1st Shabbat

People have been on this program have told me not to spend too many to shabbatot at the kfar, but instead to go travel or stay with relatives or friends or whatev. I know that's what I will do, but for the first shabbat I needed to stay at the kfar. Rothberg set up a nice shabbas dinner for us Friday night at the Regency Hotel across the street. It was a big hotel buffet. Great food. I sat at a table with Amy and 2 girls who go to Brandeis along with some other girls that we met. It was nice to meet some new people and make some new friends. After dinner though the organizers tried to start some zmirot and birkat and it just felt so awkward and forced. I felt like I was on a different progrma, like birthright or something, i dunno. A couple people have been saying that this trip is so interesting because despite being in Jerusalem, this is the most secular campus they have ever been on. Now, for me, this is not necessarily the case, but it still does feel very secular and my trip is very different than being on any type of religious program. 

Before dinner though, we went to services. We walked to an Orthodox Ashkenazi shul nearby. It was okay - I don't like sitting in a balcony so... 

After dinner a bunch of us hung out in a friend's apartment. We had an "oneg" brought some dessert and wine and invited people over. It was nice to hang out with friends and some new people came too which was a lot of fun - including the 3 random guys who heard our loudness and dropped by to introduce themselves and brought with them their own bottle of Perfect.  So funny. Also, one of them looked so much like this kid from Maryland. weird!

Saturday morning, a bunch of us went to a Conservative shul in French Hill around the corner from the kfar. We get there though, and on the outside of the building in big bold letters it says the building is in memory of Max Arzt - who happens to be my great uncle. I knew that his son is a member of the shul so I figured that after services I would ask someone if he was there. But.. I didn't get that far.

After 'Adon Olam' the women in front of us turn around and start to ask us all where we are from and whatnot. 

One woman asks me and I say New Jersey.

 She goes "oh where?".

 I say Caldwell. 

She says, "Wait! What's your name?"

 I say Rachel Podell.

Her face is like OMG!

Turns out, she is my mom's step-sister. Such a small world. In Israel, you know people everywhere! and in my case, I'm related to them..

I ask her about the Arzt family, but she says they are away on vacation for a month visiting the States. It's funny though. I came expecting to meet one side of the family and ended up on such a different side. 

The rest of shabbat was nice, but weird. It almost didn't feel like I was in Israel. I'm sure future shabbatot will be better. But, yea... an interesting start.