I had Thursday and Friday with no responsibilities, and I enjoyed starting to catch up on rest and simply enjoy the beautiful courtyard. It doesn't get so extremely cold as Colorado, so many of the plants, flowers, and trees are still green. On Friday afternoon, I enjoyed sitting outside and doing some cross stitch under a lemon tree!
This is the table I was sitting at to do some relaxing and cross stitching.
Looking up at the lemon tree.
A closer look at lemons on the lemon tree!!
That was a very pleasant afternoon--a far cry from the subzero temps in Colorado and the cold, snowy day in London.
The past two days (Saturday and Sunday), I have worked the 7:00am-3:00pm cleaning shift. We begin by cleaning the public restrooms. Actually, I've not heard them called that once. They are the public toilets or loos, depending who I'm training with. :-) There are three sets of those. Then, we stop to have breakfast (toast, cereal, vegetables, fruit, fish, etc). Then, we start on the guest rooms. Some get a thorough cleaning, others we just remake the beds and clean the bathrooms. We get a tea break from roughly 10:30am-10:45am, then return to work until lunch. Volunteers get a half-hour for lunch, which is served from 12-2:00pm. Once the rooms are cleaned, there are other projects--sweeping/mopping the hallways and foyers, dusting the plants, restocking the little coffee/tea areas in the two wings of the guest house. I've spent the 3 hours between working and dinner sorting out clothes for the following day, journaling, visiting with my new roommate, catching up on e-mails, etc. Dinner is from 6-7, and then I've been going to bed!!
Although we're technically in the middle of Israel's winter season, the weather here the past few days has been gorgeous. The first few days were in the high 50s, and the past couple days it has gotten up into the 60s. It has been so enjoyable to eat lunch outside, and today I spent some time in the church's garden after I finished my cleaning shift. I am so grateful I brought my summer and winter clothes as it has been difficult to know exactly what to wear. They say it may rain tomorrow, but I would enjoy that as well.
After the first two nights in a guest house room, I moved into a temporary room for this week. It is again quite small for two people, but Carole is graciously letting me share with her. One of the other volunteers is leaving Friday, and I will be moving up to take her place. That room is quite big and so bright and sunny. It will be nice to be able to unpack and settle in a bit.
Friday night was my first Shabbot meal. It was special as we said the blessings in both Hebrew and English. An added bonus was that I could read the blessings in Hebrew! The months of studying Hebrew paid off.
The table decorated a little nicer for our Friday night Shabbot meal.
The Shabbot candles were lit before the meal, traditionally by the woman of the house.
The Challah bread and grape juice.
Tomorrow is my first official day off. I have reserved time to do some laundry, and I'm also hoping to do some exploring of the Jewish Quarter. Now that I live in this city, I want to be able to find my way around! :-)
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