Highlights

Gosh! I haven't written a post in so long, that I have tons to write about, but no time, so we'll make do with highlights.

Highlight #1: I taught my first class without a translator. My translator didn't show up to my class on Sunday, and it went fine, but I'm glad I had lots of hand's on things prepared to keep the class moving when we got stuck on incomprehensible items.

Highlight #2: We had a Lag B'omer BBQ on Sunday. (I know, Lag B'omer was Friday, but it gets dark way too late for us too do it Thurday night, and Friday people work until too close to Shabbos. So we did it on Sunday.) I was great, and the cool thing about doing BBQs with these Russians - they really are prepared for everything. Last time we had a BBQ with some friends of ours, we needed some wood to get the fire going, so one fellow took out his trusty axe from his trunk, and chopped up branches. (Russian's survival kit: Items to keep in your trunk: 1. Axe) Anyway, it started raining in the middle, so one participant, who came with a camping trailer, pulled out a heavy piece of plastic and tied it to some trees, so we all stayed dry.

Highlight #3: I went to the paper goods store again. This time, I had to make my order 3 times, because each time, just as it was done, they realized that they made a mistake. Efficient.

Highlight #4: We held a women's club gathering. I prepared a really neat program. We were supposed to learn about refining your personality, as we work on throughout sefira. I prepared a crash course in kabbalah, a game, and brought a graphologist to speak. We made phone calls early, and lots of women were interested.

6 women showed up, all over 60. The graphologist went over his 40 minutes and ended up speaking for an hour and a half. by that point, no one had more interest to learn about kabbalah. So we ate our refreshments, and called it a day. On the good side, I now have a class on kabbalah, all prepared and translated.

Highlight #5: We found kosher ice cream in the supermarket. Unfortunately, it is OU - D, so we can't eat it, but neat nonetheless. We also found kosher grapeseed oil. Useful, huh?