Shavua Tov

I cannot believe I've been here an entire week! I feel like I've been living in the house for a month now. I got my first two days off during the weekend. (I am allowed 2 full days off each week). I went to  Rosh HaAyin (25 min from Holon) with my friend Dekel.  Dekel was one of the soldiers on my birthright trip; we have been in touch ever since.  I went to his house for Shabbat dinner where I had goat soup, chicken "meatballs", schnitzel, fish, and home-made alcohol for dessert! (In addition to some cake and fruit). His family kept warning me how spicy the fish was going to be, they were shocked when I said it wasn't too hot. They wondered what kinda food we eat in America.  The next day we headed to an Arab village called "Kfar Qasam," where we went to the sooq (market) held every Saturday.  I could not believe what was there! In addition to the cheapest clothes (not stuff I would particularly wear), there were animals for sale!

The only thing I got at the market was fresh carrot juice. After the sooq, me and my friend Dekel headed to his favorite Falafel stand. Nothing like 10 shekel Falafel (that's very cheap btw!). I attempted to tell the young boy behind the counter that the Falafel was delicious, he looked at me weirdly. The old man behind me told me I was pronouncing my words the Egyptian way. Its been a while since I've spoken the Palestinian dialect. Some of the letters are pronounced differently.
We then headed to Dekel's childhood friend, Tal's. I had met Tal the last time I was in Israel. Tal, like many other Israelis I have met, was embarrassed to speak English with me. He kept telling me how bad his grammar was. Yea he referred to me as a "he" a couple times, but overall he was pretty good. He takes lessons 4 days a week. Before I left he insisted I take three iphone cases and a screen protector, which he had ordered on Amazon. He had like 15 screen protectors!
After a long day I headed back to the SACH house. When I walked in, all the kids ran and gave me a huge hug. It felt nice to be home!

Yesterday we did some fun art projects.  There are limited art supplies in the house, so it is hard to come up with new ideas every day. (Let me know if you have any good ideas!).  I've noticed that whenever we do an art project, the kids love it, and then leave them on the table.  The house mom Laura explained to me that we are raised to value are artwork.  We hang it on the fridge with magnets, and put our names on it. They don't feel an attachment with their creations.  They just enjoy doing it at the time.  We did manicures before dinner. Everyone was in shock when they saw I had over 20 nailpolish colors (Thanks Madi).  Even the moms wanted me to do their nails.

Today is Christmas Eve, but you would never know here in Israel. There is not one sign of Christmas. After the kids finish their "kalula" (nap in Swahili) we will make christmas trees. The Romanian children celebrate the holiday at home.

It has been a great week. I know I have another one ahead of me.