Arrived Home
It is Sunday morning and Alison and the girls are still asleep so I thought I would take a few minutes to write about what is happening in our lives. The week starts again today, children go back to school and Alison and I go back to fighting the beauracracy here. I miss sleeping in Sundays already. Some people argue that Israelis have a two day weekend that starts on Friday. Friday is that strange day in Israel that is not a weekday and not a Sunday. Many offices are closed and kids are in school so we have a few hours to shop and cook for Shabbat. Our dream is to be well organized and have all our shopping and cooking done on Thursday evening to allow us to travel to the beach and other Sunday type activities on Friday mornings. I suspect that Sundays will be one of the hardest things to let go of.
Friday we walked the girls to Gan (kindergarten/daycare) which is right across the street from where we live. Maayan didn’t want to wear a long sleeved shirt which we felt was more appropriate but we were too tired to fight with her and the day will probably turn out to be as beautiful as all the other days we have experienced since our arrival. When we left the Gan Alison and I went home to get some bread to give to Beka, the dog that lives 2 doors away. She scared me one night when we were here in September when she suddenly chased our car barking all the way down the street. Since then we have learned that she is pregnant and her owner has offered us a pup from her litter. After all he explained, it would only be fitting since Beka came from a litter that Doris’s (our landlady) dog had two years ago. Not too untypical of life here in Israel where everything turns full circle sooner or later and the bark of most Israelis is worse than their bite. We offered some fresh bread to Beka who we learned by the telltale leg between the legs, afraid of us. A mangy Golden Retriever showed up who we suspect is the father of the litter and quite happy to accept our contribution of food. It will take some work but we feel that we will win Beka as a friend and we hope she will not scare our girls when they ride their bikes down the street.
As you may have picked up we are dealing with the micro-level now. We did not know that Prime Minister Sharon had been rushed to the hospital until my mother in law called from Texas to give us the news. We are living on a farm without TV or radio. We finally have our internet connection and have been catching up via CNN, CBC and Haaretz.
The Moshav we are living on was built by (Italian) Jews from Tripoli, Libya and like most kibbutzim and moshavim ran in to difficulties. The government allowed them to sell off some of their agricultural land for housing. The result is the moshav is made up of two neighbourhoods, one farming type with dogs like Beka chasing cars, chickens running around people’s yards and a second neighbourhood with a street with monster houses and sidewalks. We live with the farmers and last week after leaving the local shopping centre with some new appliances had the experience of driving down the road that leads to the moshav and having a car coming towards us flash their high-beams on and off. I checked to make sure my lights were turned on but realized the driver was warning us that there was a gray donkey about to cross the road in front of us. The donkey passed and we drove home with our new microwave, toaster, flat screen TV and DVD player. This is a country where Asia meets Africa, East meets West and history plays a significant role with the present.
The whole process of our Aliyah has been made easier by people like Veronica and Dina at the Toronto Aliyah office as well as the many people at Nefesh B’Nefesh. The Aliyah office took us through all the steps and held our hands as we prepared for the move. The people at NBN started their real work on the plane working side by side with officials from the Misrad HaPnim (Ministry of Interior) who processed our papers on the plane while the girls slept. Yes, there were mistakes which mostly happened as a result of my previous status in Israel. That most important document the Teudat Zehut (citizenship certificate) which is a laminated card with a separate piece of paper in a pouch much like a TTC Subway pass must be shown as proof of identity when opening bank accounts (only took 2 hours), returning defective kettles to the hardware store (it boils over when you fill it) or when you want to register your children to gan. The people at the municipal office were not pleased that my TZ had one address and Alison’s had another and did not want to allow the girls to start school. They finally agreed after pleading our case to a sympathetic clerk but only if we produce the corrected documents within two weeks. A driver from NBN is coming by today to pick up our TZ and take them to the Tel Aviv office to have them changed. What service, someone else is going to stand in line for us. No wonder Americans are referred to as “spoiled Americans.”
Last week I had my first job in Israel. It was pre-arranged with my contact at UJA/Federation in Toronto. The pay is not what I am used to for a day’s work but it felt good to be working in Israel and especially with a client I have worked with for 15 years. The job was to photograph a family mission to Israel and 4 Bar/Bat Mitzvahs at Massada. We rented a car and I took the family with me. The girls enjoyed the cable car ride up the mountain but are too young to appreciate the history. I am sure they will make many trips back to this historic place with their schools. It was great to see some familiar faces with the mission, the Kassels, Morrisons, Gottesmans and the Glowinskys.
I will upload a few photos from our trip. It starts with Zoe making snow angels, movers, Shabbat with the Rosenberg’s, the airport, the plane and coming home.
http://www.bigdipperphotos.com/israel-week1
Our VoIP line is now working. Keep in mind that there is a 7 hour difference with Toronto.
I just heard the rain starting to fall. It is a great sound to hear in such a dry country.
Uncategorized | Stephen | 
11 February 2006 02:10
