happiness is..

sitting in the sun all day reading a good book, the kind that makes you laugh out loud on almost every page. the boys (my adopted brothers) thought it unthinkable that i could get so much enjoyment out of—*gasp!*—a book. [but here i must send thanks to my mom for having ruta schlep said book out to sri lanka to hand over to me, which i then grudgingly added to my weight to schlep back to israel, and left sitting on my desk for 2 months as i periodically cast furtive glances in its direction, pitting its recommended content against its poppy bestseller public status…finally i bit the bullet and threw it in my overnight backpack, figuring it might make for a half-decent read this weekend away at friends…so i apologize to my mom for having doubted her, because i am gobbling it up at the speed of light, it’s so delicious (ok i’m still in the italian food section—for those of you whom i’ve lost here, pick up a copy of elizabeth gilbert’s “eat, pray, love”), and i would also like to take this opportunity to apologize to the book, by whose cover i ruthlessly judged.]

i lay out in the grass, surrounded by flowering almond trees, trees exploding with juicy oranges and lemons (and smelling even better than they look), beautiful red and yellow flowers popping up everywhere in the green, and the sound of chipper birds chirping away…yes, you could call it paradise. it got so hot, and i was so inspired by this spring garden, that i felt compelled to take my T-shirt off and sun my shoulders—not that lying in a private backyard in a sports bra far less revealing than any bikini top was anywhere near scandalous—still, it so happened that the youngest of the brothers felt it his gentlemanly duty to conduct further communication with me by cell phone, as he no doubt chivalrously grumbled from inside at my brazen monopolizing of his outdoor space. i’m a relapsed beach bum, what can i do? the slightest bit of sun and it’s all i can do to combat my exhibitionism. the shirt was a compromise, i seriously considered the indispensability of my pants..*sigh*

anyway…the boys organized a barbecue with all their buddies, and the only thing they put on the menu was…MEAT. well for a borderline vegetarian, i sure attacked it with a vengeance—you’d think my body was protein-deprived or something..wait..nevermind. 2 beers in, and i sat there grinning at their wild gestures, guessing context through their animated storytelling but losing all detail in the blur of Hebrew that splattered through my brain—i keep waiting for that magic moment when it will all click and make perfect sense—but, alas. it serves me right for spending 6 months here and not bothering to study the language properly. so as i sat there surrounded by a small sea of young men, fairly isolated by my language barrier, i got to thinking. contemplating each face, each personality, i realized i was happy to be among these good people (in fact, there was a small ceremony of indictment when one of them farted and started swishing the air in, well, my direction—it was clear i was officially one of the guys. i secretly thanked my own brother for the many years of experience in this department)…and i saw something endearing in each one of them (except, maybe, for the farter), and found myself imagining them in a few years’ time—and then it hit me like a truck. no wonder i found them all adorable, and yet somehow unattractive—i’m TOO BLOODY OLD!!! ok, i am not panicking yet, i am ripe at 22 and that’s what i get for hanging out with 16-18 year olds, but still, it was my first taste of what many women must go through at any given time in their life…and it was strange. and interesting. so i thought i would share it.

that’s all the insight for today; elai is going to teach me how to make shakshuka, an israeli specialty which consists of fried eggs (sunny side up) in tomato sauce…sounds kinda gross, i know, but come on, if i can love something like poutine (which, when described in words, sounds nothing short of disgusting), then i’m sure i can learn to appreciate shakshuka. yum, breakfast, here i come!