Shabbat

So this evening marks my first ever Shabbat. For those of you non-Jews, that is the Sabbath. It starts at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday. Unlike Americans, their day of rest really is a day of rest. Not to the point of everything shutting down, but it is a time where people rest from their daily duties. It should be interesting. We have a group dinner on Friday nights followed by chapel, so I'll be leaving here pretty soon to get ready for that.

We also have assembly on Saturdays instead of Sundays. Once again, for you non-Israelis, assembly is what people in Israel call church. The reason its called "assembly" or "gathering" is because to most in Israel, the word "church" refers to the Catholic church. On a side note, Jewish Christians are called "believers" rather than "Christians." The reason is the same as the reason its called assembly, but also because to most Arabs and Muslims in Israel (and the whole Middle East), a "Christian" is an American or a white person.

Life has been pretty good on Moshav YadHashmonah thus far. Class has been good so far. They are proving to be great already. For those of you who don't know, I'm taking the Land and the Bible, the History of Ancient Israel, the History of the Modern State of Israel, and the Life of Christ. Also, there are field trips galore for them all, so that should be awesome also. We're taking another full day going back into the Old City again on Sunday for class, with an emphasis on Old Testament history. I'm not sure all the places we are going to go see, but I do know as a fact that we are going to walk/crawl/stumble all the way through Hezekiah's water tunnel he built during the Assyrian siege.

I've also gotten some good perspective on some life things here as well. For one, I feel I can really relate to and empathize with a refugee coming to a smaller town in the midwest. Its not that I feel I'm hated or not wanted at the Moshav, or even in much of the city. I just feel like I stick out like a sore thumb, particularly because I'm not exactly a tourist or short-term visitor. And to make things even more awkward, I have a hard time communicating with those who don't speak English (though many do). Like I said, its not a feeling of unwantedness; I just feel a bit out of place. Its a bit odd.

By the way, I've got a wallet full of shekels. Israeli paper money is awesome, way cooler looking than American paper money.