Living in Israel means:

א) Seeing Arab boys on donkeys by the side of the road, herding goats (or sheep).

ב) having dust and/or sand cover every surface in your house, even if you dust and sweep on a daily basis.

ג) having a car stop suddenly in front of you in the middle of the street, to either pick up people "tremping" or discharging passengers.

ד) not minding a work commute to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem, or from Tel Aviv to Haifa, or from Ramat Beit Shemesh to Jerusalem, or from Beersheva to Tel Aviv, on a daily basis.

ה) having a doctor's appointment on a Sunday night at 7:oo PM, or an MRI at midnight.

ו) sitting in an ulpan class with people from twelve different countries.

ז) seeing a boy with purple spiked hair and a ring in his nose jump off his seat to help a religious woman maneuver her stroller onto the bus.

ח) hearing an entire crowd of people at a bus stop answer "Amen" to someone's bracha.

ט) knowing where twenty falafel shops are within a one kilometer area in Jerusalem.

י) never having to hear or see anything about xmas, but having xmas decorations available at Succot.

כ) walking down the street and seeing people slinging live chickens around their heads on every street corner for a few days in the Fall.

ל) striking up conversations with other English-speakers and ALWAYS either knowing someone they know or having them know or be related to someone you know.

מ) turning on the radio and the only songs in English are from the 50's and 60's.

נ) walking a whole lot more than you used to.

ס) hearing the rooster down the street crow at all hours of the day.

ע) watching a mother be stopped on the street by an older woman telling her either to put a sweater on her child or take a sweater off her child - and thanking her for the advice.

פ) being on a bus taking an alternate route because a child forgot to get off at the right bus stop.

צ) all of the above

I just googled "Only in Israel" and there's an actual website with a whole lot of wonderful stories! Check it out!

I just had to write again. The past couple of days have been some of those "only in Israel" experiences that I want to share.

Last night at 7 PM I had an appointment in Yerushalayim with a pain management specialist. I've had neck and back pain for years, probably from a combination of sitting at a computer for seventeen years, bad posture, and osteoporosis. I've had massages, physical therapy and chiropractic care, so when my doctor suggested this, I thought "why not?" So I got on the 4:20 PM bus into town (David had driven in to work). I absolutely LOVE switching buses and knowing where I'm going! I wasn't exactly sure where the office was, so I gave myself plenty of time to get there. David has ulpan on Monday nights and finishes by 8:30, so we figured we drive home together. It was actually not so cold when the sun went down and I ended up walking from 5:15 until I got to my appointment at 6:45. There were, as usual, a lot of people out on the streets and it was fun to just be part of the crowd. That's not to say I didn't stop at various shops along the way and tried on a few clothes... One of the streets I walked down was Hillel, off King George, where David's ulpan is. I think maybe on one of our previous trips to Israel as tourists we might have walked on part of that street, but it was so beautiful! There were a lot of restaurants, bars, chic little clothing stores, coffee shops - even a tatto parlor!

They took me into my appointment early, and I had over an hour to wait for David, so I meandered through some side streets and ended up on Ben Yehuda, a long and popular outdoor pedestrian mall. I figured I'd be safer sitting still for awhile rather then doing any shopping, so I headed to the Koursin for a bowl of hot 'n sour soup. As I was walking towards the (small) restaurant, a policeman started yelling at me. Okay, ready for the first "only in Israel" story? I looked around and realized that there were lots of policeman herding hundreds of people (mostly kids) away from the spot I was standing on. I ducked into the restaurant, ordered my soup and then took it to one of the outside tables that was enclosed by glass. As I looked around, I realized that the entire area outside had totally cleared of people. A policeman saw me through the glass and waved his arms to motion that I should move to the inside part of the restaurant. There was one other English-speaking family in the restaurant at the time (young couple with a toddler, and parents obviously visiting from the states), and together with the two girls who worked there, we all crowded at the door to watch the robot in the middle of the street head for a plastic bag sitting by the side of a stone sculpture. We watched as it circled around and then took pictures (X rays?). After a few minutes, the robot lifted the bag in the air as hundreds of people watched from the windows of nearby shops. Then it flipped the bag upside down, and out dropped what looked like - a tablecloth wrapped in plastic. There were cheers as policemen converged to get the bag and tablecloth and put it in an official vehicle, and within seconds there were people everywhere once again. It was interesting to see all the tourists and yeshiva boys crowding around the robot with their camera phones taking pictures!

This morning I had to be back in Har Nof at 8:35 AM for another appointment. This is the other yearly event for us "mature" women where sadistic people in white coats make you take off all your clothes from the waist up in a freezing room, after which they position your body in positions that they must have learned from contortionists. Then they flatten certain female body parts in a vise while you stand on your toes trying not to writhe in pain - at which point they tell you, "Oh, looks like the computer isn't ready yet. Hang on; it'll just be a minute."

I know - you're thinking, "But Vickie, that happens in chutz l'aretz too." So, okay, that was just the background, that wasn't part of the story. Here it comes.

David and I drove in together this morning and then I took two buses from Har Hotzvim (free parking!). I took the #11 up Yehezkel and then switched to the #15 in Geulah because it got me closer to my appointment than the 11 would have. I had never taken the 15 and it was a newer bus and not so crowded. As we headed up Malachi Yisrael, I realized that the bus driver had an Elvis Presley tape playing, and boy, was he enjoying himself! He was whistling and clapping and dancing in his seat - I don't think I've ever seen a happier bus driver! I have to admit, that's the first time I've heard Elvis in Israel!

Fast forward a couple of hours. I've already had my mammogram but I'm now sitting in the "back" waiting room for the second part of the exam. (This clinic is very popular because they're very thorough and have the best equipment. They do an ultrasound with every exam, and they tell you up front to expect to be there for about three hours.) Anyway, I was reading the book I'd brought with me when I looked up and saw an older woman (much older than me) getting a neck massage by another woman. After a few minutes, the massagee got up and moved to another chair and the massager asked, "Who's next?" By this time, everyone in the room was watching with interest, and after the second woman got up, I rushed over to take her place. It turned out the massager (and pretty much everyone else in the room) spoke English, so I told her about my appointment with the pain management specialist the night before and how he had suggested that I get some massages. She said, "See how Hashem takes care of us?" When I asked her if she worked for the clinic, she just laughed and said, "No. I'm a patient, too. I'm also a massage therapist and I was bored just sitting here, so you're all helping me pass the time." I was flabbergasted! We all thought it was a perk provided by the clinic, and she was just doing it out of the goodness of her heart! She must have worked on five or six of us before they called her name.

Okay, those are my stories. I could tell you that Penina and Miryam came over this afternoon for a couple of hours of mahj, but that's probably not as exciting for you as it is for us. Although - the last time we played, I mahjed on the 75 cent hand which is the hardest one on the card. If you're not a mahj player that means nothing to you, but if you ARE a mahj player, you know what I'm sayin'.

And tonight I surprised David with a really great dinner. I was so proud of myself! (I have to admit, I like being a homemaker for the first time in my life...) We still have leftover turkey and today I decided to make a turkey pot pie - from scratch. I made two pie crusts which turned out much better than the ones I made for the pies last week. There's no parve cream of mushroom soup in this country (that I've found), so I enlisted the help of Vanessa who works at the makolet and speaks fairly good English. She found me a cream sauce and read the directions to me. Then I found a bag of mixed veggies - not just plain 'ole peas and carrots, but peas and carrots with corn and green beans and potatoes. I seasoned it with parsley and oregano and basil, and it looked and tasted יפה (be-yoo-ti-ful); just like a pro! Perhaps you're thinking that I'm tooting my horn a little too loudly. The truth is that most of the time I'm my own worst critic. This is one of the few times that I actually think the end product really did turn out well. Ask my husband - he had two helpings!

I just spent about half an hour reading the recent posts on my blog. It's difficult to remember what I've written or even when I've written (it's actually difficult to remember what I did an hour ago or what I said five minutes ago, but we won't get into that right now).

It's actually sunny and hopefully will continue to be so all week. After so many months of sun and warm weather, fall finally arrived with cloudy skies, wind, and temperatures between 15-20 degrees (that's Celcius in case you were shivering as you read that). We've also had enough rain to keep our yard muddy for the past week. Emma's so funny; she knows when she comes in from outside I'm going to grab her and wash her paws in the sink, so she just stands there when I open the door, hoping I'll back up enough for her to rush by me. I've had to resort to holding treats out, but she doesn't fall for that any more. Now we just have a standoff, with me closing the door in her face a few times, and even then I have to let her come all the way in and close the door before I try to grab her. She, of course, runs for the couch (light beige in color) and by the time I get to her she's run the length of it before jumping off, leaving a trail of muddy paw prints. It's going to be a long winter.

You're probably wondering what Israeli Americans do at Thanksgiving time. I would have to say that everyone does things differently but I actually have very good memories of Thanksgiving and enjoy celebrating it. We joined forces with our friends, and had a Thanksgiving feast on Friday night. Miryam made the turkey (rather well, I might add), Penina made the stuffing and green bean casserole, and I made the candied sweet potatoes and a deep dish apple pie, pumpkin pie, ice cream pie, and the whipped cream. Oh yeah, and I opened a can of cranberry sauce. There were ten of us, and even though we were extremely crowded in our dining room, we all had a great time. I read a great article from aish.com called "It's my Party" about being thankful for what we have, and not feeling entitled to have anything. We sang lots of zemiros; Penina's family have great voices, and it was very uplifting.

I planned to go into Yerushalayim this afternoon to meet up with a friend's husband and stepson visiting from St. Louis (looking into yeshivot), but he never answered his cell phone. I have to go into town tomorrow and again on Tuesday, so I'm not so disappointed. Tonight is my ulpan class. Did I tell you about that? Four of us (all women) are learning with an Israeli woman at my house one night a week. Unfortunately, we're all at very different levels so the teacher has her work cut out for her. I've actually been surprised at how much I remember from ulpan last year, or have learned throughout this past year. I really think new olim shouldn't take ulpan until they've been in the country for at least six months. After you've heard Ivrit spoken a lot, and you get used to hearing it, learning it gets a whole lot easier. Right now we're just going over the basics, but we want her to teach us conversational Hebrew so we can talk to the people at the post office, the grocery store, the bus station, and things we need in our everyday lives. B'seder?

Let's see, what else is new?

Penina's daughter, Rachel, who's going to seminary in Bayit Vegan, told us Friday night of another "only in Israel" story. She related that she and some friends were at a bus stop near their school when they struck up a conversation with a young mother. The woman invited them all to Seudat Shlishi that week! I told about a time when I was at a crowded bus stop when a very pregnant woman walked up and people made room for her to sit on the bench. The woman then started searching through her backpack and finally pulled out an apple. She held the fruit out in front of her and very deliberately, enunciating every word, made the blessing ha'adamah. Everyone said "Amen." It was so beautiful! And then, last Wednesday (in the pouring rain) I had to go into Yerushalayim for a doctor's appointment. Afterwards I got on the #11 bus (the seats were drenched) to go to Givat Shaul where I went shopping at the Cheaper Kol. This is a grocery store that has a lot of American products. I was looking for mandarin oranges, chow mein noodles, canned pumpkin, and cranberry sauce. While there, another woman heard me on the phone with my friend, Lisa, who was trying to direct me to the correct aisle where the chow mein noodles were located. She helped me find several products that I was looking for. Before I went to check out, I thanked her for her help and we began playing the Jewish Geography game. It turns out I know her mother-in-law, who is a big supporter of Aish St. Louis, and I had even seen her mother-in-law when I was in St. Louis in August (she lives in El Paso but was in St. Louis for the same bat mitzvah I had attended). She ended up inviting David and I for Shabbos whenever we wanted, and we exchanged phone numbers. I LOVE being part of a world-wide extended family where everybody knows somebody you know!

Some people call it "luck" or "fate" or "coincidence." People with faith call it Hashgacha Pratis (Divine Providence). All would probably agree that it's "being in the right place at the right time."

So, first, some background.

David has really been going through some angst lately, trying to figure out his life. He's been working for almost ten months now, without any clear cut goals. Before we made aliyah David told me several times that he didn't want to stay in the field of IT (Information Technology) when we got here. But once we got here and he began looking for work, he realized that in order for us to stay afloat it only made sense to work in the field he had experience in. So many people are finding it hard to find any kind of work at all. We were blessed that he found a job so quickly - except that he had the attitude that since it wasn't what he wanted, he was going to be unhappy. In his mind he felt that, once again, his job was taking over his life and he was resentful. There was commuting time and then 9 hour work days. Add to that ulpan two nights a week, and then studying for ulpan class on other nights. Two nights a week is learning by phone with a chavrusa (study partner). And when was down time? Or time with his wife (that would be me)? And between the time he gets home at night and the time he has for sleeping there's a lot to cram in, so sleep gets sacrificed. When you get up at 4:30 AM but don't make it to bed until 11 or 11:30 at night on a consistent basis, you tend to get grumpy and dissatisfied.

So David decided to talk to me about it last night at dinner; I had actually cooked and we sat down to eat our meal together. He told me about his frustrations and anxieties. I knew he'd been upset and unhappy; now I understood why. You see, David is a computer person. He needs to compartmentalize his life - everything fits in a specific slot and needs to be dealt with separately. He's slow about certain things, but only because he's sorting it all out in his mind; almost 100% of the time the end result is a perfect answer (which sometimes drives me crazy because how can you live with a person who always knows everything? Not that it doesn't occasionally {or usually} come in handy...).

Anyway, the conclusion he came to after much thought is that he has to concentrate on just one thing and do that thing to the best of his ability instead of trying to spread himself so thin that he can't be good at anything. He's decided that he's going to change his attitude. Of course he'd like to make learning Torah his #1 priority but right now, since he's not yet retired and has to make a parnassah, he's going to be the guy at work who volunteers for extra projects, who contributes during staff meetings, who goes the extra mile. He wants to show the company what his talents are and show them what his vast experience can offer them. Until now he deliberately has just laid back and not been part of the team, and he hasn't felt very good about that. In order to go from being a consultant who just works at Intel, he's going for the blue badge - which means that he's going to show Intel that they need to hire him directly and promote him according to his talents.

Ulpan is part of that. In order to get ahead he's got to learn the language, so he's going to concentrate (for now) on ulpan and work. He'll still learn with his chavrusa and whatever he can do on Shabbat, but our tzedakah money will have to support other people's Torah learning for now.

So this morning he woke up with a new attitude and a new purpose. We had a bris to go to this morning in Yerushalayim, right down the street from where David works. It was for the new grandson of friends of ours from Ramat Beit Shemesh, Tzvi and Tobi. Tzvi is the one who almost hired me to work for him at Aish, but he just doesn't have the money in the budget right now to pay a new person (a pretty repetitive theme for a not-for-profit). Anyway, it was mostly family and friends of the couple who had the baby, but I found myself sitting next to a woman at the seuda (festive meal) who was very sweet. She lives in Ramat Shlomo, her husband works at Aish, and of course we knew people in common, yada yada yada. You know how it goes. Then she asked what my husband does. I answered, "What does he do now or what is he capable of doing?" I explained that he was a software tester but that back in the states he designed computer networks for large companies. She became thoughtful and then said, "I have a friend whose husband works at XXX (don't want to give out too much info yet and jump the gun, but it's a nice company right around the corner from where David currently works) and I think they're looking for people right now." Then she asked for my cell phone and called her friend, Karen, and put me on the phone. It seems Karen's husband's computer company is conducting interviews right now for senior managers. They want people with experience, not these young people right out of college. It's also a great place (so says Karen) for religious people; the cafeteria is kosher with a good hechsher and they have daily minyamin (prayer services) in the building. Karen said even if her husband's department didn't need David's specific skill sets, he could steer him to a another department that could use him. She gave me her husband's phone numbers and email address, and said she would tell him to expect a call and an email with David's resume. WOW!

Does Hashem listen to us or what? Now that David finally made up his mind to change his attitude, it feels like Hashem is saying, "I've been waiting for you. Just walk though the door."

***********************

It's now late evening. David called Yisroel, but the position he was looking to fill in his department was in an area that David is not qualified for. He still told David to send him his CV and he would forward it to other applicable departments in the company. Oh, well. David and I talked about it tonight and we decided that we're just happy he has a job. I played mahj with two friends this afternoon (first time in a LONG time), and neither one of their families are doing well financially. One woman has four kids and her husband still hasn't found work after 11 months here; they're scraping together meals from donated canned goods and pasta. The other woman related that the electric company was on the verge of turning off their power. Another family in Ramat Beit Shemesh we're close with have been here over two years and they've both just done odd jobs to bring in some money. We are SO blessed. Now we're just trying to figure out what we can do to help without being intrusive.

At least now David has some perspective; he said going to work today with a changed attitude made all the difference. Baruch Hashem!

{printed with permission from subject}