Final List

ג׳ תמוז, תשס״ו

A couple of weeks ago when I bought my plane ticket back to the U.S., I sent an email to a bunch of friends letting them know the date of my departure/return (depending on their geographical perspective). In this email I expressed apprehension at all the things I'll miss here in Israel, which I can't even begin to count. As an attempt to counteract that feeling, I started a list of things that I'm looking forward to having back in the U.S., and I invited people to suggest additions to that list. Since I'm leaving town tomorrow morning, the "looking forward" list more or less has to be final now. So, here 'tis. The first four items were mine originally; the rest were suggested by friends, or inspired by their responses or by recent experiences:

1) carpet
2) a dryer
3) Netflix
4) Sundays (maybe -- I have mixed feelings about this one. I think my ideal would be to have Friday afternoons and Sunday mornings off, instead of all day Sunday.)
5) Express lines at supermarkets...that actually take less time than the regular lines. And baskets, not just shopping carts. (If I'm walking back, I don't like to use a cart, because I end up buying more than I can carry.)
6) twin-size beds (that is, beds for single people that are significantly wider than the people themselves. Yes, I know I could get a double bed, but I don't need that much room, and don't necessarily want to spend the money or the space for it.) Oh, and a real mattress, not a piece of foam rubber.
7) Free long-distance landline calling, and/or unlimited weekend cell phone minutes (but not looking forward to spending regular minutes on incoming calls!)
8) Predictable hours at banks and particularly post offices! (This one hit home this afternoon at 4:30pm when I discovered that my local post-office branch, which is open until 5pm Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, closes at 2pm on Wednesdays. Yes, that's right, today was Wednesday. And I had arrived with a box so heavy I had to pay a cab to take me a block down the street. And the branch in Bayit ve'Gan -- where I had to go anyway to drop some things off for tzedaka -- which every other day closes around lunchtime and re-opens in the late afternoon, closes at 1pm on Wednesday and stays closed. (Thank you, Ari, for rescuing me!!))

OK. Past time to finish the last tidbits of packing. I'm hoping to have time to go to the kotel for shacharit.

And I wish this darn mosquito would leave me alone!!!

On Second Thought

כ״ח סיון, תשס״ו

...I'll do all that writing after I'm packed, finished, have loose ends tied up and errands run. Probably beginning on the plane, or after I recover from landing. Stay tuned.

Behind the times...

כ״ו סיון, תשס״ו

So, as you may have noticed, I haven't been writing much. I've meant to. For a while I felt like a blank slate, only able to absorb the things I was learning. It took too much energy to think of things to say, besides.

I think, also, that because I was doing things that were personally, emotionally fulfilling, I didn't need the outlet of this blog as much as I have over the previous year and a half I was writing it. As wonderful as the internet is for keeping in touch and sharing anything amongst a wide spread of people...talking to humans in person is still better, more satisfying, more rewarding. And this year I have had more of a social array in close proximity than I have had for a very long time.

In addition, some of the issues I have had to muse about in recent months have been of a more private and/or sensitive nature than previously, so I wasn't comfortable with posting them publicly. Not that so many people read this, but it's open, available and not anonymous, and I'm not looking to cause myself problems.

In any case, though, I've been trying to share highlights of the notable events of the yearly cycle, and I'm a bit behind. Furthermore, as my time here has been winding down, I've found myself mentally coming up with posts, the way I used to...I just still haven't pinned myself down to write them. So, without (too much) further ado...I'm going to try to catch up.

...while I pack, and do about a trillion last-minute errands. Set your sights low. ;-)