Daily Life

I enrolled in an ulpan (Hebrew classes) to brush up on my Hebrew. 15 years at Associated and CHAT gave a great background in Hebrew but it has been over 30 years since I have read an Israeli newspaper or tried to write a letter in Hebrew. They put me in a class that started two months ago and although my conversational Hebrew is on a higher level (thank you Dr. Jacober & Mr. Burke) I am finding the written assignments to be useful. Sitting in the ulpan is an experience. I look around the room and am amazed at the wide assortment of people in my class. Many of the students are from the former Soviet Union, some from Russia, Byelorussia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and the Ukraine. The two women who sit right next to me are a mother and daughter from Russia, across the room is a very religious woman who must be in her 70′s also from FSU. The ulpan is taught all in Hebrew and only after a word is taught will the teacher look in a dictionary for a Russian and English translation. Besides those two languages there is a student from Sweden, a few from England (their English is OK), a student from Taiwan, Turkey and another from Norway via Austria. What an assortment of people, all coming to a new land, choosing to learn an ancient language and adopt new ways of life. Ulpan is not just a place to learn Hebrew, it is a mini-melting pot that takes people from around the world and teaches them the way things are done here. Part of today’s class was dedicated to dealing with utility bills and payments at the bank.

I have learned that things are not always done efficiently here and after another negative experience with Tziona at Bituach Leumi I changed tactics. I spoke with her supervisor and informed him that we were working on an article about our experience with Bituach Leumi. I have to tell you that Israeli bureaucrats can be extremely efficient when they want to be. Over the next hour I received 5 calls from their office with the final call from the supervisor informing us that we were now registered. My sister Suri suggested we carry dog treats with us not only for the stray dogs that run up and down the Moshav but also for the clerks we encounter on our journey here.

We are beginning to get into a regular routine now. Life starts earlier and ends earlier. The alarm clock goes off and we try and ignore it for a while. Maayan, her new cheerful self, announces “it’s the day, it’s the day” and Noa turns over to get in a few more minutes of sleep. The radio station we use on our clock radio announces “boker chadash” a “new morning”. Alison and I often reminisce about our relief work in a Duzje, Turkey right after the earthquake in 1999. We slept one night in the Israeli army compound and they woke us up way too early with a loudspeaker shouting “BOKER TOV DUZJE” in the same tone as Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam. After breakfast we take the girls across the street to gan and say hello to Beka and Scratchy on the way. Those two dogs have attached themselves to us and accompany us as we walk down around the Moshav. Last week Alison and I walked to Mazkeret Batya which is about 3-4 kilometres away and Scratchy followed us the whole way to town. Beka will have her litter any day now and we have already decided we will not take one of the pups that will be offered to us. Alison, ever a softie for cute puppies may buckle.

Our lives have become very simple here. I have one key on my keychain and a one credit card in my wallet. The phone rarely rings and when it does it is more often than not a wrong number. We have not taken the tests to get an Israeli driver’s license yet and don’t have a car. There is only one bus to town and when we need to go in we either walk or “tremp” as they say in Hebrew. Tremping (hitchhiking) is a fine art in Israel. Drivers often will point down when they pass which is a polite way of saying “I am not going to town, I’m staying here”. Once we get to Mazkeret Batya we can hop on a bus or a mini-bus which carries 10 passengers and follows the same route as the buses. We get two channels on our TV, both Israeli and we try and watch the news every night even though we don’t understand most of it but we enjoy looking at the pictures and are trying to get used to hearing Hebrew.

Life on the Moshav is pretty relaxed and when we make it to shul on Shabbat many of the men are dressed in regular weekday clothes such as jeans and sweatshirts. Very different from the fashion shows many North American shuls have become. We enjoy it here and enjoy the slower pace of the farm to the frenetic city life we had been living in Canada. Last week we went to Jerusalem for an interview and a short shoot and we felt like country hicks visiting the big city. Everyone was dressed up and building were so tall…I know that ultimately we will leave the Moshav and move to a larger community. It may be Mazkeret Batya or Rehovot which is about 6-7 miles away but right now we are enjoying life here.

My bus to Rechovot in the morning passes through Kiryat Ekron, a small town, a little bit larger than Mazkeret Batya, the village we hope to move to next year. I sit with my iPod, listening to the soundtrack of Garden State or some old Joni Mitchell songs as the bus fills with people, young and old on their way to the city. There are many Ethiopians that get on this bus. This morning an elderly Ethiopian man sat across from me. He was wearing a suit with the label still intact on the sleeve and was wrapped in traditional white fabric on top. He wore a white turban and used a cane for support. I look at this little man in amazement. Westerners can navigate the system here with a little Hebrew and English but someone who only speaks Amharic is not likely to get their message across. He joins the others that are holding on to their seats as the driver weaves his way through the various neighborhoods.

I have been busy this week and have not sent this out on Sunday as I should have. I had to see the doctor this week and am very impressed with the medical system here. More on this in another update.

We just launched a new website featuring our Bar Mitzvah in Israel. If you of anyone who is thinking of making a simcha here and needs a photographer or advice please point them to our site..

http://www.barmitzvahinisrael.info

It is now almost Shabbat and are getting ready. David Zvi is with us and the girls are bouncing off the walls. Suri is making a Bat Mitzvah this weekend and we find that we don’t miss many things from Toronto except for family and friends.