Chapter 61, Shfeya

Bird, birds singing early in the morning. That was the first sound I heard on the first morning I woke up at the new boarding school. It took about one minute before that beautiful sound was muffled by the sound of the musical clock. It was blasting all over the campus. Just before the radio program starts at 6:00 AM. The smell of the pine trees was permeating the air when the door opened, and the house mother walked in to make sure we were up.

There were six of us in the room: Mark from Morocco, Hezi Akerman the Fisherman son, Short Naftalie the son of the cook, Tall Avraham – also from Morocco, Shimon who was a nasty boy from the moment I met him, and myself. It took a few hours the afternoon before, for all of us to get to our room and to settle down. We introduced our selves and went to the dining room for dinner. The six of us sat on a big table with two other kids from another room.

Food was a light Israeli salad, scrambled eggs, dark bread, and some fruit for dessert. I don’t think I paid much attention to what I was eating, I was too involved talking with my new roommates. I learned that both Mark and Avraham came from Morocco a few years ago without their parents and were at our school for two years already. Nasty Shimon was a son of a criminal father (he didn’t tell us – Mark whispered in my ear). Shimon was picking on anyone who is smaller than him and there were a lot of them, including me. Naftali was a sone of a cook in a Jerusalem hotel. He lived in a small village on the way to Jerusalem. Hezi was a handsome boy, a child of a divorce family. His father had a fishing boat, and his older brother was handicap and worked as a pharmaceutical delivery driver. I was the only one who didn’t have anything interesting to tell. My parents were happily married, I didn’t have a criminal person in my family, I didn’t even come from another country. I liked to sing, but I discovered that Hezi was a lot better singer. He even wrote his songs.

“When do we find out what is our job assignment?” I asked.

“First thing after Breakfast.” Said Mark. “I know already where I am working, I will be at the vegetable garden.”

“How do you know?” asked Hezi.

“Those of us who were here last year and spent the half of the summer vacation working here were assigned jobs.”

“Kitchen?” I almost cried, “I was promised to do some agricultural work.” 

“All the positions are taken, and you are needed in the kitchen.”

It was the kitchen, as opposed to the dining room. The cooks were dressed in white with aprons and hats. There were three of them, in their fifties or so, very disagreeable. But then I met David. A small older man who was in charge of the kids working in the kitchen. When I say small, I mean very small, he was shorter than me and as skinny as I was. He had a happy face, almost a permanent smile.

“Welcome to the kitchen!” he said, extending his smile even more. “I want you to meet your kitchen partner, Matilda.” 

“Hamnah hm mmm my nnn name is Haim.” I stumbled over my words. “NNNice to meet you!” I really don’t know what is it about me and blonds. She had long light hair, blue eyes, and a chin dimple.

“Nice to meet you too!”

“All right, follow me, you two.”

We walked to the back of the kitchen where we found 3 big pots full of machine pealed potatoes. Next to them were three upsides down milk crates for us to sit on. David had three pairing knifes.

“We are going to peal whatever the machine wasn’t able to.” Each potato had a few dents and folds where the machine didn’t peal, and we had to clean that part out. David and Matilda were talking about the summer and about what class she is taking. I was just dumbfounded; I couldn’t say one word. I was just mesmerized by the beauty in front of me.

“Be here tomorrow right after breakfast,” said David when we finished the big piles of potatoes. Unlike today, we have a lot more work.”

After lunch, I had to go to my studying session. That semester we were working in the morning and studying in the afternoon. It will change in 3 months and again three months after that. I was assigned to the middle level class – because of my low grades. Yet Dad promised me he would buy me a guitar if I improved my grades and be transferred to the advanced class. This was not an easy task. I gave it all, I was reading late at night and doing my homework as soon as I got to my room. I even stayed up in class and didn’t dose off on daydreams. That part was easy, Matilda was not in my class. She was a year older than me.

The next morning, I was introduced to the big pots. When I say big, I mean huge. They are so big I could go inside and have room for three more kids. I was given a task to clean them. To wash them I had to get inside. Lucky for me they had a crank system to tilt them so you can empty and discard the liquids. I was handed a brush and special dish soap to dive in and scrub it well. A water hose was used to rinse it all. 

“We just served eggs and hot grits,” said the cook. “I need you to wash those two pots. Use this brush and soap, here is the hose to wash.” Every morning it became my task to wash the pots from the night before for the rest of that semester. Of course, I had to sit with David and peel potatoes or other vegetables. My brand-new fancy boots, as I discovered, were not made for working in the kitchen, they were not waterproof. The smell of the boiled milk made me sick to the stomach just as every time I was thinking to ask Matilda out. 

 

 

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Smashed Potatoes

 

This dish never lasts, it feels like I can never make enough of it. When I grew up, I knew only one kind of potatoes, Big, semi yellow potatoes, we always pealed them, and we had a few recipes for them; French fries or chips like they call them in Israel. Another dish was mashed potatoes – puree the way they call them in Israel I remember eating a lot of that when I was young in the hospital. I was introduced to small potatoes only in my old age and discovered a simple way to cook them that is healthy and taste great. You eat the whole potato including the skin which is the healthy part.

 

Ingredients:

4 lb. Baby Potatoes

1 Onion

5 Garlic Cloves

1 tsp Salt

¼ tsp Black Pepper

2 TBSP Olive Oil for sauteing
½ Bunch Parsley

Preparation:

  Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes.

Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil. Spread the potatoes on a baking sheet and smash the potatoes with a bottom of a pot or frying pan, spread salt and black pepper and grill for 20 minutes or until ready (crisp on the outside and soft on the inside).

Chop the fresh parsley, sprinkle on top and mix.

Best when served hot.

 

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