Earthquakes!

OK, so this morning there was the fourth earthquake in Israel in 2 weeks. Buggy and I heard that the ground started to rumble and move around 9:40 a.m., and we both were up and didn't even feel a thing. Now, some dooms dayers are predicting that "the big one is on its way" and that's just the last thing I need to even think about. Oh, and this picture is not from here in Jerusalem but from Indonesia after an earthquake that was more than 6.0 on the Richter square. Today's earthquake measured in at 4.0. I've lived through a couple of New York earthquakes in my life, and I only really remember one that woke me up on a Friday night and left a big crack in the pavement outside of our Shul. I don't know what year it was, probably sometime in the late 80's or very early 90's. Anyway, my point is that I'd like to keep it that way - I'm one of those people who doesn't need to experience certain things in life just to say that I've "been there, done that". I'm content never having to live through a big earthquake - it's why I never settled in California folks.

So, Buggy and I had a BIG busy and productive morning. We got up early and drove the car to the Mosach (garage) to get some things fixed. Buggy's back blinker wasn't working and the car needed other servicing, so we left it with the grease men and hiked it back home. It was a very nice, long walk through Talpiot and the weather was beautiful, sunny with grey clouds rushing towards us. I warned Buggy that it looked like rain was coming, but he was certain that we would make it home okay, and then we decided to stop off at the Hadar Mall to pick up the last of our Chanukah presents. At first, Buggy wasn't excited about our options, but then we found a Bug. The Bug store is a place you can go to get your computer serviced (although, I don't think they work with Macs, just PC's), buy computer and Playstation games and other cool electronics. We decided to get his brother a plastic keyboard that would work with his laptop, and his Dad a pair of rechargable batteries that you charge through the computer's USB port. I also picked up some wrapping paper so I can wrap his Mother's gift, and then we decided it was time to head back home for some brunch. Of course, we weren't too surprised to see the rain pouring down! Buggy had this great rainjacket, which was smart of him to take before we left the house, and I only had a sweatshirt with a hood. So, we waited for the raindrops to slow down and then walked the rest of the way home. We didn't get too wet and I made us a nice, big and warm brunch to chase away the chill.

Shabbos was very nice and relaxing. We ate Friday night dinner at Buggy's parents and I even made it to shul for Maariv and Kabalat Shabbos! We went to Chovevei but decided to daven upstairs, which was nice and smooth - no speeches - just the way I like it. Dinner was great and then Buggy and I walked back home. Right before we crossed the train tracks into Baka, though, we heard this loud BOOM. I looked at Buggy and asked him what he thought that could be, and he said that I really didn't want to know. And then, we heard the sirens. This being Jerusalem, we both assumed terrorist attack and all I wanted to do was rush home and crawl into bed. Buggy assured me that it was far away and that I had nothing to worry about, but I didn't want to take any chances. I just wanted to be home. Well, we spent the rest of Shabbos close to the apartment and lunch was very comforting. The soup turned out really, really great - as did the lamb chops - and then we just slept Shabbos away. After Havdala, we both went online looking for news about what could have happened but didn't find anything. That was a little bit of a relief.

Saturday night was quiet, we stayed at home and just relaxed and caught up on some TV. Today, we both have some work to do. For me, I have to write a new business proposal and Buggy needs to work on a big project that's due on Wednesday. Good thing we don't have to be outside - it's cold, grey and raining. Who said rain in Israel isn't a blessing?

Product of the Day

Patagonia makes quality rain gear! I moved to this country with the ugliest, most impractical rain coat ever and - of course - I never wear it. While we were in the States, actually the day after our wedding, we went to the Patagonia on the Upper West Side and bought Buggy his rain jacket. It's amazing - he absolutely loves it - and it really does protect from "the elements" and the rain! Perhaps I'll pick on up during the after-Christmas sales! Either way, if you're planning on visiting Jerusalem in the next few months, bring rain gear - winter has finally arrived!

Baffled in Baka

Just call me baffled in Baka, cause what happened this morning and over the past few days makes absolutely no sense to me at all. I guess I should fill you in on our cleaning lady saga. So, our cleaning lady is Buggy's family cleaning lady. We inherited a slot in her weekly schedule when Buggy's brother and his family moved to London after the wedding. Well, our cleaning lady has always been very thorough, very good, cleaner. However, after cleaning for us once back in September, she stopped because of Ramadan. She never called us. Didn't return our calls either. And for an entire month, I had no idea where she was and when she was coming back. It was very frustrating as our apartment can get a little grimy and I'm not so familiar with the sponga stick.

Well, here's where things get interesting. She finally returned to us last week, at our usual time, and then when it came time for me to pay her and I asked for 10 shekel change, she informed me that she raised the price from 140 shekel to 150 shekel. Well, I was absolutely shocked because when she came to work with us, she told me her price was 140 shekel, which is 20 shekel more than she charges the rest of Buggy's family. We assumed she did this because we were a new couple, and she could raise the prices before she came to work with us, and so I swallowed whatever unhappiness I was with the price and let her continue because she was very good and also trustworthy.

So, back to last week, and me asking her where the inflation came from. She said it was just something she decided to do across the board. I asked if she was going to implement the same policy with my in-laws and sister-in-law, and she insisted she was, so I paid her. And then, I told Buggy to please fire her because I was so annoyed with her tactics. I felt like she was taking advantage, and that she saw me as some "wealthy American" so she could price gouge us.

However, before Buggy could tell her that we didn't want her to come anymore, she worked with my sister-in-law and informed my brother-in-law that she no longer wanted to work with us. She claimed the reason was because I asked her to sweep the front walk by the apartment (it gets filthy and we don't have a vaad baayit, so we need to clean the stairs and walkway ourselves). I was shocked because she never mentioned to me that she didn't want to clean that area and perhaps, had I known, I wouldn't have asked her to do it. No matter. I was livid at this point. I couldn't believe what was happening. Here she was dumping US? WTF?

I spent the week picking fights with my husband because the situation really angered me. She embarressed me in front of my in-laws, because she dumped us and made it seem like I treated her badly. So, I was upset because I was really embarressed. And, I was hurt because my in-laws didn't really seem to care about how she treated us. They just basicalled said it wasn't a good fit, and moved on. I guess I had unrealistic expectations. Here I thought, the whole family would rally around us because this woman was clearly crazy, and everyone would just dump her for treating us badly. Instead, they just continued on as if nothing had happened. I kept thinking that my own family would have certainly dumped her if this happened, and the comparisons abounded in my head and just fueled my anger.

Yesterday, my anger really drew to a head and Buggy and I had an explosive fight. Doors slammed, I stormed out, it was an absolute disaster. I ended up on a bench on Derech Beit Lechem with a pack of cigarettes, just trying to relax. Marriage is not hard, it's communicating within the marriage that's difficult. I finished running my errands, I stormed out because I was in the middle of buying food for Shabbos not because I was pissed, and I got back to the apartment and we talked things through. That's really good. At least we're able to talk things through, even if we have a lot of miscommunications. I decided to just get over the cleaning lady situation and move on, and Buggy seemed relieved. We went about the rest of our evening, which I'll write about in a minute, and then came home and went to sleep.

This Morning, Buggy gets an SMS from his Mom at 7:20 saying that our cleaning lady was going to show up today. He didn't wake me, a good thing, and he just ignored it and went back to bed. Sure enough, our doorbell rang at 8:00 a.m. and there she was, waiting for us. Buggy told me that I had to talk to her and I just said, hells no. Tell her to go away. Well, Buggy is much nicer than me. Much, much nicer than me. And, he tried to explain what happened. He mentioned what she had told our brother-in-law, and she denied saying it in the first place. Then, Buggy basically said that we were sleeping and we weren't interested in having her clean the apartment. I mean, I wielded the sponga stick myself yesterday so the apartment is clean for Shabbos! Buggy called his Mom, who said she actually wanted her to come to her apartment today to clean and that she was going to come and pick her up. The cleaning lady said she would wait in front of the house for my MIL. And then, before Buggy came back into the apartment, she asked if she was still coming to us next week at 1:00 p.m.

Let her come. I relish the opportunity to tell her, very nicely, that I don't work with price gougers and I can't afford 150 shekel a week. Honestly. We cannot afford it! That's 600 shekel a month! Which translates into $150 a month. Multiple that by 12 and, well, that's a nice chunk of change I cannot afford to part with since BOTH of us are full time students. Well, at least Buggy is, lord knows what is going on with Bar Ilan. I'm soo fed up at this point. And, since we both just booked tickets to London in 2 weeks, I just know that that's the week school is going to start for me and I'll be all aggravated because they ruined our vacation.

But, I digress. B"H, things with me and Buggy are better. Today is a brand new day, a new morning, a new chapter in our lives. Hopefully, we will be learning from our experiences and try to communicate better with each other. I am really much to blame for our fighting as I have an explosive temper some times, so my goal for this year is to try to reign that in as much as possible.

Last night, we drove to Tel Aviv so I could wrap things up with my old landlord. She had my mail from August with her, and it was much less than I had initially thought. But, it was so nice to be back in Tel Aviv and to recognize my old neighborhood. We actually had to go back to my old apartment because there was more mail waiting for me there, and now I have to figure out why the post office isn't forwarding my mail like they are supposed to. After the apartment, we drove to Buggy's Aunt near HaBimah and had dinner with her. She made a really nice bean soup, which was very healthy and extremely filling, and we spent a few hours there. We drove back to Jerusalem after Midnight and I fell into bed.

But, before I went to sleep, I called to speak to my almost 3 year old niece in Cleveland who arrived at a milestone yesterday! For the first time, she put on a pair of socks all by herself. I can't believe the nieces and nephews are growing up so fast! And I love talking to her! She is so coherent and fun, pretty soon we'll be having intellectual conversations!

Well, it's already 9:00 and I should probably go and start cooking for Shabbos. Fortunately, we are only eating here tonight and eating out at Buggy's parents on Shabbos day. That should be good as I could really use the walk on Shabbos. It's all uphill from here on Saturday, but the beauty is the downhill trek after a nice lunch. I'm making new stuff for dinner tonight, even trying this broccoli soup recipe I found in one of the cookbooks I have in the house (I've got 3, this one is from Suzanne Sommers). I'm also trying this chicken curry recipe, which should be spicy and fun, and then just going tried and true with a kugel.

PS. Anyone watch CNN's documentary, Planet in Peril? I watched the first night and it really was frigtening to see some of the awful things going on in China! If you watched last night, please send me an e-mail! I want to know what they said about the melting polar ice caps. Plus, before HOT drops CNN, it was nice to watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Anderson Cooper one last time. Can you believe it? HOT is dropping CNN for Al Jazeera in English.

No words people, no words.

Shabbat Shalom!

5 shekels to heaven

I'm such a nerd. On Wednesday afternoon, I stopped in the hardware store across the street from my apartment and picked up a few things for my kitchen. With 8 people joining us for Friday night dinner, I knew this Friday night's dinner had to be special! Especially since, I think this past weekend was my last big meal I'm making in my Tel Aviv apartment.

Thursday was an early morning for me, I had a tremendous amount of work to do for the meal on Friday night! First, I went to the Supersol to pick up the remaining ingredients. And then, I got to work on cooking. I made the cranberry crunch for dessert (or the Apple Brown Betty as Ari called it), the macaroni and meat and the shallot and onion quinoa. After that, I jumped into the shower, and ran to catch the bus to Jerusalem. Buggy and I had some errands to run and the nutritionist to meet with. I have no idea how it happened, but I lost 2 pounds. I certainly wasn't trying - can you imagine what would happen if I tried? Buggy put on the 2 pounds I lost, but all is not hopeless! We have an entire month to lose more weight. After the nutritionist, we went to the only kosher Indian restaurant in Jerusalem to celebrate the fact that I lost weight (I know, I know, so counterproductive but very romantic and yummy!). We shared a few courses and then Buggy took me to the bus station to get the last bus back to Tel Aviv.

I was wiped when I got home but managed to put together my Friday to-do list and get to bed. After catching a few Z's, I woke up early again and ran to buy the fruit. And then, I spent an enjoyable 30 minutes just balling my mellons. It was so much fun, and much easier then cutting through everything! I then made the Israeli salad and the corn salad, the spinach chicken, the mushroom tartlet and the cauliflower kugel. I grilled the chicken cutlets for the wraps Buggy and I had for lunch on Shabbat and then I got to work on cleaning the apartment. By the time Buggy got here, the dinner was done and I had to clean the toilet and set the table. Buggy helped me and then, well, I picked a fight and made him crazy for no reason at all. He was a little out of it and accidentally set the Shabbat clock incorrectly. By the time everyone sat down to dinner, around 9:15 p.m. Friday night, the lights suddenly went out. Since one of my friends isn't observant, he got up and put on another set of lights, and at least we weren't eating in the darkness.

Well, I wracked my brain for a good appetizer and managed to settle on something I thought would be fun and nutritious. I managed to succeed in both regards! I steamed 3 bags of edemame and made a dipping sauce, which everyone put into little soy sauce bowls I picked up across the street. People filled up on salatim, challah and the edemame and then I got nervous that no one would eat the rest of my dinner. Well, I shouldn't have worried because with 6 guys at the meal, eating was not a problem. And, we all got our drink on! Ari and Jon practically finished my Scotch while Buggy and Eliav made dents in my beer. Gayle, El Jeffe and Nechama enjoyed the red and white wines while I made myself some Malibu and Diet Coke. People finally cleared out after Midnight and, after Buggy helped me wash and dry, I passed out and slept almost till Noon!

Shabbat day was very relaxing, and Buggy and I just hung out, ate, read and chilled. It was perfect. Saturday night we went to the beach and had dinner at the new Kosher Sandwhich place near Gordon beach. Actually, Buggy had a sandwhich and I had some ice cream.

Today was another busy day. I woke up early and Buggy drove me to my eye Dr.'s appointment in Modiin. We got there a full 45 minutes earlier than expected and so we had a long wait in the waiting room. After my appointment, we drove back to Jerusalem and I stuffed invitations while my dialated eyes shrunk back to normal. Once I was able to see without wincing, Buggy drove me back to the bus station and I was once again on my way to Tel Aviv. I needed the fresh air after the ride and so I walked back to my apartment. And that's when I discovered that they are ripping up the street in front of my apartment YET AGAIN! They literally just finishing fixing and repaving the street, I have no idea what could have happened that they have to rip it all up again. The worst is that now they are working well into the night, and I'm nervous that I won't be able to sleep tonight with all the noise. It sounds like I'm sleeping on top of a construction site.

So, I'm almost finished with wedding preparations. Tonight, I ordered the benchers and mincha/maariv's for the wedding. Yea! I was just so happy to cross that task off of my list! And now that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is on TV, I'm just relaxing before I call it a night. It's going to be difficult not seeing Buggy this week, but I'm really looking forward to spending Shabbos together again!



Craving of the Day is Entenmann's Crumb Donut! Which now has 0 Trans Fat! I would like my honeymoon suite to be stocked with a box of these babies after the wedding!

Victories and Defeats

This picture is courtesy of Jerusalem Shots and it depicts the Malcha Technology Park at sunset. This is a gorgeous area right across the street from the Malcha Mall and apparently there is a Mehadrin kosher catering hall inside. Buggy is thinking that it would be a good place for my parents to host Sheva Brachot so we'll have to swing by and check it out the next time I'm in J-town.

Today was very productive and I experienced the sweet smell of victory while suffering a tremendous defeat. I woke up relatively late, which was nice as I am personally trying to celebrate Memorial Day here in Israel. After a quick breakfast and logging into the computer, I gathering all my papers and headed back to the Minhal Hastudentim to see if Michael would be able to work his magic. As he feared, there was information on my school print out that wouldn't allow him to give me any benefits. After a lengthy meeting with his boss, they were able to come to the conclusion that they will cover me!

Eureka!

I am now considered a Minhal Hastudentim student. This means that they will cover almost 13,000 shekel a year of my tuition. I have been assigned a Madricha, who would be able to explain additional perks of my coverage as well. I'm also entitled to free meetings with a social worker and a psychologist at an extremely reduced rate (25 shekel a session). After all this stress, I could use a session with a shrink. I have my "golden ticket" and hope that the Bar Ilan tuition office is open tomorrow so I can get the ball rolling! Woohoo!

Well, I was on a high from the success and decided to go and tackle Macabi. I got to the office and took a number. I sat until it was my turn and then took out all of my evidence. I handed the woman all of the papers I needed and explained my situation. She spent a long time on the computer and told me that she first needed to switch my private insurance to my public insurance. OK, I let her do then and print out a new card. Then she explained that I will now only pay Macabi 65 shekel a month as opposed to the 365 shekel a month I've been paying privately.

After that was taken care of, it was time to discuss compensation for the months that they have been ripping me off. According to her, however, having a Teudat Zehut DOES NOT mean that I've made Aliyah.

Really?

Well, how come every other agency told me otherwise. Also, she looked at the forms from both Misrad Haklita and Bituach Leumi and said that she won't reimburse me for the money I've paid privately because according to both papers I didn't make Aliyah or choose a Kupat Cholim until May.

Huh?

I don't get it. Why then did Bituach Leumi charge me for retroactive pay if I didn't have an official Kupah? How come I paid them an extra 1000 shekel in back payments if I wasn't covered? Well, she told me on the papers what the problems were - because both pages were marked with the date of May as opposed to just with the date of August - and that's why she won't give me back any of the money.

I asked her to give me a printout of all the money I've paid them since I've moved here. It was well over 3,000 shekel. I thanked her for her time and walked out of the office.

I'm tired of this fight and honestly, these government entities don't know their ass from their elbow. No one knows what they are talking about! Misrad Haklita say one thing, Bituach Leumi says another, and here comes Macabi and they say something COMPLETELY different.

I called Buggy and told him what happened and he said that now it's time to talk to the news agencies and the newspapers. I said that I'd rather write a letter first from a lawyer and then see what happenes, before I engage the media. The good news is that at least I've corrected the overpayment issue, so now I don't have to worry about another monthly payment of 365 shekel for June. I'm quite comfortable leaving the fight between Macabi/Bituah Leumi and Misrad HaKlita until after the wedding!

Well, I was okay spirits after this conversation and decided to walk all the way back to my apartment from 10 Balfour. I decided to take a new route and cut across Sheinken Street and made my way to King George. On King George, I saw a number of really nice pillow stores and thought that it would be a great place to come and pick up some decorative pillows for the couches in our new apartment. I also walked by the comic book store Buggy orders his comics from. I would have gone in and picked him up a couple of comics but I have no idea what he has/hasn't read and didn't want to pick something up he has already read or has no interest in reading.

I walked down Dizengoff and stopped into the new kosher bakery that El Jeffe told me about, which is right off of Bar Kochva street and right before Dizengoff Center. I asked them about Challah's for Shabbos and they told me that they have Challot on Thursday and Fridays and they also have some Parve baked goods. The bread selection was also incredible and they had plenty of whole wheat options. I picked up a small loaf of whole wheat bread to try and even made Tamara from my class a sandwhich for lunch tomorrow.

By the time I got back to my apartment, my dogs were barking and I was pretty dehydrated. I spent the rest of the day doing some wedding stuff, relaxing and reading my assignments for class tomorrow. I have a ton to read for class on Wednesday though and hope I'll have enough time tomorrow night to do that before my 7:00 a.m. Wednesday wake up call. That's gonna hurt!

I'm back in Jerusalem on Thursday though, to take care of some apartment stuff, and now that I've decided to entertain this Shabbos I also have to figure out the menu. Buggy's Aunt made this amazing Asian sesame spinach salad and I want to try to replicate it for first course on Friday night. As for the rest of the menu, I want to use up what I have in my house instead of buying new because I'm not sure how many more opportunities I'll have to entertain before the wedding. That means I'll probably be making a pie of some sort, cooking up the gfilta fish and maybe making something with the crushed pinapples (Hawaiian chicken perhaps?). Oh well, I have some time to deal with that until cooking commences on Thursday.

I can't wait for this semester to finally be over!