Shabbat was a day of rest - sleeping in after visiting the synagogue the night before. Eric and I spent several hours walking through the Prado and a bit more time people watching in a cafe. Haim ran an interesting study session, again pulling together all we had learned over the week in Spain.
After bringing in the new week with Havdalah, we had dinner at a sidewalk café with Melton friends (old) Ann Elyachar and (new) Maxine Fischbein. On this our last night in Spain, we marveled at how kind and helpful everyone has been. The owner of the tiny pizza and pasta café brought an extra table outside for us when we commented that it was too warm to eat inside. He worked with us to make sure we understood the menu, although his English and our Spanish were both minimal. a young girl (eleven years old) at the table next to us wanted to practice her English and helped us to take a group picture. She was even more delighted when we included her in a picture. All together, a lovely evening.
Sunday we left early for the airport to fly from Madrid to Israel. El Al security was tight and it took a long time to even get up to the ticket counter. The security person interrogating Eric and I asked me if I could speak Hebrew. I answered in Hebrew "a little." He then asked me in Hebrew where I had learned it. Jan, please forgive me!! As soon as he started speaking, my ears closed up, my panic mode set in, and I couldn't understand a thing. When I responded, "My name is Miriam" he and Eric couldn't stop laughing. Eric answered him in Hebrew and we were allowed through to the ticket counter. Not my finest moment!
The plane was delayed, the flight was long and bumpy, and Eric and I were seated in the last row next to the lavatories. We didn't arrive at the hotel in Tiberius until 10 PM. Haim let us start a little later the next morning. . .our one and only concession from him.
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