Benjamin and Jon went off to the woodshop where they had a reservation from 9 - 12. They didn't get very far on the project, but they got it to a place where the cut pieces of wood could be stuffed into a little car and brought home to clutter up Benjamin's office. We kind of know how that goes. The only thing he can't do at home is sand, but that comes later. Yael asked B. later if he had introduced his father to anyone, and he said he had not because he was afraid there might be bureaucratic issues. Yael said, "you don't think anyone would notice the two of you are related, and that you were speaking in English in disrespectful tones to each other?" That made me laugh. Benj and Jon don't work on many projects together, partly because they are very much alike and both super opinionated. No surprise there. But both reported that it went pretty well today, and they were glad they got started.
Meanwhile, Yael needed some time to hang out with Mika by herself and I needed to work on the CSA stuff some more because time is running out. So they went out and I stayed in. It was lovely. I got a lot done, they came home, we eventually got organized to go meet the boys at the shuk, near the woodshop. On a Friday afternoon -- the beginning of the weekend -- that whole area is jammed with people on the street, buying food, eating in restaurants, hanging out with music blaring. There is not a parking space for blocks and blocks, and everyone is behaving badly as they look for a place to park. At one point it looked like there was a tight circle of small cars all blocking the intersection, honking at each other, jamming themselves closer and closer together. After about an hour of effort, we finally assembled at an outdoor cafe on a corner, with a great view of all the action. The meal was chaotic because either B or Y was trying to park the car for some part of that hour, and Jon and I sat and ate hummus and baba ganoush on pita. When we decided we had eaten enough, we all walked through the shuk -- bags of grains, fish on ice, piles of dried fruit, fresh vegetables, junk, crowds and crowds of people moving up and down the sidewalk. We got a huge overflowing quart of delicious strawberries and ate them as we moved through the sea of produce and people. Finally Mika had had enough of the scene and we headed home.
Jon went back to the apartment to go to bed because he had been feeling bad since yesterday. Chest congestion, some amount of fever -- the same sort of cold he had almost exactly a month ago when he tested negative for everything possible. We should test for covid again, although if he has it, we are all in trouble. We were healthy on Sunday when we got here. That didn't take long for him to find some more bugs.
There was napping and working and fussing and playing in the late afternoon. We made a salad and some broccoli and headed to Yael's parents' house for Shabbat dinner. This is a regular thing for the family, but I think they often see each other for a long Saturday afternoon. Mika ate a hearty bowl of soup and sat nicely in her chair while the rest of us had a big meal. They are gracious hosts, they adore Mika, and she adores them right back. They have a lot of established routines together, with lots of giggling and singing. She is the first grandchild (and it made me realize how my first 18 months of life must have been, with an adoring circle of adults -- she is off to a great start, with lots of advantages) and she does her part with flair: dancing, directing, running from one adult to the next, flopping on the rug to do yoga with Yael. What a charmer.
Benjamin looked online to make sure there was a pharmacy open on Shabbat and we went to get some decongestant medicine for Jon, after consulting with the grandparents about what we were looking for. Our plans tomorrow may need to be changed, alas -- we had a date with Jon's second cousin Ygal. It doesn't seem wise.
Driving back up the hill, in the dark, we saw a tall, fit-looking man running across the street, looking over his shoulder. Both B&Y said, "you are about to see a pig." We looked to the left, Yael said she saw it moving, I was imagining what I was going to see, if anything. But oh my GOSH it was SO BIG. A big black boar on its hind legs, standing straight up with its front legs hooked over the top of a municipal trash can, pulling the bag out with its huge jaws. Standing up, it was taller than I am. And much chunkier. You see animals like this in dioramas in natural history museums, running across the plains. I would be petrified to run into something like that on the street in the dark. They said that Haifa has canyons coming in, between the hills, and that is how the boars travel into the city. So there are areas with more pigs and areas with no pigs. Wow. Alas, I did not get a picture. But we have six more days.
Jon will add the pictures later.
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