Aah, the Orthodox

On Friday we went to the house of the man who I met in the grocery store, for Shabbat dinner. It was interesting – let’s just say that they think differently than Jonathan and I do, and leave it at that. For instance, over dinner we talked about mikvahs (ritual baths), kashrut (dietary laws), modesty laws and niddah (purity regarding women), and we disagreed on almost every point. The discussion became, ahem, *heated* at the point when the daughter’s boyfriend said that any person who converted under Reform or Conservative auspices wasn’t really Jewish. Yeah. That said, the food was excellent, their apartment was beautiful, and they were very warm, loving people. We invited them over to our place for movies, so we’ll see if they take us up on it.

We got back from their place at around 10, and then Nicole and Joe came over a bit later and we watched Shrek 2. They took some pictures of us still dressed up (you can't see it in this one, but I'm wearing a floor-length skirt).



After a late night, we got up at an ungodly hour this morning. The first thing we did was wash the cats in preparation for Simcha’s big day – tomorrow he’s going on a field trip! Everyone in our class has to give a 20-minute presentation on something, and rather than show pictures of a trip or event, which is what most people have been doing, I’ve decided to bring in warm fuzzies. Jonathan’s going to come down with him at the appointed hour, and he'll hold him and pass him around while I do the required Hebrew talking. I can't wait!