Moment in history and the beat goes on

You know how sometimes you know something but you sort of don't believe it.  Like today,  (well,  now it's yesterday)  I woke up and found out that Shimon Peres had passed away. I knew he had been very sick and I knew that he was very old.  But he just seemed like he would always sort of be there.  There isn't much that I can say that would be appropriate for this occasion.  He was a great man and of course,  as is usually the case,  today I learned more about him due to his death,  than I ever knew about him during his life.

Now the flip side.  Change of topic.  The chagim are coming and that doesn't stop for anything really.  Today I decided that since ulpan ended early,  I would attempt a quick supermarket run before I had to get the little guy from school.  All of you Israelis who are reading this are laughing at me.  But hello,  it was 11:30am on a Wednesday.  And I am an experienced shopper and I had a small list.  (because I've already conquered online supermarket shopping here).

 Anyway,  I can barely find a spot to park.  Get to the market,  buy a few new fruits,  and I need to stop at the cheese counter.  That's right.  A full kosher cheese  counter.  It's as delicious as you are imagining.  I see only about 4 women in line,  so I think,  great  no problem.  But as I get closer I hear a few of them fighting,  or perhaps just speaking really loudly with unhappy faces.  So,  skip the cheese counter,  because I'm on a schedule here.  Also,  really,  let's  not fight over cheese.  It's too delicious.

Okay,  moving on,  the store is packed with food.  Yes  there are people but that isn't the issue.  There is so much food in preparation for the chagim.  You have to sort of frogger your way across the store and avoid the trolleys of food.  I get what I need and head to the checkout.  And that's when the success ended.  I felt like I was on candid camera.  It was like time slowed down while the person in front of me checked out.  Seriously,  I got significantly older while in that line.   It the good news is,  I have totally mastered the questions I know they will ask me at checkout.  Except when they ask me stuff like,  how many rolls in this bag?  (because yes,  you buy fresh rolls and they cost basically nothing)  And darn it if I don't give the wrong number every time.  Not the wrong number of rolls  but the wrong gender.  Like,  why yes,  Shemona instead of Shemoneh.   Because clearly the number of items is either masculine or feminine.  Oy.

Now of course,  a kid update.  Featured kid of this week is the first born.  As stated earlier,  or if you know him,  you know that he is obsessed with the guitar and rock n roll.  He wants to be a rock star.  Okay, his parents hope that maybe he will be a rock star on the side and a paying job during the week,  but he has time to figure that out.  Anyway,  he comes from school on Tuesday and says, "I made the band and there is a performance tomorrow night."  Okay then.  We had a bar mitzvah to attend,  so we went to the bar mitzvah,  left to go and see his band and then went back.

I am so proud of how he just jumped in there and got into the band.  And even though he plays the guitar,  they needed a bass player so apparently now he plays the bass.  He was so excited and did not seem nervous at all.    Selfie or it didn't happen!

So we are back at the bar mitzvah and we tell him to either take the bus or walk home, since it was unclear when his event would end.   Even though if we were still in NJ,  there is no way I would tell him to walk  home at 10:30pm.  So he waited for a bus,  and an out of service bus apparently picked him off and dropped him off at the bus stop near us.  I wasn't even worried.  Look how much I am maturing!!!!

Meanwhile,  today after school,  my girls went to some shopping center to have ice cream with friends.  They just went from school and will eventually figure out how to get home.  I guess only one kid still needs me for transportation,  and soon  he will hopefully also be able to ride the city bus to and from school. Winning!!!!

 Now,  a final Israeli moment of the day.  Because you knew I would have another one.  Someone in my ulpan class is learning to play the harmonica as a way to de-stress. Although honestly,  I practice my French phrases on her and the amount that she laughs should be enough of a de-stressor,   but that's neither here nor there.  So she brought it today and played it for the class.  I think I mentioned here that I know a freakishly huge number of songs.  So one of the songs she knows is BaShanah HaBa'A,  which we all knew.  Then she starts another and my teacher says,  "nu  Arielle,  sing."   What is she playing????  Hafinjan! one of the most random songs to ever appear in the bentchers we used growing up.  That's right,  picture me singing this while a beginner harmonica player plays it  and you have your daily laugh.  You're welcome.  Good thing I love the people in my class.

HAFINJAN