Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Back to B'more
I will be coming back to Baltimore for (an annual? semi-annual? Who knows....) a moonliighting stretch on Sunday. So, if you lacerate your finger, have an ear infection, get dehydrated, etc., come on down to see me at Pt 1st. I will be there.....
Friday, November 30, 2007
Gali's Gan's Hanukah Party - 1
Gali's gan Chanukah party was this past Wed. It was so sweet- the teachers are excellent. The video is the girls' dance with the oil pitchers. Right before was a song about the Macabies and "Yivanim" which involved the a dance with boys in the class holding paper swords and shields. Gali atually knew all the songs--who knew?! She was right up there with he rest of the kids. Everyone got a huge sufganiya after the 'performance' ... Gali's highlight, for sure. So cute.
P.S Notice how Gali's wearing the EXACT same thing as the girl in ponytails to her left! Not on purpose or planned. The girls are actually great friends. Gali especially likes her because the girl sneaks nailpolish into school and they do their nails secrectly in the corner! I know I should probably tell her not to do it, but I find it too funny to tell her to stop!
Tune in for Amitai's party this Sunday...
Monday, November 26, 2007
This is what we do for fun in Maale Adumim
The title is a bit of an exaggeration, but........
So, I admit, I was a bit bored and went to a website that I do not agree with, at all, to say the least - Peace Now.
I saw that they were recruiting people to essentially spy on "settlements". So I volunteered.
Here is the email that I received from them -
"I was away for a few days and only now do i get to see your email.
Thank you very much for your kind offer. we would be very happy for any help and information on any settlement in the West Bank.
i don't know what you had in mind as to be part of the settlement watch for Maale Adumim (do you mean you want to make a research on construction, funding, planning, social issues etc.), or do you want to follow things on the ground? or else?
I would be very happy to hear from you.
All the best,
XXXXX XXXXX
Settlement Watch Team
Peace Now
054-XXXXXXX
hagit@peacenow.org.il
www.peacenow.org.il"
I had some funny responses in mind. If you have any good ideas for me, I would love to hear them.
I was particularly thinking about ratting out some of the kids in Amitai's gan. They are defiantly in the Colonialist-Racist-Occupier type mold.
Anyhow, this is that happens if you don't watch TV for 3 months (we have not gotten around to hooking ours up yet).
So, I admit, I was a bit bored and went to a website that I do not agree with, at all, to say the least - Peace Now.
I saw that they were recruiting people to essentially spy on "settlements". So I volunteered.
Here is the email that I received from them -
"I was away for a few days and only now do i get to see your email.
Thank you very much for your kind offer. we would be very happy for any help and information on any settlement in the West Bank.
i don't know what you had in mind as to be part of the settlement watch for Maale Adumim (do you mean you want to make a research on construction, funding, planning, social issues etc.), or do you want to follow things on the ground? or else?
I would be very happy to hear from you.
All the best,
XXXXX XXXXX
Settlement Watch Team
Peace Now
054-XXXXXXX
hagit@peacenow.org.il
www.peacenow.org.il"
I had some funny responses in mind. If you have any good ideas for me, I would love to hear them.
I was particularly thinking about ratting out some of the kids in Amitai's gan. They are defiantly in the Colonialist-Racist-Occupier type mold.
Anyhow, this is that happens if you don't watch TV for 3 months (we have not gotten around to hooking ours up yet).
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
My 9th Av/Yom Kippur shoes are now my Har HaBayit/9th Av/Yom Kippur shoes
As I have said before, I will say once again - so much is going on, so much good material - I just wish that I had the time to write about it all. Today perhaps than many other days.
Owing to my despondency over our insane government, I called up my friend Ze'ev, who is something of a Har Habayit (Temple Mount in Jerusalem) maven, and asked if we could go up. he was happy to oblige, and we went up earlier today.
We went to a, we'll call it "heimish" mikveh in the Old City, then went to the Western Wall plaza, but instead of going to the Kotel itself, simply made a right and went into the Temple Mount.
Lots, lots, lots to tell and say. Sadly, I am running out of steam.
To be continued.....
Owing to my despondency over our insane government, I called up my friend Ze'ev, who is something of a Har Habayit (Temple Mount in Jerusalem) maven, and asked if we could go up. he was happy to oblige, and we went up earlier today.
We went to a, we'll call it "heimish" mikveh in the Old City, then went to the Western Wall plaza, but instead of going to the Kotel itself, simply made a right and went into the Temple Mount.
Lots, lots, lots to tell and say. Sadly, I am running out of steam.
To be continued.....
Mutitasking
So Sunday was the official start day for the new job and ulpan. I can honestly say that I'm really enjoying and getting a lot out of both.
But there's one little thing that has been causing problems: time. Not enough of it. I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to function if things continue the way they are going.
I'm working 20 hrs a week which translates to 4 hrs a day, 5 days a week. Ulpan is 5 hrs a day, 8:30- 1:30. The kids all get out of their gans at 1:20. (I leave early from ulpan to pick them up.)
So let me tell you how everything fits into the day:
Get everyone ready and dropped off at gan by 7:30a. Hop on the 7:40a bus to get to ulpan by 8:30. Leave ulpan at 12:15 to catch a bus back to pick up the kids at 1:20. Take kids home, feed them lunch, keep them entertained while Hila naps, take them to playdates or chugs (depending on the day) from 4:30- 5:15ish. Home to make a quick dinner, everyone has baths and are in bed by about 7-7:30p. Which is when my workday begins. So, for example, last night I began work around 8p and had to stop when I found myself passing out onto the keyboard at 12:50a. In bed at 1:20a. (Woken up 3 times by kids.)Of course, I still had to put some finishing touches on the project, so up at 6:20a to get that done before the kids got up. No ulpan on Wednesdays, luckily, so I finished at about 8a and rushed the kids to school. Now I'm home and ready to pass out. Oh- and I'm not even touching the fact that the apt is disintegrating into a huge mess because I don't have time to clean up after the kids.
The way my job works is, I'm sent documents to edit (about 4 hrs worth) and I'm required to have it completed and sent back within 24 hrs of it being sent. Yesterday, it was sent to me at about 8:15a which is why I had to do it last night at a mad pace instead of using my free morning today to do it.
That was not an atypical day. I will have to do that, pretty much, every day except Friday and Shabbat.
How?
I don't know. I'm finding it hard to find a way to make it work. Especially because I really need to be in ulpan now and am very much enjoying it. And because I really like work and it's such a great way into the field- I can't let an opportunity like this pass. And because the kids are here to stay. :)
Any advice?
But there's one little thing that has been causing problems: time. Not enough of it. I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to function if things continue the way they are going.
I'm working 20 hrs a week which translates to 4 hrs a day, 5 days a week. Ulpan is 5 hrs a day, 8:30- 1:30. The kids all get out of their gans at 1:20. (I leave early from ulpan to pick them up.)
So let me tell you how everything fits into the day:
Get everyone ready and dropped off at gan by 7:30a. Hop on the 7:40a bus to get to ulpan by 8:30. Leave ulpan at 12:15 to catch a bus back to pick up the kids at 1:20. Take kids home, feed them lunch, keep them entertained while Hila naps, take them to playdates or chugs (depending on the day) from 4:30- 5:15ish. Home to make a quick dinner, everyone has baths and are in bed by about 7-7:30p. Which is when my workday begins. So, for example, last night I began work around 8p and had to stop when I found myself passing out onto the keyboard at 12:50a. In bed at 1:20a. (Woken up 3 times by kids.)Of course, I still had to put some finishing touches on the project, so up at 6:20a to get that done before the kids got up. No ulpan on Wednesdays, luckily, so I finished at about 8a and rushed the kids to school. Now I'm home and ready to pass out. Oh- and I'm not even touching the fact that the apt is disintegrating into a huge mess because I don't have time to clean up after the kids.
The way my job works is, I'm sent documents to edit (about 4 hrs worth) and I'm required to have it completed and sent back within 24 hrs of it being sent. Yesterday, it was sent to me at about 8:15a which is why I had to do it last night at a mad pace instead of using my free morning today to do it.
That was not an atypical day. I will have to do that, pretty much, every day except Friday and Shabbat.
How?
I don't know. I'm finding it hard to find a way to make it work. Especially because I really need to be in ulpan now and am very much enjoying it. And because I really like work and it's such a great way into the field- I can't let an opportunity like this pass. And because the kids are here to stay. :)
Any advice?
Thursday, November 8, 2007
“What kind of Jew are you?” – said with an exceedingly Southern USA drawl
The Characters –
“The Southern Guy” – wearing the Carolina Panther’s football jersey, with #77 on the back – name on the jersey reads, “HAPPYDAD”
“The Jewish Guy” – wearing “business casual”, kippa (knit, of course), eating his dinner of jelly beans.....
Southern guy (SG) – “Sure need more sockets for chargin’ cell phones ‘round here.”
Jewish Guy – (JG) – “Yeah, I think they did not really have laptops and cell phones in mind when they designed this waiting area.”
……
JG – “Are you going to
SG – “Yeah, with my wife and church group.”
JG – “I see a lot of church groups going over on these flights – that’s great.”
SG – “…..so do we go over the ocean the whole way to get to
JG – “…..uh, yeah, I mean, we stick pretty close to the East Coast up to the Newfoundland area, I think, but yeah, there is a lot of ocean between here and Israel.”
SG – “This is my first time flying.”
JG – “(!)…..you might want to take a Benadryl or something, get some sleep on the flight….”
SG -
JG – “…I’m not sure that the eye drops are really going to do the trick…..”
SG – “I wear contacts.”
JG – “Well in that case, you are going to need them.”
……….
SG – “So when did you convert to Judaism?”
JG – “What?”
SG – “When did you convert?”
JG – “I didn’t convert – I am Jewish – I have always been Jewish….”
SG – “But you are from
JG – “Hell, yeah. My family is Jewish though.”
SG – “….oh….”
…….
SG – “Do you know Matisyahu?”
JG –
SG – “Yeah, that’s him. Is he Chasidic?”
JG – “I guess you could say, yeah, you might want to ask him though. He is from a group a people called ‘Chabad’, they are Chasidic.”
SG – “So, is that like really conservative Jewish. That beard, black hat and all…..”
JG – “I don’t know, you might have to ask him.”
SG – “Well, are you like very conservative, old-fashioned?”
JG – “Yes.”
SG -
JG – “uh…..I don’t know……”
SG -
JG – “I am not sure……. If you mean theocracy like restoring the lineage of David to political power, you could say that I believe in ‘theocracy’…….”
…….
SG – “So what kind of a Jew is that guy?”
JG – “What guy?”
SG – “The guy with the black hat over there.”
JG – “…uh….I dunno…..”
SG – “Is he Chasidic?”
JG – “I don’t know, you might want to go ask him…….Actually, that would be kinda interesting, I would like to see that
alright already
Ok Ok...it's been a while, but no need to worry- we're still here :)
Been pretty busy lately, as Rich said a few posts ago.
Rich is in Tampa AGAIN. He left here Mon night and is coming back tonight (Thur). It's actually pretty manageable when he's gone. I'm forced to have a rigid schedule in order to better handle the kids and stuff around the house. The kids- especially Gali- really do well when they know everything is planned out and has a specific order. ("First we eat lunch. Then we read books. Then we take scooters outside...") Things are little more haphazard when Rich is here. Not because of him, but because I relax and let things happen when they do- I get lazy. So the goal is to keep up the sched when he gets back. Wish me luck :)
For some reason, every time Rich leaves for Fla, the lice crawl their way in. Not so bad this time because I've learned my lesson and comb every one's hair out after baths every night. I found a big friend in Gali's hair this time so I jumped into action and doused every one's head in olive oil, got them back in the tub and piled on the rosemary conditioner. Combed everyone out again. I think this time we caught the bugger before he could multiply. I didn't find a single nit or louse in any one's hair, including Gali, after I took that original one out. It must have jumped aboard at gan that day.
So, G-d willing, we're done with that...for now anyway.
I've added a few more things to my plate this past week. I started ulpan in Yerushalayim on Sunday. So far, so good. The teacher's pretty good. Unfortunately, I haven't gone in 2 days because I couldn't manage to get the kids out quickly enough to catch a bus to get to ulpan at a reasonable time. No ulpan on Fridays, so I'm hoping to start up again on Sunday after R and I think up a plan for dropping off the kids. All this should be easier after we have the car.
(Side point: The car is on hold because they need our passports for a few days to process the purchase and Rich needed to keep his for the flight this week. So we're HOPEFULLY going back on Sun to give them the passports and finally get the ball rolling for the car.)
Hila started daycare a week and a half ago with an English speaking woman in her home. There are 5 other kids, all of whom are 2-3 yrs old. Doesn't faze Hila because, of course, she thinks she's about 2 yrs old. The teacher is wonderful. She sets up the day like an actual preschool with "aruchat eser" (10 o'clock meal of a sandwich and fruit), story time, playing in the park. Hila has really taken to it. She usually gives a little cry when I leave, but today she dismissed me with a little wave.
Another perk of daycare is the great workout I get when I take her there and back every day. The two older kids are in gan a building away from our apt, but Hila is practically at the end of the neighborhood. It's a nice hike up and down hill...and the woman lives on the top floor of the building. So that would be up 4 flights of stairs as well.
But definitely the best perk of all is not having someone perched on my hip the entire day for the first time in 5 yrs!
Another recent happening is I got job! The company Rich is working for right now is looking for copy editors, so I applied. I took a 2+ hr test to see if I qualified and I just had a phone interview last night. They emailed me a contract after the phone call. The position could be full time, but I definitely don't have time for that. I'll be working 20 hrs a week to start.
It's going to feel strange working again. It's going to feel REALLY strange working in a field that doesn't involve kids in any way. I'm looking forward to it!
Well, those are the happenings of these past 2 weeks in a nutshell.
Been pretty busy lately, as Rich said a few posts ago.
Rich is in Tampa AGAIN. He left here Mon night and is coming back tonight (Thur). It's actually pretty manageable when he's gone. I'm forced to have a rigid schedule in order to better handle the kids and stuff around the house. The kids- especially Gali- really do well when they know everything is planned out and has a specific order. ("First we eat lunch. Then we read books. Then we take scooters outside...") Things are little more haphazard when Rich is here. Not because of him, but because I relax and let things happen when they do- I get lazy. So the goal is to keep up the sched when he gets back. Wish me luck :)
For some reason, every time Rich leaves for Fla, the lice crawl their way in. Not so bad this time because I've learned my lesson and comb every one's hair out after baths every night. I found a big friend in Gali's hair this time so I jumped into action and doused every one's head in olive oil, got them back in the tub and piled on the rosemary conditioner. Combed everyone out again. I think this time we caught the bugger before he could multiply. I didn't find a single nit or louse in any one's hair, including Gali, after I took that original one out. It must have jumped aboard at gan that day.
So, G-d willing, we're done with that...for now anyway.
I've added a few more things to my plate this past week. I started ulpan in Yerushalayim on Sunday. So far, so good. The teacher's pretty good. Unfortunately, I haven't gone in 2 days because I couldn't manage to get the kids out quickly enough to catch a bus to get to ulpan at a reasonable time. No ulpan on Fridays, so I'm hoping to start up again on Sunday after R and I think up a plan for dropping off the kids. All this should be easier after we have the car.
(Side point: The car is on hold because they need our passports for a few days to process the purchase and Rich needed to keep his for the flight this week. So we're HOPEFULLY going back on Sun to give them the passports and finally get the ball rolling for the car.)
Hila started daycare a week and a half ago with an English speaking woman in her home. There are 5 other kids, all of whom are 2-3 yrs old. Doesn't faze Hila because, of course, she thinks she's about 2 yrs old. The teacher is wonderful. She sets up the day like an actual preschool with "aruchat eser" (10 o'clock meal of a sandwich and fruit), story time, playing in the park. Hila has really taken to it. She usually gives a little cry when I leave, but today she dismissed me with a little wave.
Another perk of daycare is the great workout I get when I take her there and back every day. The two older kids are in gan a building away from our apt, but Hila is practically at the end of the neighborhood. It's a nice hike up and down hill...and the woman lives on the top floor of the building. So that would be up 4 flights of stairs as well.
But definitely the best perk of all is not having someone perched on my hip the entire day for the first time in 5 yrs!
Another recent happening is I got job! The company Rich is working for right now is looking for copy editors, so I applied. I took a 2+ hr test to see if I qualified and I just had a phone interview last night. They emailed me a contract after the phone call. The position could be full time, but I definitely don't have time for that. I'll be working 20 hrs a week to start.
It's going to feel strange working again. It's going to feel REALLY strange working in a field that doesn't involve kids in any way. I'm looking forward to it!
Well, those are the happenings of these past 2 weeks in a nutshell.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Busting my chops
I think today was the first time that it happened - that being my daughter correcting my Hebrew, or rather, my nasty-American-accented Hebrew.
Avigayil did not like how I said the word "cartisia" (a kind of a bus pass) - she unhesitantly corrected my with a much more Israeli-lilting/gutteral "carrrrrrtisia".
Our humiliation, and but in truth pride, has begun.
Avigayil did not like how I said the word "cartisia" (a kind of a bus pass) - she unhesitantly corrected my with a much more Israeli-lilting/gutteral "carrrrrrtisia".
Our humiliation, and but in truth pride, has begun.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Busy, busy, busy
Been a while since we wrote - for those out there that actually read this, please don't let the pause in the writing fool you - lots going on, which makes the writing all the more difficult.
For those counting down with us, Mazda was kind enough to take our money.....and then inform us that I need to send the originals (don't forget that the official aliyah guidebook tells you NEVER to give originals of your documents for anybody to keep) of my passport and other goodies to "Meches", aka the Israeli IRS, sort of. So the car is on hold until I get back from my 2nd trip to Tampa in 3 weeks! Frequent flyer miles are accumulating......80,000 needed for a flight from TA to the USA though.
In all honesty, I have enough material for a few years of writing, once I get a breather. Maybe on the plane I can do some writing, we'll see.
For those counting down with us, Mazda was kind enough to take our money.....and then inform us that I need to send the originals (don't forget that the official aliyah guidebook tells you NEVER to give originals of your documents for anybody to keep) of my passport and other goodies to "Meches", aka the Israeli IRS, sort of. So the car is on hold until I get back from my 2nd trip to Tampa in 3 weeks! Frequent flyer miles are accumulating......80,000 needed for a flight from TA to the USA though.
In all honesty, I have enough material for a few years of writing, once I get a breather. Maybe on the plane I can do some writing, we'll see.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
How to buy a car in 17 minutes
We are now the official owners of a Mazda 5!! Well, on paper. The actual car comes in 10 days.
Last night we all schlepped out to Talpiot to the Mazda dealership where Rich had stopped by a few days ago for a few pamphlets and some info. Kids were getting a little cranky because it was dinner time and I was wondering if I had brought enough snacks to tide them over. I remember getting antsy myself the last time Rich and I bought a car. So much negotiation, the guy getting up and down, so many forms...
Not so last night- the time between us stepping into the dealership to the moment Rich was shaking the guy's hand on our way out was literally 17 minutes.
How strange is it that you can haggle on the price of anything here...except a car. And you can't haggle on anything in the U.S....except a car.
We sat down, told him the color we wanted, signed a few things he went over with us...boom- proud owners of a new car. Off we went to the mall across the street to get dinner, back on the bus(es), and called it a night.
Last night we all schlepped out to Talpiot to the Mazda dealership where Rich had stopped by a few days ago for a few pamphlets and some info. Kids were getting a little cranky because it was dinner time and I was wondering if I had brought enough snacks to tide them over. I remember getting antsy myself the last time Rich and I bought a car. So much negotiation, the guy getting up and down, so many forms...
Not so last night- the time between us stepping into the dealership to the moment Rich was shaking the guy's hand on our way out was literally 17 minutes.
How strange is it that you can haggle on the price of anything here...except a car. And you can't haggle on anything in the U.S....except a car.
We sat down, told him the color we wanted, signed a few things he went over with us...boom- proud owners of a new car. Off we went to the mall across the street to get dinner, back on the bus(es), and called it a night.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
End of days????
I read this at the Egged (national bus service) website, blinked a few times, thought that I must get my eyes checked.....and then the truth of the matter set in.
If you needed any more proof that the end of days is near, please note - professional wrestling is coming to Eretz Yisrael. See below to buy your tickets......who gets me excited is 'X Division Champion “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal'......yeech......sounds tough.
"The superstars of Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling are in action at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv on Thursday, November 15 and Saturday, November 17.
Appearing live and in person will be TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle, “The Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe, “The Instant Classic” Christian Cage, Abyss, “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles, X Division Champion “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal, Team 3D, Triple X, “The Guru” Sonjay Dutt, “Cowboy” James Storm, Gail Kim, Jackie Moore, “Wildcat” Chris Harris, Eric Young, Robert Roode, BG James, Kip James, Petey Williams and more!"
Appearing live and in person will be TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle, “The Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe, “The Instant Classic” Christian Cage, Abyss, “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles, X Division Champion “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal, Team 3D, Triple X, “The Guru” Sonjay Dutt, “Cowboy” James Storm, Gail Kim, Jackie Moore, “Wildcat” Chris Harris, Eric Young, Robert Roode, BG James, Kip James, Petey Williams and more!"
Gan R' Us
I heard a little tap on our door yesterday afternoon. I opened it only to be trampled by a group of very excited preschoolers from Ami's gan. One of them shouted (not one of mine!) "Let's play!!" and they all began running down the hall to the kids' rooms, yelling "Yaaaaay!". I yelled "Stop!" and they all practically tripped over each other because that's how fast they were running. I had them color in coloring books in the kitchen where I could at least see them make a big mess. (see pic #1)
The funny part is I had no idea where they were coming from and no one seemed to be aware of their whereabouts. They had somehow banded together and were circulating around to different apartments. It was really very cute, actually. And eventually everyone was returned to their respective homes.
Little bitty ones running around independent is pretty common. I thought I would never feel comfortable allowing my kids to do that, but honestly, it has turned out to be much easier than I had thought. Friday evenings, waiting for Abba to get home from shul are much more enjoyable now that they are able to run around with their friends. The shul we go to meets in Amitai's gan which is one building away from ours. There is a bicycle path from our courtyard in back of the building, straight to the gan. Led by a neighbor's slightly older child, the kids run to the shul/gan where they play in the playground, and back to our apt where they load up on snacks before heading back out.
Gali and Ami get out of gan at 1:20, so it's a fairly long day left when they get home. No worries! Off they go to play with whatever neighbor happens to be home.
Back in Baltimore, if we wanted the kids to be occupied and play with friends, we would have to plan a play-date in advance, calling around to see who would be available the day before. And seeing as I tend not to plan very much in advance in general, this was not done quite often in our house. Much to the annoyance of Gali who would usually spend her afternoon groaning "I'm booorrred!" (surrounded by toys and a huge backyard with a swing set).
So everyone is pretty happy with this arrangement. Except for Hila, maybe. (see pic #2) She's not allowed to go and come as she pleases, something she finds extremely not fair. Being that she thinks she's a few yrs older than her age (which is really 17 months old). I think she also gets irritated having more older kids around who enjoy picking her up and plopping her down whenever they please. One older brother and sister is enough, thank you. So whenever someone new comes to our house, she bee-lines for them and gives them a 17 month old smack...which they find adorable and immediately have to pick her up.
An explanation, or as my ulpan teacher would say, "Ze terutz o siba?"
Sorry if I lost some of you with my last posting......this is what happens when you let an only-child who to this day tells jokes to himself (and I laugh out loud at them - I know, I know, it is not healthy....) write on the Internet. Incomprehensibility......
So I was looking into the idea of joining a political party here, and I came across the video I put in the link (old school).
For those that don't know this about me, my mind runs pretty fast, and I tend to use a lot of dated cultural references.
Bottom line - if you did not understand that last post, I am sure you are not alone, as neither did Elana.
Apologies, our dear readers! See you next posting.......
So I was looking into the idea of joining a political party here, and I came across the video I put in the link (old school).
For those that don't know this about me, my mind runs pretty fast, and I tend to use a lot of dated cultural references.
Bottom line - if you did not understand that last post, I am sure you are not alone, as neither did Elana.
Apologies, our dear readers! See you next posting.......
Monday, October 22, 2007
??
Rich just explained the meaning of his last post to me and I still don't understand. He has, however, promised to never again write posts at 1 in the morning :)
O-L-D S-C-H-O-O-L!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is SO old school that it makes.................
......."Blackula" look like the #1 box office smash of the weekend.
......."Yerushalyim shel zahav" sound fresh and timely.
......."asimonim" look like they might actually work.
......."misrad rishui" (aka, DMV/MVA) look anything close to having an updated work flow.
OLD SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!
Apologies for the rant.....way past my bedtime........
Y'hee zichro baruch
Reminds me to tell you about the letter my Grandpa Victor wrote.....I should probably post it at some time.
......."Blackula" look like the #1 box office smash of the weekend.
......."Yerushalyim shel zahav" sound fresh and timely.
......."asimonim" look like they might actually work.
......."misrad rishui" (aka, DMV/MVA) look anything close to having an updated work flow.
OLD SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!
Apologies for the rant.....way past my bedtime........
Y'hee zichro baruch
Reminds me to tell you about the letter my Grandpa Victor wrote.....I should probably post it at some time.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Yay, Amitai!!!
Amitai said his first Hebrew word today! Gali was showing him a picture she made and he said "Yofee!" (translates loosely to "Nice"). He caught me smiling and suddenly realized what he had said and became very shy, hiding his head in his arms.
Laundry in the Land
Well, good news is that our washing machine is hooked up and all the kinks are finally worked out by a plumber.
Bad news: we can't hook up our dryer. The electrician told us that the wiring is so old in this apt that it would cost over 1000 NIS to hook everything up.
Oh, well.
For now, the clothes line is working out pretty well...if you don't mind crackling towels. Our dryer now works pretty well as a microwave stand for now.
It takes about a day for a load to dry, so we've been doing a load every night and hanging them out all the next day. There is a huge wind that blows right through our apt from about 4pm to 8pm every day, so for now, not having a dryer seems doable short-term. What I'm concerned about is the damp, cold winter coming up. We might end up having to rent or buy a dryer second-hand.
I was comparing notes on the hang-dry situation with a friend who was here for Shabbat (Chanina R., for the Baltimorians)- also just made aliyah. She recently got a dryer (lucky girl :) but had been hanging her clothes as well until then. We feel like such Yidishe mama's, leaning out the window with the clothes pins in our teeth.
For me, though, it actually is something I enjoy doing, in weird way. (Don't tell Rich...I enjoy HIM doing it a lot more!) Maybe it's the gorgeous mountain view from the clothes line (see pic) or maybe it's just the feeling of somehow connecting to the The Land.
Don't ask me to explain that.
It just feels natural. You know- for now. Until our dryer is functional.
Hey- I deserve a break after hours of hanging up itty bitty baby socks, and tiny elmo underpants, one-by-one.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Hebrew progress
Gali is picking up Hebrew way faster than I ever imagined. She's a memorizer and has always amazed us with the vocabulary words she throws into her normal conversations. Now Hebrew is her focus and her favorite thing to do with Rich now is to sit with a picture Hebrew dictionary for kids and quiz him on the words. What's impressive is that she remembers them all... The next day, she'll open to the page they did the day before and rattle off (in Hebrew) exactly what they had talked about.
We asked Gali if she talks Hebrew to her classmates.
"Not really. I just say 'Ani midaberet Anglit'." ("I speak English")
(HOW does she know how to say this?! She must have heard us saying it...a lot :)
So we asked her "What do you say when someone says something that you don't understand?"
"Nothing. I just walk away."
I have actually seen her do this, too. A kid ran up to her while she was riding her scooter and asked in Hebrew if he could have a turn. Gali obviously didn't know what he was saying, but she did this amazingly Israeli thing of dismissively shrugging her shoulders and mumbling something in the other direction. What she mumbled was something that sounded like Hebrew but were just made-up words. How smart is SHE?! The kid looked confused and it gave Gali just enough time to scoot away as fast as her little legs could take her!
Amitai is taking a little more time with the Hebrew. He has other interests for now (mostly climbing, jumping and running), but I'm hoping some Hebrew will slip through every once in a while. Yesterday he declared "I know Hebrew, Imma! Achat, Shtayim, Shalosh, Arrbarrrr!" ("one two three four"-but he has his own version of "four".) I think he learns best by doing. Last week he wrote his name beautifully after I showed him how only twice. But if I ask him to identify any of the letters he just wrote, there's a good chance he'll tell me "X and P".
Rich is a Hebrew guru. He has gotten so many compliments on his Hebrew by Israeli's that you'd think he'd be pretty proud of himself. But somehow it doesn't sink in and he's always saying how he wishes his Hebrew was better. Mine could use a lot of work, on the other hand. Ask me to read a poem and write a page about it, and it's done, no problem. Ask me to talk to the kids' teachers or the bus driver or the phone company and I'm a mess. I need Ulpan pretty badly. I haven't started yet because I wanted to get the kids settled in their schools and find daycare for Hila before I run to Yerushalim every day. The kids get out of gan at 1:20 and Ulpan is over at 1:30. So I would have to leave over an hour early to be back to pick them up on time. We'll see how it works out.
And what would a blog about Israel be without a little talk about lice?
Well, here it is...
Unfortunately, Hila and I have experienced the "real" Israel...we are now officially genuine Israeli's. Last week we had lice. Funny how it works: my two little gan-goers are completely lice-free and us two home-bodies end up with it. Have no idea where we got it. Apparently, we were clueless about proper hair hygiene here. Nope-- showers and shampoo every day don't cut it. Friends were aghast that we weren't combing through every one's hair with a lice comb at least once a day and then spraying with Rosemary extract. How do I miss these announcements? Well, thank G-d I think it's gone (olive oil seemed to do the trick), and we're now all the wiser. We now religiously put that rosemary stuff on and about 45 minutes a night is dedicated to "comb-outs" and lice checks. And we now seem to be (and by 'we', I mean 'me')a little less intimidated by the little buggers.
We asked Gali if she talks Hebrew to her classmates.
"Not really. I just say 'Ani midaberet Anglit'." ("I speak English")
(HOW does she know how to say this?! She must have heard us saying it...a lot :)
So we asked her "What do you say when someone says something that you don't understand?"
"Nothing. I just walk away."
I have actually seen her do this, too. A kid ran up to her while she was riding her scooter and asked in Hebrew if he could have a turn. Gali obviously didn't know what he was saying, but she did this amazingly Israeli thing of dismissively shrugging her shoulders and mumbling something in the other direction. What she mumbled was something that sounded like Hebrew but were just made-up words. How smart is SHE?! The kid looked confused and it gave Gali just enough time to scoot away as fast as her little legs could take her!
Amitai is taking a little more time with the Hebrew. He has other interests for now (mostly climbing, jumping and running), but I'm hoping some Hebrew will slip through every once in a while. Yesterday he declared "I know Hebrew, Imma! Achat, Shtayim, Shalosh, Arrbarrrr!" ("one two three four"-but he has his own version of "four".) I think he learns best by doing. Last week he wrote his name beautifully after I showed him how only twice. But if I ask him to identify any of the letters he just wrote, there's a good chance he'll tell me "X and P".
Rich is a Hebrew guru. He has gotten so many compliments on his Hebrew by Israeli's that you'd think he'd be pretty proud of himself. But somehow it doesn't sink in and he's always saying how he wishes his Hebrew was better. Mine could use a lot of work, on the other hand. Ask me to read a poem and write a page about it, and it's done, no problem. Ask me to talk to the kids' teachers or the bus driver or the phone company and I'm a mess. I need Ulpan pretty badly. I haven't started yet because I wanted to get the kids settled in their schools and find daycare for Hila before I run to Yerushalim every day. The kids get out of gan at 1:20 and Ulpan is over at 1:30. So I would have to leave over an hour early to be back to pick them up on time. We'll see how it works out.
And what would a blog about Israel be without a little talk about lice?
Well, here it is...
Unfortunately, Hila and I have experienced the "real" Israel...we are now officially genuine Israeli's. Last week we had lice. Funny how it works: my two little gan-goers are completely lice-free and us two home-bodies end up with it. Have no idea where we got it. Apparently, we were clueless about proper hair hygiene here. Nope-- showers and shampoo every day don't cut it. Friends were aghast that we weren't combing through every one's hair with a lice comb at least once a day and then spraying with Rosemary extract. How do I miss these announcements? Well, thank G-d I think it's gone (olive oil seemed to do the trick), and we're now all the wiser. We now religiously put that rosemary stuff on and about 45 minutes a night is dedicated to "comb-outs" and lice checks. And we now seem to be (and by 'we', I mean 'me')a little less intimidated by the little buggers.
I PASSED MY DRIVER'S TEST!!!!!!
If you ever thought that the stories of Shalom Aleichem were of the past......."chochmei chelm" (the wise men of Chelm) are alive and well running the misrad rishui/licensing authority, I can promise you.......u-n-r-e-a-l.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Water, water everywhere.....
For those that know about it or otherwise interested, the meeting in Tampa went very well. I am sorry that I could not have called all of you – I have been having recurrent problems with the microphone on my laptop, and I did not have a phone to call from. That, and I was actually very busy with the work from the meeting. I think that this project will be a challenging and interesting one.
Tampa, much like Orlando, blows me away for the sheer amount of water that is there and in the area. Water, water everywhere, but here, plenty to drink. Lakes all over the place. The “shower head” quite literally had 2 heads – I was pretty much under a waterfall for my shower. A bit of a contrast to the water pressure in our Israeli apartment. You need to watch the drip coming out of the shower head, move to the right or left, and make sure the drop lands in the right place…….maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but not too far away. Dear family – please don’t let this make you shy away from staying at our place. It is very doable, we can work on the water pressure, we even have a little “motor” that we have not used, to make the water pressure stronger.
People (myself included) like to compare and contrast the very different cultures of Israel and the US. I was just starting to get used to how things work in Israel when I came back for my little jaunt to Tampa. The whole “thank you” thing for one – while I previously was totally used to it from living in the US, I found it palpably weird that when somebody gave me something, or took my trash – they would day “thank you”, sometimes even profusely. Contrast this with my shopping in “duty free” (of course, said with an Israeli accent) and my saying “toda” to the salesman when I even did not buy anything. They kinda look at me like I am insane for saying thanks. Admittedly, I have nothing to “thank” them for – they are just doing their job, getting paid, and according to the rules, at least as I am starting to see them, one does not thank somebody in Israel for doing something that they are “supposed” to be doing in the first place. “Toda” seems to be reserved for an act above and beyond the normal expected work duty.
Same for “tips” in Israel. May come as a shock to those from the US, but in general, not tipping people is entirely socially acceptable. Not in all circumstances, but many more than I was used to. Delivery of groceries? Dry cleaning? Taxis? Totally fine to not tip – at least I hope I am correct and that I do not have a slew of delivery people plotting a big heist to get the tips that there were supposed to have received……
It surely is a different feeling than flying El Al. You might even say, as crazy as it may sound, a bit more “American”. For instance, the Israeli guy that went to the reception desk for our flight that was belly-aching about his seat – this may “play” in Israel where you have to be a squeaky wheel to get greased. Nah – at the Delta desk, at least in Atlanta, he looked totally out of line and was not exactly forwarding Israel’s (I guess that means “my” now…) interests for International sympathy. A fairly distasteful display he put on.
The food looked great – that is, the non-kosher stuff. The Weiss’s meal that they had for us “dossim” (observant Jews, most particularly a somewhat derogatory word for with a galut(s) or haredi slant, as I understand the word to be used) was, to borrow a great Yiddish word, totally and completely “schvach”. It actually literally did taste like cardboard – amazing! And the insert in the meal was so kind as to remind me to wait 6 hours between the chicken meal and eating dairy products………..thank you Weiss’s………..I would have forgotten, had you not reminded me(!)……….
The flight was much cleaner on Delta – much, much less “dossim” on this flight – we did not even come close to a minyan for shacharit, but that was okay with me. Had a great davening by myself. Coming over to the US on El Al to NYC was probably 80% dossi – on my flight from ATL, only a handful. Neither good nor bad, but simply an observation.
I had a very sweet chat with an Israeli ex-pat who happened to be with me in the area where I was davening. By his own statements, he was not “religious”, but he “knew how to daven”, as is I think fairly typical for many Sephardim. He was kind enough to remind me to say “mashiv haruach” in the shmoneh esrei – his reminder was much sweeter somehow that Weiss’s little card that was trying to “chazer hilchos kashrus” with me…..a bit preachy for my own taste. We learned a great phrase in ulpan, based on the shoresh of kaf-pay-hey (I think that is it…) – it is “k’fiah datit”, a.k.a. “religious coercion”. While I would not raise Weiss’s little reminder to nearly that level, it is a healthy reminder of how much of Judaism, or at least as it is practiced (sadly), can come off as pushy, coercive and negative.
As probably with many Israeli-expats (“yordim”), he was not too proud of where he was living (California). He murmured some reasons as to why he was not living in Israel…….I felt horrible for the situation. I felt like I was a bit of a cheat – I get to go back home, to Israel, when his circumstances are keeping him from doing so. I found myself returning to this idea over the course of my davening. In fact, I was moved to tears. It is hard to put my finger on it, but it was a mixture of happiness for myself, combined with a much larger dose of sadness for his circumstance, as well as others like him.
Sadly, I met, yet another Jew that knew nothing about Judaism and became a so-called “messianic Jew”. Very sad……he was coming to the Holy Land on a Xtian mission. He certainly was a nice enough guy. Could very well have been me if I had not “woken” up to the basic facts of Judaism. Who knows what path I may have taken. “Baruch……sheh lo asani goy”……..v’lo natan li goyishe kup – my own little addition(!).
Tampa, much like Orlando, blows me away for the sheer amount of water that is there and in the area. Water, water everywhere, but here, plenty to drink. Lakes all over the place. The “shower head” quite literally had 2 heads – I was pretty much under a waterfall for my shower. A bit of a contrast to the water pressure in our Israeli apartment. You need to watch the drip coming out of the shower head, move to the right or left, and make sure the drop lands in the right place…….maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but not too far away. Dear family – please don’t let this make you shy away from staying at our place. It is very doable, we can work on the water pressure, we even have a little “motor” that we have not used, to make the water pressure stronger.
People (myself included) like to compare and contrast the very different cultures of Israel and the US. I was just starting to get used to how things work in Israel when I came back for my little jaunt to Tampa. The whole “thank you” thing for one – while I previously was totally used to it from living in the US, I found it palpably weird that when somebody gave me something, or took my trash – they would day “thank you”, sometimes even profusely. Contrast this with my shopping in “duty free” (of course, said with an Israeli accent) and my saying “toda” to the salesman when I even did not buy anything. They kinda look at me like I am insane for saying thanks. Admittedly, I have nothing to “thank” them for – they are just doing their job, getting paid, and according to the rules, at least as I am starting to see them, one does not thank somebody in Israel for doing something that they are “supposed” to be doing in the first place. “Toda” seems to be reserved for an act above and beyond the normal expected work duty.
Same for “tips” in Israel. May come as a shock to those from the US, but in general, not tipping people is entirely socially acceptable. Not in all circumstances, but many more than I was used to. Delivery of groceries? Dry cleaning? Taxis? Totally fine to not tip – at least I hope I am correct and that I do not have a slew of delivery people plotting a big heist to get the tips that there were supposed to have received……
It surely is a different feeling than flying El Al. You might even say, as crazy as it may sound, a bit more “American”. For instance, the Israeli guy that went to the reception desk for our flight that was belly-aching about his seat – this may “play” in Israel where you have to be a squeaky wheel to get greased. Nah – at the Delta desk, at least in Atlanta, he looked totally out of line and was not exactly forwarding Israel’s (I guess that means “my” now…) interests for International sympathy. A fairly distasteful display he put on.
The food looked great – that is, the non-kosher stuff. The Weiss’s meal that they had for us “dossim” (observant Jews, most particularly a somewhat derogatory word for with a galut(s) or haredi slant, as I understand the word to be used) was, to borrow a great Yiddish word, totally and completely “schvach”. It actually literally did taste like cardboard – amazing! And the insert in the meal was so kind as to remind me to wait 6 hours between the chicken meal and eating dairy products………..thank you Weiss’s………..I would have forgotten, had you not reminded me(!)……….
The flight was much cleaner on Delta – much, much less “dossim” on this flight – we did not even come close to a minyan for shacharit, but that was okay with me. Had a great davening by myself. Coming over to the US on El Al to NYC was probably 80% dossi – on my flight from ATL, only a handful. Neither good nor bad, but simply an observation.
I had a very sweet chat with an Israeli ex-pat who happened to be with me in the area where I was davening. By his own statements, he was not “religious”, but he “knew how to daven”, as is I think fairly typical for many Sephardim. He was kind enough to remind me to say “mashiv haruach” in the shmoneh esrei – his reminder was much sweeter somehow that Weiss’s little card that was trying to “chazer hilchos kashrus” with me…..a bit preachy for my own taste. We learned a great phrase in ulpan, based on the shoresh of kaf-pay-hey (I think that is it…) – it is “k’fiah datit”, a.k.a. “religious coercion”. While I would not raise Weiss’s little reminder to nearly that level, it is a healthy reminder of how much of Judaism, or at least as it is practiced (sadly), can come off as pushy, coercive and negative.
As probably with many Israeli-expats (“yordim”), he was not too proud of where he was living (California). He murmured some reasons as to why he was not living in Israel…….I felt horrible for the situation. I felt like I was a bit of a cheat – I get to go back home, to Israel, when his circumstances are keeping him from doing so. I found myself returning to this idea over the course of my davening. In fact, I was moved to tears. It is hard to put my finger on it, but it was a mixture of happiness for myself, combined with a much larger dose of sadness for his circumstance, as well as others like him.
Sadly, I met, yet another Jew that knew nothing about Judaism and became a so-called “messianic Jew”. Very sad……he was coming to the Holy Land on a Xtian mission. He certainly was a nice enough guy. Could very well have been me if I had not “woken” up to the basic facts of Judaism. Who knows what path I may have taken. “Baruch……sheh lo asani goy”……..v’lo natan li goyishe kup – my own little addition(!).
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Strange Trip
All that I know is that I have the Bee-Gees CRANKING it out whilst I work a serious caffeine buzz here on my El Al flight to the US. For those that know what I am talking about, I am “…dancin’ yeah…….dancin yeah.” There is nothing like the Bee-Gees, let me tell you.
And NOW they are playing “Knock on Wood” – what is going on here!!! Holy late 1970’s Batman!!! Someone – quick – get me my rollerskates!!
I think that the Kadosh Baruch Hu is trying to be menachem on me for having to return, even for a few hours, to galut.
I actually hate to keep writing these stories, because I know how I sound. “Rich has lost his mind”, I know, I know. Gotta share this one though…….
Took a cab from Maale Adumim early in the AM to ben Gurion. Had to reserve it in advance…..anyway, my cab driver was something else.
From the start, it was apparent that he was a very special guy – very gentle, “adin” type. We get to talking, he wants to know what I do, (and why I am only going for 2 days to the US;-)). So I return the favor and we start talking about him. Turns out he too lives in Maale Adumim, a former “Yerushalmi” himself.
And what does he do? Part –time driving actually know, he is on pension from a civil service job. His job was??? He was the personal driver for, as he called them, “Golda, Begin, Shamir, Yitzchak, and Sharon” ( I did not hear him talk about Barak, but that may have been an oversight). For the record he said this not with any hint of trying to impress, but rather simply as a matter of fact.
So, you may think that when you drive the PM around there is some sort of sound barrier to the conversations or something. Not at all - he said – he heard “everything”, probably with a capitol “E”. Of course I did not go down that road, but fascinating. In case you were wondering how to define “chain smoker”, for the record, Golda takes the cake – 5 (I am talking about FIVE) packs of Chesterfields per day, washed down with impressive doses of coffee (I say this as a true caffeine addict). Eli would know – he bought them.
Probably comes as no surprise, but Ariel liked to eat. Falafel – tons of “charif” on top. Said Sharon simply could not get enough of the stuff…….
Yitzchak liked him so much that Eli went with him around the world, not even as a driver, but just to schlep stuff around with the PM .
His kindest words, probably as no surprise, went to Begin as a person.
Oddly enough, after I asked, he got a bit blackballed during Netanyahu’s tenure – his staff thought because he had been the driver for these Labor PM’s that he worked “for them”. Pretty unfair it would seem, but he stuck around.
The people here, despite my kvetching at times, are so, so special. There sometimes are a lot of layers that I, we, have to go through to get to that “specialness”. Sometimes it is readily apparent, as with Eli today.
The people, in the Land, according to our Torah. It is very apparent that, sadly, we are weak – because we have misled ourselves here. Most apparent is our People’s strength when we have, and when we shortly will, get past these stumbling blocks.
When we read of our victories, of generations thousands of years ago, all the way through today, we see our utter weakness when we stray from the patch – and our invincibility when doing what we should.
Very shortly, we will be tested again – I, personally, feel certain that we will once again rise to the occasion.
And NOW they are playing “Knock on Wood” – what is going on here!!! Holy late 1970’s Batman!!! Someone – quick – get me my rollerskates!!
I think that the Kadosh Baruch Hu is trying to be menachem on me for having to return, even for a few hours, to galut.
I actually hate to keep writing these stories, because I know how I sound. “Rich has lost his mind”, I know, I know. Gotta share this one though…….
Took a cab from Maale Adumim early in the AM to ben Gurion. Had to reserve it in advance…..anyway, my cab driver was something else.
From the start, it was apparent that he was a very special guy – very gentle, “adin” type. We get to talking, he wants to know what I do, (and why I am only going for 2 days to the US;-)). So I return the favor and we start talking about him. Turns out he too lives in Maale Adumim, a former “Yerushalmi” himself.
And what does he do? Part –time driving actually know, he is on pension from a civil service job. His job was??? He was the personal driver for, as he called them, “Golda, Begin, Shamir, Yitzchak, and Sharon” ( I did not hear him talk about Barak, but that may have been an oversight). For the record he said this not with any hint of trying to impress, but rather simply as a matter of fact.
So, you may think that when you drive the PM around there is some sort of sound barrier to the conversations or something. Not at all - he said – he heard “everything”, probably with a capitol “E”. Of course I did not go down that road, but fascinating. In case you were wondering how to define “chain smoker”, for the record, Golda takes the cake – 5 (I am talking about FIVE) packs of Chesterfields per day, washed down with impressive doses of coffee (I say this as a true caffeine addict). Eli would know – he bought them.
Probably comes as no surprise, but Ariel liked to eat. Falafel – tons of “charif” on top. Said Sharon simply could not get enough of the stuff…….
Yitzchak liked him so much that Eli went with him around the world, not even as a driver, but just to schlep stuff around with the PM .
His kindest words, probably as no surprise, went to Begin as a person.
Oddly enough, after I asked, he got a bit blackballed during Netanyahu’s tenure – his staff thought because he had been the driver for these Labor PM’s that he worked “for them”. Pretty unfair it would seem, but he stuck around.
The people here, despite my kvetching at times, are so, so special. There sometimes are a lot of layers that I, we, have to go through to get to that “specialness”. Sometimes it is readily apparent, as with Eli today.
The people, in the Land, according to our Torah. It is very apparent that, sadly, we are weak – because we have misled ourselves here. Most apparent is our People’s strength when we have, and when we shortly will, get past these stumbling blocks.
When we read of our victories, of generations thousands of years ago, all the way through today, we see our utter weakness when we stray from the patch – and our invincibility when doing what we should.
Very shortly, we will be tested again – I, personally, feel certain that we will once again rise to the occasion.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Rich's first day on the job
Rich is off tomorrow, bright and early to begin his first official job here. Ok...first official part-time job. And it's not exactly here.
He's traveling a bit far for a first day of work-- to Tampa, FL.
Total amount of time he'll be in Tampa: 14 hrs.
Total amount of time in the plane: Over 24 hrs.
Total expected recovery time? One week.
Total allowed recovery time by his 3 sick kids and one haggared wife: 27 seconds (to put his suitcase down).
No matter how much I sympathize with his crazy next few days, I can't help but envy those 24+ hrs of quiet time R has coming to him.
I think after her first child is born, every woman yearns for that long, solitary plane ride (who cares about where you're going).
I'm talking about buying the most ridiculous, brainless magazine you can find, turning up the ipod, and zonning out for 12 hrs, straight. Oh, and giving that mother with the screaming baby exasperated looks- what is with those people with children? :)
Ah- one can fantasize.
But back to Rich...
Right now he's being the amazing husband that he is, and shopping in the market for us for the week, to last through Shabbat. He's been there a while, too, thanks to the complicated list he was given. You try finding oatmeal in Mister Zol in under 20 minutes!
Rich is coming back Thurs evening and then has a wedding Fri at noon in Tel Aviv of one of his old WUJS friends, Mikey. Well worth the trip- Mikey's an amazing guy. But a little complicated with having just returned from the US and Shabbat begins at around 4:30. He does seem to be running around a lot lately, huh?
We'll be missing him here, especially with 2 out of 3 running fevers.
We told the kids to hug Abba goodbye before bed - he'll be gone before they get up.
Gali was cute...she asked me "Will you miss your husband?" As if we were both grown women sitting at tea, discusing our families.
He's traveling a bit far for a first day of work-- to Tampa, FL.
Total amount of time he'll be in Tampa: 14 hrs.
Total amount of time in the plane: Over 24 hrs.
Total expected recovery time? One week.
Total allowed recovery time by his 3 sick kids and one haggared wife: 27 seconds (to put his suitcase down).
No matter how much I sympathize with his crazy next few days, I can't help but envy those 24+ hrs of quiet time R has coming to him.
I think after her first child is born, every woman yearns for that long, solitary plane ride (who cares about where you're going).
I'm talking about buying the most ridiculous, brainless magazine you can find, turning up the ipod, and zonning out for 12 hrs, straight. Oh, and giving that mother with the screaming baby exasperated looks- what is with those people with children? :)
Ah- one can fantasize.
But back to Rich...
Right now he's being the amazing husband that he is, and shopping in the market for us for the week, to last through Shabbat. He's been there a while, too, thanks to the complicated list he was given. You try finding oatmeal in Mister Zol in under 20 minutes!
Rich is coming back Thurs evening and then has a wedding Fri at noon in Tel Aviv of one of his old WUJS friends, Mikey. Well worth the trip- Mikey's an amazing guy. But a little complicated with having just returned from the US and Shabbat begins at around 4:30. He does seem to be running around a lot lately, huh?
We'll be missing him here, especially with 2 out of 3 running fevers.
We told the kids to hug Abba goodbye before bed - he'll be gone before they get up.
Gali was cute...she asked me "Will you miss your husband?" As if we were both grown women sitting at tea, discusing our families.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
The (Driver's) Licensing Office, aka, TOTAL SCAM
This will be my first post in a good long while. Lest the reader think that I had run out of material, let me reassure - to the contrary, the problem is that I have way too much to begin to sort through. Very literally, I have no clue as to where to begin. I can share my driver's license story from today as a teaser......
I went to Talpiot, a neighborhood of Jerusalem best known for being the end-all-be-all shopping destination of anything that is..........big. They have some space for manufacturing and garages and the like there, so pretty much one ends up going there to buy the "big stuff" (such as we already did for our furniture and refrigerator).
I had to go there to get my driver's license. It is the 4th stop in the process, having already gone to the eye test, my family physician, and a driver's office to get the form.
Going in I was greeted by, even by Israeli standards, very heavily armed guards. There have known to be some problems in the office. As a matter of fact, seems that they stopped giving the results of the final driver's test the same day - this is after one of the failed prospective drivers severely assaulted (in fact may have killed, I forget the punchline) the person administering the test. Now you have to wait a few days - something like the cooling off period to buy a weapon back in the USA.
Got there, and there were maybe 40 people waiting in line, sitting down, for their number to be called. And here the scam continues.......
Ya see, the number I got from the "deli counter line ticket dispenser" was about 140 numbers away from the number that was being called. I had a hard time figuring out how this could be - there were really not too many people there for all of these numbers to have been picked. Ah yes, the scam. Seems that people take multiple numbers when they go there - nobody is watching you. Might take, say, 10 tickets. And what do they do with them you may ask? Brilliant question.
Let's supposed your cousin, we'll call him "Ibrahim", shows up. You say to them "keef halak" they say "al ham dulillah", give him a kiss........and a ticket. You earn brownie points for setting up your friend with a choice number.
Now I should not complain, as I was on he receiving end of a nice young woman who had an extra ticket that she had not yet given away - she simply asked what my number was, and when i told her, she gave me the "hot" ticket. Seems that she any I were of the same "camp". I only ended up waiting 15 minutes max. It works for the Bnai Avraham as well!
Best part is this fairly sketchy driving teacher who is known to "help" (aka accept what seems to be a payoff) new immigrants comes by to pick up my paper that I just got signed. Not that he should say hello or something nice to me for giving all this money to him for essentially nothing. Nah. He is the one doing me a favor. He grumpily took down my phone number and will apparently call me when everything is "ready". In all seriousness, most crack cocaine purchases are probably less sketchy that this whole thing.
I went to Talpiot, a neighborhood of Jerusalem best known for being the end-all-be-all shopping destination of anything that is..........big. They have some space for manufacturing and garages and the like there, so pretty much one ends up going there to buy the "big stuff" (such as we already did for our furniture and refrigerator).
I had to go there to get my driver's license. It is the 4th stop in the process, having already gone to the eye test, my family physician, and a driver's office to get the form.
Going in I was greeted by, even by Israeli standards, very heavily armed guards. There have known to be some problems in the office. As a matter of fact, seems that they stopped giving the results of the final driver's test the same day - this is after one of the failed prospective drivers severely assaulted (in fact may have killed, I forget the punchline) the person administering the test. Now you have to wait a few days - something like the cooling off period to buy a weapon back in the USA.
Got there, and there were maybe 40 people waiting in line, sitting down, for their number to be called. And here the scam continues.......
Ya see, the number I got from the "deli counter line ticket dispenser" was about 140 numbers away from the number that was being called. I had a hard time figuring out how this could be - there were really not too many people there for all of these numbers to have been picked. Ah yes, the scam. Seems that people take multiple numbers when they go there - nobody is watching you. Might take, say, 10 tickets. And what do they do with them you may ask? Brilliant question.
Let's supposed your cousin, we'll call him "Ibrahim", shows up. You say to them "keef halak" they say "al ham dulillah", give him a kiss........and a ticket. You earn brownie points for setting up your friend with a choice number.
Now I should not complain, as I was on he receiving end of a nice young woman who had an extra ticket that she had not yet given away - she simply asked what my number was, and when i told her, she gave me the "hot" ticket. Seems that she any I were of the same "camp". I only ended up waiting 15 minutes max. It works for the Bnai Avraham as well!
Best part is this fairly sketchy driving teacher who is known to "help" (aka accept what seems to be a payoff) new immigrants comes by to pick up my paper that I just got signed. Not that he should say hello or something nice to me for giving all this money to him for essentially nothing. Nah. He is the one doing me a favor. He grumpily took down my phone number and will apparently call me when everything is "ready". In all seriousness, most crack cocaine purchases are probably less sketchy that this whole thing.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Chol Hamoed
(4 out of five of us at the "candy succah")
Chol Hamoed has been great...especially having 5 days now instead of 4!
Sunday we met up with some old friends in Har Nof for a BBQ -- had a great time. We were a little zonked from the travel, though...it took 2.5 hrs there and 2 hrs back with all the bus change-overs. Poor Rich had just enough time to change his shirt and run back out again for a Bat Mitzvah of friends who came in from Balt.
Yesterday we stuck closer to home and took the kids to the mall here for ice cream and we were able to run a few errands.
Side point: Would you believe it took us three tries before we bought the right size shower curtain? Yes...I did say shower curtain. Take note: bathtub sizes here vary tremendously so don't be so brazen to assume you know just what size to buy. It takes time and dedication to do the job right.
Today we went to Yerushalayim to check out a "candy succah" everyone told us about. Sounds exciting, but we were thoroughly confused when we got there.
It was a huge succah with a couple mini succot models displayed and about 20 empty candy dispensers scattered around. Some guys were wheeling around shopping carts full of candy, trying to fill the dispensers. I say "trying" because people kept hoarding around the carts, grabbing fistfuls of candy. Rich and I found the old ladies who were scooping candy with their purses especially funny.
So we think we were too early to get the full effect of the giant succah, but we're still wondering what, exactly, we missed.
We then walked around the Ben Yehudah area a while, got some pizza, and came home. Kids took turns having melt-downs on the bus ride home and a good time was had by all :)
Funny--how could so much stuff come out of such a tiny space?
(Our lift as seen from our apt on D-day)
It's starting to look like people actually live here, thanks to the ridiculous number of hours we've spent opening and unpacking boxes. With Succot thrown into the mix (Chag Sameach, by the way :), it felt a little like drowning in chaos for a while there.
I ask you, "Why are we still unpacking if it felt like we sold everything in the States?"
Just one more whine:
We are actually so far gone that last night, as I was unpacking and hanging clothes in our room, I sat down on the bed to rest a minute and the next thing I knew, Ami was yelling his breakfast demands into my ear. I was still in my clothes and lying on top of piles of clothes. I looked around for Rich and found him passed out on the couch, also fully dressed.
OK...now that whining time is done, I can talk a bit about Succot!
Initially, we were a bit worried there wouldn't be room for our succah in the courtyard in back of the building where everyone builds their succot. There are limited spots because there are trees that hang over much of the yard.
Luckily, a handyman guy who was working next door overheard the problem and ran down to get a saw from his truck. With the saw in one hand, he climbed one of the trees with his other hand (we're talking about 15 ft up) and sawed off a problamatic branch. Problem solved - up went the succah.
Actually, it took almost no effort on our part because the kids from next door put it up for us...and then hung our decorations! So sweet and thank G-d because we needed to do some heavy work in the apt and thanks to them, we able to do it.
We've been invited out for every Yom Tov and Shabbat meal so far, so the poor succah has been a bit lonely.
It felt good being able to have it up, though. We wanted to have our own succah for our first year here.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
The lift has arrived
I'm climbing out of a mass of boxes and luggage to give an update about our lift arriving.
The lift came right on time on Monday and Rich and I were there to meet it at the new apt. Rich went down to greet the movers and was immediately accosted about the amount of stairs - they told him it would be an extra 150 shek. We were asked to give the moving company an exact count of the steps the day before, so these guys were obviously ripping us off. Rich told them absolutely no extra money and they went around the truck slamming things and cursing to one another.
After a few minutes of this, Rich attempted to start things over on a good note, introducing himself to one worker and asking his name. One of the other guys had walked away when he saw Rich approaching, but when he saw Rich and the first guy shake hands, he stormed over and said something along the lines of "You think there's something wrong with me? Why are you talking to him? Why don't you ask my name?"
Morale was not too high at this point.
They came up to the apt. with some stuff and were immediately unhappy with the hinge on top of the door (the door can't open all the way with it on), telling Rich to take it off. Another argument ensued because it wasn't our responsibility to do so (we knew they wouldn't want to put it back in the end). The original nasty guy was the star of the show, ending every string of arguments or insults with "Ken, Ba'al Ha'bus?!" ("Yes, 'Man of the house'?!"...doesn't translate well, but it's the closest I could come up with:)
Nasty Guy was completely agitated, slamming our boxes around.
Rich was awesome at that point. He stood in front of the guy and started bawling him out (in Hebrew!) about how it was "Lo Na'im" (not nice) to be acting the way he was and he needed to stop with his "Shtu'yot" (ridiculousness) and do his job. We are the consumers and he is the employee. He asked him if he'd like us to call his boss to confirm what his duty as a mover was and Nasty guy shouted "BevakaSHA, Ba'al Ha' bus!" ("Please, Man of the House")
So we did (call his boss) and told him how these workers were inexcusable and completely out of line and how we hope we don't have to call the shipping company in the U.S. to tell them that they might lose customers with workers like these here Israel. He was actually very apologetic and less than 2 minutes after we hung up, we hear Nasty Guy yelling into his cell phone outside "It's not my job to take that thing off the door!" Then it was really quiet for about 5 minutes and then in comes Nasty Guy who has metamorphosed into "Reformed Nasty Guy" and he was pleasant as pie the rest of the day!
Well, needless to say, Rich didn't get his medical licence stuff done that morning. He stayed with me as per my frantic request once I saw who I was dealing with. Had he gone, I'm sure he would have come back to find Nasty Guy feasting on my carcass :)
They were gone by 1:30...and (despite the attitudes in the beginning) we were pretty impressed with their speed and strength. They would strap a whole bunch of boxes or appliances to their backs and haul themselves up all those stairs and then run back down for more stuff without a rest. They took only one break for pizza which we supplied and the rest of the time, they were moving. A bit different than in the States where it was "siesta" time every half hour or so during our move.
So now we're trying to dig ourselves out of the mess so that we can actually move in. I spent the morning today getting the kids' rooms set up and getting out a bunch of their toys so that they can occupy themselves when we're unpacking this afternoon when they get home from gan. We were aiming to be fully moved in by today, but we were stalled by some things needing to be repaired in the new apt. Tomorrow will be the day, G-d willing.
The apt turned out to be pretty huge- I'm pretty excited about all the room we have to work with. We have one entire bedroom designated as our "box storing room", another room for the computer and for guests, another as a playroom, one room for Amitai and one for the girls and one for us!
So here's an open invitation to all: Come spend some time in our Bed and Breakfast! Once you get up all those steps, you won't be disappointed!
The lift came right on time on Monday and Rich and I were there to meet it at the new apt. Rich went down to greet the movers and was immediately accosted about the amount of stairs - they told him it would be an extra 150 shek. We were asked to give the moving company an exact count of the steps the day before, so these guys were obviously ripping us off. Rich told them absolutely no extra money and they went around the truck slamming things and cursing to one another.
After a few minutes of this, Rich attempted to start things over on a good note, introducing himself to one worker and asking his name. One of the other guys had walked away when he saw Rich approaching, but when he saw Rich and the first guy shake hands, he stormed over and said something along the lines of "You think there's something wrong with me? Why are you talking to him? Why don't you ask my name?"
Morale was not too high at this point.
They came up to the apt. with some stuff and were immediately unhappy with the hinge on top of the door (the door can't open all the way with it on), telling Rich to take it off. Another argument ensued because it wasn't our responsibility to do so (we knew they wouldn't want to put it back in the end). The original nasty guy was the star of the show, ending every string of arguments or insults with "Ken, Ba'al Ha'bus?!" ("Yes, 'Man of the house'?!"...doesn't translate well, but it's the closest I could come up with:)
Nasty Guy was completely agitated, slamming our boxes around.
Rich was awesome at that point. He stood in front of the guy and started bawling him out (in Hebrew!) about how it was "Lo Na'im" (not nice) to be acting the way he was and he needed to stop with his "Shtu'yot" (ridiculousness) and do his job. We are the consumers and he is the employee. He asked him if he'd like us to call his boss to confirm what his duty as a mover was and Nasty guy shouted "BevakaSHA, Ba'al Ha' bus!" ("Please, Man of the House")
So we did (call his boss) and told him how these workers were inexcusable and completely out of line and how we hope we don't have to call the shipping company in the U.S. to tell them that they might lose customers with workers like these here Israel. He was actually very apologetic and less than 2 minutes after we hung up, we hear Nasty Guy yelling into his cell phone outside "It's not my job to take that thing off the door!" Then it was really quiet for about 5 minutes and then in comes Nasty Guy who has metamorphosed into "Reformed Nasty Guy" and he was pleasant as pie the rest of the day!
Well, needless to say, Rich didn't get his medical licence stuff done that morning. He stayed with me as per my frantic request once I saw who I was dealing with. Had he gone, I'm sure he would have come back to find Nasty Guy feasting on my carcass :)
They were gone by 1:30...and (despite the attitudes in the beginning) we were pretty impressed with their speed and strength. They would strap a whole bunch of boxes or appliances to their backs and haul themselves up all those stairs and then run back down for more stuff without a rest. They took only one break for pizza which we supplied and the rest of the time, they were moving. A bit different than in the States where it was "siesta" time every half hour or so during our move.
So now we're trying to dig ourselves out of the mess so that we can actually move in. I spent the morning today getting the kids' rooms set up and getting out a bunch of their toys so that they can occupy themselves when we're unpacking this afternoon when they get home from gan. We were aiming to be fully moved in by today, but we were stalled by some things needing to be repaired in the new apt. Tomorrow will be the day, G-d willing.
The apt turned out to be pretty huge- I'm pretty excited about all the room we have to work with. We have one entire bedroom designated as our "box storing room", another room for the computer and for guests, another as a playroom, one room for Amitai and one for the girls and one for us!
So here's an open invitation to all: Come spend some time in our Bed and Breakfast! Once you get up all those steps, you won't be disappointed!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
A "dirty" joke about a cleaning agent called "Colon"
It cleans from the inside out.
I wanted to say a lot more about this but was forbidden by my wife who notoriously is correct in telling me when to keep my mouth shut.
I will obey.
Shana Tova
Shana Tova to everyone! We're sorry we didn't have a chance wish everyone a "Happy New Year" before the chag, but things became pretty busy toward the beginning of the three day Yom Tov. We accepted invitations out for the first two days and the first night. We thought it would be too much for the kids to be out late the other nights, so we declined a few invites for those meals. That meant we had to cater 3 meals on our own- a little bit daunting, considering most meals we've made so far consisted of either pasta, eggs, tuna, hummus and pita, rice, or tivol. Well, let me tell you...the meals we made ended up being not much different! Thank goodness for the meals we had out which more than made up for our pathetic ones at home! We had great times at all the meals and learned something important too: We'd better be prepared with all the "simanim" for next year's Rosh Hashana...people here take it seriously!
Rich bought a seat at the Carlebach Shul (in the kids' gan) and really liked the davening. I ended up showing up for shofar and then standing around outside in the playground with the kids. It got to be a little much after a while-- I'm looking forward to the day I can actually go inside and daven. Gali and Ami would have been fine playing with the other kids outside, but Hila's still a bit young...and she very much enjoys eating rocks when no one is looking.
Another discovery resulted during the chag:
Sand flies find new residents very tasty.
Apparently, the first year you live here is pretty bad, but after that, some kind of immunity is built up and it gets better. A year is looking pretty long right now...at last count, I have over 40 bites. Rich is also pretty bad and Gali just got a whole bunch yesterday. The other 2 kids don't have a single bite (bli eyin hara!). They're kind of like mosquito bites, but they're bigger and itchier. Poor Gali was up itching with me throughout the night last night. I have yet to see the culprits, but they say they're so tiny they fit through the screens to get you at night.
If anyone out there has any prevention or treatment tips, we're all ears!
Now for the biggest news:
Our lift is scheduled to come tomorrow!
Piece of advice for people planning aliyah: Hire a company that ships directly to Israel. Ours stopped a few times on its way over to pick up more cargo and is arriving weeks after our friends' lift which left only 3 days before ours! But we're (EXTREMELY!) lucky enough to be renting a fully furnished apt (belonging to the Adlers) until our lift arrives and we move into our longer term rental. To tell you the truth, I keep thinking "What could possibly be on that lift besides the Barbies Gali always talks about?" We've managed pretty well so far without all that stuff!
Tomorrow Nefesh B'Nefesh has people come in to their offices to give Medical Licences, so Rich will be gone for the morning. The movers have 2 flights to climb from the street and then 3 more flights in the building to our apt, so I'm hoping he'll be back before any negotiating/arguing takes place which seems to be inevitable with movers.
We'll let you know how it goes!
Funny kids tidbit:
The 2nd day of Rosh Hashana, we were eating at neighbors who have older children. Some of them told their parents that they were going to the park across the street to play soccer. We continued eating and talking until I realized Ami (remember-- he just turned 3 this summer) was no longer at the table. We were shocked to find out that he had tagged along with the rest of the boys and slipped right out of the house without a backward glance! He came back sweaty and dirty and smiling from ear to ear! We couldn't believe how nonchalant he was about it- like he had done it a dozen times before! Apparently he's over the clingy stage and ready to roll.
Rich bought a seat at the Carlebach Shul (in the kids' gan) and really liked the davening. I ended up showing up for shofar and then standing around outside in the playground with the kids. It got to be a little much after a while-- I'm looking forward to the day I can actually go inside and daven. Gali and Ami would have been fine playing with the other kids outside, but Hila's still a bit young...and she very much enjoys eating rocks when no one is looking.
Another discovery resulted during the chag:
Sand flies find new residents very tasty.
Apparently, the first year you live here is pretty bad, but after that, some kind of immunity is built up and it gets better. A year is looking pretty long right now...at last count, I have over 40 bites. Rich is also pretty bad and Gali just got a whole bunch yesterday. The other 2 kids don't have a single bite (bli eyin hara!). They're kind of like mosquito bites, but they're bigger and itchier. Poor Gali was up itching with me throughout the night last night. I have yet to see the culprits, but they say they're so tiny they fit through the screens to get you at night.
If anyone out there has any prevention or treatment tips, we're all ears!
Now for the biggest news:
Our lift is scheduled to come tomorrow!
Piece of advice for people planning aliyah: Hire a company that ships directly to Israel. Ours stopped a few times on its way over to pick up more cargo and is arriving weeks after our friends' lift which left only 3 days before ours! But we're (EXTREMELY!) lucky enough to be renting a fully furnished apt (belonging to the Adlers) until our lift arrives and we move into our longer term rental. To tell you the truth, I keep thinking "What could possibly be on that lift besides the Barbies Gali always talks about?" We've managed pretty well so far without all that stuff!
Tomorrow Nefesh B'Nefesh has people come in to their offices to give Medical Licences, so Rich will be gone for the morning. The movers have 2 flights to climb from the street and then 3 more flights in the building to our apt, so I'm hoping he'll be back before any negotiating/arguing takes place which seems to be inevitable with movers.
We'll let you know how it goes!
Funny kids tidbit:
The 2nd day of Rosh Hashana, we were eating at neighbors who have older children. Some of them told their parents that they were going to the park across the street to play soccer. We continued eating and talking until I realized Ami (remember-- he just turned 3 this summer) was no longer at the table. We were shocked to find out that he had tagged along with the rest of the boys and slipped right out of the house without a backward glance! He came back sweaty and dirty and smiling from ear to ear! We couldn't believe how nonchalant he was about it- like he had done it a dozen times before! Apparently he's over the clingy stage and ready to roll.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Family Reunion
(Pic of kids on their favorite ride at the mall)
Rich has discovered some family living here in Israel- in Beer Sheva. Let's see if I can get it right...Rich's great-grandfather and Sheryl's (his cousin from Beer Sheva) great-grandfather were brothers. Sheryl's mom was visiting and came as well as Sheryl's two very sweet daughters, one newly married. We met them in the mall here last night for dinner (which we rudely ate before they actually arrived!)and then they came back to the apartment to shmooze a bit after we put the (extremely wild and over-tired) kids to bed. It was pretty amazing for Rich to hear about his grandparents "back in the day" from Sheryl's mom. Kind of crazy to suddenly meet someone you never knew and have them tell you family stories. Had fun with them and looking forward to spending more time together.
Rich's friend from his yr in Israel at WUJS also stopped by yesterday.
It was a busy day-- just like we like 'em!
And now for the "only-in-Israel-gotta-love-this-incredible country" tid-bit:
The security guards manning the metal detectors at the entrances to the mall don't tend to be over-exuberantly happy...although Hila occasionally manages to wrestle a smile from them. (She's pretty aggressively Israeli in her interactions- if she wants a smile from someone, she's pretty much in-your-face until she gets what she wants :)
Well, her job has become easier this past week. The Chaggim are coming! It's like "Holiday spirit" in Dec in the U.S,-- smiles and excitement all around, people shouting "Shana Tova" from the rooftops. Well, not quite, but you hear it ALL the time. The security guards are all smiley, handing "Shana Tova" cards and lollipops out to the kids. (Yes- the D-ler kids have officially entered a world where junk-food never ends, much to their delight.) The clerk in the store where we bought our fridge and microwave handed us a package of honey and a card before we even sat down to do the paper work. Grocery store check-out people, bus drivers, you name it..."Shana Tova's" all around.
I love how I get punched in the face with these things right when I need it..."Wake up! WE ARE SO LUCKY TO BE HERE!"
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Shoes in Ma'aleh Adumim
Just a little dusty 'round here! I clean off everyone's shoes every morning. This is what one day of walking around looks like at the end of the day.
"Boy, Gali"
Friday, on the way home from gan, Gali asked me this:
"How do you say 'boy' in Hebrew?"
"Yeled," I told her.
(Quiet thinking for a few minutes)
"Imma, they call me 'boy' in gan."
"Who calls you 'boy'?"
"The morah's."
"Really? What do they say when they call you 'boy'?
"They say, 'Gali, 'bo-ee'!"
(Bo-ee means 'come'....They had been saying "Gali, come!")
First cute little exchange of many more to come, I'm sure!
"How do you say 'boy' in Hebrew?"
"Yeled," I told her.
(Quiet thinking for a few minutes)
"Imma, they call me 'boy' in gan."
"Who calls you 'boy'?"
"The morah's."
"Really? What do they say when they call you 'boy'?
"They say, 'Gali, 'bo-ee'!"
(Bo-ee means 'come'....They had been saying "Gali, come!")
First cute little exchange of many more to come, I'm sure!
My commute to "work" and slichot
While it is very challenging, it is hard to call ulpan "work", yet that is my full time job at this time. I am in class from 8:30 to 1-ish, and it is true that one should really budget 1 hour for every hour in class....
So about my commute. I, like many others that live here, travel to Jerusalem essentially every day. The route we take is around the arab neighborhoods of the city, through a tunnel, and one pops out not far from the Hebrew University. For those that are in the know, from Mt. Scopus, one has an incredible view of Har HaBayit, a.k.a. the Temple Mount (hence the name "Scopus", I believe).
Every day on the bus, in both directions, I get to gaze at the area of what once was, and what will be, the Temple (with a huge capital "T"). Only one problem - it is not there. Nope. Big Problem.
You see, the space where the Temple was and will be is currently Occupied by the Dome of the Rock.
Suffice it to say, I have very conflicting emotions on my daily commute, looking out my bus window. On the one hand, I get to look at, in the physical sense, is the Capitol of Judaism. No "3rd" or 17th" or "35th" holiest site we are talk about - this is IT. Numero uno, the first, the last, G-d's physical, huge "kaveyachol"/as it were, home amongst humanity.
But...........there is something so painful about looking at it. To me, the sense of unfinished business it overwhelming. One of greatest and most comforting things about our Torah is that not only do we know how it all begain, "B'reishit" as it were - but we also know how it all ends. The only mystery (and it is a big one) is how we will get there. What the exact process will be.
So I gaze at Har HaBayit and get smacked in the face by the knowledge that as happy and tranquil as things "seem to be", what we are living, the every day experience that we call "normal life", is simply a blip on the screen towards something much different. I am concerned by the thought of what events may transpire between our status quo and the end game. We are always afraid more of the "unknown" danger (the mystery of the process) than we are by the familiar danger of what we live every day. Just plain old human nature to feel this way.
............so we now have slichot, the period of introspection leading up to our yomim noraim, "terrible days" as it would be incorrectly translated. How does this connect to my daily commute?
The freedom, if not the obligation, to "do tshuva", to better oneself, is there for the taking every day of our lives. These days, we have an extra special opportunity to look at ourselves in the mirror and try to make those adjustments, realignments, that are required. This model works very well - for individuals. But what of "tshuva" for a People? A Nation even?
I am reminded that (I think) it was a piece from Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Weinreb that worked on this thought - slichot, tshuva, realignment, is of course an individual "thing" - but that is not to the exclusion of the tshuva that is required for People. As above, we know where we are going - just not sure how we will get there. I think that I know (not by any means do I take credit for doing this correctly as a person, it should be noted) what an individual is to do. But how will we, as a People, every one of us as a collective, upright ourselves?
Someday, I know the commute will be a very different experience. Just wish I knew what it will take, from myself and family, and perhaps more perplexing, from all of us.
So about my commute. I, like many others that live here, travel to Jerusalem essentially every day. The route we take is around the arab neighborhoods of the city, through a tunnel, and one pops out not far from the Hebrew University. For those that are in the know, from Mt. Scopus, one has an incredible view of Har HaBayit, a.k.a. the Temple Mount (hence the name "Scopus", I believe).
Every day on the bus, in both directions, I get to gaze at the area of what once was, and what will be, the Temple (with a huge capital "T"). Only one problem - it is not there. Nope. Big Problem.
You see, the space where the Temple was and will be is currently Occupied by the Dome of the Rock.
Suffice it to say, I have very conflicting emotions on my daily commute, looking out my bus window. On the one hand, I get to look at, in the physical sense, is the Capitol of Judaism. No "3rd" or 17th" or "35th" holiest site we are talk about - this is IT. Numero uno, the first, the last, G-d's physical, huge "kaveyachol"/as it were, home amongst humanity.
But...........there is something so painful about looking at it. To me, the sense of unfinished business it overwhelming. One of greatest and most comforting things about our Torah is that not only do we know how it all begain, "B'reishit" as it were - but we also know how it all ends. The only mystery (and it is a big one) is how we will get there. What the exact process will be.
So I gaze at Har HaBayit and get smacked in the face by the knowledge that as happy and tranquil as things "seem to be", what we are living, the every day experience that we call "normal life", is simply a blip on the screen towards something much different. I am concerned by the thought of what events may transpire between our status quo and the end game. We are always afraid more of the "unknown" danger (the mystery of the process) than we are by the familiar danger of what we live every day. Just plain old human nature to feel this way.
............so we now have slichot, the period of introspection leading up to our yomim noraim, "terrible days" as it would be incorrectly translated. How does this connect to my daily commute?
The freedom, if not the obligation, to "do tshuva", to better oneself, is there for the taking every day of our lives. These days, we have an extra special opportunity to look at ourselves in the mirror and try to make those adjustments, realignments, that are required. This model works very well - for individuals. But what of "tshuva" for a People? A Nation even?
I am reminded that (I think) it was a piece from Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Weinreb that worked on this thought - slichot, tshuva, realignment, is of course an individual "thing" - but that is not to the exclusion of the tshuva that is required for People. As above, we know where we are going - just not sure how we will get there. I think that I know (not by any means do I take credit for doing this correctly as a person, it should be noted) what an individual is to do. But how will we, as a People, every one of us as a collective, upright ourselves?
Someday, I know the commute will be a very different experience. Just wish I knew what it will take, from myself and family, and perhaps more perplexing, from all of us.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Ulpan Rhapsody
The correct reaction to this picture is -
a) Holy 2-ring binder, Batman!!!!
b) You REALLY bit off more than you can chew this time, Rich.
c) Uri Avineri's article while "cute" in its construction, is misguided, offensive, and sadly typical of what you would expect from the 'Branja'.
I am certianly open to any other suggestions.......
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Quick piece of advice
When Rich and I were in the beginning/ middle stages of planning for our aliyah, we would ask one question to anyone we came across who had already made the move:
"What are you glad you did and what do you wish you had done before moving to Israel?"
I feel like I can already answer this question, being the 2 week vetern olah, that I am. Here it is: BRING AS MUCH STUFF AS YOU CAN.
I don't mean pack up everything in your house, because I'm definitely glad we unloaded a lot of unnessesary stuff before we moved. I mean, buy as much furniture, appliances, household items, clothes, personal items as you can possibly manage to fit onto your lift. Why? Because unless you
1. Have a car
2. Don't have kids you have to drag along with you
3. Don't have a job or Ulpan for a few weeks
4. Have a local Israeli to tell you how to not get ripped off
....it is simply too hard and stressful to have to deal with if you can avoid it. Prices are comprable if not better in the States (especially because you already know where to go to get the best deals). Buying something as simple as nail polish remover turns into an entire afternoon tiyul...I know because I led that tiyul two days ago. Stores here are tend to throw lot's of random items together into one space and you have to be extemely lucky in the beginnig to know which store has what. Like the apliance/electronic/hardware store that carries 25 varieties of kum-kum's but when asked where the alarm clocks are, the clerk gives you an irritated look and digs up a dusty one from some bottom shelf behind the counter that has definitely seen better days (like back in 1985 when it was put on that bottom shelf).
Anyway, as I fall on my face in exhaustion from taking a couple of buses to get to Talpiot with poor Hila, a stroller, and a whole bunch of stuff in order to look at a couple of fridges, let me leave you with this:
Take as much as you can with you so that you can take more time here to appreciate what a wonderous move you've just made.
"What are you glad you did and what do you wish you had done before moving to Israel?"
I feel like I can already answer this question, being the 2 week vetern olah, that I am. Here it is: BRING AS MUCH STUFF AS YOU CAN.
I don't mean pack up everything in your house, because I'm definitely glad we unloaded a lot of unnessesary stuff before we moved. I mean, buy as much furniture, appliances, household items, clothes, personal items as you can possibly manage to fit onto your lift. Why? Because unless you
1. Have a car
2. Don't have kids you have to drag along with you
3. Don't have a job or Ulpan for a few weeks
4. Have a local Israeli to tell you how to not get ripped off
....it is simply too hard and stressful to have to deal with if you can avoid it. Prices are comprable if not better in the States (especially because you already know where to go to get the best deals). Buying something as simple as nail polish remover turns into an entire afternoon tiyul...I know because I led that tiyul two days ago. Stores here are tend to throw lot's of random items together into one space and you have to be extemely lucky in the beginnig to know which store has what. Like the apliance/electronic/hardware store that carries 25 varieties of kum-kum's but when asked where the alarm clocks are, the clerk gives you an irritated look and digs up a dusty one from some bottom shelf behind the counter that has definitely seen better days (like back in 1985 when it was put on that bottom shelf).
Anyway, as I fall on my face in exhaustion from taking a couple of buses to get to Talpiot with poor Hila, a stroller, and a whole bunch of stuff in order to look at a couple of fridges, let me leave you with this:
Take as much as you can with you so that you can take more time here to appreciate what a wonderous move you've just made.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Hila Rules the Roost
Just had to get these last 2 pics in. Gali went to run errands with Rich in the afternoon while Amitai and Hila stayed home with me. We were planning a trip to the playground, but Ami conked out on the couch while I was getting our stuff ready to go. Hila had a ball having all the toys (and attention) to herself. Every once in a while she would go over to sit next to Ami or tug on him or whack him with a toy, but the boy was stone-cold out. She gave up after a while and we played peek-a-boo with Imma's scarf, Hila's absolute favorite play-thing.
First Day of Gan!!
Took the kids to Gan when it opened at 7:30am...yes-- that's 7:30am!
Rich started Ulpan today, so he came with to drop everyone off and then left straight from there to Ulpan. It was cute watching the three of them marching off to school with their backpacks (see pic). We were a little nervous sending newly toilet-trained Amitai to his first day, not speaking Hebrew and not familiar with his surroundings. We sent about 3 changes of clothing in his backpack, along with my cell phone number (we were expecting the worst). All was good, though. He ran to the bathroom as soon as we came home.
They both walked in to their classrooms with very little apparent nervousness. Both sets of teachers immediately made them feel comfortable with their huge welcomes and hugs. Even the guard sitting outside at the entrances was smiling big and greeting everyone enthusiastically. Ami's class size is HUGE, but when I picked him up, every single kid was sitting at the tables quietly eating snacks. Gali's class seems smaller and bit more relaxed (probably because of the small size). Both came out smiling and happy and that was good enough for me.
They were let out at 10...tomorrow will be at 11 and then it will be regular dismissal time. I heard that you send a sandwich and fruit for "aruchat eser" (10 o'clock meal), but because of the early dismissal, I sent a few biscuits and a plum. Would they really need a sandwhich before I picked them up at 10am?? Apparently yes. Every one of the kids in Ami's class had huge meals spread out in front of them from home. On our way home Gali reported that her morah told her that she needed to bring a sandwhich tomorrow. Silly Americans, we are.
Aside from the language, I think both of the kids found their classes familiar, with similar decorations and set-ups as in the States. One huge difference, though: Security. The Gans are in the same building, but each have different entrances from outside. Each entrance has a huge iron gate in front that is open for drop off time and pick-up time, but is locked in between. The armed guard outside holds the key to the locks and he sits in between the gates the whole day. Honestly, it feels pretty good knowing how secure it is. I always felt a little uncomfortable in the States, sending my kids to wide-open schools where anyone could walk right in. I was always seeing people just hanging out, leaning against the building where Gali was in school, or taking shortcuts right through the school's grass, cutting in the middle of gym classes. It freaked me out. It felt good seeing that guard today.
Now we're home, waiting for Abba's return. Kids are itching to play some computer games, so until next time...
2nd Shabbat
We are really liking this place. What an excellent Shabbat!
We were invited out for dinner, lunch, and seuda shlishit (or shaaaaaaluh-shuuudis for you guys back in the U.S. of A).
Had dinner with the neighbors downstairs who also invited their cousins who have the son Amitai who's in Gan with our Amitai. We found out that the Amitai's have the same Hebrew birthday as one another!!! Sent chills down my spine when we realized that...this might sound a little kooky, but I feel like there's a reason we happened to move into the building next to theirs. I wonder if they'll grow to be good friends. We might have to wait a bit for that because the other Amitai speaks only Hebrew!
One of the shuls had a kiddush in honor of all the new olim in Ma'aleh Adumim. The shul is actually located in Ami's Gan. It's nicknamed "The Happy Minyan"--they sing Carlebach nigguns for much of the davening. Rich really liked it (it sounded good from outside in the playground too). The kids had a blast running around outside and made a few friends who "speak English!!!!!", as Gali was excited to find out. People are so friendly and down to earth and most were English speakers (as I was excited to find out :)
Had lunch at another great family. Later, one of the families in the community hosted seuda shlishit, also in honor of the new olim. I've heard that there are about 15 families who made aliyah to MA this summer! Met a whole bunch of people...and again, kids had a blast running around outside.
By the way, thanks so much for all the well-wishes...My foot is almost completely better. It really doesn't hurt anymore. Still has a pretty rainbow of colors, though.
Pics are of the kids on Friday, right before Shabbat, outside the apartment. There are huge winds that start almost every day at around 4pm...notice Gali's ponies blowing in the wind!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
A slight glitch in the parade
A few days ago, I was in the playground with the kids and was stung by a bee on the bottom of my leg. I tried to play it down for the kids' sake (they are deathly afraid of bees) but wow- did it hurt!
Well, it gets better because last night, the red sting began to expand and by morning was pretty painful to walk on my foot. It felt better as the morning progressed, so I was able to take the girls to meet Rich and Ami in the post office in the mall in order to sign some paperwork to register for a Kupah (health plan). Then had to take THAT paperwork to the actual Kupah building where of course they told us that only 'Simi' could officially approve of our registration. Did you guess it? Simi wasn't there today.
So headed home but couldn't find the right bus stop, so we schlepped our packages (and kids who were unwilling to walk) about a 25 minute walk to the next stop.
By the time we got home, my leg was a sorry sight and nearly impossible to stand on. So back I went (limped) on that bus to the Kupah building to see the doctor who luckily we know and who Rich called to let him know I was coming.
Got a prescription (and an offer of a ride home from the doc) but ran into a big snag...we weren't covered for the prescription yet because we had only signed up for the plan a few hours earlier. Oh- and did I mention that I forgot my wallet? Here's the "only in Israel part"....The saga ended with the Kupah administrator, the pharmacist, and the doctor trying to come up with a way to get me the meds (which I needed to start immediately, it turns out, because it turned out to be cellulitis). Sof-sof, as they say, thanks to the doctor, all is well and I sit here with my meds and my foot propped up on some pillows...and a direct order from the doctor not to make dinner or run after the kids. Life's good...although more so for me than Rich, at the moment :)
Well, it gets better because last night, the red sting began to expand and by morning was pretty painful to walk on my foot. It felt better as the morning progressed, so I was able to take the girls to meet Rich and Ami in the post office in the mall in order to sign some paperwork to register for a Kupah (health plan). Then had to take THAT paperwork to the actual Kupah building where of course they told us that only 'Simi' could officially approve of our registration. Did you guess it? Simi wasn't there today.
So headed home but couldn't find the right bus stop, so we schlepped our packages (and kids who were unwilling to walk) about a 25 minute walk to the next stop.
By the time we got home, my leg was a sorry sight and nearly impossible to stand on. So back I went (limped) on that bus to the Kupah building to see the doctor who luckily we know and who Rich called to let him know I was coming.
Got a prescription (and an offer of a ride home from the doc) but ran into a big snag...we weren't covered for the prescription yet because we had only signed up for the plan a few hours earlier. Oh- and did I mention that I forgot my wallet? Here's the "only in Israel part"....The saga ended with the Kupah administrator, the pharmacist, and the doctor trying to come up with a way to get me the meds (which I needed to start immediately, it turns out, because it turned out to be cellulitis). Sof-sof, as they say, thanks to the doctor, all is well and I sit here with my meds and my foot propped up on some pillows...and a direct order from the doctor not to make dinner or run after the kids. Life's good...although more so for me than Rich, at the moment :)
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Our new home, by way of tonight's happenings
For those brave few of you that are reading this blog, we should say thanks in advance for caring so much about the "Family" to check this out. If you're reading this therefore I would assume you might want to know a little bit about our new home in Maale Adumim, so I thought that I might share a story or 2 from tonight.
As you may or may not know Maale Adumim is a fairly large community - last I heard is that about 30,000 people were living here, and there are plans for much more expansion. Maale Adumim, as far as we can tell, has a lot going for it - besides liking the hot and dry weather, there does seem to be a nice "vibe" here among the people that I get walking around. perhaps I am seeing this through the rose-tinted glasses of a new immigrant, but I would stand by my comment as the truth. Lots of "amenities" here in MA - restaurants, malls, a really nice Matnas (like an American JCC), and apparently even a bowling alley, for those that are into that sort of thing.
We live in a tiny dead-end corner of Maale Adumim, in the neighborhood of Mitzpe Nevo. Not sure exactly how it got that name, but in theory it might overlook Har Nevo, the burial place of Moshe/Moses, which is in the area across the Jordan River, in Occupied Jordan. As we published previously, the views here are out of this world, both towards the Eastern part of Jerusalem, as well as towards the Dead Sea and the mountains on the Jordan's other side.
The neighborhood is a "religious" neighborhood, which is probably a bit more complicated that it may sound. I don't really see anything monolithic about the people here - could get into a very semantic discussion about what "religious" means, but there really are all types here. I hope that religious does not mean that you have to have a sign announcing that at the beginning of your neighborhood, as we do have one of them, and I am very much not a big fan of it.....
Putting the kids to bed tonight, heard a lot of hub-bub on a loudspeaker - Elana asked me to look into it, and there was a guy indeed in a reflective jacket with the words saying "Chomesh First" in Hebrew, asking for food - for people that are going to be ascending to the Israeli-destroyed Jewish community, I think tomorrow. For our part, I gave him all the tuna and chick peas that we had in the house (not much, but...), which I am afraid may betray my political sympathies. What struck me was his "look" - black velvet kippa, LONG peot.....not what I would have imagined to be an activist look, but, all the best to him. I imagine that we were not the only people giving them food......Mitzpe Nevo, for its part, does have a little bit of the feeling of a "settlement" on the edge of a city. Judging by the bumper stickers and posters around town, that certainly is the feeling that I get. Maale Adumim for its part, is something of a settlement - but again, that would get me bogged way down in a settlement is, and I just do not want to get into it - it is a very boring discussion.
So there seems to be a 9pm Maariv/evening prayer service in between 2 buildings here in the neighborhood. Very much in the "open air" - it is downright stormy around here n the late afternoon - I am no expert at estimating wind speed, but it is something that a sailor would be very excited to be a part of. For that reason maybe, there seems to be a lot of trash floating around the neighborhood - pretty much anything that is not nailed down will go flying away, and a lot of plastic bags seem to be making a run for it.......it was windy enough last night that a chuck of foam, the size of a 3 year old kid, got wrapped around an unsuspecting person while praying the amida - by that I mean not moving his legs - so that he had to go on for a good bit with this large chunk of foam wrapped around him
So in my experience of 2 nights going to it, there seems to be a nice diversity of ages there - little kids to those "more senior". Tonight's special moment came when we had just started davening and a car pulled up to join us - just put on the flashers, engine running, and came over. Interesting thing is that the guy was not looking, well, too "religious", for however little that is worth. Seemed to me that he gave his friend a huge bearhug, who was not only davening, but apparently saying "Shema", which is not when bearhugging somebody is expected to happen (I am recalling a midrash of something of an opposite example during the reunion of Yosef and Yaacov). I say this not at all to be critical of this driver-turned-davener, but rather to give him all the more credit, as it seemed to me that he would not have ordinarily be praying with a minyan. He was not wearing a kippa - so one of the people in the minyan gave him his own kippa off of his own head. Somebody passed him a siddur (that they had in all likelihood brought to use for themselves), and there he was, davening like the rest of us. It all seemed pretty seamless......
Hate to sound like an intoxicated "only in Israel" story, but perhaps it is an only in Israel type thing. I certainly got a good feeling from the event.
Anyhow, I will hope to share more stories as they happem......
As you may or may not know Maale Adumim is a fairly large community - last I heard is that about 30,000 people were living here, and there are plans for much more expansion. Maale Adumim, as far as we can tell, has a lot going for it - besides liking the hot and dry weather, there does seem to be a nice "vibe" here among the people that I get walking around. perhaps I am seeing this through the rose-tinted glasses of a new immigrant, but I would stand by my comment as the truth. Lots of "amenities" here in MA - restaurants, malls, a really nice Matnas (like an American JCC), and apparently even a bowling alley, for those that are into that sort of thing.
We live in a tiny dead-end corner of Maale Adumim, in the neighborhood of Mitzpe Nevo. Not sure exactly how it got that name, but in theory it might overlook Har Nevo, the burial place of Moshe/Moses, which is in the area across the Jordan River, in Occupied Jordan. As we published previously, the views here are out of this world, both towards the Eastern part of Jerusalem, as well as towards the Dead Sea and the mountains on the Jordan's other side.
The neighborhood is a "religious" neighborhood, which is probably a bit more complicated that it may sound. I don't really see anything monolithic about the people here - could get into a very semantic discussion about what "religious" means, but there really are all types here. I hope that religious does not mean that you have to have a sign announcing that at the beginning of your neighborhood, as we do have one of them, and I am very much not a big fan of it.....
Putting the kids to bed tonight, heard a lot of hub-bub on a loudspeaker - Elana asked me to look into it, and there was a guy indeed in a reflective jacket with the words saying "Chomesh First" in Hebrew, asking for food - for people that are going to be ascending to the Israeli-destroyed Jewish community, I think tomorrow. For our part, I gave him all the tuna and chick peas that we had in the house (not much, but...), which I am afraid may betray my political sympathies. What struck me was his "look" - black velvet kippa, LONG peot.....not what I would have imagined to be an activist look, but, all the best to him. I imagine that we were not the only people giving them food......Mitzpe Nevo, for its part, does have a little bit of the feeling of a "settlement" on the edge of a city. Judging by the bumper stickers and posters around town, that certainly is the feeling that I get. Maale Adumim for its part, is something of a settlement - but again, that would get me bogged way down in a settlement is, and I just do not want to get into it - it is a very boring discussion.
So there seems to be a 9pm Maariv/evening prayer service in between 2 buildings here in the neighborhood. Very much in the "open air" - it is downright stormy around here n the late afternoon - I am no expert at estimating wind speed, but it is something that a sailor would be very excited to be a part of. For that reason maybe, there seems to be a lot of trash floating around the neighborhood - pretty much anything that is not nailed down will go flying away, and a lot of plastic bags seem to be making a run for it.......it was windy enough last night that a chuck of foam, the size of a 3 year old kid, got wrapped around an unsuspecting person while praying the amida - by that I mean not moving his legs - so that he had to go on for a good bit with this large chunk of foam wrapped around him
So in my experience of 2 nights going to it, there seems to be a nice diversity of ages there - little kids to those "more senior". Tonight's special moment came when we had just started davening and a car pulled up to join us - just put on the flashers, engine running, and came over. Interesting thing is that the guy was not looking, well, too "religious", for however little that is worth. Seemed to me that he gave his friend a huge bearhug, who was not only davening, but apparently saying "Shema", which is not when bearhugging somebody is expected to happen (I am recalling a midrash of something of an opposite example during the reunion of Yosef and Yaacov). I say this not at all to be critical of this driver-turned-davener, but rather to give him all the more credit, as it seemed to me that he would not have ordinarily be praying with a minyan. He was not wearing a kippa - so one of the people in the minyan gave him his own kippa off of his own head. Somebody passed him a siddur (that they had in all likelihood brought to use for themselves), and there he was, davening like the rest of us. It all seemed pretty seamless......
Hate to sound like an intoxicated "only in Israel" story, but perhaps it is an only in Israel type thing. I certainly got a good feeling from the event.
Anyhow, I will hope to share more stories as they happem......
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Our view from the Window
1st pic: (The left side of our view) You can see part of the east end of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) in the distance.
2nd pic: (Toward the right of our view) I am not kidding. This is the actual view. Makes the heart take a little leap.
"Where are all the camels?"
Gali desperately wants to see a camel. We're not sure where the idea originated, but we think it's from the cartoon intro to our "Shalom Sesame" videos. Next on the list might be Bonnie Franklin...now THAT would be a rare sighting :)
She and Amitai got a big kick out of seeing a few Arabs riding donkeys yesterday when we were loading the groceries into our rental car.
It's pretty fun showing them around- they find so much here to be exciting...which, in a way, makes it exciting for us all over again too. It's been hard to stop and appreciate being here with all the running around we have to do.
So far, so good, though. We picked up our Teudat Zehut (Israeli Identity) cards, bought a couch set, and set up a bank account so far this week. Also rented a car which made all of those things a heck-of-a-lot easier to do than if we had bused it. It seems crazy that accomplishing those small things would be a big deal, but it is here. Everything seems to be a monumental task for an Oleh.
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