One Month As Israelis

Shanah Tova/Happy (Jewish) New Year to all! 

We can’t believe another week has gone by in our lives as Israelis… and unfortunately not much has changed since last week on the apartment front.  We are still working on sealing the deal on the same apartment, but with Rosh HaShanah shutting the country down for two days mid-week nothing was able to progress.  In the meantime we have continued looking at other apartments, just to keep our options open.  I can’t wait for the day when I can delete the Yad2 app (house hunting app) from my phone! 

Some highlights:  Last Shabbat we had dinner with an anglo couple that moved to Israel 45 years ago, their daughter and her family.  The grandparents obviously spoke perfect English, the daughter was fluent in English, but had a pretty strong accent and her husband and kids didn’t really speak English at all.  This made for fun dinner conversation that constantly switched between languages, sometimes even mid-sentence.  The 12 year-old granddaughter used us as an excuse to practice her English, which was pretty abominable, but did leave us with the absolute best question we’ve been asked so far as new Israelies: “Why… you… up… Israel?” Her literal translation of the Hebrew question for why we decided to “make aliyah” (the word used to mean “immigrate to Israel” literally means “a going up”), to which our answer received a round of applause from all the kids, has now become our mantra.  Thank you little Israeli girl.

We spent Rosh HaShanah in Jerusalem and finally had a chance to see many of our friends there.  We had a wonderful holiday and ate more home-cooked meals in two days than I think we’ve had since moving to Haifa (we still don’t have a working kitchen and are eating like college students – instant noodles, cans of tuna and Israeli salad).  Thank you to all of you who hosted/fed/entertained us during our visit – now you have to come to Haifa to see us again!

We are now getting ready for Shabbat and have managed once again to get invited out for all our meals this weekend.  Thank God for generous people who take pity on new immigrants!

We now officially have one week to move out of our temp apartment, so please keep us in your prayers that we close the deal on a place.  For those who celebrate Yom Kippur coming up this week, g’mar chatima tova, may you be sealed in the good book!  Have an easy fast and look for our one-month update this time next week.

Shabbat Shalom and have a great weekend,

Stef and Matt

Three Weeks As Israelis

Shanah Tova/Happy (Jewish) New Year to all! 

We can’t believe another week has gone by in our lives as Israelis… and unfortunately not much has changed since last week on the apartment front.  We are still working on sealing the deal on the same apartment, but with Rosh HaShanah shutting the country down for two days mid-week nothing was able to progress.  In the meantime we have continued looking at other apartments, just to keep our options open.  I can’t wait for the day when I can delete the Yad2 app (house hunting app) from my phone! 

Some highlights:  Last Shabbat we had dinner with an anglo couple that moved to Israel 45 years ago, their daughter and her family.  The grandparents obviously spoke perfect English, the daughter was fluent in English, but had a pretty strong accent and her husband and kids didn’t really speak English at all.  This made for fun dinner conversation that constantly switched between languages, sometimes even mid-sentence.  The 12 year-old granddaughter used us as an excuse to practice her English, which was pretty abominable, but did leave us with the absolute best question we’ve been asked so far as new Israelies: “Why… you… up… Israel?” Her literal translation of the Hebrew question for why we decided to “make aliyah” (the word used to mean “immigrate to Israel” literally means “a going up”), to which our answer received a round of applause from all the kids, has now become our mantra.  Thank you little Israeli girl.

We spent Rosh HaShanah in Jerusalem and finally had a chance to see many of our friends there.  We had a wonderful holiday and ate more home-cooked meals in two days than I think we’ve had since moving to Haifa (we still don’t have a working kitchen and are eating like college students – instant noodles, cans of tuna and Israeli salad).  Thank you to all of you who hosted/fed/entertained us during our visit – now you have to come to Haifa to see us again!

We are now getting ready for Shabbat and have managed once again to get invited out for all our meals this weekend.  Thank God for generous people who take pity on new immigrants!

We now officially have one week to move out of our temp apartment, so please keep us in your prayers that we close the deal on a place.  For those who celebrate Yom Kippur coming up this week, g’mar chatima tova, may you be sealed in the good book!  Have an easy fast and look for our one-month update this time next week.

Shabbat Shalom and have a great weekend,

Stef and Matt

Two Weeks As Israelis

Hello All,

We are writing again from our temp apartment, but hopefully for the last time!  After looking at many (many) different apartments, we have finally found one that suits our needs.  We have not secured anything or signed anything, so I won’t say anymore, but wish us luck as we enter the final steps of the process. 

In our search we encountered a number of “interesting” apartments.  One had the most incredible view, giant bedrooms… but a kitchen barely big enough to walk into.  Other apartments were newly (-ish) renovated, but the bedrooms were only big enough to fit a bed (and nothing else).  One guy tried to convince us that his apartment was nice and quiet, even though it was just off a major intersection and above a bar, “when their music is loud, I just turn on my music and I can’t hear it anymore.”  Another guy tried to convince us to take his apartment because Matt looked just like the previous tenant.  At one apartment, the guy wouldn’t give us a price, but asked us what we thought the apartment was worth.  He told us he would rather have a nice couple like us who will take care of the apartment, than make a lot of money.  Too bad that apartment was not in an ideal location.  At a few places, they assumed we weren’t married and were shocked to find out we’ve been married for three years (sometimes that shocks us too).   All in all, it was an experience, but an experience we hope will soon be over. 

Last weekend, we spent Shabbat in Ahuza (the neighborhood we hope to move to).  In Ahuza there is a decent sized Anglo network and we were set up for everything we could need.  We stayed with a woman who reminded us a bit of Matt’s mom – she made Matt Shabbat morning coffee and she even plays Mahjong!  We had dinner with a few couples around our parents’ age who immediately offered their help in apartment/job searching (and everything else).  The next day we met a bunch of couples around our age who we already consider our new friends! 

At shul on Saturday morning Matt was reading an article he brought from one of his professors/advisor, Simi Chavel, in Chicago.  At some point he felt someone leaning over his shoulder.  When he looked up he saw a man smiling and the man asked: “how did you come across that article?  I did my phd with Simi at Hebrew U!”  This man, Yonatan Ben-Dov, is a Bible professor at Haifa University, has become one of our biggest supporters, feeding us and helping with the apartment search among other things.   Also at shul, a woman who has kids our age approached Stef asking if she was new to the neighborhood (she asked in English, I guess I exude “American”).  She had already heard of us (through the Anglo networks) and her name is Ellen, just like Stef’s mom!  She too invited us over and has offered to let us stay with her if we ever need to.  People in Ahuza seem to really like us. J

Also this week, Matt began to work.  On Sunday, Matt’s professor called and said: “so you’re digging tomorrow, right?”  At that moment, Matt didn’t exactly know what he was being signed up for.  At 5:30am the next morning, Matt was on his way to Tel Esur so assist on a Middle Bronze archaeological excavation.  He comes home each day covered in dirt and exhausted, just in time to head out to apartment search (after a shower of course). 

Last, but not least, we went to our first Brit Milah (Bris) as Israelis.  Friends of ours who live in town that happens to be right around the corner from Matt’s excavation, was having, not only a bris for her new born son, but also a Simchat Bat (baby naming) for her new born daughter, twins!  We were so happy to see them and meet the babies and we hope that once things settle down in both our lives we will have a chance to spend some real time with them. 

We want to wish everyone a Shanah Tova (a happy New Year) – we are excited to be spending Rosh HaShana this year in Jerusalem with our friends and family.  

In the meantime, Shabbat Shalom and have a great weekend!

Stef and Matt

A Week As Israelis

Hi All,

A week in Israel and we're still here!  Some things are still the same: still living in the temp apartment, still looking for a real apartment, it is still hot... Other things have changed: we have our official teudat zehut (Israeli ID cards), we opened a bank account, got phone plans (with unlimited calling to the States!), Matt finally met his professor in person and has received his first writing assignment that will hopefully be published (we'll keep you posted). 

We are meeting lots of people, mostly Anglos at this point, but will hopefully break into the Hebrew speaking social circles in no time.  There have been very few people so far that we have met that we didn't already know somehow.  We had one meal where the husband was a student at Penn when Matt worked at the Hillel there.  Another guest at their table was a roommate of a friend of mine and we had actually had a meal at her apartment about 4 years ago.  The list goes on.  

As it turns out we got even more than we bargained for with our temp apartment... we also got a cat.  Now, thankfully this cat does not live IN our apartment, he lives outside.  He has a collar, but seemingly no home.  He escorts us when we go out and he leads us to the door when we get home.  If we stand in one spot too long, he begins to rub up on our legs and curl up at our feet.  For those of you who are cat people, you're probably thinking, "Oh, how sweet!"  But for any of you that have spent time in Israel, you know that cats are like squirrels here.  They are dirty and live in dumpsters and are probably disease ridden.  That being said, our new pet cat is a cross-section of adorable and gross and I have named him "Mr. Cat" (I know, real creative).  

We made a quick trip to Jerusalem this week to pick up our ID cards. We got to see a few people, but not as many as we would have liked (for those we did not see, we'll hopefully be back in J-lem soon).  When we went to the Nefesh b'Nefesh office, guess who we saw? Airplane seat kicker man! (For those of you who don't know what that means, see previous email reprinted below.) There was thankfully no direct interaction between us, however, when we left and got on the bus, he sat down in the seat right in front of me!  This was truly a test of my character and as it was Elul (the Jewish month where try to be on our best behavior) and I refrained from kicking his seat as hard as I could (which was not an easy thing to do). 

We are staying this weekend with a family in another neighborhood we are considering living in.  Of course, we know numerous people in common, including her son-in-law.  So it goes in this tiny country.

Shabbat Shalom and have a great weekend!
Stef and Matt