Blog/August 2008/Aug 1st
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August 1st (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi again!
This week marks our one-solar-year anniversary of making aliyah (moving to Israel). We have to wait two weeks to celebrate on the Hebrew calendar (15 Av), but we think we can start now. A recap is in order ...
After planning our aliyah meticulously -- leaving nothing to chance, we thought -- we embarked on our noble adventure. Just a few days before we left our house in Bellevue, Washington, the buyers pulled out; leaving us with very few funds and a white elephant to get rid of. Fortunately, we had already rented a place in Israel, so we had nothing to worry about in the short term...
When we arrived, we found out the house was a complete disaster. Water leaking in several places, dirt which had probably been brought out of Egypt by the Israelites, a background bouquet of ordure, very unpleasant neighbors and unhelpful landlords. But at least we spoke Hebrew already, so no problems there... except for the government agencies, at which we spent many many hours trying to sort out the paperwork which Nefesh B'Nefesh was supposed to have helped us with. Sarah was despondent, we were upset.
As time progressed we found that speaking Hebrew did not help when dealing with our neighbors. They were good at lying in any language. They tried (and succeeded) to avoid paying their share of anything and everything. But at least there was a ray of sunshine... The clerks at the City Hall of Maaleh Adummim befriended us and helped us out. We started to turn things around.
In the meantime, I had started working for a small startup in Jerusalem. Esther resumed working for her former company in the US, Sarah was in school all day and Daniela was learning in Jerusalem. Eventually, we got used to the weather, the people, the culture and all that. Then we realized we had to get out of the rental, so we looked for and found a house. By this time, we had sold our house in the US so we were able to actually make it happen. The exhilaration of looking forward to a "new" house free of our neighbors and landlords, buoyed us through the ensuing months.
Finally, not long ago! we moved into the "new" house, and though it ended up costing us more than we had originally planned, the ecstasy of leaving the place we were was overpowering. We're still basking in the joy of home-ownership. So far, our aliyah has been successful. There have been ups and downs, as chronicled on these pages. But in general I can say there's no place I would rather be,
Indian insights: No indoor plumbing? Not a problem, just go wherever you are! There are signs on walls stating: "Please do not urinate on this wall". Since the majority are illiterate, however, the signs do no good. Airport security signs: "Items not permitted: ... hand grenades, ... canned food, ...". OK, I get the 'hand grenade' prohibition, though I rather doubt anyone would bring one on board innocently. But canned food? Are they really worried someone could take over a plane with the lid from a tuna can? As it turns out, I did bring canned fish in my carry-on, and no one was the wiser.
In joyous news, our resident weasel has finally announced his resignation! Oh, that we could rely on his declaration! Until I see someone else in his chair, I'll hold back on the celebration. And afterwards... who knows how much worse a leader we might get? Hard to imagine, but the current crop of likely candidates is even worse than Olmert. I'm still holding out for Tvrtko Kale for PM. He could really make a difference.
Speaking of Beitar Yerushalayim, we had an interesting experience coming back from the Malha mall the other day. Bad timing on our part, we left along with 10,000 Beitar fans (the stadium is right next to the mall). So we got to see a kind of freaky side of Israeli life - the supposed "right-wing blue-collar" crowd of Beitar supporters. Honking horns, displaying their team's colors proudly. It almost made me curious to actually watch a game... but not quite.
Shabbat shalom!
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