Harry Potter Comes to Israel!!!

Somehow the movie came out in this country at 4:30pm on Wednesday, July 13.
And I was there, in the 3D version! (A very long-debated, last-minute decision. And well worth it, despite the sizeable number of seats occupied by Israeli children, who cannot--to save their lives--shut up and watch a movie. There were times that I had to read the Hebrew subtitles because they were talking louder than the soundtrack!) Also, the first time the theater erupted in applause was really cute, one of those "this would never happen anywhere else" moments. But then when it happened 4 more times?

This is Leah and I during...intermission? What?! WHY IS THERE AN INTERMISSION!? They literally wait until the exact halfway point--with zero regard to scenes and excitement level--and pause the movie for five minutes (bathroom, popcorn, etc.) 

After the movie, taking our picture with Dumbledore. Clearly, Sarna and  I like each other more than Sam and Adj do.

And this is proof that the "light rail" Jerusalem train exists. In service? No. It runs through the city empty, doing months of "test-runs" before it will "open" in September (when I was at the Mechina it was supposed to open in September, too. September 2010...).

After the movie we walked back--a nice, leisurely 2.7mile stroll (wow!). Leah and I drooled over the second-hand bookstore we passed, so the boys left us and we browsed for a bit before heading separate directions. I showered quickly, and then headed off to meet Hadas, my madricha (counselor) from the Mechina a few blocks away. She had told me she was "bringing a surprise," but I did not expect it to be Eldad, one of the other madrichim! So the three of us went out for a delicious, shared dinner at Roza, an Italian place about 10 minutes away. We had a garlic-topped focaccia (Eldad's comment when I said that we go through at least one head of garlic a week: "wait, it's three girls that live there? No, there's a boy!? oy!"), and then ordered three dishes, which sat in the middle of the table and we all ate out of. It was wonderful. They came back to see the apartment, and Hadas promised to bring me a fan (it's not even that hot here!)

Today was an excellent day.