in celebration of moving in

.... the water heater in the new place broke.
in case you were wondering.
don't worry, I promise not to wait until they fix it to shower. Good thing I know people.

and yes, that is me trying to make myself sound special and important.

So I tried to go to the store late this afternoon, forgetting in this city, the Passover holiday is not just something to mark on the calendar - it is a way of life. There were about 5 tourists on the streets. All the stores were closed. I saw a few Hassidic families (the men in the funny outfits, wives with hats or wigs, and about 25 children - religious Jewish families are like the Catholics in that way. Or the Catholics are like the Jews, I guess, since they came first. anyhow, moving on). THEN, I remembered that there is one (yes. just one.) 24-hour little supermarket-shop. On the way there, this guy stops me and asks if I speak English, and then asked me where the Old City is. I was a) totally stoked that he thought I was a local! and b) somewhat amused that he would come to Jerusalem and have no idea where the Old City is. It's not like it's hidden or anything, and in fact there are huge signs in quite a few main intersections.

But the fact of him thinking I was a Jerusalemite reminds me of another time, on the bus, that I don't think I wrote about. But I have a tendency to repeat myself, so if I already told this story, just skip it. Because I'm telling it again. I was coming back to my cousin's apartment late one night after meeting the girls who are now my roommates. This old woman gets on the bus and (of course) sits down right next to me. She glances at me a few times, makes some little remark, and when I smile a little and say "ken," (yes in Hebrew) she launches into the story of her life. In Hebrew. Wanna hear about it? I did. She was tired, long day - she's divorced and her kids are grown, but one son is in the army so she's still taking care of him. You know, doing his laundry, cooking for him when he comes home from the base, etc. Of course. I was seriously afraid she was going to try to set us up. Do not underestimate the power of Jewish mother shiddiching. Anyhow back to this woman (I never did get her name) - all of this, but Baruch haShem (literally "Bless the Name" - referring to God), she has her health and that is most important. I agreed. And then I got off the bus.