26.4.10

I'm back!

  Part of what has sucked away my time this month: our new living room! It's much prettier now. 

First, I never ever want to move again. We can make do with four rooms forever. (Four rooms = three bedrooms and a living room... if you want to understand how Israelis calculate "rooms" in apts, read this post.)

Ok, maybe that's not entirely true... someday I want a house with a yard so I can grow lemons and maybe get a dog. But this move was utterly exhausting, perhaps because I astounded every Israeli I know by insisting on doing most of the painting myself. We did hire four strapping Ukranians to move our boxes and furniture, and it was blissful... they hoisted our boxes about 20 at a time out of our old apt, into their truck, and into our new one all in two hours on a Thursday morning.

But it certainly is worth it... it's amazing to live in our OWN walls, and we love our new apartment. We wake up in the morning to the sound of birds, not cars (to the delight of our cats). Our cabinets are clean and white. My oven has a "convection" setting. Yes, little things make me very excited.

Anyway, I've missed a pretty momentous month of blogging. There was the end of Passover, Yom HaShoah, Yom Hazikaron, and Yom HaAtzmaut. (You can always read about what I did last year... it pretty much still applies.) While I agree that it's pretty shameful I didn't post for Yom HaAtzmaut (Israeli Independence Day), in my defense I was very Israeli... I stayed out really late Yom HaAtzmaut watching fireworks and free concerts by singers with the last name "Peretz," and then ate myself into a semi-comatose state at a "mangal," a barbecue, the next day. Between those two sources of brain cell death, and all the paint fumes, you should be glad I've recovered in just two weeks. (I also discovered that cotton candy in Hebrew is called "searot savta," Grandmother's hair. Isn't that awesome and mildly disgusting?)

Another day this month was momentous for me: on the day we moved into our very own apartment, I also hit my two year mark in Israel. It feels at once like it couldn't possibly have been two years and like it's incredible that I lived in the US just 25 months ago. I'm working on a post about that soon!

We've also been busy in other ways... my husband and I participated in a few Israeli 5Ks (well, actually a 5.7 K and a 4.9 K... Israelis aren't big on details) and I accepted a last-minute role in a Chekhov play (come see me with the Haifa English Theatre in early June!). I've also been painting some creepy Russian Orthodox Christian-esque props for said Chekhov play. Introducing the icon my husband and I have dubbed Gregor, Patron Saint of Constipation:

This is something I definitely wouldn't have predicted aliyah would lead me to paint.... 

My day job apparently also hasn't gotten the idea that it should stop demanding my attention when my life gets busy. Still, it was really nice to log in and discover that I have 90 followers and 15 comments to moderate. Wahoo!!

So I'm back... and this last month has definitely given me plenty of material to blog about. :)

How was your month? Anything interesting happen to you while I was busy inhaling paint fumes painting our new apt?

10 comments:

  1. Welcome back! I also ate grandmother's hair, although I had no clue at the time. My birthday this year coincided with Independence Day so for me it was really special.

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  2. Grandmother's hair is tasty. :) Happy birthday Tonielle!!

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  3. Hey Maya - So glad you're back! I was just eating some natural peanut butter and thought of you. I wanted to mention, if you run out of things to write, I as reading an old post where you said like 5 times something to the effect of, "I'll post on that in the future" and I don't think you have covered all the topics mentioned... sorry bring that up.
    While you were gone I hit 3.5 months in Israel and my birthday is the day after Yom Haatzmaut (so I got ulpan off on my erev yom huledet). I'm not where I hoped to be three months into aliyah (though I did have a couple beit-cholim-sized bumps in the road) but I am further than I expected 26 years into life, so I guess it's a draw. Next year for Yom Haatzmaut I hope to do more than listen to fireworks and on my birthday I need to do something better than eat bad ice cream, get a stomachache, and go back for more. At least I did something sort of creative on my birthday - see the fan page on FB for a mother in Isreal)

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  4. haha... yeah, I think I jinx myself whenever I say I'll post on something in the future. Which post was that?

    Congratulations Yosefa!! It sounds like you are doing great! How are the kids adjusting?

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  5. Welcome back, and a huge congratulations on your new apartment! That really is fantastic news. And yes, we're all grossed out about the searot savta - frankly, I'm not sure how Israelis aren't grossed out about it. Maybe I'll ask my coworkers what they think...

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  6. Hi Maya, I've been reading for a little while but haven't commented to say "shalom" yet, despite the fact that I love your blog to pieces! As an Israeli living abroad (for a long time...but hopefully not for too much longer) you write about all the little things that add up to make home, home. (Like 5ks that are not 5 kilometers long.) Searot savta - you couldn't pay me to eat 'em.

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  7. Thanks so much, Toby and Inoursmallgarden! No love for Searot Savta??

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  8. Welcome back! Thank you for doing this blog. I'm seriously considering Aliyah and this blog is really helpful and funny and just good writing. Thanks!

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  9. Welcome back Maya! I have checked most days, then of course when I didn't you appeared again:-)
    Candy floss in Afrikaans translates as "ghost's breath" which is a lovely description I think.
    Which Chekhov? I'm guessing "The Seagull"?

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  10. Glad you're back! Your new digs look great. And wow -- maybe you should consider a career in icon painting, too. :)

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