The Mercaz Klita in Ashkelon became our new home for the next 3 months. Part of settling into Ashkelon was doing laundry for the first time. Laundry was an adventure, many of the machines didn’t work or were confusing, and I don’t know what I would have done without my new friend- I believe her name was Zemiah. She was only 9 years old, but her maturity soared beyond the other kids. In addition to showing me which dryer I could get without using any shekels, we talked and worked on our Hebrew/ English for hours. She knew a little English from school and I knew a little Hebrew, so we taught each other some helpful things. I started the brainwashing early by teaching her all about the Yankees-- the message I was sending her was Yankees = baseball. Arielle for some reason had a problem with that lol. She also braided my hair in cornrows so that it looked professionally done-- everyone was shocked when I told them a 9 yr old had done it. We then got our nails painted and glittered by a lady doing her laundry after us. Overall an interesting experience.
Immersing ourselves in the Ashkelon community, a group of us went to Shabbat services at a nearby synagogue that had reached out to us. The service was mostly in Hebrew, but at the end the president would randomly tell us things in English, which was kind of funny. I was thinking while I was there what a difference there must be in the way I as an American English speaking person views services as compared to an Israeli. In the US most people say the prayers because it’s what they are used to, and they have no idea what they are saying. The Israelis speak Hebrew, so they know everything they say, which puts on a whole different perspective. It also I would assume make learning their bar/bat mitzvahs a much easier task.
Saturday in Israel is the day of rest, in Ashkelon that means the beach! Saturday afternoon/evening is all about walking or running outside, and just enjoying hanging out with people. The concept of Shabbat here is so wonderful, everyone just chills out a bit and relaxes, even if people aren’t religious, they still just chill for a day of the week. I went with Tracy and Vanessa to watch the sunset, and then for a run along the beach. The sunset was beautiful and it was cool to hear how passionate Tracy felt about it. For her it was a calming and dependable awesome part of her life. She mentioned how she can always count on it to make her happy and think about the natural beauty. I think for me, my dependable calming activity is watching the Yankees. It’s something I have done ever since I was a little kid and it’s comforting to me to watch and just see the pinstripes and people playing baseball. It’s a peaceful part of my life that is out of my control and fun to watch.
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