Shabbat Shalom

Wow wow wow (sorta like in the bible, but not really). What could have been a lame day really turned into something that was very inspirational. A little side note, I have a new testimony of journals. I have this little pocket journal that I got in the States before i left and I carry is around with me to the places that we go on field trips, and really, having a journal in the place where things are happening, and being able to use and write as things are going on around you is SO much better than trying to remember even an hour later. Dang the Lord is smart!

So today could have been a lame day, but it was not. Again, on fridays we cannot go out till 3pm because of the Muslim day of prayer (and the fact that is anything were to happen in the city, it would be during that time). So we had classes this morning, then a good amount of time to study and get going on alot of our reading for classes, but then as soon as 3pm hit, we were out the door and into the town. It was a short trip with a purpose. All of us wanted to get some fresh Challah bread for the Shabbat, and then I also wanted to get a kippa (or yamakah for the more common term in the States) to wear into all of the Jewish places that we go. There are so many places that we go where part of it has a Jewish shrine, meaning that you have to have a head covering to go in. A lot of times they have some there for people to use, but i thought that I would get my own.

Anyway, so I did get my kippa, but I had to do a little bit of bargaining to get it, and I'm very proud of my skills. At least i will be untill i hear that someone got one for cheaper, but for now i'm the winner for what i got. The boy who was minding the store I was looking at came out and so I asked him how much the kippa's were. There were 3 kinds, priced at 20, 30, and 40 shekles (divide by 3.5 for $). The most expensive ones were the ones that I wanted the most, but I wasn't going to pay 40 for them! Anyway, so he asked "How much would you pay for them?" Now, the way that the system works here, is that you can ask how much something is, and that's fine, but as soon as you mention a price, you are in a sortof agreement that you are going to buy it, you just have to negotiate the terms of price. It's super rude to leave after that, unless you are offering a reasonable price and he wont come down to it. Anyway, so i wasn't thinking (well, a little ) and so I said, "A friend of mine got one down the street for 15."
He replied with "well, then I guess that I can move it down to 10, 20 and 30," which was still to much for me. So i just hung around, and he asked a couple more times and 30 and i just said, "no, i didn't bring enough, I don't think that I would pay that much, what about 15?" and then I started looking around. I did this not really for effect, but because I realized that the rest of my group was gone! We are never supposed to be alone, and so here I am, nervous about barganing for the first time, and everyone that I was with is gone too, so I know that I have to hurry before they get too far! Anyway, So i don't care at this point about the bargaining, so i just stay at 15. He came down to 20 for a while, and I told him like 3 times that I was only going to pay 15 for it. He woudln't relent and neither would I. So i just told him that I had to find my group before they got too far, and so I had to go. Of course at that moment as I got to leave, he dropped it to 17 shekles, and since 60 cents really isn't something to barter over, I took the deal. Anyway, I got this sweet kippa with a white background and a silver Star of David and silver lining. It's pretty sweet. It's not the most hommade thing in the world, but it was made here, so yeah. I think that i'm the pro at this barganing thing!

Anyway, the night ended well too. Only once a semester do we get to stay in the Old City after dark as a group, and that was tonight for the welcoming of Shabbat at the Western Wall. This was the realy reason that I wanted a kippa today, and it was well worth it. There were alot more people than normal at the wall, and it was amazing to see the diversity of the types of Jews there. When we first got there, a group of male youth that does this every week I guess came singing down the stairs into the plaza and started to sing and dance in the square. Of course the boys in our group were not going to be left out, so we all joined them! We had no idea the lyrics to the songs they were singing, but they didn't seem to care and we got the tune enough to 'na na na' our way through the songs. We trooped ourselves arm in arm with all of these Isreali boys singing and jiging down the outer plaza into the holy place. It is sad that none of you will ever get to see what happened there. Cameras are not allowed beause of the spark that is made when the battery is used to start and run the camera. But if you can just imagine all the dancing going on by a bunch of guys in kippa's, then add to the fact that many of them were soldiers with thier AK-47 type machine guns strapped around them... yeah, we made for quite the sight!

There was a reverant group of people as well. Up at the wall where people prayed and in some corners nearer the back were groups of people that were just swaying as they prayed, usually mumbling to themselves the prayers in the Torah. Others were in group singing, but it was more of a sweet, reverent type singing, not the rambunctious singing of the less-orthodox. I met two American Jews there, one was a Reform Jew, the other was an Orthodox, and it was interseting to see thier different views of thier purpose that night and what they did to celebrate the coming of the sabbath. The most amazing thing though, was that up at the wall, as I said a prayer of my own in the fashion of those around me, I could hear all of the different groups together. The mumbling of prayers made for a white noise background, and all of the different singing just sort of came together in its own harmonious way. I was really in the minority in whose name I was praying in at the wall, but you could tell that whether you were pious or partying, all had faith in what they were doing. It was an experince not likey to be repeated elsewhere.

Anyway, we are going to watch Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail, get a little peak at Petra to get us excited for that trip coming up soon! Anyway, shabbat shalom everyone, and I hope that you all have a wonderful day!