Just when you think you understand the culture....

Back from another long break. But that just means I have lots of interesting stuff to share with everyone.  Where shall I begin?

In no particular order:

Eurovision
Okay, so I had vaguely heard of the Eurovision, years ago when Israel won in the late 90's (I think)  But honestly, as an American, we don't know about the Eurovision (or as it is pronounced in Hebrew, Uroveezeeon).  My kids had been playing the song of the Israeli competitor to this year's competition.  And while I found the song really annoying it was also super catchy and fun.  And I decided to watch the competition because, Israel.  We have to support Israel.  And well, Israel won!  I couldn't believe it because the song is so odd, but then again, Eurovision has a lot of odd songs.  But in the days after the competition, suddenly everyone starting posting interviews with the Israeli winner, and wow!  She seems like a really amazing person with a great message.  Basically, be yourself and don't let anyone tell you that you can't do or be what you love or what you are.  So, you go Netta!  You go with your interesting song!  So watch her interviews, and if you need some fun,  scroll through the Eurovision competitors through the years.  It was quite eye opening.

Menachem Begin Competition
Here is another super Israeli event that just happened.  A few weeks ago I got a message from my youngest child's teacher that the class is going on a trip to Jerusalem.  Okay, not so odd.  Schools here do a lot of awesome trips (included in school fees!)  Then as it got closer I asked him about the trip.  It turns out that his class was going to Jerusalem to cheer on their classmate who was a finalist in the Begin competition.  What might that be, you ask?  Well, it seems to be a trivia competition that focuses only on the life of Menachem Begin.  Hello, super specific Israeli trivia.  But guess what?  His classmate came in 2nd place in Israel!  And hopefully my kid has learned a bit about Menachem Begin.  I will take some credit for making him sit through a documentary a few years back.

Vacation
The opportunity came in my schedule and hubby's schedule to sneak away for a quick vacation.  So we did.  We spent two glorious days in Netanya, Israel.  I love living in a warm climate which means almost guaranteed beach weather in May, and I love that we are so close to so many beautiful places.  Of course, it isn't a bad thing that we no longer have to worry about kosher food.  Because most hotels are kosher and you are never far from a kosher restaurant or supermarket.  If anyone is planning a vacation to Netanya, call me.  I have some good recommendations.  Also, take me with you.

Highlights 
First time ever seeing an infinity pool, let alone being in one.
First hotel massage (discount for hotel guests)
First time in a pub
Turns out, I can manage four lattes in one breakfast (skills!!!)
Netanya's downtown looks exactly the way I remember it from 1997 (not sure if that's good or bad)

Now, I guess it is time to plan my next vacation?

Sing Along
If we are Facebook friends then you probably saw my post about a school wide sing along at the girls' school.  They sent an email inviting all mothers.  I was not working, so I went.  And as I was leaving my house to head over, I received texts from my girls asking me not to come.  I said, too late, I put on lipstick.  So I went and it was so much fun.  Apparently I am embarrassing.  I don't see how, considering there were like 400 girls, teachers and a handful of moms all doing the same dance and song.  But oh well.  Such is the life of teenagers to be embarrassed by their parents.  In other news, the teachers sent out a photo of the whole school singing together.  And guess who is right in the middle?? Yours truly!

Shavuot
The suffering was real.  Shabbat ran right into Shavuot and, we too had to celebrate two days in a row.  But hey, had we still been in NJ we would be celebrating an extra day.  I DO NOT MISS three day holidays.  Nope, no thanks.  I am good with my new schedule here.  My refrigerator is not made for a three day holiday.  Probably says somewhere that two days are its limit.

And by suffering, I mean, we celebrated with a big neighborhood meal in one neighbor's back yard (we learned that full capacity is 54 people, plus food)  Then the next day, we celebrated with other friends in their air conditioned apartment.  Full capacity there seems never ending because they have a fabulous backyard as well.  And if you buy enough ice pops the kids will even spend a lot of time outside.

And I was able to discover just how much can be baked in my toaster oven which is dairy.  I was pretty impressed.

Shopping in Israel
Well, I am not a big fan of clothing shopping in general.  But suddenly, one of my teen girls has turned into a teenager and is always telling me she needs clothing.  So, I decided that the day after shavuot, we would go shopping together.  I had walked by a cute little boutique-looking store a few weeks ago so I decided we should start there.  Usually our adventures are not very successful.  But, along with the magic of Israel, we had a great time.  The store was mostly empty and I must have looked overwhelmed enough for one saleswoman to come over immediately and ask if I needed help.  I said, ummm, yeah I do.  I mean, I don't even understand Israeli sizes.

She proceeds to look at my daughter and tell her that even tunics will work because they will be a dress on her.  She was mildly offended but I'm like, we are short, own it!!  More dress choices.  In the end, we didn't need to go that route.  Between myself and the saleswoman, we managed to find like 15 dresses that my girl agreed to try on.  And every single one looked fabulous.  I have learned that my job is to sit in the chair and just wait until she says she likes something.  I do not give my opinion first because that leads to her buying dresses that I like but she doesn't and then she will not wear them.

In the end, we walked out with two beautiful dresses (from the sale rack of course because that is how we roll) and everyone was in a good mood.  When I mentioned to the saleswoman that it is a hard age for shopping, she responded with, oh, your daughter is great.  Some of the teenagers are really hard. Lol.

We then went to a few other stores to look for more casual clothes and while we had mild success the first store was really the winner.  But then, as we were about to leave the shopping center, I said, hey look, a housewares outlet.  Lets go and browse.  I have a thing for cake plates and bundt pans and I figured, I am never in this shopping center so why not.  Well, we walked in and I immediately spotted two fabulous cake plates.  Its possible that I bought them for myself as a birthday present.  Hubby, I even had them wrapped,, so you can just give them to me.

And then while the saleswoman was wrapping them (okay, originally they were a gift for someone else) I found something even better.  I found this set of bowls, measuring cups and spoons, etc... that all nest into each other.  It is perfect for the small Israeli kitchens that most of us have.  The price was blacked out, so I went and asked her how much it cost.  She rings it up and here is where comes the Israeli-ness of this whole adventure.

She sees the price and literally screeches out (in Hebrew)  oh wow, thank goodness, finally, this is a normal price.  How lucky that you came in and asked what the price is.  Oh my gosh, I cant believe it,.  Finally.  And she kept going on and on.  My daughter and I were glancing at each other and laughing.  It was exactly like a scene from SNL (see link below).  Needless to say, I bought it as a gift for someone, and I am keeping the cake plates.  Maybe.

SNL clip

Camps
Okay, so summer is coming up and I need to figure out what my kids are doing.  My kids are all teens and tweens so camps start to get a bit tricky.  But the alternative is sitting home staring at their phones all day.  So anyway, camps.  Eldest wants a job so he is sorting that out himself.  Plus scout camp of course.  Other kids will all be at scout camp for less than a week.  One girl is on the junior Maccabi team for Netball (go Netball, even though I don't understand you) so she will be competing for a few days up north and will have a bunch of practice.  One girls is signed up for keyboard lessons and one girl is doing two weeks of surfing camp (because, you can). But what to do for the rest.

Promo for Junior Maccabi games

So we heard about this super cool camp and yesterday two of my kids had interviews for it.  It's a science type of camp and they want to make sure its the right fit for everyone.  Anyway, getting to my point. On the application (which the kids had to fill out by themselves) for the camp, they asked this one question.  The answer to the question is only known if you've seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  Which, okay, I have seen when I was in college because my hubby showed it to me.  But he has apparently taken the liberty to show some questionable things to my kids.  Anyway, my youngest knew the answer because of the movie, so he wrote it down.  And yesterday at the interview, they asked him about it, wondering if his parents told him the answer or if he just knew it.  And apparently he replied, "I knew it.  My father showed it to me.  And my mother said that if they have more children, she will get to be in charge of what they watch."   Out of the mouths of babes...

Anyway, they both were accepted into the camp.

The last few months, in a nutshell

Well, it's been a whirlwind of a few weeks /month since my last post.  I recovered from surgery, with the help of family and friends. They all managed to take our dog to the dog sitter for the week, organize shabbat food for us, and handle anything that we needed. And somehow in the middle of the first week of recovery, I managed to score a few job interviews.

Since a lot has happened since then, I'll skip to the end. I got a job. And not just a job. I put on my big girl pants/skirt and got the guts up to call the hospital where I missed the interview because I ended up in their emergency room. And tada, I now work in the postpartum unit of that hospital. Technically I've only worked in the nursery but I have a thing for babies so yeah, I'm happy that I'm in the nursery, at least at the beginning.

But sadly, after my first day of work, we got the sad news that my father in law passed away. He had been very excited for me to start this new job. I'm not going to write much about this here as I don't feel like it is the proper forum. But let me just say that he is very missed.

So after two days of work (I had to go in and tell my bosses) we all flew to NY for the funeral and Shiva. I returned after three days because of work.

Everyone else eventually returned from NY and they took over Pesach prep because I was working like a crazy person.

Flash forward. I have now been working for about three full weeks and it has been a whirlwind. The training here is kind of minimal compared to the USA (understatement) but I just keep asking questions. So I'm doing a brand new job, in a brand new country, in a brand new language. Oh, and also the hospital is brand new. So it's a lot. I have to focus every second because I need to really focus on someone if they are speaking to me in Hebrew. And everyone is always speaking to me in Hebrew. This is not Jerusalem where I might often run into other English speakers. So far I have met exactly four and only one works in the same department.

One day I was working and I saw my surgeon (who happens to be an English speaker) and I got so excited. I was like, hello fellow English friend, hi, ,hi, hi,. Lol. I don't even know if he knew where he knew me from. Ha! Then a family started speaking to me in English and I was like, can I hang out here all day? And update. I have since met two other English speaking families. I might have showed my relief a bit too clearly when we started speaking in English.

To sum up. Instead of sitting at home watching my puppy and Netflix and instead of taking yet another Hebrew ulpan, I have decided to actually find a job. And OMG have I mentioned how much Hebrew there is??

Now, some highlights and bloopers.
I went for the interview and before you can get into the parking gate, you have to answer the security guard's questions. So no, I don't have a gun. Yes, I'll open my trunk. Where am I going? To an interview. To which he replies, oh, it should be with much luck!

I have the interview and then they send me up to the postpartum unit to meet the manager. But first you have to pass by the security guard of that unit. I tried just slipping in with some guy holding balloons but that didn't work. So he asked where I was going. Then he wished me much luck. I meet with the manager and on my way out I just said goodbye to the security guard. But that wasn't good enough. He stopped and said, nu, how did it go??

Bloopers:

Trying to use the Hebrew computer charting system. I have decent spelling in Hebrew but not so much for new medical words. Aka, the Hebrew work for murmer, as in heart murmur is suprisingly similar to the word for, I am ashamed. This will make for some interesting reading if anyone goes back and reads my notes from before I learned how to spell this word.

Speaking to parents of newborns, all day long.

I've mastered the phone calls. "Hi, this is the nursery, your baby is crying, come and get him/her." But I haven't mastered answering all of the questions they ask me.   I do however, love first time parents. I love teaching them what to do. I especially love the dads who come to me for lessons on diapering, and then they want me to check their work. They want info on burping and how to hold this tiny baby.

More highlights:

 I definitely use tons of improper grammar every single day, but the parents are so sweet about it. I've rarely had one who acts like they can't understand me. Even most of the staff is understanding ( though they speak to me way too quickly). I had one staffsmember give me a really positive lecture about why I shouldn't be nervous about my Hebrew and my accent. She told me that the minute someone hears my accent and mistakes, they know I'm an expert in a different language. So I try and remember that at 3am when I'm stumbling over Hebrew.

And to preempt anyone who is wondering why I stumble over the Hebrew, I tell anyone who asks, that I've only been here for a year and a half. That usually results in them complimenting me. And at 3am, I'm all for compliments. #layitonthickplease

Okay, to sum up, because who knows when I'll have time to sit down again and work on this.

I have a job.

I work rotating shifts. Which means this week I am working days evenings and nights, depending on the day.

I usually don't know what day it is

Eating cake at 2am apparently is required here.

Babies don't mind that I speak to them in English

I have learned lots of new words and don't always know their English counterpart. But I've learned that check list is also apparently used as a Hebrew word.

Non-Scientific Comparison Time

(This blog was written over a two week period. So the end has absolutely nothing to do with the beginning.)

The idea for this blog struck me as I was sitting in a cafe  in Jerusalem. Differences between cultures, from my perspective.

Restaurants :

USA
Come in
Sit Down
Peruse the menu
Order food
Eat food
Once the wait staff knows you are finished, you get the bill
Pay bill
Leave tip on table or manually add it to credit card


Israel
Come in
Sit Down
Peruse the menu for three seconds
Tell waiter you need more time
Order food (and hope you understand the menu)
Eat food
Try to find a waiter for your bill
Keep trying to get your bill
Get so hungry that you almost need to order the next meal
Finally get someone to bring you the bill
Pay the bill
Leave cash for tip or tell them what to add to your credit card.  Yes, out loud, you tell them your tip.



Parking:

USA
Use the parking lot which often has ample parking and definitely can fit your car. 
If no parking lot is available, parallel park,in the direction that you are already facing.

Israel
If there is a parking lot, don't enter it. It's definitely a trap and the only way out is crying.

If you have a car larger than a tictac, you probably can't park it in one of the spots properly. That's fine if you have Israeli confidence that you'll be able to get out of your spot. I don't have that yet.

In the event that you need to parallel park (basically always) don't stress. You can park in any direction. No rules. See a spot and grab it! Don't forget to be confident.


Supermarket shopping:

USA
Pull into giant parking lot. 
Park giant minivan (oxymoron there). 
Take a loose cart and walk into the store. 
Shop for what you need and want. 
Feel free to even read the labels, because it's your native language so you understand stuff.

Choose a line.
Put your stuff on the really long conveyor belt. Then load it into bags while the cashier helps you. 
Leave the store. 
Put stuff into your big car. 
Return the cart or not (but I'll judge you if you don't).

Israel
Choose supermarket based on parking lot. 
Pull into said lot and park as far away from other cars as possible. 
Take your five shekel piece that you keep in your car and purse and insert it into shopping cart to release the cart.

Enter store and shop as you normally would. Except that the brands are different so it's a lot of trial and error. And sometimes you can only remember the type of cheese you like by the color of the package.  So hopefully they don't change the packaging until you learn the name. For the first few months, don't bother even reading the labels. It will just be frustrating.

Go choose a line. 
Notice that half of the carts in line don't even have people with them. They parked their carts there twenty minutes ago and did most of their shopping while their cart holds their spot. #smart

When it's your turn, you put some of your items on the very short conveyor belt. 
Then run back and forth bagging stuff and putting stuff on the conveyor belt. The cashier does not help. But also, no one seems to mind how long it a process this is.  
Finally get everything packed, try to properly answer the cashier's questions and leave the store. 
Load bags into car. 
Return cart if you want your five shekel back. Finally leave and pray you can get out of the parking lot.

Update!!

Well, lucky for all of us that I didn't manage to finish this earlier. Because now you get to have the latest and greatest update on my adventures in Israel. I can now officially compare hospitals in the USA vs hospitals in Israel. You're welcome.

Let's start from the beginning. Remember how I passed my Israeli nursing license exam and how I am finally licensed to work here???? Well, I finally got my resume together (thanks to help from legit Israelis) and applied to a few jobs. It took me longer than planned because I decided to finish the next level of ulpan and I had my level daled exam last week. Anyway...

My first interview was set for this past Sunday. So here is where I'll make a really long story short.

On the drive down to the interview, I started feeling really sick. At first I thought I was just nervous, but if you know me, you know that I don't get nervous like that. I am a fairly calm person. I felt so sick that I pulled over twice on the side of an Israeli highway. Again, if you know me, you know that I don't pull over on a highway. Ever.

Finally get to the hospital for interview but never make it to the interview. Suffice it to say that there are some bushes just outside of the management building that will never ever be the same.  And, thank goodness one of my good friends is an ER doctor at that hospital. (Hello being in the right place at the right time) she had to rescue me from outside. Hubby had to leave work and take the train and bus to me because there was no way I could drive. Got some treatment in the ER and went home. It was assumed to be a GI bug. Once home, realized what we thought was a GI bug really wasn't. While home, I actually pre diagnosed myself (oh joy).

Went back to the same hospital because my friend is a doctor in the ER and it helps to have friends in high places. Cut to the end of the long story and then I can compare.  I ended up needing surgery. Because if you're me, when your ovary decides to twist, it doesn't just twist once, it twists twice. I'm that much of an overachiever. So that's the insiders scoop. 

Now I am back home and recovering from that whirlwind introduction to israeli hospitals.

Comparison time. Remember, this is based on my very small sample. This is not scientific.

Emergency Room:

USA 
Walk in, go to reception, they print you a bracelet.
Sit down and wait for triage
Get called, be seen, have tests done, etc...
Spend weeks or months fighting with your insurance

Israel
Walk into reception, take a number
When they call your number, go to the window and try to give them your info
Vomit in the middle of reception (into the bucket you're holding)
They print your file immediately and send you in
Get called into the actual ER.
Spend a long time waiting to be seen
While pain meds work a bit, do some amazing people watching. Or not watching, but listening.  Apparently here in Israel, it's normal to walk right over to the doctors and nurses while they are helping others and start complaining about how slow everything is moving. Perhaps this also happens in the USA. I mean, I'm sure that it does. But for some reason it was much more interesting to watch the Israeli family members try to organize a revolt. And also to see if I could understand all of the Hebrew. Result. No one got hurt and I understood most of it. 

Let's cut to the end. Instead of me having what we thought was a GI bug, I ended up needing surgery. While this may seem pretty unlucky, I'll show you why i still feel lucky, albeit sort of traumatized.

#1 I feel very lucky that a good friend is an ER doctor and was able to help me. She wasn't treating me, but her co-worker basically told me he wasn't letting me leave until we discovered what the issue was. 
#2 I also feel very lucky that for the most part, the staff was fabulous. 
#3 I had a doctor who was having trouble getting an IV in. I have adorably tiny thin veins. When I told him this, he said that I needed to be more positive and you just have to know how to talk to them. He then proceeded to sing me a song about snails and water and he explained it to me, but apparently you have to grow up here to understand it.  Still, how sweet is that?
#4 My surgeon happened to be an English speaker
#5 I had an ultrasound tech who really stood up for me when one doctor was very skeptical of my situation
#6 I now know that my Hebrew is basically good enough to be understood by Israelis. Still a bit problematic when I'm speaking Hebrew to someone who also isn't a native speaker , which ps, is about half of the staff.
#7 when my neighbors and friends heard about what happened they just began to organize help. Food, whatever we need. So in the midst of this chaos I feel very loved. 
#8 I'm normally a very private person. But here we are all in family and now we can all freely discuss this. Israel changes people!

So end of the story. I made it to age 39 with my only surgery being to remove my tonsils and adenoids at age 30. I managed to give birth to four kids, including twins without surgery. And then along comes a tiny body part that decided to turn against me. I'm just glad it all worked out and I'm back home and recovering. Moving slowly, but the pain is insignificant compared to before surgery.

Oh, and in case you are wondering. They do serve Israeli breakfast in Israeli hospitals.  I was just feeling to sick to eat it. 

And I should add. At the end of this ordeal, I expect to pay exactly zero in hospital bills. We shall see.

Busy busy busy...

Okay, my kids keep asking when I'm going to write a new blog. Apparently they  enjoy reading about my thoughts, even though they rarely want to hear them.

This blog has been in progress forever. Good thing I waited until today to finish it  so that I could add these fabulous photos of the sunrise. Why did I see the sunrise?? Because I had to drive one son and hubby to a school across town at 6:15am today for the bus for the robotics competition in Tel Aviv.

What happened in the last few weeks/months?

Judo Competition
Scout Torch March
Chanukah
Chanukah vacation
Did I mention that I have a puppy?
Baking
Burning a cake
Alarm company phone calls
12th birthday celebration
Seeing old friends
Finally success at the butcher

I'll only highlight a few, no worries.

Scout /Tzofim Chanukah torch march.
This is when a huge group of scouts goes out together and walks through our town carrying flaming torches. So yes, I just let my kids head out and wander through the town with flaming torches. I trusted the staff which is kids ages 15+ to keep them safe. And apparently it all went well and they all had fun.

Chanukah vacation
Well, the kids were off from school starting on the second day of chanukah. We basically hung around the house, played with the puppy and ate donuts. Sounds good to me. They claimed to be bored but when they are too busy they claim they have no free time. It's not easy to please a house full of teens. Plus kids, we got you a dog. Just play with the dog! Also, they all got to go out to breakfast, with yours truly. And we were able to eat outdoors in December. #Israel

Baking
Okay, so you know that I've become slightly (shush kids) obsessed with my bundt pan (chiffon pan for you people from South Africa) since arriving in Israel. I don't deny it and I have now embraced it.  I've made probably 30 (or 100, whatever)  yummy and pretty cakes in the last six months or so. The problem enters when I preheat my oven but just sort of turn it on without checking the temperature. Then pop a bundt cake in. Then wait maybe twenty minutes until your extremely loud smoke alarm goes off. We don't have just a regular smoke alarm.. Oh no. Ours is connected to a fun light and siren on the outside of our house. And it calls the alarm company. Then the alarm company calls you over and over to see if you are okay.

So this nice woman calls me. And I have my daughter answer because I'm trying to find the switch to shut off the alarm.  Then my daughter hands me the phone. The woman keeps asking me in Hebrew if everything is okay. I say yes, everything is fine, I was just cooking and my cake is not okay. So being Israeli, she says, oh, cake, enjoy it. Ummmm, I think she missed that the alarm was going off because my cake was now burnt instead of bundt. So close!

Butcher
And finally, success at the butcher. You may or may not know that I had a wee problem last year of being afraid to speak in Hebrew to people. In class I am fine, but otherwise I would panic and mix up my words. This year has been better but I still don't look forward to asking questions. Especially to the butcher. I don't even know what to say in English. But I really needed chicken a few weeks ago because we were hosting a lot of people for shabbat. Usually the market has cut and packaged chicken that I can just pick up. But that day they only had beef packaged. Beef is an entirely different mystery here.

Anyway, I get in line for the butcher while practicing what I'm going to say in my head. And by get in line, I mean put your cart at an odd angle because there is zero line. There is a number counter but no number tickets to take. So you just kind of hope for the best. You have to remember who you are after. In the end, I wasn't pushy enough, but only one guy jumped in front of me in line. I consider that a success in terms of Israeli lines. I then managed to get my turn, and even explained to the butcher what I wanted him to do to the chickens. Let's just say it's a good thing that my budding vegetarian daughter wasn't with me. But  I have conquered the butcher. Now I can go back to sending my husband to buy meat.

Okay, this blog has now been in progress for weeks. So let's skip ahead. I'm currently sitting in the orthodontist's office while two of my kids get braces, so I have plenty of time to write. If you're wondering if braces are cheaper in Israel, the answer is, not really. Oh well. No one said that having kids was cheap.

Life here is rolling along. Some might say that time is flying. The kids are busier than ever. The girls recently had their annual overnight tiyul from school. They spent two days hiking and learning about the Negev desert. They got to do one of my favorite hikes, Ein Avdat. And they of course got to have the requisite Israeli snacks which are required to bring on all trips!

Eldest child now spends every afternoon with the robotics club at school. I'm not really sure what they do. All I know is that it is intense, he is there every night and that every parent has to sign up to bring them dinner twice. I don't think I can ever possibly cook enough to feed 25 hungry teenage boys. This will be interesting.

And now youngest child is also involved with the robotics club at his school. This is the first year that his school has done this. Luckily there seem to be some great parents who understand what is going on and I just keep dropping him off in different places to work on the project.

Today is competition day. It's their first year so I don't think they expect too much. But they seem to be having fun.

The girls have their activities. Photography, running, netball, taekwondo, etc... So I have a schedule on the refrigerator mostly to help me remember where everyone is, because they generally get themselves to activities.

So everyone is pretty busy. Except for me. I was getting bored and crazy at home, spending every day with my dog. Who by the way isn't exactly a dog yet. She is an insane puppy toddler who needs attention and training. So, it wasn't that hard for my former ulpan teacher to convince me to return to ulpan. So, I'm back. I decided to take the daled level exam, so we shall see what happens. Yesterday was my oral exam and the teacher testing me said that I speak Hebrew very well. She was probably being nice but I don't care I'm going to go with it! Update. I got a 94% on my oral exam. Not sure what that proves but yay!

And I didn't even mention it,  but of course, hubby and I continue going out for breakfast as many Fridays as we can manage. Breakfast never disappoints.

Status Quo

Well, life  has once again gotten in the way of my blog. Humph!!!

But I've managed to get some awesome pictures of the sky.

It's been quite busy here with the puppy. She has basically taken over our lives. Well, mostly my life, since I'm the one without  a job. At least she is cute! I now run home during the break in ulpan to take her out. Then race home after ulpan to take her out again. And then spend the rest of the day between her crate, my garden (bless my hubby for renting a house with a garden) and walking around the neighborhood. Everyone promises that all of the work will pay off with an awesome well adjusted dog. If they are lying, I'm going to make them dog sit.

What else has been going on?  We celebrated American Thanksgiving here. Last year we didn't and apparently my kids were disappointed. And by disappointed, I mean they didn't shut up about it.  So this year we ordered a turkey and paid five time as much as we would have in NJ for things like cranberry sauce. I refused to buy another can of pumpkin so I bought fresh pumpkin and cooked it. It was a lot of fun despite stressing over whether or not the turkey would fit in my Israeli oven. Verdict : it fits if you really stuff it.  Even though it wasn't like the Thanksgivings that we used to have, we had a lot of fun. And leftovers. Yummy.

And apparently it's that time of year again. No, not donuts. I mean, yes donuts, but first, something else. It's that time of year when two of my kids need the famous EKG done before they can compete in their sports. Last year all four needed it done, but two kids have since moved onto other pursuits with less contact.

One girl child takes a special taekwondo sparring class in Jerusalem, so she went with her coach and teammates to have it done. I just handed her sixty shekel. Then I had the pleasure of taking youngest boy child locally to get his done. Here is what happens.

#1 fill out long form
#2 try to understand questions on long form
#3 grumble because even though you hated medical ulpan, it was actually useful for something like this
#4 go to this little building behind one of the local high schools
#5 pay 60 shekel
#6 wait in line
#7 wait in the line of the left
#8 get called for your EKG
#9 not much privacy here (no privacy) so pretend it's a normal office
#10 go back out and get in the line on the right
#11 be seen by a super shady doctor, who asks no questions, glances at your form and at the EKG, listens to your heart and stamps your paper
#12 exit building and try to unlock the wrong car
#13 panic a bit that your car remote is dead
#14 find your car and chill
#15 suddenly realize that you are no longer freaked out about doing these things in Hebrew

So, I guess in the end it was good that we had to go. Because otherwise how would I know that I've achieved this level! Last year I made hubby come to help (do everything) in this balagan.

Other than that, not much is new. Chanukah is coming which means the smell  of sugar is in the air.  I finally bought my first round of donuts. Because hubby doesn't love birthday cake but he definitely loves donuts. So for the last few years I've been making him a donut cake. Aka, I stack up some donuts, add candles and voila, donut cake. Except here in Israel, we don't use candles. We use sparklers. Because we like to live on the edge. I shall post pictures if it all works out.

And finally. I am finished with ulpan. At least for now. I need to actually wrote my resume and look for a job. And between ulpan, the dog and the kids, I don't have any time. So starting Sunday I will be ulpan less. I hope they can survive without me!

Vacation like a boss! (or like an Israeli)

Wow, I did not realize how much time had passed since my last blog. I'll try and squeeze one in here while I have a few minutes free. And it will be short because I've forgotten everything!

Since the holidays, we have had a few exciting things happen.

Hubby and I went away together, aka, we left the kids alone, since we don't have any one to watch them. And the Israelis say that they are old enough. Despite their massive amounts of complaints before we left, they all admitted that it was actually  fine. We all survived! Already planning my next vacation.

We vacationed at the Dead Sea, because we can! We don't live too far, it's still quite hot there, and the hotels are kosher! No worries, they have an amazing Israeli breakfast there. We tasted everything.

We got a puppy. Her name is Goldie and she is a genius. A smelly genius, but a genius. If you remember our first time having a puppy (disaster) this time is going much better. And hopefully in a few months when she is finished teething on us, it will be even better.

I traveled alone to have an awesome vacation in Miami with my sister. My only other time in Miami was almost two years ago for the half marathon with Chai Lifeline. And while I enjoyed that experience and doing something for a good cause, it most definitely wasn't a vacation. This time, my trip to Miami consisted of: sitting in a chair by the pool. Sitting in a chair at the beach. Sitting in a chair in a restaurant. Sitting in a bed and watching movies. Perfect vacation with my sister.

 And get this. I had breakfast in the Israeli Airport. So I order my food and they take my name. Then you go to the other side and wait to be called. Well, in America no one can spell my name and for many years (pre Little Mermaid, no one could pronounce it. Well, no problems here. Boom. Spelled correctly!!

Then I did a quick two days in Philly with my parents. They like to make fun of the packages I ordered ahead of my visit. But I'd like to remind them that they have purchased luggage while on vacation to fit their extra stuff. So it's genetic. I did my usual amazing packing job. Each suitcase was at the exact weight limit. Woo-hoo!

Props to my awesome husband (who doesn't read my blogs) for holding down the fort while I was away. He had to take the dog to a dog sitter every day and deal with the usual kid stuff. Luckily my  pre-shopping for food,  my charts of dinners, chores , after school activities and what to do before and after school, helped him and the kids. And they tend not to text him with every little drama like they do to me. I think our next vacation will be together though.  It's possible that I have already started planning it. I can finalize as soon as tzofim plans their trips!

After the holidays! (Yes, it's finally here)

Ahhh, back to the blogging. It has been a long time it seems. Which means that life  is crazy and busy. And also that fewer embarrassing things have happened to me. Or at least I hope. Maybe I've just forgotten them.  Oh, here is one I just remembered. Last night I was texting with a neighbor about something about a suitcase. Apparently instead of typing the word suitcase in Hebrew, I typed lawnmower! Such is my life right now. At least the errors are further between than this time last year.

Tzofim trip!!
I've been waiting for the tzofim trip for a while. Last year they went away overnight, so hubby and I also went away. This year they did a day trip, so no vacation for us. Sad face. But on the happy side. I had a girls day out with a friend I've known for twenty years. Eek, that seems like a long time. It was a perfect day. Took the train, walked around, ate food, tested liquors at the liquor store, had a beer, (because why not?) and took the train home. Fun times.

Oh, and I think the kids had fun.

The holidays are over. Life is back to normal. Sort of. We spent sukkot entertaining which as a lot of fun. We had a l'chaim, a scout event, a party for my ulpan class, our fake cousins over, another group of friends over that hubby hasn't seen in years and half of whom I'd never met, (basically another scouting event.) This was in addition to the regular meals we ate in our sukkah. Note, this isn't a picture of my sukkah. This is the view from my kitchen window on sukkot.

#1 L'chaim was for me, as I passed the Israeli nursing exam!!! Now I have to look for a job!
#2 Scout event for my youngest. Someone has to volunteer their sukkah to host the 10 boys in his small group. Except only one boy and their counselor came. So they had  plenty of snacks available.
#3 friends and semi family over for meals. We can't fit everyone in our tiny sukkah but we made it work. We had a house full of kids, adults, etc.. Lots of food and fun.
#4 ulpan party for my new ulpan class and a few people from my last class. Towards the end we heard some loud music, so the men (okay, just my husband the husband of one friend) went to investigate. It was coming from the Chief Rabbi's sukkah.They went in, (after  telling security that they didn't have weapons) and got to see the speaker of the Knesset and some other people who they don't know.  You really never know what you'll see here.

My whole point of describing our sukkot activities here, is a very Jewish one. I cooked. Because Gd forbid someone should be hungry. Oy, my mother and ( I assume my grandparents) would never forgive me.  But forget the cooking. I have suddenly gotten very into baking, something I have always shied away from. Let's chalk it up to the miracles of the land.

So in this blog, I will give you a little idea of my cooking conditions here, VS America. I've never had a fancy big kitchen. But I've always had a full sized American oven and stove top. You know, the kind where you can fit two large pans or four lasagna pans inside, and theoretically cook in four pots on top of the stove.  That was always normal for me. We aren't a huge family, but we aren't a small one either. So I was always cooking something. Oh, I also used to own three crock pots. And I used them.

Now here in Israel, I've ummmm, downsized??? My kitchen is actually a decent size. It's about the same as the kitchen of my  first house, where I lived for ten years. So that's good. But I have a standard Israeli oven. Aka, it theoretically fits two lasagna pans, but if I do that, the bottom pan doesn't really cook. So almost always, it's a solitary oven, one item at a time.

Then we have my "stove top." We had an issue fitting the gas line for a four burner top. So instead, we have a two burner electric thingy. Except it isn't really two burners unless you only own pots that are small enough to feed one person at a time. If I put my regular pot on the burner, I can only fit one pot. So, that's interesting.

When we first moved here, I wasn't used to cooking in such a small capacity. It took  me hours to prepare dinner.  And then after a few months, I was able to develop a feel for the kitchen and reorganize my cooking. Now I can cook just like I used to, but it takes a lot of planning. And since I love planning and organization, it's worked out quite well. Now I'm wondering, why did I ever need four burners?? That's crazy talk!

Okay, sometimes I do have a lineup of items waiting to be cooked in the oven. But like everyone else in Israel, they have to learn patience. So they just wait quietly on my counter.

And thanks to the miracles of the land, I've been able to cook many delicious cakes and cookies and meals in my tiny appliances.

Just don't get me started on the washer and dryer.