The weekend was long, starting on Wednesday afternoon and finishing tomorrow morning, and we got to rest a bit, although, as always, there was a huge list of tasks to complete. I'm glad to say that I'm almost there, the term is almost over, and I can see the end coming. Tomorrow starts the last week of studies, with one class taking their last midterm (no final) on Wednesday and the other taking one midterm the same day and the final on next Monday. So, until the end of the term I still have to check two midterms, one final exam, one final project, and one last assignment. That's about 5 days of work. Still four lectures to go, two already prepared for tomorrow and other two on Friday and that's it! I'll be the veteran of one term. D has her final exams week after that and then, on December 12, we will be over, at last, thank God! See, I bet they celebrate Thanksgiving for that.
The day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday for some reason. Officially it's the start of the holidays shopping season and as you know the economy is not doing that well this season. As we had been doing in the last few months, we again tried to boost the failing economy by going to another shopping spree, that started on Thursday's shopping at Jungle Jim's, the local store for food from all over the world (mainly for us: Jacobs coffee imported by Elite Ramat Gan). On Friday we bought me a new pair of trousers (that's pants in proper English) and three buttoned shirts at the Gap, and on Saturday we went to Target for another "fill in the house blanks" shopping. All in all I think we are about $500 poorer now. I think that since we came here we have boosted the American economy by a sum of $15,000-$20,000 including the car we bought. No wonder, then, that NYSE gained on Friday after hearing how well Black Friday sales were. And by the way, the stores have already started playing awful Christmas tunes and songs. It takes a few visits and then you become immuned to the sounds, and can barely hear them, like a white noise in the background.
And we ate. On Friday one of D's classmates invited the entire class (some 40 people) and faculty to enjoy after-Thanksgiving traditional dinner with his family at his Mother's house. It was amazing. Not the food, that was great, but more the friendliness and all the time and effort they put to make us feel at home. I also got to meet the rest of D's classmates, who are mainly Indians (not Native Americans, real Indians). All of them were in shock after the terrorist attacks on Mumbai this week. It seems that Indians hold a belief that we, Israelis, can deal with terror and conquer it, and especially the Mossad, which they claim to be the best intelligence organization in the world. We had a few chats on this issue, and mainly on other issues which relate to the place of India in the future world, as super-power. They say that some in India have been talking about this for a few decades now, but India is still too divided between the rich and the poor that it will take a long time until India can become a super-power. They were also impressed by the fact that I was in Bangalor last year. So, Dvora, this is for you. They also said that we should consider ourselves settled for a long trip in India after D graduates, as she will have "a friend in each city" in India.
We also spent a very nice evening with Kelly and his family today. His wife and he invited us over and it was nice to see how they live and meet their family. I am very grateful for that, and it was nice to be out tonight, although now we have to pay with less hours to sleep to make up for the lost time.
So, the weekend ends, and a new week begins shortly with still a lot of work to do. Have a good one.
Short summary for those who asked for:
- Thanksgiving food
- Thanksgiving / Black Friday shopping
- Not enough rest in 5 days weekend
- Still more food
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