Sunday, March 05, 2006

Week Two With the Kashishim

After two days of embroidering with Orit, Anat, Esther and the Miryams, I was moved downstairs to the rehabilitation workshop, where I was told that the madricha needed more help. The Shikum also does sewing, but the people working there are more mentally and physically challenged. It's a better fit for my intended career as a geriatric social worker, except for one thing...the madricha doesn't seem to need my help.

I've spent Tuesday, Wednesay, Thursday, and this morning sitting in the Shikum and working on my embroidered mezzuzah (which, btw, I've learned is an Ethiopian design). I sit next to an Israeli named Odel. She's from a chassidic family, butnever married, mostly due to her health complications. She has severe diabetes, and is in a motorized wheelchair. She loves to talk and sing and make jokes, and we have a great time. There's another Esther who sits at our table, who has decided that she wants to marry me off to her son.

The conversation is generally better in the Shikum, but I felt more useful in the embroidery workshop. I keep asking the madricha if there's something she wants me to do. She always says yes, and that she'll be right back with something for me...and then it's 12:00 and I've been sitting with Odel doing my embroidery the whole time.

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