Tuesday, February 22, 2011

I Don't Miss....

So, yes, I am an avid Zionist. But even I have to admit that no matter how much I enjoyed our trip back home there are things I can do without.

Let's start out with; I don't miss winters in Israel.
I mean, I don't miss the Israeli mentality when it comes to winter. Yes, in general Israel is a warm country, but the that doesnt contradict the fact that it does get cold, it lasts for more than just a day and it is worth it to invest in heating and the like.

So, on that note:

- I don't miss not being able to control how long my heater is on for.
- I don't miss not having heat at night.
- I don't miss having to buy another heater for each bedroom to put next to the already existing and perfectly working heater in order to solve the aforementioned problems.
- I don't miss restaurants who think that just because it's crowded it means we must need the air conditioner, even if it's only 10 degrees Celsius outside.
- I don't miss windows/doors that don't really close and let through a nice cold breeze.
- I don't miss being woken up in the middle of the night by rattling windows/doors.
- I don't miss not being able to walk pas a garbage container without being overcome by the sudden urge to throw up.
- I don't miss being afraid to walk through certain neighborhood, because my accessories might be considered pritzus.
- I don't miss living in a city where the rush hour seems to last all day.
- I don't miss living in a city where the taxi prices depend on whether or not it's raining.
- I don't miss big corporate companies that only really help you if you know the right people or if they find your kids very cute.

I could probably go on and on, but I won't. Cause in the end, it all doesn't matter. Most of these can be solved and the rest one just learns to live with. The fact is that the list of where I live now is much, much longer. And even if it wasn't, the pros outweigh the cons by a long shot. I'm still counting down the minutes till we can move back.

I will make a list of all the positives sometime soon. But right now I'm focusing on the negative so as not to be even more bummed out we're not in Israel anymore.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Homely Experiences

We've returned home. At least for a very short time.
It has been interesting to say the least.
Whenever we return, there are always things that make you feel at home and sad you left. Yet there are also always those things that make you feel kinda glad you don't live here anymore, as much as you'd like to deny that feeling.
But none of my feelings compare to what my oldest has been going through. She has been drilled in gan that though it is cold and snowy by us, it's actually nice and warm in Israel. So shock number 1 came when it was not only raining on and off but it actually started hailing as well. How was this possible in the land where she's supposed to be able to go out in a t-shirt.
Then she realized that our shopping experiences are much more fun here. At home, we spend half the time with her asking me if something is kosher and me having to respond with a clear no followed by some whining. She has been preparing our trip to Israel by pointing out every ice cream she intends to eat here. So, you can imagine her joy when her ever present question was answered affirmatively.  She was ready to buy the whole store!
Her next surprise came when the man in front of the store wanted to check her bag. And in a way, I'm happy she's growing up in a world where one doesn't have to worry about such life threatening things. I'm glad she's still innocent of such dangers and that bombs going off while you're shopping isn't something she can even come close to comprehending.

As for me, I'm glad to be back.
On the one hand it feels like home. It is all so familiar and even though some things I could obviously do without (like a random man yelling at us for no apparent reason). Yet, on the other hand so much has changed. All the buss routes have changed. I have no clue how to get where I need to go and on the off chance that a familiar line does drive by it ends up I should have taken the same number but with an aleph, not the one without. So I end up walking a lot, which is a good thing given all the food I have been enjoying. Food, that's another good point. I know it's so touristy of my, but I'm enjoying the food so much. We basically have one kosher restaurant back home and it's really not that good. So after once or twice, you really don't want to go back there for a long time. So yes, I'm being a good tourist and enjoying all the great food. Or even just simple food like cereals, cold cuts and cheese. Yum.
So I'm off now to enjoy some more.
I'll check in another time with some more experiences of our wonderful trip.