School

We're settling in. Zonked on Thursday; E went to school on Friday. Gutsy kid--mixed right in. She told us she understood little or nothing, but the Anglos helped her through. She'll pick up the lingo faster than I will, that's for sure. Tomorrow's G's turn. Dinner with our best buddies here: kubbeh soup, lamburgers, chicken, the works. They're the closest thing to family for non-family that I can imagine. Sleep deprived; we woke up at 2 and talked to 4, read cookbooks. Barely made it to shivyonim minyan this a.m.--I heard the haftarah and the ladies heard hymn of glory. Had a hard time following the drasha--to much noise. I'm getting there though just have to stick with it and stop thinking about it. Great lunch with the lobbyist en famille. Just a beautiful first Shabbat. Met another family in our building; everyone's so nice--friends of friends brought a cake over before shabbat. Sure enough, E played with a bunch of kids all afternoon and by the evening was trying to talk to us in Hebrew. The whole country feels like one big family. Comforting and exhausting all at once.