...I ate chicken. You read that right: I ate chicken. I am making a public statement that this Shabbat, I ate meat. Twice, in fact. It's crazy, I know, but it just made sense in the moment.
As mentioned in the previous post, I was responsible for getting Shabbat dinner ready for myself, Ido and the other American houseguest, Rebecca. They had left around 5:30 to visit Ido's friends in the nearby Bedouin village of Beit Zarzir. One of the families has camels which is quite a sight for most people who don't live around here and they went to check them out. Later, it seemed that the people were more interested in checking out Rebecca, especially the children, who swarmed her. Anyway, I got everything ready and around 7:30, lit the candle I found ( I could only locate one tea light) for Shabbat. I preoccupied myself for a while as I waited but ended up falling asleep on the couch. I wondered if they called since the phone did ring, but the Carmels have a hard time remembering that I now keep Shabbat and wouldn't answer.
When I got off the couch, it was 8:45 p.m. and I decided I had waited long enough. So, I made myself a plate with the food and decided to include the chicken and rice dish. It was Shabbat after all, and even though I was eating Shabbat dinner alone (surrounded by a whistling parrot, a barking dog and a meowing cat) by the light of one Shabbat candle, I wanted it to be nice. Plus, I think Love Bug can use all the protein he/she can get at this point.
It was pretty good. I can't say that I looooved it, but I didn't hate it either. I know it was made well and had such a familiar taste to eating chicken on Shabbat growing up. That was nice and comforting. Efrat made it in an earthenware dish with a lid. I saw how she made it: she half cooked the rice first, then seasoned the chicken in the pot and covered it with the rice. Then it slow cooked in the oven for a few hours. It was good and healthy. Maybe Aaron will want to make chicken for us this way....
Ido and Rebecca came home around 9:30 and were very apologetic. The Bedouin family was so nice and gave them food and then they went to see another family and the same thing happened. Then, they needed to wait for a ride back to Givat Elah. I am glad I didn't go since I would have had to rush them and it was a nice experience for Rebecca to have since her only other Bedouin experience is the "Bedouin tent " in the desert that is not so authentic.
Today, though I did wake up at 4:30 to go to the bathroom, I managed to fall back asleep until 9:45. Score! We ate a midmorning meal outside in the newly renovated garden, hung out inside for a while sharing travel stories. Then, a little reading and a little nap before Nitsan and Rebecca went to Zichron Yaakov. I walked to the pool where I swam a bunch of laps before meeting some South African born residents who are part of the leadership of a Masorti synagogue in nearby Ramat Yishai. It was pretty cool to hear about the bar mitzvah they had for an autistic boy and the halakhic considerations involved in making it happen. It made me appreciate Masorti for the halakhic possibilities it brings to Israelis.
Anyway, on the way home, I saw a gorgeous sunset in action. The sun was bright red with purple clouds partly obscuring it. The white light below lit the entire valley, and it took my breath away.
In Love Bug news, the little fetus is doing a lot of squirming which I think is cute and fun. Sometimes I feel the mystery body part sticking out too. I like to sing songs to Love Bug about Love Bug. I want to get some children's Israeli/Hebrew songs so we can sing along. Maybe my mother should just record some and send them to us...
Now it's 10 p.m. on motzash and I think I may get ready for bed. Not sure if I feel like reading my novel or my pregnancy book about preparing for labor. I know which one is more fun...
More to come...
1 comment:
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.
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