After the meal a peaceful quiet descended over the house. Most of the guests had already left, although Janet was still there. Shifra wondered why Janet was still there; but didn’t ask any questions.

It seemed as though Janet was very interested in Yiddishkeit by the way she kept asking questions all the time. Her questions were clever and insightful, and Shifra realized that Janet picked things up really quickly.

Now they sat on the comfortable grey couches. Janet was flipping through an old magazine and Meir was going through all his parashah sheets.

“So,” Shifra said, wanting to make conversation, “where else did you visit in south America?”

“Ah, so I’ve been to Brazil”-

“Brazil?” Meir piped up excitedly, “one of my friends from school lives over there!”

“Wow! And is he boarding here?” Janet asked.

“Boarding?” Meir asked, confused.

“It means staying. Is he staying over here in Argentina and sleeping by someone?”

“No, he is my friend from the computer.”

Janet looked at Shifra, bewildered.

“We go to school online,” Shifra said, trying to stifle her giggles.

“Ooh, now I get it,” Janet replied.

Shifra felt a small bubble of excitement inside of her. Janet was so nice; maybe they could be friends? Janet was seven years older than Shifra, but it was better than nothing. Now, how could Shifra get Janet to talk to her alone?

Shifra usually played with Meir on Shabbos afternoons, but Meir was six for goodness sake. But here was someone new, exciting, and best of all- older than Shifra.

To be continued…