I made notes to myself on things I wanted to speak about. However, once I left, I felt weird posting about Israel now. However, I am working on my Israel scrapbook (more like a novel), and I feel it is a good time to write. Most of this is being written tonight.
I know I already did an update to my trip today, but there are a few things I keep forgetting to mention.
Next is the whole bubby thing. I rarely get to play bubby except long distance. So it is so nice to spend some time with Rikki. She is so sweet! The first night I got here I was sure she wouldn't come to me. She hasn't seen me in months. For the first 10 seconds she was a little hesitant. But then I pulled out a book, and she was happy to climb into my lap and hear one. We've been sharing a room, which is not the best for either one of us. She wakes from time to time, and then goes back to sleep. But the Mommy in me can't hear her cry and do nothing. Yesterday she was up before 7am. We laid in my bed and watched 8th Day, Ari Goldwag, and some other nice videos. It kept her entertained long enough. Today it was no go; she didn't want to stay with me. It's hard sharing a room!
Organic food. GRR! I brought a ton of stuff, but I've run out of fruits and vegetables and I need some! *Post script ... I didn't find any organic fruits and vegetables. Right now I can't even look at those Kind Bars I ate every day. The thought of them makes me want to puke!
Smoking - It seems that everyone here does it. People, get with the program. Smoking is so 70s!
Beggars - I know I am going to sound like a freak, but I liked some of the beggars. I thought that they were so interesting. Like the woman who sits outside the steps by the Kotel going up to the Menorah ... She gives brachos when you give her money. The first time I saw her, I gave her a big coin. You know, like here, quarters are worth more than nickles or pennies, right? Well, she hands it back to me and says, ech, this is nothing. Give me something else! ROTFL! Yes, I did give her more. I found out later that what I gave her was like a penny. OOPS. Another time I had this guy say that he needs fish for shabbos, can I please buy him some. (I was waiting for Leah Bowman to come back so we could continue our tour.) Shauly & Zahava had told me to tell the snorrahs that I don't have any money. (I probably didn't, not small change.) So I tell him, I have no money. He is like, "That's OK, there is an ATM over there". Knock me over with a feather!! Dude, I am SOOO not paying ATM fees for the privilege of giving you my money! So then he tells me he is hungry, and needs food. I figured, why not. I had just eaten a nice lunch in Burger Bar, so I said, OK. I took him into Burger Bar, and bought him the same thing I had just had. (I just paid for it; it's a lunch special.) He couldn't stop thanking me. He pulls out these little strings with a blue eye ball bead on it, and gives it to me. He asks me how many kids I have, and I am lost for a second. I don't want him to give me one for Yossi a'h. So I said I have 4 girls. He gave me 6 strings and kept blessing me. Maybe he was a scam artist, but I don't know and I don't care. I was happy with what I did. However, that ATM line was a deal killer for me. The next time a guy told me to go to the ATM, I walked away from him.
High ceilings & cold stones- It seems that every where I went, they have high ceilings. I have no idea why, and I don't think I asked anyone. It was just something I noticed. Now let me tell you about the cold. My dear friend Yael warned me before I went that it is very, very, very cold in the winter and to pack my warmest clothes. Leah Bowman also warned me. Hey, I'm the queen of always being cold, right? I know how to handle this. I bought thick fleece lined tights, sweaters, and stuff to layer. Let me tell you, IT IS ABSOLUTELY FREEZING!!! It gets into your bones. My poor little toes were always freezing cold. I guess it is the high ceilings and Jerusalem stone. I was so happy the last week when the weather hit in the 70s.
Garbage in the streets- I am not chas v'shalom speaking bad about Israel. I am going to complain about the the lack of respect for the kedusha of Israel. When we went for a walk the second shabbos night, I saw a lot of trash in the streets. It upset me so much. THIS IS YERUSHALAYIM!! How could anyone litter here? Shauly told me if I was that upset to pick it up. Problem is, I didn't have rubber gloves. I felt like because of the extra kedusha, people need to take extra care and make sure nothing slips away.
Plastic bags and fancy bags- OK, I am a total nut. (If you didn't figure that out yet, I'm telling you now.) I love plastic bags. Not the cheap thin ones from Wal-Mart. I love the thicker ones that you can use again and again. Now Israel is plastic bag heaven. Seriously. Everywhere I went, I got a plastic bag. (I saved them all!) When I bought a little magnet, the guy put it in the prettiest little white bag with roses. See, they all have these cute bags. I love it!
Iced coffee- I've written about it before. And yes, months later I am still chalishing for an iced coffee, preferably from Greens.
Credit cards - At almost every place I went, I paid with credit card. Now here is the thing ... when you go shopping here, if you have a small total, like under ten bucks, the stores don't like taking a credit card. I've seen notes that they won't allow a transaction for under $10. In Israel, no one blinked an eye. No matter how small the amount, just whip out your card and swipe!
I know it sounds nuts .. But I miss Israel so much. I yearn so deeply to go back. From deep within my kishkas. *sigh*
Oh yeah, one more thing ... I found a lot of typos and grammatical errors in some of my old posts. I was working from my phone and tablet, and didn't have as much control as when I use my laptop. Autocorrect changed some things, but I am guessing that people figured out what I meant. (Except for the one that changed Shauly to Shaun.)
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