Blog/August 2007/August 3rd

August 3rd 2007

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:

        PO Box 114
        Maaleh Adummim, 98100
        ISRAEL

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).