some notes on Israeli society...

I learned something new about Israelis during a visit to the post office yesterday. Because Israelis are notoriously incapable of waiting patiently - for anything - Israeli bureaucrats have implemented different systems to make waiting slightly more tolerable. One such example is a new machine at the post office, whereby upon entering one selects from a variety of options (such as sending mail, picking up a package, etc) and then you are given a number according to the service you need. Therefore there are several lines, for the different categories. I went in, selected the service I needed, and received my ticket with the number on it. But after about 10 minutes of waiting, I realized that some people who had come in after me were being served before me. Then I saw a woman go up to the machine and select a ticket for every available service. She held the three tickets in her hand, and whichever number came first, was the one she went with. I couldn't believe it! But I'm a quick learner, so I hurried back to the machine and withdrew more tickets, and as a result was also serviced faster with one of the other tickets. oh, Israel.
I had lunch with an Israeli friend the other day who's part American and part Canadian, so he has an interesting view on the differences between Israelis and North Americans. One little anecdote, he pointed out, is the concept of "free refills" in America. In America, it's not a big deal. You go to papa gino's or wherever and get your pizza and your cup and you drink however much coke or pepsi you want. No one really gets too crazy about it, maybe children get overexcited sometimes, but it's a relatively normal concept. In Israel though, he pointed out, offering free refills would never work. People would practically bring jerry cans to the soda fountain to fill up on a lifetime supply of soda! That's the way Israelis are - milking everything for as much as they can get :-)
and one side comment about my Hebrew studies - I am dyslexic in Hebrew. I have come from being an honors English Literature student to being dyslexic in Hebrew. I literally think in my head of something I want to write, and when I look down at the paper its something else entirely. I invert letters, I write things backward, I mix up letters - you name it. It's quite fascinating to watch my hebrew dyslexia in action :-)
on the plus side of my Hebrew studies, I'm finally beginning to understand the random comments men call out to me when I walk down the street here. I'm thinking maybe it was better when I didn't understand... :-)

New job, new boyfriend - new beginnings!

As every new immigrant to Israel sadly learns, the government subsidy only takes one so far... so like all the other olim chadashim in my ulpan class, I too now have a part-time job. I'm babysitting for an Israeli 9-yr-old girl in Tel Aviv every day from 1:30-6pm. Its the perfect schedule and I got really lucky with the pay (according to Israeli standards.) The girl is absolutely adorable (I'll refrain from mentioning her name for the sake of her privacy). but she is unlike any other child I've ever babysat! She brings her dishes to the dishwasher without being told and automatically helps clean up every day after we have lunch. She gets a 10-shekel a week allowance from her mom and saves it up diligently - whenever we go shopping she is constantly asking how much things cost, and calculates which things she wants the most and how long it will take her to buy them. last week, she spent 85 shekels - thats 8 1/2 weeks of saving - on a pair of earrings for her MOM. I was like, did she have a birthday or something? No, there was no special occasion, she just wanted her mom to have these pretty earrings. I was blown away!!! so ya, shes a great kid. she understands english but so far has refused to utter a word in english, so its actually very good for my hebrew. even though im tired after ulpan, i have no choice but to continue my day in Hebrew with her. we read books in hebrew and watch tv in hebrew and she is constantly teaching me new words. i actually find it very helpful to speak with a child because i'm not embarrassed to ask her every stupid little random question I've ever had about hebrew! :-) this girl is actually the only person I communicate with in my life who if I dont understand something, she literally cant translate it into English for me. everyone else eventually will translate so that I'll understand, but she simply cant. occasionally we've pulled out a dictionary (she was trying to describe a ferret and I had absolutely NO idea what she was talking about!) but most of the time, we get by in our own way. so between the ulpan, the new job, and the new Israeli boyfriend (yes thats right, very exciting!) my Hebrew is steadily improving day by day. it feels like i'm filling my brain with all these assorted puzzle pieces, that one day will hopefully all fit together. its almost like there are words buried in the sand and I'm digging through with my hands, brushing and wiping the sand off of them, so that suddenly things will become clear to me. but theres still a lot of effort that must be made... and things become clear slowly and yet suddenly at the same time.
God is being very good to me, and Israel too. I simply can't complain. Just trying to feel grateful for all the wonderful things in my life here, and continue on the journey. "L'at l'at" as they always say here. :-)

A return to routine...

After what felt like a nonstop whirl of fun and quality time with my mother, stepfather, and sister the past 2+ weeks, life for me has resumed to "normal" - or at least quiet. My ulpan studies take up most of my time, especially now that I'm with a new teacher in a higher level class. My new teacher is the polar opposite of my previous one - she hardly smiles, has extremely high expectations, and assigns approximately 2 hours of homework a day. She says we'll thank her at the end of the course for the level of Hebrew she'll bring us to... but I'm telling you, my peers and I are crying every step of the way! :-)
It was wonderful to have my family here with me. They brought me two overstuffed suitcases with more clothes and personal belongings... so that about wraps up what I'll have from back home here with me. It was hard to say good-bye when they left, because it just feels like such a shock to realize how far away we are from each other. It's not easy. But life gets back to normal, you get back into the swing of things, we chat on skype, and look forward to the next visit. What I keep reminding myself when I have sad moments like that is how much I love living here, how complete and peaceful I feel, and I know that missing my loved ones is the one sacrifice I had to make in order to be this happy.
The heat, though, is starting to be too much... I who swore I would never complain about the heat am starting to reach my tolerance limit for the temperatures here. It's just so hot! You couldn't walk at a quick pace outside for more than 5 minutes if you tried. Everyone is sweating, all the time. It's very sticky. But I know how crappy of a summer Boston is getting with all that rain, so I'll refrain from further kvetching! :-)
Last night though was a shocking turn of events for the city of Tel Aviv.. a gunman attacked a gay youth club and killed 2 people and wounded 15. At first everyone's immediate assumption was that it was a terrorist attack, but we know now that it was a hate crime. Today I went by the site of the attack and saw hundreds of Israelis gathered in a support rally, bringing flowers and signs and showing their support for the gay community. It was a very sad and very touching sight. But it's nice that when something this tragic happens, people come together, and mourn together, so that it doesn't feel like a distant event, but something relevant to all of us. We can take a tragedy and use it as an opportunity to express love.
And I love Tel Aviv.