There are no more Chabad Rabbi's to follow in Spain, so for the next three shabbasim, Aliza and I will be in Madrid.
Since Friday's are long, the "wolf pack," as in the CUNY-clique, spent the day at the pool.
It was really nice that for the first time we could just relax and not think about work.
We swam (we, as in everyone except for Bryce and me) and tanned ... it was a perfect day!
When we got back to the dorms, we showered and Aliza, Shana, and I went off to spend shabbat with Chabad.
Shana's parents are Russian Jews. She was born in Brooklyn and knows she's Jewish but is unaffiliated. When we mentioned to her that we were going to Chabad, she asked if she could come.
We were not only happy that she asked, but so excited to see how she would react to Friday night dinner.
When we got to the Chabad house, we lit candles with the Rebbitzen. Then we brought her to shul, which was an adventure in itself because if we don't know what's going on (Oh the Sephardim), then how would she!?
In shul, we met a couple from West Orange, New Jersey. They were really crazy, but we spent a good 20 minutes talking to them and telling them why we were here, what we were doing, and where to get food(obviously!).
When we told them that we were going to Chabad, they were SO shocked and did not want anything to do with them... it was so sad, but told them to enjoy their salami on rye-bread sandwiches... more food for us! :)
When we got to the Chabad house, there were two other couples.
One couple was Persian, from LA - they were both in law school. The girl and myself had a really good time, sitting together and talking about the difference between Ashkenazim and Sephardim and why law school is so great. The only downside she told me was that just like in Spanish college, there's one test... oh, am I going to be in for a fun ride in a few years!
(she also told me to marry someone from L.A. because they're very chill and I need that!)
The other couple was quite interesting: the girl was from Chicago and conservative, and the guy was from Kiryat Ono in Israel (south of Tel Aviv). They had met while was in Israel; she spent a year in college there. They spent the year apart from one another (long distance relationship) and were now spending vacation together, touring Spain... interesting, no?
Aside from discussing politics at the table (very shabbosdik, according to the Rabbi), the Rebbitzen worked her Kiruv on Shana, reading and telling stories about people who became frum.
She explained the reasons for why we sing Shalom Aleychem, the reason for wine, and a lot of things that I did but didn't know why.
Shana really enjoyed and told the Rabbi that she might come back next week again!
Shabbos lunch was just weird.
In shul, we saw the coo-coo West Orange people. We were talking to them at the kiddush for a little and the Rebbitzen invited them to come for lunch.
Just like they were harsh with us about not coming, they made the same show in front of the Rebbitzen and her daughter.
Aliza and I were very fine with it because we knew that if they would have come, lunch would be an utter-disaster!
Sadly, the Persian couple who I really liked was not there, but, two older couples were.
The first couple knew nothing about Judaism. They were in their 60's and knew absolutely nothing.
The husband asked many interesting questions, but also asked if any 'hebrew books' were on the Kindle.
The second couple was more fun. They were not religious and from Minneapolis. The husband became somewhat-frum through the Chabad Rabbi of Madrid 25 years before because he spent the year abroad in Madrid.
Interestingly enough, we are doing the same thing that this man had done.
But even more so, the Chabad Rabbi was the same Rabbi as 25 years ago, so it was fun to hear them reminisce about 'the old times.'
After lunch, all Aliza and I wanted to do was sleep!
So, we did. From the time we got back until Shabbos was over, we stayed in bed, with the exception of eating, obviously.
Bryce and Jenna were around and hung out with us... the entire weekend, they were so funny. We explained to them that we cannot use electricity, rip, etc. and that if we needed something, we couldn't ask for it but hint it... so all shabbos, the girls would say:
"Is there anything I need for myself?"
"What do I need to do?"
"I turned on the bathroom light....because I wanted to"
- It was amazing and super helpful, because who wants to go to the bathroom with the lights off?? Surely not me!
At havdalah time, we called them in so that the could watch us say it.
As outsiders, i'd say it looked like we were doing some sort of voodoo: Smelling spices and waving our hands back and forth.
When we asked them what they thought, they had no response!
Since the city doesn't sleep, we of course went out at night!
We walked to the Temple de Debod, an 'authentic' Egyptian temple dating from the 2nd Century.
It happened to be quite beautiful, especially at night, all lit up.
We were sitting and enjoying the breeze and the view, when three French girls decided to jump into the water surrounding the Temple... from there, the lights turned off, which told us it was time to go.
We weren't ready to go back yet, so we walked around a park area - which was more of a drinking/hook up spot.
We were quite uncomfortable, so we found a park with swings and a seesaw that we played on until it wiped us out
....Soon enough, our beds were calling.
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