Time Zoning Out

Hello all. If you are wondering, no I did not sleep well. My body, even when it has been conditioned to believe that 3 in the afternoon is really 10 at night has decided that one does not need to go to sleep at 10 at night anymore. Wouldn't 3 in the morning be better? No, it will not, I respond and I consider the implications for 4 hours until I doze off enough to realize that it is 10AM somewhere and I should probably stop trying.

The less said about that, the better, so I say, in terms of sleep, "less." And since less is more, maybe I can get more sleep. I now recap Thursday.

I awoke and took some time to become human and then I went for a walk. My goals generally involved food. When I am here there are a couple of sine qua nons: Moshiko's (done), pomegranate juice, PowerWorks coffee. I found the pomegranate kiosk first (yay Etrog Man). Food goals are measured in storefront form. I ordered the super mega triple gonzo big chug which has 142 ounces of seedless in Seattle. The guy squozed the necessary crate of 'granates (I'm on a last name basis) and I waited impatiently. Eventually I dove in (it was that big). While he was squashing fruit, he tried to sell me on a cream that you put on your finger and rub under your nose and it smells like mint, lemon and ginger. This is designed to help cure sinus cloggage, migraines and scrofula. I'm not sure what scrofula is but I don't have it, so the product works! I chose not to buy it, but for the balance of the day, whenever I breathed in, I didn't have scrofula, but I smelled my own finger, and that doesn't help anyone.

People don't realize how crazy sweet good 'granate juice. In America, it isn't toot suite. I sat and savored the sweet and the sun. And the doggos. On to more walking down Ben Yehuda and back up Yaffo. I found the new location for Power Coffee works but I was too stuffed with juice to get anything. I shall save the other for another day.

Side note -- when I say that everything is uphill, clearly I am not being serious and literal. The only places that are uphill are the places to which you want to go. That's how you know you are lost. If you go downhill, you aren't going uphill so you clearly don't want to go there and ergot (sick) you are lost.

I sashayed through the shuk and saw a place called Bomba Pizza. Now, I wasn't on a pizza quest but I still felt that I needed to keep my hand in the game so I tried a slice. VERY thin crust and a sweet sauce. The flavor was good so I added garlic. I like that I can stop most anyplace for a slice, and sit on the street eating it, and then I can walk to another pizza place. That is freedom. And gluttony. I remember that my ancestors fought for my right to pizza. Twelve NIS for a slice. In real money, that's 62.71 Rand.

As I was eating, a woman walked by and said "bete'avon lecha" for no reason. I thought she would eventually ask for money, but she didn't. She was just being spontaneously nice! To me! Pizza and good will? This place rocks. 

Who knew I would be so full after a slice and a gallon plus of juice?

I noticed that many (at least 3) store names were not transliterations of English (which is annoying because I spend hours trying to understand the Hebrew, only to find that were simply taking an English word and transliterating) but had the English name with Hebrew vowel points underneath. They love English. Why not just use English then? Instead they constantly pander to "Hebrew speakers."

I got back to N+D and tried to restore non-feeling to my shins. Then, I went to pick Eyal up at the Gymnasium. In Hebrew, the G is pronounced as a G not a J. For a J, you need to have any other letter with an apostrophe. So you use a Jaled, or a Jamed or Juf. Hebrew is mystical like that. I took a benadryl to help me sleep. It failed, but I now have one fewer thing to carry. It is currently tomorrow mid-day and I have spent my morning doing a whole lot of nothing, which is as it should be. Shabbat is coming and we're so happy. I have a Nava next to me with her (she is eating apples and peanut butter, flavored with onions). Avital is making chocolate infused dough. Yoni has eaten pizza. Eyal is on his way back from another school's open house. The cookies are on the track (will anyone get that reference?) Tonight, there will be 18 people and tomorrow, 19. Natural expansion, you see.

I assume I will get back to this after Shabbat (either Sat. night or Sunday morning here). So to all of youse, I wish you whatever it is you would appreciate if I wished you.