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 Planning part II

Last week Eli and I went with his mom to look at a few places in Beit Shemesh. But if we're going to have to get a ha'sa'ah (bus) anyway, we might as well go to Mitzpe Yericho, which I think is beautiful and already like. And it's near-ish to Jerusalem. We're going to look at some halls in Talpiyot, but the catch is there is a minhag that his family holds by to not have live music within Jerusalem because of a plague...anyway, but Talpiyot is considered outside of Jerusalem for that purpose, so there is fine.

We need to find a photographer, a band, and I need a hair/makeup person (or people). Suggestions are welcome.

Wow. I'm getting married.

We went to a store today because I found these really awesome dishracks that I got for my apartment, and we got them. Our first purchase for our home. Milchig and fleishig-- we want to get a different kind (fold-up) for pareve.

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.

February 8, 2008

4:18 pm
Wow! I'm actually ready for Shabbat early! I still have to call Bubby and Zaidy and Imma's cell phone to leave a voicemail for Grandpa. I really do have to remember to call him Thursday night.
In other news, yesterday I went to breakfast with Avigayil, Basi, and Moti; we went to a place called Angelo's, aka "Blondie's." It was late for breakfast-- like 10:30, but whatever. I had a sandwich and cocoa, both very good. After that we went to "The American Store," which had frozen J2 pizza! (among other things, but that stuck out at me) After that I took a bus to Eli's and we watched House and Juno, then he made a really good stir-fry for dinner, and then we went with the Agudah (Agudat HaStudentim) to Ikea. Ikea is fun.
We went on a scavenger hunt and spent a really long time looking for boots with green polka dots-- only to learnt hat the polka dots were stickers and someone took off the stickers! That's always fun.
There was alsoa restaurant-fast food place and I split a chocolate cakey thing with Eli-- it was good, but a little very sweet.
We wandered around Ikea a little more, he got some stuff for his apt., including a 29-shekel wok! It was awesome. Then we went back on the bus and came back to Bar Ilan and I slept over at Ilana's.
Today I came back, relaxed, took a nap, got up and got ready for Shabbat. And wrote this.
Tomorrow night I have to do laundry, do the cuffs on my pants, and pack for the MDA course. I hope I pass! Not that I'm planning on not passing, but it's a very intense 9 days.

February 8, 2008

4:18 pm
Wow! I'm actually ready for Shabbat early! I still have to call Bubby and Zaidy and Imma's cell phone to leave a voicemail for Grandpa. I really do have to remember to call him Thursday night.
In other news, yesterday I went to breakfast with Avigayil, Basi, and Moti; we went to a place called Angelo's, aka "Blondie's." It was late for breakfast-- like 10:30, but whatever. I had a sandwich and cocoa, both very good. After that we went to "The American Store," which had frozen J2 pizza! (among other things, but that stuck out at me) After that I took a bus to Eli's and we watched House and Juno, then he made a really good stir-fry for dinner, and then we went with the Agudah (Agudat HaStudentim) to Ikea. Ikea is fun.
We went on a scavenger hunt and spent a really long time looking for boots with green polka dots-- only to learnt hat the polka dots were stickers and someone took off the stickers! That's always fun.
There was alsoa restaurant-fast food place and I split a chocolate cakey thing with Eli-- it was good, but a little very sweet.
We wandered around Ikea a little more, he got some stuff for his apt., including a 29-shekel wok! It was awesome. Then we went back on the bus and came back to Bar Ilan and I slept over at Ilana's.
Today I came back, relaxed, took a nap, got up and got ready for Shabbat. And wrote this.
Tomorrow night I have to do laundry, do the cuffs on my pants, and pack for the MDA course. I hope I pass! Not that I'm planning on not passing, but it's a very intense 9 days.

First few days, all in one entry!

Jan. 16, 2008
2:10 pm, Israel Time

On the plan and counting. Check-in was fine; waiting on the line to check my big (sort-of) suitcases—a rolly duffel and a rollerboard—was a little long, but not too bad; it took about 40-50 minutes, I’d guess. The individual screening and carry-on screening was really quick—no waiting for that, actually. Then I just had a few hours to kill. Which I did.

The plane took off almost an hour late, but apparently the flight is 10 hours, 10 minutes (vs. 11 hours), so we’ll make it at about the same time as we were due.

Dinner was fine. I requested a veggie meal so I didn’t have to worry about being fleishig. ‘k, (more) naptime.

5:10 pm

Breakfast was fine. I had red peppers, a roll, and fruit. Yay for being healthy!

Anyway, so I’ve probably slept about…lets see…7 hours or so? Not bad—like a normal amount of sleep for me.

My seatmate is cute—she’s in Touro’s nursing program and doing her B.S. at the same time!

…5:25- And we’re back! Pitstop/break to see the not-so-incredible sunset. But it’s okay, I’ll have a bunch in Israel—hopefully gorgeous ones. Random, but I have the lyrics from a song in my head—“Comin’ down, the world turned over/angels fall without you there./Life goes on as you get colder/

Yeah. Don’t know why. Speaking of words, I still don’t have a blog title. Nicole suggested, “In The Land of the Jew,” but that would make more sense for her, seeing as she’s not Jewish…Aaron suggested, “Journey Home,” or “My Trip Home,” or something like that, but those are too sappy for me. Jeremy suggested, “Lauren Unplugged,” but I won’t be unplugged…murgh.

Anyway, my seatmate, Shira, and her friend Micha are trying to set me up with this guy Chaim, who I actually met while I was waiting at the airport. He’s my class at MTA. Whatever. She’s determined, I think, to set me up on this plane ride.

January 17, 2008

Today was…um…my first day. Last night I got into Israel at about 7 pm—an hour later than I was supposed to arrive because we took off an hour late.

Rita picked me up and took me to her house where I had dinner, got linens, and then came to the dorm—Basi actually drove most of the way, then Rita took over when Basi dropped herself off at work.

So—I got to the apt. with all my STUFF. I’m in my own room, which is nice. There’s another bed, but so far it’s for someone else’s stuff.

I unpacked and took a shower and went to sleep; finally got to sleep at about 2:30 am, roughly—very roughly. As in that’s when I stopped looking at my watch.

Today I got up, straightened my hair (not so well, but okay), and went to school! Yay! pit-stopped at the makolet. Got chocolate milk for breakfast.

School. The first class was a Navi shiur with Rebbetzin Pavlov, which was really good. ,I enjoyed. Then was a class on Parshat Toldot—wait, before that I went to register. THEN came the class on Toldot. I’m in the 3^rd level (very original name of Level III) of most classes, except for one that I chose that’s a Level II class—but you can “mix and match” classes frlom different levels, which is good. I was a chavrusa with an older woman- probably about Mom’s age. We got through it, but I’m not sure we work well together…we’ll see how goes it- people seem to come and go quickly, for short periods. There were at least 3 new girls (women?) today, including myself and another who’s in my apt.- Penina. She’s form Queens and was actually on my flight, although I [obviously] didn’t know it then. Anyway, so people seem to go and come. The dorm I’m in is actually specifically for students who are here for only a few weeks—like me!

Back to classes. After that was a class on Megillat Esther that I really enjoyed. The teacher, Naomi, is sweet, and I like her style. I’m actually going to her for lunch on Shabbat.

After that was lunch—butternut squash soup, quinoa with a spicy tomato sauce, pasta with cheese or tomato sauces, carrots and peppers, and a fish thing. I didn’t eat the fish- it looked like canned salmon. Oh, there was also a salad- looked like an Asian coleslaw. I had the soup, pasta with cheese sauce, and quinoa—and was full. It was good.

After lunch I had halacha, and we were discussing the halachot of kashrut.

Then I had tefillah, followed by Jewish History. In Tefillah we’re doing the brachot of Shmonah Esrei, and in Jewish History we’re doing Spanish Jewry and are up to the Rambam. I’m not so into this Rabbi’s style, but whatever.

After classes I went to ZolPo, the supermarket. Went shopping—an adventure in itself. At the checkout, I was a bit behind on packing, and the guy behind me offered to help me—and then invited me for Shabbos in a few weeks—his wife is going to call me.

So then I attempted to go back to the dorm- by the way, lots of heavy bags. So I walked down the street, and went to wrong way. I saw #28, but since I had no clue where I was, it meant nothing to me. Then I saw 23. And thought I was crazy— because I thought I was going the correct way. (Clearly not…) The I saw 15, and said to myself, “This is SO the wrong way.” And turned around. I think I left school at—I don’t know, between 6 and 6:30, I’d guess, and got back to the dorm at about 8:30. Yeah. LOTS of fun. Not.

But I did get food—bread, milk, eggs, cheese, 2 nectars (mango and orange), diced tomatoes, chocolate powder, peanut butter (with honey!), oil, yogurt, water bottles. Foil, disposable pans, shampoo and conditioner, and soap. The soap was a 6-pack: Buy 2, get 4 free. WTF?

Finally I got home (back to the dorm), had dinner (PB sandwich), and did some studying for the boards—did miserably. I really need to study peds. But really, most questions of the boards won’t be on peds. So I feel better.

Then I was going to go to sleep and remembered I had to call Zip to tell her about the stuff I had for her. I did, and the phone died. Apparently, it did this with Avigayil, too, so I have no clue what I’m doing about it. Anyway, Mom called, spoke to Lis, too, and—yeah. Everyone’ okay. Grandpa’s doing better. He’s on aspirin to decrease more blood clots, and he does have an irregular heartbeat—atrial fibrillation. Then I talked to Lauren a bit, and then wrote all this. Now I’m going to bed—I’ll clean up my clothes in the morning— later.

January 18, 2008

We don’t have classes on Fridays, which is nice. But they’re Sun.-Thursday, so it’s a Friday-Saturday weekend. Whatever, it’s cool.

Woke up on time, but the phone has a snooze that you can pre-set. I did—but then it died, and then I woke up alter than I wanted to. Oh, well, such is life.

So I woke up, cleaned up the stuff I left out last night, got dressed, and davened. Then Eli called and he, Chani,a nd Oren are going to family in Ramat Beit Shemesh for Shabbat, so I took a bus (by myself! Yay! And didn’t get lost! Double Yay!) to the Tachanah HaMerkazit, finally got through security—and then Eli and I turned around and left. So going through all that security for nothing. Murgh.

We went down to Ben Yehuda because I had to change money. Rate was 3.70—it is DOWN—even Canadian dollars are more! Well, now that I have money again. My goal is to make it last until I go to Rita’s.

—cut out budgetary issues here, because they’re boring—

‘k, gotta go get ready for Shabbos. Finish this later