Discovering Ramla and Shabbat

I am bad at this blogging thing. I have realized that it is a lot harder than I thought to try and write down everything that is happening to me, when it is happening. The truth is that there is just not enough time in the day, enough days in the week, or enough weeks in the month.

Shakshouka night at Yoseftal!

This week was pretty much a carbon copy of the weeks before it, with some new thrown in here and there. The week ahead of us, we start volunteering! Mazi, our house mother, was over one night, and made us a fantastic dinner. Shakshouka is a traditional middle-eastern dish made out of onions, tomatoes, and poached eggs. I am trying so many new things while I am here, food included, and I cannot wait to try and create my own shakshouka!

At the beach in Rehovot.

Strangely enough, I keep discovering how much I truly enjoy Shabbat. This past Shabbat, I went to a very nice beach with some great new friends that I met on Thursday night, and saw the biggest waves I have ever seen, waves that I didn't even realize existed. The were feet high in the air, and dangerous. People were surfing, kite surfing, and getting knocked over by the pure strength of the sea. (I keep having to remind myself that it is the sea, not the ocean.) It was a wonderful experience, so different from the beach back home. Most who know me know that when I go to the beach, it is an all day activity. You pack lunch, a book and some tunes, and set out until the sun sets. Here, this is not the case. The sun is too strong, the water is to menacing, and beach trips are quick.


We went out on Thursday night to Rehovot by way of a sherut. We just went to a small bar called Dublins (good pizza!), and next week we will go out a little bit bigger for my birthday, maybe to Tel A'viv. I am continuously surprised by the establishments in Israel, like bars, where people can smoke inside. 


I am also shocked on a weekly basis when Shabbat comes around, by how much I actually enjoy it. I have decided that I would like to synagogue shop, yes, synagogue... Shul is Yiddish and Temple means the literal "great" Temple in Israel, so synagogue it is, while I am in Israel. Rachel and I were fortunate enough to run into someone who took us to synagogue Friday night. The synagogue was a hop, skip and a jump away from our apartment, and it was, of course, a mechitza, where the men and women are separated. I don't really know what my feelings are on this concept. Part of me relishes in it because the balcony is normally a community of great women who make sure that you are welcome and that you are following the service. The other part of me can't get my head around the fact that the women are made to sit upstairs (in a lot of synagogues, not all) and cannot see the Rabbi or even hear the service a lot of the time. The services here are also primarily Sephardi, and I am Ashkanazi, so the services are very hard to follow. I am determined to learn though. Part of me, a very small part, feels like a poser, because I am so clueless while I am in synagogue. I barely knew what I was doing when I was at my temple in Stoughton, and now that I am completely out of my element, I am turned upside down. However, I know that I enjoy synagogue, and I like how I feel when I am in synagogue, and I believe that that is all the more reason for me to continue to synagogue-shop, and continue to learn.

Scaling ancient stairs at the White Tower.

The four of us girls are lucky enough to have met a friend, Moty, who has the literal "keys to the city". On Sunday, he took us on a tour of Ramla, so we could see what exactly the city was all about. We went to the underground water cisterns, the White Tower, and the Carmel, a place where the people who govern Ramla watch over the city to ensure that there isn't any trouble. It's really something. All three activities were wonderful, my favorite being the cisterns, where we were able to paddle a row boat around underground and explore. The White Tower was also great, because at the summit you could see all of Ramla, in its expanse, and the city is much larger than I thought. It was a great day, filled with a lot of great experiences. I believe that it is good to know something about the town that I am living in.

We ended Shabbat by walking around Ramla after the sun went down. We got pizza and frozen yogurt and watched the city come to life again. It really is an amazing experience, and even though we do it every Saturday night, it is different each time. I am determined to spend at least a few weekends while I am in Israel in the Shomer-Shabbat manner. It fascinates me, and I think that it might actually be good for me to try something completely out of my norm.