just keep swimming...

 

 

for those who have been following along, I'll start out by saying that I did finally finish cleaning the bathroom, the switch plates, both sides of the front door of my apartment, and rearranged my suitcases so my clothes and other various items are now more accessible.  it's definitely time to do more laundry and I'm not looking forward to it, but I bought a drying rack so at least I can forgo the dryer this time, though that was the least expensive part of the process.  so it seems I'm beginning to find my rhythm.  

 

navigating the coin operated laundry was a challenge, but I figured it out eventually.

 

the next steps have been to make sure I'm drinking enough water (not quite), and eating healthy meals at reasonable times (getting there).  because I'm more settled I've been better able to eat something resembling breakfast before I leave in the mornings, and prepare lunches in advance to bring with me to ulpan (Hebrew school), so I'm not starving by the end of class, and have the energy I need to walk home in the afternoons.  taking the bus in the morning gives me more time to get ready as well, because it's a longer walk than it used to be, and I appreciate arriving clean and fresh as opposed to sweaty and scattershot.  walking home in the afternoon is fine for now, though I suspect I will enjoy it less as the season progresses and temperatures rise.  I'll just have to see how it goes. 

for whatever reason - maybe the heat, maybe just because it was time - I laced up my running shoes and started the Couch to 5k program again.  I found the program during our covid lockdown and completed it twice so far, and even started the C210k program, but I fell off of my running game after my mother died, and haven't been able to be consistent about exercise for the four years since then.  I guess walking back and forth to ulpan was what got me started, and since Ive been settling in to my apartment I've felt safe enough to just...get ready, head out the door, and go.  it's funny, there's a saying that goes "start your run before you're fully awake so by the time your brain figures out what you're doing, you're already a mile down the road", and I guess my first day back was kind of like that.  I'm fat, so it's embarrassing to think about being seen flopping down the road at my snail's pace, in an outfit I wouldn't want to be caught dead in, which is just leggings and a tank top.  it's a pretty standard outfit for a lot of people, but because I'm so overweight, I prefer to try and camouflage my big belly as best I can.

 

 

when I crossed paths with another human, I thought, "omg, what must I look like?!"  while also realizing what a blessing it is that I don't have a full length mirror, because if I did, I probably never would have been able to get out the door.  that's been one of my 'city living' lessons - learning that everyone is just out there living their lives without regard for how they come across, and to not be so self-conscious about myself because no one is even paying me any mind.  it's quite different from the small town living I've done for decades where everyone is watching your every move so they can all gossip to each other about you, and people think they know who you are without ever once having said hello.  I even caught myself trying to catch glimpses of myself in store windows as I passed so I could judge my own hideousness, and thankfully I wasn't really able to.

 

 

because I've gone running three times this week I decided to check my blood sugar, which was still higher than it should be, even though it's lower than it's been in a long time.  before I could prematurely credit it to the exercise, I remembered that I started doubling up on my medication (as per the suggestion of my American doctor before I made Aliyah) after the disastrous appointment I had with an Israeli doctor who wanted to put me on several medications including injectable insulin, which I flatly refused.  I got it under control by reigning in my diet and committing to exercise once before, and I'm convinced I can do it again, so...I'm doing it as best I can.

another important component of living in my own place is figuring out how the recycling works here in Israel.  I don't read or understand the language well enough to figure out which things go where, even with taking pictures of the public bins and running them through google translate.  and I HATE throwing out recycling, but I've been doing it simply because I didn't have a place to store it up while I figured it out.  now I do.  I looked up which colored bins are for what items, and have been diligently separating them into their respective categories via colored 'sackeet' (plastic shopping bags).  and since I've been running, I now know where the various bins are located! 

 

this is a rando internet pic - in my neighborhood we have orange, purple, blue, a bin for cardboard, and either green or grey garbage bins.

I think I may have been offered a job, though I haven't been able to get back in touch with the lady I spoke to about it.  she did give me the address of the office where I would need to go to fill out the required paperwork, so I'm planning to just show up there on the next business day (tomorrow) and see how that goes.  and now that I have a good routine with ulpan, cooking and eating, and running, I'm curious to see if I can keep it up while adding a job to the mix.  next on my to-do list is to go back to the doctor and see if we can't straighten out my health care, because I will eventually need more medication (until I don't, which is my diet & exercise goal).  I'm also going to have to start thinking about what I want to use for shampoo, conditioner, and moisturizer when the stuff I brought from the US runs out, without resorting to shopping on amazon, because I prefer to support local businesses by shopping in my community over making a billionaire richer.  and the number of people who come to Israel expecting it to be 'little America' and have all their favorite American things instead of doing and being Israeli pisses me All the way off.  

there was an email from the shipping company informing me that my belongings have arrived at the port, that it will take a few days to clear customs, and a few more days to fill a truck with 'partial shipments' to be delivered to their final destinations.  so I'm hoping to be reunited with my beloved items in about two weeks, and I'm doing my best to be patient.  it's going to be jam-packed in here when it does arrive, and I don't know how I'm going to arrange it all...it's definitely going to be a process.  I'm looking forward to having my big soup pot, but how will I make soup in it with the little electric cooker?  and now that I'm cooking meals and running again, I've been logging my meals on MyNetDiary even though I have no real sense of how many grams of anything I'm cooking or eating, so I regret not sending my food scale, but there were valid reasons to leave it behind.  "I'll get one in Israel" is what I said about a lot of things, not thinking about how much money I invested in building a household over the past 30 years, or how much it would cost to build another one.

 

I'm cooking on an old, beat up one of these.

 

it's definitely not all wine and roses - the apartment is drafty which is fine this time of year, but how will that work in the colder season?  there's a stink pipe in the bathroom for some reason, and I don't even know what to say about that.  the neighbors are not mindful of how much of their mess ends up on my side of the meerpeset, or how much their dog barks when they're out (going on three hours, now).  and as happy as I am with being by myself, will I ever make some friends to hang out with?  I feel like I've been here forever, but it's only been three months, and there's still a lot to learn and do before I'm 100% settled, and speaking more Hebrew than English.  I'm certainly looking forward to that day, and maybe once I have a better handle on the language I'll be able to be more social with people, who knows?  I really am happy to stay at home by myself, but it might also be nice to catch a movie and get a meal with someone my own age, too.  here's to hoping!

Home...ish

have you ever gotten to that point while looking for a place to rent that you think "I'm just going to take the next apartment that's even remotely doable"?  well, I did.  after too many text messages back and forth between the landlord, the lady I was subletting from, my 'trusted local resource person', and me, I finally consulted with one of the 'Anglo' facebook groups focused on making smart financial decisions here in Israel about the landlord's ongoing and escalating requests for me to rent the place, and the general consensus was RUN - don't walk - away from that deal.  so I went back online, looked up some more apartments, and went to see them.  eventually I decided that all the apartments in my price range were pretty much the same, and that I just needed to pick one, and get on with it.  I've moved around so much in my life, the truth is, I can make ANY place work for me.  even the place with the bathroom that was so small the door wouldn't even open all the way because it hit the toilet, and I had to squeeze between that opening and the sink to stuff myself into the shower space that I couldn't imagine how I'd be able to get myself clean in because I wouldn't be able to move.  the realtor assured me we could have the property manager change the door out for an 'accordion door', and take the glass shower walls out and put in a curtain, which I was almost willing to do, given that the apartment was in the same building I had been staying in, though it was right next door to the barky dog I heard daily, who made me wonder how people kept pets the size he sounded to be in such small spaces.  

then there was the place that wasn't bad size-wise, but the current tenants had a rabbit and the place Stank.  when I opened the kitchen cabinet, there were jukim (Israeli cockroaches), and even the convenience of an elevator wasn't enough to sell me on the amount of cleaning I would need to do to in order to make it livable for me.  there was a decent place in the center of town that was even smaller than the place with the tiny bathroom, and while there happened to be a flood of water flowing down the stairs from the second floor when I went to see it, it wasn't that much of a problem for me...I just didn't know how any of the things from my lift would fit in it.  so, gladly, there was the place with the meerpeset.  now, I Love a good porch, and I realize I didn't share anything in this blog about the fabulous porch I had in Vermont, but it was my happy place during the months when it wasn't buried in snow, and I even went out there when it was, just to stand outside, even though there were only two feet or so or space where it was clear.  the place with the meerpeset is also small, and the price of rent kept fluctuating depending on which of the people involved in my renting it I was talking to, but long story short, I rented it anyway, mostly because I was tired of looking (and the meerpeset!).

 

Vermont porch, winter and summer

 

I 'moved in' on the day the bed I bought was being delivered, which just means I brought my suitcases and foodstuff over from the sublet.  my first order of business when I move in Anywhere is to CLEAN.  I'm a neat freak (thanks Dad), so most spaces don't generally measure up to my standard, and need to be scrubbed before I can even feel comfortable enough to bring in my belongings.  I started with the space underneath the refrigerator, and the fridge itself, then the kitchen counter and some small shelves attached to the wall.  then I moved on to the windows which left a mess on the floor, and I didn't have the tools I needed to clean it, so I went to the 'Jumbo Mart' for a dust pan and broom, a 'magav' (floor squeegee with accompanying stick), 'smartut ritzpah' (floor rags), and a bucket, then looked up some how-to videos on proper 'sponga' technique.  hint:  there are several, and after sweeping, I simply filled the bucket with soapy water, got one of the rags wet, draped it over the magav, and mopped the floor with it, then used a dry one to wipe up any excess water.  it looked Amazing, so of course the landlord came over to remove the last two items of unwanted furniture from the place, and left a mess I assured him I was happy to clean. 

reluctant as I am to buy anything before my lift gets here, I didn't have any bowls, plates, utensils, kitchen towels, or pots and pans, and I know I didn't pack most of those things to send over, so I did have to spend a little money on a few items, and I needed to finish cleaning out the kitchen cabinets before putting them away.  then I scrubbed the meerpeset and both sides of the door, and the bathroom mirror.  I still want to get to some details like the switch plates, the front door, and the vent in the kitchen ceiling, but what I'm really avoiding is the bathroom.  I dug some grossness out from under the cabinet - an old razor, dirty toilet paper, some plastic that may have been package wrapping, who knows.  there was some dark brown 'spray' on the door frame that took some scrubbing to remove, but is gone now, and the walls are all tile so it feels like a big job, to say nothing of the floor, toilet, and shower.  again, it's small, so when I finally commit to spending the hour or so it will take to do the job, I'll wish I had done it sooner, but this whole process of moving overseas, and learning a language well enough to be employable is exhausting, so I need to rest, too. 

scrubbed clean, and ready for plants and other decoration!

 

it's a little weird to have spent 30-some-odd years curating a household just to leave the majority of it behind and start over from scratch, and I'm curious to learn which of the many things I packed will be useful, and which will end up being frivolous - my littlest cast iron pan?  my big soup pot?  all the matching hangers from my closet?  the small trunk of saved baby/child ephemera?  the framed art?  there's much less room here than I had in Vermont, so I'm a bit concerned that I sent too much, and will have to rid myself of even more than I thought I could - the process was pretty painful as it was, and I'm relatively less attached to acquiring and keeping items than most people I've met, though many of the things I did have were either inherited from family, or had been in my possession for decades.  I'm also missing my art supplies, and am looking forward to being able to get back to my projects.  sure, I could get new art supplies, but I'm not spending money on anything that isn't rent or food, so I'm pouring my creative energy into cleaning, thinking about how the things I sent will fit into the space I have, and...honestly, napping.  Hebrew school is on break this week for Passover, so I have more free time than usual, and I'd like to go submerge myself in the sea, if possible.  maybe even visit the cemetery where my parents are buried; a trip I've been wanting to make since the day I landed.

my next project - assuming I finish the cleaning list - is to rearrange my suitcases (again) into something that will work for what my needs are now, as opposed to what they were when I needed to keep moving until I found a place to land.  and seeing as how I just did the laundry, most of what's been washed is now piled up in one of the suitcases in disorder while the others are still packed neatly, yet ineffectually.  for instance:  I can unpack my shoes, now, so I don't have to wear the one pair of sneakers all the time, and put the first aid kit in the bathroom cabinet.  I also think all the towels need to be washed, along with the blanket I was smart enough to pack (otherwise I wouldn't have had anything to sleep under for the past few weeks).  doing the laundry turned out to be Very expensive - almost $32 for two washes and one dry - so I'm not looking forward to doing more.  we'll see...as I've been saying about just about everything, live and learn.  that's what I'm doing here.  living and learning.