Being Away

It's odd. Being away and all.

I mean, I've moved away before and have traveled but the way I'm thinking about it seems different this go-around.

A few weeks ago shortly after we joined the local gym, in the middle of a workout something struck me. (No, not literally.)

Practically everything I was doing while working out was identical to what I did at the gyms back home - be it the UW IMA, or more recently the local 24 Hour Fitness. Moreover, I was wearing pretty much what I'd wear back home and was also listening to exactly the same workout music on my iPod. Sure, my body was physically transposed to another part of the world, but everything seemed the same - and oh so similar.


Moving on - just today, Miriam and I went to the Zoo with our relatives the Manns. That's the Jerusalem Zoo which is basically on the outskirts of the city. At one point, while everyone else aptly looked on at penguins behind a glass window in an exhibit, I couldn't help but think about the whole experience. Warning - you may not like or agree with my thoughts of the experience, described below.

While I tried peering through the dirty glass to see what the penguins were up actually up to, I wondered why I wasn't just in front of a high def television set or plunked down a foot or so away from my laptop looking at better quality pictures and videos of penguins. Being at the zoo seemed so backwards - I mean, who knows if you'd actually see what you want to after you paying your admission. What if you visit on an off day and none of the animals really put on a show? In all seriousness, you may get more of a kick out of March of the Penguins. Or learn more from the Wikipedia page on penguins.

I can't really put my finger on it but I'm sure the way I'm thinking about things - both at the gym and the zoo - is completely unusual. The fact that you can log onto the same internet and the same webpages anywhere you are in the world has probably contributed in shaping how I think about things. With the gym, it's pretty much the same experience anywhere (given some baseline). And the Zoo? I suppose every animal there has figurative hyperlinks to some webpages, video clips, images, and whatever else on the internet.

What a week we have had....

This week was an action packed week and it looks like our weeks will be busier and busier as we approach the holidays.  This week we got to go to our cousins Upsherin. Yosef had his hair cut, and now looks like a big boy.

We also hosted our first shabbat, not only is Isral but as a couple this was my first time making shabbat. We were a party of eight. And for those thatare interested I will provide the menu:

Gefilte Fish
Little Salads (hummus, egplant, isreali etc.)
Chicken Soup with Matza Balls
Green Salad
Kugel(Potato and Yrushalmi)
Grilled Vegetables
Sweet and Sour Meatballs with Rice
Green Salad
Rugelach
Popcorn
Ice Cream Cake

A person might wonder why do a huge shabbos rigt before the chagim. Well we are also hosting a meal of eight on Rosh Hashana but I decided I needed a practice run and am full of confidence as we approach Rosh Hashana. We look forward to hosting many more shabbosim.

We are planning on spending our Rosh Hashana davening at Brandon't Yeshiva, we will also be eating one meal at the Yeshiva. For our other eating needs, one of the other couples is hosting the first night, we are having three other couples for the first day and on the second day we are eating at our cousins the Manns. In the meantime we will not be eating in order ot make room for all the food headed our way.  We still have not made it to the kotel, but hopefuly with in the week.

Stay tuned for apartment pictures...

Bed Bugs!

The most surprising thing thus far about Israel? Quite possibly the bugs that fly by night - aka the bed bugs.

I wake up each morning now anticipating where I'll have a new bite - sure, we basically invite any and all interested parties of said creepy-crawlies into our apartment on a nightly basis by leaving practically all doors and windows open to help with ventilation.

But what's the alternative? Not let any air in and wake up in a pool of sweat? Well, that's if I'm even able to fall asleep.

On the other hand, some cohorts have come to me and clamored about possible remidies - which include eating garlic prior to clocking out for the day. Apparently bugs don't like the smell of garlic either!

Conversely - Miriam brought my attention to some anti-bug-lotion we had somewhere around the apartment, but the stuff isn't preventative. It just claims to help after the fact. Still, it may get rid of the itching - although the bug-lotion is currently MIA.

Ah well - for the time being I'll fly with things as is. I'm okay so long as none of the bugs get anywhere near my mouth!

Fear not we are alive and well...

Fear not, we are very much alive and well just been too busy to blog, but now I will catch you up. We are settling into our lives here in ISrael. Both of us have long school days, and learning how to get all homethings done as well as time for ourselves and each other is all part of the learning process.

Today I built our new dining room table, and I am so thrilled that we actually have a decent sized table. I am  also very much looking forward to having a decent size table.  I am also looking forward to hosting a meal here on Rosh Hashana, we have thus far invited two other couples and will probably also invite some boys.. I mean men from the yeshiva or women from the midrasha. 

We live around the corner from one of the largest  bakeris and Jerusalem and right now our whole apartment is filled withthe smell of fresh bread. mmmm.. although it is making me hungry.

Tonight is Brandon's birthday and we are going out with our cousins Lauren and Avi as well as our good friend Michael Feldman. Can't wait, stay tuned for how that goes.

Internet! Finally!

Good news - Miriam and I now have internet in our apartment!

It's tough to believe neither Miriam nor I have updated this blog in TWO WEEKS -- since prior to leaving to Seattle.

Since then, we drove out of Washington, through Oregon, and down California. A few days later, we flew out to Israel - and here we are now. We'll (probably) fill in the details later but things are good now.

Expect more updates soon!

Sleep?

It's past 3:30 in the morning and I'm exhausted. Miriam and I have been up trying to get our packing done. Truth be told, we'd be nowhere near done if it weren't for all the work Miriam put into getting everything done in the last week. We should be able to scramble and finish it all up tomorrow - including getting a ton into storage.

I'd write more but I'm about to crash.

Delay of Game

So as it turns out, it looks like we won't be leaving this Sunday. Rather, we'll be steering away from Seattle on Monday. Packing things up has taken a slight bit longer than expected so hopefully we'll finish things up here on Sunday and leave the following day. Stay tuned for updates of course though...

In other news, Miriam and I went into the U-Village Apple Store today. My phone had been glitchy (read: unresponsive screen in parts and echoes in calls) for the last few months and I just hadn't taken it in until today. I walked out of the store with a new (or refurbished, but works as new) phone - even though I was out of warranty. Miram also left with a swapped out iPod touch because part of the exterior on her less-than-two-week-old device was coming apart.

(Side note -- isn't it funny that I wrote substantially more on our trip to the Apple Store than on what this blog supposedly has to do with?)

Sunday

Sunday.

This Sunday.

We're leaving Seattle on this Sunday.

I still don't think it's completely hit me yet.

Packing Everything Up ~ Part II

Wow!!!

Packing is hard. I have been working so much this week to finish up at work, now that I am not working all I want to do is sleep and knit, but we are leaving in just under a week, and there are things to deal with. How can two people who have lived somewhere for less than two months have so much stuff.

Yikes!! Looks like a weeks of late nights! Can't wait to finally be settled long term. Hurray for 10 months in Israel.

A New Hobby

A few months ago I decided I wanted to learn to crochet kippot, this turned out to be a ridiculous disaster. My kippot never reached the size beyond a half dollar, and so I gave that up. Since Brandon only wears the black velevet kippah this wasn't such a difficult decision.

But for the last two weeks I have had this overwhelming urge to learn to knit. Since i will be going back to school in Israel, not to mention the 16+ hour trip to get there, knitting seemed like an ideal new hobby.

So this weekend Brandon and I stopped by a Yarn store and picked up a beginners knitting book, a set of needles and a skein of yarn. In the12 hours since picking up my materials (about 4 hours of actual knitting on this scarf, I had to start over a few times, and correct a few stitches, as well as some learning/practice runs) I have knit about 8 inches of scarf. The scarf is about 6.5 inches wide and a beautiful deep pine green. Brandon says he is looking forward to wearing it when I finish, but I am suspicious, as the husband laws require him to say this. I hope to finish my scarf by the end of the week, and then I want to make the same style but with alternating colors. Stay tuned for pictures of the progress.

Packing Everything Up

The funny thing about packing is that it doesn't get any easier as you get older. You'd think all those times of throwing your favorite Game Boy games into a duffel for the weekend away would help prepare you for something in the future. But in fact - if anything, packing just gets harder because you end up having more things to pack.

Ah well.

We still have time to get things packed -- maybe we'll get started tomorrow... or maybe by the end of the week. I think I'm going to play some Nintendo first.

T-Minus Two Weeks

We are leaving Seattle in two weeks, and we decided we may as well make sure to launch our blog before we leave. Brandon's Hodgepodge has pretty much closed down and we are happy to be starting our new blog. Hopefully we will be able to keep you all updated with news, photos and videos, (Brandon says to stay tuned for thoughts on Barack Obama), while we are out of the country.

Hope you enjoy reading.