dirty shabbos

Gotta say, I’ve kind of learned to love Shabbat here in Israel. At first I was pretty pissed off that nothing was open, there was little/no public transport, etc etc. And I was pissed off that Saturday had the same bittersweet feeling that Sunday does back in the US, when you know you have to go back to work/school the next day. So where’s the good in this? It’s the perfect excuse to sit around in my jammies all day. It’s 4.30 pm as I write this, and I’m still in the clothing I slept in. I have not left my room. Why? Well, what would I do if I left? The streets of the city are abandoned besides a few people walking around. Or playing catch. From my window I can see two kids playing catch in the park, and clearly they are both lacking in hand-eye coordination. Seriously, I’ve never seen such terrible baseballs skills. Part of me is tempted to go down there and show them how it’s done.

Anyway. Back at home, if it were 4:30 pm on a Saturday and I were still in my pajamas, my mother would be pissed off. On Saturdays we always have to run errands, and go to this and go to that and blah blah blah. Because everything’s open on Saturday, but sometimes it’s not on Sunday, so we have to do everything on SATURDAY. And when I’m not at home but in the Midwest, I’d personally feel disgusted with myself if I were still in pajamas at this hour on a Saturday, just because I could have done something a little more productive. But here in Jerusalem, on this Shabbat….what else am I going to do besides sleep in late and lounge around in my jammies? THAT, my friends, is what I enjoy doing. What a perfect Shabbos!

I just think everyone else should be entitled to experience this with me: here I am in a dirty polo shirt, dirty jammie bottoms, unbrushed hair, and just completely filthy. But also completely content.