And we're back!

Fitting that my revival of my aliyah blog should be on an aliyahniversary-- it's my fourth aliyahniversary. This time I'm spending it in Israel, unlike my second one.

In case my loyal readers haven't noticed (do I even HAVE loyal readers?), I've taken a break from my blog. I just forgot to let you all know.

Let's do a countdown of four exciting things that happened since I made aliyah four years ago:
1. Met a lot of awesome people on my flight and during ulpan and have managed to stay in touch with a bunch of them.
2. I got a sewing machine. This may not seem like an exciting thing to many of you, but it's really exciting for me.
3. I met my husband, got married, and had a baby. I'm lumping these together, because if not they would be three out of four. Actually, I'm going to change this: 3. I met my husband and got married. (Baby deserves an  a separate number).
4. I had a baby.



So...what's happened in the past 6 months? A lot.
Workwise: I finished my coverage positions and got a new job in a rehabilitative daycare/nursery school for babies and kids with visual impairments and mostly normal cognition.  I'm continuing with my other jobs in a school for kids with visual impairment plus (complex-- severe physical handicaps and/or mental retardation), and in the residential facility connected to the school.
Family: Had a baby.  Very close family friend got married (here! Yay!)
Living situation: Still where we have been since we got married.


Now that I'm back I'm planning on updating more often. Really. I also intend to do a post on pregnancy and giving birth in Israel. Someone remind me, please, because I don't remember anything anymore.

Three Year Aliyah-niversary

To start, a collection of posts from the past three years:

First post, post-aliyah

About the Flight, etc.

First IGoogled Israel post about how I came to make aliyah (as a side note, there is a lot of good info there and in the other posts about first steps and getting started and other random firsts in Israel)

"Aseetee shopping"-- about going food/basic supplies shopping in Israel (related link: Food Shopping in Israel from Bat Aliyah, and from Marc Gottlieb: Chicken Chart (I'm a fan of the alliteration), Meat Guide, and Spice List)

April 2010: Missing home and Pesach in Israel 

Questioning my Aliyah Part I and Part II

Moving out of the merkaz klita and going back to NY

Reflecting on the IDF and the life I've chosen

Being In Hebrew-- learning to not just speak the language

Giving Up and Leaving Behind

The 4th of July in America as an Israeli-American or American-Israeli

How Lauren Admitted She's Become Kinda Racist

August 2011: a VERY reflective month-- where is home, relationship changes, and Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene

A New Niece and Missing Her

Hebrew Not Being a Foreign Language

Engaged!

Married!

Another Israeli first: getting my first gas mask

War as the Wife

Thanksgiving and Random Lauren Thoughts

And to continue, reflections on the past three years...

I'm sitting at the computer desk in my living room. The computer was my husband's before we got married, and the monitors are also from him/his parent's office. The laundry rack near me is from me, the dishpads drying on it are from my parents, and there are backpacks on the couch and the floor.

The dining room set is from my paternal grandparents' apartment and the kiddush cup that I just put away was my maternal grandfather's. The kerchief that I use to cover my hair when I light candles to welcome in Shabbat [the Sabbath] and holidays is the one that my mother got for my grandmother (or great-grandmother, I don't remember which...) when she was in Israel.

Our toolbox/stepstool is from my aunt, and the small toolbox belonged to my maternal grandfather.

There is so much here that connects me to my roots, and at the same time it's somehow new.

There is a cabinet that belonged to my paternal grandparents that the gave me. I don't even know how old it is, just that it was always in the corner with little tchachkes in it. 

Three years (and six days) ago, I made aliyah-- stepped off a plane with a couple hundred other people who had also decided to move to Israel. 

In that time I have lived in three apartments, had three roommates, made so many friends, dated English-speakers and Hebrew speakers, re-learned to cook using Israeli ingredients, traveled around my new country, explored cities, became an Israeli-licensed occupational therapist, got a job, left it, and got a new one, met my husband-dated-got engaged-got married-moved to the middle of the desert, got my Israeli driver's license, and...I think I've done pretty well here.

Here's to another three years of learning this country (at which time I'll be up to six years :) )!

I really need to update more often. OR, Having an Oleh Day When You're Almost Considered Not an Olah Chadasha

I kind of feel guilty about not blogging or updating as much as I used to. But this is an aliyah blog, so...I don't know...maybe if I let it evolve into a "living in Israel" blog I'll be inclined to update more frequently?

Today was an oleh adventure day. Actually, Monday was too. Start with today.

Prologue:
Over Chanukah I went to Mas Hachnasa, one of the government offices that deals with taxes. I work at more than one place (one place is a regular position, and the other is coverage), so I had to do something known as a "teum mas," which means "coordination of tax." I don't tltally understand it, but I think that it's something like this: If you make up to a certain amount (somewhere around 5000 shekels/month-- don't think in dollars; it's more depressing than thinking in shekels) from your first job, your salary is taxed at 0%. At your second job, if you make less than at your first, that is taxed at a higher rate-- possibly also up to a certain monthy salary amount. There's also something in between (probably a bunch of somethings in between), up to 48%. If you do not do this teum mas, you automatically get taxed 48%. You WILL get back, but only after you do this teum mas. When you do the teum mas, you declare one place of employment as your primary employment and the other(s) as secondary. Like I said before, the salary at the secondary place of work gets taxed at a higher rate.
Now there's something else-- another office-- Bituach Leumi, which is National Insurance (like Social Security in the US). If you have only one job, then you do not have to do a teum bituach leumi-- coordination of the national insurance (like the teum mas, but for National Insurance). If you have additional jobs, you have to give in a form to coordinate the bituach leumi from both places of work. You NEVER hear about this form-- unlike teum mas, which you hear about frequently.

So...last week I did teum mas. And since I worked at Misrad Hachinuch, that was considered my primary income-- and so my current jobs were considered secondary places of work, which meant they would automatically be taxed at 48% unless I had done teum mas. I didn't realize this, because I told the rep that I was no longer working at Misrad Hachinuch...apparently she did something wrong, because I got slammed by Bituach Leumi.

Sooooooooooooooo...I figured that I had to do this teum bituach leumi, which I had never heard of. So begins today's adventure...

8 am: Bituach Leumi. Get told that I don't have to do teum bituach leumi, because according to my paycheck (which includes the breakdown of how much I got paid and how much I paid to who/what/where), I was paying the correct amount. And was told that I did teum mas wrong-- or they did something wrong. And that if I can't get teum mas to fix it, then in March I can apply for a refund (which I am entitled to)

9 am: Mas Hachnasa: Fortunately I had the papers they gave me over Chanukah, as well as my paychecks. So I got there and was told that the teum mas that I did over Chanukah was correct-- and that starting 2013, I should just make my primary workplace what it was. I explained that it IS my primary place of employment-- I was no longer at Misrad Hachinuch, and hadn't been since the end of August. So there was only one additional place of employment-- not the two they had originally written down. So the rep said, "Do you have an authorization of termination of employment?" I said no, I didn't know I had to get one. I could, but it wouldn't be until the following week. So he asked another rep who was in the next cubicle and he was like, "So do feuhfnljkewfhj-- what's the problem?" So they went back and forth and eventually gave me a new paper for Misrad Hachinuch and a new paper for my current place of work. So now Misrad Hachinuch is no longer a place of employment, and my current place of work, with a regular position, is my primary place of employment and the coverage is a secondary place of employment.

10:15: Histadrut Hamorim: The Teachers' Union (there are two; this is the one I belong to). Back up to Monday...

This past Monday I went to Misrad Hachinuch because I had to bring them the aforementioned teum mas paper, and to find out why I was getting negative paychecks. Turns out they want money back.   Last year, in the middle of the school year, they decided that this school year would start on August 26 instead of September 1. But wait! They paid me for all of August (including August 26-31), and now they want that amount back. I spoke to the woman who is apparently in charge of the finance department and she was not very receptive. She kept saying, "Well, you didn't work those days and we paid you for them, so you owe us money." She seemed to be oblivious to/ignore/not understand the fact that the paycheck I receive is in proportion to the number of months I work during the school year. She agreed with me that if I worked only in June that I would get paid in July and August 1/10 of my salary-- corresponding with the number of months that I worked during the school year. She then said, "Go talk to your union." And so today I went.

...back to today.  I went to the Union, and there is one guy who handles all these things. Yes, one. And I have never had to wait more than 20 minutes. Today apparently people made appointments. Unfortunately I couldn't wait, because I had to go to one of my schools from last year to sort out hours that I never got paid for at 1 pm-- and the woman who handles THAT had to leave early today. So I made an appointment for next Thursday (because I have to go back to Misrad Hachinuch on Monday, to give them the teum mas paper, and the only afternoon/evening that the Union is open is Monday, from 3:30-5 pm. Yay! (not)

...insert shopping at the shuk...

1 pm: Former school, to get hours sorted out. Fortunately that got done quite easily and I was out by about 1:45.


It's been a day. Now on to cleaning and cooking seasonally/dead stuff.



But wait: Three exciting links. Thank you to Ronit (Robin) Unger for the first, where I got to the others:
From BatAliyah: Food Shopping in Israel
From Marc Gottlieb: Chicken Chart (I'm a fan of the alliteration), Meat Guide, and Spice List

I have my own weigh-ins on shopping, cooking, and adapting foods/recipes. More on that in my food blog...whenever I update that...

Anyone want in on making a guide for new olim? Any new olim want to know about specific topics?

Updates, Operation Pillar of Defense, Day 7

Taken from an email I sent. I just have no energy to write another update.

Hi everybody,

More updates...there was another siren in the Jerusalem area today-- rocket fell in Gush Etzion. The Iron Domes are doing a great job of protecting the areas where they are stationed, but there are so many rockets; there were some hits today that caused both damage and injuries (mild to serious) and apparently it looks like fireworks in the South (at least according to my husband-- I'll take his word for that). There was a direct hit on an apartment in Rishon L'Tzion What else? On the road by Beitar there was a rock-throwing attack (NOT a shooting attack, as originally stated) on a car that wounded one woman; she was taken in serious condition to  Hadassah Ein Karem. Also a chayal, Joseph Fartuk, was killed by a mortar shell; Baruch Dayan Emet. I think those are the major things over here. 

Despite talks of a ceasefire, it does not seem like that's going to happen tonight (considering the 6 pm and 9 pm deadlines have passed...the next deadline is midnight...), and apparently residents of Be'er Sheva (and possibly Ashdod) are demonstrating against a cease-fire. Schools within 40 kilometers of Gaza are still closed until further notice. 

There was a pro-Hamas rally at Hebrew University...which broke up when there was a tzeva adom. Point taken?

Things are still open in the South, though. There is a new idea being sent around via Facebook and I will copy it here: The idea is to order a pizza from Pizza Roma in Ashdod 08-866-7000. They will send it to a family nearby. My mother-in-law ordered a pizza from there (I explained the plan). He delivered it to a family who he thought needed it -- the mother was a teacher in the school that was hit by a rocket. The pizza man called me back after he delivered the pizza and the family was so uplifted to know that someone in America had thought to order them pizza. He said he himself decided to send a pizza to a different random family.

There is another store in Sderot that is also interested in getting orders (08-661-2007)...and I am sure there are more.
They are expecting calls.

I think that's about all the latest news. You can keep checking out updates on Ynet.co.il if you read Hebrew. If not, Israelnationalnews.com is in English (that's Arutz7)

Again, thank you for your tefillos and prayers. Please continue to daven for the safety of everyone here and for Israel.

-Lauren

Being Taken Care Of

One of the amazing things about Israel is the caring; as much as there are internal politics, there is underneath is all an amazing sense of caring and family.

In case you missed the memo, Eli (and another approximately 75,000 other reservists) got called up on Friday. Yesterday was Sunday, the first workday of the week in Israel. Of course everyone was talking about מבצע עמוד ענן (Operation Pillar of Defense) and I told a couple of teachers that Eli had been called up. One of them, who already had a family staying with her, told me that I was welcome to stay by her (on top of the family she already has over, plus her own!)

Today I went to the woman who handles the timesheets and salaries and told her that I had forgotten to sign out and in on time, and she says, "I'm not interested in that; I'm interested in how your husband is doing. Were you able to talk to him today?" Only after I told her did she tell me what to do about my timesheet. I hadn't told her anything-- I didn't even SEE her yesterday, but I'm pretty sure the entire school knows whose relatives have been called and when.

Among the therapists--my husband, another OT's husband, and a third OT's two nephews, a speech therapist's husband, and more.



Since people found out that Eli was called I have been literally flooded with invitations to friend's and co-worker's homes. Just amazing.

War as the Wife

So remember how I wrote a few days ago (ok, four to be technical) that we didn't know if Eli was going to be called up? Well that question has been answered with a resounding YES!

That was Friday's adventure. We went away for Shabbat to my family and a few minutes before candle-lighting (to welcome in the Sabbath) Eli got a call on his phone from his commander that, from his end, went something like this:
-I'm not home; I don't have anything with me.
...
-Ok, I need to get my stuff.
...
-When?
...
-Ok.


I knew that it was his commander-- no way was that a friend. So we raced back home (even made it back in time to light Shabbos candles in our home (although we did ask Eli's mom to light candles for me in case we didn't make it in time to light, because you cannot light a fire on Shabbat)) to get him ready to leave. My family wanted me to stay and I did too, because I knew that the mom knew about what I was feeling, but there was no way in hell I wasn't going with Eli. So I went with him; on the way out the dad brought out the pans of apple-pecan and pumpkin-cinnamon buns we had brought and threw them in the backseat, saying, "You take them with you."

The house is now a mess-- Eli went to his parents' house to get a big army bag to take, as well as some uniforms, equipment, etc., and I stayed home to get stuff ready for him by us. On the way home we made a list of things he needs and attempted to go according to that; we forgot the Band-Aids but remembered the ibuprofen (Advil/Motrin). At least he has enough socks and underwear. And a sewing kit (which apparently came in handy when his pants ripped. Oops).

His mom sent his sister over to be with me, but I really just wanted to be alone so I could concentrate and just get what Eli needed ready, so I sent her back. I felt bad, but I needed my space and time without having someone else there to think about, to tell what to do, or whatever.

He came back from his parents' house plus snacks and minus a few things he needed; we thought they were in our apartment, but they weren't, so I went back to his parents' house where his brother helped me find some thermal shirts and more uniforms, and Eli stayed at home and continued getting ready.

I went back home and continued packing him up while he took a quick shower and got dressed to go. He got a message from his commander and then coordinated with someone else in a parallel unit who he traveled with.  By about 6:30  he was packed, and I got changed into Shabbos clothes and we went to his parents. Sang Shalom Aleichem (the song to welcome in the angels who escort people back from shul [synagogue]) and Eli's dad made kiddush [the blessing over the wine at the start of a festive meal] and gave him a bracha [blessing] while everyone else went to wash their hands before eating.

First course was fish, but Eli had to leave so he skipped the fish and his mom made him a plate with food; he ate very little and then had to go. As he was leaving, a neighbor came out and gave him a bracha. His mom gave him a hug and a kiss and then we walked to the car where we said goodbye. It sucked.

His mom insisted I sleep over that night; I did-- it was easier than arguing. Didn't eat-- I really had no appetite. I brought pajamas (aka Eli's, because his sweatpants are comfy) but forgot my toothbrush...oops.

In the morning I went back to my apartment and brushed my teeth and found the mitpachat [scarf] that I wanted to wear and then went back to his parents' house and we all went to a friend of mine for lunch. In the afternoon I slept by his parents and went back to my apartment right after Shabbos was over, made Havdalah [the ceremony that ends the Sabbath and seperates it from the rest of the week] by me and attempted to sort out the mess we made. It's a work in progress.

I sent my family and some friends an email breifly explaining what happened over Shabbbos, and then stayed up until it was after Shabbos in NY to call my parents' house so they wouldn't read the email and freak out, or read Eli's mom's blog and freak out. Of course my sister called me at 1:28 in the morning to check on me...I did say they could call at any time, but seriously? Don't call at an ungodly hour in the middle of the ight to CHECK on me. I'm fine. Assume I'm sleeping and would like to stay that way until my alarm wakes me up at 6:20. Please. Thank you all, have a nice day.

Eli's family is being really great and making sure I'm okay, but I really just want to be left alone. I have other friends and family, too, who are also fantastic. But just...unless I ask, leave me alone. I really know how to ask for help when I need it, and I know I can go over to any of my friends whenever I want, but for now-- just leave me alone.

It's kind of like over the summer, when I was in NY and Eli was here. It sucks, but we will get through this.

His mom asked me not to read her blog, because then I'll know she's scared. Of course she's scared- we're all scared. Welcome to life in Israel in the middle of a war...

I end with the prayers for Israel and for the Welfare of the Soldiers of the Israel Defense Force:
Prayer for the State of Israel:
אָבִינוּ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם, צוּר יִשְׂרָאֵל וְגוֹאֲלוֹ, בָּרֵךְ אֶת מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, רֵאשִׁית צְמִיחַת גְּאֻלָּתֵנוּ. הָגֵן עָלֶיהָ בְּאֶבְרַת חַסְדֶּךָ, וּפְרֹשׁ עָלֶיהָ סֻכַּת שְׁלוֹמֶךָ, וּשְׁלַח אוֹרְךָ וַאֲמִתְּךָ לְרָאשֶׁיהָ, שָׂרֶיהָ וְיוֹעֲצֶיהָ, וְתַקְּנֵם בְּעֵצָה טוֹבָה מִלְּפָנֶיךָ. חַזֵּק אֶת יְדֵי מְגִנֵּי אֶרֶץ קָדְשֵׁנוּ, וְהַנְחִילֵם אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְשׁוּעָה וַעֲטֶרֶת נִצָּחוֹן תְּעַטְּרֵם, וְנָתַתָּ שָׁלוֹם בָּאָרֶץ וְשִׂמְחַת עוֹלָם לְיוֹשְׁבֶיהָ. וְאֶת אַחֵינוּ כָּל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל פְּקָד-נָא בְּכָל אַרְצוֹת פְּזוּרֵיהֶם, וְתוֹלִיכֵם מְהֵרָה קוֹמְמִיּוּת לְצִיּוֹן עִירֶךָ וְלִירוּשָׁלַיִם מִשְׁכַּן שְׁמֶךָ, כַּכָּתוּב בְּתוֹרַת משֶׁה עַבְדֶּךְ: "אִם יִהְיֶה נִדַּחֲךָ בִּקְצֵה הַשָּׁמַיִם, מִשָּׁם יְקַבֶּצְךָ ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ וּמִשָּׁם יִקָּחֶךָ. וֶהֱבִיאֲךָ ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יָרְשׁוּ אֲבֹתֶיךָ וִירִשְׁתָּהּ, וְהֵיטִבְךָ וְהִרְבְּךָ מֵאֲבֹתֶיךָ" (דברים ל,ד-ה). וְיַחֵד לְבָבֵנוּ לְאַהֲבָה וּלְיִרְאָה אֶת שְׁמֶךָ, וְלִשְׁמֹר אֶת כָּל דִּבְרֵי תּוֹרָתֶךָ. וּשְׁלַח לָנוּ מְהֵרָה בֶּן דָּוִד מְשִׁיחַ צִדְקֶךָ, לִפְדּות מְחַכֵּי קֵץ יְשׁוּעָתֶךָ. הוֹפַע בַּהֲדַר גְּאוֹן עֻזֶּךָ עַל כָּל יוֹשְׁבֵי תֵּבֵל אַרְצֶךָ, וְיֹאמַר כֹּל אֲשֶׁר נְשָׁמָה בְּאַפּוֹ: "ה' אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֶלֶךְ, וּמַלְכוּתו בַּכּל מָשָׁלָה". אָמֵן סֶלָה.

Our Father in Heaven, Rock and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of Israel, the first manifestation of the approach of our redemption. Shield it with Your lovingkindness, envelop it in Your peace, and bestow Your light and truth upon its leaders, ministers, and advisors, and grace them with Your good counsel. Strengthen the hands of those who defend our holy land, grant them deliverance, and adorn them in a mantle of victory. Ordain peace in the land and grant its inhabitants eternal happiness. Lead them, swiftly and upright, to Your city Zion and to Jerusalem, the abode of Your Name, as is written in the Torah of Your servant Moses: “Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, from there He will fetch you. And the Lord your God will bring you to the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your fathers.” Draw our hearts together to revere and venerate Your name and to observe all the precepts of Your Torah, and send us quickly the Messiah son of David, agent of Your vindication, to redeem those who await Your deliverance.

Manifest yourself in the splendor of Your boldness before the eyes of all inhabitants of Your world, and may everyone endowed with a soul affirm that the Lord, God of Israel, is king and his dominion is absolute. Amen forevermore.

Prayer for the Soldiers of the Israel Defense Force
מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ אֲבותֵינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקב הוּא יְבָרֵךְ אֶת חַיָּלֵי צְבָא הֲגַנָּה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל וכוחות הביטחון, הָעומְדִים עַל מִשְׁמַר אַרְצֵנוּ וְעָרֵי אֱלהֵינוּ מִגְּבוּל הַלְּבָנון וְעַד מִדְבַּר מִצְרַיִם וּמִן הַיָּם הַגָּדול עַד לְבוא הָעֲרָבָה בַּיַּבָּשָׁה בָּאֲוִיר וּבַיָּם ובכל מקום שהם. יִתֵּן ה' אֶת אויְבֵינוּ הַקָּמִים עָלֵינוּ נִגָּפִים לִפְנֵיהֶם. הַקָּדושׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יִשְׁמר וְיַצִּיל אֶת חַיָלֵינוּ מִכָּל צָרָה וְצוּקָה וּמִכָּל נֶגַע וּמַחְלָה וְיִשְׁלַח בְּרָכָה וְהַצְלָחָה בְּכָל מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיהֶם. יַדְבֵּר שׂונְאֵינוּ תַּחְתֵּיהֶם וִיעַטְרֵם בְּכֶתֶר יְשׁוּעָה וּבְעֲטֶרֶת נִצָּחון. וִיקֻיַּם בָּהֶם הַכָּתוּב: כִּי ה' אֱלהֵיכֶם הַהלֵךְ עִמָּכֶם לְהִלָּחֵם לָכֶם עִם איבֵיכֶם לְהושִׁיעַ אֶתְכֶם: וְנאמַר אָמֵן

May He who blessed our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, bless the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces and the security forces who keep guard over our country and cities of our Lord from the border with Lebanon to the Egyptian desert and from the Mediterranean Sea to the approach to the Arava, on land, air, and on sea, and everywhere that they are.
May the Almighty deliver us our enemies who arise against us, may the Holy One, blessed be He, preserve them and save them from all sorrow and peril, from danger and ill.
May He send blessing and success in all their endeavors, may He deliver to them those who hate us and crown them with salvation and victory, so that the saying may be fulfilled through them, "For the Lord, your God, who walks with you and to fight your enemies for you and to save you", and let us say, Amen.


Suggested Tehillim [Psalms] to recite on behalf of the soldiers are: 20, 83, 91, 121, 130, and 144

Please continue to pray for Israel, the soldiers, the people who are living here under constant threat, and for peace.

War as a citizen and not a tourist

As I posted on Facebook...Joy...


Don't know what this means practically for me. No idea of Eli is going to be called-- last time they called up reservists from his unit as sort of backup, to prepare things so the guys who are doing regular service have them ready.

I've gotten a few messages from Magen David Adom-- one said they're not calling in my region to assist in the South, and about a half hour ago I got a text message from the volunteer coordinator in my city that they are sending people, and if you can go even tonight, to let them know. Not a clue what's going to happen.

Well, I guess there's a first time for everything.

In the meantime-- pray.

"Honey, uh, did you get my gas mask?"

And his response: "Of course."
Add that to the list of conversations I didn't anticipate having with my husband.

As you can guess, we got gas masks. If you've been out of the loop and missed the news over the past months, Iran is getting more and more dangerous and unpredictable and this area of the world is getting more unstable. Rocket attacks are increasing again, and the Homefront Command (Pikud HaOref) is stepping up gas mask distribution. Just in case.


Back to Adventures of Lauren as She Goes to Get Her Gas Mask Kit.


The way it works: The post office is responsible for distributing the kits. The goal is to get them to as many people as possible, in the most efficient way. Therefore the post office has set up distribution locations around the country to encourage people to get their new (or first time) gas masks. If someone received a mask previously and had not returned it yet or did not have it to return, then he/she has to pay a 100 shekel fine in order to receive a new one. Eli and his parents and siblings had kits from before; his mom found all of them, so no fines :). I, on the other hand, never had one so I didn't have any to return.

Eli and I went with his mother, the old masks, and identification cards [teudot zehut] for the whole family (yay! *insert sarcasm HERE*) to the distribution center for our area and picked up our shiny new "protective kits" (aka, cardboard boxes with a rubber strap). For the uninitiated, gas masks come in different sizes-- small, medium, and large-- which were all conveniently on display. There was also a video running, showing how to put the masks on. Masks also come in baby kit. Baby kit is a little more complicated than the others, however babies can use bottles and pacifiers.

So Eli, his mom, and I went to the distribution center in a mall about a half hour away, and there were lots of people. They did it based on number (get there, take a number, wait/go off and do something until the 200-or-so numbers before yours are called...). We got 791. BUT (and here's a happy part) many people took two/found random earlier numbers, so someone gave us a number that was 120 numbers before ours-- and they were up to about 620. So we went from 791 to 671 in two seconds. We waited, we waited, then the security guard/person keeping order called our number (insert me meeting someone from my high school in between) and we went to get our shiny new kits! There was also a camera crew from somewhere filming this and this woman kept going, "Don't record me. I don't want my face on camera." And then as she was leaving she told the woman in charge, "I don't allow you to record me; I don't give you permission; Erase what you recorded." And it was amusing, because she was practically yelling at them.

Back to us. Eli's mom first gave in the old masks and the post office worker scanned them in (bar codes-- cool!) and gave Eli's mom new masks for everyone, plus her grandson (because he was listed on his mother's teudat zehut [identity card] and Eli's mom had it. And Eli got mine. Basically, if you're listed on a teudat zehut that someone brought to the distribution center, you could get one (even if you were not physically there). Eli, his mom, and I left with a bunch of labeled boxes in various sizes. Special.

Lest you think Israeli kids would have the patience to wait in line for more than a minute, fear not-- you are not wrong. There was an activity/coloring area for small children.

Adventures in the life of an olah...

Stuff

In the past approximately 20 days, I have spent an obscene amount of money. It's-- stuff we will use, and the things we are buying we can't get in Israel or are two to four times the price.

For example, I got a 12-cup muffin tin for $5, which is approximately 20 shekels. No way can I get that quality in Israel for 20 shekels. I got storage containers-- a set of Rubbermaid containers for, I think, $20. They are non-disposable, high quality storage containers. Good luck finding them in Israel. At almost any price.

Underwear that lasts more than 6 months. Socks that are comfortable and don't cost a fortune. Ziploc bags. A king-size sheet set for $30 (120 shekels); twin sets for $13 (52 shekels). $20 (80 shekel) jeans that look normal, fit comfortably, feel good, and are good quality, wooden puzzles for $8 (24 shekels).
I can continue with the food-- Devil Dogs, Ring Dings, English muffins, 3-lb. brick of American cheese, curly-edge non-cook lasagna noodles, granulated onion. I can just go on and on.

It's frustrating. There are lost of people who don't come to America every year and stock up on clothes, cheese, and ziploc bags. And I know that what we bought is going to last us for a LONG time, but it's still hard to look at the credit card bills (then think of that in shekels...) and justify it. I know that the amount of money I spent here is probably 1/3-1/4 of what I would have spent, had I bought these things in Israel (if I could even find them...) But it's frustrating to feel that disparity, just to look at numbers.

I spoke to occupational therapy students at the school I graduated from about occupational therapy in Israel, and they had a lot of questions. Inevitably the question of salary came up, and when I answered it, I'm pretty sure I (a) dissuaded a lot of them from wanting to live in Israel and work as an OT; (b) killed their day. Like in a previous post, the salary is very disappointing. It was very frustrating and shocking to them, as it was to me.


Do I really need ziploc bags? No, I can live without them. Do they make my life a heck of a lot easier? Definitely yes. 


It's frustrating that things-- almost everything-- heck, even some Israeli products!-- are less expensive in America. And I want to live in Israel and not rely on American products, but as far as I can remember, I have bought ONE item of clothing (excepting mitpachot) and TWO pairs of shoes (mine were dying and these were on sale). Why? Because I know that I can get the clothes I know I like at Old Navy (decent quality, very good prices) for about $5-$10 (20-40 shekels, depending on the sale). So why should I spend 50 shekels a shirt for something that is going to last me half the time (because the quality is lower)? I'll wait a couple of months, and someone will be coming in and will bring it to me.


Oh, and I just saw packing tape. That an packing boxes are two other things that are very expensive for inferior quality, or you can't really get them in Israel.




My mother-in-law (weird to use that term; I prefer Eli's mom) worked really hard to raise her kids Israeli and not have America be such a part of their lives (other than they are from there and have relatives who live there) and I feel like I've come in with this neon sign above my head that says, "American!" and have brought in more America in the year-and-a-half since I met them than they had in the approximately 17 years prior. I I kind of feel bad, because she tried really hard to not raise her kids American-- and no way would you look at them and go "Americans" but I don't, because I am American and my children will be American-- not the same way I am, nor the same way Eli is, but in their own way.

I want my kids to know the "oldies" and folk singers I was raised on. I want them to know the American anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, and to be able to say their Social Security numbers the same way they will know their Israeli identification number. I don't know how, but I want my children to feel their American identity as strongly as they will their Israeli; I have no idea how to do that, nor how it will play out. All this, of course, to be filed under "future."

Wedding updates

So to goal is to have the major things set by Chanukah-- hall, band, photographer. Dress I'm going to work on in NY; I want to try my sister's.

We're getting there. The wedding is going to be a couple weeks before Pesach, apparently in continuation of his unofficial family tradition (his siblings got married also a couple weeks before Pesach).

So in Israel (and in the Jewish world in general, but in Israel it stands out even more) there are different Rabbis who give kosher certification. We have guests from all spectrums of Judaism, and we want to make sure that everyone can eat everything at the wedding. Which is a lot of fun (and I say that with a heavy dose of sarcasm, in case you missed that). So...yeah...that's a huge stressor, because we need to find a place that everyone can eat at.

Photographer and band-- there are so many great options. We know that we really want the pictures to be good, because that's what's going to last. Band-- neither of us really have a strong opinion either way. There is someone who his mom got in touch with who they like and I heard a few clips and it sounds fine. There are two otehr bands I want to check out, but as long as the band doesn't sound BAD-- I'm fine with it.

And so it continues.

Happy Moments in The Life of an Olah

#758324972: Hearing people in your school speak in Hebrew and it not being strange or feeling the least bit odd.

That makes me smile.

Family, Relationships, and Being 6000 Miles Away When Your New Niece is Born

I have a new niece. Her name is Smushy (according to her Doda Lauren, that is; other family members call her by the name on her birth certificate). She is adorable and wonderful...and 6000 miles away. Which sucks.

When I moved here, I had one niece who was old enough to look at me on the computer, identify me by sight, and semi-carry a conversation. Our conversations have since progressed to playing hide-and-seek, making faces at each other, and her telling me about her day. Smushy can't do that yet; as an infant, she knows people by voice (sound), smell, and feel, mostly the middle and last ones now. I won't be seeing my niece until she's about 9 months old (assuming I go back to NY for the summer like I plan to). I held Squishy the day she was born; Smushy is going to be 9 months old before I hold her or see her in real life, and she might not even let me hold her because she won't know me. That really, really sucks; my own niece who I love so much not even knowing me.

I knew that at some point this would happen. I don't expect my family and friends to stop living their lives because I'm not there, but each time something big happens there, it hurts and it's hard. I'm happy here, I really am. It's just hard when life events happen without you there.

I don't even want to think about when more family and friends get engaged, married, and have kids and I won't be there.

This was depressing. Sorry. But this is one of the hardest-hitting and most bringing-you-down-to-reality, if you will, parts of making aliyah without all of your family and friends.

A thought on terrorism

I was watching a video set to "Little Did She Know [She Kissed a Hero]" by Kristy Jackson when I was struck by something.

September 11 is THE defining event in American history for terrorism, when America became a target and she had her terrorism on her mainland soil. There is no ONE defining event for that in Israel. Israel is, for good or for bad (and for lack of a better word), used to terrorism. In Israel it's a part of daily life; not that there are bombs going off every day, thank G-d, but in that you're a little more aware and a little more alert in general. But there is no ONE defining moment that people can say, "This event brought home the concept of terror." In Israel everyone has his or her own event that has defined terrorism for him or her. Kind of scary.

From my actual journal

I have this blog, but I also have an actual handwritten journal that spans a few notebooks. I started journaling in college, often using the back of a small notebook that I carried for last-minute reminders, shopping lists, packing lists, and recipes. Those backs of notebooks have since been upgraded to their own notebooks, and my journal now spans multiple notebooks.

This was written earlier this evening (there are occasional translations that I put in, which are translations and are not in my actual journal. They are marked. Other than that, it's exactly how it is written in my journal):

August 21, 2011- 9:39 pm- 96 st.- waiting for the 2 home
Home. Always that funny (not really) word followed-- accompanied by-- a feeling of duality and confusion. Oh joy.
But that wasn't the point of this.
I'm on my way back from a date. Date was nice and it would be nice to see this guy again. But he's not planning on making aliyah in the near future. [Note to self: (a) Just because someone served in the Israeli army doesn't mean they want to live there; (b) Doesn't mean they speak Hebrew; (c) Ask that question BEFORE you ask them out. End note.]
We kind of were leaving it as, it would be nice to go out again- maybe before I go back. But I didn't think feel that was right, because I know that I want to live in Israel. I could live in the US-- or somewhere outside of Israel-- for a bit, but I want to raise my family there. Despite the educational system which I hate. No, hate is too strong a word-- it should be reserved for things that deserve it-- like Hamas, Hezbollah, and Ahmadinejad. Anyway. Digression.
I was walking down the hill in VV this past Shabbos and I thought, "Well-- what if I get married and moved to America for a year or two?" And felt like I was going to cry. Actually cry. Doesn't really make sense, but I feel like I want my shana rishona [edit that was not in my journal: shana rishona = first year, referring to the first year of marriage] to be...not holy, that's not the right word- But I want it to be in Israel.
Anyway, so I didn't feel it was right, blah-blah, but I felt that an explanation was warranted. So I told him about the person who I could have married, had I stayed here. And I felt myself getting very quiet-- not my voice, because I still need that conviction to remind myself and help myself recognize that it was right-- but I think-- for the first time I felt a measure of peace with that decision. It still isn't total at-peace with the decision, but it's the most שלם [edit that was not in my journal: That word transliterates to "shah-laym," which in Hebrew litereally means "wholeness," but when someone is "shalem" with something it means they've kind of made peace with it and they're ok with it] I've felt with it in two years. Just amazing.

I think it's good I took the train home tonight. Writing is good for me.


10:20 pm:
Even if I could live here-- I've changed-- too much, I think, for him. He still loves the pre-aliyah Lauren, and that's not who I am now. זה מה שיש [edit that was not in my journal: Those words transliterate to, "zeh mah sheh-yesh," which in Hebrew means, "that's what there is," kind of like, "it is what it is."

Relationship changes

A conversation that took place earlier online today (with grammatical edits only):
Friend: Don't you worry that people you write about on your blog will read it? Or is that the point?
Me: ?

Friend: You write about wishing you were closer to this person or that
Me: No, I don't mind. I'm deliberately keeping it as anonymous as it can be (no name, no location other than not in Israel, no gender), but I don't censor that much about being an olah and my aliyah process, and a very real (and hard) part of that is friendships changing

A very real part of making aliyah, and what is the hardest part for me besides the financial uncertainty, is leaving family and friends. Since I made aliyah I have made new friends and gained new families, but that doesn't minimize the hardship and pain of the changes in the relationships with my family an friends that I left in America.

Here are the "Things I Can't Do Anymore With Family/Friends That I Miss"
Calling my sisters during the middle of the day
Taking the train and/or bus and seeing my sister and her family and playing games with my niece in person
Taking the train and/or bus and going to see my grandparents and seeing how happy it makes them to see me
Seeing my little sister almost every day
Just being with my little sister
Driving to work with my dad
Doing errands with my mom
Walking home phone calls with Sara
Girls nights with Chari
Shabbos in the Heights
Peanut noodle leftovers
Cupcakes from Julie
Going to my friends houses or just meeting up for a couple of hours

There are a lot more things, but these are the first ones that come to mind quickly.

It doesn't really get easier with time. You learn how to make this new kind of relationship work. Phones, email/internet, digital pictures and video, video chats, and other communication methods make it easier to stay in touch but I still feel the changes significantly, and that hurts. It's hard to have all those changes in all your relationships at once. Really hard.

I wonder what it's like for friends and family of olim? Any "friends and family" reading this who want to comment? What are some of the things you've found hard, and what do you do about them? Have you created new...rituals or..."things" to still maintain that bond?

Where is Home?, Part II

I define home as “the place I lose my cell phone.” I think that’s because I lose my cell phone in places that I am comfortable in—I just put it down…and eventually find it again (which is why I almost always have my phone on the loudest ring, because that way I’ll hear it when I am trying to find it).

As an olah, I have had the opportunity to acquire a few new living spaces over the past year and a half. The first was where I went straight from the airport when I made aliyah. The next was my apartment (dorm) in ulpan, and the third is the apartment I currently live in. Home is where I can go and I don’t have to give any explanations of why I’m holed up in my room and just go out to get something from the kitchen or go to the bathroom. Home is where I can go over to my family members/roommates and say, “I need a hug.” Or “I just need to be alone.” Or don’t necessarily have to say anything, but they just understand.

Home is where I go when I need to be with family, either biological or adopted.

Home is also a country, a city.

I’m American, and more than that, I’m a New Yorker, a Bronxite. I am a Yankee fan by heritage/birth, and Brooklyn is the enemy. Staten Island is closer to New Jersey than to me, and it’s not New Jersey, it’s just “Jersey.” The city, meaning Manhattan, is always “downtown,” and when I go back to the Bronx I go “uptown.” And, no, I don’t know “Jenny from the block.” My neighborhood is not bad—while the entire Bronx may have the reputation of the South Bronx, it is not the entirety of the borough and I do not fear my life when I walk out of my house. The MTA manages to screw up half of the subway lines on a weekly basis, and does unbelievably stupid things with trains that run on the same lines, such as not running one of the trains "due to track work." Or running a shuttle 5 train from the first stop to a transfer stop, then a train from the transfer stop to another large stop where they're running the 5 train (please note, the train that is between the shuttle and the second large stop runs on the same tracks as the 5).

I’m Israeli, a Jerusalemite. I live in “the bitzah” with my roommates, and most of the people that I know in my area are Anglos. I speak fluent Hebrish and reply in whatever language I am addressed in. My TZ says I live over the green line, and I’m not scared to take 443 despite Egged not having normal bus service there. I know that the people around me want to kill me—what’s new? I am not scared to take the buses, nor to walk around my neighborhood at 2 am. At sunset I understand what “Jerusalem of gold” means and watch the orange-yellow light on the buildings as the sky gets dark. I hate the expensive prices on everything including food staples, the lack of really affordable housing, and the light rail that has managed to make congestion even worse. I love seeing signs in Hebrew (and the transliterated from English) and the sales (and jacking up of prices) of relevant products at holidays. And, of course, the holidays greetings on the packages and the buses—and they’re my holidays!

So where is home? Home is NYC. Home is Israel. Home is VV. Home is where you make it.

Chinese Fortune Cookie Fortune

"You don't need strength to let go of something. What you really need is understanding." --Guy Finley, via a fortune cookie


Agree-- but disagree. You need understanding to be able to realize that you need to let go, but you also need the strength to act on it. You can understand all you want, but until you have the strength to let go you're just going to understand. And until you understand that you have to let go-- that what you're holding on to isn't helping you or is somehow hurting you-- you can be as strong as you want, and you're still going to be fighting the letting go, because you don't know why you have to let go.


Discuss.

Related Health Professions (aka OT, PT, Speech, Dieticians) law changes (again)

Or, Timing Is Everything

I have been amazingly blessed in terms of timing and my aliyah. Here is a timeline, starting from HS graduation (it really starts from there, because that's when I went on Birthright and ended up in MDA...just...read)

June 2003: HS graduation, leave on Birthright the next day. Decide on the return flight to America that the plane can leave, but I was staying. Plane did not leave my seat on the tarmac. Oh, well.
September 2003: Start getting involved in Birthright alumni stuff in NY, including the Book Club (since defunct). At some point between here and Fall 2005, meet Michah Aron (Cohler), and he sends me a copy of a film he made, "Someday Soldiers," about a man named Yochai Porat who was killed during his work as a medic in the IDF (remember this; it comes into play later).
Summer 2004: Work on Christ in the City (director: Yitz Brilliant) and meet Ben, who left to do JIF (Jewish Impact Films) in LA (did not know that he was leaving to do JIF, just that he left after the first round of filming
December 2005: Participate in JIF (Jewish Impact Films), a 10-day film program in Israel. Before we left, one of the staff members said something to the effect of, "So you're planning on moving here?" to me. I told him no; maybe I could come for a couple of years, but I couldn't leave my family.
Fall 2007: Decide that after I finish OT school I want to go to Israel for a couple of months, because I hadn't been there more than 10 days at a shot. I decide to go to a seminary for a few weeks and then do something else boil it down to Sar-El Volunteer program and the Yochai Porat* Magen David Adom Overseas volunteer program. Talk to people, decide on MDA.
December 2007: Interview for MDA, get accepted. Learn how the Israeli system works: if you don't ask for it enough/make enough noise, nothing happens. The more you push, the faster things move.
February 2008-March 2008: Start the 10-day training course and volunteer with MDA. Make lots of friends and start to acclimate to the Israeli culture .And think about making aliyah. Don't want to leave, but decide to come back for the 88-hour/Natan courses and madrichim.
May-June 2008: Come back. Do the courses, volunteer, teach. Decide I'm making aliyah.
September 2008: Work in the DOE, plan to make aliyah in July 2009. Lots and lots of research, start making contacts in the OT world in Israel.
January 2009: Pilot trip; meet lots of OTs and talk to NBN.
Spring 2009: Realize that I will not have saved enough to make aliyah in July, and push it off until December.
Summer 2009: Start dealing with license stuff; find out that I have to have a teudat zehut in order to get a license...
December 30, 2009: Aliyah with NBN.
January 2010: Start dealing with OT stuff in Israel.
August 2010: Think I have all my paperwork in, and then find out that, no, they need a letter re: my fieldwork hours. But nobody would tell me this unless I asked...Israel...
October 2010: Get my temporary OT license without having to take the exam-- yes!
July 2010: Find out that as of the latest law change, all OT/PT/Speech have to take a licensing exam.

Now, let's explain how this, timing-wise:
If I hadn't gone on Birthright in June 2003, I would not have gotten involved with the BRI Alumni Organization (the pre-Birthright Next group), and would not have met Michah and would not have heard about MDA Overseas.
If I had not heard about MDA Overseas, or if I had just found it without being able to talk to past participants, I would not have volunteered there.
If I had not volunteered there, I would not have had the group of people that I had to rely on when I made aliyah (and still have).
OT-wise: If I had gone to seminary or done something where I was one year behind in terms of finishing OT school, I would have had to take the exam. In Hebrew.
If I had made aliyah straight after finishing OT school in NY, I wouldn't have had my NYS license and would not have been eligible to get "grandfathered" in for my Israeli license.
If I hadn't made aliyah when I did, I would not have been able to get an Israeli license and would not have been able to not take the exam.

It's so amazing to me that I see so much of how I thought things were bad and they really turned out to be right.
For example: I wasn't able to graduate until June 2008 because there was a mix-up with my credits and I never got credit for courses I was exempted from. If that hadn't happened, I would have graduated on time, taken my exam earlier, and would have started working after Pesach, which would have meant that I couldn't be in Israel for the 88-hour and madrichim, and I would not have built up that network and made the connections that I did to enable me to make aliyah.
If I hadn't pushed my aliyah off to December 2009, I would not have had my roommates from ulpan (who are amazing), and I would not be living in the apartment that I am in, in the location that it is.
If I hadn't been in that course/cycle of ulpan, I would not have met the person who gave me the name and number of somebody at Misrad Habriut to sort all my paperwork out.
If I hadn't made aliyah when I did, I would have had to take the exam. And I would have taken it early, which means it would have been in Hebrew.

Thank you, G-d, for everything!


*In case you haven't made the connection yet, the MDA Overseas program is named for Yochai. He was the person who started the whole thing, and after he was killed the program was named in his honor and memory.

Customer Service, American-style

Customer service in America is usually decent, if not good, and if not, you can speak to a manager and just keep going higher up and get your problem resolved. In Israel, customer service is not known for its outstanding quality.

However it does seem to be getting better, I think? Maybe it depends on how loudly you yell. I'm not sure, because I might just be getting louder. But so far I'm usually able to get what I want, or a satisfactory option.

::pat on the back::

ושבו בנים...

Welcome home to the 245 new olim from the US and Canada who landed this morning on the first NBN #nbnlive flight of Summer 2011! According to the NBN video, there were 850 guests waiting to welcome the olim (can we just discuss-- I don't do math, but that's about 3.5 times the number of guests as to the number of olim!)

I get chills every time I watch a ceremony.

Mazal tov, bruchim haba'im, and WELCOME HOME!!!


Video here: http://www.nbn.org.il/live/