We had our first guests this Shabbos! The Golds were hosting a group of lone soldiers for Shabbos, and two of them slept at our house (on the Golds' air mattresses). Good thing, too, because that provided the impetus to finally unpack the suitcases and boxes that were living the spare bedroom.
I still love the ease of living next door to shul, and the fact that it allows me to pop in and out with a baby. Kabblas Shabbos? Good stuff. Shiur after shul on Shabbos day? Good stuff.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Day 198 (Erev Shabbos)
So smooth. So, so smooth. BSM was in daycare for 4 hours, during which I frivolously did some cleaning up in the side garden (and watered it, which is not frivolous). I also did real Shabbos preparations, though, and when Husbinator woke up, he did a bunch of cleaning up and floor-washing, etc etc. The upshot of all this was the smoothest Erev Shabbos I remember. No rush. No stress. Gorgeous.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Day 197 (ahhh)
So this morning, I did something very, very exciting. I went grocery shopping: without El Babo. So easy. Such freedom. I could take as long as I wanted, and I could park the cart as close to the shelves as I wanted, and I didn't have to sneak by the grapes, and I didn't have to search the store for dropped a sippy cup, and I even put my groceries in bags by myself. Because I didn't need help.
I also watched the Maccabeats' new video today. It's called "Home," and it didn't make me cry at all. I was over halfway through the video, and I felt like there was supposed to be more oomph than I was getting, and I realized that had I watched this video a year ago, I would have been in tears. I love having made aliyah.
I also watched the Maccabeats' new video today. It's called "Home," and it didn't make me cry at all. I was over halfway through the video, and I felt like there was supposed to be more oomph than I was getting, and I realized that had I watched this video a year ago, I would have been in tears. I love having made aliyah.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Day 196 (daycare and home improvements)
BSM started daycare today. I shall call his daycare provider Dikla. She runs a private daycare out of her home, and I got a very good feeling about it when I hung out there a little today. There are five children in the group (including BSM): two kids who seem to be between 2-2 1/2 years old, two one-year-olds, and one four-month-old. I'm very happy with the age-range: I was looking for something where BSM wouldn't be the only kid his age, but I also really didn't want him to be the oldest: he learns a lot from watching children who are slightly older than he is. Also, the two older kids went to Dikla for daycare last year, too, which means their mothers think she's worth coming back to. This is all good. Also, she's a ten-minute walk from where I live.
During the hour-and-a-half that BSM was in daycare today (and I wasn't), I affixed bamboo mats to our front fence. This is something we've been wanting to do since we moved in: our front fence is green metal, with bars about a fist apart. This makes it a pretty fence, but it doesn't give us much in the way of privacy, and since our living/dining room has huge sliding doors a few yards from the fence, this is actually an issue. (Putting up curtains is also on our list of things to do, but we want to fill in the fence anyway.)
I bought the roll of bamboo about a week ago, but it's the sort of thing I can only do during daylight, but while BSM is not around. I got about halfway through before having to pick up BSM (in my defense, I also had to take down the palm branches that Landlords had twist-tied to each pole), but by the time we got back, Husbinator was awake and very interested in helping this project get done. So he watched BSM, swept up the fallen palm leaves, and pruned the myrtle bush, and I finished putting up the bamboo. Then I put BSM to sleep, and I helped Husbinator re-tie the tarp that shades our front yard. I am very, very pleased with the combined results. Come visit, and you can see why!
Afterwards, we went to Pisgat Ze'ev to pick up more sippy cups for BSM. (I had to give our spares to Dikla.) We didn't find the sippy cups, but we did get... more stuff for the house. Seriously, this feels like it will never end, even if we are up to non-essentials such as clocks and curtains. (Tip: shower curtains seem to be a good deal cheaper than window curtains, and they perform the function perfectly adequately.)
Oh, and I applied for jobs. Woo-hoo, back on the wagon!
During the hour-and-a-half that BSM was in daycare today (and I wasn't), I affixed bamboo mats to our front fence. This is something we've been wanting to do since we moved in: our front fence is green metal, with bars about a fist apart. This makes it a pretty fence, but it doesn't give us much in the way of privacy, and since our living/dining room has huge sliding doors a few yards from the fence, this is actually an issue. (Putting up curtains is also on our list of things to do, but we want to fill in the fence anyway.)
I bought the roll of bamboo about a week ago, but it's the sort of thing I can only do during daylight, but while BSM is not around. I got about halfway through before having to pick up BSM (in my defense, I also had to take down the palm branches that Landlords had twist-tied to each pole), but by the time we got back, Husbinator was awake and very interested in helping this project get done. So he watched BSM, swept up the fallen palm leaves, and pruned the myrtle bush, and I finished putting up the bamboo. Then I put BSM to sleep, and I helped Husbinator re-tie the tarp that shades our front yard. I am very, very pleased with the combined results. Come visit, and you can see why!
Afterwards, we went to Pisgat Ze'ev to pick up more sippy cups for BSM. (I had to give our spares to Dikla.) We didn't find the sippy cups, but we did get... more stuff for the house. Seriously, this feels like it will never end, even if we are up to non-essentials such as clocks and curtains. (Tip: shower curtains seem to be a good deal cheaper than window curtains, and they perform the function perfectly adequately.)
Oh, and I applied for jobs. Woo-hoo, back on the wagon!
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Day 195 (out and about)
I wasn't even in that much of a hurry,
but I left my shopping cart in
a parking spot.
As I turned to walk back to my car,
the cart's chain
swung in the silence:
back and forth.
Back and forth.
Abandoned.
Apocalyptic.
Accusing.
***
I guess I could start another blog for the occasional poem, but that's one more thing I'll just have to get to when the more urgent things have been taken care of. (Also, in my defense, there were two other shopping carts in that parking spot. What I did was still wrong, but isn't as evil as I think it is. I hope.)
Husbinator and I (and BSM) went to the Old City today. It was good to be at the Kotel again: it's an easy place to daven, and that's something I need to do more regularly.
Afterwards, we went to Geulah/Mea Shearim to pick up more stuff for the house. (Will it never end?) While walking up and down, we passed a store that sold all sorts of varieties of slushies. We looked at the different flavors and cup sizes, weighing our options, and a boy around 10 years old asked if he could help us. We asked him the cost of a slushy, and he glibly rattled off the various prices for various sizes of cup. "We have it all!" he said, "You choose!" So we asked for a half-and-half: strawberry-banana and strawberry frozen yogurt.
"You can't mix those!" the boy told us.
We looked at him, clearly wondering why not.
"One's dairy and one's fruit!"
"So what? That's what we want."
"Okay," he capitulated, "But don't come back and tell me it doesn't taste good."
Seriously. That's what he told us. With all the gravitas of a businessman, layered with the exasperation of a mother: I warned you. Don't you complain to me when you don't like it.
So he made us our drink and it was de-li-cious. We told him so, with only some smugness. The boy was impressed, and said he'd try it next time.
I'm still laughing as I write this. Dude, I would have paid 10 shekel for that exchange, even without a yummy frozen drink to show for it.
but I left my shopping cart in
a parking spot.
As I turned to walk back to my car,
the cart's chain
swung in the silence:
back and forth.
Back and forth.
Abandoned.
Apocalyptic.
Accusing.
***
I guess I could start another blog for the occasional poem, but that's one more thing I'll just have to get to when the more urgent things have been taken care of. (Also, in my defense, there were two other shopping carts in that parking spot. What I did was still wrong, but isn't as evil as I think it is. I hope.)
Husbinator and I (and BSM) went to the Old City today. It was good to be at the Kotel again: it's an easy place to daven, and that's something I need to do more regularly.
Afterwards, we went to Geulah/Mea Shearim to pick up more stuff for the house. (Will it never end?) While walking up and down, we passed a store that sold all sorts of varieties of slushies. We looked at the different flavors and cup sizes, weighing our options, and a boy around 10 years old asked if he could help us. We asked him the cost of a slushy, and he glibly rattled off the various prices for various sizes of cup. "We have it all!" he said, "You choose!" So we asked for a half-and-half: strawberry-banana and strawberry frozen yogurt.
"You can't mix those!" the boy told us.
We looked at him, clearly wondering why not.
"One's dairy and one's fruit!"
"So what? That's what we want."
"Okay," he capitulated, "But don't come back and tell me it doesn't taste good."
Seriously. That's what he told us. With all the gravitas of a businessman, layered with the exasperation of a mother: I warned you. Don't you complain to me when you don't like it.
So he made us our drink and it was de-li-cious. We told him so, with only some smugness. The boy was impressed, and said he'd try it next time.
I'm still laughing as I write this. Dude, I would have paid 10 shekel for that exchange, even without a yummy frozen drink to show for it.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Day 194 (daycare)
Other stuff also happened today, but the biggie was getting BSM enrolled in daycare. This is important for both of our developments. He needs to be with other children, and I need some time off. Daycare starts Wednesday.
Also today, Mrs. Orna called me to tell me about Yishuv stuff, and then ended up inviting me to go swimming at a nearby Yishuv. Spontaneity (leaving within half an hour) is not generally my thing, but I figured friends are friends, and getting out of the house with BSM is getting out of the house, so I went for it. When we got there, it turned out that Monday afternoons are men's swimming hours: women are Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon, among other times. I was not at all shocked, so not terribly disappointed, either.
Mrs. Orna, who checked when women's swim is, was much more disappointed, but she luckily had a backup plan. So it was that instead of paying 45 shekel/adult (and 30-something for kids over 3) to go swimming, we paid 5 shekel/head and went to a mini-zoo, instead. Unfortunately, there was no one collecting money at the zoo; there was just a collection box with a sign explaining that non-residents should kindly pay the posted cost. I had exactly 3.40 in change, and some folding money, so now I owe Mrs. Orna 10 shekel.
I enjoy little zoos where you don't need to walk everywhere and get all tired. This was a nice-sized, shady park with a nice, in no way overwhelming, variety of animals. Surprisingly, BSM loved, loved, loved the rabbits. As in, he cried when I pulled him away from their enclosure so we could move on to other animals with the Ornas. Luckily, the next exhibit was birds, and BSM loves birds almost as much as he loves cats. So he was quickly pacified :)
Also today, Mrs. Orna called me to tell me about Yishuv stuff, and then ended up inviting me to go swimming at a nearby Yishuv. Spontaneity (leaving within half an hour) is not generally my thing, but I figured friends are friends, and getting out of the house with BSM is getting out of the house, so I went for it. When we got there, it turned out that Monday afternoons are men's swimming hours: women are Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon, among other times. I was not at all shocked, so not terribly disappointed, either.
Mrs. Orna, who checked when women's swim is, was much more disappointed, but she luckily had a backup plan. So it was that instead of paying 45 shekel/adult (and 30-something for kids over 3) to go swimming, we paid 5 shekel/head and went to a mini-zoo, instead. Unfortunately, there was no one collecting money at the zoo; there was just a collection box with a sign explaining that non-residents should kindly pay the posted cost. I had exactly 3.40 in change, and some folding money, so now I owe Mrs. Orna 10 shekel.
I enjoy little zoos where you don't need to walk everywhere and get all tired. This was a nice-sized, shady park with a nice, in no way overwhelming, variety of animals. Surprisingly, BSM loved, loved, loved the rabbits. As in, he cried when I pulled him away from their enclosure so we could move on to other animals with the Ornas. Luckily, the next exhibit was birds, and BSM loves birds almost as much as he loves cats. So he was quickly pacified :)
Day 193 (I know I lived through it... I think)
I logically deduce that since I remember Shabbos, and at the time of this writing, it is now Monday, I must have lived through Sunday. The logic dictating I must have passed through Sunday is very similar to the fundamental theorem of calculus. Which is true. So... yeah. Sunday, aka day 193 of my aliyah, happened.
Oh! Oh, oh, oh! We went to a picnic thingy! It was nice, and I met people, and then I stayed up too late last night and seem to have suffered some passing amnesia due to that fact. But yeah, Sunday totally happened. I remember it now.
Oh! Oh, oh, oh! We went to a picnic thingy! It was nice, and I met people, and then I stayed up too late last night and seem to have suffered some passing amnesia due to that fact. But yeah, Sunday totally happened. I remember it now.
Day 192 (Shabbos)
I did manage to read the entire parsha, but there was a lot less reading of "Shemita" than I'd been hoping: BSM was less than happy. Poor kid. Poor parents. It's all good.
Backing up a little, it's nice to live right next door to shul. I decided I was in the mood for a little Kabbalas Shabbos, but it was really close to BSM's bedtime. No worries, I just popped him in the stroller and walked next door. Also really nice is that the women's section opens onto the front porch of the shul, and apparently they leave the door open in good weather. So I got to sit outside with the purpling hills and a baby who could chatter away, and either hum along or talk to the other women on the porch. It was really nice. When he got a little too yenchy, I just popped BSM back in the stroller, and he was in bed less than 5 minutes later. Boom.
On Shabbos day, we ate lunch at the top of the Yishuv, at the home of the Orna Family. Good times.
Backing up a little, it's nice to live right next door to shul. I decided I was in the mood for a little Kabbalas Shabbos, but it was really close to BSM's bedtime. No worries, I just popped him in the stroller and walked next door. Also really nice is that the women's section opens onto the front porch of the shul, and apparently they leave the door open in good weather. So I got to sit outside with the purpling hills and a baby who could chatter away, and either hum along or talk to the other women on the porch. It was really nice. When he got a little too yenchy, I just popped BSM back in the stroller, and he was in bed less than 5 minutes later. Boom.
On Shabbos day, we ate lunch at the top of the Yishuv, at the home of the Orna Family. Good times.
Friday, August 22, 2014
Day 191 (collecting the full set)
I am pleased as punch to announce that between last night and today (collectively known as "Erev Shabbos"), I was blessed to speak with (in consecutive order): Mooshub (and Mini-Mooshub), The Caped Avenger, Piano Toes, Sister, Piano Toes (twice in one night!), Ema, Abba, and B2. I win!!!
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Day 190 (lots of good stuff)
No, not a job. Silly gooses. I did apply for a couple of jobs, though, and that's something.
The good stuff I'm talking about is a 5 lb. batch of challah sort of good stuff. In a Bosch. Ohhhhhhhh, yeah. That's what I'm talking about. Good stuff. Need I say more? I need not.
Some of that dough got turned into "rugelach." I put "rugelach" in quotation marks for the simple reason that my wonderful chocolate sauce recipe, that has never failed me before, does not know how to be filling for rugelach. The whatever-they-ares are yummy enough, but they sure as heck ain't rugels. Too bad. Anyone know a good recipe for rugelach filling?
In other "good stuff" news, I called not one, not two, but THREE daycare numbers today. In fairness, the numbers for the first two places were out of service, but did I know that when I called? I did not. So I get full credit for full intentions, thank you very much. The one woman I did speak with asked me very apologetically if I could call back Friday or Sunday to speak in greater detail (I can), but the 2-3 minute conversation we had went well. Progress!
I also did two loads of laundry. Two! How efficient is that? Housekeeping tip for all of you out there who need such things: keeping dirty laundry in the laundry room makes it much more likely that I will actually put the laundry in the washing machine. Perhaps it will help you in your slovenly ways, as well. Haha! I tell such funny jokes!
Seriously, though, throwing my/BSM's dirty laundry in the laundry room (which is right off of the bathroom with the tub in it) means that it takes less than 3 minutes to get a load of laundry going. None of this hunting around the-- What? No, I always kept my dirty laundry neatly collected in one spot. What is this noise of having to spend a solid half-an-hour looking for it all? Crazy talk from the slovenly ones in the peanut gallery, I am sure. That will do!
In other great news, Husbinator went back to Home Center today. We were there earlier this week, intending to buy more heavy-duty reasonably-priced shelving units, but it turned out those would be on super-sale on Thursday. Hence Husbinator going back to Home Center today. Well, he went back, and he bought lots of shelves, and he checked out twice. You see, Home Center has weekly sale items (limit 3) that you get at a great price if you spend 150 ILS or more. We now own not three, but six (6!) ceiling fans. A chicken in every pot! A ceiling fan in every room! Yes, this is a rental, but no, standing fans just aren't cutting it. I don't think we need to buy air conditioners, but we definitely need ceiling fans. And now we have 'em!
The good stuff I'm talking about is a 5 lb. batch of challah sort of good stuff. In a Bosch. Ohhhhhhhh, yeah. That's what I'm talking about. Good stuff. Need I say more? I need not.
Some of that dough got turned into "rugelach." I put "rugelach" in quotation marks for the simple reason that my wonderful chocolate sauce recipe, that has never failed me before, does not know how to be filling for rugelach. The whatever-they-ares are yummy enough, but they sure as heck ain't rugels. Too bad. Anyone know a good recipe for rugelach filling?
In other "good stuff" news, I called not one, not two, but THREE daycare numbers today. In fairness, the numbers for the first two places were out of service, but did I know that when I called? I did not. So I get full credit for full intentions, thank you very much. The one woman I did speak with asked me very apologetically if I could call back Friday or Sunday to speak in greater detail (I can), but the 2-3 minute conversation we had went well. Progress!
I also did two loads of laundry. Two! How efficient is that? Housekeeping tip for all of you out there who need such things: keeping dirty laundry in the laundry room makes it much more likely that I will actually put the laundry in the washing machine. Perhaps it will help you in your slovenly ways, as well. Haha! I tell such funny jokes!
Seriously, though, throwing my/BSM's dirty laundry in the laundry room (which is right off of the bathroom with the tub in it) means that it takes less than 3 minutes to get a load of laundry going. None of this hunting around the-- What? No, I always kept my dirty laundry neatly collected in one spot. What is this noise of having to spend a solid half-an-hour looking for it all? Crazy talk from the slovenly ones in the peanut gallery, I am sure. That will do!
In other great news, Husbinator went back to Home Center today. We were there earlier this week, intending to buy more heavy-duty reasonably-priced shelving units, but it turned out those would be on super-sale on Thursday. Hence Husbinator going back to Home Center today. Well, he went back, and he bought lots of shelves, and he checked out twice. You see, Home Center has weekly sale items (limit 3) that you get at a great price if you spend 150 ILS or more. We now own not three, but six (6!) ceiling fans. A chicken in every pot! A ceiling fan in every room! Yes, this is a rental, but no, standing fans just aren't cutting it. I don't think we need to buy air conditioners, but we definitely need ceiling fans. And now we have 'em!
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Day 189 (job-searching.)
I'm back in the job-searching game, folks. What finally sank in today is that the vast majority of jobs that I'm interested in are in Tel-Aviv/Rehovot, with the Haifa area as a close second. It's a good thing I'm only looking for one job, and not the vast majority of jobs, eh?
In other news, I gave BSM milk for the first time today. It occurred to me that milk is a healthy beverage to give young children, so I gave it to my young child. Luckily, he likes milk.
In other news, I gave BSM milk for the first time today. It occurred to me that milk is a healthy beverage to give young children, so I gave it to my young child. Luckily, he likes milk.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Day 188 (Tuesday. For sure, Tuesday.)
BSM kept picking my pocket yesterday. This morning, I learned that he also put stuff into my pocket. Ooo, gravel! Of course that meant that the next time BSM picked my pocket, he found some nice gravel to eat... Sigh.
I took BSM back to the Clalit clinic today, and successfully registered both of us so this will be our "home clinic" as it were. (Husbinator will have to show up in person to transfer himself.) I also finally, finally, got BSM's 1-year blood count done. Whewsh! One less burden upon my all-too-slight shoulders.
In other news, Israel is still absolutely gorgeous. It's not just Yerushalayim that goes from stark white-and-tan to liquid, dusty pastels at sunset. It's the whole region. Driving back from the grocery store tonight, the Judean Hills and Sky were blending and reflecting pinks and oranges and purples and blues. Yes, I also watched the road, but I can't pretend my heart wasn't in the hills and sky.
I took BSM back to the Clalit clinic today, and successfully registered both of us so this will be our "home clinic" as it were. (Husbinator will have to show up in person to transfer himself.) I also finally, finally, got BSM's 1-year blood count done. Whewsh! One less burden upon my all-too-slight shoulders.
In other news, Israel is still absolutely gorgeous. It's not just Yerushalayim that goes from stark white-and-tan to liquid, dusty pastels at sunset. It's the whole region. Driving back from the grocery store tonight, the Judean Hills and Sky were blending and reflecting pinks and oranges and purples and blues. Yes, I also watched the road, but I can't pretend my heart wasn't in the hills and sky.
Day 187 (durned time stamps)
What with being behind on blogging, and Blogger automatically dating my posts with the date I post them, it took me a bit to figure out what I'm up to. I got there in the end though: today's post (dated Tuesday) will feature Monday, since yesterday's post (dated Monday) does indeed cover Sunday's events. I know this because Husbinator and I shpatzeered together, and that is a Sunday thing.
Anyway, Monday. I successfully ordered new natural gas cylinders! I wasn't quite sure I had initially: when I called the number I found online, the guy on the phone confirmed he was Gemach Gas, took my name and address, asked if I had big or small cylinders, and hung up. I mean, I was pretty sure that was ordering gas, but no payment info? No telling me when (or if?) he'd stop by? Luckily, he showed up later that day, and Husbinator and I were both home, the price was what Landlady said it should be, and he both took cash and had change. So we have spare cylinders again. This is good.
I was hoping to take BSM to the health clinic to get his 1-year-old blood test (only about 6 weeks late, not too bad, right?), but when I showed up, there was a sign saying the clinic was closed. "עמכם הסליחה", apologized the sign, which translates literally to "forgiveness is with you" or slightly less literally to "forgiveness is in your hands." It's from Tehillim (Psalm 130, verse 4: I just checked) and has made its way into modern Hebrew just for situations like this.
After failing to get foot into the clinic, I drove up and down looking for the secretary of the Yishuv. (Speaking of which, I will no longer be calling the place where I live "Towna": it shall henceforth be known as "the Yishuv".) I knew which street she was on, but I just couldn't find it. Eventually, I found a sign that said "Yishuv Council 1." "Hrm," I hrmed to myself, the secretary of the Yishuv is in some way related to the council of the Yishuv, and she's at number 1. Maybe?" But no, that was just a stop on a walking tour, or something; it had nothing to do with the secretary. So I took BSM and started walking up and down the block. Eventually, I found a guy working in his garden, and he told me she was actually the first building down a side street of the street I was on. (The street I was on was indeed the street listed on her address, though. Naturally.)
So I spoke with the secretary, and Husbinator did not need to come with me to get listed: his ID was sufficient. Yay! She admired BSM gratifyingly a lot and did not get upset when he kept grabbing at the papers on her desk. We got the three forms filled out, and she sent a fax to the lady we visited yesterday saying we live in the Yishuv, so hopefully that takes care of the Misrad Hapnim aspect of things. Now all I have to do is call the council and ask them for my local-tax discount due to new immigrants. (The secretary faxed the council our immigration certificate, so I should be able to take care of this by phone.) Whew!
Anyway, Monday. I successfully ordered new natural gas cylinders! I wasn't quite sure I had initially: when I called the number I found online, the guy on the phone confirmed he was Gemach Gas, took my name and address, asked if I had big or small cylinders, and hung up. I mean, I was pretty sure that was ordering gas, but no payment info? No telling me when (or if?) he'd stop by? Luckily, he showed up later that day, and Husbinator and I were both home, the price was what Landlady said it should be, and he both took cash and had change. So we have spare cylinders again. This is good.
I was hoping to take BSM to the health clinic to get his 1-year-old blood test (only about 6 weeks late, not too bad, right?), but when I showed up, there was a sign saying the clinic was closed. "עמכם הסליחה", apologized the sign, which translates literally to "forgiveness is with you" or slightly less literally to "forgiveness is in your hands." It's from Tehillim (Psalm 130, verse 4: I just checked) and has made its way into modern Hebrew just for situations like this.
After failing to get foot into the clinic, I drove up and down looking for the secretary of the Yishuv. (Speaking of which, I will no longer be calling the place where I live "Towna": it shall henceforth be known as "the Yishuv".) I knew which street she was on, but I just couldn't find it. Eventually, I found a sign that said "Yishuv Council 1." "Hrm," I hrmed to myself, the secretary of the Yishuv is in some way related to the council of the Yishuv, and she's at number 1. Maybe?" But no, that was just a stop on a walking tour, or something; it had nothing to do with the secretary. So I took BSM and started walking up and down the block. Eventually, I found a guy working in his garden, and he told me she was actually the first building down a side street of the street I was on. (The street I was on was indeed the street listed on her address, though. Naturally.)
So I spoke with the secretary, and Husbinator did not need to come with me to get listed: his ID was sufficient. Yay! She admired BSM gratifyingly a lot and did not get upset when he kept grabbing at the papers on her desk. We got the three forms filled out, and she sent a fax to the lady we visited yesterday saying we live in the Yishuv, so hopefully that takes care of the Misrad Hapnim aspect of things. Now all I have to do is call the council and ask them for my local-tax discount due to new immigrants. (The secretary faxed the council our immigration certificate, so I should be able to take care of this by phone.) Whew!
Monday, August 18, 2014
Day 186 (Misrad Hapnim: that was easy!)
Part of moving in Israel is going to your local branch of the Ministry of the Interior (Misrad HaPnim) and giving them your new address. The rule of thumb in Israel is as follows: visiting government offices is always pretty terrible. Visiting the Misrad HaPnim is its own special little hell. Luckily, Rabbi Gold told us that we didn't need to go to the main Jerusalem branch of the Misrad HaPnim; we could go to a tiny town just past our local gas station (which is just past our Rami Levy supermarket), and there's a Misrad HaPnim representative who has an office there. So we did that, and it worked! Unfortunately, I forgot to bring a hard copy of our signed rental contract with us (urg! urg! urg!), but she had us fill out the "we moved!" form and give her our little ID addenda. Now we have to go to the secretary of Towna (seriously, I need a better pen name. Help!) and get her to fax the Misrad HaPnim, confirming that we live here. Of course, our secretary here is only open three days a week from 8-12, but I think she's also open tomorrow from 4-6. We'll see.
Also spoke with Landlady about where to order a new gas cylinder (their house isn't hooked up to the expensive natural gas infrastructure: instead they have 2 cylinders out back), and, as long as I was on the phone with her, asked how often we should water the garden. (They have lots of aromatic herbs for tea and an impressive number of fruit trees.) She said at least once a week, in this hot weather, so out I went to water the garden. When Husbinator told Ema2 what I was doing, it struck me how crazy this all is: I'm watering an olive tree! Who has olive trees that they need to water??? I'm used to watering tulips, or marigolds, or azaleas, or maybe peppers and cucumbers and tomatoes. But olive trees? How cool is that?
Also spoke with Landlady about where to order a new gas cylinder (their house isn't hooked up to the expensive natural gas infrastructure: instead they have 2 cylinders out back), and, as long as I was on the phone with her, asked how often we should water the garden. (They have lots of aromatic herbs for tea and an impressive number of fruit trees.) She said at least once a week, in this hot weather, so out I went to water the garden. When Husbinator told Ema2 what I was doing, it struck me how crazy this all is: I'm watering an olive tree! Who has olive trees that they need to water??? I'm used to watering tulips, or marigolds, or azaleas, or maybe peppers and cucumbers and tomatoes. But olive trees? How cool is that?
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Day 185 (Shabbos)
Our first Shabbos in our new home! It was a good one. (We even mangaged to get the living room clear of boxes before Shabbos.) We ate at home Friday night, and at the Golds' (that's what I decided to call the family who's really helped us move to Towna) for Shabbos lunch. As per the usual, Husbinator and I took turns napping in the afternoon. When I wasn't busy sleeping, I was thoroughly enjoying my new Shmitta book. (For the record, it's by Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon: if you want a simple, clear, and thorough text, this is it. Available in English and Hebrew from who-knows-where.)
Also, on Friday night, they announced in shul that, um, well, they didn't have any food for kiddush tomorrow, so please bring what you can. Bamba had been on sale, and we also got ourselves nearly a kilogram of chummus. So we brought that, along with some extra sodas (you had to buy 4 to get the sale price) and teas (3 for the sale price). And Husbinator knocked everyone's socks off by bringing a bottle of Jim Beam. Now everyone knows who we are :) Hey, the mishna says, "Buy yourself a friend!"
Also, on Friday night, they announced in shul that, um, well, they didn't have any food for kiddush tomorrow, so please bring what you can. Bamba had been on sale, and we also got ourselves nearly a kilogram of chummus. So we brought that, along with some extra sodas (you had to buy 4 to get the sale price) and teas (3 for the sale price). And Husbinator knocked everyone's socks off by bringing a bottle of Jim Beam. Now everyone knows who we are :) Hey, the mishna says, "Buy yourself a friend!"
Friday, August 15, 2014
Day 184 (erev Shabbos)
I started the day by making challah dough. I was totally psyched to make 5lb of dough in my new Bosch (and freeze the extra) but firstly, I forgot about toyveling the mixer (and the rest of the appliances with metal parts that we bought), and secondly, I only bought 1kg of flour this week, and I wanted to put up the dough before I went shopping. So I made a quarter batch by hand, and off I went to the Rami Levy (awesome grocery store less than 5 minutes away).
I was expecting the Rami Levy to be busy, it being Erev Shabbos and all, but I was not expecting to have to park outside of their parking lot. Nor was I expecting to have to hover near another customer who was loading their car and ask for their cart. But that's how busy it was. Inside, everyone was nice and friendly and running around like mad. So many carts and customers and stocking carts to navigate around. Wowsa. And of course, since we're still very much setting up, I needed a whole cart-load of stuff. Madness, I tell you. Madness.
The afternoon was all baking and cooking and moving stuff out of the main areas. Also, one of our neighbors came over with a dessert to welcome us to the neighborhood. Aw :) Oh, and the part where BSM took a two-and-a-half hour nap and would have slept longer if I hadn't woken him up. And then proceeded to be tired. I wonder if he really did sleep all night last night, or if that was just me...
I was expecting the Rami Levy to be busy, it being Erev Shabbos and all, but I was not expecting to have to park outside of their parking lot. Nor was I expecting to have to hover near another customer who was loading their car and ask for their cart. But that's how busy it was. Inside, everyone was nice and friendly and running around like mad. So many carts and customers and stocking carts to navigate around. Wowsa. And of course, since we're still very much setting up, I needed a whole cart-load of stuff. Madness, I tell you. Madness.
The afternoon was all baking and cooking and moving stuff out of the main areas. Also, one of our neighbors came over with a dessert to welcome us to the neighborhood. Aw :) Oh, and the part where BSM took a two-and-a-half hour nap and would have slept longer if I hadn't woken him up. And then proceeded to be tired. I wonder if he really did sleep all night last night, or if that was just me...
Day 183 (immigrant fair)
I went to a job fair today, which was slightly disappointing. I did get some good LinkedIn advice from one person, and I met the head of the Jewish Agency's employment department, so something came of this. Luckily, there was a larger vendor fair attached to the small job fair, and that was much more productive. I spoke with representatives of the other three health insurance companies, some CPA's (I have officially quit: now that we have to file in two countries, I will no longer be filling out my own tax forms), a broker who sells (among other things) renter's insurance, etc etc.
One of the truly exciting things at the fair was buying an English book on hilchot shmitta. The book is laid out exactly like I want: about 40 pages of practical "here's what to do if you suddenly find yourself confronted by produce" followed by a few hundred pages of going through the halachic sources in-depth. Moreover, there are flowcharts. Flowcharts! I love this book deeply, and the people at the booth were amused and gratified by my exuberance.
The other exciting booth was our shipping company. I just walked by when I saw them: already using your services, no need to hear a shpiel. Husbinator wisely said hello, and that turned into us filling out four pages of customs forms so our shipment can be released to Sonigo without us having to go to the port. So useful!
Speaking of exciting, my tiniest of Baby Spidermen slept through the night! From 8:30pm-8am with nary a waking me up in between. Yes, he's over 13 months old, and yes, this is the first time he's ever done that. I attribute this phenomenon to sleeping in his own room since Monday, with only one mid-sleep nursing allowed. Yay, babycakes!
One of the truly exciting things at the fair was buying an English book on hilchot shmitta. The book is laid out exactly like I want: about 40 pages of practical "here's what to do if you suddenly find yourself confronted by produce" followed by a few hundred pages of going through the halachic sources in-depth. Moreover, there are flowcharts. Flowcharts! I love this book deeply, and the people at the booth were amused and gratified by my exuberance.
The other exciting booth was our shipping company. I just walked by when I saw them: already using your services, no need to hear a shpiel. Husbinator wisely said hello, and that turned into us filling out four pages of customs forms so our shipment can be released to Sonigo without us having to go to the port. So useful!
Speaking of exciting, my tiniest of Baby Spidermen slept through the night! From 8:30pm-8am with nary a waking me up in between. Yes, he's over 13 months old, and yes, this is the first time he's ever done that. I attribute this phenomenon to sleeping in his own room since Monday, with only one mid-sleep nursing allowed. Yay, babycakes!
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Day 182 (more getting settled)
Unpacking, another shopping expedition. We're at the same stage we were at right after we got married, when we couldn't go to Target or Walmart without spending between $100-$250. Nothing extravagant, nothing fancy, but those shower curtain rods and garbage cans and dustpans and and and add up pretty quickly.
Speaking of buying things, we bought BSM his first pair of shoes today! I don't think his walking is good enough to throw shoes at him, yet (Why would anyone throw shoes at a baby? We throw ballies, not shoes. Come, now.)... Right. So his walking isn't that good yet, but he likes to walk outside, and the bricks are hot and the sharp thingies are few, but still more than I'd like. Hence the shoesies.
Tonight's big project was getting our insurance manifest together for our shipping container. Nefesh B'Nefesh strongly advises against containers, by the way. People always ship too much stuff and don't have anywhere to put it. Also, with the cost of shipping, you're essentially buying everything again, anyway, so why not buy stuff made to fit in Israeli homes? Those are their two main talking points. It recently occurred to me to wonder if this advice is fully genuine, or if it's influenced by other agendae. Agendae such as helping boost the Israeli economy by having more people buy more stuff here. Just sayin'. I mean, Nefesh B'Nefesh is right: I'm sure we are shipping too much stuff, and we will have trouble fitting it into our home. (Though not the furniture: it will all fit through all necessary doors, and by gum we need furniture.)
At the same time, even with taking into account that we err on the side of expensive when it comes to insurance manifests, our stuff is worth waaaaay more than the cost of shipping it here. Even at American prices, it would cost more to replace our stuff with new stuff than to just ship it, and most things are much more expensive in Israel. Mind you, a bunch of furniture that's valued at hundreds or thousands of dollars we got for free, so... So... Ummm...
Writing that insurance manifest was exhausing and took too long and it's late and it's bedtime. Night-night! Now with stopping the incoherent rambling! Soon the stopping is! For really!
Speaking of buying things, we bought BSM his first pair of shoes today! I don't think his walking is good enough to throw shoes at him, yet (Why would anyone throw shoes at a baby? We throw ballies, not shoes. Come, now.)... Right. So his walking isn't that good yet, but he likes to walk outside, and the bricks are hot and the sharp thingies are few, but still more than I'd like. Hence the shoesies.
Tonight's big project was getting our insurance manifest together for our shipping container. Nefesh B'Nefesh strongly advises against containers, by the way. People always ship too much stuff and don't have anywhere to put it. Also, with the cost of shipping, you're essentially buying everything again, anyway, so why not buy stuff made to fit in Israeli homes? Those are their two main talking points. It recently occurred to me to wonder if this advice is fully genuine, or if it's influenced by other agendae. Agendae such as helping boost the Israeli economy by having more people buy more stuff here. Just sayin'. I mean, Nefesh B'Nefesh is right: I'm sure we are shipping too much stuff, and we will have trouble fitting it into our home. (Though not the furniture: it will all fit through all necessary doors, and by gum we need furniture.)
At the same time, even with taking into account that we err on the side of expensive when it comes to insurance manifests, our stuff is worth waaaaay more than the cost of shipping it here. Even at American prices, it would cost more to replace our stuff with new stuff than to just ship it, and most things are much more expensive in Israel. Mind you, a bunch of furniture that's valued at hundreds or thousands of dollars we got for free, so... So... Ummm...
Writing that insurance manifest was exhausing and took too long and it's late and it's bedtime. Night-night! Now with stopping the incoherent rambling! Soon the stopping is! For really!
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Day 181 (happy stuff)
This morning, when BSM started demanding, "Bye," I initially popped him in the stroller. Then I saw a toddler on a tricycle and reconsidered: why should he spend any unnecessary time strapped in and sitting down? So we got his little riding/push car and BSM happily marched up and down the block, exclaiming over the birds and staring at the children.
Most of today consisted of wandering around Mea Shearim (where Husbinator's sense of direction thankfully kicks in, because it all looks the same to me) buying stuff. You'd think after all my rants about too much stuff, I'd have mixed feelings about a carload of stuff and two deliveries. Nope. I want a fridge. I want an oven and a washing machine and a table and chairs and small kitchen appliances and a bathmat. And fans. Lots and lots of fans. And something to sleep on for the next three months other than air mattresses. I want these things unashamedly and I happily give them space in my life. Thank you fridge and oven and washing machine and table and chairs and small kitchen appliances and bathmat. Thank you fans. Thank you beds that will not deflate overnight. You make me happy.
What makes me equally happy is my new Bosch mixer. Helllloooo 1000W and capacity large enough to make challah with 5lb flour. Hello, unexpected blender that comes with the mixer. I've been waiting too long to play with you. Thank you, Grandma! This wedding present was well worth waiting for: I'm very happy I waited to get my dream mixer in 220V and I can have it forever. Much better than buying it on 110V and only having it for five years. Though, oh! How I yearned all those five years for a Bosch! Seriously, though, I certainly didn't want the mixer more than I wanted to move to Israel, but I certainly complained about my lack of a Bosch much more than I complained that about my lack of Israel. Hm.
I had two funny Israeli moments today. No, wait. Three.
(1) When we got back from getting our zoodles of new stuffs, we saw a toddler from across the street telling a dumpster cat to move. Generally, the accepted approach to the wild cats of Israel is to just leave them alone. I mean, come on, they're feral cats. So Husbinator nervously joked, "Israeli baby versus Israeli cat? Who's gonna win? Um..." I told him my money was on the toddler: I'd seen him brandishing a knife that morning. (Granted, his father did come outside after him and ask for the knife back, but that kid looked like he knew what he was doing. Cat wouldn't stand a chance, especially since the toddler's pre-school brother was in the background, keeping an eye on things.)
(2) I went to the store tonight (in our car!), and while I was there, the following announcement was made over the PA: "Someone has lost their child. You can claim him at the main register with the proper identifying signs." At which everyone in the store giggles and makes some joke to whomever they're next to. Hm, on further reflection, it's hard to say why that's so funny. Lost in translation? Because applying the halachot of returning lost objects isn't as funny in the retelling? Who knows.
(3) On my way out of the store (about 10 minutes before closing time), the guy who stamped my receipt asked me for a ride. I couldn't help him, because I wasn't going in his direction, but I like this culture of hitching rides. It's silly, but nice.
Most of today consisted of wandering around Mea Shearim (where Husbinator's sense of direction thankfully kicks in, because it all looks the same to me) buying stuff. You'd think after all my rants about too much stuff, I'd have mixed feelings about a carload of stuff and two deliveries. Nope. I want a fridge. I want an oven and a washing machine and a table and chairs and small kitchen appliances and a bathmat. And fans. Lots and lots of fans. And something to sleep on for the next three months other than air mattresses. I want these things unashamedly and I happily give them space in my life. Thank you fridge and oven and washing machine and table and chairs and small kitchen appliances and bathmat. Thank you fans. Thank you beds that will not deflate overnight. You make me happy.
What makes me equally happy is my new Bosch mixer. Helllloooo 1000W and capacity large enough to make challah with 5lb flour. Hello, unexpected blender that comes with the mixer. I've been waiting too long to play with you. Thank you, Grandma! This wedding present was well worth waiting for: I'm very happy I waited to get my dream mixer in 220V and I can have it forever. Much better than buying it on 110V and only having it for five years. Though, oh! How I yearned all those five years for a Bosch! Seriously, though, I certainly didn't want the mixer more than I wanted to move to Israel, but I certainly complained about my lack of a Bosch much more than I complained that about my lack of Israel. Hm.
I had two funny Israeli moments today. No, wait. Three.
(1) When we got back from getting our zoodles of new stuffs, we saw a toddler from across the street telling a dumpster cat to move. Generally, the accepted approach to the wild cats of Israel is to just leave them alone. I mean, come on, they're feral cats. So Husbinator nervously joked, "Israeli baby versus Israeli cat? Who's gonna win? Um..." I told him my money was on the toddler: I'd seen him brandishing a knife that morning. (Granted, his father did come outside after him and ask for the knife back, but that kid looked like he knew what he was doing. Cat wouldn't stand a chance, especially since the toddler's pre-school brother was in the background, keeping an eye on things.)
(2) I went to the store tonight (in our car!), and while I was there, the following announcement was made over the PA: "Someone has lost their child. You can claim him at the main register with the proper identifying signs." At which everyone in the store giggles and makes some joke to whomever they're next to. Hm, on further reflection, it's hard to say why that's so funny. Lost in translation? Because applying the halachot of returning lost objects isn't as funny in the retelling? Who knows.
(3) On my way out of the store (about 10 minutes before closing time), the guy who stamped my receipt asked me for a ride. I couldn't help him, because I wasn't going in his direction, but I like this culture of hitching rides. It's silly, but nice.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Day 180 (Moving II)
Huh, it's been half a year. I think "Moving II" is an appropriate celebration.
I finally got through to our internet provider today. (In Israel, you need two separate companies to get internet: one for the infrastructure and one for the internet. Whatever that means.) Yesterday, the infrastructure guy from Bezeq came (bless him for rearranging his schedule for me) and hooked up some wires. When he was done, he told me very clearly that I now had infrastructure, but no internet: I had to call my internet provider (Smile012) to make that happen.
I couldn't get through to Smile012 until today, and when I did, they told me that was crazy-talk: the technician should have provided me with a modem/router, and as soon as I hooked into that, I just had to enter my 012 username and ID, and I'd be good to go. But the modem/router comes from Bezeq, not 012. So I called Bezeq (siiiiiiiigh) and totally stumped the initial service representative I talked to. He transferred me to a nice Russian lady who confirmed that all I needed was a Bezeq modem/router. Would I like that shipped to me, or would I rather pick it up from their store near the Jerusalem Central Bus Station?
(In between all of these desperate calls and pressing the wrong button in the automated menu and so having the automated system hang up on me, 9:15 rolled around and BSM put his foot down. "Bye," he told me. "Bye. Bye! BYE!" Poor kid was wondering why he was still cooped up in the house 45 minutes after we should have walked over to daycare, so I took him in the stroller and finished my calls while walking.)
Husbinator absolutely had to be able to work by Tuesday afternoon, and ideally by Monday evening, so I took BSM and off we went to the Bezeq store. Since I don't like driving when I don't know my way around or when parking is tricky, we took the bus. (Though before that, I made a very quick call to the electric company and set up our account. That, thank G-d, took less than five minutes.) I'm also happy that I now know how to get to Jerusalem via public transit. This is useful. I found the store without incident and got the router. Rather than have tuna-on-rye (with cucumber!) for lunch, I popped into the central bus station and BSM and I shared a nice falafel pita.
As long as I was in Yerushalayim, I would have liked to wander around, but I didn't want to be exhausted by the time Husbinator showed up with our van full of stuff, so I headed back. This time, I paid close attention to the bus route. Behind the central bus station, Yirmiyahu, Bar Ilan, Ramat Eshkol, Pisgat Ze'ev, Towna. That's where the bus goes. (I wonder where it goes after the point where I got off. I should check Egged's site.) I also saw the mini-mart in my little town, so now I know where that is. Not quite walking distance, but still important to locate.
Husbinator and the guy from the kibbutz showed up with all of our stuff in the back of a van. Bless the kibbutz guy. Bless him, bless him, bless him. He made things so much easier. Wow. It took less than half an hour for the three of us to unload the van.
Later, Husbinator took BSM out for a nice long walk/visit to our friends here, giving me a glorious break. After a day and a half alone with BSM, a staircase, and no baby gate, I needed some time alone.
While Husbinator davened Mincha at the shul next door, I figured I'd keep working with BSM on the location of his nose. (On the bus to Jerusalem, I took the opportunity to work on his English by asking about 10 times where his nose was, and showing him each time. He didn't seem to mind, but didn't really seem into it, either, so I got bored.) "Where's your nose?" I started off. And BSM touched his nose. Just like that. Who's my clever baby? Who's so clever? BSM! Yay! He seemed pleasantly surprised by how excited I was.
I asked him a few more times, to gauge how likely it was that BSM would totally fail to react if I tried to show off for Husbinator. BSM touched his nose each time, so when Husbinator came home, we showed off for him. Husbinator was just as impressed as I was. Yay. Then, Husbinator asked, "Where's Abba's nose?" Tricky, no? BSM did pretty well, though: he touched my nose. We corrected that I'm Ema, not Abba, but BSM definitely knows the difference between "Ema/Abba" and "BSM/you." Ah, this kiddie! I am so proud of him :D
I finally got through to our internet provider today. (In Israel, you need two separate companies to get internet: one for the infrastructure and one for the internet. Whatever that means.) Yesterday, the infrastructure guy from Bezeq came (bless him for rearranging his schedule for me) and hooked up some wires. When he was done, he told me very clearly that I now had infrastructure, but no internet: I had to call my internet provider (Smile012) to make that happen.
I couldn't get through to Smile012 until today, and when I did, they told me that was crazy-talk: the technician should have provided me with a modem/router, and as soon as I hooked into that, I just had to enter my 012 username and ID, and I'd be good to go. But the modem/router comes from Bezeq, not 012. So I called Bezeq (siiiiiiiigh) and totally stumped the initial service representative I talked to. He transferred me to a nice Russian lady who confirmed that all I needed was a Bezeq modem/router. Would I like that shipped to me, or would I rather pick it up from their store near the Jerusalem Central Bus Station?
(In between all of these desperate calls and pressing the wrong button in the automated menu and so having the automated system hang up on me, 9:15 rolled around and BSM put his foot down. "Bye," he told me. "Bye. Bye! BYE!" Poor kid was wondering why he was still cooped up in the house 45 minutes after we should have walked over to daycare, so I took him in the stroller and finished my calls while walking.)
Husbinator absolutely had to be able to work by Tuesday afternoon, and ideally by Monday evening, so I took BSM and off we went to the Bezeq store. Since I don't like driving when I don't know my way around or when parking is tricky, we took the bus. (Though before that, I made a very quick call to the electric company and set up our account. That, thank G-d, took less than five minutes.) I'm also happy that I now know how to get to Jerusalem via public transit. This is useful. I found the store without incident and got the router. Rather than have tuna-on-rye (with cucumber!) for lunch, I popped into the central bus station and BSM and I shared a nice falafel pita.
As long as I was in Yerushalayim, I would have liked to wander around, but I didn't want to be exhausted by the time Husbinator showed up with our van full of stuff, so I headed back. This time, I paid close attention to the bus route. Behind the central bus station, Yirmiyahu, Bar Ilan, Ramat Eshkol, Pisgat Ze'ev, Towna. That's where the bus goes. (I wonder where it goes after the point where I got off. I should check Egged's site.) I also saw the mini-mart in my little town, so now I know where that is. Not quite walking distance, but still important to locate.
Husbinator and the guy from the kibbutz showed up with all of our stuff in the back of a van. Bless the kibbutz guy. Bless him, bless him, bless him. He made things so much easier. Wow. It took less than half an hour for the three of us to unload the van.
Later, Husbinator took BSM out for a nice long walk/visit to our friends here, giving me a glorious break. After a day and a half alone with BSM, a staircase, and no baby gate, I needed some time alone.
While Husbinator davened Mincha at the shul next door, I figured I'd keep working with BSM on the location of his nose. (On the bus to Jerusalem, I took the opportunity to work on his English by asking about 10 times where his nose was, and showing him each time. He didn't seem to mind, but didn't really seem into it, either, so I got bored.) "Where's your nose?" I started off. And BSM touched his nose. Just like that. Who's my clever baby? Who's so clever? BSM! Yay! He seemed pleasantly surprised by how excited I was.
I asked him a few more times, to gauge how likely it was that BSM would totally fail to react if I tried to show off for Husbinator. BSM touched his nose each time, so when Husbinator came home, we showed off for him. Husbinator was just as impressed as I was. Yay. Then, Husbinator asked, "Where's Abba's nose?" Tricky, no? BSM did pretty well, though: he touched my nose. We corrected that I'm Ema, not Abba, but BSM definitely knows the difference between "Ema/Abba" and "BSM/you." Ah, this kiddie! I am so proud of him :D
Day 179 (moving!)
I woke up and called the internet guys. Rather than get all “aggressive
Israeli-style” as had been my original plan, I pressed 4 for English, and was
all sweetness and "please help me; wow, you’re the best." Much nicer for everyone
involved, I think, and I got what I wanted (the technician not coming 'till
12-12:30), so hooray!
It was a good start to a good day. BSM and I made it to
Towna (what a silly pen-name. I need to work on that one) without incident. I’m
not entirely sure what happened during the last bit of the drive: there were
lots of turns and oddnesses, brought to you by a sporadically-working Waze, but we got here with nary a missed direction, so…
yeah. There was a much, much simpler route (that was also something like 20
minutes faster), but I’m not comfortable driving through the West Bank. Yet.
Now.
We got here, technician hooked up our internet (mostly: more on that tomorrow), our landlord signed our copy of the rental agreement, we tried to switch the electricity bill to our name (partial success with that one: our landlords are off the bill, but the electric company can't cancel and open an account for the same address on one day, so again, more tomorrow). Our landlord also climbed into the attic (the climb looks kind of scary) and lent us a crib.
It's a good thing I thought to bring food for BSM. He chowed down on the pomegranate our landlord picked from the garden,
but half a pomegranate does not a lunch make. When the landlord left at 1:30 and I unpacked our pantry, I saw that our food
amounted to raw barley, raw oatmeal, and a small butternut squash (raw, of course). The
cooking supplies that came in the car with us included an electric burner (but no pans) and a crock pot. So I fished out the can of corn from the suitcase where I had cleverly stashed it, and we shared that (with
dill: the spices came with me) for a late lunch. Dessert was some of a melted bag of chocolate chips.
After that, I changed BSM on the picnic table that our landlords are conveniently keeping outside, and
we went to the grocery store. We would need dinner, after all. I applied for a club
card, got some fancy-pants tuna, bread that seemed to be advertising itself as Russian (every bit as good as I'd hoped, and it turns out "shipun" is not a brand, but Hebrew for "rye"), cukes, grapes, and foil pans just in
case I want to use the electric burner before Husbinator comes with the rest of our stuff tomorrow.
Dinner was delicious and fun (I sat on the floor with BSM on my lap and we put the food on a broken chair that was left in the garden). I also had a great conversation with The Caped Avenger, as my youngest brother shall henceforth be known. (Because as I'm sure you've realized by now, what this blog has been missing is dramatic caped superheros.) I then gloried in bathing the baby in a bathtub. A real bathtub. Not an infant tub perched on a counter (that ended when he started standing up during his baths) or jammed into a tiny shower.
Happy.
Day 178 (Shabbos Nachamu)
It was a nice, restful Shabbos. I read the parsha and was
left with warm fuzzies. Someway, somehow, even the Consuming Fire bits were reassuring, and the כור הברזל (smelting furnace? iron crucible?) was a good reminder that the terrible stuff is well and truly terrible, but heroes are forged through horrors. That was my fleeting thought this time, anyway. A very nice lead out of
Tisha B’Av, and the haftorah really did make me feel better.
Motzei Shabbos was a lot of packing, of course, and I got a
scary text that the internet guys would show up hours before I would, but we
powered through.
Friday, August 8, 2014
Day 177 (packing)
Packing. Lots and lots of packing and packing. This way I won't leave Husbinator with an impossibly chaotic apartment, as when we left America. Also, this way I can't dwell on how sad it is that this was BSM's last day at daycare.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Day 176 (run!)
It was a busy day here in our imminently-moving household. I paid our last month and a half of rent, got BSM's medical records, returned library books, washed dishes, packed boxes, and did a looot of laundry. (I really did the laundry, too: between the laundry room being short-staffed over the summer and the post-nine-days rush, we likely won't get our stuff back in time if we throw it in the general laundry room.)
As an aside, I may have mentioned that I'm reading The Name of the Wind in Hebrew. I'm fairly certain I also mentioned that (in English), it is the best example of storytelling I have ever read. And that is saying a lot. A very, very lot. Anywho, The Name of the Wind is epic fantasy, and as such, the word "bar" comes up a lot. I didn't realize how often someone is in a tavern at a bar, or in a theater looking at the bar, or passing through the woods when they come across a fully-stocked bar (OK, just kidding on that last one) until I realized that one of the words I now know beyond forgetting is dalpak. It means bar. Which is kind of disappointing, because if I learn a new word in Hebrew, I'd like it to actually be a word I might one day use. (I don't go to bars all that often, and as Husbinator pointedly observed, modern Hebrew for bar is probably barrr.) Well, when I returned the library books today, the librarian told me to go to the main room and put them on the dalpak! How's that for nifty? I cleverly understood exactly where in that room she wanted the books: on the wooden counter-like device. The bar, if you would. Ha-ha!
Back at my busy day, Husbinator and I also went to a couple of hardware stores in Beit Shean and figured out which little pieces to buy to get our new-for-us solid wood crib in working order. I'd say we spent about two hours and 40 shekel and left feeling very confident that this crib frame is now good to go. We came back, Husbinator went to work, and I picked up BSM and swung back into Beit Shean to pick up a mattress for our now-functional crib frame.
Husbinator and I went to Beit Shean a few days ago and discussed mattresses with a baby-store guy. Unfortunately, we had a little language mix-up. We thought a new standard-size crib mattress would run us about 75 shekel. Great price, no? Well, it turns out there are three types of baby-sleeping-devices here in Israel. There's the לול, which is an American playpen; there's the עריסה, which directly translates to "crib" but only refers to a folding crib slightly larger than a playpen; and there's a מיטה, which directly translates to "bed" and is in fact slightly smaller than a typical American crib. A few days ago, we discussed the second type of mattress with the store proprietor, thinking we were discussing the third.
So I showed up and instead of 75 shekel, the guy tells me it will be 200. Boo. (No, he wasn't just trying to fool the foolish immigrant, this was an actual miscommunication.) I don't want to pay 60 bucks for a second crib. We have a really nice crib in our lift. And a playpen. And we got this crib frame for free. So I said thanks but no thanks and went to another baby-supply store. This place also charges 200 shekel for what I will still call a crib mattress. I explained the situation to the guy, and he said he could go as low as 150 (because my kid is so cute, and I'm moving soon, and in a jam, yadda yadda yadda). I really don't want to spend more than 100 shekel, though, so it's back to the drawing board. Sigh. And Husbinator and I worked so hard to figure out how to fix the frame! We'll probably end up finding a second-hand mattress somewhere. At least that's the hope: I don't want to give up that frame now!
As an aside, I may have mentioned that I'm reading The Name of the Wind in Hebrew. I'm fairly certain I also mentioned that (in English), it is the best example of storytelling I have ever read. And that is saying a lot. A very, very lot. Anywho, The Name of the Wind is epic fantasy, and as such, the word "bar" comes up a lot. I didn't realize how often someone is in a tavern at a bar, or in a theater looking at the bar, or passing through the woods when they come across a fully-stocked bar (OK, just kidding on that last one) until I realized that one of the words I now know beyond forgetting is dalpak. It means bar. Which is kind of disappointing, because if I learn a new word in Hebrew, I'd like it to actually be a word I might one day use. (I don't go to bars all that often, and as Husbinator pointedly observed, modern Hebrew for bar is probably barrr.) Well, when I returned the library books today, the librarian told me to go to the main room and put them on the dalpak! How's that for nifty? I cleverly understood exactly where in that room she wanted the books: on the wooden counter-like device. The bar, if you would. Ha-ha!
Back at my busy day, Husbinator and I also went to a couple of hardware stores in Beit Shean and figured out which little pieces to buy to get our new-for-us solid wood crib in working order. I'd say we spent about two hours and 40 shekel and left feeling very confident that this crib frame is now good to go. We came back, Husbinator went to work, and I picked up BSM and swung back into Beit Shean to pick up a mattress for our now-functional crib frame.
Husbinator and I went to Beit Shean a few days ago and discussed mattresses with a baby-store guy. Unfortunately, we had a little language mix-up. We thought a new standard-size crib mattress would run us about 75 shekel. Great price, no? Well, it turns out there are three types of baby-sleeping-devices here in Israel. There's the לול, which is an American playpen; there's the עריסה, which directly translates to "crib" but only refers to a folding crib slightly larger than a playpen; and there's a מיטה, which directly translates to "bed" and is in fact slightly smaller than a typical American crib. A few days ago, we discussed the second type of mattress with the store proprietor, thinking we were discussing the third.
So I showed up and instead of 75 shekel, the guy tells me it will be 200. Boo. (No, he wasn't just trying to fool the foolish immigrant, this was an actual miscommunication.) I don't want to pay 60 bucks for a second crib. We have a really nice crib in our lift. And a playpen. And we got this crib frame for free. So I said thanks but no thanks and went to another baby-supply store. This place also charges 200 shekel for what I will still call a crib mattress. I explained the situation to the guy, and he said he could go as low as 150 (because my kid is so cute, and I'm moving soon, and in a jam, yadda yadda yadda). I really don't want to spend more than 100 shekel, though, so it's back to the drawing board. Sigh. And Husbinator and I worked so hard to figure out how to fix the frame! We'll probably end up finding a second-hand mattress somewhere. At least that's the hope: I don't want to give up that frame now!
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Day 175 (news)
At some point over the past week, I discovered The New Yorker. I've known about it forever: it's that magazine pretentious people like to read. The one with the long, pretentious articles! Er... Naturally, I like it quite a lot. It's all the stuff I liked from The New York Times, only expanded. And since I will no longer read The New York Times, lest my clicks contribute in the tiniest way to its well-being... Sigh. I like it as a paper, even if I generally disagreed with its slant on Israel. But during the recent war (still feels weird calling it a war, but Gosh, that's what it was [is?]), The Times crossed a line, so I drew one. Still, as much as I like The Wall Street Journal, I felt like I was missing out. Enter The New Yorker. Luckily, the war is over enough that their news section hasn't offended me today. (Today being the first day I had the courage to check their news section.)
In more personal news, when I came to pick up BSM from daycare today, he immediately dropped his post-nap tea biscuit and knocked over his bottle, holding out his arms to be picked up. I said hello to BSM and asked him where his cookie was. The only response I got was his continued signalling asking to be picked up. So I asked "?איפה העוגיה" BSM immediately scooted around, located and grabbed his dropped tea biscuit, then scooted back to his 'pick me up' position. The boy is so clever. The boy is so cute. The mother needs to work on the boy's English comprehension skills.
In more personal news, when I came to pick up BSM from daycare today, he immediately dropped his post-nap tea biscuit and knocked over his bottle, holding out his arms to be picked up. I said hello to BSM and asked him where his cookie was. The only response I got was his continued signalling asking to be picked up. So I asked "?איפה העוגיה" BSM immediately scooted around, located and grabbed his dropped tea biscuit, then scooted back to his 'pick me up' position. The boy is so clever. The boy is so cute. The mother needs to work on the boy's English comprehension skills.
Day 174 (9 Av)
As with most other significant days in the Jewish calendar, Tisha B'Av is very, very different with a kid. (Granted, this is my second 9 Av since giving birth, but the first one hardly counted: I had given birth recently enough that the rabbi told me that I must eat and drink, and I should do anything else that I felt would make me feel better, as well.) Other than grabbing half an hour to listen to a recording of Eicha (thank you, yutorah.org) after I put BSM to sleep, I can't say I did much structured mourning. How can I sit and read/listen to/watch things pertinent to the day, when BSM is busy climbing on me? This is something I need to figure out in general, as it keeps coming up. Y'know, in life.
The other different thing about this Tisha B'Av was the intensity and frequency with which I checked the news. Generally, I try to focus on the day rather than surf the internet, but I was on pins and needles waiting for the other shoe to drop. Thank G-d, the cease-fire does seem to be holding, though. Though since it went into effect on Tisha B'Av, I'm really uncomfortable with it...
The other different thing about this Tisha B'Av was the intensity and frequency with which I checked the news. Generally, I try to focus on the day rather than surf the internet, but I was on pins and needles waiting for the other shoe to drop. Thank G-d, the cease-fire does seem to be holding, though. Though since it went into effect on Tisha B'Av, I'm really uncomfortable with it...
Day 173 (Erev Tisha B'Av)
BSM was home for the second day running: there's a virus going around daycare, and he was on his (woo-hoo, hindsight!) last day of it. I ran into a little girl from his class with her mother around lunchtime, and we compared notes. It's nice to talk to another mother and just say, "Yeah, our kids are having the same exact problem right now. See you around!"
I also confirmed that we no longer get member prices at the kibbutz store. The decision was made that the only non-members who will get member pricing are aides who live here. When I first heard that we got member prices, I was excited. I thought it was a nice bonus. I still don't think that the kibbutz is obligated to give the people who come here on programs a discount, but taking it away feels somehow... cheap? Excluding? Sigh. Maybe it's just my general souring of attitude toward the kibbutz. I will reiterate, however, that people have gotten more and more friendly in the past month. It really may be that it just takes 5-6 months for the kibbutznikim to be willing to talk to strangers. Nice people, but it's too late.
I also confirmed that we no longer get member prices at the kibbutz store. The decision was made that the only non-members who will get member pricing are aides who live here. When I first heard that we got member prices, I was excited. I thought it was a nice bonus. I still don't think that the kibbutz is obligated to give the people who come here on programs a discount, but taking it away feels somehow... cheap? Excluding? Sigh. Maybe it's just my general souring of attitude toward the kibbutz. I will reiterate, however, that people have gotten more and more friendly in the past month. It really may be that it just takes 5-6 months for the kibbutznikim to be willing to talk to strangers. Nice people, but it's too late.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Day 172 (Clearance)
We drove into Beit Shean today to price out crib mattresses. (We found a mostly intact crib on Erev Shabbos, but it is sans mattress. Before running around to get the missing bolts and springs, we figured we'd see if we're willing to pay for a mattress for the thing.) Turns out we'd save about 100 ILS max by fixing up the crib we found instead of just buying a new pack-n-play. Though in the end, we decided since we have both a pack-n-play and a crib in our lift, we'll just ask around to borrow a baby sleeping receptacle
for the next few months.
So the trip was sort of pointless, but while we were wandering through one of the grocery stores, I found the clearance rack!!!! Oh, that was exciting. Made me so happy. Honestly, one of the things I really miss about the US is the 24-hour grocery store next door to our house that always had fun clearance to check out. I still have a little glow from finding a clearance rack in a grocery store here. Also, the clearance rack had one pack of diapers... and it was in BSM's size! Oo, so satisfying.
for the next few months.
So the trip was sort of pointless, but while we were wandering through one of the grocery stores, I found the clearance rack!!!! Oh, that was exciting. Made me so happy. Honestly, one of the things I really miss about the US is the 24-hour grocery store next door to our house that always had fun clearance to check out. I still have a little glow from finding a clearance rack in a grocery store here. Also, the clearance rack had one pack of diapers... and it was in BSM's size! Oo, so satisfying.
Day 171 (Shabbos sheep)
We visited the goats today. That is, on the road between our apartment and the dining hall , there is a pen with what we genially call "the angry goats" off to the side. Today, while walking around the kibbutz with BSM, I decided to actually go up to the pen. When we got there, I saw there was a path leading down... Anyway, it turns out there is a whole complex of pens, complete with sheep, goats, a handful of dogs, a couple of mules, and some rabbits. It also turns out that the loud angry meh-ing is not the goats at all, but the sheep. I doubt we can stop calling them "the angry goats," though, it's just been too long. Sorry, placid goats. You will forever be "angry." BSM liked looking at all of the animals, and after a while, he started talking to the sheep. "Meh," he said (albeit much more quietly than the sheep.) "Meh."
Friday, August 1, 2014
Day 170 (Erev Shabbos)
I substituted at the daycare again, which was nice as far as that went. But then BSM didn't nap this afternoon, so getting stuff done got a lot more challenging. Nu, nu, it's not a huge deal..
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