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What a daughter-in-law

We have decided to stay a month longer than originally planned and will now return to Providence in late June. It has been wonderful to have a bonus month in Jerusalem. The longer I stay here, the more at home I feel, which may account for the increasing gaps of time between my reports to you. I don't think to write about my daily activities. I go to the grocery store, I go to a coffee shop, I get together with family and friends, maybe I go to a museum. Ho, hum, yawn….

But today is different.

It all started last week when I stopped by Gabriella’s, a tiny, hole-in-the wall hair salon in my neighborhood, to have my hair trimmed. When I arrived, Gabriella (or Gabi, as she is called) was sitting in a chair having her feet pampered and prettied by a young woman.

“Zot hi kalati. Ayzeh kalah yeshli!!!” (This is my daughter-in-law. What a daughter-in-law I have!!!”) “Have a seat. I’ll be with you when we’re done.”

Gabi, now having her feet massaged, appeared completely delighted and worry-free. I sat down to wait for her pedicure to end and my haircut to begin. Lots of women stopped by in the meantime. All were greeted with a rhapsody of “What a daughter-in-law I have!” and “You must try this!”

Who could refuse?

Today I show up for my pedicure. When I arrive, about six women, including Gabi, sit on chairs just outside the salon door. Two of the women sport mid-dye-job hairdos, their hair slick with color waiting to happen. Gabriella invites me to pull up a chair and sit with them until the floor is done. I peek inside and there I see the kalah energetically mopping the floor. So I sit outside and Gabi tells me about friends of hers who leave today for the U.S. She tells one woman not to worry; her hair will look great with the new color. She informs the others that I’m there for a pedicure.

“Oh, you do pedicures here?” they ask Gabi.

“Of course, my kalah.”

Finally, the kalah finishes mopping and joins us outside until the floor dries. When it dries, we all walk inside and those whose hair is being dyed prepare for rinsing and drying and I place my feet in a basin of water in preparation for my pedicure. Women come and go: some just stop by to catch up with Gabi; others wait to be trimmed and styled and dyed. The place is small so they hover close to where I sit. They watch the kalah work on my feet.

“That looks relaxing,” they muse.

"You should try it," replies the kalah.

“Maybe another time," they say.

“Look how dry her feet are,” the kalah tells them.

They look and nod.

But I don’t care what they say. All I have to say is, “What a daughter-in-law!”

A view of Jerusalem from The Botanical Gardens. I had been meaning to visit ever since spring arrived. It was wonderfully worth the visit.

A view of The Botanical Gardens, as is the next picture.

Posted by Ilene Weismehl  at 7:48 AM | Permalink | Comments 0