Halfway Into Israel Trip. Hit the Ground Running.
We arrived here on January 24th, about three weeks ago, and received the surprise which I had almost not let myself hope for: there in the distance we saw, as we were pushing our two airport carts with great difficulty laden with our nine suitcases and bags--yes, I said nine: we had bought two cheap suitcases at a Goodwill store and paid extra to bring them here, where they will stay; together with our carry-ons, purses/fanny packs, laptop and duty-free booze, it totaled nine--a slim girl with long curly hair in a wheelchair, and I said to myself, 'that couldn't be Rambo, she's so skinny...?' And then she turned towards us and held up a hand-painted sign, written in Hebrew and English: "Bruchim ha-Ba'im, Eema and Abba!" If you think at this point that I probably became a little emotional, you are right.
Actually I became a lot emotional. I burst into tears and we both ran towards each other. Well, she wheeled, actually--much faster than I, by the way--and we fell upon each other hugging and kissing and crying. Well, actually I sort of fell on her, as she wasn't about to fall out of her wheelchair.
From that point on we basically 'hit the ground running.' We (she) talked the car rental people into an upgrade for a reasonable amount, as we could never have gotten the suitcases, wheelchair and the three of us into that Mazda 2 class B we had reserved, and drove to our son & daughter-in-law's place in Gedera. The next day, without skipping a beat, and without much jet lag, by the way; the best way to avoid it is by landing at your international destination in the afternoon, so you don't have much time to wait out until you can SLEEP, which we did--we drove our daughter to her new Tel-Aviv apartment where we met the owner and metavech* and she signed the lease. Her apartment is not cheap, and she will need a flat mate for the second bedroom to share the rent after we leave. Turns out, we never expected to be able to stay with our daughter at her own place--we had made arrangements with friends--but the extra bedroom enabled us to do just that, live with our daughter for much of the time we're here and make her apartment our " base of operations" while in Israel.
That was the 25th of January. The very next day, I went to my daughter-in-law to help her with her baby and toddler, while my D. H. took our daughter to an appliance store to buy everything she needed to fill a kitchen. You have to know that in Israel, kitchens come with cabinets and countertops--sometimes--but rarely if ever do they come with appliances. They are completely devoid of those kitchen pieces we in the States take for granted as being part of a kitchen, meaning NO stove and NO refrigerator. Each tenant has to buy his or her own, and they go with them when they move (unless they sell them). Which means that they bought a fridge and a washing machine. Our daughter already owned a counter-top oven and a two-burner electric counter-top stove, which we later brought over along with everything else she owned, little by little, in a long series of caravan-type moves back and forth from her other brother's place, in Efrat. I don't care what anyone tells you. Moving is hell.
We've been running ever since, to stores like HomeCenter, Ikea, Ace Hardware, SuperSol, Mega, the Pain Clinic at Tel-Hashomer, Ichilov, etc. while visiting family, taking care of grandkids and grandbabies. I have only seen 3 friends since I got here, and two were while paying a shiva call. It doesn't end.
I would write more, but my D. H. is nagging me to get ready--we were planning a trip up North starting today and through Shabbat, visiting with family and staying with friends in Tsfat, Teveria, and Shabbat in Hispin in the Golan (would you believe that my daughter has only been up north once in her eight years here, and that was on maneuvers while in the army?), and instead I am sitting here at our laptop (we can't afford two, so we share), blogging.
The forecast is rainy and thunderstorms are predicted for Thursday. Heavy snow at 900 meters (e.g., Tsfat, Jerusalem, Mt. Hermon) on Shabbat. And I hear there were at least two snowstorms and there are now 6 inches of snow in our back patio at our place back in 'galut.'
Feels just like home.
*metavech: real-estate agent
Actually I became a lot emotional. I burst into tears and we both ran towards each other. Well, she wheeled, actually--much faster than I, by the way--and we fell upon each other hugging and kissing and crying. Well, actually I sort of fell on her, as she wasn't about to fall out of her wheelchair.
From that point on we basically 'hit the ground running.' We (she) talked the car rental people into an upgrade for a reasonable amount, as we could never have gotten the suitcases, wheelchair and the three of us into that Mazda 2 class B we had reserved, and drove to our son & daughter-in-law's place in Gedera. The next day, without skipping a beat, and without much jet lag, by the way; the best way to avoid it is by landing at your international destination in the afternoon, so you don't have much time to wait out until you can SLEEP, which we did--we drove our daughter to her new Tel-Aviv apartment where we met the owner and metavech* and she signed the lease. Her apartment is not cheap, and she will need a flat mate for the second bedroom to share the rent after we leave. Turns out, we never expected to be able to stay with our daughter at her own place--we had made arrangements with friends--but the extra bedroom enabled us to do just that, live with our daughter for much of the time we're here and make her apartment our " base of operations" while in Israel.
That was the 25th of January. The very next day, I went to my daughter-in-law to help her with her baby and toddler, while my D. H. took our daughter to an appliance store to buy everything she needed to fill a kitchen. You have to know that in Israel, kitchens come with cabinets and countertops--sometimes--but rarely if ever do they come with appliances. They are completely devoid of those kitchen pieces we in the States take for granted as being part of a kitchen, meaning NO stove and NO refrigerator. Each tenant has to buy his or her own, and they go with them when they move (unless they sell them). Which means that they bought a fridge and a washing machine. Our daughter already owned a counter-top oven and a two-burner electric counter-top stove, which we later brought over along with everything else she owned, little by little, in a long series of caravan-type moves back and forth from her other brother's place, in Efrat. I don't care what anyone tells you. Moving is hell.
We've been running ever since, to stores like HomeCenter, Ikea, Ace Hardware, SuperSol, Mega, the Pain Clinic at Tel-Hashomer, Ichilov, etc. while visiting family, taking care of grandkids and grandbabies. I have only seen 3 friends since I got here, and two were while paying a shiva call. It doesn't end.
I would write more, but my D. H. is nagging me to get ready--we were planning a trip up North starting today and through Shabbat, visiting with family and staying with friends in Tsfat, Teveria, and Shabbat in Hispin in the Golan (would you believe that my daughter has only been up north once in her eight years here, and that was on maneuvers while in the army?), and instead I am sitting here at our laptop (we can't afford two, so we share), blogging.
The forecast is rainy and thunderstorms are predicted for Thursday. Heavy snow at 900 meters (e.g., Tsfat, Jerusalem, Mt. Hermon) on Shabbat. And I hear there were at least two snowstorms and there are now 6 inches of snow in our back patio at our place back in 'galut.'
Feels just like home.
*metavech: real-estate agent
Comments
refuah shleimah and enjoy every second