Today I am so excited
because I will bring you along as I prepare to travel for CME or continuing medical education
meeting and show you how we can stay as Orthodox Jewish women at a non-jewish hotel I will also
share with you five things that are essential for us to have to be able to stay at a regular hotel
and as a bonus I will include a small Jewish caterer and grocery store tour with a haul and
if you're new here hi my name is Sara Malka and on my channel I share all facets of my Orthodox
Sephardic Jewish Life as a full-time working mom with small kiddos so don't forget to leave this
video a big Thumbs Up And subscribe to our Channel let me put on a pretty Tichel (headscarf) and
let's jump into it as many of you know I am a full-time healthcare provider and part of
my practice and ongoing learning includes CME or continuing medical education These CME are
a few times a year and we are brought together to learn more about what is new in our specialty what
is in the pipeline as per technology medication research and so much more to gain more knowledge
and ultimately being better equipped to help our patients and this is where I'm going to go for the
next two days being part of such CME I'm usually the only Orthodox Jewish woman there and this is
why I need to be fully prepared here is the first thing I need to do to make sure I can stay in a
non-jewish hotel I have to call the hotel a few days in advance to make pre-arrangements with
the hotel to ensure they have the one thing I need from them to be able to stay there and
I will go in more details as per what it is as we progress in the video once I have called and
confirmed they have what I need in my room to be able to stay there I can start preparing myself
the second thing I need to do is to make sure my tribe is well fed while I'm away so I make
sure all the food I have prepared in my Sunday kosher meal prep is ready to go so my hobby can
just put the meal in the oven and reheat it when I'm traveling for a few days I want for my husband
to have the easiest time ever to take over all of Mommy's and Daddy's tasks while I'm away so
everyone can have a great time even without Mommy and for the children not to associate
when Mommy is gone everything goes wrong my husband could of course order some food but
for me cooking is one of my love language with my family so I want for my family to feel that
even if mommy is not home her food is there and it reminds them mommy loves you even when she's away
once I know my family will be well fed while I'm away I will pack my suitcase
I try to travel light but I'm not so good at it and maybe you have some tips and tricks on
how to travel light let me know them in the comments below because I need help
I like to start by packing my toiletry
and of course I will pack my toothbrush with its protector as well as my toothpaste and my floss
as I already shared with you in my Mikvah video a dentist friend told us that it's better now to
floss first and then brush so this is what I've been doing since then once I packed my toothbrush
with its protector in my makeup bag I will also take a little bit of TLC with me and I will take
a sheet mask you know that I love sheet masks and today I will take the oatmeal and honey calming
and redness reducing mask because every time I travel in a hotel my face becomes so red and
sensitive maybe it's due to all the chemicals they use to clean the bed sheets and the towels did it
ever happened to you are you also sensitive to these kind of changes I would love to know
because one of my resolution for the year is to take better care of myself I will not skip
my workout as I saw online the hotel has a small gym to use the gym I will cover myself
fully to stay modest and I will show you what I mean when I train a bit later in the video
because it is two full days of meetings from 7am to later at night on the first day and then the
second day all day I will take two outfits for the days and one evening outfit because there is
always a special evening Gala at these meetings I love to wear dressy boots with skirts and I will
accessorize the outfit with gold earrings and a gold necklace as well as this black and gold belt
I'm going for a classic yet comfortable look and this will be my outfit for day number one what do
you think and if you want for me to do a video on what is considered modest clothing for Orthodox
Jewish women and how I dress modestly at work home and for Shabbat at special occasions please let me
know in the comments below because I will wear the first outfit while traveling I like placing
the full outfit together in my closet with my undergarments and boots in one spot so I do
not search for anything in the morning for the second day of the meeting I will go for a more
muted black and white outfit I think you can never go wrong with a classic white and black outfit I
will of course accessorize it with pearl earrings and a pearl necklace I always try to pack the day
before I leave because I need to be out the door early in the morning so once that I have packed
everything I will place it in a car and I'm gonna call it a night I'll see you tomorrow morning
after going through the morning routine with the kiddos I bring the girls to the bus stop
is it just me that always have a little pinch in my heart when I send my kiddos to school in the
morning even if I know it's only for a few hours I don't know let me know in the comments below when
I watch them go I always pray to G.od to watch over them and protect them once our princesses
are in the bus I head to the Jewish grocery store that doubles as a kosher caterer as I
need to grab things to eat before I go and this is the second thing I absolutely need to travel to a
non-jewish hotel kosher food because the majority of non-jewish hotels do not have kosher food or
kosher food kitchen or services in the past the institution I work for used to have all my meals
catered and brought to where I was staying but so many times there were mistakes that in the
end they asked me to bring my own food but it has to be from a restaurant or catered and everything
has to be sealed in total I will need food for five meals plus the snacks and drinks I absolutely
love this iced tea and also this sparkling water and you see its kosher by this OU certification
what is absolutely amazing in this Jewish grocery store is that they also have a small caterer
counter I only take items that can be eaten cold because heating food is always a source of stress
and confusion and most importantly a risk of mistake that would lead for me not to be able
to eat my food so today I'm gonna go simple and I'm gonna take some teriyaki salmon with broccoli
I also prefer to take food that is "parve" meaning non-meat nor Dairy for my lunch and supper to keep
it simple I can also find some prepared sandwiches and what is nice about them is that I do not need
to do a prayer called "BIRKAT HAMAZON" or Grace after meal in front of everyone in my meeting
after eating them because they are made with a special MEZONOT dough which is more like a sweet
bread I take a few salads which is also part of this year's goal for me to take better care of
myself which includes eating better and if you want for me to share what is my process to set
my goals and reset routine for the year please let me know in the comments Below on a side note
please keep in mind that all the prices that you are seeing are in Canadian dollars which is like
Monopoly money therefore when you see 7.50$ it's the equivalent of like four dollars American I
will take some Greek yogurts for my breakfast as well as some milk for my morning coffee before we
left we saw that the caterer was bringing out some sushi so I will put back some of the sandwiches
and take some sushi I absolutely love sushi and these Sushi are made with fake crab and fish and
some are vegan filled with veggies so I feel it's a better choice than sandwiches on a side note if
you're wondering what I would do if I left for another country with absolutely no Kosher food
then I would pack granola bars freeze dry or vacuum packed meals tuna packets peanut butter
and jelly soft packed with cookies crackers and my vitamins once everything is packed I will say
one last goodbye to my Prince aka my husband he is so cute because when I leave for a trip
even a few days like today he will accompany me and make sure that I have all the food I
need and he will also keep me company until I go in my car like with the kiddos it is hard
for me to separate from my husband with a heavy heart I start my long drive to get to the hotel
contrary to Jewish hotels where we can only have regular keys here we have tap Keys which
would be a problem if we spend Shabbat in a non-kosher hotel as we do not use Electronics
on shabbat even tap keys/electronic keys here is the third thing I need to be able
to stay in a non-kosher or non-jewish hotel it is a room with a fridge to store my food
I would not need a fridge in my room if the hotel was in a Jewish neighborhood with restaurants and
caterer but in this case like the majority of cases I need to bring my own food and need to
store it in a fridge to keep it fresh in this case I traded a room with a beautiful view for
a room with a pitiful view but with a fridge and for me it is totally worth it once my food is in
the fridge I will give you a little tour of my room it has a nice double bed with a little box
with earplugs I hope it's not a bad Omen of the level of noise I should expect over the night
there's a very nice "garde-robe" or closet with everything we need
next to the closet there is a beautiful size Spa like bathroom equipped with lovely products and
an amazing shower too and I have to admit I cannot wait for the day to be over to be
able to jump in the shower and try it because I arrived early to the meeting I can film The Empty
meeting rooms but of course I cannot film during the meeting so I will see you in about 8 hours
finally after intense learning sessions all about new therapies Technologies and
research pipelines I'm happy to be back in my room I have about an hour
to myself and then we have the evening meeting and dinner and here is a little
look at our evening Gala as everyone was filming I was able to film it for you too.
the evening was absolutely lovely and it is now time for me to start my Jewish night routine
after preparing what I need for my routine I will take a long and hot shower to relax
after this amazing and scrumptious shower I am going to put on my PJs
then put some lotions and potions to try to reverse time then I'm gonna floss my teeth
I brush my teeth for at least two minutes and after brushing and flossing and taking
care of my skin I can finally prepare the fourth thing we need to be able to go to a non-jewish
hotel as Jewish Orthodox women and that is to have a "Keli" or "Broc" or as our Ashkenazi
Brothers will call it a "Negel Vasser" it is a washing cup with two handles and this
one is my favorite because it is foldable so it easily fits in my purse and if you
have seen my videos you know we have these all over our house but especially in our
kitchen we use it in the morning to wash our hands ritualistically as well as after going
to the bathroom before eating bread and also after visiting gravesites or funeral homes
not to make a mess while I use the "Negel Vasser" or the "Broc" I will use this ice bucket to
collect the water I will also use this water that I brought from home because all the water
that is available in my hotel room comes from the bathroom and I cannot use water coming from
the bathroom to clean my hands ritualistically I will also add to my morning Kit this towel that
I brought from home to dry my hands I also prepare my clothes to train tomorrow morning
this helps me stay on track and stay motivated to do my exercise once I'm done preparing my
things for tomorrow I put myself in bed I will also apply my under eye mask then my sheet mask
and finally I can relax and do my favorite part of my Jewish night routine which is to read my
Torah books I absolutely love the books that I'm reading right now one is from Rabbi Pliskin which
is called "Conversation with yourself" and the other one is by Rabbanit Mizrachi and it is how
to better connect with G.od through the weekly Parasha or weekly portion of the Torah that is
read and I think every woman should read this book whatever their faith as it contains real
Pearls of Wisdom we should use every day to be a better wife a better mother and simply
just be a better person and after 20 minutes I close my book and finally I can go to bed
unfortunately my sleeping Bliss was short-lived as I was woken up at 3
30 by all the noise next to my room but I was really really grateful for the earplugs
I wake up before my 5 30 alarm and the first thing I do is recite Moda Ani
I then go and wash my hands ritualistically without a blessing
I then go to the bathroom change in my workout gear and I will then
wash my hand ritualistically once more but this time with a blessing
Blessed are you, L‑rd our G‑d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with
His commandments, and commanded us concerning the washing of the hands.
I take the time to fully dry my hands and then I will reach for the fifth thing I need to stay
at the non-jewish hotel which is my "Siddur" or Jewish prayer book to recite my morning prayer
I have made a full video on my morning prayer and I will leave the link in the description
box below and the link above I will take the time to write in my travel size gratitude
journal for what I'm grateful for today and with a heart full of gratitude I'm gonna go and train
while we're going to the gym something you do not know about me is that I was a high level
athlete for decades and I went pro in my sport but after getting married and having children I
did not take care of myself as much as I should which resulted in letting myself go and being a
bit overweight I'm sure you're all better than me in that realm but if there is one of you who is
in the same predicament as Me Maybe we can help each other to get back on track for me getting
back on track means to feel better in my skin and ultimately take care of the body G.od has
given me and to live a full purposeful life in good health G.od willing so are you in let me
know in the comments below I absolutely love training in the morning especially when there
is nobody at the gym like now I ran for about 20 minutes then I will do a bit of weight training
for another 30 minutes today was upper body day I absolutely love training with Sydney Cummings
Houdyshell on YouTube and I will leave her Link in the description box below I will then stretch
for another 10 minutes then I go back to my room I take a good shower and prepare myself for the
day once I'm dressed I will finish my prayer pack my room and head to my meetings and if
you're wondering as part of my contract I cannot wear my regular headscarf during the meeting so
I wear my synthetic wig with a covering on top I take the stairs as much as I can when I'm in
meetings to make my body move as much as possible after another six hours of meeting we are finally
free but before I left I wanted to show you what we could see from one of our conference rooms
an outdoors Scandinavian Spa it looks so pretty and I've never been to one how about you
to be honest the first thing I do once I reach my car is to take off my wig and
put on my head scarf and drive carefully home to go back to my mishpacha or family
that I missed so much even though we were apart just for a few days
thank you for being here it means the world to me and know that I would love to travel the globe
and see each and every one of you to say thank you for being who you are and to bring your own
light to the world and if you are here until the end please write in the comments I WOULD TRAVEL
FOR YOU so I know I was not alone and if nobody told you today know that YOU ARE LOVED and YOU ARE
ENOUGH Just the Way You Are until next time stay safe stay blessed and don't forget to FRUM IT UP
If I say that I love you