Day 6 – Shit it’s Hot

Number of Cockroach Sightings: 1 (sadly nothing available in the bathroom to kill it with and I’ll bet it’s lurking somewhere near my bed)

My god its hot.  Like really, really hot.  I have lived in Israel on my gap year, plus Texas and Louisiana, and I know what hot is.  This is bloody hot.  Ok the humidity could be worse but I am suffering.  I hope my foetus is not overheating.  Its probably turning into plasticine.  We (eventually) make it up the hill in like 36 degree heat to a small shul started by our friend, and as we walk in (late, obviously) they offer my husband an aliyah (call up).  He looks about to drop but he manages to mop up the sweat and get to the bimah.  Jojo seems to have a death wish jumping off the stairs, and requests an encore to “veshavu banim” although I did explain to him that I can’t really make that happen.  It’s a tiny, seedling community but it’s growing and we receive many lunch invitations.  I reckon you could go to some shuls back in London for 20 years without anyone noticing you, but after one morning we meet a nice American lady and lovely guy who has the same family history as me (bizarrely) – an Israeli-yemenite parent and English mother who made aliyah.  (I have the same story but my parents came to England, so I still have to make aliyah!).

The whole morning the thing that gets me through the heat is “The shul will have air con and so will our friends”.  We arrive at the friends house for lunch whereupon his wife informs us “Want the bad news? The air con packed up and I have no idea why.”

I nearly died.

Seriously, I was close to overheating.  Luckily the friend they invited for dessert has air con so off we trooped to their house.  They were very kind and we stayed there until after Shabbat when they sent us home in a cab.  Jojo and I even managed a shluff.  All in all a lovely afternoon, despite the heat, and it’s interesting to see how “older” olim are keen to help the newbies, and so continue the circle.