Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Donny working from Haifa!

Donny told his manager he was moving to Israel. And... they asked Donny to work remotely for his current team from Israel, until the end of November! This is very exciting! This means that he will be employed for the first 2 months of our aliyah! We are very happy about this - there's still a chance for crisis later, but I'm optimistic that a transfer will work out for the long run.
In other (less exciting) news, Ariella got the first of her two Hep A shots. We spent a LOT of money at Target buying some toiletries. Partly because our lift had no room anyway, but mostly because it's not our mentality, we did not stock up on "American" toiletries to last us well into the next century. Basically, we believe that it's not worth doing something that doesn't scale well. I mean, eventually you will run out of your American supplies, and then what? We figured we'll just get used to Israeli-style everything - soap, diapers, shampoo, food, etc etc etc. So no, we are not planning on importing oatmeal packets until we're 90. (I think the one exception to this get-used-to-it-rule might be clothing. We'll see.) However, we did want to have enough stuff in our luggage to at least be able to shower when we get there without having to run to the nearest supermarket. So I bought enough stuff to last us a month or two.
Another thought: People who are supposed to "help" olim. Discuss. I have been in touch with some people, here and in America, who are the contact people for olim. We were told to email them with our questions and they will help us out. Now that we are nearing our aliyah date, I'm starting to focus less on the "leaving" and more on the "coming." I had very practical questions, like where, exactly, is the bank located where I should open a bank account? On what street is the famous "iriyah" where I need to register Ariella for school? And can we get some information about the various kupat cholim and pros and cons of each, as well as where they are located? Basically, the answers from these "helpful" people are as follows:
Which bank should I chose?
Which ever you want!
Which one?
The one that is the best.
Which one is that?
The one that has the best options for olim.
How do I know?
You can ask people when you arrive!
Let me be clear, Aliyah Helpers: this does not qualify as help! I already know I can ask people who live in Modi'in, but I'm asking you!

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