Help me if you can, I'm feeling down...

Paul McCartney is coming to town. He'll be playing one night only on September 25 at the Yarkon Park in Tel-Aviv. It's going to be an amazing night. Paul has been threatened with his life by certain unseemly elements of society for deciding to perform in Israel (check out what Superraizy has to say about this). But he doesn't seem to be backing down and should be arriving here in about a week.

I desperately want to seem him. I last saw him live eons ago at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. He is an amazing performer, truly an icon. And he seems like a genuinely good guy.

Tickets are 490 shekel a piece. At today's rate, that would be......[getting out my calculator].....$136.00 for one ticket. Now that's alot of shekel, certainly not in our budget, so I , unfortunately, will have to miss this great event. It will probably be the first and last time Paul performs here.

I guess I'll just have to let it be....

All work and no play makes Baila a dull girl...

I've been working. It's been about 18 months since I last worked such a full schedule, although I am working less than I did in the states. I feel much more organized when I work. I tend not to procrastinate on things, because I know there is no time to do them the next day. I don't have as much time for blogging, and it really is hard to squeeze it all in, but so far its been okay.

I work in a special education school in Kiryat Sefer, a chareidi city not to far from Modi'in. The ultra-orthodox are referred to, and refer to themselves as "chareidim". I grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and we called the place a "chassidish [pronounced by all good chasidim as "chaseedish"] neighborhood. In Israel it would be called chareidi.

Anyhow the facility is run by chareidim and a high percentage of the students (ages 2to 9, with a variety of handicapping conditions, from very mild to severely multiply handicapped) are from the neighborhood. The staff is mostly chareidi, but there are a number of regular Jews like me and some secular Jews as well.

My last job in the states was working for the New York City Public School system (I loved that job. Really.)

When I came in yesterday to my office, I noticed my office mate had left her bag on her desk. When I asked her if that was wise, she told me that in ten years of working at this facility, there had never been an kleptomaniac incident in the school.

Much as I loved the public school I worked in, the first thing I did upon arrival was put my bag away and bolt the locker closed with 16 different locks and keys. I installed a security system with a private code to ensure noone would get to the $3.00 or so that I usually had in my bag. This was, I assure you, a necessary precaution.

The other thing I noticed was amusing to me. I found a stack of pictures used to encourage description and answer questions in one of the speech offices. I had had a similar set in the states. Only in this set, everytime there was a boy or man in the set, someone had colored in a black kippah and a beard. Some of these pictures had boys and girls together in them, but I guess they had no way to get around that.

I remember growing up in Williamsburg, there were coloring books that featured Moshe Rabbenu always dressed in a shtreimel and bekeshe (the traditional hasidic garb consisting of fur hat and long black coat). The women in those pictures were always wearing wigs and Shabbos robes. That just cracks me up. As a kid, I thought, don't these people know anything?

Moshe Rabbenu looks like this and not like a chasid!

9/11

I never will.

Here's Ozzy enjoying the last licks of Israeli ice cream (don't tell Isaac, but I give it to him all the time)

(Dedicated to NW)






Please do not take offense when I tell you that we have the freakin' best dog IN THE WORLD!

Some responses to comments in previous posts

On being a speech pathologist who was trained in America (from Butterflies in my stomach):

I was trained in America and am an expert on language development in English. While the general principles of language development in Hebrew are the same, I do need to learn what the developmental norms are for articulation (pronunciation of sounds) and language construction. I have an additional Master's degree in Bilingual Speech Pathology (or treating bilingual children), but need to learn specific norms for here.

My job here is working with multiply handicapped children who are, for the most part non-verbal. It involves working with switches and augmentative communication (using devices, both hi-and-lo tech) to communicate. My Hebrew is pretty good and I can handle this population. It would be more difficult for me to work with children with mild language delays who are very verbal, because their language would probably be richer than my own. Maybe in a few years.

From Maybe our blogger community can help:

I have posted a comment asking for Asaf's name for those who wish to say tehilim for him. In the meantime, Asaf's family has had some good news.

From Going postal, in which I put up a contest about what you can't do at the Doar, the Israeli post office:

Hah-hah to anonymous who guessed that you can't send and receive mail. You are cynical enough to live here!

To Mom-in-Israel, I heard that all tickets including speeding are paid at the Doar. AHEM!

Safranit adds that you can also buy school textbooks online through the Doar. Something tells me that's probably not a good idea.

Those of you who guessed that you can't get your shoes shined at the Doar are the winners. At least you can't do that at the Doar here in Modiin.

But yes, you can switch your TV remote control at the Doar for a new one, so those of you who guessed that, well, you lose! When ours stopped working for no apparent reason, my husband told me to go to to the Doar to get a new one. I thought he was playing a prank and sending a Candid Camera crew on me. But apparently this is a very normal thing to do here in Israel.

Just another cultural difference to be celebrated.

Finally, thanks to all of your good wishes on our anniversary.

Shavua Tov--have a great week.

One year. No, really.

It's hard to believe that one year ago today I was sitting on a plane, leaving everything that was familiar and comfortable to me, as well as so many loved ones, behind. I was emotionally drained. The previous six months had been hell, what with a sick child, helping her to recover and deciding whether to make Aliyah in light of all that. I sat on the plane in a state of shock and I don't think the shock wore off until after Pesach.

I had planned to write a long post commemorating this anniversary, but I find that I don't have much to say. It's been a year of huge personal growth for me and I think for my family as well. My kids are my heroes. They had no choice but to come along for this ride. It has been difficult for them, but they have faced challenges with humor, grace, and yes, a couple of temper tantrums.

I started this blog as I was beginning to pack up our house in Cedarhurst . I feel the blog is intertwined with the story of my Aliyah, as it has re-ignited my love of writing, which I abandoned many years ago. I am here, in the middle of my life, living out two dreams: living in the land that I love and feel I belong in, and writing on a regular basis.

Who knows where the road ahead will take us? I have no idea. But for today, we are happy, living here in G-d's country, and grateful for all his blessings.

Going postal. No, really.

One thing that has fascinated me since I got here is how the Israel post office, known as the "Doar" is the one place you get everything done. And that means everything.

Here's a little contest. From the following list, can you pick out the ones that can't be done at the Doar?

--send and receive mail.
--open a bank account.
--get your shoes shined.
--sign up for health insurance.
--pay your bills.
--trade in a non-functioning remote control for a new one.
--register your car.
--buy stamps.
--pay for your speeding tickets.

The winner will receive, well, you'll receive nothing. Who can beat the satisfaction of a job well done? If you want to win big, play lotto.

This is a no-frills blog.