Looks like we made it

Well, as I sit here on my sofa, blogging away, I can't believe that I am here. Today (okay, well, two days ago because I got distracted) marks the final day of the  school year for my youngest child. My three older kids have been done and bored for a week and a half. So that's it. We made it. We survived the first school year in Israel.  Everyone told us that the first year of aliyah is the hardest, and we just have to hang in for the first year and then it gets easier. Well, if this was the hardest year, then we say, Bring It On!

But first, we share a photo. Because here in Israel, you never know what you might see. After a few hours in Jerusalem visiting cousins who are here on a trip, we put waze on, to get us home. And what street do we need to turn on? Schneur Zalman, aka my father's Hebrew name, that he is slightly obsessed with! This one is for you dad!

My sister in law suggested that I write a blog looking back on the year, so here we go.

Friends :
You might remember that when we made aliyah, we knew exactly one family in this city. So we moved as close to them as we could. Little did we know that we were moving to the best block in town!

So far, we have had a weekly shabbat gathering, every shabbat afternoon, right outside of our house. We have gone away for shabbat twice with the group. We have attended numerous communal shabbat meals in one person's garden. We have been invited to too many people's homes for shabbat meals, that I can't even keep track. It will take me most of next year to reciprocate. We have had our questions answered, listened to more Hebrew than ever before, and then asked more questions (and they tell me that I don't ask enough questions).  And just the feeling of community that we have, is something that we did not expect. And yes  this is in addition to the one family that we knew, and who we see fairly often. Still working on that.

Then there are all of the friends I made in my first ulpan.  I bug them through WhatsApp, we meet for coffee or food when we can, and help each other out. For example, they are the ones who will pick two of my kids up from the airport when I can't. A real friend does the airport run!

Hebrew :
We arrived here and the only confident Hebrew speaker was the hubby. He is one of those super annoying people who remembers stuff from twenty years ago, but can't remember what he ate for breakfast. (love you)!, and it was probably three types of cereal)  But in this case, it worked out. He was the main navigator around Israel.

Now here we are at the end of the school year and everyone can speak Hebrew. Some are more confident than others (eldest child) some prefer to listen rather than to speak (me), some have really awesome accents (not me), and some have made their first Hebrew phone call (also me!!!) I mean, the first Hebrew phone call that I initiated. I've had conversation with the supermarket before and let's just say it didn't end well. Unless you consider three kilos of red peppers and no eggs, ending well.

My next goal is to work on speaking Hebrew. I always worry about making mistakes and it stops me from trying. I know that I need to get over that. Slowly I'm working on it. But my reading and writing and grammar are light years away from where they were last summer. Just a few days left of my current medical Hebrew course.

School :
We arrived here last summer  a few weeks before school began. We attended several meetings, and while I got the gist of the Hebrew, I really didn't understand what the teachers were saying. I did a lot of nodding, and they tried to use really easy words. I didn't ask many questions.

Fast forward to the end of the year. I attended three meetings for the kids, all in Hebrew. Missed some words here and there, but overall I felt fairly confident.  I even asked them questions, inserting a few English words here and there when necessary. And I've sent many a Hebrew text to teachers.  I feel fairly accomplished and I'm hoping that it will only improve during the coming school years.

Oh wait. Maybe you were actually interested in how the kids are doing in school. Silly me. We think that the year was a major success. Many people told us that the first year is a wash. That they will basically fail and they will restart the following year. Well, don't let those people scare you.  Sure,  it's hard. We came here with three high school kids and an upper elementary child. They all did so much better than we expected.  Most importantly, they are all happy. They all speak Hebrew. They all made friends.   And they all get themselves to and from school! I definitely call that a success. But kids, if you're reading this, we expect you to do even better next year! Last day of school pics below.

And finally, a list of what perplexed me last year and how or if I've improved. And some new things

#1 How to get out of the mall parking lot. I have it figured out, but I still say a prayer every single time.
#2 I can order coffee like no ones business!
#3 I rarely convert shekels to dollars in my head. I just know how much I usually pay for stuff
#4 Was semi successful while clothes shopping with one teenage girl. That's a miracle in any country.
#5 I've had Israeli breakfasts at many locations. The fun hasn't worn off.
#6 Remember when I went to the train station for the first time and I had no idea why the security guard was asking me to do? Well, after a few weeks of avoiding him, I'm happy to say that I went in his line again, with success!
#6 Baseball has ended. Goodbye American sport that ate up every single Friday! We had fun, but we're moving on.
#7 And finally, this didn't perplex me, but it is my new discovery of the month. The word for silverware /flatware is a combination of the first letters from knife, spoon and fork. Mind blowing!!!


Really end of the year stuff :
You are all probably familiar with my eldest and his love of the electric guitar and Rock. We found him this great guitar teacher here and last week was the end of the year concert. One of my child's favorite songs is Crazy Train. So below, you can hear him in all of his glory!!

School has ended. 3/4 kids are at Israeli scout camp. #4 goes tomorrow.

You might remember that it's basically a law that on any field trip in Israel, you must pack several things.
Hat
3 liters of water
Closed shoes
Snacks

What would happen if we didn't pack said snacks. I'll tell you. Your kids wouldn't fit in, and possibly they would have a hard time finding someone to marry one day. So go to the store, buy a bunch of junk food that you'd never normally serve your kids, and just fit in!!! Then take a picture of it so you can stare in horror! And check it out. Kosher doritos and skittles!

As I finish up this blog, the last one before official summer vacation (okay, so I'm a bit late) I'd like to just express how thankful I am. Thankful that we made it to Israel after a short 14 year delay. Thankful that our kids are integrating. Thankful for our awesome neighborhood and new friends. Thankful that one of us (not me) is employed. I am just thankful everyday that I get to live here. I'm even thankful when I'm complaining about my commute.

School is more than just exams

Every good blog post should begin with yet another photo of an Israeli breakfast. The one below is from the day last week when I ditched class to spend the morning with my girls. Worth every second!

The school year is winding down here and wow what a whirlwind. While my peeps back in the Motherland are struggling with their kids final exams, we here in Israel (Okay, maybe not the collective we, but we as in me) are handing out money left and right for class parties, sending snacks to school (AKA, my kids raid my cabinet daily) and attending school events.

It all started last week. My girls' school has been in a frenzy preparing for their first Evening of the Arts. This meant lots of practicing during the school day for my girls and every girl in the middle school. And frantic texts from my girls. "Mom, I need a white skirt, please get me one" (two  because you know, twins) Followed by me stopping at store on my way home, only to find that the store has a daily siesta which coincides with the time I'm actually driving. Well, it was fate because the next text was. "Mom, don't buy a white skirt. We are all wearing all black for the show." Ummm, okay. We don't have that either. So this precipitated me handing the girls more money to buy black shirts.

So finally, the big day arrives. I make several trips back and forth to the school because my girls are playing instruments, so we need to lug a bass guitar and a snare drum. (they did have to take those on the city bus when I was in class!) I drop them off for the final time of the day.

And then I take child #4 to baseball. Because who doesn't like a random weeknight baseball game? Watch baseball for a while, them head over to the school when the game ends.  (picture is from sunset at the field)

The Evening of Arts was really nice and surprisingly professional. We saw some skits, and especially enjoyed the ones poking fun at Americans who come to Israel for the year. (all in good fun) we saw some dances, songs and finally our girls and their band went on last. We had one sleeping child wearing a baseball uniform, two very happy girls and me, who then even survived speaking with two teachers who really just speak so quickly. By survived, I mean, they said a lot of stuff. I understood a fraction, due to the speed, the music blaring in the background, and the five hundred other people around. I did a lot of nodding and smiling and asking my  girls to fill me in on what I missed. So yay, that craziness was over.

Skip to two days later. I again give ride after ride to my eldest child. His school has their sixth annual Evening of the Arts. The other kids didn't know if they wanted to come or not. So I pulled a genius parenting move out of my bag of tricks. I just said, "guys, you don't have to come. But FYI, I am having dinner in the mall food court before the show, so anyone who comes is welcome to have dinner there."  Well, wouldn't you know it, the who family showed up! Also, the entire mall food court is kosher.

Moving along. The boy's show was also really well done. They did skits (which had the same themes as the skits from the girls'school, complete with "American tourists" showing up in the skit.) The skits were really well done and very funny. My Hebrew is ready for a few jokes, so that was exciting. And of course, la piece de resistance (French inspired by my many French ulpan friends) my kid and his school band. They are just so cute. I know that a bunch of fifteen year olds don't want to hear that, but they just are. They are also really good and have improved so much since the fall. I also just love his band because it has really helped him to adjust to life in Israel and it has given him a group of peers with similar interests.

We missed the beginning of the girls' school show because we were at baseball and they told me that they were going on last. So I missed the opening remarks about the evening. But at the boys school, we heard everything. We didn't understand everything, but we heard it. And I know that I've said this before, but it's worth repeating. The principal again mentioned how important the arts are, and that school is not just study study study. There is more to life than just passing your exams. You need art in your life.

We were told when we made aliyah, that the schools in Israel are really interested in developing the whole child and not just academically. They want you to be well rounded. And we have really found that to be true. There is so much going on in school, and you can really find your place and shine in the things that you love.

And now, to wrap this up, I shall give you a short run down of what else has been  going on.

#1 My ulpan is seriously never ending
#2 More baseball. We won and then we lost
#3 Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the season
#4 Never fear, my neighborhood is still doing communal fun
#5 Communal fun=dessert and ice cream parties in the same week
#6 Now we are planning a trip abroad together (by we, I mean they)
#7 My fifth grader went on a field trip that started after school and ended at midnight
#8 He still had school the next day
#9 Oh yeah, field trips are included in the cost of school
#10 I'm not paying $75,000 in tuition
#11 Went shopping with a friend for teacher gifts. She said, we will ask for a volume discount. The American in me said no way. The Israeli sales clerk preempted us and gave me half off! #winning

From the North to the South!

So much going on, so little time to blog. Here are the main events that have occurred over the past few weeks:

#1 Neighborhood Shabbaton to the north 

#2 Eldest child's birthday
#3 Trip to Eilat

We begin with the trip up north. As you may remember, my awesome neighborhood takes trips together. I mean, not the entire neighborhood, but about ten families. In the fall, we all went to the Ein Gedi area, and a few weeks ago, we all went up north, to a place called Achziv. It is about two hours away, so we did a few stops on the way up (to Israelis, two hours is like a long road trip) We stopped to see an old cemetery which now is smack in the middle of a town. And then we went to a park  for a picnic and a short tiyul. 

So when you picnic in Israel, you can't just bring some lame sandwiches. We are Jews and we are serious about food.  You need to bring some salads, perhaps some home baked goods, etc.... Slowly We are fitting  in and managing. And our neighbors are there if we forget something. (Which is always, so they share their treats with us.)

Next stop on the way north is to a place called the Rainbow Cave. No idea what this is, but why not? Well, it's a lovely little tiyul, on a nice path that takes you to a totally insane looking cave.  You can just gaze at the cave, like our group did, or, you can rapell through the opening in the rainbow cave. This is where I saw the coolest (aka, guy with no fear) looking guy ever. Sure, just hanging out here in the edge if the cliff, waiting to rapell. No biggie!

After the tiyul, we head to the Field School at Achziv. A field school is similar to a youth hostel, but they also run programs about the nature in the area and work to care for what is in nature. Also, they have very affordable accommodations. We had a lovely time there. We go to go to the beach before shabbat, relax in the porch chairs and just have an enjoyable shabbat that didn't include cooking or cleaning. 

Skip ahead to eldest child's birthday.  His friends planned a surprise party in our house. Without embarrassing him too much  let me just say this:

His adjustment to Israel has been the biggest surprise in our aliyah journey. He has always been a friendly guy, but he has really blossomed here in Israel. He might not know how to turn off his bedroom light or know where his hamper is located, but he knows how to meet people.  He makes friends with everyone and he started speaking Hebrew the moment we landed. And this surprise party was a testament to how he has made a whole new group of friends here.  They were seriously adorable setting up the food, blowing up balloons, dancing and doing a quiz game about the birthday boy. I was definitely kvelling, in between bringing out more and more food. It's hard to feed a group of teenage boys. They are vacuum cleaners! 

And finally, skipping ahead again to our trip to Eilat. Yes, we went to Eilat, all the way in the south of Israel. Modiin has a fabulous absorption department, and they arrange subsidized trips for any new olim, within the first ten years in Israel.  So, when I heard they were headed to Eilat, I rallied some friends and we signed up. I shall explain the short  version, because you're likely bored by now. 

#1 Bus rides are endless 

#2 Eilat is really far 

#3 The road to Eilat is scary, so I'm just glad we weren't the drivers 

#4 Timna Park near Eilat is a must see 

#5 The desert is really big and hot 

#6 Eilat is the only place where you can see four countries at once 

#7 Israeli hotel breakfast is not normal 

#8 Drinks have hilarious names (I might have had one called 'Pornitini Star' 

Thus ends my tale of traveling from the north to the south. I highly recommend that you come to Israel and stay in some of the hotels and then invite me for breakfast. 

And a final hilarious moment. In between the chaos, we went to IKEA to get some better storage furniture for the kids' rooms. Now remember, most Israelis have very small cars. I captured this moment while waiting for the hubby to pull our  AR around. Picture watching this, while other Israelis are helping load it into the car, saying, 'no problem, don't worry.'  I was worried. Lol. 

P. S. , this isn't my car. 

All of the Yom ha.....s

Let me begin by saying that no one does a tekes (ceremony) like Israelis. They really know how to pull these programs together. From school programs to holidays they know what is going on. And for Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) and Yom HaAtzmaut (Independence Day) they really know how to make you feel all of the feels.

Yom HaShoah :
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this day. Growing up, I spent many years of Hebrew school hearing survivors speak to us. I watched many many many (too many for a kid) movies about the holocaust. And then I've spent the past number of  years trying not to watch any movies or read any more holocaust books. It was just too much. But then a few years back, my kids started asking questions and so we had to start discussing it with them. And some of my kids had to do family interviews for various projects and they got to ask questions to the Great Aunt Lillian, who was our only link to that era in Europe.

Back to the present. Here in Israel, the while country celebrates together and mourns together. In the schools, there are programs for every event. So for Yom HaShoah, the kids all had various school programs to learn and to remember. And we had our first Yom HaShoah siren. In case you aren't familiar with it, it is a siren that rings out throughout the entire country. It is for a moment of silence for all of those that have passed away. In this case, in memory of those who perished in the Holocaust.  I was at ulpan where they had a ceremony.

But let me dial it back to the night before. We attended a city ceremony at a nearby high school.  We chose this one because all of our kids were attending it with their scout groups. I was blown away by how amazing this program was. It was all done by teenagers, 12th graders. They spoke, they sang, they played music. Really just so talented and poised. And serious. Teenagers here,  overall, are just so mature. I realize that they have to be, given that they are all about to he drafted into the army. But it's really incredible to see.

Now let's skip ahead one week. Now we are at Yom HaZikaron, the memorial day for all those who have fallen in the military, in wars, and those who have been killed in  terror attacks. During the night, our kids were attending the main town memorial ceremony with the scouts. So we walked down to the town amphitheater to attend the same ceremony.  Let me just say, wow. Imagine thousands of people (I have no idea how many people, but a lot) all sitting and tons of groups of children sitting on the grass. And yet everyone is silent for the entire program.

This program was again done mostly by teenagers. They spoke and sang and played music.  The Chief Rabbi of Israel (aka, my neighbor) spoke and told a really amazing story. He speaks so well and his Hebrew is very slow and clear. Suddenly I realized, wow, I understood almost everything that he said. The mayor (my bestie) was there, as were many others, to pay their respects to those who paved the way for us to live in safety and freedom.

Now the next day, my ulpan took a trip for Yom HaZikaron. We went on walk a few blocks through Tel Aviv, where I am studying, and we stood outside for the siren. This was my first time experiencing the siren outside during what was a fairly normal and bustling day in the city. When, just like I've always been told, everyone and everything stops while the siren sounds. You really need to see it to believe it.

Siren in Tel Aviv for Yom HaZikaron

Then, we did a tour of Independence Hall, where Ben Gurion declared Israel's statehood 69 years ago. I've been there before but it's always a great tour. And this time it was in Hebrew. Well, it was in Hebrew until there was arguing amongst the ulpan teachers and guide and then it was done half in English. Long story. But our guide was great, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

And off to the final leg of our journey: Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel's Independence Day!  So many choices of what to do and where to go. Luckily, our children are here to guide our choices.  Our eldest child's band was playing at one of the schools, so we headed there to hear him.  And yay for us, because they were playing at a school very close by, because who wants to drive during the chaos of Yom HaAtzmaut??? Not me!!!

So we go, and we wait and wait and wait. There was some confusion as to which band was going on first. During our waiting, we were amused by the hordes of children in full Yom HaAtzmaut gear. Including my own children with bubble machines and gigantic blow up hammers.

And finally, after a school choir, a school band and one of the main entertainers for the night, my child's school band goes on.  I'll have to embarrass him and say that they are just so adorable. They were so cute preparing to go on, with their matching shirts and all. And they were actually great, in my totally unbiased opinion.

Yom HaAtzmaut band video. CLICK ME!

But let's move onto the real miracle. One of the moms of a band mate comes over to me to introduce herself.  And suddenly I hear myself speaking Hebrew to her, no problem. Okay, not exactly no problem, but it was good enough that she understood me and I didn't have a panic that someone was speaking to me. And of course, being Israeli, she wanted to make sure I had somewhere to celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut, or else she was going to invite me. Ahhhhh, Israel.

And the partying didn't end after the concert. No, then we joined our neighbors for a backyard BBQ extravaganza.  Special hamburgers, kebabs, chicken, salads, fries, Israelis know how to throw a BBQ. But not just a BBQ. A BBQ where there is also a quiz show a with all questions from the Torah. Kids and adults alike were jumping to answer, some with more success than others. And the winners walked away with fabulous Yom HaAtzmaut swag.  The party was still going strong after midnight when I finally had to leave. I can't keep up with the Israelis and their partying spirit. I need sleep!

The next day, I had big plans to go to an Air Force base. But to do that, you need to leave your house by 7am. Long story short, no one was awake before 9:30am. So instead, we stayed home, did our own little BBQ and has friends over to roast marshmallows over the fire pit that we finally unpacked.  And I got oddly addicted to watching the real Tanach quiz on television. Those kids are really amazing. And two hailed from Teaneck, the place where we never wanted to live, but always wanted to take advantage of the amenities.

Let me sum it up. Israelis know how to commemorate and celebrate. They take things seriously, because life here isn't like life anywhere else. They seem to really appreciate the sacrifices and struggles of those who helped to build this country and of those who died before their time. And then,  they know how to celebrate. The sheer number of flags is awesome. It seems like on Yom HaAtzmaut, the country is filled with the sound of flapping car flags and the small of campfires from all of the bbqing.

Pesach and beyond...

Before we hit the next set of holidays, I had better report on Passover /Pesach here in Israel. Okay, so this isn't my first time here for Pesach. I was here many years ago during my gap year between high school and University (see how my new international friends are influencing my English?) But this was the first time I had to "make" Pesach in Israel. You would think that food  shopping here would be easier than in the USA. And in some ways it was. But in other ways, it was surprisingly harder.

#1 I still find food shopping a challenging adventure
#2 Are you familiar with the word kitniot?
#3 If you weren't familiar before, you will be soon
#4 Can I be Sephardic?
#5 One seder is the absolute best, especially when friends invite you
#6 Buying a new BBQ right before pesach is a smart move

Okay. Food shopping for Pesach is quite the adventure.  One the one hand, the whole supermarket is becoming kosher for Pesach, so yay! I will have so many choices. But wait, why don't I actually have that many choices? Oh yes. It is because we are Ashkenazi and we do not eat kitniot. Those varied foods such as corn, rice, beans, etc... on Pesach. So after the initial, wow, so many choices, my cart ended up with the exact same foods I  always buy for pesach :

Vegetables
Fruits
Enough meat for like two months
Matza meal
Matza
Yogurt
Chocolate chips
Spices
Marshmallows
Potatoes
Tuna
10 dozen eggs

Voila. Pesach in Israel!!!

Okay, it wasn't exactly that dramatic. But let's just say that the Pesach food selection  is certainly heavy on the kitniot side; at least packaged foods. I've been waiting for many years to become Sephardic, so I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Fast forward. The house is all ready (not at the last minute or anything) and we head to our friends who graciously invited us for the seder. They live on the other side of town. Luckily, all train tracks between us are underground.

We had a really lovely seder. I got to see and taste soft matza for the first time, hear some of my kids read from the haggadah in Hebrew, and always my favorite part, singing Chad GadYa, because by that point, no one can keep the words straight. Thanks to our brave friends for hosting my gang.

I was worried about the walk home but it actually went really well. 50 minutes, lots of streets and 310 stairs later, we made it home. We passed plenty of other families doing the same thing (although we were the only nuts on the stairs) and it was a perfect night. Fun seder, great weather, and we all made it home alive.

Chol Hamoed was very nice. We didn't do too much (saving vacation time for an Eilat trip)  but we did host our camp friends for a BBQ on our new BBQ. Our first Israeli charcoal BBQ experience.  We only needed help from a few people. :-)

We spent one freezing morning at the beach during vacation. The kids and the hubby had a blast in the water. I sat huddled under a towel with my book, just waiting to go home.  Shabbat meals with friends and more matza jumble cookies than you can imagine, filled out our holiday. A family showing of "The Frisco Kid" rounded out the fun.


Oh yes, how could I forget. One day we unpacked the sewing machine and I finally finally finished the blanket I was making for one child. This has been a work in progress for a year. Okay, nine of the months it was packed away. But still. I'm glad to have this literal monkey off of my back.

Back to normal life after pesach meant me spending days doing laundry. Which is basically my regular life. Post Pesach we had more friends over who braved the heat wave to come over.  And then, just like that, vacation ended.

Okay, now I'll finish this off because the ideas for my next blog are already swirling around in my head.

I shall leave you with this out of order picture of today's breakfast, because I'm still obsessed with breakfast. I guess Aroma doesn't yet have their Yom HaAtzmaut chocolate out so I'll have to go back next week.

Celebrations everywhere!

Some event highlights of the past few weeks.

As many of you know, Eli was one of the recipients of the Outstanding Oleh award. Basically he was one of a handful (or two handfuls) of kids who were recognized for how they have adjusted and integrated into life in Israel. I can't promise that's actually the description of the award, but that's the best that I can do. So I won't go on about him too much because I might have done a Facebook brag. But he was recognized for his integration both socially and musically. Or something like that. Nachas!! And, we made it into the newspaper again.

Then we shall move to the two weeks of non stop celebrations. I am quite sure that everyone was trying to get their Simcha in before the Omer. (as one friend said, thank goodness the omer is coming, so we can all rest :-))

We had:

#1 wedding in Jerusalem. Went the wrong way and drove through a neighborhood that we've been to before and didn't want to go back to. Well, waze had a different plan. Imagine one lane streets that barely fit one car. But they take two way traffic. Fun times.

#2 Oleh awards

#3 wedding. Did not get lost! Beautiful wedding of our neighbor's son. I just love all of the outdoor venues here in Israel!

#4 Bar Mitzvah of an ulpan friend's son. I won't post the photos, but my ulpan teacher was there. I kept making the same grammatical mistake with the same word, and we got the mother of the Bar Mitzvah boy to have a few drinks.  Even funner times!

#5 Sheva Brachot hosted by the street for the wedding a few days prior. This was beautiful and was held in the amazing garden of  one neighbor.

#6 Voca People. If you haven't seen them  you need to buy tickets. It was fabulous, aside from a few uncomfortable moments of 90s songs that weren't exactly appropriate for all of the kids. Of course, we listened to them as kids. Best part was when they did a rendition of "We are the World."  Epic, as my kids would say.

#7 Bar Mitzvah of a neighbor's son. Apparently the neighbors write a song and then perform it.. It's perfect when you're short because I just stood behind a few people and tried to keep up.

That is it (I think) for the celebrations. It's so nice to be here and to be taken in by our new neighbors and new (and some old) friends and invited everywhere.

And now, we move onto the weeks of trips for my children. My children are living the good life here for sure.

All of my kids are in the Israeli scouts. So they all had a chance to go camping this past week. 3/4 took advantage of that. Despite my mild disappointment that we didn't have one night when all four were away (please work on that scouts, I need a vacation for adults!!!) everything ended up working out.

Sunday-Monday
#4 goes camping with the scouts. I am not exactly sure where they went but I think it was the Jerusalem area. He went hiking and camping, slept in a tent, got rained on, came home dirty and had a blast. Can't really ask for more than that.  #1 child also went on this trip, to learn a bit about being a leader for next year.

Tuesday - Thursday
#3 leaves for camping at the bright hour of 5:30am. Eek!!! I'm sure I looked fabulous when I dropped her off. She went camping up north I think. Truthfully, I do my best to keep up with the emails and texts and stick to the info that I need to know. Otherwise, I'm trusting 18 year old to look out for them. They seem fairly responsible.

She also had a blast. Between the campfires, the learning to cook while camping, making salads outside and the hiking, she couldn't have come home happier. Or dirtier.

Tuesday - Friday
#1 goes on the special camping thing. Basically a much more intense hiking and camping. It's his last year (and first year) as a kid in scouts, so this is their big trip. They all had to pack an exact list of items and then take their bags to be weighed.

He also came home filthier than I could have imagined but smiling his face off. They had a great time. He loves hiking and camping. And luckily, I'm married to an eagle scout and we moved here with all of our gear. So he was all set for the hike.

And finally, child #2. She did not go camping because she had a Taekwondo competition that conflicted. If you are on Facebook, then you've already read about it. In America, we never did a competition. Shabbat conflicts. But here, this child attends taekwondo once per week and a special sparring class once per week. So she sort of knew what she was in for, but I did not.

It's basically an arena with four sections and sparring matches are going on in each section. Pretty wild. The competitors are divided by weight class. Oh yes, the week before she had to go to Jerusalem just to be officially weighed.

Long story short. She had one match. She lost (but looked to me like she did well). But somehow she came in 2nd place. So I still have no idea if there were only two girls in the 37 kilo weight class or what??? But anyway, it was a good experience. She told me that she wants to continue and so I guess for the near future this will be my life? I guess we shall see. So many new experiences here. And yes, during the matches, child #4 was whispering quotes from Karate Kid. Pretty amusing.

It was actually so interesting to see the cross section of Israelis at this event. You have Ashkenazi, Sepharadi, secular, religious, long peyos, skirts, head coverings, shorts, different languages, just so many different types of Jews all coming together. And of course, coming together to knock someone else down, but let's ignore that for now and just enjoy the camaraderie.

And in case you are curious: When they speak Hebrew over a PA system it sounds just like the NYC subway system. You can't understand a word!

And now, back to my pesach cleaning.  Or at least pretending that I'm cleaning. Don't forget, only one seder here, and we got invited out for it! Make aliyah and you too can enjoy one seder. You can also enjoy the spirit of the holidays in the air. Or if not in the air, at least in the elbows out, melee of the supermarket. Ahhhhh, Israel!

And one more bonus to living here. It seems standard for your company to give you a little holiday bonus. They even have special gift cards for pesach. Love!!!!

Buses, trains and automobiles... And new beginnings

I shall begin this blog with an ode to Israeli public transportation.  That will lead into a fascinating look into my new professional ulpan course. Control your excitement.

As an aside, since beginning my new commute and course, I've become very familiar with the Cofix by my ulpan. So familiar in fact, that I usually order two coffees each morning and they have decided I'm worthy  of my own carrying case. I save it and reuse it every day because coffee is no joke. In other news, the morning employees are all French speakers, as is about 1/3 of my class. So I can continue to remember how much French I've forgotten since high school. Which is basically all of it.

So I finished my first ulpan back in February. Then I've been on a waiting list for a medical ulpan. I found out on a Thursday, two weeks ago, that I was off of the waiting list and that I had an exam on Sunday to see if I was qualified  (if I know enough Hebrew) to take the course.

Okay, so I make my way to Tel Aviv for the exam. Mind you, I hate cities.  Anyway, the exam is difficult but doable.  I finish the exam and leave. They said to return the next day at 9am again. I figured they would text or call if I did not pass. They had taken down all of our information.

Oh, but how wrong I was. I go into the classroom and we all wait for the teacher. She comes in and looks at her list and calls out a few names. Then looks at those people, and says, sorry, you can't be in this class, you didn't score high enough. Geesh. Harsh!!! Then they passed around the grade sheet with the results of everyone's exam. I guess we aren't quite up to studying privacy laws in medicine yet.

Moving on. I'm in the class,  so yay me! But this blog post isn't about the ulpan. It's about public transportation. The last time that I commuted to work on public transportation was in 2001. I lived in the Bronx and worked in Manhattan. I hated the commute on the subway but it was convenient. Every other job that I've had since then,  I've commuted to by car.

So day #1, I go into Tel Aviv with the hubby since he is an expert. We walk 2 minutes to the bus stop and take a bus straight into Tel Aviv. Then walk about 5-8 minutes to his office, where he makes me coffee. Lovely, right? Except I don't work in his office and my ulpan is a fifteen minute walk away. And also, I can't go to his office every day for coffee because he has this thing called a job. And every day isn't "bring your wife to work day." And also the minor detail that I can't do the reverse commute in the afternoon. The same bus doesn't return back to my town until the evening rush hours.

So, there is another woman in my class from my town. I follow her home. That entails walking to the bus. Then the bus to the train station. Then the train home. Then waiting for another bus to my actual home.

Except on the first day, I didn't know exactly where the bus from the train to my house was. So I ended up turning the wrong way out of the train station and walking towards my house, figuring I'd see a different bus stop. Well, the joke was on me because the bus doesn't go that way. Once I realized this, I was way too stubborn to give up and walk back to the train station for the correct bus. Nah, I figured I would just walk home and take the shortcut up the stairs. Have I ever mentioned that this particular shortcut is approximately 275 stairs?? Lesson learned. Be less stubborn unless you're working on your glutes.  Below are pics of the view on the way up those stairs.

The next day, I asked where the bus stop was located. Progress!!!

So this has been my daily commute, minus the hubby making me a latte.

#1 abandon my children  (actually,  they also leave for school at ~ the same time)
#2 walk to bus stop
#3 wait for bus
#4 watch Netflix on bus ride while hubby sleeps

#5 walk 25min from bus stop to ulpan
#6 learn 50 new words per day
#7 rush from ulpan to local city bus with two classmates
#8 rush to make train
#9 enjoy the very pleasant train. Seriously, it's traveling in style
#10 wait for bus to house
#11 get in more steps walking to house
#12 home again,  home again, jiggity jig

After Pesach,  I have a new plan to save me time. We shall see how it pans out. I did a test run last week.

Now, the new ulpan. I am now in a medical ulpan. It is full of people from different medical professions. We have doctors, dentists, physical therapists, speech therapists, pharmacists, etc... And one lone nurse. Yes, that's me.

The ulpan is full of people from all over the world. France, Belgium, Russia, Moldova, Turkey, Brazil, Australia, England, South Africa. And one lone American. Me.

So the short story is that I really like the ulpan. I hate the commute but the course is really good. You might recall that my previous ulpan was too easy. This one is not too difficult,  but it is full of tons of new words. So there is a lot to learn. Or as my teacher so lovingly put it (remember, this is the course where they singled out those who didn't pass the exam) as she read my paper, wow, we have stuff to work on. Well, as we say in English. "No shit, Sherlock." I wouldn't be here if I didn't have stuff to work on.

More on the new ulpan next time. For now, I shall leave you with this:

On Friday we had an ulpan party from my previous ulpan. We all went to our teacher's house (because we are totally her favorite class ever). We had a get together, she made us fancy coffee and of course, forced us to speak in Hebrew. And then at the end, she handed out our certificates of completion for her course, with grades for the oral and written exam on them.

Warning : brag ahead
You may recall that I was in a Bet (level 2) class. But in the end I took the Gimmel (level 3) oral and written exam. It's a long story, but basically, if I passed level Gimmel, then I am able to take my nursing exam in English. Backwards, but thems the rules! Below you shall see my glorious certificate of completion.

But the day before I received this, remember I was sitting in a class where the teacher told me how much I have to work on. And I had a bit of a situation at the train station where I had no idea what the guard was asking but refused to say, huh?

One step at a time.