Midnight traffic

I just dropped Ronnie off at the airport for his 5:30am flight. We figured he'd check in, get something to eat, take advantage of the free wireless internet, maybe watch a baseball game, and then fly to Milan. Oops - the Alitalia staff doesn't arrive to check people in until 2am. So he's got to camp out with all of his stuff for a few hours. It's not the end of the world, but...

I made great time on the way back to Jerusalem, but once I hit the city, I realized that on Thursday nights, and evidently just after midnight, everyone with a registered car is out driving. And those without a car are walking around. I would compare it to the traffic in Chicago, but there are more hills and fewer billboards in Jerusalem.

Today we went to the Emanuel store to buy a few gifts for some of the staff. Anyone who's ever been in a Jewish gift shop has probably seen his work - raw silk embroidered challah covers, and other flat things (table runners, wall hangings, etc), and then he's also makes painted Judaica stuff like candle sticks and menorahs that are totally different than the silk designs. It turns out that the sort of clueless guy in the workshop was Emanuel himself (or else his otherwise previously unknown twin brother). Since he couldn't figure out how to print us a receipt, he needed to hand write it for us. I should have asked him to paint it for us....

Yesterday and today, I did not get lost while driving once. I'm fairly certain that I will not be able to keep up the streak for tomorrow, but a two day streak (or is it just coincidence?) is a good start. Tomorrow is all about going to the shuk (Machane Yehuda, not the Arab shuk) and buying rugelach from Marzipan. The chocolate ones are akin to a religious experience, and the cinnamon ones are even better. The trip to the shuk is why I'm pretty sure the streak will end.

Yesterday I also considered extending my ticket another week or two. I'm not going to, but I thought about it.