Mostly Past, Some Present, Small Hint About the Future

It's been a while since I've last posted.  A lot of things have happened over the past few weeks, so without boring you will ALL the details, I'll try and gloss over the highlights:

Amsterdam

On Sunday a few weeks ago, I went with some locals to Amsterdam for the day.  It's around a 2.5 hour drive north from Brussels.  There are a few random kosher restaurants so we went to go eat at a deli place - i got the corned beef sandwich.  (Just in case any of you are going to Amsterdam and you stumble upon a random Kosher deli place don't get the corned beef.  I assure you, it is much better from dad). We then went to a picnic with some local Jews, where we ate some more.  Following that we walked around the city.  I found the canals, saw the Amsterdamites ride their bikes and then went to another restaurant for dinner before leaving.  

Budapest

One of the perks of my job is the travel.  For those who do not know, I work for an organization that runs events for Jews in different cities across Europe.  Guess where their summer event was held... nope, you're wrong -- I would think it was obvious from the heading of this paragraph... in sunny Budapest!  Really pretty city, great weekend and I had an opportunity to bond with my coworkers.  So all in all, it worked out!  One of the highlights:  We had executive lounge access - basically it was an area on the 9th floor with a huge balcony - free food (although mostly not kosher) and free drinks.   Monday night after most of the participants had left the six staff ordered food from the local kosher meat restaurant - I got the local delicacy, goulash - and ate on the balcony as the sun set over the Danube River.  Not bad for a backdrop. 

Shabbat, This Past Weekend

In general, the couple that runs the organization that I work for hosts friday night dinners for any and all of the local Jewish students and young professionals.  They have been both away the last few weeks so no friday night dinner.  This past shabbat my co-workers and I decided to host dinner.  We sent out the message that we are doing it and had around 35 people respond that they were joining.  Wednesday night we went shopping, Thursday night and Friday we cooked and prepared everything.  Friday night, the meal exploded to over 50 people - we had to set up extra chairs and place settings.  Thankfully we had enough food, thanks to my 'better cook more just in case' mentality.  I also gave a dvar torah (thanks dad).  All in all it was a very successful meal.  People were telling me how good the food was and how much they enjoyed it.  We're making Friday night dinner again this week.  Hopefully it will be as good as last week, only time will tell. 

The plan for this Sunday is to go to Troyes, France - a 4.5 hour drive from Brussels - to visit the graves of Rashi and Rabeinu Tam.  I think it's a great Sunday before Tisha B'Av activity.

And so are the days of our lives...