First Day

I couldn't sleep last night so I slept all morning here. I accidentally called My mom at 4am her time (2pm mine) because I forgot the time difference.  But at least she knows I made it safe and can tell everyone else. 

I met our other apartment mate, Rebecca.  She's really cool.  She sounds American, though I never thought to ask where she was from. (Dustin is telling me Montana)

Marge showed us the church and the prayer tower.  I didn't know that the church was a revamped old movie theatre under a mall.  It was so cool.  And it's a multi-level mall that circles around a small central courtyard.  Most of the shops look a little dingy from the outside, though there were a decent amount of people populating them, and there were several empty ones.  There was an ugly stray cat who had gotten a piece of raw chicken out of a trash bag, eating it like a paranoid epileptic.  Marge just loves the poor cats.  She's always talking to them, saying, "poor kitty", and giving them food.  What a sweetheart. 

The view from the tower is so beautiful.  It's definitely another world here. 

I learned that there are different kinds of religious Jews, one kind in particular are the ultra orthodox.  They are the ones with the curls on their temples.  They are taught to look away from women (so as not to be tempted I suppose).  It feels a little dehumanizing, but at the same time, I can't really be mad because at least the desire for righteousness is there.  I suppose I have more grace for these hyper-legalists than I do for the somewhat legalists in my own church…  but Christians who are legalists are like an oxymoron.  I explained the looking away part to Daniela's mom and she said, "well, that explains it," because she thought these guys were just hateful.  She is a very friendly and social person.  She says hello to everyone in the room, so naturally she was insulted.

We went to the young adult group that Matt and Daniela lead.  The worship was great (of course!  It's Matt and Daniela!).  They had the coolest pastries to eat, and there were people from all over.  I met Germans, a guy from Poland, people from London, a girl from Finland, other Americans, other Canadians, and only a few Israelis.  There were so many different accents.  Matt gave a teaching on the gifts of the spirit and the young adults were very knowledgeable.  They gave input that showed they knew the historical context of the scripture.  It was more in depth than the pat answers I'm used to hearing.  I felt that the average young adult pastor wouldn't really make it very far in this setting.  At least he or she would be challenged to dig a level deeper.  You really have to know your stuff.  They asked logical questions and didn't settle for generalizations.  If you don't know, you can't just say fluff, or just give your own interpretation; they won't buy it.  You just need to say, "I don't know." 

Dustin talked to a big-bearded young white guy most of the night, haha.  I never got a chance to learn his name.

But yes, Matt's teaching was encouraging and reminded me that it's God is in me who does the work, so there's no reason to doubt myself or compare myself to anyone else. 

I also met a quantum chemist; a German named Marcell.  I am around musicians, theologians, and pastors most of the time, so I was fascinated by what he does for a living.

Then a group of us walked to a little café called "Cofix" which sold drinks and pastries, all for a fixed price of five shekels each.  I got a carrot juice, which I've never seen sold in any restaurant in the states.  My mom used to make it, so I had to get some.

The streets were packed with people on a Thursday night, which I learned it's because tomorrow is Shabbat.  No one works at all from 6:30pm on Friday until 6:30pm on Saturday.  All the shops are closed (well, most of them) on Shabbat, so everyone was partying while all the shops and cafés were still open.  "This is their Friday night" Cynthia (D's mom) said.  It's weird to see drunk Jews with their yamacas on (did I spell that right?) and prayer tassels.  I agree that drunkenness is not good, but it's just not frowned upon so much here like it is in the US.  I suppose I expect "righteous" people to be calm and quiet and smile a lot.  But that's a weird picture of holiness, honestly.  

The streets aren't as wide as, say, downtown Minneapolis, and the buildings aren't taller than ten stories high (except maybe a few).  Everything is made of Jerusalem stone (so it's all mostly tan-colored).  I did not see any sky-scrapers anywhere, or buildings covered in glass.  And generally, on the street, the surfaces did not seem so right-angled and straight (even though a lot of them were), and the stones are well-worn, so everything seems soft even though it's hard.  The roads we walked down weren't really for cars though.  The streets for vehicles are paved like any city I've been to.  But the city is all on hills that continue on as far as the eye can see, and all the buildings are tan and sometimes red, with trees and plants growing in between, so the visual impact (from my bedroom window) is just pure beauty. 

(this is the actual view from our bedroom window)

And the weather was amazing all day.  I was slightly cool in the evening, but otherwise there was no difference in temperature from outside to inside.  It was all perfectly comfortable.

I ate pre-packaged schnitzel from Marge's freezer today.  Dustin and I each had a sandwich with a schnitzel and cheese.  Then we ate puff pastries with potato in them (at the young adult group).  Then we had pizza from a pizza shop near the Cofix café.  But I'm starving right now because it's almost 6pm Minneapolis time: dinner time.

I'm excited because I'm going to help Daniela cook for Shabbat tomorrow.  I feel like it's a holiday!