Friday, April 24, 2009

the waiting game

All our papers have been turned in (except for soon to be babys), and we are still waiting.  The joy of having an Israeli husband is that I can make him call the Jewish Agency and Nefesh BNefesh... and for the most part they actually listen when he argues.  After a month and a half of waiting, they tell us we will get the visas next week...  Im not holding my breath, but I know that our shaliach (aliyah guide?  whats the term for that?) is getting annoyed that we keep calling and demanding our information.  We need it in order to get our flights settled, and to get the visa for the baby when it gets here.

it can be frustrating playing the waiting game, although for now its better than feeling behind.  the movers have been booked, most things have been packed (again, except for baby things), and here we are... just waiting.  A lot of times it doesnt feel real, since we are not actively doing anything about it right now.  Im sure it will sink in once I stop working, and our aliyah date gets closer and closer.  for now, I am just chugging through, and trying to clean out our stuff as much as possible...

Monday, April 13, 2009

Pesach

This week has been just a little crazy, with pesach and everything that goes with it.  It is still one of my favorite holidays, but figuring out all of the logistics of it in the states can be tiring.  I am also working, which means dealing with lunches and parties and donut day.  our seder was actually a lot of fun, and really interesting... and i was excited to make sephardic charoset for the first time.

In aliyah specific news... well NBN is on break for pesach, so still waiting there...  but I am hosting interviews for people to take my job for next year... which helps add that level of "oh wow, this is... real".  People keep asking me where I am going, and when I say Israel... well peoples reactions are always interesting.  I seem to be saved some of the "youre completely crazy" because my husband is Israeli... which apparently makes me only partially crazy.  still, the first reaction is almost always "the war zone?"  "like with bombs?"  "whyy?????".  its hard to explain still, and I often feel like no matter how I try to explain it, people dont want to listen.  it MUST be crazy, because they think it is.  I wonder if I would get similar reactions moving to Ethiopia or Sudan or somewhere.

still, just chugging through the weeks, waiting for some real physical news from NBN (like an official plane date?  my visa?).  I guess it will all have to wait until after the holidays.  luckily weve got a steady stream of visitors for the next month and a half, and then baby at some point, BH... so i guess I should enjoy this down time

Sunday, April 5, 2009

the beginning of getting ready

Well, the last week has been spent trying to organize things for our move... i know, its still pretty early, but I want it to be as done as possible! I think overall we are in pretty good shape. we have begun to get things finalized with the shipping company... which has been way more stressful then I would wish on anyone. How does one ever know which companies are better? All have testimonials, most have rants against them online... and each one has a list of bad things about the other companies you may be thinking of. In the end it just came down to instinct... and I guess we will see how that goes.

There is still a lot of discussion about this move, but I am coming more and more to terms with it. It is a big move, but I am glad to be making it now. We are both still young and starting out, and its definitely going to be an adventure. we have the support in Israel from his family, who are beyond excited that we are coming. I still wish there was a way to make Israel closer to my family... but that isn't really practical. for now we will deal with it, and do our best to make it seem as if we are right next door. any advice on that would be welcome though