Today was the start of my free weekend, my first time in the whole trip of freedom away from the group. I got up at about 7am on Friday; and once everyone was ready, we got on the buses (my bus, the "southern" bus, went to Jerusalem first stop): but Academy 1 was late and held us up by about 20 mins.
The bus dropped me off at the Crowne Plaza, and there I met the Friedmans for the first time. Yechiel had come to pick me up, and with him was his oldest daughter, Shira, on her way to school. From the Crowne Plaza, we drove straight across Jerusalem to Shira's school, and then all the way back across, to the neighbourhood of Har Nof where the Friedmans live.
Har Nof is situated at the top of a hill, and it literally means "mount of views". It's a very religious place - absolutely nobody drives there on Shabbat. When we got to the apartment, I met Leora for the first time. She covers her hair, and still has an Aussie accent after living so long in Eretz Yisrael (and with a Yankee husband!).
The three of us (me, Yechiel, and Leora) then went to the Yeshiva to pick up their son Edidya ("Didi"). Didi's a lovely kid, but he's a bit slow because of learning difficulties. At the moment he has an obsession with aeroplanes.
We went to the 'Malcha Mall', which is Jerusalem's biggest shopping centre, and we had lunch at a really nice coffee lounge there. I got a mushroom omelette, and plenty from the buffet to go with it. We caught up on exactly how we're related, and who the relatives are in between, while we were eating.
Seeing as we were in the mall anyway, Leora decided to go look for a new jumper for Didi. While we were looking round the shops, I saw Beck, who was there with his family as well - popular place, eh? Didi wasn't too happy about clothes shopping - wanted to buy a book about aeroplanes instead. Can't say I blame him.
When we got back to the apartment, Didi insisted that I watch his favourite movie, "operation thunderbolt", on his computer. He had to go back to Yeshiva for Shabbos: when he left, I turned it off; not that it was such a bad movie, but it wasn't a masterpiece either.
In the afternoon, I met Naamah, the Friedmans' second daughter; Michal Epstein, Etan's daughter who's been here for a year on MTA; and Michal's friend Natalie. Michal and Natalie didn't stay the night: they had other friends from MTA to see.
I'd been coughing all day, but feeling otherwise alright. However, when Shabbos came in, I suddenly got a cold temperature and felt like crap. I took 2 panadols, but they didn't kick in til I got back from shule. So all the way through shule, I was hot and cold and headachy, and on the verge of collapse.
When we got back from shule and had Shabbos dinner, I felt much better. It was just me, Yechiel, Leora, Shira, and Naamah. The food was great - one of the best chicken soups ever - and we talked and sang a great deal. They were saying how hard it is to get into a good school here - sounds much harder than it is in Sydney. I went to bed very early, at 9.