Good Shabbos and Shavua Tov

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Friday went by fast, split equally between working and picking up groceries from the shuk. It was a pleasure to get reacquainted with the intense liveliness of the Machaneh Yehuda market. As always, it reminded me of a scene from an Indiana Jones film, with merchants of all kinds hawking their wares at the top of their lungs. Rachel did the cooking, since Seth and I were working for most of the day.

Seth, Rachel, and I went to the Kotel for maariv, where we met up with Rachel's sister Jackie (sp?) and her boyfriend Eric. The Kotel was crowded as usual, but we found a nice minyan to sing along with. Dinner was a quiet affair, with just me, Seth, Rachel, and Rachel's kitten, Meeko. The chicken soup and baked chicken that Rachel had made were delicious and in overly abundant supply. Meeko provided most of the entertainment, though Rachel took the opportunity to squeeze me for a few details about my date with Itai.

In the morning, I went alone to Kol Rina for shacharis. I got to say hello to a lot of friends I hadn't seen in a while, and I lent an enthusiastic hand with the good old bikur cholim group singing at the nursing home after the kiddush. Singing on Shabbos for the old folks is probably the thing I miss most about Jerusalem.

Lunch was leftover chicken at Seth's friend Ilana's apartment with Seth, Rachel, Ilana, and Ilana's fiance Tzvi. The short afternoon was nibbled away with naps and reading on the couch. I tried to make some more progress on that Hebrew biography on Einstein, and I actually got through a few more pages.