Only in Israel...

Today I witnessed the most precious thing… I was standing at the bus stop waiting for the bus when I see these 2 very young kids – likely siblings – approach someone else at the stop.  I did not hear the dialogue that took place between them, but next thing I knew, the older approached person accompanied the two youngsters across the street.  It didn’t hit me right away what happened, but then I realized that these two kids aren’t allowed to cross the street by themselves, so whenever they approach a street crossing (mind you, it wasn’t on a very busy street – super un-highway like), their instruction is to ask someone older and self-reliant (at least when it comes to crossing the street) to accompany them across the road. 

Seeing this made me briefly smile internally, but it was quickly interrupted when a new set of young siblings, a young girl holding the hand of her even younger brother, came over to me and very quietly, obediently and politely asked me if I could help them cross the street.  My heart melted!!! It was the sweetest thing!  I obviously agreed and very simply walked across the street with them (to be honest I wasn’t sure if I should have held her hand as well but I kind of protectively put my hand around her as if to rest it on her shoulder, but I didn’t actually touch her – I didn’t want to freak her out).  I was so pleased to have taken part in that little good deed.

It really struck me what a special occurrence this was.  I really feel like this would and could only happen in Israel.  Firstly, that such young children have such respect for the rules that their parents set for them is something you don’t see every day.  Secondly, that parents trust their kids to such an extent to set these rules in place and trust that they will followed is also something.  And thirdly, that it is safe and appropriate for little kids to approach ‘strangers’ is the very thing that parents tell their kids NOT to do in America.  The whole situation was somewhat surreal, but was really enlightening and encouraging.  I’m happy now to be living in a place where such an occurrence can take place at such regular intervals.  I’m excited at the prospect of raising a family in such an environment.

Turning Tables

No Surprise – I’m a huge Adele fan (who isn’t), but that’s not what this is about.  I happen to live under an apartment where I can only assume that the people who live there move furniture around their apartment for a living.  At any hour of the day or night, it is not unlikely to hear a table or chair (and I wouldn’t rule out a bed or a chest of drawers, either) scratching across the floor.  I happen to have ears that are very keen to pick up noises, but these are no subtle sounds.  I can be lying in bed trying to go to bed while watching FRIENDS (duh), with a background sound of the usual outdoor noises coming through the window, when a SCREEEEECHHHH will puncture my calmness and jolt me awake.  Similarly, during the day one can hear the familiar drag across the floor at regular timely intervals. 

In truth, it doesn’t really BOTHER me.  Rather, it is just another ‘apartment-living’ component that I need to get used to.  Again, this is my first time living not in a house (incorrect English, but it is what I meant to say), and these strange noises come with the new territory.  The way building structures are made here, some of the older places (like mine) have super thin walls, and so late at night, while I’m watching FRIENDS (again, duh), I can usually hear my roommate/wall-mate laughing at whatever show she is watching as well.  Thank G-d I’m a heavy sleeper.

The only noise that I haven’t been able to get used to is the sudden slamming of the door to my room.  I have a sliding door which is only attached from the top of the door post.  As such, as it slides or even stays stationary, the bottom part of the door can easily be pushed into the room from the middle down.  To keep air flowing in my room, I usually have at least one window open, but sometimes that air pressure pulls/pushes the door into my and then releases it so that it slams back into its normal position.  During the day this is no issue, but when it suddenly bangs and wakes me unexpectedly at an hour that I am not meant to get up, I find it a bit irritating. 

I know that some people sleep with ear plugs – a habit that I know of bunch of my city-dwelling friends have taken up – but it is not something that I would want to become reliant on.  I think if I just tough it out for a couple more weeks (it has only been 3 weeks so far) it will become white noise, along with the Screechy McScratchersons upstairs.

I Made Soup!

I’m not THE most domestic person that ever lived.  Anyone that has ever seen my room in Teaneck could vouch for the fact that I’m kind of a hoarder and sometimes I let things get messy (something that I’m working on not happening in this new life that I’m creating for myself) even though I like things clean (myself included – I shower daily).  Having never really lived on my own before, I don’t know explicitly how to run a household.  There are a few domestic things that I do well such as doing laundry (folding included) and washing dishes – both of which I sometimes actually enjoy doing.  A major area where I am lacking in skill, though, is cooking.

Growing up in a household where the Dad is the main food-maker (and a fine good one at that), a young girl doesn’t generally bond in the kitchen the same way she would say, baking cooking with her Mom.  Said girl is me.  I didn’t learn from a young age how to make chicken, or bake a cake or any of those other standard food related activities.  My helping to prepare food consisted of a lot of cutting and chopping… and as a result, I can cut up veggies like it’s no one’s business.  In my teen years I perfected my omelet making abilities, and it wasn’t until I was about 20 that I started making pasta.  I think I made my first hard-boiled egg a couple of years ago.  I know this probably makes me look like I’m some kind of spoiled girl who can’t do anything for herself, but in truth it is all circumstantial.  When I was in college, I was on a full meal plan, and weekends were either spent at home or by friends – I didn’t have a kitchen.  After having graduated, I backpacked for about a year, and in that time I didn’t have a kitchen at my disposal and so I got really good at eating fresh fruit and vegetables, and where I was able, I bought ready-made food.  Otherwise, I’ve still been living with my parents (not out of laziness, rather to save my money in anticipation of the big move to Israel) and I’ve been able to benefit from my dad’s cooking as well as sticking to what I know (pasta, salad, omelets). 

Now that I am finally a big girl and living on my own, I’m being forced into this situation where I need to take care of all of my own food needs.  In truth, it’s about time.  I’m excited at the prospect of learning how to hone in further on my domestic skills.  Thankfully, I have my sister and a best friend nearby to coach and mentor me.  And it finally happened this week! 

In an effort to clean and purge before Pesach, Tehila was getting rid of a whole bunch of vegetables and I took them off her hands.  Once home, I looked at the onions, sweet potatoes and zucchini and thought it would be a good opportunity to try my hand at soup…. uncharted territory for me.  With the help of both my mentors over the phone and computer respectively, I fried some onions, cut up the sweet potatoes and zucchini, put it all together in a pot with water and some spices and anxiously waited (obviously I incessantly removed the lid, stirred, and kept checking in it) for it to be done.   The results were fantastic!  Here is a picture of my soup:

 It was tasty and filling, and I now feel empowered!  I’m excited about having a new meal option in my arsenal and it was easy!  This sense of accomplishment (laugh if you will, but this was kind of a big deal for me) will only take me forward and push me towards making more new things and becoming the chef that I know is inside me (probably hiding really far away and will need some coaxing to come out)!!!

My love, My life..... VOLLEYBALL

Having just survived my first weekend in Israel, I feel like I’m starting to settle in a little bit better.  Really things are going well here, thank Gd, but it’s still hard to think about the life I left behind in America.  I’m doing my best to look ahead and not behind, but sometimes it is easier said than done.  Mostly when I am keeping busy it’s good for me and I’m able to be happy.  It is sometimes in those quiet moments that a memory pops into my head and I get nostalgic and possibly a little sad. 

Those who know me well (or who have had the opportunity to talk to me recently, because it’s been the topic of a lot of my recent conversations) will know that one of the hardest things for me to have left behind was the regularity of my having played volleyball.  For the past 2 years, I’ve been playing volleyball every Thursday night in Teaneck.  It’s just my thing – Thursday night is volleyball night.  I plan around that, knowing that from 8-10:25pm, don’t schedule anything else or plan to be anywhere else because I will be at the Benjamin Franklin middle school gym playing volleyball.  This past Thursday night here in Israel, I couldn’t help but be aware of the fact that I wasn’t playing volleyball (even though with the time difference, my 8pm really meant 2pm in NJ/NY so it didn’t exactly match up).  In the past month, I’ve started playing every Tuesday night in Hackensack at the YMCA, and even in that short period of time I became connected to the people and the game.  No matter what else was going on in my life, no matter how busy I was otherwise or what other plans I had, these games took precedence in my time management. 

Here’s an example: In the weeks before I left NJ, my dad would remind me multiple times daily that I “(didn’t) have a clue about how much there (was) to do….”  I don’t want to stray too far from my position of oppositional daughter, but I think he was kind of right.  Knowing that I am a procrastinator, I did my best to go through my stuff and pack as far in advance as possible, and so steadily for too week’s I made my way through my life’s possessions and started to pack my bags.  Each day I would think that I made progress and know that I still had the remaining days to get my stuff done.  So the week before my departure was no different.  Even though I still had HOURS (if not days) or work left to do, volleyball was still a priority for me.  I played a record 4 games that week: On Sunday morning, for 2 hours, I returned to my former High School to play an alumni volleyball game against the current year’s Varsity Team.  (I’ve gone back to play with them many times these past couple of years and it has always been fun and a good way to continue to play).  Tuesday evening I went to Hackensack to play for another 2 hours in that new game. (The YMCA in Hackensack is actually a cool place and an awesome resource that I feel foolish not to have been taking advantage of for years!) Wednesday night I got my volleyball buddy Leya to schlepp to Ridgewood High School with me for the best game ever with a cool, diverse group of people and a really high level of play.  And of course, Thursday evening was spent at my usual game.  Despite the ridiculous amount of work that I had to do toward making myself ready to board the plane on Monday, it was still really important for me to get my volleyball fix and push my other responsibilities aside.

Volleyball will play a key factor in my settling down here in Jerusalem, and starting to feel like myself again.  I’ve been posting all over the internet and inquiring with good resources in an effort to find a game (or preferably multiple games) here around town.  I’m pretty confident that something will come to fruition, but until it does, I will remain a little on edge.  In the meantime, my sister and some local friends are interested in bumping around a ball (I now have my own which was my going away present from my former place of work – Thanks Steinhardt Foundation!) so that is fun, and will tide me over for a while.  Here’s to hoping that I find something steady soon so that I can continue my own task of finding structure and reliability in my new life!