Weekend update.

Shabbat shalom! How was your weekend? Mine was relaxing and really lovely. On Friday evening I met Jen for Shabbat services at her shul, an international synagogue in downtown Tel Aviv. It was the last Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah- the Jewish New Year, and the beginning of the High Holidays. There was an acapella group from New York City called Six13 visiting to lead the service with their vocal stylings, and the service was joyful and incredibly lovely.

After welcoming the Sabbath Queen and we met up with Jon, Jen's brother, and headed to Giv'atayim for Shabbat dinner at Libbie's house. It was Mrs. Zagiv's first time getting her domestic on and making a whole meal- it was delicious, mazal tov to Libbie on a successful culinary adventure! We drank wine, ate the incredible food Libbie perpared, laughed together, and enjoyed each other's company. After dinner over tea and dessert we watched Prime Minister Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas each address the United Nations.

Saturday afternoon was spent on the beach. In the morning it rained (for the second day in a row, SO strange!) and the skies remained a bit overcast until 3 or 4pm, but that meant that the weather was perfect- not too hot on the beach, the water was still warm (compared to New England), and Jen and I spent hours just chatting and laughing and taking photos.

After grabbing some food, we walked downtown and met Libbie for a ladies night chick flick! We saw The Help. Have you seen/read it? It was my first movie in Israel! I really wish I'd read the book first, but I loved the movie, and I have a girl crush on Emma Stone (not in the creepy way like Jim Carrey, though). All in all, a fantastic day.

Tomorrow is my first day at my new babysitting job, I'm so excited to be able to spend time with a little one, but I'm sure it will make me miss all the babies back home who I left behind. When it comes down to it, though, I'm just grateful for something to do. I love kids, but starting any new job is always a little intimidating. The little girl I'm going to be watching is named Maya, she is 2.5 years old, and she speaks English and Hebrew- but it will take a little bit of time for me to really understand her, I think. Her mom, Hila, wants me to only speak English with her, which won't be a problem because Maya's Hebrew is definitely more advanced than mine. I think it will be challenging, but for sure it'll be nice to have some income, and kids that age are always a good time. I'll keep you guys posted.

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I'll leave you with one last picture from my day on the beach this weekend- I just really loved this building. Pretty sweet, right? Farewell for now!