The Weekend

Saturday we thought we'd enjoy the fact that most people are at home and have a leisurely drive around the city. Believe me, Saturday is the only time this city's streets are ever quiet, and that's only in the predominantly Jewish sections. There were a couple of stores that we've been trying to find so we set out to find these places for a day when they would be open. We were trying to find a fabric store for me, and a frame supply store for my husband. We didn't find the actual buildings, but we found the general area where they should be, so we'll walk around some day and look closer. There's supposed to be a big fabric store inside the Old City, so I'll have to check that out too when we get the chance. It must be a peak travel time right now because the city is filled with tourists (more so than usual). It makes it very difficult to get around the Old City, so we've avoided going there since our first visit. The Old City is filled with homes, businesses, schools, and churches. It must be miserable to live there with all of the tourists and with such narrow streets to try to drive on. Before I saw it for myself I had imagined the Old City being a sort of large, open museum with souvenir shops. I was very wrong about that.
Sunday at church my husband mentioned to the men that he was trying to learn Arabic. They were very excited to hear this and right away started teaching him. One of the men said he was going to bring him a book next week. The other man wrote down the first several "letters" of the Arabic alphabet and gave my husband some homework for next week. Hearing it spoken in church every week will help a lot with pronunciation and conversation. Myself and the children will not be learning Arabic with him though, as we will be learning Hebrew. I am not interested in having a conversation with someone as much as I am in need of reading labels and such at the store! There is quite a bit of English on the labels, so it's possible to get by without knowing Hebrew, but it will be very helpful. I have already managed to teach myself how to read the Aleph Bet, so I can read the writing. Now I just need to know what I'm reading! The kids and I have been using Rosetta Stone to help us learn and so far we've learned quite a bit. My daughter especially is picking words up very quickly. We're going to be making it part of our school curriculum this year. Which *gasp* starts next week!! Wow, our summer's almost over already. We had to end early last "year" because of our move, so we need to start a couple of weeks early this year to catch up.
After church we decided to treat ourselves to lunch at a restaurant. Well, if McDonald's qualifies as a restaurant that is. I've always found it very interesting to see what other countries serve at their McDonald's. Japan has several unique menu items, most of which are not very appetizing to an American palette. The McTeriyaki Burger was very difficult to get down. And my friend Heather, who is still in Okinawa, just mentioned to me how she tried their new McPork. Not something she'd like to ever taste again! You may be wondering as I was, what could Israel have as their specialty? Well, yesterday I had the McKebab! It was actually very delicious. A veggie pattie of some kind in a pita with lettuce, tomato, etc. They also have something called McLoney Teras. I read Hebrew on a 5 yr old's level, I'm sure, so that could be very wrong. I know that Teras means corn, and these look like fish sticks, so I'm assuming it's some sort of fried corn stick. I didn't try those this time, but I'll let you know if I ever do. We were all very glad that this was not a Kosher McDonald's, so the kids did get cheese on their burgers.
While we were out I stopped into an antique store (they are all over here) to look at what they claim are Biblical Antiquities. A silver tea cup and saucer caught my eye since my friend Rachael collects unique tea cups. It was hand etched and very beautiful, and $250! Sorry, Rachael, not this time! I'll keep looking.