dinner at Rebecca’s cousins home in Ra’anana (a suburb slightly northeast of Tel Aviv). I had an opportunity to practice my Hebrew with some real Israelis who were patient and slow and corrected my mis-conjugations and improper preposition use (according to my ulpan teacher, a surefire way of determining whether someone is a proficient Hebrew speaker or not) and helped expand my vocabulary, much to some confusion on Rebecca’s part. I tried to translate as best I could, but it all happened so fast! I swear!

Our Shabbat was loverly; services, and then a delicious, huge, scrumptious lunch at a (non-kosher, cause they’re open on Shabbat) restaurant, a stroll to and around the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and then authentic Shabbat rest. Then dinner, and then she left. The visit itself was wonderful. On one level, it was great just to be with Rebecca, with no agenda (plays, moms, brothers, etc), for a few days, and just hang out. I think it’s been years, years since that’s been able to happen. On another level, it was my first houseguest. You can’t have a houseguest if you’re not settled, if you don’t have a place to put them up. Her visit made me feel that I am (despite not having actually moved into my apartment) living here. This is real. This is happening. Her visit made this city feel a little but more like a home.