Jag byter sprâk

och bloggar numera pâ svenska ; svenskchekchouka.blogspot.com välkomna

All the boxes are opened, Son number 2 who got nits at the Oulpan hasn't got a single left in his hair and I have stopped itching my own head, his fever has gone down and so has mine, although I still feel very tired with a terrible head-ache.
The washing machine that we brought from France can now be emptied without getting electric chocks, My husband tried to get away with it by telling us all to put our shoes on but the kids started to touch it barefoot and thought it was an hilarious feeling getting chocks so I finally won and he has now changed the receptacles on all French machines. My Swedish dad thinks we are crazy, sometimes I think that if he really knew what we where doing he wouldn't ever talk to me again.
Busy week, we're all tired and heading for Eilat in the middle of the week, we do need som rest.

Here we are again, the house filled with boxes... Yesterday when they had finished to empty the truck we decided to have dinner outside. I guess we can't stand those "*!#~)" boxes anymore.
I feel like this is the last thing to deal with concerning our aliyah, when this is done we will be able start building up our new life here in Israel. Until now the days are filled with IKEA, emptying bags, folding t-shirts, raincoats (???) and winterclothes ( will they ever use them?).
I've registered for mu Ulpan, perhaps I told you, I will study from 8 to 1 Sunday - Thursday and courses start in September. I'm going to the same place as the children, and I must admit I'm excited to see those huuuuge lizards they're talking about. Listening to their description it sounds like there are dragons living in the men's room...

We have recieved our Id's! We have been looking at them, touching , examinating them for minutes as if they where treasure maps, in one way they are!
Today the container is comming up from Ashdod, I dread undoing all boxes I filled and closed them all just a few weeks ago, besides I have just finished unpacking our 400 kilos we brought by plane. Sometimes I wish I had a slave to take care of everything.
In a few weeks, when we will be able to sit down with a coffee without feeling bad not doing this or that I will feel relieved.
All administration is now done, I can't beleive it has been so easy, comming from France where everything that has to do with prefecture means trouble we're enchanted. The public servants have been helpful and nice, that's something I haven't experienced the last 18 years in France!
My son is invited to the neighbour's birthdayparty friday afternoon, I thought that was very kind of them inviting him, I was surprised when my son smiled and said great!
Children are amazing!

Questions my Swedish brother will probably ask:

Why on earth are people eating bird seeds?

-You can divide people into categories, those who doesn't eat bird-seeds are "beginners"

What are they screaming for?

They are not screaming, they are talking, when they scream you run for your life!

Do they take drugs before getting in the car?

I guess they do, probably Speed, I have noticed the same phenomenon in Italy, south of Napoli and also Greece.

How do they queue jump when everybody has a numbered electronic queue ticket?

They stand all together clooose to the cashdesk telling the cashier there is no-one before them, waving their number 67, sometimes it works and the number-board goes from 61 to 67. I have witnessed it myself at the cityhall today!

Why are there so many women gesticulating and talking when I walk little "N" in her trolly?

Because you forgot to put her hat on, because she looks hungry, because she is cute, because she is a child, because she looks thirsty, because she looks too warm/cold/tired... In this country elder women are here to teach us younger how and what and when to do what with our children, one day I will probably gesticulate my self.

Why are they so kind to immigrants?

Because they themselves are immigrants or sons and daughters of immigrants. Because Israel needs its people to live here for many different reasons.

This is the view from my livingroom, far away I can see the towers of Tel Aviv.

My son had a little sunstroke chabat. He didn't feel well friday evening after having played football on the beach without a cap. During the night and on chabat he had strong fever and headache. I hope this will make him put a cap on, the sun here is so strong and a friend to avoid I'm afraid.

My husband went to the synagogue yesterday, it's beautiful, filled with nice and mixed people, just like we're used to. Feeling good in your synagogue is very important and according to my husband we made a good choice.

I'll try to get up next week, it starts earlier here than in France and as we go to bed late on Friday the children are sleeping saturday morning.

Watching the sun go down, a whisper in my ear, a hand in mine - mum,-Israel must be the best country in the world...

Today son number two came home all excited telling me had had carried a turtle and that they had been watching Russian hamsters ( hum) and the animal with a "chofar" on his head with their oulpan class. Being a child is so great, isn't it unfair that we have to grow up?

We've had big problems opening a bankaccount without our Israeli id's, which should arrive by mail soon. Today we called to cancel a meeting at Hapoalim when the woman taking care of said that she would be able to fix it without the téoudat zéoute.

She thinks we're idiots, We have a tourist account, changing it to an Israeli account means she will lose us as clients. since we where waiting for money comming in to our account she probably waited and refused to change the status until she got her commission paid. Now the money has arrived on our account and "taratata" the Israeli law has changed, It is now possible to change without id's. Magic. The bankworld is really rotten.

And ten points goes to... Oulpan Akiva!
The boys came home smiling and all excited, they have learned a few words and apparently had a very good time. They are in the same class and are learning how to read and write hebrew.
Meanwhile we adults tried to open an Israeli bank account without an id card - which seems to be an impossible mission even if legally it isn't. Never mind, we'll wait a few more days.
The washing-mashine installer came this afternoon, I welcomed him as the Mashia, one week without a washing mashine is a lot with 3 kids. In the end I undressed them before serving dinner! I have now washed my first machine and put the laundry to dry, will it ever dry or is it too humid? I'll tell you tomorrow morning.

Say the word IKEA and I will puke.
5 hours yesterday, with 3 children running around touching everything, and now the livingroom filled with boxes and furniture to put together... In a sefardic couple like ours, where the man never approaches the kitchen unless it's because the woman called to say dinner is ready, I claim my right not to help with assembling the IKEA furniture, there has to be some justice even for us repressed!
This morning we registrered the children at Oulpan Akiva, they're going to follow the summer course during two weeks, it seemed to be a very nice program, they will study in the morning and play in the afternoon, and we, parents, will be able to breathe for a few hours.
It was encouraging meeting families who had survived their first year in Israel, and to see that their children where doing fine.
I am still very emotive, biting my lips when the neighbour's daughter passes buy asking if we are immigrants, wishing us welcome and good luck, or when discovering the language school with its swimmingpool and a basket ground, when an old man bends over my youngest daughter telling me she's beautiful and that she is the future of Israel...
I am proud to live here, and the feeling that we have made the right choice not only for us, but for our children is very strong. This morning when I looked through my livingroom window and watched the modern buildings of Tel Aviv I thought of the beginning, when there was only sand, only 60 years to build up all this, I'm happy that we will be a part of the comming 60!

We had a great chabat, actually every day has been great since we arrived. The beach is absolutely faboulous, crowded, but not like we're used to on the French riviera. The boys stayed in the water for almost 4 hours, it's really very warm. I'm curious to know what the lifeguards are saying, the're talking non-stop in their microphone, sometimes screaming, I can hear words like children, outside, staright, woman etc. Probably the try to control the situation and even more probably- the majority doesn't listen...
Today we will try to find out how to register the boys to the summer oulpan, I think it starts tomorrow and it would be useful for them to participate. Our Oulpan starts only in September, until then we try to use the words we know- or the words we think we know. Friday morning I went to the local supermarket asking the lady at the butcher's to give me a nose ( af) instead of a chicken (of).

We had a very busy day. We've bought a fridge, a washing machine and have been delivered the furniture we ordered in May.
This afternoon I went to the post office. Going to the post office is an important part when you change country. It's the place to observe people, probably because there is a beautiful "bouquet" of normal citizens.
Our post office was over-crowded. Outside the line was quite straight and not larger than two people, but once inside it worsened, the queue kind of "floated out" and people where standing everywhere. After less than two minutes the first quarrel bursted out about who was before who and before I had reached the cash desk I witnessed another two. Half of the queue where involved in each argument, giving their opinion about the order. When they wanted to know what I thought and I answered that I didn't speak Hebrew they questionned me in English. Funny, time seemed a little bit less long with this entertainement.
It's very warm, just a little less humid than in a hammam, and yes, I envy those who have AC in their bedroom.
Chabat Shalom!

Shalom!

Yesterday was so full of happiness that it will be kept in my memory together with the days I gave birth to my children, got converted and married.
The trip was fantastic. The plane was full of Parisian olim, singing, clapping hands, laughing, crying, hugging eachother. When we approached the Ben gOurion Airport everybody put on their "Olim Hadashim" tshirts and caps and the whole plane had a common countdown, at zero, when the wheels touched the ground the children where screaming of joy and lots of adults where crying of emotion and proud. I hope we will all sort it out here and that all of us, in a year or two will think back of this step as one of the most important steps of our lives.
The welcome ceremony was very moving and saying thank you and good-bye to the staff of the Jewish agency difficult. They have been with us for a year and half, and have accomplished their task, now they will start all over again with new families.
A Shirout took us home to our appartement in Natanya in the afternoon and we brought our 400 kilos of luggage inside.
Today we will start furnishing the appartment.

Tonight is the night...

and tomorrow we will start a new life, far away from everything we're used to.
People have been passing by to say goodbye since this morning. A journalist from Maariv came and interviewed us about Israel, our life in France and our Aliyah, I cried several times, I can't control myself anymore.
We didn't have much sleep, I guess this night will be worse since we're leaving the house a 3 o'clock tomorrow morning.
We haven't said goodbye to the Rabbi yet, we save the worst for last.
Bye for now, next hello will be a shalom from Israel!

nominated and challenged!

Kala nominated and challenged me to share my 7 favorite blogs, I'm not allowed to put Kala's Tel aviv betraktelser http://www.kalasblogg.blogspot.com/ , because she put mine on her list. Here are my seven:


http://ilanadavita.wordpress.com/ Interesting, nice recepies, and a little Swedish...
http://www.whatwarzone.com/ A good laugh, this guy is really funny
http://illcallbaila.blogspot.com/ I like the way she writes, it's tender
http://al-hamatzav.org/ The only swedish blog since I know swedish-speaking readers are a minority, this blog is a must though...
http://drybonesblog.blogspot.com I'm addicted!
http://miaspearls.blogspot.com Love her pictures and Mia herself.
http://min-farmor-lillie.blogspot.com/ Lillie is a friend, reading her blog keeps me updated between our calls, sorry-it's in Swedish...

Only six but six goodies...
My boys are back from the French Riviera, excited and a little scared of what is going to happen. Only two and a half more "sleeps" before leaving.
I can't sleep, when I turned the light off tonight and thought about our arrival I cried of happiness. My parents-in-law are with us, there is lot's of emotion in the air.

Last chabat before departure.
We've learned the lyrics of Hatikva today, even if we always sing along there are lots of humhum lalala between the keywords. As true zionists and future Israelis we thought we would feel ashame not being able to sing the national anthem...

Here is the translation:

As long as deep in the heart a Jewish soul yearns
And to towards the ends of the east
An eye is scouting for Zion
Our hope is as yet not lost
The hope that is 2000 years old
To be a free nation, in our own country
The land of Zion and Jerusalem
To be a free nation, in our own country
The land of Zion and Jerusalem

The list of things to do before leaving is getting shorter and shorter and everything, including my emotions, are under control.

Yesterdeay all future olim gathered in a synagogue in Paris and received blessings from the French (ex) chief Rabbi. The Israeli ambassador of France held a speach about Israel, Aliyah and Eldad and Ehud. He almost cried when he told us he just took down their picture from his office- wall and said he hoped we would all, soon after our arrival, be able to celebrate Guilat's homecomming- alive. For those of you who didn't know; Israel just swopped 199 bodies of terrorists and Kuntar ( who killed a family, smashed a 4 year old girl's head on a rock until she died) against two dead bodies. The game was awful, the families of the abducted soldiers didn't know for sure, until they saw the coffins that their sons were dead.
Well, the cermony in the synagogue was very moving, people where crying of joy and pain, there where those who where leaving and those who where left.
Like an alzheimer affected I had moments of lucidity when I realized that it's actually our aliyah and for seconds I felt euphoria.
Few people have the opportunity in life to realize a dream. I have often dreamt incredible things like winning ten million euros, buying the most beautiful house with a marvellous seaview or being able to fly. In the end I always wake up, disapointed, thinking it was too perfect to be true.

Briefing at the JA.
We have recieved the plane tickets for next week, and in our passports there are Visas valid until december. A few days after our arrival we will recieve our Israeli ID card.
I was happy to find another family with children who is moving to the same part of Natanya as we are, perhaps my oldest son will be in the same class as their's. I guess it will be esaier to have someone to talk to in the beginning and less scary the first day if there is another boy as nervous as mine in the same school.
The group of future Olim is mixed. There are religious, seniors and young families, all excited, exhausted, nervous and happy. Some of them are moving there for religious reasons and have chosen Jerusalem, others have retired and are moving to Ashdod or Eilat while the third part believes in Israel as country and are settling down in the Central part in towns like Raanana and Natanya.
Tonight we will all meet up in a Synagogue in Paris where we will recieve blessings from the ex chief rabbi of France and listen to the speech of the Israeli ambassador.

We had a wonderful chabat, only one more in France and then we will celebrate chabat in Israel!
I feel very calm but I must be nervous because I'm covered with spots, I look like wrinkeled teen-ager.
The goodbye part has started, we can't leave without saying goodbye so the comming week we're going out every night with friends and relatives.
I wish I'd have something more interesting to write but we're still on stand-by.

The boy's are now in the south, at their granparent's place.
Yesterday I bought another two bags, packed them and feel satsified, like I'm done.
You know the last day on holiday, when you've packed everything, put on your "normal clothes" and pass by the swimmingpool or the beach and watch the others doing what you've been doing for two weeks. Remember how strange it feels and how different the atmosphere is comparing to the day before?
That is an exact description of my inner feelings...

The sun rises, and goes down- 15 days...

Friends and family are leaving for holidays and I do everything I can to avoid saying good-bye.

I hate that word and tell everyone I'll pass by before leaving. It feels very strange, I know everything will continue here, that people and life will go on without us, that we have chosen such a different path comparing to others. As I'm very tired and probably look like shit lots of people ask me if I have changed my mind, if I regret my choice. I just say no, how could I explain how sure I am about our decision? It's insane, we have no house, we've sold almost everything we had and I feel absolutely nothing about it. The fact is that we're already gone, both me and my husband left a long time ago and are now in the departure longue watching the minute hand moving.

My oldest son had a few difficult days last week. He was sad leaving his school and worried about saying goodbye to his friends ( just like myself ) Staying at our cousin's place is great, he spends his days playing with his cousins and shows no signs of anxiety.

We have sold our house, and recieved the money.
Everything is in boxes and bags.
Chabat is soon here and we will have some rest.
I'm so tired and so excited on the same time.

Last night in my bed, in our house, on our street... I'm so tired I just realized it. We have had a tough day. The boy's farwell party...we counted on sunshine since we have no furniture or games left ...of course it rained the whole afternoon. We made them play bowling inside, volleyball in the livingroom and gave them lots and lots of chips, sodas and sweets. They had a great time!
We're almost done, I think I will need 4 hours tomorrow morning and then I will try to relax.
Tonight on the news they talk about Jerusalem, it makes me out of my mind - every time there is a truce they start killing innocent people in suicide attacks, even if this man didn't blow himself up he continued until someone else did.
I feel no fear , only anger. Maybe I will be afraid in Israel after terror attacks, just like I was afraid to take the train into Paris the day after the St Michel bombing in -95.
The aim of these idiots is to sow the seeds of fear in every innocent mind, to make you feel insecure taking the train, the subway, the plane, going shopping in crowded places, visiting monuments like the Eiffel Tower or go abroad.
The best way to fight terrorism is to refuse cooperating, refuse the fear, continue to live as normally as possible because we all have the right to live in our own country without being afraid of getting killed by a bastard who doesn't beleive in the same G*d as we do.

I am desperatley

calling BREE!!!

I need some coaching, it's neverending, I'm fed up with "things" on the table, in the bathroom, under the bed and we don't have enough bags for packing and we don't have enough time and tomorrow it's going to rain (see previous posts) !

The aupair left this morning, next time I'll se her it will be in Israel.

"-'ç_&bcdrgn&_c(a!!!!!

It is difficult to continue the day thinking about packingproblems after reading the morning's newspaper. The captured soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev are supposed to be "given back" by Hezbollah after exactly 2 years of captivity, July the 12th.

In exchange Israel will deliver Samir Kuntar who participated in an attack on an Israeli family in 1979, and murdered three Israelis: a 28 year-old man, his 4-year-old daughter, and an Israeli policeman; the man's 2 year-old daughter suffocated as her mother tried to quiet her crying. He was convicted in the same year, he received four life imprisonment sentences and has been in Israeli prisons ever since.

Hezbollah still doesn't want to tell the families of the abducted soldiers wether their sons are alive or not, it will be a surprise.

Karnit Goldwasser, Ehuds wife, who met Olmert yesterday told him while shaking his hand ; I've been fighting for two years, and I feel that in the end, even if I won, what has it all been for? So I can shout 'Hooray, I'm a widow'?"Her husband was only 21 years old when he got kidnapped.

Let's all pray for a miracle.

The house is almost empty now...

and so is my head and body. J came to pick up furniture Saturday afternoon, the livingroom is now completely unfurnished.
My earache is unbareable, how did I catch this? In Sweden when it once happened my mother told me to put a garlic in my ear, this was a long time ago, before I realized a mother could be wrong. I spent a day with a garlic clove and it didn't help at all, it worsen- probably the clove was too big.... Yeasterday when I googled in Swedish about otitis I found out that people are still doing that, a progress though, today they crush the clove...In Sweden they don't need doctors, except maybe for cancer, but then, often, it's too late anyway.
Well, I'm not really Swedish anymore having lived half my life abroad so I'm on antibiotics and cortisone. Although it's written that the cortisone contains an active ingredient which may yield a positive dope test I am unfortunately as exhausted as yesterday. I was counting om 50 mg of Cortancyl to clean up the upper floor, I'm still in bed waiting for the energy kick!
The washing machine just broke down, instead of feeling sorry for myself I try to think that the moment is pretty good, we where going to sell it and I'm happy we didn't have the time to do it, it would have been very embarrasing to sell a machine that broke down after a week, or once we've left!
Meanwhile I'll do my laundry at our cousin's place, where leaving on Wednesday so it's not really a problem.
I have to be fit tomorrow!

We are now 12 cubic meter lighter!

I fell much better than yesterday, I even had a moment of euphoria around noon when I went to buy pizzas. I can't believe where doing this!!!!!

It was mouving to watch the truck leave, both me and my husband had tears in our eyes. The dream is so close that we can almost reach out and touch it.

I spent about an hour cleaning up after the movers left and then I realized we forgot a box with Swedish crystal. All Swedish girls have Orrefors at home and I am not an exception.

Well , we'll bring the box with us in the plane.

Saturday J is comming to pick up furniture, then the house will be almost empty. We'll stay here until next Wednesday. We are going to put the beds at the garbage at wednesday night when the "garbage police" have left for the day. There is no way we could put them inside the Nissan Micra and bring them to the gipsy camp -but- if you don't come to the gipsies, the gipsies will come to you.

Thursday morning the beds will probably already be gone since the garbage is checked every night. The au-pair put out some of her stuff yesterday and it didn't take more than 15 minutes before everything was gone. It's amazing, I wonder if they hav spies?

Exhausted

So, what could I tell you today. Am I ready? Are all boxes done? Noooo Are the movers comming tomorrow? Yeeees. I feel it never ends, the children are everywhere, touching everything.

A few months ago, in a moment of weakness, I promised my son to organize a farwell party. G*d I regret. The aupair is leaving Tuesday, school will be over on Friday, Wednesday is the only possibility... When son number two heard son number one was inviting his friends he started begging to invite some of his friends. I'll make them play football in the park - even if it's raining- and I even think I will feed them there. I really though he had forgot about it...

Good morning!

Nicolas said in the Knesset yesterday that we will have to split Jerusalem, give the territories back and that he loves Israel. There is a big difference today in the relations between France and Israel, comparing to Chirac's mandatory, but could it possibly have become worse than that?

Splitting Jerusalem? In one way it's already split, I never go to the eastern part. I think that peace feels very, very far away and that it is impossible to just get along with a terrorist organisation, how could you trust them?

Well, from now on Israel is no longer alone, France is by their side - it's an amelioration

In French newspapers and on the Radio they are analyzing the fight between 15 Africans and Rudy, a 17 year old Jewih boy, that took place saturday. Rudy has just woken up from his coma and the journalists are now trying to sort out if he was attacked because he was wearing a kipa or not. The same day another jewish boy was attacked with a machette by a group of Africans according to "Le Parisien".

Paris is a beautiful capital, you're welcome to visit but please try not to look too Jewish, it would be interpreted as provocation, at least in the northern areas.

Maybe Nicolas should take care of his own occupied territories before Israel's...

High priority

The days are getting shorter and shorter, the nights too.

The list of musts is still very long so I have decided to start with what's most important.

Today I'm going in to the JA with our passports, next time I'll hold them in my hands it will be d- day. I have also spent about an hour at our kosher supermarket picking out nice French wine bottles. very hard, I felt all the Pomerol, St Emillion and St Estephe were screaming ; "Pick meeee" I finally chose 12 bottles, a few of each, two rosé and two white Chablis, 2 L of Boukha Bokobsa ( -WHY did you only take 2 L???) and two jugs of ArichA's Harissa ( The BEST).

Now where ready to leave!

It's funny, as I fill up the boxes and the house gets emptier I feel almost sad. I think I have t go through a kind of a mourning period before I can enjoy it. I don't feel sad to move, this is what we dreamt about for such a long time, I feel sorry we didn't take the decision before. Life is so precious, every day counts, I've been fed up living here for years...
I am so scared we will not be able to make it there, that I will not find a job, that my husband will not succeed with his new company. I try to think what to do if it really doesn't work and I have no solution. I will not bring back the kids to this part of France, this morning we woke up hearing on the radio that a 19 year old jewish boy was attacked in the street yeasterday. He is, according to the radio, seriously wounded and the reason he got attacked was anti-Semit.
As there is no other solution I guess we will jus HAVE TO make it.
What is the tehilim for parnassa?
31 days left...

Great and less great...

My husband just sold the car! He brought it up to Normandy where a family waited, really excited to get their first - almost-new-car.

Now husband is on his way back, by train, and wife is in the kitchen prepairing the couscous and sallads for tonight and tomorrow.

Little by little we're sorting things out...

This morning the truce was supposed to begin, 10 minutes ago, in Haaretz we can read that 2 Israelis were hurt in a shooting attack near Ramallah while hiking. Truce means Palestinians can continue as usual, sending Quassams and kill Israelis and Israel is not allowed to answer the aggressions --or peacetalks will freeze.

*Sigh*

Our mini break is over. My A has been here with her family and it was great thiniking about other things than problems and time and furniture and boxes. Now they're gone. I wish everyone had a friend like her. Saying goodbye was horrible, my heart still hurts to be honest, I hope we will be able to see eachother soon again, I pray to G*d Ryan Air will start flying on Tel Aviv!
When I had waved good-bye and came back into the house again I started to think about the comming weeks.
The movers are comming in 8 days!
J is picking up her furniture in 10 days!
The aupair is leaving in 12 days.
We're leaving the house the 4th of July...
My biggest problem right now is where we're going to put the beds when we leave the house, I will keep them until the 4th in the morning, could we dump them at the gipsy camp ( which is not too far? We're not allowed to put them with the garbage because it's too big. Impossible to do it during the day, the garbage house is "guarded" by a very nice but incorruptible guy from the Ivory Coast... hmmm. I'll tell you which solution we will chose.
Throw them away in the middle of the night and sleep on the floor or the Gipsy camp...
I will have to start making lists with things to do, otherwise i will forget everything.
This afternoon we're going into Paris, actually we just realized we can by taxfree now that we're leaving, very interesting...

yawning

Yesterady we spent the day at Parc Asterix. Going on a Rollrer coaster is better than sedatives, I felt sooo relaxed afterwards, I screamed so much that all the stress went away...I should go for a ride every day before leaving.

Yesterday night we went to a huge bat mizva in Paris.

I think answered more than 200 "Hi how aaare you, so when are you leaving" and smiled to about 200 more " aaah voilà l'Israelienne!!!" (I don't have to translate that, do I?)

I feel we haven't slept for two weeks, the problem is that even when I go to bed early I don't, so I might as well go to bed late, at least then- I sleep, even if it's not much.

The movers are comming in 9 days and I keep on opening the boxes I have finished because I need something inside.

No- it's not me on the picture, I look much less sophisticated when I'm tired...

Thank G*d for

Ebay...
We sold our freezer today. Incredible, what was the chance to find someone not too far to buy a huuuge freeze box? Not too far because the buyer is supposed to pick it up.
A couple of Africans bought it, they will send it to Mauritania... what an exciting and unexpected destiny for a freeezer!
The car is still looking for a a buyer. Someone called a quarter to eleven to night asking for more photos from inside the car- no problem, it's spotless!
The guy lives in Normandy and would love to buy a Ford Fusion, internet is fantastic...I'm ready to go there with the car and return by train, I will feel so relieved when we've got rid of the car.
Chavoua tov all of you!

This morning I met the Rabbi.

I think we have the most friendly, understanding and sweet Rabbi that exists.

All Rabbis should be, you might think, well they aren't, there are good and less good Rabbis, and mine is the best.

He asked me how I felt and I answered that we where wobbeling between euphoria and fear.

He smiled and said; "you're afraid of the delivery".- Don't worry, it doesn't hurt...

I think that was a very good comparison. We've created a dream together. We've fantasised, and dreamt about what it will be like for over a year.

Suddenly, when the D- Day is approaching we're afraid that it will be below our expectations or that we ( this time the pain will be shared, he, he) will not be able to stand the pain of labor.

Our child is an abstract dream becomming reality and the delivery will probably be longer and more painful than a real childbirth.

If the result will be up to our expectations, I'm willing to take the pain, even without epidural.

Shabat shalom!

Heard on the radio this morning...

A Japanese customs officer, eager to show the effiency of his sniffer dog team, put 142 gram of raw cannabis in a randomly chosen suitcase at Japan's Narita airport.

His snifferdogs failed to detect the cannabis and the officer could not rember in which suitcase he had but the drugs...

Anyone finding the package has been asked to contact customs officials.

Aching eardrums and sleepy eyes

I would have loved to update with " I've finished packing and we've sold the car" but I haven't and there is no sign of a car-buyer...
Yesterday we went to a wedding, a real Tunisan wedding, with great oriental food, a Tunisian orchestra with darboukas and the" snake charmer instrument".
For a stranger it must be incomprenhensive that there are North Africans on a Jewish wedding. The fact is that from the first note the dance floor was full and people sang along in arab. It's very common, there is almost no Jewish Tunisian wedding without "Haramt ahebak"
I feel nervous about the car, I really hope we will manage to sell it, there are 230 cars like mine ( same brand), waiting to change owner in France.
Mine -of course- is outstanding... different from the others... blacker, shinier, cleaner...euhhh...

Chavout and Ruth's Meguila

Ruth is an important woman to all converts and I can't resist pasting in her beautiful words to her mother in law.

"Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me"

Hag Saméah!

44 days and counting

We have finally got an answer regarding the fees for bringing the car. It's very, very expensive and really not worth it. We put an add friday afternoon and someone called this morning. I hope we will be able to sell it quickly, we could rent a car here until we're leavning.

The rest of the furniture will be on sale on Ebay, what a pity I'm not Paris Hilton, I could have sold "Knut" ( see previous post) for a fortune...

My husband's family is comming with us to the airport when we're leaving.
Imagine 600 nervous people , with 60 kilos each in luggage, parents, sisters and brothers saying good-bye, crying, at 3 o'clock in the morning... I warned my mother-in - law on the phone today saying it might be a little hysteric and not at all like the nefesh b nefesh film I sent her by email... Well, they want to come anyway and that's really sweet I think, they live far away.

Personal nonsense

Tomorrow morning when I wake up (B-h), I will be 37 years old.
As I wrote to my friend, I will be closer to 50 than to 20...
I don't like getting older, it reminds of that we're not here forever.
Here are my resolutions for my 37th year;
I will stop buying Sweet chili Doritos and eat them up in the car, far away from my chips- obsessed children ( it must be genetic), to celebrate that decision I did it today, again, but for the last time...
I will fold my clothes on the shelves in my ( new, big Ikea-) closet, even when I lack of time.
I will start working again, I've been a housewife for 5 years now.
I will never, ever again wake up with a pimple on my nose or in my front because I'm a grown up, a mother of 3 and because women over 36 never have pimples (even after a bag of Doritos.)
At 37 I will fulfill a dream.

Shabat shalom!


Shabat shalom all of you.

That's it!

Today "Madame *Balagan" entered our house, she will stay with us until the 4th of July.

I feel like I'm on top of a rollercoaster, to excited to step off, to afraid to scream.

We've started our aliyah...

* chaos, mess.

Mum is going mechouga...

You know when you're driving the car and your husband is beside you telling you what to do, how to turn, where to turn, to drive faster...

Imagine you're tired ( sick child who woke up at six when you went to bed at 1 o'clock) add some hunger, and a dispute about where you're going to eat...

Today I did what many women have thought about but never dared to do...

...I pulled the handbreak on a zebra crossing, in the center of Paris, stepped out of the car, took my hanbag and left my bad-tempered husband alone in the car with the kids!

AAAAAAAh! .

I forgot my cellphone inside the car, which emphasized the effect, and spent a nice afternoon in Paris.

When I came home they were all very happy to see me.

The Iron Lady

I really admire her. Goldas Meir's ( z"l) face and look fascinate me, a woman out of the common, with a life out of common.

She was born in the beginning of the century in Kiev, according to her biography one of her first memories were of her father boarding up the front door in response to rumors of an imminent pogrom, I guess that kind of childhood harden your personality...

The Family left Russia for the US but Golda, together with her husband and sister decided to settle in Palestine in 1921 when Golda was 23.

Imagine what a step to take, today we can study a country's economy, follow its political life daily and even learn the language before taking the step, I doubt they could 87 years ago.

Golda started her new life picking almonds in a kibbutz and became the first female primeminister in Israel and the third in the world (after India and Sri Lanka) in 1969.

I love reading quotes, here are some of Golda's best;

"Peace will come to the Middle East when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us."

"Above all, this country is our own. Nobody has to get up in the morning and worry what his neighbors think of him. Being a Jew is no problem here"

"We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown and when strawberries bloom in Israel."

"I never did anything alone. Whatever was accomplished in this country was accomplished collectively"

"There were no such thing as Palestinians. When was there an independent Palestinian people with a Palestinian state? It was either southern Syria before the First World War, and then it was a Palestine including Jordan. It was not as though there was a Palestinian people in Palestine considering itself as a Palestinian people and we came and threw them out and took their country away from them. They did not exist"

Let me tell you something that we Israelis have against Moses. He took us 40 years through the desert in order to bring us to the one spot in the Middle East that has no oil!

Have a nice day!

Fallafel in the Jewish quarter.

This afternoon we went to Marais and had a fallafel at "L'as du Fallafel", its a nice area in Paris where the Gay and Jewish community live side by side in perfect harmony.

In 1982 terrorists threw a hand grenade into the Goldberg resturant in Marais and then went down Rue des Rosiers shooting.

6 where killed and 22 seriously wounded.

The special French antiterrorist unit investigated and a few weeks later they found explosives and guns in an appartement in Vincennes...

Ready to know who the appartement belonged to?

The Irish nationalists.

Nooo, there is absolutely nothing strange with that. Irish nationalists hate Jews. I know who you had in mind but no, no, no, you're being simple minded!

Well, later on it emerged that the explosives found in the appartement were actually put there by the police itself...

They never found the real culpable, a tricky case...

The fallafel was very tasty and the home-made lemonade too.

53 days before leaving...

We are all sourrounded by winners and loosers, it's true, some people just succeed in everything they start and some people fail, again and again. Two weeks ago I heard someone saying that the winners would, in front of a huge problem, try to divide it into to small, solvable problems while the looser would do the contrary - transform lots of small, solvable problems into a huge promblem without a solution...

I try to act like a winner, I try not to loose foot and advance slowly but surely. We are moving out of the house in the beginning of July. The container with the stuff we're bringing is leaving France at the end of June, furniture, machines etc, that are going to continue their lives at J's place are too, their trip will be shorter though.

This comming week I will have to start going through the children's toys, books, photos etc. I will also, most probably, end up knife threating my husband in order to make him sort out his tools, and throw away flexibles, old keyboards, his first cellphone etc that are kept in a furniture called "Knut" in the garage ( yes, it's IKEA)... He has aready tried the -"We're bringing Knut, we could just scotch the drawers... "

The man from the "Mover" cancelled our appointment and is supposed to come on Monday, the second is comming on Tuesday, I'll choose the cheapest.

One problem at a time, and not think about all as an overall picture...

We have entered a busy month, fortunately my "half" is comming for a few days with her children and husband, it will be a nice break and lots of fun. A last visit to Disney, Parc Asterix and barbecue evenings with a glass of cold rosé...

Chavoua tov all of you!

Good morning world!

Today on he radio, and also in the newspaper we learn that a marriage in the north of France has been cancelled because the bride wasn't virgin. According to the custom, the bride's and the groom's respective families where waiting downstairs when the groom went out from the bedroom saying the bride wasn't bleeding- there were no bloodstains on the sheets, the bride was immediately brought back to her father.

As the marriage was based on a lie, as the groom didn't want to marry a girl with a non existant hymen the French judge decided to cancel the marriage...

I didn't know women had to be pure by ( European) law when they get married, and I know, since I was 14 that lot's of women don't bleed the first time. In this particular case the young girl admitted that she actually have had sex before, she lied to her future husband which is never good but should that be a legal reason to cancel a marriage ?

I don't agree, I am not a feminist but this makes me out of my mind. Imagine how many marriages that will be cancelled in the future for the same reason. Should women who marry this kind of culture go through a medical control before their civil wedding, refunded by the social insurance, why not?

I hope this cas will provoke a reaction, this kind of decision should definately not be encouraged by French law!

Blonde thoughts...

Today at the supermarket in front of the toiletpaper I put he biggest pack in the caddy and then I thought- how many rolls do we really use a week? counted the days that are left, started to smile, put back the big pack and chose a smaller, still smiling.

Time goes so fast, I start to feel that we have lot's of things to do and not that much time.

I also feel like I'm saying goodbye to Paris. I see things in a different way. In Pigall the other day I went down Rue des Martyrs where I used to live and lot's of memories went trough my head, I remebered how it was to be 20 in Paris...it feels so far away, like another life. Paris has changed a lot the last ten years, a lot, or perhaps it's me...

I've spent 19 years in Sweden, 18 in France.

I hope that I will spend the rest of my life in Israel.

10 reasons...

So why do we really want to live in Israel? In spite of the fact that we think it's our country and that it is almost a duty to live there, here are the top ten reasons...

1. The natural style of the Israelis and their shameless curiosity.

2. The country is absolutely fascinating, historically speaking.

3. Mac Donald's is kosher ( I knoow, not all of them)

4. Shabat, people are not afraid that the neighbours will hear when they recite the kiddush, sometimes when you're walking on the street you can hear prayers through open windows or doors.

5. The mix of people, 80 languages are spoken in Israel!

6. The food, the chocolate cakes, the falafel, the humuss, the eggplantmayosalad, the limonana...

7. Jerusalem - there should be a law that oblige all human beings to go there once in their life!

8. We believe in the country, in the economic growth, in the Israeli's capacity of transforming a piece of sandy land into an eldorado.

9. The playgrounds, there are playgrounds everywhere, the place is a pradise for kids !

10. In Israel Hezbolla'h and Hamas are terrorist organizations and nothing else.

Go Boaz!

My Swedish roots are still there, for sure, I'm watching the Eurovision Song contest with a bowl of Ben and Jerry's... In Sweden newspapers have followed the event for a month now, making comments about the Swedih singer's concurrents and forecasting winners and loosers. No doubt, Sweden will win, like always. Tomorrow the newspapers will write racist comments about the eastern countries, like always, it's because of them Sweden doesn't win.It was much better when they didn't participate...
Well, I got the impression that it was quite a big thing in Israel too, even if I don't understand everyhing I could clearly and very often hear the word "Eurovison" on the radio.
Boaz is cute, he makes me regret my youth, and the song is nice, he deserves a vote!
Imagine he would win, half of the countries (at least) would boycott next years Eurovison song contest and start militating for Gaza to participate!
Chavoa tov!

There is still time to vote!

Back in France

and only a few hours of sleep. I feel strange to be back here again. The trip calmed me down a lot and gave me strenght. I now know that the only fear I need to have is money. Life in Israel is great, if it wasn't for gaza and hezbolla'h the place would be called paradise... If we manage to survive on our salaries life will be great!
I showed the pictures of the children's new school this morning, my elder son was just interested in where he could play football during the breaks! He doesn't seem to be worried about anything at the moment which is quite amazing to me. Son number two has spoken about the slides in Israel the whole morning, they are absolutely awesome... I will start my prepared, pedagogical speech once we're there, nobody is interested in language barriers, for the moment.
Only 64 days to go!

Paddeling on the Jordan river

Yesterday we took a break from IKEA and dirty kitchens and drove north. We had lunch at Tiberias, the city at the Kinneret lake. I haven't been there since 1996, it has changed a lot but I still don't like the place. I can't pu my finger on what's wrong, it's just not nice.

After lunch we continued north, passed Kafarnaum and took road 888 which I think leads to Golan if you continue, after just a kilometer to the left we stopped and rented a canoe. The Jordan river was quite shallow but there was enough to paddle.

It was forbidden to jump from the canoes into the river and we where not allowed to stop and swim on our way, the trip was about 3 km and at the end there was a bus waiting for us to get us back to the car. Since Israel is south of Belgium everyone jumped from the canoes into the water as soon as the instructors where out of sight. The water was perfect and there where little waterfalls all along we really, really enjoyed it! The place is called Beïtsaïda if someone wants to go there...

Before going back to the hotel we stopped at Zikhron Yacov and had dinner, the sun was going down, the sky was all pink and we had a nice bottle of wine in a resturant on the main street. A perfect end of a perfect day.

Today I'm back to reality cleaning the kitchen...

Monday

We have now an appartement almost furnished! Ikea delivered today and fortunately all did fit in the lift! They came exactly when they say they would and didn't break anything... My husband is afraid of hammers and screws and has managed to get someone to assemble the beds and warderobes for us next week, so hopefully it will be in order in July when we arrive.
We've visited the children's school, just accross the road, it's big, with 550 pupils, a huge playground, palmtrees and a lawn (!). The headmaster was young, very natural and relaxed, to me and my husband it seems to be a good choice. We were actually thinking of putting the children in another school further away until "K" pointed out to that it would be easier for the children to be in the same school as their neighbours.
We haven't put our name on the door yet but we have bought the mezouza and there is only the kitchen left to clean!
Jerusalem was as magic as always, tomorrow we're going north.

and this...

is our beach- and my shoes... only 25 minutes walk from the appartement...

our new flat... here it is!

We've had a wonderful week. We've been fixing with the waterbills, taxes, gazbills, bankaccounts etc. All that is usually v e r y boring but when you change country it becomes fascinating. In all I think people are very helpful and kind, if you compare with the French administration they're much faster! The woman at the city hall of Netanya said welcome home and wished us good luck before we left, maybe she did her aliyah a few years ago, who knows...

Little by little we start realizing that this is our new home, we're going to put up our name on the door, on the letter box etc, it may sound silly but it means a lot for us.

Tomorrow we're leaving for to Jerusalem early in the morning, we are going to show the Kottel for our second child and see some family.

Oh, I almost forgot, I had dinner with Kala ( see blogs I like on the left) in Rehovot with 2 other Swedish girls, it was great to meet again and it's even greater to think that I already have 3 nice friends here!

We came, we saw, we found!

We have found an appartement! It's big, light, without a balcony-but who cares. The standard is Israeli, with loose receptacles and rough but new-painted white walls.
We are so happy, to be honest I cried when we signed the contract, it is exactly where we wanted and I think it's a reasonable rent to pay. There are palmtrees everywhere and a big playground close to the house, school is just across the road!
We will now have to buy furniture at IKEA and find some help to assemble them. The girl at the real estate agency said she may know someone.
We're getting closer and closer to our dream.

Nervousness

Shabat is almost ready, the salads are done and I just have to prepare the rice for the chicken. We're leaving for Israel on Sunday! My middle son is shaking of excitement. He has been hearing about Israel as long as he can remember and now he is finally going to discover this land which is so important for us! He will be able to taste a haburger at Mac Donald's for the first time in his life isn't that a thing to remeber? I am nervous, this is the last time we're going there before leaving.
This morning I called my Israeli bank to ask if the money we've "swifted" had arrived.
- Non cherie, not yet! answered the French-speaking lady. I smiled and wondred if there is another country in the world where they call you darling when you call the bank...
Shabat shalom!

If you will it, it is no dream. T. Herzl

From yesterday's moaning of lost soldiers the trasition is abrubt. Today we cry of proud and joy for our little piece of land! From sorrow to happiness in the blink of an eye, that is the force and according to me the reason we're still here and not extermined.
May peace soon come, may our existance be accepted and no longer questioned.
Happy Birthday Israel, we love you!
AM ISRAEL HAÏ!

Yom Hazikaron

Memorial day.

Today we remember and honor all soldiers killed in the war, all young men and women who died for Israel's right to exist. When you watch the video and look at photos of fallen soldiers you find it hard to connect the faces of all these young people, plenty of life, to the European articles about the "barbarian" Israeli army. 65 soldiers, young students with their life in front od them died last year, just because some people don't want us to exist, don't want us to have this little piece of land.
Let us hope they didn't die for nothing, let us hope that one day there will be peace.

July 24th!!

We are leaving ( beezrat hashem) the 24th of July! Its magic, fantastic, a dream comming true...
Karin, Jenny and Katarina, please come to the airport and share this unforgettable moment with us!
From me to you, a French version of Hatikva ( The hope)

Stupid sayings...

Last week we spent a day picnicing at a volcanic lake ( look at the picture). The weather was beautiful and there were lots of people. In front of us a typical French family, 3 generations, drinking wine, eating cheese, ham and other things to bring on a picnick. The older men wore strawhats, they spoke a fancy French and I couldn't help listening to them, they were quoting poems, talking politics, singing...

They kept all the food on plates on the blanket and suddenly one of the women said with a loud voice to another - Why do you keep the cheese "in Jew" ("en juif") like that?

A few years ago, when I worked in a French company outside Paris, I heard this horrible and quite common expression for the first time.

When I asked what it meant to keep or eat something "in Jew". The man kindly explained that it means you're hiding a good thing for others in order to keep it for yourself, just like the Jews, they are very stingy, they don't share things you see...

Fortunately my children didn't hear the woman, I think those kind of things are difficult to explain and would lend to increase the gap between "us" and "them".

It also shows how bad they know Jewish families. We're always eating and making food for at least 3 more people than expected, because we never know who's going to show up for dinner and I have never heard of a family sending the neighbour's kid home ( the Swedes reading my blog probably smile now, remebering their childhood, waiting alone in a room while their best friend was having dinner with her or his parents) because they're eating, the table is set for everyone in the house no matter who they are! To "eat in Swede" would actually be more apropriate, but as you all know the Swedes already have their reputation and it has absolutley nothing to do with food., I guess we Jews will have to continue being stingy and greedy...

Today I'm going to the Jewish Agency with the last documents to complete our Aliyah file and I think I'll sneak in at H & M at the Opera too, I deserve it!

7 days

You never change.
When I was younger I used to think that something happened after 30, that I was going to change, become more mature without any effort...
Almost 3 weeks of holidays without a hebrew lesson, here we are, two hours before leaving, doing our homework in the last minute, just as if we where 16 again...
The reason why we haven't done our homework has changed though, We didn't spend the days having coffee with friends or the evenings drinking Gin tonic in trendy bars...it's been more like cooking, cleaning and admiring sheep.
We're leaving for Israel in a week, "Yad2" is empty, no appartements in Poleg at all, not even one without a balcony...
I feel like I'm carrying a huge stone in my stomach.
Actually I emptied my head of all stress in Auvergne, back to normal all worries are invading me again and I feel exhausted.
I keep repeating that I'm not leaving Israel without an apartement to rent and my husband keeps on saying - yes darling, of course darling...just a matter of time before he'll tell me to shut up...

Sound of (Palestinian) Music

Today we've been driving around the " Puy de Dôme " it's really beautiful, almost unreal, have you seen Sound of music? Rememeber the last scene when the whole family is running down a green hill? That's it!

We had dinner in a an ugly resturant with only one employee, and a dog. We couldn't eat any of the specialities ( not kosher) but he made us the tastiest omelette we have ever had, really, I'm not exaggerating!

We spent the afternoon in Mont Dore, a village in the mountains.

There, at a café, I saw two young girls having a coffee with their mum, both with a "keffieh" , a Palestinian scarf.

We should really ask the Palestinians for PR advice, they've done a marvellous job!

It makes me sick passing by young girls and boys with a Palestinian scarf around their neck. I wonder if they really know what it stands for and how their parents can allow them to go out like that!

It is pure propaganda, and it works! Wherever you turn your head, even in the smallest village far from the crowd, there is always someone to remind you of who you are and that you're not desired.

YOM HASHOA

At 10:00am on Yom HaShoah, throughout Israel, air-raid sirens are sounded for two minutes. During this time, people stop what they are doing and stand at attention; cars stop, even on the highways; and the whole country comes to a standstill as people pay silent tribute to the dead.

Let us all think, just for a second, of a child, a mother or a grandfather who was killed, only 65 years ago, just because he was Jewish.

Sunny but freezing cold!

It's fantastic to walk on paths without being afraid of meeting Jack the Ripper or Jack the Raper. It's like a huge postcard or a painting, flowers everywhere, it reminds me of Sweden around midsummer, same smell of fresh leaves and flowers. The gîte is romantic and very nice decorated as you can see, when I get rich I'll buy a house in Golan and decorate it like this, or maybe in Zichron Yacov...

We had a nice day, no biting sheep but "we" managed to break the plastic slide in the garden, why do they never listen to me?? We're getting the bill tomorrow.

They called from a real estate agency in Israel , they had appartements to rent in a wonderful place just close to the sea, I know where it is, and it's not wonderful at all. If we've waited until now we might as well wait until we get there don't you think? No use to rent an appartement on pictures a week before going!

Rainy and cold

or fresh air and beautiful dark sky, it depends on your mood and how you see things. This place is fantastic, the children have fed the lambs with feeding bottles and while I was busy taking pictures of drops ( see pic above), son number two got bitten by a sheep. How did that happen? Have you ever heard of agressive sheep?

A long time ago, when I was young and careless, I used to work at the Perfume museum in Paris. The "consierge's" (carekepper's) dog always slept in front of the museum, no-one really cared except the Americans who felt very upset seeing a Husky sleeping in the sun( she looked awful in the heat)

The dog hated tourists and once bit an American student. The student's teacher freaked out and said she was calling the police, threating with court. The carekeeper didn't speak good French and no English at all ( in Paris they are all Spanish or Poruguese), but understood it was serious and got her son's healthreport with all vaccinations since he was born, showed it to the teacher and told her with proud in her voice that there were no danger of Rabies.

The teacher calmed down and left the place with her bleeding student.

I didn't ask for the sheep's healthreport but called my best friend A who is married to an Irish, he would know sheep better than anyone!

Well, according to him nothing to worry about, still he thought that it was v e r y strange to get bitten by a sheep... According to A he was whispering something about people living in big cities not fitting in on the country side...

In spite of this, the day was wonderful and I'm looking forward to new adventures tomorrow, hopefully under the sun!

Off for some rest!

After a week with big dinners and sweeping we all deserve some calm and are leaving for Auvergne ( although it's yom tov today, I know)

Auvergne is a volcanic region in the center of France with beautiful nature and very nice people, winter time you can ski and during summer there are lot's of backpackers and families going there for peace, quiet and fresh air.

We've rented a Gîte, an old house, far away from civilization, with sheep and cows as neighbours.

Tomorrow morning I hope we'll find a "boulangerie" to buy a fresh baguette or two, or four, I long for bread now!

Be ware of the sun girls!

Spring is here, the sun is back and it's getting warmer and when the sun comes back after winter the French get crazy, honking cars, whisteling and shouting after women in the streets, asking young girls if they would like to have a coffee. Today on the radio someone gave the scientific explanation to this phenomenon. Someone actually had the idea of putting a duck under a heating lamp for a few hours a noticed that the duck's testicules swell up visibly!

The theory is that the same things happen to men...

Don't let them stay in the sun too long!

Chabat Shalom all of you!

Getting crazy...

Today I called a French girl in Israel who has a real estate agency in Tel Aviv, I never told you but we're actually looking for a shop to rent. She didn't have a shop but a beautiful appartement in Raanana to rent from June-her own. Five rooms, partly renovated with a teerace. I've been to Raanana twice but to be honest I was disapointed, did I go to the wrong places or what? I see now, googeling, that Raanana is claasified as one of the most beautiful towns in Israel with great schools and huge parks ( well, I knew about the parks, my friend "K" already told me)
Two questions to answer..
1. Aren't there too many French in Raanana? If there are, we will not learn any hebrew.
I remeber last time we went to a resturant on the main street, they all spoke perfectly French...
2. Isn't it sad to live so far from the beach? I dream about waking up in the morning, early, before everyone else, put my sneakers on and go for a walk on the beach...
We will try to check that out in a few weeks...

So happy to be Jewish!

Rice, potatoes, potatoes again, vegetables,eggs and rice again, and crumbs, kilos of crumbs... this is how you can resume pessah when the sedarim are done.
I love it though, it's facinating that we're celebrating the Exodus from Egypt, reading texts about it although it happened more than 3000 years ago.
That's what makes lots of people criticizing judaïsm, there is no place for changes, no wiling to modernize the texts of the Thora or our rituals, year after year, decades after decades, centuries after centuries we say the same prayers and celebrate the same festivals without any changes- because it's written we should.
For centuries women have probably been sick and tired of the matza crumbs too, when I say nothing has changed I mean nothing.
It's amazing, I'm so happy I'm Jewish and I'm so happy I have children to make it continue to the next generation and even though I'm ranking about the crumbs I'm happy I'm sweaping out matza crumbs instead of bread crumbs this week.

Would you trust and make peace with someone like this?

"We have discovered how to hit the Jews where they are the most vulnerable. The Jews love life, so that is what we shall take away from them. We are going to win, because they love life and we love death."

-- Hizbullah General Secretary, Hassan Nasrallah

Enchanted by Amy...

I think the world would look different if we could hear Amy Winehouse's soft voice in the background constantly...
They called from Israel twice today about uninteresting appartements first and in the afternoon I got good news, this time I don't beleive them, we'll buy a tent and start our new life camping on the beach.
With Amy Winehouse in the background everything is going to be coooool...

Chilling out...

Someone told me to be ware of the יצר הרע (yetser hara = evil inclination) who sneaks around when you're cooking for the sedarim and also to chase it away afterwards when everything is finished and it whispers in your ears - pssst, next year - don't do it , they're not worth it.

I am exhausted but I loved listening to my father-in-law praying and my husband was so happy to sit next to him that I try to forget how tired I am and who didn't even say - thanks for inviting me for four evenings at your place ...

I'm happy that there was no terrorist attack in Israel during the Seder, one year a terrorist dressed up as a jew and blew himself up in a hotel in Netanya killing children, parents and seniors in the middle of the prayers.

Tonight I'm having a glass of white Yarden wine with my husband, the children are quiet, the tv is on and I'm finally relaxing.

Done with the cleaning!

aaahhhhh... back to life after three days with the hoover stuck to my right hand, I will sleep well and tomorrow morning I'll start the cooking-frying-baking part.

The house is cleaner than ever, and we're 100 kilos lighter than a week ago. I've thrown and given away books we never read, old keyboards, clothes, two boxes of tiles, the flexibles I told you about, etc etc.

When I was going through the "first drawer" ( that's where we put everything from chewinggums to cheques) I came across the quote from the furniture mover company and realized that I had remebered the wrong figure. It wasn't 800 euros for 14 cubic meter but 1400 euros for 8 cubic meter. Thats expensive for lamps, books and photos...

Hag Saméa'h all of you, Happy passover, this year we will feel special when we say " next year in Jerusalem"...

Spring

This winter I thought; when the trees are in bloom we're almost gone, now they are but I still don't feel like it's close. I have divided the weeks that are left into sections.

First there is Pessah,

then we're going to Israel,

then A is comming,

then we're selling the house

and theeen...

we're leaving!

We have decided to sell all furniture before leaving since it's more expensive to send what we have than to buy brand new furniture at IKEA for example. One of my friends wants to buy what we have, "tack J"!

Bringing a car to Israel seems VERY complicated and is, according to many people, something to avoid, so we'll have to put an add for the car, but it's a little bit too early, we still need it.

Next week I'm going through the children's toys, I'm going to give lots of things away to the rabbi's wife who is in contact with kindergardens in the area. I'll also give and throw away shoes, winter-clothes, boxes with worthless things like wires for example, it's incredible what you can find in a garage...

A beautiful concert

In September a violin concert will be held in Jerusalem, just in front of the Kotel by the philharmonic orchestra of Ranaana and 60 children.
The children's violins have all sad stories to tell, with one thing in common, the Shoah...
One belonged to a little boy who loved his violin above all.
Motélé, only 12 years old ran for his life with his violin in his arms, when the nazis entered his village. All alone the little boy joined a group of opposants hiding in the forest.
Discovered by the nazis while playing his violin in the village, he was invited to play in front of them once a week. The little boy put explosives in his violin case and after a few months he had brought enough to explode the nazi HQ.
Motélé was killed later on by the Germans. His violin was taken care of by one of the opposants who later on, when the war was over, moved to Israel with the violin in his suitcase.
In September Motélés violin will be played by a child of his age, together with 59 children with 59 violins they will preform Hatikva.
We will try to be there.
Please take a look at this video:
http://www.guysen.tv/violon.php

Chatter

Ok, I admit, I have an obsession about finding an appartement. Friday before Shabat I got a phone call saying that the appartement we wanted to rent from May has already been rented. I tried to sound balanced, if I show them I'm panicing the price will increase "by magic", I'm sure.
We need a back up plan if we don't find an appartement in the neighbourhood we want so I spent my evening reading Wikpedia...I still don't know where to search but I have learned that an average salary in Hod Hasharon was 13,326 shekles while in Netanya it's only 6,217 shekels. This kind of information is very important and it raises the question; Do they earn money because they live in Hod Hasharon or do they live in Hod Hasharon because they earn money?
Well, my pediatrician's wife put her son in the basket team because she wanted him to become tall... u n f o r t u n a t e l y he didn't grow up to be twice as big as his parents, life is cruel...
Next week we're starting the Pessah cleaning, it will do me good.
Chavoua tov! Have a nice week!

Indifference looms larger than chains

As French authorities are making great efforts to liberate Ingrid Bettancourt from the FARC I can't stop thinking of Guilad Shalit, another French citizen held hostage.

Ingrid was kidnapped by the FARC in 2002, today she is suffering from hepatitis and is closer to death than life itself. I'm holding my breath, hoping that the efforts will pay and that she will be surronded by her children as soon as possible. As for Galit, I wish and pray that the Israeli and French government will act soon and not wait until he is dying to try to liberate him.

Guilad was only 19 years old when he was captured by HAMAS in June 2006, his only crime was to be in the wrong place on the wrong time during his military service.