Talking to Ben

This morning I called Ben. It was 7 p.m for him. I could hear that he had a few friends over. He said that he had just made dinner: sauteed squash, onions, tomatoes and mushrooms over spaghetti. I think he is probably a decent cook, even though his Mom didn't teach him much at all. He appreciates good food and is always pleased when he makes something "scrumptious" as he would say. When he was four years old, he would often make himself scrambled eggs. He carefully cracked the eggs over a bowl, mixed them with a fork without spilling, sprayed Pam in the pan, and, step up onto the little blue and white plastic stool at the stove stirring his eggs. The difference between him and me is that I don't get any pleasure cooking. Even if the end result is scrumptious, I always think it has taken too long for something that is gobbled in a few minutes. Then there is always the mess to clean up....

But I digress....

Ben sprained his ankle a few days ago. He couldn't ice it much. His freezer isn't cold enough to make ice, and there is not much ice in the country. Water is served without ice and if you ask for ice, they give you one cube.

There is only one week of Ulpan left and Ben and his friends still have not decided where to go on their break. I think Egypt will be the default place if they can't arrange to go anywhere else.

Ben says he is so much better at understanding Hebrew now. He can't speak as well as he can comprehend yet. I hope that he studies Hebrew the whole time he is there so that he can be almost fluent by the end of the year.

I told Ben that a lot of people read his blog, even though they may not comment. I truly appreciate him putting the effort into it.