I couldn't think of a clever title for this one that I liked, so leave comments with ideas please.

I mustered up the courage on Friday night to check out the evening Shabbat (sabbath) service at the Ashkenazic (Eastern European style) Orthodox Shul (synagogue) in town. I went with another guy that is on the trip with me. We went to the service and got there a bit early. So we sat down and were trying to figure out were the service started in the all-Hebrew prayerbooks. People started to pray and others filed in sparatically during the service. I was lost in the service because it was all in Hebrew, and in orthodox shuls everyone prays on their own as a man in the front leads. However, the prayers aren't necessarily said in unison. I listened to the service. It was very cool. This was my first time at an orthodox service that I can recall.

After the service me and my friend began to leave but were stopped by a man. After introductions he invited us to go to his house the next day for a Shabbat lunch. I was slightly hesitant but my friend accepted. So that night we checked with one of our counselors and found that it was okay.

So Saturday morning we went to the shul again for morning prayers around 9:00 am. This service I followed better because I know the morning service better than the Shabbat evening service. What was very awesome was that during the Torah service (part were the Torah is read) I was called up for an aliyah (let me explain: There is part of the service where the Torah scrolls are taken out and the weekly portion is read in 7 parts. A different man is called up for each part. That man says the blessing and can read the part or a different appointed man will read the part. Then the person called for the aliyah says the ending blessing and his part is over.). This was awesome. My friend was called up to help roll up the Torah.

After service we went to the man's house and ate with him, his wife, two little girls, and his neighbor. His wife is from South Africa, and his neighbor is from America. Everyone spoke good English except the little girls. The parents would speak to the older girl in English, and the girl would respond in Hebrew. We talked and ate for a long time. It was a great afternoon. After going back to campus for a couple hours we returned to the shul for afternoon and evening prayers. We also had some food at the synagogue with the other men. There were some songs around the table and much talking in Hebrew. After service we did havdalah (short service saying goodbye to Shabbat and hello to the week) and went home.

Shabbat rocked!!!!!!