Week One, Done!

We have officially been in the country of Israel for one week. About three days after our arrival, we got internet service and moved into the house that had been selected for us. The concrete-block, four-story duplex has wrap around balconies on two of the floors, a gas stove, a finished attic and basement, and toilets that flush with such vigor that Gigi makes sure to include it on her video tours of the house. We share the duplex with friends we met in Bolivia in what has been one of our favorite “God did a miracle” stories of our first days here.

So far we have been adjusting well, but the jet lag has been worse than expected. We have been trying not to go to sleep during the day so our bodies can adjust to the new time zone (seven hours ahead of Florida.) Further complicating matters, day breaks at 5:30 am here. While we were in our temporary apartment, Noemie got into the habit of going on to the balcony to watch the sun rise but she didn’t know that at this new house, we have an alarm that is set every evening…. So. We were all up very early on the morning of day 4. But considering that I thought we were under a rocket attack, I was relieved to see her guilty, panicked face. We would still be dragging with jet lag into our 5th day.

But Jerusalem feels safe, chill. Food seems to taste better here. I am able to read Hebrew characters pretty well but I don’t have the vocabulary to know what I’m reading. Some things like yogurt and Brie are the same but most words are a mystery to me still. Thanks to Duolingo my vocabulary is mostly limited to odd animals and whether or not they like specific foods. 

“Where is the restroom?” No. 

“Does the bat like nuts?” Yes. 

(Noemie, using the same program for Arabic is also unable to question the location of "facilities" but can tell you about cold, generous fish.) I have gotten the impression that my Hebrew will mostly be useful for listening and reading. It is inconsiderate to speak Hebrew to an Arab person and I don’t know that one can tell the difference between the two people groups by looking at them. I can’t, in any case, and have already stuck my foot in my mouth by speaking the wrong language. A sullen expression and a grunt or two will be returned and the moment passes, but going forward it seems that saying "Hi" and "Thank you" will be preferred to "Shalom" and "Toda" until I get the hang of this particular cultural quirk.

The Americans I have met here complain that Israeli people are unintentionally offensive, ungraciously direct, uncouth…. but generally kind and well-meaning. I have never heard myself described more accurately and feel very validated and free to be myself. Obviously I’m Israeli and I didn’t know it. 

We have been doing groceries every day at multiple stores per day, the reason being, I think, that Danny wants us to know all our options— from the tiny corner-store where everything is written in Hebrew, to the supermarket selling Oreos and Goya products, to the Russian butcher shop with everything written in Russian…and who sells pork. West Jerusalem prices vs East Jerusalem prices...

Places to go on foot in a pinch, places we can hike to if we feel like an adventure, places we can order from online, places that we have to visit by car at 7 am so we don’t have to pay for parking. Danny is an expert.

We finished the week celebrating Shabbat at our new church. We walked to the multi-purpose building and made our way to the top floor. The sermon was delivered in Hebrew with a translation in English. Song lyrics were projected in Hebrew characters with romanized spelling beside them, and English translation under. Behind us, a lady translated in loud whispers to the Ukrainian girl beside her. The row in front of us was filled by one of several Dutch families in the congregation. At youth group, Tovi played four-square with a Sudanese girl, a Swiss girl, and a Swedish boy. A Korean girl stood by. What is this magical place? It’s like a real life “It’s A Small World.”