Blog/August 2007/August 3rd - Revision history

Ron at 10:29, 30 November 2007

2007-11-30T10:29:01Z

Ron at 05:50, 18 October 2007

2007-10-18T05:50:45Z

Ron: Blog001 moved to Blog/August 2007/August 3rd

2007-10-13T16:21:20Z

Blog001 moved to Blog/August 2007/August 3rd

Ron at 10:50, 11 October 2007

2007-10-11T10:50:50Z

Ron: New page: We're at the end of the first few days here, and it's been quite an adjustment. It's very hot, and our air conditioning leaks (so we need to get it fixed - but that's taking longer than w...

2007-10-11T10:09:16Z

New page: We're at the end of the first few days here, and it's been quite an adjustment. It's very hot, and our air conditioning leaks (so we need to get it fixed - but that's taking longer than w...

New page

We're at the end of the first few days here, and it's been quite an
adjustment. It's very hot, and our air conditioning leaks (so we need to get
it fixed - but that's taking longer than we expected). Our internet
connectivity is very flaky so that's why it's taken so long to get in touch
with you all. Don't worry, "yihyeh beseder" (יהיה בסדר - it will be alright,
the Israeli equivalent of, "what, me worry?").

The house is really quite large. The kitchen is about as big as our old one,
and the dining room is very large ( big enough for a serious Seder ). The
bedrooms are smaller than we are used to, but I think they'll be ok. The
house was not really ready for us to move into, but ... well, we're in it now!

Take note: our mailing address is:
<pre>
PO Box 114
Maaleh Adummim, 98100
ISRAEL
</pre>

That is our private PO box, so we should be able to keep it even after we move
(if we move) to another place.

The Sochnut (Jewish Agency), Nefesh B'Nefesh and the other gov't agencies did
manage to screw things up, (not) surprisingly. So Sarah is listed as the
Olah, and Viviana isn't listed. So of the three of us, at the moment only
Sarah is eligible for health insurance :/ We have a meeting on Wednesday to
straighten this out. On Monday we have to get our National ID cards (teudat
zehut), which will probably have the wrong information as well. But you can't
even open a bank account here without one. Hopefully they will actually have
our docuements.

Since we couldn't really take care of the gov't paperwork we had hoped to this
week, we spent our time alternating between heat stroke and buying sprees.
Since "unfurnished" in Israel means absolutely nothing is in the house (not
even bathroom cabinets), one must completely furnish. So first thing we did
once we recovered from the heat shock, is go and get a refrigerator (and a
shabbat hot-plate, and a hot-water thing, and a toaster oven, and a
stove/oven, and a washing machine). All for a total of about $2,500
delivered, which I thought was a pretty good price. Turns out the sales
ladies were Russians, and I said "thank you very much" in Russian to our sales
lady at one point - and she immediately started behaving much more carefully
(including telling the other one to stop murmering to her in Russian). I
think I scared them a little ... and they threw in a free crock-pot :)

No sooner had we moved into the apartment, then we met our downstairs
neighbors... who had moved in just two weeks prior. They brought us some
patio furniture which we are using now in our dining room, and a hot plate and
some other stuff. As Sarah said, we met our neighbors here on the first day,
and we only met our neighbors in the US on the last day we were there.

The woman in charge of "receiving immigrants" in Maaleh Adummim has been very
helpful; she even washed Sarah and Viviana's shirts since we don't have a way
to do laundry just yet. Now, ''that's'' service! She also helped us in lots of
other ways, but the nicest way so far is she got us invited to other people's
places for shabbat dinner and lunch. So we don't have to worry about trying
to make that work on our own. Other people including my cousins have also
helped tremendously. Thanks to all of you!

Despite the impressive heat, Maaleh Adummim is a beautiful place. And the
Land of Israel is incredible. We only just moved into a house, and already we
have halachic issues: a bird is nesting just outside our bedroom window, and
has eggs in its nest! Fortunately, it's a quiet bird so far... Sarah has a
very nice view from her broiler of a room. We tried to convince her to take a
cooler room, but she likes the view (even though it's a small room, too). Oh,
there's a good reason we didn't buy a dryer ...

Being that we are in the Holy Land, Viviana is officially going by her Hebrew
name, "Esther". So if you hear me mention "Esther" when you think I'm talking
about my wife, well, she is :)

Not having a car is not as big an impediment as we had thought it might be.
The supermarket delivers, and it's only about a 15-20min walk from our place.
Of course, you have to not lose conciousness on the way, so make certain
you've drunk a lot of water! Likewise, we can catch a bus close to our house
that will take us clear to Jerusalem center (about 30min, costs about $1.80).
Taxi service from any point to any other point within M"A is only 13 sheqels,
about $3... which is much more expensive than the bus, but much more
convenient as well. We will probably get bus passes this coming week.

Apparently, the owner of a company my friend works for is interested in hiring
me, so perhaps B"H I won't be unemployed for long. If they throw in a car
that would be most excellent... though there is a bus from here to there
(it's in north Jerusalem).

{{blog}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:29, 30 November 2007
Line 86:		Line 86:

	{{blog}}		{{blog}}
		+	{{nav\|Blog\|Blog\|\|\|Blog/August 2007/August 10th\|Aug 10th}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:50, 11 October 2007
Line 1:		Line 1:
		+	'''August 3rd 2007'''
		+
	We're at the end of the first few days here, and it's been quite an		We're at the end of the first few days here, and it's been quite an
	adjustment. It's very hot, and our air conditioning leaks (so we need to get		adjustment. It's very hot, and our air conditioning leaks (so we need to get

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 zehut), which will probably have the wrong information as well.  But you can't
 even open a bank account here without one.  Hopefully they will actually have
-our docuements.
+our documents.
 Since we couldn't really take care of the gov't paperwork we had hoped to this
 week, we spent our time alternating between heat stroke and buying sprees.
-Since "unfurnished" in Israel means absolutely nothing is in the house (not
+Since "unfurnished" in Israel means ''absolutely nothing'' is in the house (not
 even bathroom cabinets), one must completely furnish.  So first thing we did
 once we recovered from the heat shock, is go and get a refrigerator (and a
@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 ladies were Russians, and I said "thank you very much" in Russian to our sales
 lady at one point - and she immediately started behaving much more carefully
-(including telling the other one to stop murmering to her in Russian).  I
+(including telling the other one to stop murmuring to her in Russian).  I
 think I scared them a little ... and they threw in a free crock-pot  :)
@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 helped tremendously.  Thanks to all of you!
-Despite the impressive heat, Maaleh Adummim is a beautiful place.  And the
+Despite the impressive heat, [[Maale Adummim]] is a beautiful place.  And the
 Land of Israel is incredible.  We only just moved into a house, and already we
 have halachic issues: a bird is nesting just outside our bedroom window, and
@@ Line 73: / Line 73: @@
 Not having a car is not as big an impediment as we had thought it might be.
 The supermarket delivers, and it's only about a 15-20min walk from our place.
-Of course, you have to not lose conciousness on the way, so make certain
+Of course, you have to not lose consciousness on the way, so make certain
 you've drunk a lot of water!  Likewise, we can catch a bus close to our house
 that will take us clear to Jerusalem center (about 30min, costs about $1.80).

← Older revision	Revision as of 16:21, 13 October 2007
(No difference)