Today marks the end of the 10th week since my arrival in Israel. It is also the 10th day since the beginning of this war with Iran.
The short headline. I’m tired of the war and the screaming alerts on my phone and periodic interruptions of meals in restaurants but still very happy to be here in Israel.
In honor of the early advice, I was given and have tried to follow – “to try to take care of problems one at a time and to celebrate each accomplishment” – On Saturday night I went to eat at my favorite local bar/restaurant. I was celebrating FINALLY getting the key to my new temporary apartment where I will be moving on Sunday. Also celebrating in advance my anticipated purchase of a car this week.
When I first came to Israel (yes ten weeks ago) I had arranged to rent an empty back room in someone’s house. I was paying rent and a share of utilities, so it wasn’t a gift but still I was grateful because the offer made my transition much easier. Neither I nor the landlord imagined I would still be here ten weeks later. I have a “permanent apt.” rented but there is a delay in its availability, so I had promised to move out in advance of my host’s scheduled visit from relatives. Luckily, I have found a small temporary apartment for me and Jerry that will meet our needs in the interim,
So, I was celebrating in my favorite local restaurant (the one where the hostess/manager knows my name and comes to my table to practice her English) when the first “alert” from home front command rang on everyone’s phone at once. I looked around to see what everyone else was doing and took another sip from my glass of wine. The bar tender made an announcement in Hebrew (of which I of course did not understand a word).
I made a joke to the couple sitting at the next table in English (which I suspect nobody else understood) that I would just do whatever they did.
A few minutes later the hostess/manager who speaks perfect English came over to apologize to me for not having explained the situation sooner and then said that everyone could stay where they were unless the alert turned into an “incoming missile warning” and then everyone would go together to the shelter. Fortunately, the all-clear came next and we all resumed our meals and drinks.
On Monday morning (first morning in my new temporary apartment) I met a new friend for breakfast at a local café. Just after I had the first bites of my omelet our phones started screaming again with an “alert”. My new friend who is more cautious than me had already told me he knew where the nearest shelter was and took off immediately after saying goodbye. (He did of course invite me to join him). I followed my general strategy of eating my breakfast while it was hot and waiting to see what the locals did. Almost everyone stayed at their seats sipping their coffee.
This time the “alert” was followed by a “seek immediate shelter” warning of incoming missiles. EVERYONE jumped up from their tables (myself included of course) and followed the directions of the café owner who pointed us all to the shelter. Jerry made several new friends in the shelter while we waited until the all-clear.
Last week I put down a deposit on a 2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid with a Toyota dealer that serviced it as a lease car and is selling it with a 2 year full warranty. It is certainly nothing fancy and in many ways is less comfortable than the Subaru Forrester I sold before leaving the USA but it gets great gas mileage and presumably will run forever with minimal maintenance. I am very excited about it because having a car will allow me to take Jerry to the beach regularly, which was one of my initial goals, and also will allow me to take short weekend trips to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. All this of course once the damn war is over.
The next step of course is to get moved into my new apartment and to have my shipment delivered. I am very excited at the promise of having my own bed and my stereo system as well as my computer and streaming TV.
After that I intend to enroll in an Ulpan and try to learn to speak Hebrew (or at least to understand it better)
Ten weeks in Israel and all is good so far.