to quote Ilana, "We made the cover of the jewish week!!!!"

http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a16411/News/New_York.html

It's an article about the NY --> Israel Coffee Group. Only correction: I pushed off my aliyah by 6 months, not 6 years...

getting cold feet

Let's go over that list of concerns-- you know, the one that seems to stay the same, no matter how many times I go over it for no good reason (because there's nothing new added and nothing taken away)...let's try it like this: concern-reason-solution (if applicable)

1. Money (biggest concern) - Because I need money to live on and I won't have an immediate income. Yes, I'll have sal klita, but that's not so much, and sal klita stops after 7 months (8, if you count the housing assistance grant) and then I don't have an income. Yes, I can get unemployment, but I don't want to and can't necessarily count on that. And Israeli salaries aren't American salaries. I want to live in Jerusalem, at least initially, because that's where my chevre is mostly. Things are expensive there, though. Even though rent is, say, ~$400-$600, and I could easily pay that on my current salary, I have no clue what my Israeli salary will be (once I start getting one).
Fixed expenses: Rent + arnona + va'ad bayit, inner-city bus transportation, internet, landline phone (if applicable), extra medical coverage
Unfixed-But-Will-Be-Pretty-Much-The-Same-Each-Month expenses: Cell phone, grocery, electricity, water,
Completely Unfixed expenses: Eating out, out-of-city transportation, bank fees

2. Job (ties into #1) - I need money to live off of - No answer. I have to take the OT licensing exam, except it's in Hebrew...which sucks, because my Hebrew is not good enough yet. It takes me about three times as long as it does in English, and I have to look a lot up. Not going to be able to do that on the exam...And I know there are other jobs I can do, but...I just...maybe it's the overqualification and pride. But I can't see myself working as a cashier or cleaning houses. That aside, I can't even speak Hebrew well enough for those. And I'm not a salesperson to work as HAS. I really don't know.

3. Missing family and friends - Because most of them are in the US - Skype is a possible solution, and an okay one. But there are things I won't be able to do, such as physically be there and help. Like now-- I'm spending about 1.5-2 hours at the hospital with my Zaidy every day. When I'm in Israel, I won't be able to do that. Even if I could "visit" him over Skype, there's things I can't do through the computer. I can't help my mom schlep through the computer, or help my dad with household things. It's things that they can do but me being there makes it easier. I talk to Andrea and Yoni on the phone more, but Squishy hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet. I'm going to miss her a lot, seeing her do things and just...her. Elissa-- I don't even want to think about it; we're scarily like 1 person in 2 bodies. And I'm leaving Sara and Chari. This sucks. And I don't know how often I'll be able to come in-- I'd like to come in at least for summers, because that way I can work here for the summer and get to spend 2 months with my family. But I don't know if I'll really be able to.

4. Living Arrangements- Because I need somewhere to live after ulpan and don't want to live in a merkaz klita - I want to eventually move up North. I know I don't want to live in an Anglo enclave/mini America. It's going to be much more expensive in terms of everything, and it's not exactly conducive to klita. If I'm moving to Israel, I'd like to move there. I want to live in a place with other olim, because that increases the availability of things for olim and I will definitely be taking advantage and using whatever I can, but I don't want to be in an American bubble. I want to be in at least a mixed area. Most of my chevre is in Jerusalem, and really if I want to get married, the places with the most singles are Jerusalem and TA. And I have more friends in Jlem and the merkaz overall.



What else? Of course I'll miss Wal-Mart and Jack's World and JCPenney and the subway (don't even get me started on how much I'm going to miss the subway) and real ziploc bags. But I'll have the shuk and the crazy Israeli drivers and...salad at every meal-- actual fresh veggies. And fresh halva, which I can get sick on. And, well...I'll be in Israel.

Transfering

So my MDA stuff does not transfer to NYS. I'm not too offended, because NYS doesn't really take anything else...
Apparently my EMT-B certification (assuming I get it) won't transfer to Israel. Which is understandable-- chovshim do more. But I'm hoping something will transfer and I won't have to do the whole course again...on the upside, I'd get to work on my Hebrew...

More monkey wrenches!

Apparently the merkazei klita are ALL getting closed as of August 1? Does anybody know anything about this? I can't find anything on the Jewish Agency website or Google.

I want to know what they're going to do about Ulpan Etzion...I might have to get an apt. immediately, which would definitely change my plans. But I could definitely live with Vered. But I think that does take away from the absorption experience, if you're not in-house. Wait, re-phrasal-- not necessarily take away from, but significantly change what I was expecting. But I suppose I should expect that-- it's Israel.

Shabbat shalom!

מזל טוב!

Mazal tov to Allison Teitelbaum, Sarah and Noam Greenberg, and all the other olim from the NBN flight on July 7!

(5.5 months-ish... and counting down! (and waiting for approvals and such) )

shopping

So when I was in Israel I would convert prices into dollars. I never thought I'd be converting into shekels-- and DEFINITELY not in America. Well, guess who did just that in Farmer's Market (a small grocery store in upstate NY-- like all good New York City Jews, my family "goes upstate" for the summer/Shabbatot).

"Now why would she do a crazy thing like that?" you ask. The answer is-- they had Israeli ice cream...and it was good stuff, too...I saw the price listed in dollars and cents (because we are in America, after all, despite the abundance of Israeli products in even places like random small supermarkets and Wal-Mart). And I immediately converted it into shekels to figure out how much it was. I think that's a very big sign of identity confusion (wait 'till I get to Israel! Then I'll really have issues! I should write a post on all the cross-cultural confusion in my life, and then once I get to Israel see what happens).

If anyone has any suggestions for un-confusing yourself, please let me know.

Whoever said patience is a virtue--

was probably around a lot of impatient people in his/her lifetime and just got frustrated.



I do not have enough patience, especially when it comes to Israeli things (okay, in general big things that have a significant impact on my life...right now it's mostly aliyah...). Really, things can get done quickly-- IF someone is inclined to do it. But there seems to be a laid-back attitude of, "It will happen when it happens/all in good time" there, and it's very frustrating. Very frustrating. Respectful, curteous, timely customer service is one American thing I'd like to see in Israel (they've got enough America there-- what, they can't bring this? No, that would just be...well...nice. Not that Israelis aren't nice. But more on that in another entry; this is getting rediculously off-topic).

Also, the "if it's not due tomorrow, I'll handle it tomorrow" approach. For example, if I was making aliyah in the summer, my paperwork would be done already-- signed, stamped, approved, I'd have my oleh visa...but since I'm going in the fall, they're not going to do anything until after the summer olim.

There are a few things that need to happen before I know anything definite:
1. The Sochnut needs to approve my aliyah (except my shaliach is out of the country)
2. I need to get my olah visa from the Consulate (dependent on 1)
3. I need to apply to Ulpan Etzion (also, dependent on 1)


There are things I need to know for me:
1. When the NBN winter flight is going to be (except they're not going to know that until after the chagim. Which I don't really get-- why are you waiting? ElAl already set its flight schedule. Maybe they're waiting to see if they can get a charter flight vs. group flights?)
2. When some people are getting married (one friend already has her date set, and I'm waiting to hear about...2? 3? something like that others)
I really want to go on the NBN flight, but it depends on when people get married...the friend I know about's date doesn't conflict-- I'll be in the middle/end of ulpan (minor detail that I have to work out)


I just like knowing big things in advance. Advance notice for my future husband, whoever he may be: Surprise me with the engagement. Make it some time that I won't even think about-- like when after a hike when we're all sweaty and dirty from the hike and just enjoying each other and the country. Or when we're relaxing and I totally would not expect it. But not the "dinner and a carriage ride/picnic at sunset/other romantic-y thing, because those are overrated and (much as I like the romance) I'd rather it be...more us...and-- well, cliches aren't me and I hope aren't you either. (this is an Israel blog, ok? And where better to think about marriage than Israel when everyone and their mother/father/cousinS/neighborS/etc. tries to set you up the second they find out that you're single? And if you read this and want to set me up, leave a comment and I'll get back to you)

TA in NY?!

I forgot-- this past Sunday there was a "Tel Aviv Beach" in Central Park. It was a "beach" (read: large sandbox) with chairs, umbrellas, and matkot. There was a DJ and some live music, info about Israel and TA, and free popsicles!

The NY --> Israel group had out monthly meeting there instead of Starbucks.

Look-- pictures!

On the way to the "beach"-- lots of people already

The sun trying to come out, sort of. The rain held off until the event was pretty much over. Thanks, G-d!

Dana and Ilana posing by the giant arrow (it was right before you entered the event...in case you missed the people or music or got lost between there and the entrance 10 feet away)

The skyline

Obligatory NY protesters-- at least there were no Neturei Karta this time

A small version of the plane I will be on when I make aliyah

The Tel Aviv sandbox beach in Central Park

In case you thought you might actually be in TA (you know, with the skyline and beach), they put up a sign to let you know where you are

One of the early bands

Classic photo-- middle-aged Israeli woman sitting in a beach chair under an umbrella, holding a cigarette

they had no chocolate-banana anything :(

The girls-- Me, Dana, Ilana, and Vered

This was cute-- my popsicle dripped in the shape of a smiley face. Could not have done it if I wanted to or had tried.

Spoke to NBN today. They said that they won't have the NBN December flight date until after the chagim.
I also checked my NBN application status and there are still a few things pending JA approval. I emailed Shai to see what's going on with that and Etzion.

סיכום, המשך מ-04.06.09, ועדכון

סיכום מלפני: דברתי עם הסופרויזר שלי--מארי-ג'ו--

המשך: ואמרתי משהו בקשר ללימודים לתואר שלישי-- שיש לי פקרופסור שרוצה שאני אעשה את התואר איתו, אבל הוא בארץ. והיא ענתה, אבל זה לא בעיה בשבילך, נכון? אמרתי לה שאני צריכה לעשות קורס אינטנסיבי בעברית לפני הלימודים-- נסיתי להכנס לקורס שבקיץ הזה אבל לא הצלחתי, והקורס הבא בחורף אבל אני לא יודעת אם יקבלו אותי. היא אמרה אוקיי, ולעדכן אותה מתי שיש לי עוד אינפורמציה.

עדכון: אני מחליפה בתי-ספר. יש בעיות עם הטיב של האויר ובגלל זה יש לי (ולאחרים) כאבי-ראש שנעלמים שעה אחרי שאני יוצאת מהבית-ספר. נסיתי מאפריל להחליף לבית-ספר אחר לכמה ימים. לא נתנו לי. אבל במאי שלחו הסופרויזרים פירסום של מקומות פתוחים, בחרתי כמה מהם והיו לי ראיונים. התקבלתי ל4 בתי-ספר אבל קבלתי כאב-ראש מאחד, יש הרבה לחץ באחד, ויש עוד שנים שאני רוצה. יש לי עוד ראיון ביום שלישי-- אבל זה לא קשור לנקודה של הפוסט הזה.
אמרתי לסופרויזר שלי שיש אפשרות שאתקבל לקורס האינטנסיבי בעברית-- ואם מקבלים אותי, אני עוזבת באמצע השנה. היא שאלה אותי מתי אני מדברת לעזוב, עניתי לה שבקורס מתחיל בינואר, אז אחרי החופש בחורף, אבל לא אשמעה עד הסתו. והיא אמרה שזה בסדר, כי יש מרפאים חדשים שבאים בינואר, ולעדכן אותה כאני יודעת.

real quick note before I type up the posts that I have to continue...

from A Soldier's Mother: beautifully written post about what Israel is really like...for those of you who think Israel is this horrible, war-torn country with people waiting to blow themselves up and constant rocket sirens-- it's not: http://israelisoldiersmother.blogspot.com/2009/06/whats-it-actually-like-in-israel.html

Warning: Emotional Girl Ahead...

This sucks.
As it gets closer to when I planned on leaving, it gets harder to be here...I had wanted to go at the beginning of July-- about a week before Etzion starts the summer session. That would have been the July 6 flight. And now I'm not.
I miss it...6 more months, that what I keep telling myself...but it feels like it's been 6 months for ages and ages...which it has...since I decided to push it off by 6 months! That doesn't change!
I don't get it...why do I miss it so much? I never missed NY this much when I was in Israel-- and I'm from NY!
I was interviewing somebody yesterday, and he said something about Israelis being tough. I said Americans aren't always so easy to deal with either. But then I said, "But Israelis will help you." And that's what it is. I miss the sense of family, of caring, of everybody looking out for you and being willing to help you.
One of the amazing things that I am discovering is that the second I identify myself as in the process of making aliyah, it's like-- "Mazal tov, when?" And then I ask a question and get answers and references...I mean, I went to get stuff translated and notarized. I was talking to the lawyer who did them (because in Israel only lawyers are notaries-- and the fees are insane, but that's another story) gave me the name and number of her friend who is a veteran olah and also an occupational therapist. I have somewhere around 10 occupational therapists that I am in touch with. I have met most of them once or maybe twice. And all of them, both the native Israelis and olim, are willing to answer any questions I have and give me other people to contact-- even the lawyer I went to for document translation and notarization says, "Oh, I have a friend who's an olah vatikah [veteran immigrant] who's an OT-- here's her name and number, call her." Really? That's amazing. It's a country made up of immigrants that did not exist 62 years ago.
People say, "You're making aliyah? From America? You crazy?"-- and they say this in English. Translated it means, "You're crazy-- welcome home, you'll fit right in to this place. When are you coming for dinner? [if you're single, this next sentence applies as well] I have a boy/girl for you."

It's a jumbled mix of emotions...hang on

I know, I have to continue my last post...it's on my to-do list.

But before that, a couple quick sentences about where I will be living: Beit Canada. It sounds like a shithole in the middle of nowhere...really. Everything ends with, "...but you deal." Not so optimistic...oh, Ulpan Etzion, I wish you were still in Baka...but I'll deal...יהיה בסדר...oh Israel...how I wish I was there.
ששה חודשים!

SQUEEEEE!

Sorry, this one needs to go in Hebrew...if you want a translation, let me know.

דברתי עם הסופרויזר שלי היום-- היה לכל הבתי-ספר בעיר ניו יורק יום ל"התפתחות פרופסיונלי" --אז הסופרויזרות (?) לברונקס עשו פגישה למראפים בעישוק-- היה ארוכת בוקר, נתנו לנו הערכות לבתי-ספר שלנו-- היה סתם פגישה רגוע לסוף השנה-- ממש נעים, ואלף-אחוז יותר טוב מלהיות בבית-ספר מ0810 עד 1520-- התחלנו ב0900 ויצאנו ב1200 -- איזה יופי , נכון?

to be continued...

When I Grow Up

or at least get married and have kids...not that that's in the immediate future. I'd like a guy first. Anyway.



There's a blog that I found called A Soldier's Mother written by a woman who made aliyah about 16 years ago. She knew then that her sons, at least, would serve in the army.

I'm not there yet, and please G-d, there will be peace before then and my children won't have to serve because there won't be a need for an IDF. But realistically, there probably won't be peace and there will be a need.

Is it fair for me to do that to them? Is it fair for me to move to Israel, knowing full well that I intend to raise my family there, and that my children will be going to serve in the IDF and protect and defend Israel and Jews all over with a chance that, G-d forbid, they will get injured or killed? Is it fair to impose that on them? It's my choice to move...now I'm in the US, a country that has a volunteer army (generalize it to mean any branch of the armed forces). If I stay here, my children will not be drafted; if they want to join the army , it will be their choice; it will not be forced on them, and no one will think them any worse of them or look down on them if they don't. But in Israel it's not really something that they will have a choice about. Yes, they will somehow be able to get an exemption if they really want to...but I'm not going to encourage it. Is that fair?


And on another somewhat related note, is it fair of me to leave my parents and family to move to Israel? Not like my mom doesn't worry here, but there she's more worried, more nervous. Is it fair to make my mom worry more? This is the part that really sucks...leaving family and worrying about them. Forget them worrying about me, I'm worried about them. What's Lis going to do? Yeah, she says she'll just have to learn to manage on her own, but it's going to be harder. It's little things I do for her, like making her food when she's running late or her laundry when I do mine even though it's more or letting her vent or running small errands...just little things.
And my mom. I'm really worried about her. Not that she's not worried about me, but as much as she's worried about me, I worry about her too. I help her a lot with things like schlepping and running up and down to get things or bring things and helping her with the computer, switching laundrys...just things that don't seem so big, but help her. My dad I'm not as worried about, but still. I help him with things like fixing things around the house. He'll manage-- they all will...but it doesn't make me feel any better.
I'm not the savior of the house-- by no means do I think I am. But I am home a lot, and am capable of doing things so I do.

Man, this sucks.

"...feelin' groovy..."

Not really. But there's a backstory...like many of my posts...

Like any good child of the 80's, I had parents who raised me and my sisters on their music in the car. That consisted of a lot of tapes (made from of records, because cars came with tape/cassette players and not record players) and the Oldies station-- 101.1 CBS FM (New York...I can't read/write/think that without hearing the tune in my head). " My mom likes Simon and Garfunkel (see their official website or the Wikipedia page for more info on them). So you would think that I would know their songs and recognize them when they, you know, were played on the radio and stuff.

Close...I knew their songs-- except I knew them in Hebrew. Do you understand how confusing it is to learn a song in Hebrew, think that that's the song-- it's in Hebrew, not English-- and then hear it on the radio IN ENGLISH?! My little brain was going"wtf?" (except not in those words because I didn't know them yet, and "wtf" wasn't an expression then). It took me a while to understand the concept of "covers." So, yes, I learned Simon and Garfunkel songs in Hebrew before I learned them in English.

Now why is this relevant?-- or in Hebrew-- ?איך זה רלוונטי-- "aych zeh relevanti?" Because I spent Shabbat reading words like:
טמפרטורה
סימפטומים
רלוונטים
דפורמציות
קונטרקטורות
(just like that-- no nekudot (vowels) the dots and lines under the letters, which make it easier to read)

Normally it's not so bad trying to read Hebrew. But here's the catch (and there's always a catch, especially when dealing with Israel or anything related)-- these words? ENGLISH! Watch:
טמפורטורה - tem-pu-ra-tura - temperature
סימפטומים - seemp-to-meem - symptoms
רלוונטים - reh-la-vahn-teem - relevant (plural)
דפורמציות - de-for-ma-tzee-yot - deformities
קונטרקטורות - con-trac-tu-roht - contractures

Do you see anything the same about these words in Hebrew and English? It's a hell of a lot harder trying to read English in Hebrew than it is trying to read Hebrew in Hebrew (on the plus side, I'm learning to type in Hebrew). And that my friends throws your brain off, much like trying to understand that the songs you learned in Hebrew are American songs, and makes your brain hurt.

And the step after Approval is...go back and re-submit stuff!

The pictures I gave in were blurry...well...I'm sorry...I didn't think they were...

So now I have to go get them redone. Rite-Aid printed one of them with a bright spot on my eyebrow, so I have to get them redone. Man!

I feel like I should be typing this blog in Hebrew, because it's out on the Internet and very, very public...which means anyone, including my coworkers and supervisor(s?-- כן, כולל ה---בלייפפפפפפ(how do you bleep something out in Hebrew?)), can read it.

I sort of worry about that-- as in someone's going to go, "So I heard you have a blog and I checked it out...aliyah (pronounced like the dead singer)? What is that?" And I'm going to go, "Shit." Like happened today, sort of. My on-site supervisor wanted to speak to me and I thought, "Shit, someone said something to her about me moving to Israel." No, she wanted to speak to me about something else.

But really, how do you explain aliyah to people who have never even heard of it? Everything I think of just sounds so...it falls short.

Next step-- approval!

You thought I was going to say I got approved for aliyah...no, not quite.
I did, however, get my documents checked by Shai (the Jewish Agency shaliach), gave in my financial affidavit and passport pictures (printed earlier today) to NBN-- see this entry for a bit on that; I decided to practice being Israeli and ignore what they said. Worked out nicely-- now let's see if they don't lose the documents...
I should hear back about approval and Etzion after the summer, but Shai doesn't think there will be a problem (Hi, Murphy, because I said something. I should go back and erase that and bite my tongue. But I'm not-- which may come back to bite me in the tooseek (thank you Benji Lovitt of "What War Zone"-- see my oleh blog links-- for the spelling. Not that he knows who I am, but I found his blog and think that spelling is great. Benji, if you would like to link to my blog, feel free))...but-- back to the mother of all Israeli phrases-- "יהיה בסדר"-- "y'hiyeh b'seder-- "it'll be ok/fine." (I'm just full of cliches tonight, aren't I? And parentheses.)

But back to the meeting. I met with Robin Berman, who works in the employment dept. of NBN. Really, I don't think I need to have any more "pre-aliyah meetings" unless it's for a very specific purpose, like this was. This one was to get my documents checked. I don't need employment meetings, unless it deals with OT specifically. I don't need "community meetings" because I know where I'm going to start out and have some ideas-- and I'll go away for Shabbatot, so I'll see what communities I like. I know that the large populations of singles are in Jerusalem (Anglos in Katamon, Rechavia, German Colony, etc.) and around Bar Ilan (Givat Shmuel-ish area). I know that I want to live up North eventually, but there aren't really singles up there. Which limits my dating pool...If there's the word "informational" in the meeting-- odds are I don't need it. I have the information, I know where to find the stuff I don't have, and I know how to use my email to email people questions. I'm really good at that.

If I haven't heard back by September, I'll email NBN and Shai. Because really, that's only 4 months. I mean, it's Israel and I could do this 4 weeks before and no one would say boo-- Shai goes, "This is for the summer?" ...which is in about 6 weeks...it was funny when Robin went upstairs to get Shai. I had my meeting with Robin-- she gave me a few tips about employment and then went to check about my affidavit and if someone could come look at my documents. So Shai comes in and goes, "Hey! How are you?" Robin goes, "You know each other?" It was a "you-had-to-be there" moment, I think.

Here goes nothing

Meetings with NBN and a shaliach tomorrow...wish me luck.
I have 5 copies of everything, except passport photos...those I have to print.

I went to RiteAid today to get them done. They print. There's a bright orange spot on one of my eyebrows...I didn't have time to wait for them to redo them, so I'm going to have to get them redone on Sunday, I'll find another RiteAid in the city. But in the meantime, NBN still wants 3 passport photos. So I'm going to print up a page-- well, 2 pages. Passport photos are standardly 2"x2". NBN's site says 35 mm wide x 45 mm high with the face being 25 mm wide and 35 mm high. So I have 3 photo pages to make:
-one with 2x2 photos
-one with the picture 35 mm wide x 45 mm high without the face being 25 mm wide and 35 mm high
-one with the picture 35 mm wide x 45 mm high without the face being 25 mm wide and 35 mm high


I think I get 16 photos on a page...makes 48 photos. Problem with printing one whole page at a time is cutting it. Ew. And, NONE OF THE PRINTERS THAT I TRIED WORK! AND I TRIED THREE OF THEM! THREE! THREE! (and once more for good luck-- three!)

Here's hoping I can print them tomorrow in school. If not, I is screwed. And that is bad.