Month 11

Hello all. I have been sending email updates on my life in Israel to 100 or so of my closest friends for the past 11 months. But, I've finally relinquished my Earthlink email account (it was not easy and involved telling a very persistent lady in India at least 4 times that I definitely did NOT want to continue paying for my email address), and my other account won't allow my mass emails. Anyway, it was time to take one step further into the digital age. So, here's my blog.

This is my 11th month in Israel. Life is busy here. Having recently moved houses, I am trying to finish unpacking and playing host to a constant stream of repairmen. I'm also trying to used to being a "housewife" instead of a very gainfully employed professional. Now, I'm.....trying to figure out exactly what I should do for the rest of my life....Preferably something that involves earning money.

Never a dull moment

Recently, I was at home during the day being a "housewife," and suddenly heard a blaring air raid siren and it didn’t sound like it was a test. I rushed into the saferoom/laundry room, but then realized there was no emergency light and no phone in there. I grabbed a phone, and grabbed my cell phone so I would have my sweetie’s [heretofore referred to as "Sweetie"].number. And then waited for it to stop. After it stopped, I went back out and all seemed well, so I sat down to read the paper and then I saw that it was a memorial siren marking an Israeli remembrance day. Would have been nice to know that before I panicked about us being bombed!


Sweetie was hanging pictures a few weeks ago and learned that even my special nails for cement were getting bent by the walls. We both were at least excited by the fact that our walls are really strong! Better in bombings!



And then there was the day a helicopter kept circling the area and we looked at eachother and casually said, "Suicide bomber." They were probably looking for a suicide bomber who was likely on the loose in the area. It happens.



All this sort of stuff just becomes second nature here and you don't really realize that it's a bit strange to make comments like that.



Also, the front page of the weekend section of one of the national daily newspapers addressed the question: If Iran lobs a nuke at Israel, what does the public need to do to prepare? Just the sort of thing you want to contemplate over your morning coffee.



But it's not all bad

On the up-side, we have a lovely house -- there is just no way we could maintain this standard of living in either of our home countries. That's one of the major bonuses in living overseas (and being employed by an entity in your home country).


Reducing my carbon footprint

Having been forced to sell my car due to a visa snag, I now walk everywhere -- sometimes up to 80 minutes a day! Some things I have noticed: no one picks up after their dogs, no one puts their dog on a leash, there are some really nasty, ferocious dogs in our neighborhood, people don't care about parking on sidewalks or blocking sidewalks, people don't care if they run over pedestrians, workmen like to stare at me...and other assorted things.



Also, there is a massive amount of construction going on in our residential neighborhood. There are still quite a few small, old houses from the early days of this area, and those are all slowly being torn down and new, hulking fortresses are being built in their place. People tend to like to keep an eye on their elderly neighbors who are living in these old houses, lest they pass away and leave a new construction site (sad, but true). We tried to find a house that wasn't adjacent to a construction site, but somehow we missed the abandoned house directly behind ours. It was obscured by some fairly massive trees, which someone chopped down today while also removing the roof of the old house. I see a lot of noise in our future.... But there truly is no escape. There are also at least two massive houses being built within 3 or 4 lots of ours in other directions. There is not a single block in this area that lacks at least one construction site.



When it rains, it....

When it rains in Israel at this time of the year, it rains mud. Seriously. It's disgusting. Actually, it shouldn't even be raining this late in May, but it still is, which is another sign of impending global warming doom (which Sweetie and I have determined will leave Europe a desert and will give the Mideast 4 seasons). Anyway, the mud leaves such a mess on everything outside: cars, patio funiture, decks, you if you're unfortunate enough to be outside when it happens.



Cha-chan's intro to cheek-kissing

Now that I'm coupled with a European, I really must get used to the cheek-kissing custom. The other night at a party, I found myself cheek-kissing an Ambassador. This is just not normal for me. That is not how I naturally expect to greet an ambassador. But, it is definitely the custom here.


On a more serious note

One thing that I am still not used to about living here is the fact that this is a country based on a religion. And, I can never get used to how many Americans, Brits, Australians, etc. that I meet who emigrated here. I am one of the first people to cite the US's faults and downsides, but I don't think I would seriously want to immigrate to a country that is at the center of so much conflict in the world. I suppose it's difficult for me to understand because I am not Jewish.